Social Media Engagement and Psychological Wellbeing Among Emerging Adults

Research has rarely examined how the COVID-19 pandemic may affect teens’ social media engagement and psychological wellbeing, and even less research has compared the difference between teens with and without mental health concerns. We collected and analyzed weekly data from January to December 2020 from teens in four Reddit communities (subreddits), including teens in r/Teenagers and teens who participated in three mental health subreddits (r/Depression, r/Anxiety, and r/SuicideWatch). The results showed that teens’ weekly subreddit participation, posting/commenting frequency, and emotion expression were related to significant pandemic events. Teen Redditors on r/Teenagers had a higher posting/commenting frequency but lower negative emotion than teen Redditors on the three mental health subreddits. When comparing posts/comments on r/Teenagers, teens who ever visited one of the three mental health subreddits posted/commented twice as frequently as teens who did not, but their emotion expression was similar. The results from the Interrupted Time Series Analysis (ITSA) indicated that both teens with and without mental health concerns reversed the trend in posting frequency and negative emotion from declining to increasing right after the pandemic outbreak, and teens with mental health concerns had a more rapidly increasing trend in posting/commenting. The findings suggest that teens’ social media engagement and emotion expression reflect the pandemic evolution. Teens with mental health concerns are more likely to reveal their emotions on specialized mental health subreddits rather than on the general r/Teenagers subreddit. In addition, the findings indicated that teens with mental health concerns had a strong social interaction desire that various barriers in the real world may inhibit. The findings call for more attention to understand the pandemic’s influence on teens by monitoring and analyzing social media data and offering adequate support to teens regarding their mental health wellbeing.

Background Social media has emerged as a common source of dermatological information. Monitoring the patterns of social media use and engagement is important to counteract the limitations of social media. However, evidence in Vietnamese dermatology patients is lacking. Objective This study aimed to explore social media use and engagement by dermatology patients and to identify factors associated with social media use and engagement. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 519 participants at the Vietnam National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology during September to November 2018. Data about sociodemographic characteristics, social media use, and social media engagement were collected. Multivariate logistic and tobit regression models were used to identify factors associated with social media use and engagement. Results Interest in information about “cosmetic, beauty, and skincare techniques” was the greatest (184/519, 46.2%). The mean engagement score was 8.4 points (SD 2.4 points). Female patients were more likely to use social media (odds ratio [OR] 2.23, 95% CI 1.23-4.06) and be interested dermatological information on social media (OR 3.09, 95% CI 1.35-7.09). Women also had higher social media engagement scores (coefficient=0.68, 95% CI 0.17-1.18). Higher social media engagement scores were related with Instagram use (coefficient=0.58, 95% CI 0.00-1.15) and higher credibility scores for “family members” (coefficient=0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.26) and “dermatology companies” (coefficient=0.22, 95% CI 0.04-0.39). Conclusions This study discovered high social media usage among dermatology patients. However, only moderate utilization and credibility levels were reported regarding the use of social media as a source of dermatological information. More efforts should focus on involving dermatologists in the development of individualized information on social media targeting specific groups of dermatology patients.

Background:Breast cancer is the major concern worldwide and in India too. Lack of awareness is one of the causes of increasing mortality rate in India. Social media is playing an important role in health communication including breast cancer information. In India, number of women are using social media.Objective:To explore the impact of social media usage and engagement in enhancing knowledge and practices to prevent breast cancer among women of India.Methodology:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Delhi-National Capital Region of India with a sample of 649 women (response rate 83.51%). The questionnaire consisted of three sections. In first section, sociodemographic details (four items) were collected, second section contained five items on social media use and engagement and third part included items on knowledge about risk factors (seven items), symptoms (eight items), and screening (six items) of breast cancer and practice (seven items). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Cramer-V test, and structural equation modeling-Analysis of a moment structure were used to identify the relationship between social media engagement and knowledge and practices of women.Results:Around 80% (431/542) of women have medium level of social media engagement and 20% are highly engaged. The slope coefficient of the relationship between social media engagement and knowledge is 0.805 and between knowledge and practice is 0.309, Chi-square value is 52.053 and 29.624, Cramer-V statistics is 0.310 and 0.165, respectively, which indicates significant relationship.Conclusion:The study result justified significant impact of social media engagement on knowledge and practices of women to prevent breast cancer.

