Age Of Social Media Research Articles

Research on the Influence of Fan Culture on Teenagers' Psychology and Behavior

Chinese fan culture is a diverse and complex phenomenon, constantly evolving along with social, economic, and Internet development. Fan culture is also a multi-layered and multi-dimensional cultural phenomenon, covering personal emotion, social interaction, commercial value, and cultural creativity. Fan culture not only brings optimistic emotional value but also boosts economic development. However, research on the effects of fan culture on adolescent psychology and behavior remains inadequate. This paper analyzes adolescents' participation in fan culture in the age of social media, focusing on the problematic representations of adolescents' psychology and behavior. The article analyzes that fan culture not only brings positive emotions to teenagers but also brings the problem of excessive consumption, which affects the thinking mode and physical and mental health of teenagers. Based on this, this paper puts forward suggestions to guide teenagers to actively participate in fan culture from the aspects of social media, star organizers, teenagers and parents, and social atmosphere.

Looking for Art in a Sea of Content: A Human-Centered Approach to Supporting Creativity on Social Media

Is 'art' simply 'content' in the age of social media? What does art's creation, appreciation, and experience lose when art becomes content? This exploratory research employs a mixed methods approach encompassing interviews, co-design, and stakeholder reviews to critically examine the perceptions of artists, curators, and content creators regarding the distinction between 'art' and 'content.' Our participants reveal four characteristics essential for art experiences that we use to co-design new digital 'content' environments. The work concludes with content creators reviewing the characteristics and designs, offering their thoughts on the feasibility and potential future for 'art' on social media. We offer open-source access to all design and research materials. By exploring the divide between 'art' and 'content,' this research contributes insights and guidelines for developing alternative algorithmic experiences to support creativity on social media.

Self-diagnosis in the age of social media: A pilot study of youth entering mental health treatment for mood and anxiety disorders.

Self-diagnosis in the age of social media: A pilot study of youth entering mental health treatment for mood and anxiety disorders.

Digital Violence: The Rise of Online Gender-Based Violence Against Women in the Age of Social Media

The proliferation of social media has transformed global communication, yet it has also facilitated unprecedented forms of violence against women. This paper investigates the phenomenon of online gender-based violence (GBV) in India, focusing on its manifestations, legal challenges, and sociocultural roots. With 85% of Indian women reporting online harassment in 2022, digital violence—ranging from cyberstalking to non-consensual pornography—has emerged as a critical threat to gender equality. The study employs a mixed-method approach, analyzing case laws, statutory frameworks, and sociocultural narratives to expose systemic gaps in addressing online GBV. Key findings reveal that India’s legal architecture, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Indian Penal Code, remains fragmented and poorly enforced. Landmark cases such as Ritu Kohli v. Unknown (2001) and the Bois Locker Room incident (2020) underscore the normalization of digital misogyny and the inadequacy of victim support systems. Sociocultural factors, including patriarchal norms and digital illiteracy, further entrench impunity for perpetrators. The paper advocates for a tripartite solution: (1) legal reforms to criminalize emerging forms of digital violence, (2) nationwide digital literacy campaigns to empower women, and (3) algorithmic accountability for social media platforms. It concludes with a proposed Digital Safety Act, 2024, a model legislation designed to harmonize penalties, protect victims, and mandate proactive measures for intermediaries. By bridging legal, technological, and social gaps, this research contributes to global discourse on safeguarding women’s rights in digital spaces.

“He Himself Becomes a Living and Personal Law”: Veritatis Splendor, Eating Disorders, and Misguided Moralism

Veritatis Splendor is well-known for its use of the Gospel of Matthew’s depiction of Christ’s exchange with the rich young man seeking eternal life as the framework for understanding the moral life. It establishes relationship with Christ and one’s neighbor as central to both love of God and doing moral theology, highlighting the role of connection and relationship. The Christocentric framing of Veritatis Splendor responds to misguided moralism’s role in the development of eating disorders and the role of relationship in recovery, which has implications for moral theology’s understanding of eating disorders in a social media age. Misguided moralism conceives of eating disorders as rooted in a link between eating and goodness to which relationship as a moral key is particularly responsive. Studies of eating disorder recovery in various fields indicate that strong, compassionate, hope-filled relationships are key to recovery, providing fertile ground for interconnections between Veritatis Splendor’s understanding of the centrality of relationship with Christ and morality within the process of eating disorder recovery.

