scholarly journals The Effects of the Fear of Missing Out on People's Social Networking Sites Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Online Relational Closeness and Individuals' Online Communication Attitude

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Gioia ◽  
Giulia Fioravanti ◽  
Silvia Casale ◽  
Valentina Boursier

Forced isolation induced by COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted individuals' well-being, reducing the opportunities for social encounters, consequently resulting in a greater use of social media in order to maintain social relationships. Although the range of friend-related activities appeared to be severely constrained during quarantine, the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) needs to be carefully examined, especially in relation to problematic social networking site use (PSNSU). Indeed, FoMO might enhance individuals' need to stay connected and communicate with other people, leading to PSNSU, in order to face the fear of being invisible in the world of social media in circumstances of physical isolation. The present study sought to evaluate the predictive role of FoMO on PSNSU during the COVID-19 pandemic, testing the mediating effect of online relational closeness and online communication attitude. A total of 487 Italian adults (59.3% women), aged between 18 and 70 years (mean age = 29.85 years; SD = 9.76), responded to an online survey during the period of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy. The survey included self-report measures assessing perceived FoMO, online communication attitude, relational closeness with online friends, and PSNSU. Participants declared they spent significantly more time social networking during the pandemic, particularly women. The total model accounted for a significant amount of variance in participants' PSNSU [R2 = 0.54; F(9, 447) = 58.285, p < 0.001). Despite the other people's social rewarding experiences had been drastically reduced by the lockdown, findings showed a direct effect of FoMO on PSNSU. Moreover, FoMO had an effect on online communication attitude and online relational closeness, although only online communication attitude predicted, in turn, PSNSU. Conversely, relational closeness on social networking sites did not predict PSNSU. The present study suggests that, during COVID-19 lockdown, FoMO levels may have strengthened attitudes toward online communication, which, in turn, may have put some individuals at risk of PSNSU.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Qassim Alwan Saeed ◽  
Khairallah Sabhan Abdullah Al-Jubouri

Social media sites have recently gain an essential importance in the contemporary societies، actually، these sites isn't simply a personal or social tool of communication among people، its role had been expanded to become "political"، words such as "Facebook، Twitter and YouTube" are common words in political fields of our modern days since the uprisings of Arab spring، which sometimes called (Facebook revolutions) as a result of the major impact of these sites in broadcasting process of the revolution message over the world by organize and manage the revolution progresses in spite of the governmental ascendance and official prohibition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Franciska Krings ◽  
Irina Gioaba ◽  
Michèle Kaufmann ◽  
Sabine Sczesny ◽  
Leslie Zebrowitz

Abstract. The use of social networking sites such as LinkedIn in recruitment is ubiquitous. This practice may hold risks for older job seekers. Not having grown up using the internet and having learned how to use social media only in middle adulthood may render them less versed in online self-presentation than younger job seekers. Results of this research show some differences and many similarities between younger and older job seekers' impression management on their LinkedIn profiles. Nevertheless, independent of their impression management efforts, older job seekers received fewer job offers than younger job seekers. Only using a profile photo with a younger appearance reduced this bias. Implications for the role of job seeker age in online impression management and recruitment are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Sciara ◽  
Daniela Villani ◽  
Anna Flavia Di Natale ◽  
Camillo Regalia

Facebook and other social networking sites allow observation of others’ interactions that in normal, offline life would simply be undetectable (e.g., a two-voice conversation viewable on the Facebook wall, from the perspective of a real, silent witness). Drawing on this specific property, the theory of social learning, and the most direct implications of emotional contagion, our pilot experiment (N = 49) aimed to test whether the exposure to others’ grateful interactions on Facebook enhances (a) users’ felt gratitude, (b) expressed gratitude, and (c) their subjective well-being. For the threefold purpose, we created ad hoc Facebook groups in which the exposure to some accomplices’ exchange of grateful messages for 2 weeks was experimentally manipulated and users’ felt/expressed gratitude and well-being were consequently assessed. Results partially supported both hypotheses. Observing others’ exchange of grateful posts/comments on Facebook appeared to enhance participants’ in-person expression of gratitude (i.e., self-reported gratitude expression within face-to-face interactions), but not their direct and subjective experiences of gratitude. Similarly, exposure to others’ grateful messages improved some components of subjective well-being, such as satisfaction with life, but not negative and positive affect. Taken together, however, our preliminary findings suggest for the first time that social networking sites may actually amplify the spreading of gratitude and its benefits. Implications of our results for professionals and future research in the field of health, education, and social media communication are discussed.


