Social Media Experience Research Articles

Age Variation Among US Adults' Social Media Experiences and Beliefs About Who Is Responsible for Reducing Health-Related Falsehoods: Secondary Analysis of a National Survey.

We live in a digital age where social media has become an essential part of people's lives. It is also one of the leading platforms responsible for spreading health-related falsehoods. This study explores who adults of different age groups perceive as responsible for reducing health-related falsehoods on social media. Despite growing concern over older adults' exposure to false health information on social media, little research examines their beliefs on how to address the problem. This study examines how the age of US adults is associated with their reported experiences with health-related falsehoods on social media and their beliefs about who should be tasked with reducing such falsehoods. This study is a secondary analysis of data from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey, a nationally representative survey of US adults (18 years and older). Multivariable logistic regressions estimated how a respondent's age was associated with their self-reported social media use, their difficulty to detect health-related falsehoods on social media, their discussion of health information found on social media with medical providers, and their beliefs regarding who should be responsible for reducing health-related falsehoods on social media. Regression estimates were adjusted for respondents' sociodemographic and health characteristics. Daily social media use decreased with respondents' age. Respondents aged 50-64 years (b=0.515, P=.01) and 65-74 years (b=0.697, P=.002) were more likely than respondents aged 18-34 years to report they strongly agree that it is difficult for them to detect health-related falsehoods on social media. Compared to younger adults, older adults (65-74 years: b=0.818, P=.002; 75 years and older: b=1.058, P<.001) were more likely to believe medical providers should be responsible for reducing online falsehoods. In addition to ongoing efforts by social media platforms to detect and remove falsehoods, the findings suggest medical providers should be tasked with discrediting health-related falsehoods on social media for older adults. However, time during the clinical visit is limited. Future research is needed to discover new approaches and tools tailored to older adults to assist with filtering and discrediting health-related falsehoods on social media.

The dual impact of social media on Asian Americans’ racial identity and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Based on social identity theory and the resilience literature, this study explored the ways social media impacted Asian Americans’ emotional well-being, racial identity negotiation, and coping strategies amid the surge in anti-Asian discourses during the Covid-19 pandemic. We interviewed 32 Asian Americans aged 18–59 ( M = 26.63, SD = 7.66; 28% = Ethnic Chinese) who had experienced anti-Asian sentiment on social media during the pandemic. Our study shows that social media played a contradictory role in how Asian Americans experience and cope with the surge in anti-Asian sentiment. Findings from our thematic analysis demonstrate that (1) the negative experiences of social media in conjunction with racial identity that influences Asian Americans’ psychological well-being, (2) the positive role of social media offering a space for collective solidarity, and (3) the positive role of social media activism as a means of collective coping and resilience.

Teen Talk: The Good, the Bad, and the Neutral of Adolescent Social Media Use

The debate on whether social media has a net positive or negative effect on youth is ongoing. Therefore, we conducted a thematic analysis on 2,061 posts made by 1,038 adolescents aged 15-17 on an online peer-support platform to investigate the ways in which these teens discussed popular social media platforms in their posts and to identify differences in their experiences across platforms. Our findings revealed four main emergent themes for the ways in which social media was discussed: 1) Sharing negative experiences or outcomes of social media use (58%, n = 1,095), 2) Attempts to connect with others (45%, n = 922), 3) Highlighting the positive side of social media use (20%, n = 409), and 4) Seeking information (20%, n = 491). Overall, while sharing about negative experiences was more prominent, teens also discussed balanced perspectives of connection-seeking, positive experiences, and information support on social media that should not be discounted. Moreover, we found statistical significance for how these experiences differed across social media platforms. For instance, teens were most likely to seek romantic relationships on Snapchat and self-promote on YouTube. Meanwhile, Instagram was mentioned most frequently for body shaming, and Facebook was the most commonly discussed platform for privacy violations (mostly from parents). The key takeaway from our study is that the benefits and drawbacks of teens' social media usage can co-exist and net effects (positive or negative) can vary across different teens across various contexts. As such, we advocate for mitigating the negative experiences and outcomes of social media use as voiced by teens, to improve, rather than limit or restrict, their overall social media experience. We do this by taking an affordance perspective that aims to promote the digital well-being and online safety of youth "by design."