This study examines the role of self-concept as a mediator in the relationship between TikTok @_Project.xo usage and psychological well-being among Generation Z in Indonesia using PROCESS Macro analysis. The focus of this study is to deepen the theoretical understanding of the internal mechanisms linking social media engagement and psychological well-being. Collect a quantitative approach with a descriptive-correlative design from 150 Generation Z respondents selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using three standardized instruments: the Social Media Engagement Scale for Adolescents (SMES-A), the Robson Self Concept Questionnaire, and the Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale (18 items). The analysis shows that self-concept significantly mediates the relationship between TikTok usage and psychological well being (β = 0.057; 95% CI = 0.022–0.094). TikTok usage does not have a direct effect on psychological well-being, but has an indirect effect through self-concept. This indicates that self-concept serves as a full mediator. These findings enrich the literature on the psychological well-being of Generation Z in Indonesia and open up further research directions to explore other mediator or moderator variables.

Problematic social media use is becoming a significant social and clinical concern, and there is growing research interest in the psychological factors involved, such as personality predispositions and the fear of missing out (FOMO). The present study investigated both the dark triad (DT, namely, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and trait emotion intelligence (trait EI) in relation to the problematic use of technology and social media engagement and the mediating role of FOMO. A total of 788 people between 18 and 35 years old (M = 24.22; SD = 3.91; 75% women) were surveyed. The results showed that social media engagement was positively related to problematic social media use and negatively related to trait EI. In addition, problematic social media use was positively related to DT and negatively related to trait EI. Fear of missing out was positively related to social media engagement, problematic social media use, and DT, and negatively related to trait EI. Fear of missing out had a mediating effect on the relationship between personality dimensions, problematic social media use, and social media engagement. The extent to which personality traits may underpin problematic use of social media and the practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The increasing use of social media has led government agencies to take initiatives for using social media as an additional platform, apart from websites, to disseminate information; especially, regarding the services offered by government agencies. However, a paucity of empirical research on social media engagement with regard to government agencies has been recorded. The present study explores social media usage and engagement on Malaysian government agencies’ Facebook pages. Eight government agencies with the highest usage of Facebook have been selected. Data are collected from Graph API for the publicly visible posts. The content analysis is conducted on texts and messages. The findings related to social media engagement are presented, revealing that likes are the most common mode of engagement. Further study is required, using statistical analysis, to measure social media engagement on government agencies social media platform.

The aim of this article is to study the impact of social media engagement and public attention on Pfizer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study focuses on Twitter to investigate Pfizer's social media activity and engagement during the pandemic. We analyze different social media engagement metrics, such as conversation rates, speed of information diffusion, and public approval ratings. In addition, we use Google Trends to track changes in public attention toward pandemic-related keywords like “COVID-19” and “COVID-19 booster shot” and examine their relationship with Pfizer's stock returns. Our findings suggest that social media engagement during the pandemic had a significant positive impact on Pfizer's returns. Furthermore, we show that, while high levels of public attention toward COVID-19 and COVID-19 booster shot negatively impact Pfizer's returns, social media engagement has a positive incremental effect on the company's returns during periods of heightened public attention.

This study investigates the relationship between social media use and frailty in older adults, focusing on the influence of social media engagement and various frailty-related factors. A survey was conducted with 103 participants aged 65 and above, who completed a questionnaire on their social media usage, psychological well-being, dietary habits, physical activity, sleep patterns, and social interactions. Frailty was assessed using the Kihon Checklist, categorizing participants into non-frailty, pre-frailty, and frailty groups. The analysis was conducted using ordinal logistic regression to examine the relationship between social media usage and other frailty-related factors (e.g., psychological factors, sociality, diet, and exercise) with frailty status. The findings revealed that social media engagement was significantly associated with frailty status, with higher levels of engagement linked to reduced frailty. Specifically, participants who reported higher levels of social media interaction also reported better psychological well-being, increased social interaction, and greater engagement in physical and leisure activities. These results suggest that social media use may have a positive impact on frailty, potentially by enhancing social connectivity and promoting healthier lifestyle choices in older adults. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms through which social media can mitigate frailty and promote healthy aging.