Author(s):  
Ariane J. Utomo

Across developing countries, the role of social networks and social capital in facilitating women's access to income is well documented. However, less is known about how networks facilitated by social networking sites (SNS) may transform women's economic opportunities in these regions. In this chapter, I draw upon a relatively recent phenomenon of the use of SNS as a medium of trade in urban Indonesia. In 2010, I conducted preliminary interviews to examine the dynamics of Facebook-facilitated trade among urban middle-class married women residing in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The interviews highlighted beneficial links between social media, social capital, and productivity – by means of increased personal income. However, this effective link between SNS and income-generating social capital is likely to be a rather distinctive example, as it depends largely on the class, gender, and cultural specificities that shape the nature of online and offline social interactions among my target group.


Author(s):  
Melanie Keep ◽  
Anna Janssen ◽  
Krestina Amon

Sharing images online, particularly through social networking sites (SNSs), is a widespread activity. The popularity of image sharing on SNSs has provided researchers with a unique opportunity for investigating how and why we communicate with each other via images. This chapter discusses research about photo sharing on three popular SNSs: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The unique affordances of each platform have resulted in differences in the images people share on them, and why people choose to share or view different images across the different SNSs. Personal characteristics also shape how and why we share images online. The chapter, therefore, also considers the role of age, gender, and personality on image sharing behaviors and preferences. Finally, the chapter outlines our current understanding of the interrelationship between image sharing and mental health. This chapter thus considers: Who shares images on social media? What do they share? Why do they share these images? What are the mental health consequences of image sharing on SNSs?


SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402091953
Author(s):  
Sven Stollfuß

This article discusses fitness content on Instagram as a form of social media entertainment (SME). A conceptual article that presents a literature review of studies on fitness postings on social media, it examines the research on communitainment values in online fitness content. While online entertainment on social media differs from traditional mass media such as television and movies, new concepts of social media–related entertainment have been described in the field of communication and media studies. Based on a literature review of online entertainment research on media effects and content-oriented approaches of so-called “social media entertainment” (SME), this article intends to discuss fitness postings and their corresponding community-driven communication as “communitainment.” Aspects of fitness content will be further explained in terms of (a) self-representation and self-disclosure, (b) community building, and (c) media use and well-being, thereby highlighting the new dynamics of fitness communitainment on social networking sites (SNSs).


2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412093618
Author(s):  
Kelly Moore ◽  
Georgiana Craciun

With the exponential increase in the number of social networking sites (SNS) users, there is also a significant shift in the popularity of these SNS. Moreover, fear of missing out (FOMO) is often blamed for the growth in SNS addictive tendencies. The current research examines the influence of FOMO and Big 5 personality traits on SNS attitudes, usage, and addictive tendencies in the context of an increasingly popular SNS – Instagram. Participants completed online questionnaires that assessed their personality traits and then be-friended one of the researchers on Instagram, which provided the actual Instagram activity data (e.g., total number of Instagram posts, total number of likes, etc.). Hierarchical regression results showed that personality factors explained significant amounts of variance in terms of attitude towards Instagram, number of likes, total number of Instagram posts since account inception, and social media addictive tendencies. Furthermore, FOMO had a significant positive effect on attitude toward Instagram, the total number of Instagram accounts that respondents followed, and social media addictive tendencies.


2021 ◽  
Vol volume 05 (issue 2) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Zowaina Azhar ◽  
Dr. Abdul Rehman Qaisar ◽  
Kanza Mahmood

The study attempts to explain the role of social networking sites in bringing social change through youth. The study used cause and effect research design in order to determine how social networking sites are affecting the trend of social protests. Data was collected from different professions, occupations and educational institutions of Punjab, Pakistan, through a well-developed questionnaire. To conduct the study, a sample size of 300 respondents was chosen to get accurate findings. Convenience sampling was used where the respondents were selected according to their availability and ease from a sample size of 300 respondents was selected. The findings of the study revealed that social networking sites are playing a significant role in bringing social change in a society, especially through youth, ranging from 21 to 25 years of age. Males are showing greater support to these protests. Moreover, governments do not get much involved in issues through social media; rather they try to use traditional means of involvement. It was also concluded that people who believe that protesting through social media is non-violent, show greater support in favor of it.


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