Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine if belonging to online communities and social media identity bubbles predict youth problem gambling. An online survey was administered to 15–25-year-old participants in the United States (N = 1212), South Korea (N = 1192), Spain (N = 1212), and Finland (N = 1200). The survey measured two dimensions of online behavior: perceived sense of belonging to an online community and involvement in social media identity bubbles. Belonging to an online community was examined with a single item and involvement in social media identity bubbles was measured with the six-item Identity Bubble Reinforcement Scale. The South Oaks Gambling Screen was used to assess problem gambling. Statistical analyses utilized linear regression modeling. According to the analyses, strong sense of belonging to an online community was associated with higher problem gambling, but the association was observed mainly among those young individuals who were also involved in social media identity bubbles. For those youths who did not indicate identity bubble involvement, online relationships appeared to function as those offline. Some differences across the four countries were observed but overall, the results indicate that social media identity bubbles could partly explain the harmful influence that some online relations have on youth behavior.
Highlights
The Internet and social media have remarkably shaped the world and people’s everyday lives in a relatively short amount of time
In terms of our interaction analyses, we discovered that strong belonging to an online community was associated with higher problem gambling behavior in the United States, South Korea, and Spain, but the association was observed mainly among those participants who were involved in social media identity bubbles
In terms of this study, we found that when youths were concurrently involved in social media identity bubbles based on shared identity, homophily, and reliance on in-group information, belonging to an online community was associated with higher problem gambling behavior
Summary
The Internet and social media have remarkably shaped the world and people’s everyday lives in a relatively short amount of time. Communication and information flow which used to require a considerable amount of time and were tied to physical locations can happen in an instant and without the limitations of place, distance, or time zones This societal and technological change impacts people of all ages, but its effects can be observed among the younger generations often referred to as the digital generation or digital natives [1,2], as they have grown up with the Internet and advanced technology. These technological developments have impacted the gambling industry, as the Internet has allowed gambling businesses to expand their services through different online platforms on a multitude of devices [3,4]. Given that the technological developments and the growth of the gambling industry are concurrent, this cross-national study set to
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