Your result
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Your strongest signals, and what helps
If this is affecting your mood, sleep or relationships, consider talking to a doctor, therapist or someone you trust. If you need help now, contact your local emergency services or a crisis line (in the U.S., call or text 988).
Next: read social media addiction: signs, causes and what helps, or try the phone addiction test.
How the scoring works
Each of the six items is rated from 1 (very rarely) to 5 (very often), so your total runs from 6 to 30. Researchers using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) commonly use a polythetic rule: scoring 4 (“often”) or 5 (“very often”) on at least four of the six items flags a person as being at risk of problematic use. This page applies that rule and also shows your total.
- Fewer than four items at Often or above. Your answers do not meet the screening rule. Your total still shows how strongly the signs show up.
- Four or more items at Often or above. Your answers meet the screening rule used in research to flag risk of problematic social media use.
Where the questions come from
The six items are the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, developed by Cecilie Schou Andreassen and colleagues at the University of Bergen and published in 2016 in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (“The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders”). Each item maps to one core component of addiction used in the research: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal and conflict. The wording above closely follows the published English items, with minor shortening (for example “job or studies”).
This isn’t a diagnosis. The BSMAS is a research screening scale. “Social media addiction” is not an official medical diagnosis, and different studies use different cutoffs. We explain what researchers do and don’t know in Social media addiction: signs, causes and what actually helps.
What to do with your result
- Remove the endless feeds, keep the app. Stillfeed is a free iPhone browser for Instagram and YouTube that removes Reels, Shorts and Explore before they load. It works with X, Reddit, TikTok, Snapchat and LinkedIn too.
- Add a stopping point, like a daily time limit you can’t dismiss on a whim.
- Check the whole phone with the phone addiction test, and see 10 strategies that actually work.
For figures on how common this is, see social media addiction statistics.
Common questions
Am I addicted to social media?
Only a professional can assess that, and “social media addiction” isn’t an official diagnosis. This test shows how your answers compare with a screening rule used in research. A high result means it’s worth making changes, and talking to someone if it’s affecting your mood, sleep or relationships.
What is the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale?
A six-item questionnaire developed at the University of Bergen (Andreassen et al., 2016). Each item covers one component of addiction: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal and conflict, rated from very rarely (1) to very often (5) over the past year.
What score counts as addicted?
There is no official cutoff. A common research convention is answering often or very often on at least four of the six items; some studies use a total-score threshold instead. Either way it flags risk for follow-up, it doesn’t diagnose anything.
Is my result stored anywhere?
No. The score is calculated in your browser and nothing you choose is sent anywhere. Your answers only appear in the page address so you can share or bookmark your result.
What should I read next?
Start with social media addiction: signs, causes and what actually helps, then the phone addiction test for a check on your phone use overall.
