The internet has been an indescribable power to influence, connect, and mobilize current population with technological advances. In today's society, the primary focus is on the internet when it comes to maintaining peer-to-peer connections. Social media is a web-based technology that helps enhance interactive conversations. The only way this web-based product can expand depends solely on the user and their personal wants. According to mark Zuckerberg, the Founder of the leading social media website Facebook, said, "More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. " With Facebook being highly popular, there is a large chance that the growth of social media will cause the "net generation " to prefer media connections rather than face-to-face interactions with fellow peers.
The digital age has brought many extraordinary developments in technology that has altered the way people access and use information whether it's for personal, business, or educational use. Social interactions are being altered through social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Using social media websites to connect with other individuals can be seen as either beneficial or detrimental to traditional (in person) relationships.
The first step to identifying a potential social media addiction case is to see where the emotional and mental attachment rests in the social media user. Researchers discovered that there are five motivations for the addictive behavior in social media addicts. These five motivations are surveillance, escape, companionship, identity, and entertainment (Gordon, 2007). Cheryl Gordon takes these motivations and concluded that there are five types of use: meeting people, seeking information, distraction, coping and e-mail. Gordon also proved that adolescents are using social media websites as a tool to reinforce relationships and college students are exposed to a higher risk of social media addiction due to their vulnerability (Subrahmanya, 2008).
