In this post, I'll give you all the social media addiction statistics you need to be aware of to moderate your social media use.

56.8% of the world’s total population is active on social media.

Over 210 million people worldwide suffer from social media addiction.

Overall, 40 percent of U.S. online users aged 18 to 22 years reported feeling addicted to social media. During the April 2019 survey, five percent of respondents from that age group stated that they felt the statement "I am addicted to social media" described them completely.

Teenagers are the 2nd largest group of people affected by social media addiction. Teens ages 13 to 18 years old spend a significant amount of their free time on social media with an average of 3 hours a day.

The results might surprise you when looking at internet users that are active on social media in each country.

90% of people aged 18-29 use social media in some form. 15% of people aged 23-38 admit that they are addicted to social media.

Overall, 30 percent of online users in the United States reported feeling addicted to social media. During the April 2019 survey, 11 percent of responding Hispanics stated that they felt the statement "I am addicted to social media" described them completely. Overall, 29 percent of Hispanic respondents completely or somewhat agreed with the statement.

Coding category:

Q1_Gender
1. Male 2. Female

Q2_Living_Area
1. Urban 2. Rural

Q3_Maritial_Status
1. No 2. Yes

SMAQ1 – SMAQ10
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always

SMA_Scale_value

less than 20 to more than 40.

SMA_Scale (Class_Lebel) 1. Low addiction: Total score equal & less than 20 2. Moderate addiction: Total score in between 20 and 40 3. High addiction: Total score equal & greater than 40

This Dataset analyzed Social Media Addiction data from Daffodil International University (DIU) to classify their levels of Addiction into five categories: 1 (Never), 2 (Rarely), 3 (Sometimes), 4 (Often), and 5 (Always). The dataset used was included information on 1,030 participants from various Departments of DIU. The dataset contained 10 main attributes, comprising ten questions each for Social Media Addiction. The target SMA_Scale (Class_Lebel) was categorized as 1 (Low Addiction), 2 (Moderate Addiction), 3 (High Addiction). The distribution of instances for Class_Lebel was 728 (Low Addicted), 259 ((Moderate Addicted), 42 (High Addicted).

According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United Kingdom, 48 percent of social media users aged between 16 and 18 years reported feeling addicted to social media. Feelings of addiction were higher amongst female teens than male teens, with 57 percent of girls in the UK saying they thought they were addicted to online platforms. In general, social media can be difficult for teens to navigate, partly due to pressure to create the perfect image or partake in online challenges.

Gen Z and Millennials are the biggest social media users of all age groups.

The average person has 8-9 social media accounts. This has doubled since 2013, when the average person just had 4-5 accounts.

Overall, 34 percent of female online users in the United States reported feeling addicted to social media. During the April 2019 survey, 11 percent of female respondents stated that they felt the statement "I am addicted to social media" described them completely.

According to a survey on the lifestyles of Arab youth and their dependence on social media in April of 2023, ** percent of young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region had difficulty disconnecting from social media. Only ***** percent of survey participants said they do not find it difficult to disconnect from social media, while ** percent were neutral.

Today the average time spent on social media is 2 hours and 24 minutes today for people aged 16 to 64.

The data collected at Yeditepe University and represent the social media and internet addiction, and eating disorders of 509 undergraduate students. Data collected via face-to-face interview and online questionnaire methods. The authors aimed to determine the possible relationship between internet/social media addiction and eating disorders among university students.

Many have argued that digital technologies such as smartphones and social media are addictive. We develop an economic model of digital addiction and estimate it using a randomized experiment. Temporary incentives to reduce social media use have persistent effects, suggesting social media are habit forming. Allowing people to set limits on their future screen time substantially reduces use, suggesting self-control problems. Additional evidence suggests people are inattentive to habit formation and partially unaware of self-control problems. Looking at these facts through the lens of our model suggests that self-control problems cause 31 percent of social media use.

Regional use of social media has a significant effect on the male and female social media statistics.

According to a March 2024 survey conducted in the United States, 32 percent of adults reported feeling that social media had neither a positive nor negative effect on their own mental health. Only seven percent of social media users said that online platforms had a very positive effect on their mental health, while 12 percent of users said it had a very negative impact. Furthermore, 22 percent of respondents said social media had a somewhat negative effect on their mental health. Is social media addictive? A 2023 survey of individuals between 11 and 59 years old in the United States found that over 73 percent of TikTok users agreed that the platform was addictive. Furthermore, nearly 27 percent of those surveyed reported experiencing negative psychological effects related to TikTok use. Users belonging to Generation Z were the most likely to say that TikTok is addictive, yet millennials felt the negative effects of using the app more so than Gen Z. In the U.S., it is also not uncommon for social media users to take breaks from using online platforms, and as of March 2024, over a third of adults in the country had done so. Following mental health-related content Although online users may be aware of the negative and addictive aspects of social media, it is also a useful tool for finding supportive content. In a global survey conducted in 2023, 32 percent of social media users followed therapists and mental health professionals on social media. Overall, 24 percent of respondents said that they followed people on social media if they had the same condition as they did. Between January 2020 and March 2023, British actress and model Cara Delevingne was the celebrity mental health activist with the highest growth in searches tying her name to the topic.

ObjectiveThis study investigates the impact of social suspicion on social media addiction among Chinese college students, examining the mediating role of the sense of meaning in life and the moderating effect of gender.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 19, 2023, to November 2, 2023, involving 1,558 students from three universities in southern Anhui Province, China. Participants completed questionnaires assessing social suspicion, social media addiction, and the sense of meaning in life. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis, Hayes’ PROCESS macro, and bootstrap methods to test mediation and moderation effects.ResultsThe findings revealed a bidirectional relationship between social suspicion and social media addiction. Social suspicion positively predicted social media addiction, with the sense of meaning in life mediating this relationship. Gender moderated the mediating effect, as the indirect effect of social suspicion on social media addiction through the sense of meaning in life was significantly stronger among female students compared to male students. Additionally, social media addiction also positively predicted social suspicion, with the sense of meaning in life and gender moderating this relationship.ConclusionThis study reveals a bidirectional relationship between social suspicion and social media addiction among Chinese college students, mediated by a sense of meaning in life and moderated by gender. Social suspicion directly drives addiction while indirectly exacerbating it through reduced the sense of meaning in life, with females showing stronger mediation effects and males exhibiting heightened susceptibility to suspicion when addicted. These findings emphasize the need for gender-tailored interventions to address psychological vulnerabilities and mitigate risks of digital overuse.