Do SNSs really make us happy? The effects of writing and reading via SNSs on subjective well-being

Abstract

The use of social networking services has become popular with the ubiquity of digital devices, influencing individuals’ everyday lives. In this regard, this study examined how both writing and reading via SNSs affected individuals’ subjective well-being both positively and negatively. A hypothesized model was proposed to explore the mediating roles of concern about others’ feedback and self-affirmation between writing via SNSs and subjective happiness. The model also incorporated the mediating roles of feelings of relative deprivation and vicarious satisfaction between reading via SNSs and subjective happiness. Surveys were administered to 516 adult SNS users in South Korea, and the data were subjected to structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that both writing and reading via SNSs may influence individuals’ subjective happiness through multiple mediators. The findings also suggest that individuals’ gender might play a role as moderators for some of the relations in the model.