Potential effects of the social media age ban in Australia for children younger than 16 years.

Potential effects of the social media age ban in Australia for children younger than 16 years.

Model Framework for Discovering and Utilizing Public Opinion Hot Topic Knowledge in the Social Media Network Environment

The quick dissemination and nuanced nature of public opinion present additional difficulties for public opinion analysis in the age of social media's information explosion. Traditional public opinion analysis methods suffer from insufficient processing capabilities and single analysis methods, making it difficult to cope with large-scale and rapidly growing social media information. This article aims to utilize social media data sources and advanced algorithm models such as TextCNN (Text Convolutional Neural Network) and LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) to construct a comprehensive model framework that addresses the limitations of traditional public opinion research and improves the accuracy, timeliness, and systematicity of public opinion hot topic knowledge discovery and utilization, thereby providing scientific basis for decision-making and optimizing the decision-making process.

Exploring Emotional Contagion and Reciprocity Between Social Media Influencers and Followers: A Content Analysis of Autobiographic Content About Depression and Comments on Douyin

ABSTRACT The relationship between social media influencers and their followers is a distinctive form of interpersonal relationship that emerges in the age of social media, characterized by asymmetry in information flow, influence, and perceived intimacy. Emotional contagion and social exchange are integral to the formation and maintenance of traditional online relationships. To explore whether emotional contagion and social exchange can occur between influencers and followers, this study examines autobiographic videos related to depression (N = 254) and comments (N = 4,504) on Douyin, China’s leading short video media app. The findings indicate that positive emotions expressed in content predict positive emotions and positive self-disclosure in comments; however, negative emotions do not exhibit emotional contagion between content and comments. Additionally, both positive and negative emotions in content are positively related to emotional support provision in comments. Theoretically, this study demonstrates the existence of emotional contagion and reciprocity in the asymmetrical social media influencer-follower interactions in a non-Western context. Practically, the insights from this study can inform content creators, mental health advocates, and platform developers in creating more impactful and supportive content.

Death and denial in the city: Making sense of London Bridge and Grenfell

In the wake of violent events comes a rush to make sense of what happened. Sensemaking matters because it bounds political possibilities, producing knowledge about what caused the violence, who is accountable, and whether society should change to prevent a recurrence. This paper explores sensemaking through an intertextual discourse analysis of elite, print, and social media responses to two violent events in the global city of London in June 2017: the London Bridge terrorist attack and the Grenfell Tower fire. For some, global cities like London are imagined as inclusive and post-imperial: a place of safety and security. Others regard global cities like London as sites of intensive racialisation, inequality, and hierarchy: a political order that produces insecurity. Scholarly debates suggest that public sensemaking could generate alternative political registers to contest the established narratives that sustain violent orders. Yet, our analysis reveals that, in this instance, intertextual sensemaking in a social media age overwhelmingly reflected and reproduced existing socio-political order. Through discourses of denial, the prosperous global city of London emerged as a place where violence might occur but not a violent place . We analyse three discourses of denial: (1) that the events failed to reflect ‘who we are’, (2) that ‘others’ were to blame, and (3) a fatalistic acceptance that some violence ‘is what it is’. Despite academic optimism about public sensemaking, we show denial functions to externalise the causes of violence from socio-political and spatial orders, limiting the scope for change.

The Digital Dilemma: Balancing Phone Time and Real Life in the Age of Social Media

The widespread adoption of smartphones and social media has led to a significant increase in screen time among adolescents. This study investigated the relationship between screen time and mental health in adolescents, with a focus on the impact of screen time on mental health symptoms, social relationships, and productivity. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods. The study found that excessive screen time was associated with negative mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and lower self-esteem. Focus group discussions revealed that adolescents experience social pressure to be constantly connected to their screens, contributing to feelings of anxiety and stress. The findings of this study have implications for promoting healthy screen use habits among adolescents, including the need for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals to be aware of the potential negative effects of excessive screen time on adolescents’ mental health.

