Envy Sensitivity on Twitter and Facebook Among Japanese Young Adults

Abstract

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have grown to be popular communication tools that, ironically, have a negative aspect of increasing users' opportunity to feel envy. In this study, the authors examine the difference in the envy sensitivity people feel when online using several different social media and offline from social media (Study 1) and the types of people who are sensible to envy (Study 2), analyzing data gathering through questionnaire survey. The authors target Facebook and Twitter in this survey. As the results, Study 1 shows that people's envy sensitivity differ between offline from social media, on Twitter and on Facebook. Study 2 shows that people's envy sensitivity when on social media differed by their demographic categories. They also find that some types of usage objectives and user actions on social media are correlated with envy sensitivity. The authors hope that their findings will contribute to understanding the envy on social media and will help people avoid or cope with their envy.