General Social Networking Sites Research Articles

Passive social networking sites use and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents: The roles of upward social comparison and body dissatisfaction and its sex differences

Previous research has indicated a link between social networking site (SNS) use and eating behaviors, but the underlying mechanisms have not been well explored. This study investigated the role of upward social comparison and body dissatisfaction in the relationship between passive SNS use and disordered eating (DE) behaviors, as well as sex differences. A total of 744 middle school students (51.6% female, Mage = 12.87 years, SD = 0.68) completed self-report questionnaires regarding passive SNS use, upward social comparison, body dissatisfaction, and DE behaviors. Results revealed that: 1) girls reported significantly higher levels of passive SNS use, body dissatisfaction, and DE behaviors than boys; 2) passive SNS use was a significant predictor of DE behaviors both sexes; 3) body dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between passive SNS use and DE behaviors for girls; 4) the chain mediating effects of upward social comparison and body dissatisfaction between passive SNS use and DE behaviors were found only among adolescent girls; 5) Compared to boys, body dissatisfaction in girls is more significantly related to DE behaviors, and upward social comparison is more closely related to body dissatisfaction in girls. These findings suggest that passive SNS use, rather than general SNS use, was related to body dissatisfaction and eating concerns. Interventions targeting specific passive SNS users may be an effective avenue for the prevention and management of body-related concerns and disordered eating behavior in adolescent girls.

Pre-service Teachers' Use of General Social Networking Sites Linked to Current Scenarios: Nature and Characteristics

Social networking sites form part of everyday life in classrooms at all educational levels. Within these, general social networking sites (GSNSs) offer pre-service teachers flexibility, versatility and the possibility of forming educational communities by connecting formal, non-formal and informal settings. This research analyses the nature, intensity, and type of pre-service teachers’ use of such for educational purposes in their initial training in order to detect the most important aspects for improvement. Possible factors shaping behaviour were gender, whether individuals belonged to universities operating online or in person, differences in the types of studies they were undertaking, and the time at which the questionnaire was administered, before or after the COVID-19 health crisis. To this end, we studied how much and with what aims these students use the most widely used GSNSs for educational purposes. To do so, we administered a questionnaire to a total of 812 students from 6 Spanish universities. The results show a preference for WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram. In addition, it was found that undergraduate students used them more intensively than postgraduate students. In the case of online universities, there was a greater need to cover affective and emotional aspects than in in-person universities. As in almost all areas, the situation caused by COVID-19 changed the way social networks were used. The findings also show that pre-service teachers consumed more information on social media than what they produced, which leads to a failure to fully exploit social capital and potential job or academic opportunities that could be generated through their own creations.

The Impact of Internet and Social Media Use on Well-Being: A Longitudinal Analysis of Adolescents Across Nine Years

Abstract The present research examines the longitudinal average impact of frequency of use of Internet and social networking sites (SNS) on subjective well-being of adolescents in Germany. Based on five-wave panel data that cover a period of nine years, we disentangle between-person and within-person effects of media use on depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction as indicators of subjective well-being. Additionally, we control for confounders such as TV use, self-esteem, and satisfaction with friends. We found that frequency of Internet use in general and use of SNS in particular is not substantially related subjective well-being. The explanatory power of general Internet use or SNS use to predict between-person differences or within-person change in subjective well-being is close to zero. TV use, a potentially confounding variable, is negatively related to satisfaction with life, but it does not affect depressive symptomatology. However, this effect is too small to be of practical relevance.

Selfie-Posting and Young Adult Women’s Restrained Eating: The Role of Commentary on Appearance and Self-Objectification

Considering the prevalence of social networking sites (SNSs) and restrained eating among young adult women, the present study aimed to investigate the association between selfie-posting on an SNS (WeChat Moments, the most widely used SNS in China) and self-objectification among Chinese young adult women as well as the mediating effects of commentary on appearance and self-objectification from the perspective of self-perception theory and objectification theory. A sample of 886 female undergraduate students who had an active WeChat Moments account were recruited voluntarily to complete questionnaires on selfie-posting on SNS, general SNS use, commentary on appearance on SNSs, self-objectification, and restrained eating. The results indicated that after controlling for general SNS use, age, and BMI, selfie-posting on a SNS was positively associated with restrained eating. Commentary on appearance and self-objectification mediated this association, which contained three mediating paths: the separate mediating effects of commentary on appearance and self-objectification and the serial mediating effect of commentary on appearance and self-objectification. These results indicate that selfie-posting and commentary on appearance on a SNS rather than general SNS use are risk factors accounting for restrained eating, which has theoretical and practical implications in terms of SNS use and restrained eating.

