positive and negative effects of social media on society essay

10 Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society

Nowadays, social media is so popular among the young, children, and adults. Each of us uses social media to be updated, to entertain ourselves, to communicate with others, to explore new things, and to connect with the world. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, etc. are examples of social media. Social media is a part of our lives today, and consciously or unconsciously, it is becoming our habit to continuously go through it and check the notifications.

What is social media?

Social media is a platform where we can communicate with a large number of people, make connections, and interact with them. It operates on the internet.A user usually creates an account on such a platform and allows interaction with the millions of other users available on it according to their preferences and choices. Apart from the interaction, it also allows users to share information, chat with other people, share their opinions, create content, and embrace their differences.

In today’s world, social media is an important part of young people’s lives, determining and shaping their perspectives.The youth typically adopt and pursue social media trends; for example, in dressing styles, the youth adopt dresses and styles that are promoted as trends by social media.

Social media not only allows people to share their opinions, but it also shapes the opinions of its users.Social media have an impact on their users as well as society as a whole, both positive and negative.

Here we will now discuss the negative and positive impacts of social media on society.

Positive impact of social media on   society.

• Builds connectivity and connection: Social media facilitates better communication as well as the development of stronger connections and connectivity around the world. One can talk to a person who lives thousands of miles away from him or her. One can also make connections in his or her respective field or area to promote his or her venture, business, or idea. LinkedIn is an example of social media where you can build connections from across the world and increase your connectivity. Hence, social media is not only connecting people within a society but also connecting people from different societies and cultures, allowing them to exchange their values and beliefs.
• People are empowered by social media because it educates them, makes them aware of them, and gives them a platform to raise their voices, showcase their talents, and promote their businesses. For instance, people on Instagram not only communicate with each other but are also establishing their small businesses and creating content on various things such as dressing style, make-up, fashion hacks, and educational content. Likewise, on YouTube, people do the same thing except chat and earn money through their talent, opinions, and content. Therefore, social media helps generate employment in society and educate its members.
• People are helped both economically and emotionally by social media : Economically, by providing customers to businesses and providing jobs to the unemployed. Emotionally, by demonstrating empathy and love to the people.The person who feels alone should communicate with people online and talk to them. Sometimes, when you post something on your social media account—a sad or happy post—people react accordingly. If you post something sad, people try to cheer you up or console you, and vice versa. Social media in society provides an equal opportunity to be social and interact, especially for those who find it difficult to communicate with others in person.
• Knowledge: on social media, people post massive amounts of content on a wide range of issues and topics. YouTube is a platform where you can find information in English, Hindi, or any other language you are comfortable with. From the fundamentals to the advanced, from simple to complex topics, one can learn for free on social media. There are many teachers, motivators, and religious gurus who provide knowledge in various fields and aspects.
• Provides new skills: Through social media, you can acquire and learn new skills. You can, for example, learn to knit on YouTube or do it yourself (DIY) on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. You can acquire as many skills as you want: cooking, knitting, floral design, rangoli making, python, ethical hacking, etc. Moreover, learning new skills helps one find work and empowers oneself.
• Source to news: social media is a source of news nowadays; people watch news more on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook as compared to news channels and newspapers. People believe that news on social media is more trustworthy and presented in a more interesting format than traditional news channels.
• Sharing of ideas: social media allows the sharing of ideas beyond boundaries, nations, and states. Social media facilitates the exchange of ideas about one’s culture, religion, state, nationality, and environment.
• Raising funds: social media helps many people raise funds for noble causes. Through the help of social media, people start campaigns for donations for a particular case, and everyone can participate in these donations. For Example, Fundraising for blind orphan children
• Creates communities: Social media creates communities of people from various backgrounds who share common interests. People with the same interests connect more with each other. Examples include the science community, the arts community, and the poets’ community. The nature of a community depends on the interests of its members.
• Multiple sources of learning: social media is a hub of knowledge where you can learn anything and everything. The education is provided at no cost. There is not only educational or academic learning, but also other types of learning; you can learn how to improve your personality, improve your communication skills, be more confident, and develop your public speaking skills.