Investigating how Cultural Contexts Shape Social Media Experiences and their Emotional Consequence

This study investigates the impact of cultural contexts on social media experiences and their emotional consequences. With over 4.8 billion global users, social media plays a pivotal role in shaping communication and interpersonal relationships. However, cultural factors such as individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance significantly influence how users engage with these platforms. Utilizing a quantitative approach, this research explores the relationships between cultural dimensions, social media engagement patterns, and emotional outcomes across diverse cultural groups. Data was collected from approximately 1,000 participants, equally divided between Western and Eastern cultural contexts, using standardized questionnaires assessing cultural orientation, social media usage, and emotional responses. The analysis revealed that individualism positively correlates with social media engagement (r = 0.450, p &lt; 0.01), while collectivism negatively affects engagement frequency (r = -0.320, p &lt; 0.05). High power distance (r = -0.290, p &lt; 0.05) and uncertainty avoidance (r = -0.350, p &lt; 0.01) negatively impacted user interactions, highlighting cultural constraints on online behavior. Furthermore, the study found that social media engagement mediates the relationship between cultural factors and emotional outcomes, with significant differences in emotional responses observed between Western (M = 4.80) and Eastern (M = 3.20) cultures. The findings emphasize the importance of culturally sensitive approaches in mental health interventions and social media platform design, advocating for tailored strategies that account for the unique needs and experiences of users from different cultural backgrounds. This research contributes to the growing body of literature at the intersection of culture, technology, and psychology, offering insights valuable for both academic and practical applications in enhancing user well-being in the digital age.

Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Youth Digital Well-Being Research: Identifying Notable Developments, Persistent Gaps, and Future Directions

The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad, multi-disciplinary overview of key insights, persistent gaps, and future paths in youth digital well-being research from the perspectives of researchers who are conducting this work. Participants included 38 researchers representing diverse disciplinary fields from universities and research institutes spanning 12 countries. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 researchers via Zoom and hosted a two-day virtual convening with 26 researchers, 13 of whom had participated in the interviews. We employed reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the interview and convening data. Our analysis surfaced three notable developments in youth digital well-being research: (1) greater nuance in measures of young people’s social media experiences, (2) increased representation of diverse adolescents’ experiences, and (3) a growing number of interventions targeting youth digital well-being. Persistent gaps include a relative lack of cross-cultural work, particularly in the Global South, as well as culturally sensitive interventions that fit the needs and contexts of diverse youth. By examining existing research through the perspectives of researchers spanning multiple fields, we contribute a cross-disciplinary view on the current state of knowledge and identify priorities for youth digital well-being research.

Diverse social media experiences and adolescents' depressive symptoms: the moderating role of neurobiological responsivity to rejected peers.

Adolescents' experiences with social media are complex and can impact their mental well-being differently. Our study aimed to understand how neurobiological sensitivities may moderate the association between different social media experiences and depressive symptoms. In a multiwave study, 80 adolescents (Mage = 13.06, SD = 0.58) took part in an functional magnetic resonance imaging task designed to gauge the neural responses when viewing accepted and rejected peers within their own social networks (Wave 1). We also collected self-reported measures of positive (digital social connection) and negative (digital pressure) experiences on social media and depressive symptoms (Waves 2 and 3). Our findings revealed that there were no significant associations between digital social connection, digital pressure, and depressive symptoms 1 year later. However, the association between digital social connection and depressive symptoms was moderated by neural responsivity. Specifically, for adolescents with reduced sensitivity to their rejected peers in the ventral striatum, right temporoparietal junction, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, digital social connection was associated with reduced depressive symptoms 1 year later. These results emphasize the importance of individual differences in how adolescents' brains respond to rejected peers in shaping the impact of online experiences on their mental well-being.

Breaking the Loop, Finding the Balance: Predictors of Social Media Detox among Graduate Students

Social media detox is recognized as an effective strategy for mitigating the negative impacts of excessive social media usage. This study explores the factors influencing graduate students’ decisions to engage in social media detox. Factors related to social media overload and general social media experience were examined as potential predictors. Data were collected using an online survey from 179 graduate students who are active on social media. The results of the study revealed a high prevalence of social media overload among graduate students, with information overload emerging as the strongest predictor of social media detox. This suggests that effectively managing the constant influx of information on social media platforms is crucial for reducing stress and promoting digital well-being among graduate students. The study provides practical implications and further research directions for promoting digital well-being and enhancing information management skills.

