extinguishing behavioral conditioning difficult. behavioral conditioning is also achieved via the 'auto-play' default of streaming platforms. the more absorbed the viewer becomes, the more time distortion occurs, making it more difficult to stop watching. this is further coupled with minimal time to cancel the next stream thereby creating a false sense of urgency followed by an absorbing relief. endowment effect / exposure effect investing time in social media platforms generates an emotional attachment to the virtual setting the user creates. the user values this above its actual value, which is referred to as the endowment effect. the more time a person spends curating their social media presence, the more difficult it is for them to give up social media as they have placed an emotional value on this virtual existence higher than its actual value. the user is more prone to loss aversion from this endowment. as a result, they are less willing to stop their use of social media. this is further compounded by the mere exposure the user has to the respective platforms. this exposure effect suggests that repeated exposure to a distinct stimulus by the user will condition the user into an enhanced or improved attitude toward it. with social media, repetitive exposure to the platforms improves the user’s attitude towards them. the advertising industry has recognized this potential but rarely used it due to their belief in an inherent conflict between overexposure and the law of familiarity. the more mere exposure a user has to a social media platform, the more they like to use it. this makes the act of removing social media problematic thereby highlighting the effect’s contribution to social media’s addictive nature. social pressures social media has developed expectations of immediacy which then create social pressures. one study into the social pressures created by the instant messaging platform, whatsapp, showed the "last seen" feature contributed to the expectation of a fast response. this feature serves as an “automatic approximation of availability” thereby denoting a time frame by which the sender is aware the receiver will reply in and similarly a time frame the receiver must reply in without causing tensions to their relationship. this was further seen in the "read receipt" (in the form of ticks) feature on whatsapp. the nudge of a double tick highlights the reception of the message therefore the sender is consciously aware that the receiver has likely seen the message. the receiver would equally feel pressure to respond fast for fear of violating the sender’s expectation. since both sides know the working mechanics of the last seen and read receipt features, social pressure in the speed of response is created. the effect of this has been linked to the addictive nature of the features as it offers a possible explanation for frequent checking for notifications. furthermore, it has also been suggested to undermine well-being. personalized newsfeed google is the first tech firm to adopt the personalization of user content. the company does this by tracking: “search history, click history, location on google and on other websites, language search query, choice of web browser and operating system, social connections, and time taken to make search decisions.” facebook similarly adopted this method in their recording of user endorsement through the "like" and react options. facebook’s personalization mechanics are so precise they are capable of tracking the mood of their users. the overall effect of this is that it creates “highly interesting, personalized websites” tailored to each user which in turn leads to more time online and further increases the chances of the user developing an addictive or problematic behavior with social media. social rewards and comparisons the "like" mechanism is another example of social media's problematic features. it is a social cue that visually represents the social validation the user either gives or receives. one study explored the quantifiable and qualitative effects the "like" button had on social endorsement. the study asked 39 adolescents to submit their own instagram photos alongside neutral and risky photos which were then reproduced into a testing app that controlled the number of likes the photo would initially receive prior to testing. the result found adolescents were more likely to endorse both risky and neutral photos if they had more likes. furthermore, the study suggested that adolescents were more inclined to perceive a qualitative effect of the photos depending on the strength of peer endorsement. whilst “quantifiable social endorsement is a relatively new phenomenon,” this study is suggestive of the effects the "like" option as a social cue has on adolescents. another study looking at different types, three modalities (social interaction, simulation, and search for relations), and two genders (male and female) assessed whether self-esteem contributed to facebook use in the context of a social comparison variable. males were found to have less of a social comparison orientation between the tested contribution; however, their self-esteem and length of time on facebook were found to have a negative link. for females, social comparison was the primary factor in the relationship between self-esteem and facebook use: “emales with low self-esteem seem to spend more time on facebook in order to compare themselves to others and possibly increase their self-esteem since social comparison serves the function of self-enhancement and self-improvement.”. as a result, females tend to be at a higher risk of developing problematic use of social media than males. in accordance with the individual traits being tested, the study highlights the tendency to socially compare and its relationship with self-esteem and the length of facebook use. zeigarnik effect / ovsiankina effect the zeigarnik effect suggests the human brain will continue to pursue an unfinished task until a satisfying closure. the endless nature of social media platforms affects this effect as they prevent the user from "finishing" the scrolling thereby developing a subconscious desire to continue and "finish" the task. the ovsiankina effect is similar as it suggests there is a tendency to pick up an unfinished or interrupted action. the “brief, fast-paced give and take” of social media subverts the satisfying closure which in turn creates a need to continue with the intent of producing a satisfying closure. platforms consist of unfinished and interruptible mechanisms which affect both of these effects. whilst a mechanism of social media platforms, it is more clearly