A Study of Networking and Information Exchange Factors Influencing User Participation in Niche Social Networking Sites

This article tests a number of networking and information exchange factors that may influence users' participation in niche social networking sites (SNS). The factors identified in the literature review as influential for participation in social networking sites were implemented in a model tested using quantitative data from 152 users. Gratifications related to socialising, self-status seeking, social support, and learning and innovativeness were identified as significant for participating in niche SNS. As only a subset of the general purpose SNS gratifications were found to be of statistical significance for niche sites, it is suggested that further research that includes a wider set of factors is necessary to determine the similarities and differences between gratifications influencing participation in general purpose and niche SNS.

Social Media Use and Empathy: A Mini Meta-Analysis

Concerns about the effects of social media or social networking site (SNS) use on prosocial development are increasing. The aim of the current study is to meta-analytically summarize the research to date (k = 5) about the relationship between general SNS use and two components of empathy (i.e., empathic concern and perspective-taking). Random effects meta-analyses showed that SNS use was significantly and positively related to affective empathy though only marginally related to cognitive empathy. These effects were generally small in size and do not establish causality. Future research should explore how specific behaviors are related to different forms of empathy.

Use of social networking sites and women's decision to receive vaccinations during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study in the UK

In the UK, it is recommended that pregnant women receive the influenza and pertussis vaccination. However, uptake of these vaccinations in certain UK regions remains low. Previous studies show that pregnant women use the internet to access health information, yet it has not been previously explored whether the use of social networking sites (SNS) influences decisions about maternal vaccination uptake.The aim of this study was to determine, if the use of SNS to gain information on pregnancy vaccinations, is associated with women’s uptake of the influenza and pertussis vaccines during pregnancy.This is a cross-sectional study with data collected using an online questionnaire posted on Mumsnet (an online parenting site), from 3rd to 24th August 2017. Women were included if they lived in the UK, were over 32 weeks pregnant, or had given birth in the last year. Participants were questioned about their pregnancy vaccination uptake, general SNS use and, their SNS use in relation to gathering information on vaccinations during pregnancy. The data was analysed using chi-square test, and univariable and multivariable logistic regression.Out of a sample of 308 participants, 305 (99.3%) of women reported using SNS and 64/308 (20.8%) of women reported using SNS to gather information on vaccinations during pregnancy.Women who reported using SNS to gather information on pregnancy vaccinations were 58% (adjusted odds ratio 0.42; 95% CI 0.21–0.87) less likely to receive the pertussis vaccination during pregnancy. However, the association was not statistically significant for the influenza vaccination (adjusted odds ratio 0.64; 95% CI 0.37–1.11).The study showed many women use SNS to gather information on pregnancy vaccinations, and this is negatively associated with their likelihood of receiving the pertussis vaccine. Future studies are needed to analyse the accuracy and quality of the vaccination information, which women find on SNS.

Active on Facebook and Failing at School? Meta-Analytic Findings on the Relationship Between Online Social Networking Activities and Academic Achievement

The popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) among adolescents and young adults has raised concerns that the intensity of using these platforms might be associated with lower academic achievement. The empirical findings on this issue, however, are anything but conclusive. Therefore, we present four random-effects meta-analyses including 59 independent samples (total N = 29,337) on the association between patterns of SNS use and grades. The meta-analyses identified small negative effects of $$ \widehat{\rho} $$ = − .07, 95% CI [− .12, − .02] for general SNS use and $$ \widehat{\rho} $$ = − .10, 95% CI [− .16, − .05] for SNS use related to multitasking. General SNS use was unrelated to the time spent studying for school ( $$ \widehat{\rho} $$ = − .03, 95% CI [− 0.11, 0.06]) and no support for the time displacement hypothesis could be found in a meta-analytical mediation analysis. SNS use for academic purposes exhibited a small positive association, $$ \widehat{\rho} $$ = .08, 95% CI [.02, .14]. Hypotheses with regard to cross-cultural differences were not supported.