Leveraging critical literacy on social media interaction in acculturation

AbstractAcculturation is the process of psychological and behavioral change that individuals go through during and after intercultural contacts. Social media have become a major space for cross‐cultural encounters, and are important venues of socialization for marginalized populations. Intercultural encounters on social media may benefit or detriment the acculturation process, and how marginalized populations make sense of their social media experience is pivotal in this respect. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of research that examines non‐dominant ethnic groups' meaning‐making of and digital literacy practices on social media and how these practices relate to acculturation. To fill this research gap, this study collected data through semi‐structured interviews with 44 non‐dominant ethnic adolescents in Hong Kong. Through the theoretical lens of critical literacy, this study revealed various facets of literacy practices in which these underrepresented adolescents engaged and found that these practices, and the lack thereof, moderated their acculturation process on and beyond social media platforms. The findings suggest that critical digital literacy on social media interaction is critical to non‐dominant ethnic groups' acculturation process.

Negotiating Visibility: Mediating Presence through Zoom Camera Choices in Post-Secondary Students during COVID-19

Students at a large and socially diverse urban university completed an anonymous survey examining online learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic with an emphasis on decisions to keep their cameras on or off during synchronous class. The 505 student respondents used 7-point scales to assess their school performance and everyday life experiences during the pandemic, general classroom values, pre-pandemic and current pandemic experiences, technological proficiencies related to Zoom, and camera on/off attitudes, as well as the online behavior of professors, and the role of social media in their everyday lives. The findings underscored two motivations underlying school engagement. Students could be motivated by a need for belonging involving authentic self-presentation while experiencing the emotional presence of others, and/or be instrumentally motivated by a need to perform well and advance their careers. The importance of professors creating a safe online space to foster a sense of belonging was highlighted. Finally, the findings show that feelings about having one’s camera on or off during online classes are related to everyday social media experiences. The social-emotional and pragmatic aspects of university education are complementary facets of a university experience.

Exploring the impact of negative online feedback on well-being: A comprehensive analysis incorporating Big-Five personality traits and physiological responses

This study investigates the dynamics between social media engagement and well-being, employing a multi-dimensional analysis encompassing psychological, behavioral, social media usage patterns, and physiological perspectives. Through the utilization of electrodermal activity, our study identified a statistically significant increase following exposure to a negative comment. In addition, analysis of facial expressions revealed a variety of reactions, including laughter, irritation, sadness, and neutrality, once participants were confronted with the negative comment. Our analysis revealed intriguing insights into the relationship between personality traits and social media interactions. We observed that individuals with higher agreeableness were more likely to contemplate deactivating social media platforms. Conversely, lower levels of neuroticism were associated with self-reported social media addiction, while extraversion showed a positive correlation with increased posting frequency. These findings highlight the intricate relationship between individual personality traits and reactions to negative social media experiences, offering valuable insights into the complex dynamics of online interactions and their effects on overall well-being.

Factors Affecting the Clothing Purchase Intention of Young Consumers through Online

This research paper was conducted for the purpose of identifying the factors that influence the clothing purchase intention of young consumers who are used to shopping through online market. To serve the purpose of the study, a total of 100 (one hundred) respondents were selected through convenience sampling. The collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. The authors found that all factors namely time &amp; convenient, perceived past experience, perceived security; product variety, Website design and Service quality have significant impact on online clothing purchase intention of young generation. Through this study the authors suggest that social media has a beneficial effect on how customers behave while buying clothing companies. Social media experiences online are influencing study participants' decisions to purchase intention of clothing from a certain brand. The authors expect that this study will help the clothing brands to understand the purchase intention of their young consumers through online and it will help them to take necessary step to increase their online sales based on the significance level of each factor and contribute to the clothing industry.

