Do socially anxious and non-anxious individuals differ in their social media use?

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that socially anxious individuals prefer technology-mediated communication over face-to-face interactions. The aim of this study was to examine possible differences between socially anxious and non-anxious individuals on social media. The online survey included 1, 174 Croatian female participants. The questionnaire contained sociodemographic data and indicators of social comparison, offline social support, time spent on social media, and type of social media use, as well as the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Self-Like and Self-Competence Scale (SLSC-R). Socially anxious individuals did not significantly differ from non-socially anxious individuals in terms of time spent on social media, but their use of social media was different. Controlling for age, social comparison, level of depressiveness and self-esteem, less active use increased the risk of belonging to the socially anxious group. Offline social support did not significantly moderate the relationship between active use of social media and social anxiety but was a significant correlate of social anxiety. Future research should examine whether online social support can encourage socially anxious users to use social media more actively, to reduce social anxiety in the long term.