social media

One cannot deny the fact that more and more people are getting addicted to social media, such as Facebook and many of us users fail to see that.

But now, with the help of a new tool called the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), an instrument developed by researchers from Norway to measure this addiction, we can measure our social media enthusiasm.

The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale is based on six criteria, where all items are scored on the following scale: (1) Very rarely, (2) Rarely, (3) Sometimes, (4) Often, and (5) Very often:

• You spend a lot of time thinking about Facebook or plan use of Facebook.
• You feel an urge to use Facebook more and more.
• You use Facebook in order to forget about personal problems.
• You have tried to cut down on the use of Facebook without success.
• You become restless or troubled if you are prohibited from using Facebook.
• You use Facebook so much that it has had a negative impact on your job/studies.

Study showed that scoring “often” or “always” on at least four of the seven items may suggest that you are addicted to Facebook.

Cecile Schou Andressen, doctor of psychology, who heads the research project Facebook Addiction at the University of Bergen (UiB) young users are more likely to develop Facebook dependency. They also found that Facebook addiction was related to extraversion. While people who are organized and more ambitious tend to be less at risk from Facebook addiction, as they often use social media as an integral part of work and networking.

Andreassen’s study showed that the symptoms of Facebook addiction resemble those of drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and chemical substance addiction.

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