A new method to measure and decrease the online social networking addiction.

INTRODUCTION: The online social networking addiction is a type of technology addiction that can lead to distraction, depression, anxiety, and lower academic performance. In this research, an android mobile application was designed based on the previous literature as well as authors' previous works to measure and decrease social networking addiction level.

METHODS: This research is a randomized controlled trial. Participants were the students in Urmia University of Technology. The mobile application was designed and sent to 100 (35 males and 65 females) students randomly as an intervention group and was sent to 100 (38 males and 62 females) students randomly as a control group. In order to evaluate the efficacy of treatment, data were collected before and after 2-week treatment.

RESULTS: The results indicated that the designed mobile application can measure the online social networking addiction level with online social networking addiction scale, it can also decrease the online social networking addiction, depression, anxiety level, and the time spent on online social networks, and it can improve the sleep quality and life satisfaction level.

DISCUSSION: Therefore, the designed mobile application can be used as an appropriate instrument to measure and decrease the online social networking addiction level of college students.