Negative impacts of social media on society

• Contributes to the digital divide: The “digital divide” refers to the gap between those who can access the internet and those who cannot because of illiteracy, poverty, and a lack of resources. Social media is contributing to this by setting trends and engaging more youth, and youth who cannot access or understand the trends, as well as adults, are falling behind.
• Increasing cybercrimes and cyberfrauds : An increase in the use of social media is leading to an increase in cybercrimes and frauds. Cyberbullying, harassment, and stalking are on the rise nowadays, and mostly teenage women are becoming victims of them. Cyber fraud is also on the rise because most people lack digital literacy and are unaware of things like when fraudsters create an account to impersonate someone you know and demand money from you for various reasons.The nature of the frauds varied and could cause confusion and restlessness in your minds.
• Negative information, news, and rumours spread quickly: As the elders say, negativity spreads faster than positivity; similarly, false news or negative news, rumours, and information spread quickly and cause chaos and instability in the social order.Because of the rapid transfer of information, false news or information spreads in no time, which furthers the happenings in society. For example, if you come across WhatsApp messages that claim prejudice or hatred against a particular community, they will spread with more intensity and rage. This false claim creates a false image among people regarding the thing, and the false information is spread. Sometimes, it leads to violent situations in society.
• Social media affects the mental health of individuals: The stalking, cybercrimes, frauds, and hate comments adversely affect people; problems of depression, anxiety, severe tension, and fear are emerging. Sometimes, the conditions get worse, leading to suicide as well. As Durkheim mentioned, suicide is a social fact; either more or less social involvement leads to suicide in an individual, and social media manifests and roots both. For instance, if a user posts her critical view on a sensitive topic, chances are high that she will feel instant backlash from those who are against her views. Another example is that victims of cyberfraud fear using social media. Because of social media, people get traumatised and spend years of their lives living in that trauma and fear.
• People are becoming more addicted to their phones as a result of being disconnected from social reality. People frequently ignore and neglect those around them; they are unaware of what is going on in society because they are constantly immersed in their virtual world, engaging with entertainment and people in their virtual world. People who lack social and communication skills use social media to escape and ignore people in the real world. For instance, we all know a person who has no friends in the real world but has a following of hundreds of thousands on their social media account.
• Effects on health: Social media has an impact not only on mental health, but also on physical health. The constant use of screens such as phones, laptops, and tablets directly impacts the eyes by weakening the eyesight. It also negatively impacts our creativity; it basically lessens our level of creativity. The constant use of social media also makes us lazy and less active, as we are constantly using our devices. People also suffer from insomnia, irritation, and the fear of missing out. As Parsons stated, when an individual is sick, it becomes a non-functional member of society, and sickness is socially sanctioned deviance. In our opinion, social media is also making functional members of society non-functional.
• Unverified information: While social media is undeniably a knowledge hub, not all knowledge and information on it is correct or verified. Due to the large amount of data present on social media, most of it is unverified, and the chances of receiving false information are high. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll frequently see a post with the words “more you cry, the stronger you become,” and above or below it, “psychological facts”. People consume this false information as fact. There are enormous posts like this. But, in reality, this is far from factual knowledge or information.
• Undermine people: social media do not support people; they often lack support, empathy, and rational behavior. The moment people post something sad or controversial, they start getting backlash, hate comments, and threats, because of which people suffer from anxiety, stress, and depression. People who are unable to follow trends feel isolated. People who are not on social media also feel alienated. People on social media also spread hatred and prejudices against others instead of supporting and appreciating them. People compare themselves to others on social media, which lowers their self-esteem and confidence.
• Make conscious decisions about yourself: People post pictures according to socially constructed beauty standards, in which they seem slim, have radiant skin, and have clear lips (by using filters). Other people who are overweight or slimmer, have acne or pimples on their skin, lack makeup skills, and become self-conscious about their bodies. Teens start to diet, go to the gym, and try to maintain the trending body. Adults also suffer from this. People become self-conscious, which leads to feelings of inadequacy about their bodies and appearance.
• Increased use of poor language: on social media, people use language that has poor grammar, speech, and spelling. LOL, WYD, etc. words are used while chatting with people on social media. The quality of language is deteriorating, and people are losing their culture.

Conclusion-

From the above discussion, we can conclude that despite the various uses of social media, there are many misuses and negative impacts of it on society as a whole as well as on individuals.

Also read: Why do people share everything online?

Yachika Yadav is a sociology post graduate student at Banasthali Vidyapith. She loves to capture moments in nature, apart from drawing and writing poetries. Field of research attracts her the most and in future she want to be a part of that. She is a good listener, learner. And tries to always help others.

Feb 15, 2023

6 Example Essays on Social Media | Advantages, Effects, and Outlines

Got an essay assignment about the effects of social media we got you covered check out our examples and outlines below.

Social media has become one of our society's most prominent ways of communication and information sharing in a very short time. It has changed how we communicate and has given us a platform to express our views and opinions and connect with others. It keeps us informed about the world around us. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have brought individuals from all over the world together, breaking down geographical borders and fostering a genuinely global community.

However, social media comes with its difficulties. With the rise of misinformation, cyberbullying, and privacy problems, it's critical to utilize these platforms properly and be aware of the risks. Students in the academic world are frequently assigned essays about the impact of social media on numerous elements of our lives, such as relationships, politics, and culture. These essays necessitate a thorough comprehension of the subject matter, critical thinking, and the ability to synthesize and convey information clearly and succinctly.

But where do you begin? It can be challenging to know where to start with so much information available. Jenni.ai comes in handy here. Jenni.ai is an AI application built exclusively for students to help them write essays more quickly and easily. Jenni.ai provides students with inspiration and assistance on how to approach their essays with its enormous database of sample essays on a variety of themes, including social media. Jenni.ai is the solution you've been looking for if you're experiencing writer's block or need assistance getting started.

So, whether you're a student looking to better your essay writing skills or want to remain up to date on the latest social media advancements, Jenni.ai is here to help. Jenni.ai is the ideal tool for helping you write your finest essay ever, thanks to its simple design, an extensive database of example essays, and cutting-edge AI technology. So, why delay? Sign up for a free trial of Jenni.ai today and begin exploring the worlds of social networking and essay writing!

Want to learn how to write an argumentative essay? Check out these inspiring examples!

We will provide various examples of social media essays so you may get a feel for the genre.

6 Examples of Social Media Essays

Here are 6 examples of Social Media Essays:

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships and Communication

Introduction:.

The way we share information and build relationships has evolved as a direct result of the prevalence of social media in our daily lives. The influence of social media on interpersonal connections and conversation is a hot topic. Although social media has many positive effects, such as bringing people together regardless of physical proximity and making communication quicker and more accessible, it also has a dark side that can affect interpersonal connections and dialogue.