Men’s cosmetic surgery rates are increasing globally. Existing literature suggests that social media engagement encourages women to undergo cosmetic surgery, yet the relationship between social media and cosmetic surgery for men remains underexamined. The aim of this study was therefore to explore if social media engagement impacted men’s interest in undergoing cosmetic surgery. Using an adapted version of the Passive and Active Use Measure to assess social media engagement, the relationship between social media engagement and cosmetic surgery consideration was explored. Among 311 American adult men (Mage = 37.7), passive social media engagement (e.g., viewing photos, browsing profiles) was found to have a small positive relationship with consideration of cosmetic surgery (p < .05, 95% CI [0.12, 0.49]). Conversely, Active Non-social media engagement (e.g., posting videos, tagging) and Active Social media engagement (e.g., posting statuses, commenting) did not predict cosmetic surgery consideration. These results demonstrate that the ways in which men use social media (rather than whether or not they use social media in general) determines their interest in cosmetic surgery. While social media engagement is a known correlate for appearance dissatisfaction in women, this study provides evidence that social media engagement is potentially also harmful to men’s body image. This preliminary research may contribute to informing best clinical practice for men experiencing body dissatisfaction. Namely, reducing passive social media use may alleviate men’s likelihood of pursing cosmetic surgery, in turn reducing their exposure to the physical and psychological risks associated with undergoing cosmetic surgery.

Privacy concerns and social media usage continue to increase in parallel for many online consumers. While researchers have suggested the negative impact of privacy concerns on social media engagement, it is also observable that privacy concerns do not prevent users from disclosing their personal information online while using social media, in other words a privacy paradox exists. Noting this interesting discrepancy, our research investigates various factors influencing the relationship between privacy concerns and social media engagement. Privacy related factors are examined along with social media constructs as potential moderators that would explain why privacy concerns do/do not affect social media engagement. To explore these relationships, an online survey was conducted with a total of 760 US social media consumers. Results determined that privacy concerns negatively influenced social media engagement to the extent that users have privacy protection behaviors, social media trust, and social media fatigue. Interestingly, when users have high trust on social media platforms, social media engagement is more likely to increase despite privacy concerns. To increase engagement from consumers on these platforms, brands should look to establish transparent interactions with consumers that ensure data privacy and limit data surveillance.

Purpose With the rise of virtual influencers (VIs) in digital marketing, their role in fostering parasocial relationships with followers has gained significant attention. However, few studies have examined how these interactions influence followers’ psychological well-being and engagement intentions. Consequently, this study explores parasocial interactions between VIs and their followers within the context of digital marketing communication. We assess how the communication strategies of language similarity, interest similarity and self-disclosure employed by VIs impact followers’ perceived friendship, psychological well-being, social media engagement and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach This investigation surveyed 587 US participants, all followers of human-like VIs. The study examined communication strategies employed by VIs, including language similarity, interest similarity and self-disclosure and their effects on followers’ perceived friendship, psychological well-being, social media engagement and purchase intention. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze these relationships. Findings Language and interest similarity significantly enhance perceived friendship, while self-disclosure strengthens both perceived friendship and psychological well-being. Interaction frequency had no significant effect on friendship. Perceived friendship positively influences well-being and social media engagement but does not directly affect purchase intention. However, psychological well-being significantly drives both engagement and purchase intention. Indirect effects illustrate that language similarity, interest similarity and self-disclosure influence engagement and purchasing through their impact on friendship and well-being. Originality/value This study extends the parasocial interaction framework to VIs, emphasizing how communication strategies foster virtual relationships. It provides new insights into how perceived friendship and well-being mediate these effects, deepening our understanding of the dynamics between digital communication and follower intention in VI marketing.

