scholarly journals Social Media Browsing and Adolescent Well-Being: Challenging the “Passive Social Media Use Hypothesis”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti M. Valkenburg ◽  
Ine Beyens ◽  
J. Loes Pouwels ◽  
Irene Ingeborg van Driel ◽  
Loes Keijsers

A recurring hypothesis in the literature is that “passive” social media use (browsing) leads to negative effects on well-being. This preregistered study investigated a rival hypothesis, which states that the effects of browsing on well-being depend on person-specific susceptibilities to envy, inspiration, and enjoyment. We conducted a three-week experience sampling study among 353 adolescents (13-15 years, 126 assessments per adolescent). Using a novel, N=1 method of analysis, we found sizeable heterogeneity in the associations of browsing with envy, inspiration, and enjoyment (e.g., for envy ranging from β = -.44 to β = +.71). The passivity hypothesis was confirmed for 20% of adolescents and rejected for 80%. More adolescents with browsing-induced envy experienced negative effects on well-being (25%) than adolescents with no browsing-induced envy (13%). Conversely, more adolescents with browsing-induced enjoyment experienced positive effects on well-being (47%) than adolescents with no browsing-induced enjoyment (9%).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ine Beyens ◽  
J. Loes Pouwels ◽  
Irene Ingeborg van Driel ◽  
Loes Keijsers ◽  
Patti M. Valkenburg

This study investigated the effects of active private, passive private, and passive public social media use on adolescents’ well-being. Intensive longitudinal data (34,930 assessments in total) were collected through a preregistered three-week experience sampling study among 387 adolescents. Person-specific, N=1 time series were investigated, using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (DSEM). We identified a typology of person-specific social media effect patterns, consisting of 45% insusceptibles (i.e., adolescents who experienced no effects of the three types of social media use), 28% negative susceptibles (i.e., adolescents who only experienced negative effects), 26% positive susceptibles (i.e., adolescents who only experienced positive effects), and 1% mixed susceptibles (i.e., adolescents who experienced both positive and negative effects). Overall, the findings show that different adolescents respond to social media differently. Yet, active private, passive private, and passive public social media use only rarely yield different effects within one and the same adolescent.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti M. Valkenburg ◽  
Irene Ingeborg van Driel ◽  
Ine Beyens

A recurring claim in the literature is that “active” social media use (ASMU) leads to increases in well-being, whereas “passive” social media use (PSMU) leads to decreases in well-being. The aim of this scoping review was to investigate the validity of this claim by comparing the results of studies that appeared after the meta-analysis of Liu et al. (2019). We found 27 studies focusing on 85 different associations of ASMU or PSMU with well-being. Results showed that studies used a hodgepodge of operationalizations of ASMU and PSMU. Some mixed up private (e.g., direct messaging) and public (e.g., posting, browsing) ASMU and/or PSMU, which is problematic, because private SMU is more synchronous and intimate than public SMU, which may lead to different effects. The majority of the cross-sectional, virtually all the longitudinal, and most of the experience sampling studies disconfirmed the hypothesized associations of ASMU and PSMU with well-being. Moreover, the experiments revealed that the effects of PSMU depend on the content and sender of the posts. Our results indicate that it is time to abandon the active-passive dichotomy and replace it with a more valid measurement of SMU that takes characteristics of SM content, senders, and receivers into account.


2021 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 106510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lien Faelens ◽  
Kristof Hoorelbeke ◽  
Bart Soenens ◽  
Kyle Van Gaeveren ◽  
Lieven De Marez ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Reetta Oksa ◽  
Tiina Saari ◽  
Markus Kaakinen ◽  
Atte Oksanen

Working life has digitalized considerably in recent decades and organizations have taken into use new forms of collaborative technologies such as social media platforms. This study examined the relationship between social media use at work and well-being at work for millennials and members of former generations in Finland. The research data contained focus group interviews (N = 52), an expert organization survey (N = 563), and a nationally representative survey (N = 1817). Well-being measures included technostress, burnout, psychological distress, and a set of background variables. Content analysis and linear regression models were used as analysis methods. The results showed that millennials have various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for social media use at work. Intrinsic motivations included employees’ personal choice and their pure interest to follow the market and discussions in their own field. Extrinsic motivations were related mainly to organizations’ work culture and personal branding. The survey findings revealed, however, that millennials were not only more active social media users for work, but they also experienced higher technostress and burnout than members of former generations. Social media use motivations were associated with both higher and lower technostress and burnout depending on motivation, indicating that social media use can have both positive and negative effects. Overall, our findings suggest that employees tend to utilize social media more if their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled.