Positive Effects:

Connecting People Across Distances

One of social media's most significant benefits is its ability to connect individuals across long distances. People can use social media platforms to interact and stay in touch with friends and family far away. People can now maintain intimate relationships with those they care about, even when physically separated.

Improved Communication Speed and Efficiency

Additionally, the proliferation of social media sites has accelerated and simplified communication. Thanks to instant messaging, users can have short, timely conversations rather than lengthy ones via email. Furthermore, social media facilitates group communication, such as with classmates or employees, by providing a unified forum for such activities.

Negative Effects:

Decreased Face-to-Face Communication

The decline in in-person interaction is one of social media's most pernicious consequences on interpersonal connections and dialogue. People's reliance on digital communication over in-person contact has increased along with the popularity of social media. Face-to-face interaction has suffered as a result, which has adverse effects on interpersonal relationships and the development of social skills.

Decreased Emotional Intimacy

Another adverse effect of social media on relationships and communication is decreased emotional intimacy. Digital communication lacks the nonverbal cues and facial expressions critical in building emotional connections with others. This can make it more difficult for people to develop close and meaningful relationships, leading to increased loneliness and isolation.

Increased Conflict and Miscommunication

Finally, social media can also lead to increased conflict and miscommunication. The anonymity and distance provided by digital communication can lead to misunderstandings and hurtful comments that might not have been made face-to-face. Additionally, social media can provide a platform for cyberbullying , which can have severe consequences for the victim's mental health and well-being.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the impact of social media on relationships and communication is a complex issue with both positive and negative effects. While social media platforms offer many benefits, such as connecting people across distances and enabling faster and more accessible communication, they also have a dark side that can negatively affect relationships and communication. It is up to individuals to use social media responsibly and to prioritize in-person communication in their relationships and interactions with others.

The Role of Social Media in the Spread of Misinformation and Fake News

Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared and disseminated. However, the ease and speed at which data can be spread on social media also make it a powerful tool for spreading misinformation and fake news. Misinformation and fake news can seriously affect public opinion, influence political decisions, and even cause harm to individuals and communities.

The Pervasiveness of Misinformation and Fake News on Social Media

Misinformation and fake news are prevalent on social media platforms, where they can spread quickly and reach a large audience. This is partly due to the way social media algorithms work, which prioritizes content likely to generate engagement, such as sensational or controversial stories. As a result, false information can spread rapidly and be widely shared before it is fact-checked or debunked.

The Influence of Social Media on Public Opinion

Social media can significantly impact public opinion, as people are likelier to believe the information they see shared by their friends and followers. This can lead to a self-reinforcing cycle, where misinformation and fake news are spread and reinforced, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.

The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation and Fake News

Correcting misinformation and fake news on social media can be a challenging task. This is partly due to the speed at which false information can spread and the difficulty of reaching the same audience exposed to the wrong information in the first place. Additionally, some individuals may be resistant to accepting correction, primarily if the incorrect information supports their beliefs or biases.

In conclusion, the function of social media in disseminating misinformation and fake news is complex and urgent. While social media has revolutionized the sharing of information, it has also made it simpler for false information to propagate and be widely believed. Individuals must be accountable for the information they share and consume, and social media firms must take measures to prevent the spread of disinformation and fake news on their platforms.

The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-Being

Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of people around the world using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay connected with others and access information. However, while social media has many benefits, it can also negatively affect mental health and well-being.

Comparison and Low Self-Esteem

One of the key ways that social media can affect mental health is by promoting feelings of comparison and low self-esteem. People often present a curated version of their lives on social media, highlighting their successes and hiding their struggles. This can lead others to compare themselves unfavorably, leading to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

Cyberbullying and Online Harassment

Another way that social media can negatively impact mental health is through cyberbullying and online harassment. Social media provides a platform for anonymous individuals to harass and abuse others, leading to feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

Social Isolation

Despite its name, social media can also contribute to feelings of isolation. At the same time, people may have many online friends but need more meaningful in-person connections and support. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and depression.

Addiction and Overuse

Finally, social media can be addictive, leading to overuse and negatively impacting mental health and well-being. People may spend hours each day scrolling through their feeds, neglecting other important areas of their lives, such as work, family, and self-care.

In sum, social media has positive and negative consequences on one's psychological and emotional well-being. Realizing this, and taking measures like reducing one's social media use, reaching out to loved ones for help, and prioritizing one's well-being, are crucial. In addition, it's vital that social media giants take ownership of their platforms and actively encourage excellent mental health and well-being.

The Use of Social Media in Political Activism and Social Movements

Social media has recently become increasingly crucial in political action and social movements. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have given people new ways to express themselves, organize protests, and raise awareness about social and political issues.

Raising Awareness and Mobilizing Action

One of the most important uses of social media in political activity and social movements has been to raise awareness about important issues and mobilize action. Hashtags such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, for example, have brought attention to sexual harassment and racial injustice, respectively. Similarly, social media has been used to organize protests and other political actions, allowing people to band together and express themselves on a bigger scale.

Connecting with like-minded individuals

A second method in that social media has been utilized in political activity and social movements is to unite like-minded individuals. Through social media, individuals can join online groups, share knowledge and resources, and work with others to accomplish shared objectives. This has been especially significant for geographically scattered individuals or those without access to traditional means of political organizing.

Challenges and Limitations

As a vehicle for political action and social movements, social media has faced many obstacles and restrictions despite its many advantages. For instance, the propagation of misinformation and fake news on social media can impede attempts to disseminate accurate and reliable information. In addition, social media corporations have been condemned for censorship and insufficient protection of user rights.

