Press release | Research

Social media can swallow its user: A new study finds that social media identity bubbles increase internet addiction

Published on 6.2.2025

Tampere University

A person is holding a phone, with a printing press in the background.

Photo: Bank Phrom (Unsplash) / Jonne Renvall

Increased use of the internet and social media has both positive and negative effects on well-being. The Emerging Technologies Lab at Tampere University studied the connection between social media identity bubbles and Internet addiction. The new study shows that identity bubbles expose individuals to excessive internet use, which can lead to addiction.

The recent study by the Emerging Technologies Lab at Tampere University examines how social media identity bubbles affect addictive internet use. The research provides strong evidence that identity-based internet use predisposes individuals to excessive internet use, which can develop into addiction. This phenomenon was consistent across different European countries.

“Internet and social media platforms bring together similar people, enabling the formation of identity-based bubbles. This phenomenon also occurs in culturally diverse countries. The results support the idea that bubble formation is a universal phenomenon that can lead to psychological and emotional dependence on one’s online communities,” says Senior Research Fellow Iina Savolainen from Tampere University.

The study highlights internet addiction as a well-being issue. It is associated with, for example, psychological distress and other subjective well-being problems. The research shows that online identity bubbles reinforce addiction, especially in individuals with psychological distress.

Psychological well-being is a protective factor against addiction. According to the study, happy people are less prone to addictive behaviours, even if they operate within social media identity bubbles.

The research consists of two separate studies; the first examined the phenomenon in six European countries (Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) in 2022, and the second was a three-year longitudinal study conducted in Finland from 2021 to 2023.