Is the average Facebook user addicted?

I just read an article that CNN posted titled “5 Clues that you’re addicted to Facebook”. It gives the story of a single working mom with a 12-yr old daughter and how her daughter gets mad at her because the mom won’t get off Facebook to help her daughter. It then goes on to list 5 signs that you too might be addicted to Facebook. I’ll talk more about these below. Before I read the article and just saw the title, I assumed that the article would be about a college-aged student, but I was wrong. It caught me by surprise that a mom would actually neglect her child in favor of Facebook. I mean, you would think that she would have some sort of priorities in life, right? But I guess not. So it’s not just college and high school students that overuse Facebook, it’s professional, middle-aged people as well.

As I mentioned above, the article continues to go on to show 5 different signs that you’re addicted to Facebook. Now, I’m not saying that EVERYONE is addicted, but the majority definitely is and here’s why. (The CNN signs are in bold)

1.     You lose sleep over Facebook. There’s no surprise that the most activity that Facebook sees comes at night.  Dustin Moskowitz, Co-Founder of Facebook, says that “During our biggest peaks - Sunday & Monday night around 10EST - more than one million people will be simultaneously logged into the site”.

2.     You spend more than an hour a day on Facebook. A Neilsen study found on Mashable says that Facebook users spend an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes a day on Facebook!

3.     You become obsessed with old loves. Ever heard of Facebook stalking? Checking wall posts, pictures, friend adds, etc. Everyone’s done it. And now with Facebook status updates being the centerpiece of Facebook, it’s easier than ever.

4.     You ignore work in favor of Facebook. Psh who wants to work anyways. And this has become a major issue in the workforce, which is talked about (here, here, and here).

5.     The thought of getting off Facebook leaves you in a cold sweat. Ok, I agree, a cold sweat is a little extreme. But most users can’t go a day, let alone a week without checking Facebook, talking about Facebook, or wondering what their friends are doing on Facebook.

Now there are surely people that don’t use Facebook as actively as most, but at least going by this CNN article, the average Facebook user is definitely addicted.