In conclusion, social media has emerged as a potent instrument for political activism and social movements, giving voice to previously unheard communities and galvanizing support for change. Social media presents many opportunities for communication and collaboration. Still, users and institutions must be conscious of the risks and limitations of these tools to promote their responsible and productive usage.

The Potential Privacy Concerns Raised by Social Media Use and Data Collection Practices

With billions of users each day on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, social media has ingrained itself into every aspect of our lives. While these platforms offer a straightforward method to communicate with others and exchange information, they also raise significant concerns over data collecting and privacy. This article will examine the possible privacy issues posed by social media use and data-gathering techniques.

Data Collection and Sharing

The gathering and sharing of personal data are significant privacy issues brought up by social media use. Social networking sites gather user data, including details about their relationships, hobbies, and routines. This information is made available to third-party businesses for various uses, such as marketing and advertising. This can lead to serious concerns about who has access to and uses our personal information.

Lack of Control Over Personal Information

The absence of user control over personal information is a significant privacy issue brought up by social media usage. Social media makes it challenging to limit who has access to and how data is utilized once it has been posted. Sensitive information may end up being extensively disseminated and may be used maliciously as a result.

Personalized Marketing

Social media companies utilize the information they gather about users to target them with adverts relevant to their interests and usage patterns. Although this could be useful, it might also cause consumers to worry about their privacy since they might feel that their personal information is being used without their permission. Furthermore, there are issues with the integrity of the data being used to target users and the possibility of prejudice based on individual traits.

Government Surveillance

Using social media might spark worries about government surveillance. There are significant concerns regarding privacy and free expression when governments in some nations utilize social media platforms to follow and monitor residents.

In conclusion, social media use raises significant concerns regarding data collecting and privacy. While these platforms make it easy to interact with people and exchange information, they also gather a lot of personal information, which raises questions about who may access it and how it will be used. Users should be aware of these privacy issues and take precautions to safeguard their personal information, such as exercising caution when choosing what details to disclose on social media and keeping their information sharing with other firms to a minimum.

The Ethical and Privacy Concerns Surrounding Social Media Use And Data Collection

Our use of social media to communicate with loved ones, acquire information, and even conduct business has become a crucial part of our everyday lives. The extensive use of social media does, however, raise some ethical and privacy issues that must be resolved. The influence of social media use and data collecting on user rights, the accountability of social media businesses, and the need for improved regulation are all topics that will be covered in this article.

Effect on Individual Privacy:

Social networking sites gather tons of personal data from their users, including delicate information like search history, location data, and even health data. Each user's detailed profile may be created with this data and sold to advertising or used for other reasons. Concerns regarding the privacy of personal information might arise because social media businesses can use this data to target users with customized adverts.

Additionally, individuals might need to know how much their personal information is being gathered and exploited. Data breaches or the unauthorized sharing of personal information with other parties may result in instances where sensitive information is exposed. Users should be aware of the privacy rules of social media firms and take precautions to secure their data.

Responsibility of Social Media Companies:

Social media firms should ensure that they responsibly and ethically gather and use user information. This entails establishing strong security measures to safeguard sensitive information and ensuring users are informed of what information is being collected and how it is used.

Many social media businesses, nevertheless, have come under fire for not upholding these obligations. For instance, the Cambridge Analytica incident highlighted how Facebook users' personal information was exploited for political objectives without their knowledge. This demonstrates the necessity of social media corporations being held responsible for their deeds and ensuring that they are safeguarding the security and privacy of their users.

Better Regulation Is Needed

There is a need for tighter regulation in this field, given the effect, social media has on individual privacy as well as the obligations of social media firms. The creation of laws and regulations that ensure social media companies are gathering and using user information ethically and responsibly, as well as making sure users are aware of their rights and have the ability to control the information that is being collected about them, are all part of this.

Additionally, legislation should ensure that social media businesses are held responsible for their behavior, for example, by levying fines for data breaches or the unauthorized use of personal data. This will provide social media businesses with a significant incentive to prioritize their users' privacy and security and ensure they are upholding their obligations.

In conclusion, social media has fundamentally changed how we engage and communicate with one another, but this increased convenience also raises several ethical and privacy issues. Essential concerns that need to be addressed include the effect of social media on individual privacy, the accountability of social media businesses, and the requirement for greater regulation to safeguard user rights. We can make everyone's online experience safer and more secure by looking more closely at these issues.

In conclusion, social media is a complex and multifaceted topic that has recently captured the world's attention. With its ever-growing influence on our lives, it's no surprise that it has become a popular subject for students to explore in their writing. Whether you are writing an argumentative essay on the impact of social media on privacy, a persuasive essay on the role of social media in politics, or a descriptive essay on the changes social media has brought to the way we communicate, there are countless angles to approach this subject.

However, writing a comprehensive and well-researched essay on social media can be daunting. It requires a thorough understanding of the topic and the ability to articulate your ideas clearly and concisely. This is where Jenni.ai comes in. Our AI-powered tool is designed to help students like you save time and energy and focus on what truly matters - your education. With Jenni.ai , you'll have access to a wealth of examples and receive personalized writing suggestions and feedback.

Whether you're a student who's just starting your writing journey or looking to perfect your craft, Jenni.ai has everything you need to succeed. Our tool provides you with the necessary resources to write with confidence and clarity, no matter your experience level. You'll be able to experiment with different styles, explore new ideas , and refine your writing skills.