ADHD and digital disconnection: Exploring inclusive and practical approaches

Digital disconnection is increasingly sparking widespread debate and action, with social media age restrictions and phone bans being enacted around the world. As more people are required or encouraged to disconnect from the Internet, this commentary argues for more inclusive and practical disconnection strategies, particularly for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD highlights the complexities of digital disconnection, as individuals with this neurodivergent condition are often seen as the intended beneficiaries of digital detox retreats, disconnection interventions, and emerging public policies such as social media or high school phone bans. This commentary seeks to facilitate dialog and debate among digital disconnection scholars, offering a starting point for researchers interested in digital disconnection, screen time, disability, neurodivergence, and digital inclusion. By examining digital disconnection from contrasting ADHD theoretical perspectives, the paper aims to broaden the understanding of digital disconnection, considering diverse relationships with technology and the socio-cultural contexts of screen use and productivity.

The mediatisation of space in the age of social media: three cases from the Liuhua Clothing Wholesale Market in China

PurposeThis research focuses on people’s activities in the Liuhua Clothing Wholesale District in Guangzhou, China. The increasing use of social media in business, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has created inevitable changes to the way space is utilised. Lockdowns and transport restrictions pushed the clothing wholesale traders to engage in livestreaming to maintain their business. This research aims to understand how spaces have been mediatised with the use of social media.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate changes in the use of spaces, this research draws on actor-network theory and regards spaces as actors, adopting qualitative research methods, including observation, semi-structured interviews and mapping.FindingsThe research finds that spaces are mediatised for presentation on social media. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person activities were suspended, the virtual space, constituted by elements that exist in physical and virtual spaces, became more valued. Physical space is no longer perceived as a whole but as elements, such as background, sound and light, all of which are involved in the construction of virtual space on social media. The perception of physical space has become less important than the images presented on social media.Originality/valueSocial media now exists in many people’s everyday lives, but its influence on architecture and space has received insufficient attention. This research interrogates this phenomenon in a clothing wholesale district in China to reflect on the influence. Its significance lies in documenting the spatial implications of dependence on social media and the changes to spatial use in the age of social media.

Deciphering Sentiment Fluctuations in Real-Time Social Media Discourse During Product Launch Events

Real-time public mood analysis has become essential in the age of social media's quick information distribution for a variety of purposes, from crisis management to marketing. In order to capture the subtleties of sentiment during events or particular occurrences, this research suggests a novel method for real-time sentiment analysis on social media. We provide Event-driven Sentiment Analysis (ESA), a methodology that leverages Event-Specific Text Models (ESTMs) to dynamically adapt to evolving topics and events. Because these models are trained on event-specific data, they can effectively capture changes in sentiment at various stages of an event's lifecycle. With the use of natural language processing and machine learning, ESA offers a scalable solution for opinion mining on social media sites. We offer experimental results that highlight the potential uses of ESA in a variety of domains, such as market trend analysis, crisis response, and brand monitoring. These results highlight the effectiveness of ESA in recording and assessing sentiment in real-time. We also address the benefits and difficulties of implementing ESA in real-world contexts and suggest future paths for event-driven sentiment analysis research.

Doing Science in the Age of Social Media: Challenges and Opportunities

Doing Science in the Age of Social Media: Challenges and Opportunities

The Evolution of Islamic Da'wah in the Age of Social Media: The Role of Waqf Institutions

This paper aim to examine how Islamic Da'awah, has changed in the digital era with an emphasis on social media's revolutionary impact and the incorporation of Waqf, institutions to aid in these endeavors. The advent of social media platforms has brought about tremendous changes to Islamic Da'awah, since they have made it easier for Islamic teachings to be widely disseminated and have encouraged global communication and interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims. Islamic scholars, preachers, and individuals have been able to dispel misconceptions about Islam and impart religious information by using easily accessible platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. This paper uses a qualitative research approach to examine how Islamic da'awah has changed in the era of social media and how Waqf institutions assist. It does this by combining case studies, literature reviews, and content analysis. The findings of the research revealed that digital media has a significant role in forming modern Muslim identity, expanding its benefits to reach national and international community, advancement of da’awah activities and posing certain risks, such as the possibility of radicalization and disinformation. The study concludes that working together with academics, content producers, and Waqf organizations will be essential to making sure that Da'awah in the digital age is based on Islamic teachings and makes the most of contemporary technology.