Experiences of women with gestational diabetes in using social media for self-care: A qualitative study in Northern Vietnam

Aims: The present study aimed to explore the use and experience of social media to improve self-managed health care of women with GDM in Northern Vietnam. Materials and methods: A qualitative study was carried out among 21 pregnant women with GDM aged between 20 and 47 years in Thai Binh province, Northern Vietnam. We conducted in- depth open-ended interviews from April to May 2023. Data were simultaneously analyzed as they were being collected, using the content analysis approach. Results: Five types of social media support were used by women with GDM in self-care includ- ing Facebook, TikTok, Zalo, Google searches, and mobile health apps. These social media were used by the pregnant women with GDM to search for information, to receive advice, or to share knowledge about diet, exercise, and control blood sugar. Conclusions: This study found that women with GDM were eager users of social media, relying strongly on social media information for pregnancy self-care. This points to the need for access to high-quality social media-based information about GDM among women in northern Vietnam.

All Watched Over by Our Data Double

Abstract The term data double denotes information generated by and collected from users of networked communications to construct relational databases in marketing and other domains. Each subject (user) of this surveillance-panoptical system inevitably informs and objectifies all other subjects. Social media experiences are based on our continuously “tracked” engagement. Surveillance functions across written and spoken language, biometrics, geolocation, and visual and behavioral patterns. This text is primarily concerned with visual media and its production and (re)circulation as the accumulation of data through uploading, viewing, liking, commenting, remixing, and sharing. The article explores how selected media artists reflect upon the potential of recirculating information to reveal our data doubles and the surveillance-panoptical system.

Filter Bubbles and the Unfeeling: How AI for Social Media Can Foster Extremism and Polarization

Social media have undoubtedly changed our ways of living. Their presence concerns an increasing number of users (over 4,74 billion) and pervasively expands in the most diverse areas of human life. Marketing, education, news, data, and sociality are just a few of the many areas in which social media play now a central role. Recently, some attention toward the link between social media and political participation has emerged. Works in the field of artificial intelligence have already pointed out that there is a close link between the use of machine learning algorithms in social media and possible epistemic isolation, which could lead to political radicalization. The idea supporting this paper is that artificial intelligence for social media can actively put users’ deliberative capacity at risk and foster political extremism. To prove these claims, I proceed along two lines of inquiry. First, I focus on filter bubbles, namely the result of selections made by algorithms that recommend contents that meet users’ expectations and opinions. To analyze this phenomenon, I refer to the Deweyan model of experience. Second, I connect the filter bubbles problem to the Deweyan idea of deliberative and participatory democracy and Nussbaum’s concept of political compassion. The purpose of this paper is to provide a philosophical foundation that can both (1) effectively serve as a method for analyzing machine learning algorithms and their potential problems in relation to political extremism, and (2) be adopted as a standard to counter the danger of extremism associated with social media experience.

What drives the tourist Daka? An empirical study based on the perspective of dual motivation

ABSTRACT Tourist Daka, a recording behaviour displaying individuals’ tourism in virtual spaces, has become a major manifestation of travel experiences in modern social media. Through a dual motivation lens, this study investigated the relationship between Daka destination features, dual Daka motivations (i.e. intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation), and Daka intention to develop a model that outlines the influencing mechanism driving the occurrence of tourist Daka. The results demonstrated that: (1) Daka destination features evoke different Daka motivations; (2) intrinsic motivation triggers an individual’s emotions on Daka destination and affects their Daka intention, while extrinsic motivation only evokes their emotions on Daka destination; and further (3) individual’s tourism involvement plays a moderating role in the influencing path. This study provides theoretical data regarding studies of tourist behaviour and practical guidance for the development of novel tourism models.

Positive and negative social media experiences and proximal risk for suicidal ideation in adolescents.

Social media (SM) has received considerable attention as a potential risk factor for adolescent suicide. Few empirical studies, however, have examined adolescents' daily negative and positive experiences on SM and its proximal impacts on suicidal ideation (SI), particularly using intensive monitoring designs. Adolescents (N = 60; 14-17 years; 49% girls; 62% LGBTQ+) recruited using SM across the United States and participated in an 8-week intensive monitoring protocol. Ecological momentary assessment (three brief surveys per day) asked about negative and positive SM experiences and SI (passive and active). Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the within-person relationships between daily SM experiences (e.g. individual fluctuations compared to a person's average) and SI, controlling for average levels of SM experiences, SM use screen time, and lifetime SI. Significant within-person effects of negative and positive SM experiences were associated with days when adolescents had SI. Specifically, on days when teens endorsed more frequent negative SM experiences than usual, they were more likely to report SI. However, more positive SM experiences than usual were associated with a lower likelihood of having SI. There were no significant effects of SM use ('screen time') on SI or on the reverse associations of SI on next-day SM experiences. Results indicate that SM experiences may be dynamic and modifiable risk and protective factors for SI in adolescents, whereas there is no effect of SM screen time on SI. Our results highlight that targeting negative SM experiences and augmenting the positive experiences on SM may be critical targets to improve teens' mental health and prevent suicide, rather than focusing on limiting SM screen time.