So why waste your time and energy struggling to write an essay on your own when you can have Jenni.ai by your side? Sign up for our free trial today and experience the difference for yourself! With Jenni.ai, you'll have the resources you need to write confidently, clearly, and creatively. Get started today and see just how easy and efficient writing can be!

Try Jenni for free today

Create your first piece of content with Jenni today and never look back

The Pros and Cons of Social Media for Youth

A new review article looks at how social media affects well-being in youth...

Posted October 16, 2021 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• Social media has both positive and negative effects on well-being in youth.
• Social media impacts four distinct areas for youth: connections, identity, learning, and emotions.

More than 90 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have a smartphone. Access to this type of technology and social networking changes the playing field for young people who are simultaneously developing a sense of identity and new social relationships.

We have certainly heard about the downside of teens and smartphones: cyberbullying, anxiety , and a misrepresented sense of body image . Research demonstrates there are some benefits too, including the ability to keep in touch with friends and loved ones – especially when the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person social interactions.

A new systematic review published in the journal Adolescent Research Review combines the evidence from qualitative studies that investigate adolescent social media use.

The authors found, in short, that the links between adolescent well-being and social media are complicated and depend on a broad range of factors.

“Adults have always been concerned about how the latest technology will harm children,” said Amanda Purington, director of evaluation and research for ACT for Youth in the BCTR and a doctoral candidate in Cornell’s Social Media Lab. “This goes back to radio programs, comic books, novels – you name it, adults were worried about it. The same is now true for social media. And yes, there are concerns – there are many potential risks and harms. But there are potential benefits, too.”

Reviewing 19 studies of young people ages 11 to 20, the authors identified four major themes related to social media and well-being that ultimately affected aspects of young people’s mental health and sense of self.

The first theme, connections, describes how social media either supports or hinders young people’s relationships with their peers, friends, and family. The studies in the review provided plenty of examples of ways that social media helped youth build connections with others. Participants reported that social media helped to create intimacy with friends and could improve popularity. Youth who said they were shy reported having an easier time making friends through social media. Studies also found social media was useful in keeping in touch with family and friends who live far away and allowing groups to communicate in masse. In seven papers, participants identified social media as a source of support and reassurance.

In 13 of the papers, youth reported that social media also harmed their connections with others. They provided examples of bullying and threats and an atmosphere of criticism and negativity during social media interactions. Youth cited the anonymity of social media as part of the problem, as well as miscommunication that can occur online.

Study participants also reported a feeling of disconnection associated with relationships on social media. Some youth felt rejected or left out when their social media posts did not receive the feedback they expected. Others reported feeling frustrated, lonely , or paranoid about being left out.

The second theme, identity, describes how adolescents are supported or frustrated on social media in trying to develop their identities.

Youth in many of the studies described how social media helped them to “come out of their shells” and express their true identities. They reported liking the ability to write and edit their thoughts and use images to express themselves. They reported that feedback they received on social media helped to bolster their self-confidence and they reported enjoying the ability to look back on memories to keep track of how their identity changed over time.

In eight studies, youth described ways that social media led to inauthentic representations of themselves. They felt suspicious that others would use photo editing to disguise their identities and complained about how easy it was to deliver communications slyly, rather than with the honesty required in face-to-face communication. They also felt self-conscious about posting selfies, and reported that the feedback they received would affect their feelings of self-worth .

The third theme, learning, describes how social media use supports or hinders education . In many studies, participants reported how social media helped to broaden their perspectives and expose them to new ideas and topics. Many youths specifically cited exposure to political and social movements, such as Black Lives Matter.

On the flip side, youth in five studies reported that social media interfered with their education. They said that phone notifications and the pressure to constantly check in on social media distracted them from their studies. Participants reported that they found it difficult to spend quiet time alone without checking their phones. Others said the 24-7 nature of social media kept them up too late at night, making it difficult to get up for school the next day.

The fourth theme, emotions, describes the ways that social media impacts young people’s emotional experiences in both positive and negative ways. In 11 papers, participants reported that social media had a positive effect on their emotions. Some reported it improved their mood, helped them to feel excited, and often prompted laughter . (Think funny animal videos.) Others reported that social media helped to alleviate negative moods, including annoyance, anger , and boredom . They described logging onto social media as a form of stress management .

But in nearly all of the papers included in the review, participants said social media was a source of worry and pressure. Participants expressed concern about judgment from their peers. They often felt embarrassed about how they looked in images. Many participants expressed worry that they were addicted to social media. Others fretted about leaving a digital footprint that would affect them later in life. Many participants reported experiencing pressure to constantly respond and stay connected on social media. And a smaller number of participants reported feeling disturbed by encountering troubling content, such as self-harm and seeing former partners in new relationships.

“As this review article highlights, social media provides spaces for adolescents to work on some of the central developmental tasks of their age, such as forming deeper connections with peers and exploring identity,” Purington said. “I believe the key is to help youth maximize these benefits while minimizing risks, and we can do this by educating youth about how to use social media in ways that are positive, safe, and prosocial.”

The take-home message: The body of evidence on social media and well-being paints a complicated picture of how this new technology is affecting youth. While there are certainly benefits when young people use social media, there is also a broad range of pressures and negative consequences.

The Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University is focused on using research findings to improve health and well-being of people at all stages of life.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

The Ups and Downs of Social Media

• Posted May 16, 2018
• By Leah Shafer

Watch teenagers using social media, and you witness an emotional rollercoaster: they are intermittently ecstatic, furious, envious, heartbroken, charmed, anxious, obsessive, and bored.

