A Study on Social Media Addiction: The Roles of Personality, Internet Use, and Platform Preference

Aim: This study aimed to determine the relative contributions of personality traits, internet addiction, and social media platform preferences to social media addiction, within the framework of the big five personality model.Material and Methods: Data were collected from 335 participants via an online survey. Participants completed the ten-item personality inventory (TIPI), the Bergen social media addiction scale (BSMAS), and the internet addiction test scale (IATS). Platform usage was also recorded. Robust regression analyses were conducted sequentially in three models to assess the incremental effects of personality traits, internet addiction, and platform usage.Results: Neuroticism was positively (β=0.477, p=0.004) and conscientiousness was negatively (β=-0.480, p=0.013) associated with social media addiction in the first model. When IATS was included, the model’s explanatory power increased (R²=27.3%), while the relationships between personality traits and social media addiction weakened. In the final model, which replaced IATS with social media platform variables, neuroticism (β=0.319, p=0.044) remained positively associated, whereas conscientiousness (β=-0.446, p=0.017) and extraversion (β=-0.360, p=0.033) showed negative associations. Among platforms, Instagram (β=2.646, p<0.001), TikTok (β=2.995, p=0.002), and Snapchat (β=2.652, p=0.022) were significantly related to higher social media addiction scores.Conclusion: The findings suggest that personality traits play a limited role in explaining social media addiction, whereas the type of platform used appears more influential. These results highlight the importance of integrating platform-specific dynamics with individual characteristics when understanding social media addiction.