2021 ◽  
pp. 232948842110055
Author(s):  
Alice Labban ◽  
Lorenzo Bizzi

Research on the effects of social media use by employees on work behaviors is inconclusive and showed mixed findings. To bring clarity to the extant literature, instead of focusing on generic social media use, we focus on a specific social media behavior—communication via social media with coworkers and friends—and theorize that it simultaneously triggers positive and negative effects on work behaviors through the mediation of opposite emotions. More specifically, our empirical study shows that employee communication via social media leads simultaneously to positive behaviors, predicting organizational citizenship behaviors, and negative behaviors, predicting counterproductive work behaviors. Happiness mediates the relationship between communication with social media and organizational citizenship behavior. Fatigue mediates the relationship between communication with social media and counterproductive work behaviors. The negative effects are stronger for communication with friends while the positive effects are more pronounced for communication with colleagues. Results are particularly revealing. Paradoxically, communication via social media makes employees happy and tired at the same time, making them likely to support the organization and coworkers while simultaneously working in counterproductive manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mousa Albashrawi ◽  
Yousef Asiri ◽  
Muhammad Binsawad ◽  
Latifah Alqahtani

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media use on both empathy and well-being through using a five-factor model (FFM) of personality in the context of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the 13 regions in Saudi Arabia. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the reliability and validity of the study’s constructs and a structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the study hypotheses. Findings With a sample of 450 users, the regression results indicate a less significant relationship between personality and social media use, as well as between personality and affective empathy, while a more significant relationship between personality and cognitive empathy. Also, individuals’ well-being are influenced directly by the heavy use of social media. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design used in this research may not be able to provide the true essence of the hypothesized relationships compared to the cause-effect design. This study furthers the understanding of the role of personality on empathy and well-being in social media among Saudis from one side and provides insights to professionals for better improvement of social media and so better individuals’ well-being from the other side. Originality/value This paper fills an untapped gap in a developing country context by exploring the relationship between the usage of social media and the two dimensions of empathy, which, in turn, influence well-being under the theoretical lens of an FFM personality.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor A. Burke ◽  
Emily R. Kutok ◽  
Shira Dunsiger ◽  
Nicole R. Nugent ◽  
John V. Patena ◽  
...  

Preliminary reports suggest that during COVID-19, adolescents’ mental health has worsened while technology and social media use has increased. Much data derives from early in the pandemic, when schools were uniformly remote and personal/family stressors related to the pandemic were limited. This cross-sectional study, conducted during Fall 2020, examines the correlation between mental wellbeing and COVID-19-related changes in technology use, along with influence of COVID-19-related stressors, school status (in-person versus remote), and social media use for coping purposes, among 978 U.S. adolescents. Results suggest self-reported daily social media and technology use increased significantly from prior to COVID-19 through Fall 2020. Increased social media use was significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms regardless of other theoretical moderators or confounders of mental health (e.g., demographics, school status, importance of technology, COVID-19-related stress). Despite literature suggesting that remote learning may result in adverse mental health outcomes, we did not find local school reopening to be associated with current depressive/anxiety symptoms, nor with COVID-19-related increases in technology use. Self-reported use of social media for coping purposes moderated the association between increased social media use and mental health symptoms; in other words, some social media use may have positive effects. Although much prior research has focused on social media use as a marker of stress, we also found that increased video gaming and TV/movie watching were also associated with internalizing symptoms, in accordance with others' work. Future research should explore in more granular detail what, if any, social media and technology use is protective during a pandemic, and for whom, to help tailor prevention efforts.


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