Research has begun to zero in on nearly every part of this spectrum, with findings that run from alarming (screen time is linked to depression and suicide ) to reassuring (many teens find social media empowering ). B ut for those looking for a clear-cut "good or bad" verdict on social media, the reality is that it's a little of each — but generally a much more positive experience than many parents might think.

A new study finds that teenagers report feeling all kinds of positive and negative emotions when describing the same social media experiences — posting selfies, Snapchatting, browsing videos — but  the majority rate their overall experiences as positive. 

Understanding these nuances can help families better grasp their teens’ up-and-down experiences in the digital world, the study suggests, offering new insight on how best to support them.

A Study on Adolescent Social Media Use

In the study, adolescent social media expert Emily Weinstein analyzed surveyed responses from 568 high school students at a suburban public high school in the United States. The students, who were evenly split between female and male, were heavier users of social media than the average American teen: 98 percent said that they were online “almost constantly” or “several times a day,” compared to 80 percent of teens nationally. Eighty-seven percent of these students used Instagram, 87 percent used Snapchat, and 76 percent used Facebook.

Teens felt empowered and excited when they shared important aspects of their identities with others. But they also worried about being judged by peers and expressed anxiety over not getting enough likes.

The surveys asked students to check off any of 11 listed emotions that they typically felt while using social media, as well as the emotions they believed their peers felt while using those apps.

Weinstein also analyzed data from 26 in-depth interviews with those surveyed (16 females and 10 males). These students walked the researchers through their experiences on Instagram and Snapchat, describing the content they saw and how they reacted to it.

A Spectrum of Positive and Negative Feelings — with Positive Prevailing

The study found that teens had four main ways of using social media — and although they acknowledged negative emotions from each, most described their experiences as generally positive.  

Teenagers use social media:

• for self-expression (sharing posts that portray who you are and what you care about);
• for relational interactions (messaging and connecting with family, friends, and romantic interests);
• for exploration (searching areas of interest); and
• for browsing (general scrolling through feeds and apps).

None of these modes of social media use resulted in purely negative emotions, as reported by teens. Each led to both positive and negative emotions.

• In self-expression mode, teens felt empowered and excited when they shared important aspects of their identities with others, and they enjoyed looking back at their personal Instagram feeds to reflect on how they’d developed over time. But they also worried about being judged by peers and expressed anxiety over not getting enough likes.  
• For relational interactions, teens felt happy to stay connected with peers, and many actually strengthened offline relationships with friends and significant others through social media. They enjoyed keeping in touch with faraway family members, too. But they also felt overwhelmed by the number of messages they had to respond to, and many felt left out when they saw friends posting together without them.  
• When exploring, teens enjoyed learning more about their interests, such as cooking or sports, or exploring new passions, such as activism or gun control. But they also reported viewing distressing and graphic images and stories.  
• When browsing, teens often felt amused and inspired by the different photos and videos they came across. But they also saw things that made them envious, insecure, or sad: a peer with thousands of followers, a deluge of images of attractive people, or even posts expressing appreciation for a parent or sibling, if they personally didn’t have that type of familial relationship.

Despite this variety of emotions, most teens described their experiences in mainly positive terms , found Weinstein, who is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education . Seventy-two percent of the teens reported feeling happy on social media, 68.5 percent amused, 59.3 percent closer to friends, and 57.8 percent interested in the experience. Only 6.7 percent reported feeling upset, 7.9 percent irritated, 10.2 percent anxious, 16.9 percent jealous, and 15.3 percent left out. And 70 percent of the teens described their general experiences on social media using only the positive descriptors.

Just cutting teens off from social media entirely may not be the best solution, since that will likely cut them off from positive experiences as well.

For Families, Helping Teens Ride the Rollercoaster

• As parents grapple with their own anxiety over teens’ smartphone use, they should keep in mind that many teens are having routinely positive experiences on social media. Yes, teens are aware of negative emotions — fear, distress, jealousy, but from their perspective, feelings of connection, amusement, and inspiration also abound.  
• Families also need to remember that many of these negative feelings are developmentally normal . “Self-disclosure, validation, and concerns about acceptance and belonging are core components of adolescent development and friendship that predate and are present in youths’ digital interactions,” writes Weinstein. And teens’ online experiences often mirror their offline strengths and struggles , so insecurity or anxiety may not stem solely from social media use.  
• Parents should take teens’ negative experiences seriously , especially if their mood or behavior has changed, or if these negative feelings are affecting daily activities. But cutting them off from social media entirely may not be the best solution,  since that will likely cut them off from positive experiences as well.  
• At all points, families should talk to their teens about their experiences on social media. Figure out together what exactly they enjoy, and what challenges they are facing. Oftentimes, parents and teens can come up with tailored solutions to unique challenges — unfollowing a certain account that contributes to a negative body image, or refraining from posting on a certain app that leads to anxiety, for example — that still allow teens to hold onto what they enjoy.

The Rise of Smartphones

Listen to a conversation with pyschologist Jean Twenge about smart smartphone use — how smartphones have transformed teens' lives, and how teens who limit their phone use to two hours a day have the highest levels of wellbeing, 

Usable Knowledge

Connecting education research to practice — with timely insights for educators, families, and communities

Related Articles

Askwith Education Forum Highlights Teen Well-Being in a Tech-Filled World

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy detailed the struggle many adolescents have with social media and what can be done to help

Teens in a Digital World

Strengthening Teen Digital Well-Being

Tips for talking with teens about social media and thinking traps

Social media use can be positive for mental health and well-being

January 6, 2020— Mesfin Awoke Bekalu , research scientist in the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses a new study he co-authored on associations between social media use and mental health and well-being.

