"Fear of missing out" might be heightened by some people's growing reliance on social networks, according to a survey of social media behavior commissioned by Los Angeles-based social media platform creator MyLife.com and conducted by Harris Interactive.

Released in August, the survey shows that 62 percent of adults who are currently a member of more than one social networking site say they keep an eye on their social networks because they don't want to miss something, such as news, an important event, or a status update. The percentage goes up to 72 percent for those who are single or have never married.

The findings also indicate that nearly 40 percent would rather undertake unpleasant or potentially painful activities, from getting a root canal to spending the night in jail, before they would give up their social networking profiles.

"Consumers are bombarded with so much information online—from status updates and photos to tweets and check-ins—that our anxiety around missing out has shifted to our digital lives," says Jeff Tinsley, CEO of MyLife. "The fact that many people would rather run a marathon or spend a night in jail than give up their Facebook or Twitter account is proof positive."

Not only are consumers afraid that they're missing out if they go too long between log-ins, but the younger generation often checks in with their friends and followers online before they've even rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

More than half of social media multitaskers want a solution to help them manage their online overload, and more than a quarter (27 percent) of those surveyed send messages from within their social network more than from their primary email account.

In August, MyLife launched Social Dashboard, a web and mobile platform that allows consumers to find connections and manage all of their communication, across multiple social networks and email accounts, in one place.

MyLife says its users also can easily control their profile presence across the Web, build and monitor one online identity including many profiles, and make personal and professional connections by searching more than 700 million profiles. The company reports having more than 60 million users.

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of MyLife from July 13-17, 2012, among 2,037 adults ages 18 and older.

This online survey isn't based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.