Representing spatial futures in the age of social media: unpacking the case of The Line

Representing spatial futures in the age of social media: unpacking the case of <i>The Line</i>

Development of the Uskudar social norm scale in the social media age: Validity, Reliability studies and psychometric analysis

Development of the Uskudar social norm scale in the social media age: Validity, Reliability studies and psychometric analysis

Is it time for India to set social media age limits for adolescents?

The rapid integration of social media into the lives of Indian adolescents presents a complex mix of benefits and challenges, particularly in the realms of mental health, online safety, and digital literacy. While age restrictions or outright bans may offer protections against risks like cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and increased screen time, they also carry potential drawbacks, including digital exclusion, disruption of peer support networks, and limited access to educational and mental health resources. This viewpoint article examines the multifaceted challenges of implementing social media age restrictions in India, considering the diversity in digital literacy, sociocultural factors, and infrastructural disparities between urban and rural areas. Recognizing these complexities, the article proposes alternative approaches, including comprehensive digital literacy programs, enhanced parental involvement, age-appropriate content moderation, and flexible, phased access to social media. By advocating for a balanced, collaborative approach involving policymakers, educators, parents, and platform providers, this article emphasizes the importance of creating a safe yet empowering digital environment that nurtures responsible online engagement. Such a nuanced policy framework would allow Indian adolescents to safely benefit from the positive aspects of social media while minimizing risks, ultimately fostering a generation of resilient, informed digital citizens.

When Donald Trump Dropped the Bass: The Weaponization of Dubstep in Internet Trolling Strategies, 2011–2016

AbstractThis article argues that in the age of social media, the affective power of music can dare listeners to become complicit with misogyny and right-wing populism. It investigates the weaponization of dubstep in internet trolling strategies by examining the genre's relationship with a type of user-generated content called ‘Major League Gaming [MLG] Montage Parodies’. Mixing musical and audiovisual analysis with digital methods, the article considers the origins of MLG Montage Parodies and then investigates the content's development from 2011 to 2016. As a memetic timbral topic, the dubstep drop was initially deployed in MLG Montage Parodies as a form of pubescent power play to troll young male gamers. But then in 2014, it was redeployed as anti-feminist ammunition amid the toxic masculinity of #GamerGate. Finally, it was weaponized by alt-right trolls during the 2015–2016 ‘Great Meme War’ that accompanied the US Presidential Race. The closing remarks reflect on the ethical, ontological, and disciplinary implications of the research and issue a call for memetic musical literacy.

Censorship and Freedom of Expression in the Age of Social Media

Although social media platforms have altered the structure of the public sphere, they have also inherited some of its issues, notably the problem of censorship. The phenomenon has remained, just its methods and practices have changed: censorship used to be strictly connected to states, but in the digital age, it is exercised by multiple actors, such as states, private companies and individuals (users), posing a unique and multilevel threat to freedom of expression. Social media service providers are motivated by their own economic interests and pressured by vague laws that impose liability for third-party user content; the combination of these factors steers service providers to ignore human rights standards, err on the side of caution, and tend to remove, block or restrict any questionable content in order to avoid liability. Therefore, online freedom of expression faces problems, just as it did in offline formats in analogue times, and often even more severe ones. However, technological advances mean that new censorship methods often remain unperceived by users and, therefore, often avoid the harsh criticism surrounding traditional censorship. In 2020, Facebook (Meta) set up the Oversight Board, a uniquely positioned semi-independent expert group as a sort of court-like body to deal with some of the more high-profile, influential and complex social-media-related decisions and offer a remedy against contract-based content moderation (censorship).