Pathological “facebooking” is a more difficult habit to break than the notorious vices of cigarettes and alcohol, says a recent study.
AllFacebook, the social network's top resource, reports that Facebook Addiction - also known as “FAD” or Facebook Addiction Disorder - is as strong as that of an addiction to chemical “baddies” nicotine and alcohol.
“Despite the reputation for being addictive, alcohol and cigarettes generated lower levels of desire than the urge to check social networks,” says the resource's Jennifer Moire.
This follows a survey of 250 people, published yesterday in the journal Psychological Studies. The study revealed that sex and sleep were the two things most longed for during the day, but the urge to check one's Facebook page was too difficult for most of those surveyed to resist.
Moire says that, while a larger study sample would be preferable, this recent finding is indicative of what the Facebook team has observed in people's use of the social network, “finally ascribing some statistics to the phenomenon”.
In addition, a study logging close to 8 000 reports about people's everyday desires by researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business found that any efforts to resist the temptation of social networking throughout the day virtually obliterated all willpower by the end of it.
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World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says traits that Internet users, in particular early adoption users, display when it comes to the Internet in general and specifically Facebook, are indistinguishable from those akin to addiction.
“While we haven't done a study on Facebook addiction as such, what we have seen is that most people are introduced to the Internet via social networks. Facebook is the main attraction that is bringing new people to the Internet and we've observed that when they first discover the world of Facebook and get pulled in, they find it irresistible and so compelling that they can't live without it.”
Goldstuck says the compulsion is not steeped so much in the productivity side of it, as it is in the immersive nature of the Internet, Facebook in particular. “The whole experience is becoming so engaging that people move from a mode of simply connecting with friends and long lost associations, to almost living out their lives on Facebook. That is what has become so addictive.”
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