What is healthy vs. potentially problematic social media use?

Our study has brought preliminary evidence to answer this question. Using a nationally representative sample, we assessed the association of two dimensions of social media use—how much it’s routinely used and how emotionally connected users are to the platforms—with three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health.

We found that routine social media use—for example, using social media as part of everyday routine and responding to content that others share—is positively associated with all three health outcomes. Emotional connection to social media—for example, checking apps excessively out of fear of missing out, being disappointed about or feeling disconnected from friends when not logged into social media—is negatively associated with all three outcomes.

In more general terms, these findings suggest that as long as we are mindful users, routine use may not in itself be a problem. Indeed, it could be beneficial.

For those with unhealthy social media use, behavioral interventions may help. For example, programs that develop “effortful control” skills—the ability to self-regulate behavior—have been widely shown to be useful in dealing with problematic Internet and social media use.

We’re used to hearing that social media use is harmful to mental health and well-being, particularly for young people. Did it surprise you to find that it can have positive effects?

The findings go against what some might expect, which is intriguing. We know that having a strong social network is associated with positive mental health and well-being. Routine social media use may compensate for diminishing face-to-face social interactions in people’s busy lives. Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions. Indeed, there is some empirical evidence supporting this.

On the other hand, a growing body of research has demonstrated that social media use is negatively associated with mental health and well-being, particularly among young people—for example, it may contribute to increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Our findings suggest that the ways that people are using social media may have more of an impact on their mental health and well-being than just the frequency and duration of their use.

What disparities did you find in the ways that social media use benefits and harms certain populations? What concerns does this raise?

My co-authors Rachel McCloud , Vish Viswanath , and I found that the benefits and harms associated with social media use varied across demographic, socioeconomic, and racial population sub-groups. Specifically, while the benefits were generally associated with younger age, better education, and being white, the harms were associated with older age, less education, and being a racial minority. Indeed, these findings are consistent with the body of work on communication inequalities and health disparities that our lab, the Viswanath lab , has documented over the past 15 or so years. We know that education, income, race, and ethnicity influence people’s access to, and ability to act on, health information from media, including the Internet. The concern is that social media may perpetuate those differences.

— Amy Roeder

• Open access
• Published: 06 July 2023

Pros & cons: impacts of social media on mental health

• Ágnes Zsila 1 , 2 &
• Marc Eric S. Reyes   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5280-1315 3  

BMC Psychology volume  11 , Article number:  201 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

452k Accesses

16 Citations

107 Altmetric

Metrics details

The use of social media significantly impacts mental health. It can enhance connection, increase self-esteem, and improve a sense of belonging. But it can also lead to tremendous stress, pressure to compare oneself to others, and increased sadness and isolation. Mindful use is essential to social media consumption.

Social media has become integral to our daily routines: we interact with family members and friends, accept invitations to public events, and join online communities to meet people who share similar preferences using these platforms. Social media has opened a new avenue for social experiences since the early 2000s, extending the possibilities for communication. According to recent research [ 1 ], people spend 2.3 h daily on social media. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have become increasingly popular among youth in 2022, and one-third think they spend too much time on these platforms [ 2 ]. The considerable time people spend on social media worldwide has directed researchers’ attention toward the potential benefits and risks. Research shows excessive use is mainly associated with lower psychological well-being [ 3 ]. However, findings also suggest that the quality rather than the quantity of social media use can determine whether the experience will enhance or deteriorate the user’s mental health [ 4 ]. In this collection, we will explore the impact of social media use on mental health by providing comprehensive research perspectives on positive and negative effects.

Social media can provide opportunities to enhance the mental health of users by facilitating social connections and peer support [ 5 ]. Indeed, online communities can provide a space for discussions regarding health conditions, adverse life events, or everyday challenges, which may decrease the sense of stigmatization and increase belongingness and perceived emotional support. Mutual friendships, rewarding social interactions, and humor on social media also reduced stress during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 4 ].

On the other hand, several studies have pointed out the potentially detrimental effects of social media use on mental health. Concerns have been raised that social media may lead to body image dissatisfaction [ 6 ], increase the risk of addiction and cyberbullying involvement [ 5 ], contribute to phubbing behaviors [ 7 ], and negatively affects mood [ 8 ]. Excessive use has increased loneliness, fear of missing out, and decreased subjective well-being and life satisfaction [ 8 ]. Users at risk of social media addiction often report depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem [ 9 ].

Overall, findings regarding the impact of social media on mental health pointed out some essential resources for psychological well-being through rewarding online social interactions. However, there is a need to raise awareness about the possible risks associated with excessive use, which can negatively affect mental health and everyday functioning [ 9 ]. There is neither a negative nor positive consensus regarding the effects of social media on people. However, by teaching people social media literacy, we can maximize their chances of having balanced, safe, and meaningful experiences on these platforms [ 10 ].

We encourage researchers to submit their research articles and contribute to a more differentiated overview of the impact of social media on mental health. BMC Psychology welcomes submissions to its new collection, which promises to present the latest findings in the emerging field of social media research. We seek research papers using qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on social media users’ positive and negative aspects. We believe this collection will provide a more comprehensive picture of social media’s positive and negative effects on users’ mental health.

Data Availability

Not applicable.

