Strategies for self-controlling social media use: Classification and role in preventing social media addiction symptoms

Abstract

Background and aims Many people present excessive patterns of social networking site (SNS) use and try to self-regulate it. However, little is known regarding the strategies employed by young adult SNS users and their role in preventing the emergence of addiction-like symptoms in relation to SNS use. Methods In Study 1, we employed a naturalistic-qualitative approach for finding commonly employed self-control strategies in relation to SNS use. In Study 2, we examined differences between the frequency and difficulty of the strategies identified in Study 1 and tested the process through which trait self-control exerts influence on reducing SNS addiction symptomology. Results Study 1 revealed six families of self-control strategies, some reactive and some proactive. Study 2 pinpointed the most commonly used and most difficult to enact ones. It also showed that the difficulty to enact self-control strategies in relation to SNS use partially mediates the effect of trait self-control via SNS use habit on SNS addiction symptom severity. Conclusions Taken together, the present findings revealed that strategies for self-controlling SNS use are common and complex. Their theoretical and clinical significance stems from their ability to prevent the translation of poor trait self-control and strong SNS use habit to the emergence of excessive use as manifested in SNS addiction-like symptoms.

COVID-19 information exposure in digital media and implications for employees in the health care sector: findings from an online survey

“…(11) However, findings of this study revealed that a significant proportion (45.5%) of participants deliberately reduced their access to COVID-19-related information due to factors such as repetitive information and tiredness, suggesting self-control strategies play an important role in the regulation of information consumption behavior. (12) Answers related to potential signs of information overload associated with the pandemic indicated that approximately one-third of respondents felt stressed by the amount of information they had to keep up with almost every day or always. Overall, more than half of respondents experienced at least one psychological distress symptom (headache, eye twitching, restlessness or trouble sleeping) and the frequency of symptoms was higher among participants with a negative bias towards excessive information processing demands.…”

Habits and the electronic herd: The psychology behind social media’s successes and failures

“…Despite its short-term success, active self-control is more difficult to maintain than altering the cues that trigger media habits, such as putting a cell phone on mute (Brevers & Turel, 2019). Furthermore, the strategy of changing cues should especially curb strongly habitual use, given that habits are activated directly by such cues.…”

“…However, these rewards also motivate occasional users of social media and lead to the formation of use habits; they are not necessarily linked to addiction. Instead, in a more informed analysis,Brevers and Turel (2019) noted that stronger habits to use social media are moderately correlated with but not identical to the severity of addiction symptoms. In their analysis, habits can become problematic and lead to addiction, but the automaticity in habit is only one component of the maladaptive overuse of social media.…”

The Relationship Between Attachment Style and Social Network Addiction with the Mediating Role of Personality Traits

“…Social-virtual addictions have recently become a major concern and a common problem worldwide. The use of social networking sites (SNS), such as Telegram, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and other SNS, has dramatically changed the way people socialize, share information, work, perceive others, and present themselves (1). Moreover, SNS addiction has been introduced as a new behavioral addiction, along with increasing social network sites (2).…”