Enhancing Customer Engagement in Social Media with AI – a Higher Education case study

Several variables influencing student loyalty formation include brand image, trust, and social media engagement. This research aims to understand brand loyalty within private universities in West Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The study focuses on the influence of brand image and investigates the mediating roles of brand trust and social media engagement in shaping brand loyalty among students and alumni. The sample size of 148 respondents, including active students and non-graduating alums from public universities, was chosen to capture a diverse perspective on brand loyalty in higher education. The research method employed was Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and the data was gathered from official social media accounts managed by four regional private universities. The aim was to provide a rigorous and comprehensive analysis. The results of this study indicate that the brand image of private tertiary institutions has a positive effect on brand trust, the brand image does not affect loyalty, brand image has a positive impact on social media engagement, brand trust has no effect on brand loyalty, social media engagement has no impact on brand loyalty, and there is no direct relationship between brand image loyalty through the variable brand trust and social media engagement and social media engagement. Brand image, trust, and social media engagement do not affect student loyalty. The company's managers strive through social media to provide information that consumers need anytime and anywhere, in addition to providing services related to advice and physical services offered on bicycle products through particular messages on social media.

Purpose The rapid growth of social media has changed how people interact and connect with one another while also giving rise to new social-media associated psychological experiences, such as the well-known fear of missing out (FoMO) and the somewhat new phenomena, the joy of missing out (JoMO). This study aims to develop a new scale for measuring JoMO and explore its independent nature and relationships with well-being, social comparison and demographic variables. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 230 participants filled out an online survey, including questions about demographic details, well-being, social media engagement, social comparison, FoMO and a new JoMO scale. The data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling. Findings The study confirmed the validity and reliability of the new JoMO scale in three sub-categories: active JoMO, passive JoMO and coping with disconnection. Younger individuals and those who were single, with weaker psychological well-being, higher engagement in social media and greater social comparison inclinations tended to experience higher levels of FoMO. Conversely, older individuals, women and those who enjoyed stronger psychological well-being and reduced social media engagement demonstrated higher levels of JoMO. The findings also suggest a complex relationship between FoMO and JoMO. Practical implications The creation of an innovative JoMO measurement tool could transform both scholarly research and practical approaches to digital media interactions. This tool offers a deeper understanding of the intricate links between JoMO and factors such as social comparison and FoMO, paving the way for targeted interventions. By utilizing this, experts can foster healthier online behaviors and better psychological health through increased JoMO consciousness, reduced social media engagement and social comparisons, and FoMO management. Therefore, this fresh instrument assists in clarifying and improving how individuals engage with digital technology. Originality/value This research validates the JoMO scale, enhancing our understanding of JoMO and its potential effects on well-being, as well as its associations with other variables. In addition, this research provides valuable insights for future studies on social media use and JoMO, and for developing effective strategies for managing healthier online experiences.

The increasing prevalence of social media use among university students has raised important questions about its relationship with psychological well-being, particularly regarding experiences of loneliness and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). This study investigated gender differences in social media engagement, FoMO, and loneliness among university students, examining three key hypotheses concerning gender variations in these dimensions. Data were collected from 450 students across Slovak universities using standardized instruments: the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Social Media Engagement Questionnaire (SMEQ), and FoMO Scale. Statistical analyses revealed significant gender differences in both social media use and FoMO, with female students demonstrating higher levels in both dimensions. Notably, while female participants showed more intensive social media engagement and higher FoMO scores, no significant gender-based differences emerged in loneliness levels. These findings suggest a complex relationship between digital engagement and psychological well-being that varies by gender. The study contributes to the growing body of research on digital behaviour and mental health among young adults, highlighting the need for gender-specific interventions to promote healthier social media usage patterns. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of developing targeted support strategies for university students navigating the challenges of digital social connection.