‘Selfie’-objectification: The role of selfies in self-objectification and disordered eating in young women

Existing research demonstrates a relationship between social networking site (SNS) use and body-related concerns and disordered eating amongst females. Preliminary evidence indicates that SNS photo activities (e.g., taking and sharing ‘selfies’) may play a particularly important role. The present study aimed to use self-objectification as a framework to examine the relationship between SNS photo activities and body-related and eating concerns in a population of young women. Participants were 259 young women (age 18–29; M = 22.97, SD = 3.25) who completed self-report questionnaires of SNS use and body-related and disordered eating concerns. Results showed that SNS ‘selfie’ activities, rather than general SNS usage, were associated with body-related and eating concerns. Specifically, greater investment in ‘selfie’ activities was associated with increased body dissatisfaction and bulimia symptomatology, even after accounting for known risk factors such as thin-ideal internalisation and body mass index (BMI). Moreover, self-objectification was found to moderate the relationship between photo investment and bulimia symptomatology. These findings indicate that active engagement with SNS photo activities, rather than general SNS use, shows an association with body-related and eating concerns. Interventions targeting specific SNS photo activities may be an effective avenue for the prevention and management of body-related concerns and disordered eating in young women.

Professional Use of Social Media by Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study.

BackgroundSocial media is frequently used by consumers and health care professionals; however, our knowledge about its use in a professional capacity by pharmacists is limited.ObjectiveOur aim was to investigate the professional use of social media by pharmacists.MethodsIn-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with practicing pharmacists (N=31) from nine countries. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed.ResultsWikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook were the main social media platforms used. Professional use of social media included networking with peers, discussion of health and professional topics, accessing and sharing health and professional information, job searching, and professional promotion. Wikipedia was the participants’ first choice when seeking information about unfamiliar topics, or topics that were difficult to search for. Very few pharmacy-related contributions to Wikipedia were reported. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was used for self-education. University lectures, “how-to” footage, and professionally made videos were commonly watched. No professional contribution was made to YouTube. Facebook, a general social networking site, was used for professional networking, promotion of achievements, and job advertisements. It also afforded engagement in professional discussions and information sharing among peers.ConclusionsParticipants used social media in a professional capacity, specifically for accessing and sharing health and professional information among peers. Pharmacists, as medicines experts, should take a leading role in contributing to health information dissemination in these user-friendly virtual environments, to reach not only other health care professionals but also health consumers.

An ensemble method for extracting adverse drug events from social media

Because adverse drug events (ADEs) are a serious health problem and a leading cause of death, it is of vital importance to identify them correctly and in a timely manner. With the development of Web 2.0, social media has become a large data source for information on ADEs. The objective of this study is to develop a relation extraction system that uses natural language processing techniques to effectively distinguish between ADEs and non-ADEs in informal text on social media. We develop a feature-based approach that utilizes various lexical, syntactic, and semantic features. Information-gain-based feature selection is performed to address high-dimensional features. Then, we evaluate the effectiveness of four well-known kernel-based approaches (i.e., subset tree kernel, tree kernel, shortest dependency path kernel, and all-paths graph kernel) and several ensembles that are generated by adopting different combination methods (i.e., majority voting, weighted averaging, and stacked generalization). All of the approaches are tested using three data sets: two health-related discussion forums and one general social networking site (i.e., Twitter). When investigating the contribution of each feature subset, the feature-based approach attains the best area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) values, which are 78.6%, 72.2%, and 79.2% on the three data sets. When individual methods are used, we attain the best AUC values of 82.1%, 73.2%, and 77.0% using the subset tree kernel, shortest dependency path kernel, and feature-based approach on the three data sets, respectively. When using classifier ensembles, we achieve the best AUC values of 84.5%, 77.3%, and 84.5% on the three data sets, outperforming the baselines. Our experimental results indicate that ADE extraction from social media can benefit from feature selection. With respect to the effectiveness of different feature subsets, lexical features and semantic features can enhance the ADE extraction capability. Kernel-based approaches, which can stay away from the feature sparsity issue, are qualified to address the ADE extraction problem. Combining different individual classifiers using suitable combination methods can further enhance the ADE extraction effectiveness.

Sex-related online behaviors and adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions.

This study investigated: (1) the prevalence and development of 2 receptive (sexually explicit Internet material [SEIM] use and sexual information seeking) and 2 interactive (cybersex and general social networking site [SNS] use) online behaviors in adolescence; (2) whether development of these behaviors predict adolescents' body and sexual self-perceptions; and (3) whether parental strategies regarding adolescents' Internet use reduce engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Four-wave longitudinal data among 1132 seventh- to 10th-grade Dutch adolescents (mean age at wave 1: 13.95 years; 52.7% boys) were collected. Developmental trajectories of sex-related online behaviors were estimated by using latent growth curve modeling. Self-perception outcomes at wave 4 and parental strategies predicting online behaviors were investigated by adding regression paths to growth models. Boys occasionally and increasingly used SEIM. Patterns for girls' SEIM use and boys' and girls' sexual information seeking and cybersex were consistently low. SNS use, however, was a common, daily activity for both. Higher initial levels and/or faster increases in sex-related online behaviors generally predicted less physical self-esteem (girls' SNS use only), more body surveillance, and less satisfaction with sexual experience. Private Internet access and less parental rule setting regarding Internet use predicted greater engagement in sex-related online behaviors. Although most sex-related online behaviors are not widespread among youth, adolescents who engage in such behaviors are at increased risk for developing negative body and sexual self-perceptions. Particular attention should be paid to adolescents' SNS use because this behavior is most popular and may, through its interactive characteristics, elicit more critical self-evaluations. Prevention efforts should focus on parents' role in reducing risky sex-related online behaviors.