Travel for women rights: social movements and the construction of travel as activism in social media

ABSTRACT Globalized social movements often require travel, but travel as a symbolic form of transnational activism has only been examined in certain instances. This paper employs the notion of political travel and, through a qualitative content analysis of social media posts during the 2018 pro-choice Irish referendum campaign, it shows how travel can be approached as a form of activism and resistance from a critical feminist angle in the context of a global campaign mediated by social media. Inspired by assemblage theory [De Landa, M. (2016). Assemblage theory. Edinburgh University Press.], our findings show how different elements; people, spaces, objects are assembled to construct the framing and narrative of a social movement that fights for women rights. The individual accounts of travel experiences in social media contributed to the overall ‘aestheticization’ of the social movement. Also, the study offered insights into the meanings that, predominantly female, travellers, assign to their political travel, which are in turn shaped by personal and historical concerns.

Subtle momentary effects of social media experiences: an experience sampling study of posting and social comparisons on connectedness and self-esteem

Subtle momentary effects of social media experiences: an experience sampling study of posting and social comparisons on connectedness and self-esteem

Whom to believe? Fostering source evaluation skills with interleaved presentation of untrustworthy and trustworthy social media sources

ABSTRACT We investigated how the sequence of presenting social media sources in an unsupervised inductive learning setting supports the acquisition of source evaluation skills in two different age groups. Participants were 63 upper and 59 lower secondary students. They had to identify characteristics of trustworthiness while studying sources labeled as trustworthy and untrustworthy presented in one of two ways: interleaved (alternating sequence) or blocked (without alternation). Upper secondary students recognized expertise and benevolence as key source characteristics earlier than their younger counterparts and discerned more reliably between trustworthy and untrustworthy sources. Interleaving fostered upper secondary students’ ability to recognize benevolence and elevated their trust in and use intention for trustworthy sources. This was reflected in higher perceived learning scores. For lower secondary students, unsupervised inductive learning resulted in low discernment scores, irrespective of sequence. Recognizing benevolence based on professional affiliations is particularly difficult for younger students with low social media experience.

Seeking information about Covid-19 vaccine on social media: a moderated mediated model of antecedents and behavioral outcomes

PurposeSocial media have been playing a critical role in seeking and sharing health related information and consequently shaping individuals’ health behaviors. This study investigates how information seeking about Covid-19 vaccine on social media is related to vaccine receiving intentions. The study furthers explores the association of trust in social media and uncertainty about Covid-19 with information seeking and the moderating role of prior social media experience on this association.Design/methodology/approachWe developed a questionnaire and collected data from 525 educated social media users through “Google Forms.” Further, we applied ordinary least squares (OLS) regress to test the study hypothesis.FindingsWe noted that trust in social media and uncertainty about Covid-19 vaccine positively influenced information seeking which further positively affected vaccine receiving intentions. However, the moderating effect of prior social media experience was not only noted as weak but also found negatively affecting the associations of trust in social media and uncertainty about Covid-19 vaccine with information seeking.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide insights into understanding of public perceptions regarding Covid-19 vaccine in the cultural contexts of a developing country. Further, it informs about the public patterns of seeking information related to health issues on social media, an understanding which may likely benefit policymakers, health care providers and researchers to understand the antecedents and behavioral outcomes of seeking information through social media during health crisis. The study also elucidates the leveraging power of social media to motivate the public to accept the Covid-19 vaccines.Originality/valueThe study uniquely combines the antecedents and behavioral outcomes of information seeking through social media in the particular context of Covid-19. It further extends the literature by introducing the conditional role of prior social media experience.