scholarly journals Who Benefits Most From Using Social Media, The Socially Rich or The Socially Poor?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Loes Pouwels ◽  
Loes Keijsers ◽  
Candice Odgers
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Art Research ◽  
New Research

Potential harmful effects of social media use on well-being have received ample attention in the public and scientific debate. Recent research suggests, however, that some individuals benefit from using social media. This article therefore questions: Who are likely to benefit most from social media, the socially rich (e.g., extraverted or socially supported individuals) or the socially poor (e.g., anxious or lonely individuals)? Existing empirical studies were suboptimally designed to address this question. To better understand the complex interplay between individuals’ social media use and psychosocial functioning, we introduce new research questions that are linked with appropriate state-of-the-art research methods.

scholarly journals The Effects of Social Media Use on Adult Well-Being and Ill-Being: What we Know and What We Need to Know

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti M. Valkenburg
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Past ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Impact

Research into the impact of social media use (SMU) on well-being (e.g., happiness) and ill-being (e.g., depression) has exploded in the past years. From 2019 to August 2021, 26 reviews have been published: nine meta-analyses, nine systematic reviews, and eight narrative reviews that together included hundreds of empirical studies. The aim of this umbrella review was to synthesize the results of these reviews. Even though the meta-analyses were largely based on the same evidence, they yielded inconsistent effect sizes, especially for time spent on SM, active SMU, and passive SMU. This umbrella review explains why these effects sizes disagree, summarizes the gaps in the literature, and ends with some important recommendations for future reviews and empirical research.

The effect of social media use on empathy and welling: a personality perspective in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mousa Albashrawi ◽  
Yousef Asiri ◽  
Muhammad Binsawad ◽  
Latifah Alqahtani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type

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.

scholarly journals Multi-Platform Social Media Use: Little Evidence of Impacts on Adult Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Lohmann ◽  
Emilio Zagheni
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Using Data

Social media have become a near-ubiquitous part of our lives. The growing concern that their use may alter our well-being has been met with elusive scientific evidence. Existing literature often simplifies social media use as a homogeneous process. In reality, social media use and functions vary widely depending on platform and demographic characteristics of users, and there may be qualitative differences between using few versus many different social media platforms. Using data from the General Social Survey, an underanalyzed data source for this purpose, we characterize intensive social media users and examine how differential platform use impacts well-being. We document substantial heterogeneity in the demography of users and show that intensive users tend to be young, female, more likely to be Black than Hispanic, from high SES backgrounds, from more religious backgrounds, and from families with migration background, compared to both non-users and moderate users. The intensity of social media use seemed largely unrelated to well-being in both unadjusted models and in propensity-score models that adjusted for selection bias and demographic factors. Among middle-aged and older adults, however, intensive social media use may be slightly associated with depressive symptoms. Our findings indicate that although mediums of communication have changed with the advent of social media, these new mediums are not necessarily detrimental to well-being.

scholarly journals Social media and mental health: Reviewing effects on eudaimonic well-being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
Omission Bias ◽  
Health And Well Being

Do social media affect users’ mental health and well-being? By now, considerable research has addressed this highly contested question. Prior studies have investigated the effects of social media use on hedonic well-being (e.g., affect and life satisfaction), psychopathology (e.g., depressive or anxiety symptoms), or psychosocial risk/resilience factors (e.g., loneliness, stress, self-esteem). Yet, public concern over social media effects often centers on more long-term negative outcomes, which may be better captured by indicators of eudaimonic well-being. Indeed, neglecting the eudaimonic side of well-being may have introduced outcome omission bias, since eudaimonia is both conceptually and empirically distinct from other dimensions of mental health and may be uniquely affected by social media use. Specifically, psychology currently theorizes eudaimonic well-being to be best represented by the experiences of (a) meaningfulness, (b) authenticity, and (c) self-actualization. A research synthesis of how social media use relates to these core indicators of eudaimonia is currently missing, however. We thus present a first narrative review that synthesizes both theoretical and empirical links between three key social media uses (i.e., active, passive, and “screen time”) and eudaimonic well-being. The synthesis shows that while there are indeed several plausible theoretical links, the evidence is too scarce and inconsistent to allow definitive conclusions at this time. We instead give recommendations for how the field can close important gaps by investigating whether social media afford or constrain opportunities to find meaning, live authentically, and grow as a person.

scholarly journals The Role of Social Media in Promoting Information Disclosure on Environmental Incidents: An Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Ling ◽  
Shan Gao ◽  
Wenhui Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Evolutionary Game ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Public

Despite the expectation that social media use in the public sector contributes to enhancing government's transparency, few studies have been investigated whether social media use actually leads to more disclosure during environmental incidents in practice and how social media influence local governments and their officials' information disclosure. In this article, we model information disclosure during environmental incidents as an evolutionary game process between the central government and local government in social media context, and examine the internal mechanism that how social media influence the progress of information disclosure during environmental incidents. The findings indicate that social media plays an active constructive role in central-local government game relations. Specific- ally, social media can provides an efficient information channels for the central government supervise regional officials in environmental incidents, and thus improves its supervision efficiency, and it also provides an important means for internet mobilization and online-offline interaction by encouraging the public exchange information and express their views, and in turn forces local governments and their officials tend to disclosure ahead.

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