seen with freemium games like candy crush saga. platform-specific risks studies have shown differences in motivations and behavioral patterns among social media platforms, especially regarding their problematic use. in the united kingdom, a study of 1,479 people between 14 and 24 years old compared the psychological benefits and deficits of the five largest social media platforms: facebook, instagram, snapchat, twitter, and youtube. negative effects of smartphone use include “phubbing,” which is snubbing someone by checking one's smartphone in the middle of a real-life conversation. the study was used to check the direct and indirect associations of neuroticism, trait anxiety, and trait fear of missing out with phubbing via state fear of missing out and problematic instagram use. a total number of 423 adolescents and emerging adults between the ages of 14 to 21 years old (53% female) participated in the study. the findings indicated that females had significantly higher scores of phubbing, fear of missing out, problematic instagram use, trait anxiety, and neuroticism. problematic social media use (psmu) presented in the study that was invested also in the influences of demographics and big five personality dimensions on social media use motives; demographics and use motives on social media site preferences; and demographics, personality, popular social media sites, and social media use motives on psmu. the study consisted of 1008 undergraduate students, between the age of 17 and 32 years old. participants who preferred instagram, snapchat, and facebook reported higher scores of problematic social media use. the study concluded that youtube was the only platform with a net positive rating based on 14 questions related to health and well-being, followed by twitter, facebook, snapchat, and finally instagram. instagram had the lowest rating: it was identified as having some positive effects such as self-expression, self-identity, and community, but ultimately was outweighed by its negative effects on sleep, body image, and "fear of missing out". limiting the use of social media a three-week study for limiting social media usage was conducted on 108 female and 35 male undergraduate students at the university of pennsylvania. prior to the study, participants were required to have facebook, instagram, and snapchat accounts on an iphone device. this study observed the student's well-being by sending a questionnaire at the start of the experiment, as well as at the end of every week. students were asked questions about their well-being on the scale of: “social support,” “fear of missing out,” “loneliness,” “anxiety,” “depression,” “self-esteem,” and “autonomy and self-acceptance.” the conclusion of the study revealed that limiting social media usage on a mobile phone to 10 minutes per platform per day had a significant impact on well-being. loneliness and depressive symptoms declined in the group that had limited social media usage. students with depressive symptoms had a much higher impact with social media restriction if they began with higher levels of depression. treatment and research currently, no diagnosis exists for problematic social media use in either the icd-11 or dsm-5. there are many ways that an addiction to social media can be expressed in individuals. according to clinical psychologist cecilie schou andreassen and her colleagues, there are five potential factors that indicate a person's dependence to social media: mood swings: a person uses social media to regulate his or her mood, or as a means of escaping real world conflicts relevance: social media starts to dominate a person's thoughts at the expense of other activities tolerance: a person increases their time spent on social media to experience previously associated feelings they had while using social media; withdrawal: when a person can not access social media their sleeping or eating habits change or signs of depression or anxiety can become present. conflicts in real life: when social media is used excessively, it can affect real-life relationships with family and friends. in addition to andreassen's factors, griffiths further explains that someone is addicted to social media if their behavior fulfills any of these six criteria: salience: social media becomes the most important part of someone's life; mood modification: a person uses social media as a means of escape because it makes them feel "high", "buzzed", or "numb"; tolerance: a person gradually increases their time spent on social media to maintain that escapist feeling; withdrawal: unpleasant feelings or physical sensations when the person is unable to use social media or does not have access to it; conflict: social media use causes conflict in interpersonal dynamics, loses desire to participate in other activities, and becomes pervasive; relapse: the tendency for previously affected individuals to revert to previous patterns of excessive social media use. he continues to add that excessive use of an activity, like social media, does not directly equate with addiction because there are other factors that could lead to someone's social media addiction including personality traits and pre-existing tendencies. turel and serenko summarize three types of general models people might have that can lead to addictive social media use: cognitive-behavioral model – people increase their use of social media when they are in unfamiliar environments or awkward situations; social skill model – people pull out their phones and use social media when they prefer virtual communication as opposed to face-to-face interactions because they lack self-presentation skills; socio-cognitive model – this person uses social media because they love the feeling of people liking and commenting on their photos and tagging them in pictures. they are attracted to the positive outcomes they receive on social media. based on those models, xu and tan suggest that the transition from normal to problematic social media use occurs when a person relies on it to relieve stress, loneliness, depression, or provide continuous rewards. management no established treatments exist, but from research from the related entity of internet addiction disorder, treatments have been considered, with further research needed. screen time recommendations for children and families have been developed by the american academy of pediatrics. possible therapeutic interventions published by andreassen include: self-help interventions, including application-specific timers; cognitive behavioral therapy; and organizational and schooling support. possible treatment for social anxiety disorder includes