One of studies about addiction to social networks is Facebook addiction. Facebook addiction is associated with many factors such as engagement (duration of use, interaction), personality factors such as narcissistic personality, anxiety, and low self-esteem, and social (life satisfaction, and social distress). Other social media such as Instagram and SnapChat also have a similar effect. This is related to gratification, internet addiction, and FOMO.
SNS addiction has the same bad effects as other addictions such as internet addiction, video games and gambling addiction. It creates dependency and triggers a compulsion to constantly get rewards. Unfortunately, perhaps few are aware of the health conditions in their social networking environment and some platforms may deliberately provide features to stay interacting with them.
Differences in content also matter. One of the main differences between millennial and gen Z SNS platforms is that gen Z's social media is more narcissistic and has a dynamic engagement model. For example, TitTok, the TikTok Challenge went viral and triggered many individuals to try and get achievements.
Many SocialFi platform also has gamification features. On the one hand, it is a source of monetization but on the other hand, gamification is a form of addiction as individuals are given tasks, challenges, and rewards simultaneously to continue engaging on the platform.
Even though SNS addiction only applies to a few individuals, this addiction involves many addictions such as internet addiction, smartphone addiction, and gamification models similar to video game addiction to always achieve progress and completion as well as gambling by spending money to get rewards.