Facebook usage of Sri Lankan consumers: consumption perspective of social media

Social media has become pervasive, impacting the social and cultural fabric of our society and changing the nature of social relationships. Facebook, being the second most visited website in the world and No: 01 in Sri Lanka, could be identified as a special kind of addiction today where an average user browses Facebook at least for 30 minutes a day from computers or smart devices and gets exposed to diverse content on Facebook as a habit. Marlatt, Baer, Donovan, and Kivlahan, defined addictive behavior as “a repetitive habit pattern that increases the risk of disease and/or associated personal and social problems” or “the behavior continues to occur despite volitional attempts to abstain or moderate use”. Compulsive, excessive, impulsive, uncontrolled, and indulgent were also listed instead of the term “addictive”. In this study, the researcher has attempted to investigate the relationship of compulsive consumption behavior on Facebook has with the demographic factors of individuals.