Understanding consumers’ social networking site usage

The purpose of this research is to examine consumer motivations to use social networking sites (SNSs) for three distinct activities: (1) general SNS usage, (2) the joining of a business’s SNS page and (3) clicking on an advertisement on a SNS. To assist with this exploration we draw upon the decomposed theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical lens and conduct a mixed-method study that utilises both an empirical investigation as well as qualitative focus group interviews in order to delve deeper into specific reasons why individuals engage in SNS activities. Results show that a number of antecedents such as attitude, compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, normative influences and self-efficacy come into play when determining SNS usage activities. However, specific antecedents may vary according to the explicit activity under investigation. This study’s main contribution involves advancing our understanding of consumer behaviour as it relates to SNS activities by examining not only antecedents to intention but also attitude, subjective norms and behavioural control. Other contributions include additional development of the SNS literature, integrating SNSs into a classical theoretical framework and providing valuable insights and implications for both practitioners and researchers alike.

Using Social Networking Sites: What Is the Big Attraction? Exploring a Mediated Moderation Relationship

The present study was conducted to investigate the factors that may lead the social networking sites' users to have a compelling experience. Built upon the social capital perspective, a general social networking site experience model regarding the impact of the interaction between user-perceived competence and user identification on user satisfaction through playfulness was proposed and examined in the social networking site's context. Data analyses provided general support for (1) the moderating effect of user identification on the relationship of user-perceived competence with user satisfaction, and (2) the mediating role of playfulness through which social network site users' competency and identification factors are transmitted and predict user satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Beyond Likes and Tweets

Social networking sites are a popular way for physicians to communicate about clinical, professional, and social topics. These sites can be used for educational purposes, professional interaction, and for general discussion. There are many popular sites oriented toward health care professionals, each with their own functionality and style. We reviewed the top physician-oriented networking sites, as well as popular general social networking sites that can be used for physician communication. We also provide background on social media communication, as well as specific advice for online physician communication and a discussion of confidentiality.

Talking about your health to strangers: understanding the use of online social networks by patients

The internet has become a participatory place where everyone can contribute and interact with others. In health in particular, social media have changed traditional patient–physician relationships. Patients are organising themselves in groups, sharing observations and helping each other, although there is still little evidence of the effectiveness of these online communities on people's health. To understand why and how people use health-related sites, we studied these sites and identified three dimensions characterising most of them: informational/supportive; general/focused; and new relationships/existing ones. We conducted an online survey about the use of health-related social networking (SN) sites and learnt that, consistent with previous research, most patients were seeking information about their medical condition online, while, at the same time, still interacting with health professionals to talk about sensitive information and complex issues. We also found that, while people's natural social network played an important role for emotional support, sometimes, people chose to not involve their family, but instead interact with peers online because of their perceived support and ability to understand someone's experience, and also to maintain a comfortable emotional distance. Finally, our results show that people using general SN sites do not necessarily use health-related sites and vice versa.

No place for news in social network web sites?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the news is discussed in social network web sites.Design/methodology/approachThis article reports a quantitative analysis of the text of 26,953 Windows Live Spaces from September 2006 to February 2007 using a heuristic designed to detect news discussions. In addition, a comparative link and page analysis of 20 popular general social network environments (e.g. MySpace and Facebook) and 11 popular blog environments (e.g. Typepad and Blogger) is presented.FindingsThe text analysis suggests that news plays little role in most Windows Live Spaces, but the link and page analysis suggests that the key difference is less between social network environments and blog environments than between free standardised environments (e.g. MySpace and Blogger) and professional or semi‐professional blogs, with the former tending to carry relatively little news‐related content.Research limitations/implicationsThe methods used are exploratory rather than giving definitive conclusions.Practical implicationsThose interested in public reactions to the news should focus on blogs and blog‐like social network sites rather than general social network sites, and should expect only a tiny proportion of the discussions to be news‐related.Originality/valueAlthough the role of blogs in reporting, discussing and making the news has been analysed frequently, this is the first study about the extent to which general social networking sites engage with (mass media) news.