Statista. (2022). Time spent on social media [Chart]. Accessed June 14, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/chart/18983/time-spent-on-social-media/ .

Pew Research Center. (2023). Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys. Retrieved June 14, 2023, from https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/teens-and-social-media-key-findings-from-pew-research-center-surveys/ .

Boer, M., Van Den Eijnden, R. J., Boniel-Nissim, M., Wong, S. L., Inchley, J. C.,Badura, P.,… Stevens, G. W. (2020). Adolescents’ intense and problematic social media use and their well-being in 29 countries. Journal of Adolescent Health , 66(6), S89-S99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.02.011.

Marciano L, Ostroumova M, Schulz PJ, Camerini AL. Digital media use and adolescents’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Public Health. 2022;9:2208. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.641831 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Naslund JA, Bondre A, Torous J, Aschbrenner KA. Social media and mental health: benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. J Technol Behav Sci. 2020;5:245–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-020-00094-8 .

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Harriger JA, Thompson JK, Tiggemann M. TikTok, TikTok, the time is now: future directions in social media and body image. Body Image. 2023;44:222–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.12.005 .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Chi LC, Tang TC, Tang E. The phubbing phenomenon: a cross-sectional study on the relationships among social media addiction, fear of missing out, personality traits, and phubbing behavior. Curr Psychol. 2022;41(2):1112–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-0135-4 .

Valkenburg PM. Social media use and well-being: what we know and what we need to know. Curr Opin Psychol. 2022;45:101294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.101294 .

Bányai F, Zsila Á, Király O, Maraz A, Elekes Z, Griffiths MD, Urbán R, Farkas J, Rigó P Jr, Demetrovics Z. Problematic social media use: results from a large-scale nationally representative adolescent sample. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(1):e0169839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169839 .

American Psychological Association. (2023). APA panel issues recommendations for adolescent social media use. Retrieved from https://apa-panel-issues-recommendations-for-adolescent-social-media-use-774560.html .

Download references

Acknowledgements

Ágnes Zsila was supported by the ÚNKP-22-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Institute of Psychology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary

Ágnes Zsila

Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

Department of Psychology, College of Science, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, 1008, Philippines

Marc Eric S. Reyes

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

AZ conceived and drafted the Editorial. MESR wrote the abstract and revised the Editorial. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc Eric S. Reyes .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate, consent for publication, competing interests.

The authors have no competing interests to declare relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Zsila, Á., Reyes, M.E.S. Pros & cons: impacts of social media on mental health. BMC Psychol 11 , 201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01243-x

Download citation

Received : 15 June 2023

Accepted : 03 July 2023

Published : 06 July 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01243-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Social media
• Mental health

BMC Psychology

ISSN: 2050-7283

• General enquiries: [email protected]

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Social Media — Social Media Impact On Society

Social Media Impact on Society

• Categories: Social Media

About this sample

Words: 614 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 614 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Sociology

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

6 pages / 2525 words

3 pages / 1329 words

1 pages / 563 words

2 pages / 689 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Social Media

Abel, J. P., Buff, C. L., & Burr, S. A. (2016). Social Media and the Fear of Missing Out: Scale Development and Assessment. Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 14(1), 33-44. [...]

“God and Gloria THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving me life! I promise I’ll continue to make the both of you proud of me!”, a simple message Lebron James conducts to his twitter feed that carries a deeper meaning. Lebron is [...]

Primack, B. A. (n.d.). Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. Emotion, 17(6), 1026–1032. DOI: 10.1037/emo0000525Hobson, K. (n.d.). The Social Media Paradox: Are We Really More Connected? [...]

The advancements of technology have brought upon many positive and negative effects on society. The most recent technology provides easier access to our everyday needs such as the way we purchase products and the way we [...]

In the era of science and technology, it would be quite unusual to find anyone who does not have a social media account. Based on a research carried out by the Pew Research Center in 2013, forty-two percent of the internet users [...]

In the previous times, 10 years ago from now people use social media only to connect with the friends and families and to chat with them. But todays young generation they use social media in a very effective manner. They can be [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Search Menu
• Sign in through your institution
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

21 Positive Aspects of Social Media

Sally Quinn, University of York, UK

• Published: 10 September 2018
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Despite the negative press social media platforms like Facebook receive in mainstream media, there is a large amount of research showing positive associations with their use. Although it is accepted that there are potential negative effects associated with using these platforms, this chapter focuses on the positive aspects and discusses the evidence, showing that the use of social media platforms can be positively associated with feelings of connectedness with others, to providing and receiving social support from others (e.g., social capital), and to psychological well-being. The chapter also examines the evidence suggesting that certain groups of people (e.g., socially anxious) may be more likely to reap these benefits. Finally, the chapter examines the evidence showing how the use of social media by young people specifically has been seen to have some relationship with positive outcomes.

Introduction

At the turn of the twenty-first century, social media were beginning to emerge, and their use has grown exponentially year on year. Facebook reported 1.28 billion daily active users in the month of March 2017 ( Facebook, 2017 ) and in June of 2016, Twitter reported 328 million active monthly users ( Twitter, 2016 ). The key aims of these sites are to enable people to stay connected, to share experiences, and to keep people informed on topics of interest—Facebook’s mission statement is “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected” ( Facebook, n.d. ).

Smartphones have made it even easier to access social media platforms, enabling users to stay connected anytime and anywhere, which has been shown to be related to feelings of connectedness ( Quinn & Oldmeadow, 2013 ). