Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Instagram are known to cause stress in users, known as technostress from social media.
Research into the habits of 444 Facebook users revealed they would switch between activities such as chatting to friends, scanning news feeds and posting updates as each began to cause stress.
This leads to an increased likelihood of technology addiction, as they use the various elements of the platform over a greater timespan.
Researchers found that users were seeking distraction and diversion within the Facebook platform as a coping mechanism for stress caused by the same platform, rather than switching off and undertaking a different activity.
The social networking research team looked at various different forms of technostress caused by using social media, such users feeling that SNS were invading their personal life, adapting their SNS use to conform to that of their friends, experiencing excessive social demands and too much social information, and facing constant changes and updates to the SNS platform.
They further examined two separate ways of coping with the stress. The first included users creating a diversion by partaking in other activities away from social media, which is the more obvious path.
However, the other method consisted of diversion through engaging in different activities within the same SNS app itself, and potentially moving on a pathway towards SNS addiction. This method was more prevalent among those social media users who used the sites more regularly.