Abstract
Given recent advances in technology, connectivity, and the popularity of social media platforms, recent literature has devoted great attention to problematic Facebook use. However, exploring the potential predictors of problematic social media use beyond Facebook use has become paramount given the increasing popularity of multiple alternative platforms. In this study, a sample of 584 social media users (Mage = 32.28 years; 67.81% female) was recruited to complete an online survey assessing sociodemographic characteristics, patterns, and preferences of social media use, problematic social media use (PSMU), social media use motives, psychological well-being, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect. Results indicated that 6.68% (n = 39) of all respondents could be potentially classed as problematic users. Moreover, further analysis indicated that intrapersonal motive (β = 0.38), negative affect (β = 0.22), daily social media use (β = 0.18), surveillance motive (β = 0.12), and positive affect (β = −0.09) each predicted PSMU. These variables accounted for about 37% of the total variance in PSMU, with intrapersonal motive driving the greatest predictive contribution, over and above the effects of patterns of social media use and sociodemographic variables. These findings contribute to the increasing literature on PSMU. The results of this study are discussed in light of the existing literature on PSMU.
Highlights
The use of social media has been growing exponentially, with social media being a globally recognized tool used by individuals, but by organizations, brands, and celebrities globally
problematic social media use (PSMU) was positively associated with intrapersonal motive (r = 0.51, p < 0.01), negative affect (r = 0.37), relationship maintenance motive (r = 0.31, p < 0.01), network expansion motive (r = 0.29, p < 0.01), and surveillance motive (r = 0.25, p < 0.01)
The final model estimated in the fifth step included intrapersonal motive (β = 0.37, t = 10.67), negative affect (β = 0.22, t = 6.66), daily social media use (β = 0.18, t = 5.37), surveillance motive (β = 0.12, t = 3.35), and positive affect (β = −0.09, t = −2.80) as significant predictors of PSMU, contributing ∼37.3% of the total variance in PSMU scores
Summary
The use of social media has been growing exponentially, with social media being a globally recognized tool used by individuals, but by organizations, brands, and celebrities globally. Social media reaches a large number of users worldwide, with as many as 71% of adolescents accessing more than one platform, with about 24% of all adolescents admitting to being constantly online due to increased mobile accessibility via smartphones (Lenhart et al, 2015). Judicious use of social media leads to many advantageous and beneficial psychosocial outcomes, such as greater social support (Tifferet, 2020), increased friendship quality (Wang et al, 2019b), higher levels of happiness (Ward et al, 2018), and decreased depression levels (Wang et al, 2019a)
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