Social Networking On Smart Phones Main

Computers in Human Behavior 29 (2013) 2632–2639

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Computers in Human Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Social networking on smartphones: When mobile phones become addictive Mohammad Salehan 1,⇑, Arash Negahban 1
College of Business, University of North Texas, 1307 West Highland Street, Denton, TX 76201, USA

a r t i c l e

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Article history:
Available online 27 July 2013
Keywords:
Mobile addiction
Social networking services (SNS)
Mobile applications
Social networking mobile applications

a b s t r a c t
As the penetration of mobile phones in societies increases, there is a large growth in the use of mobile phones especially among the youth. This trend is followed by the fast growth in use of online social networking services (SNS). Extensive use of technology can lead to addiction. This study finds that the use of
SNS mobile applications is a significant predictor of mobile addiction. The result also shows that the use of SNS mobile applications is affected by both SNS network size and SNS intensity of the user. This study has implications for academia as well as governmental and non-for-profit organizations regarding the effect of mobile phones on individual’s and public health.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have significantly changed the way we live and have become an inseparable part of our lives. Many people, especially the youth, use these technologies on a daily basis and for various purposes. People use computers to study, to search for information on the internet, to play games, and to communicate with others.
These days, most people have mobile phones and use them onthe-go. Recent statistics from December 2011 show that there are
331.6 million mobile phone subscribers in the United States which indicates a penetration rate of 104% for mobile phones across the country (CTIA, 2011). In 2011, the

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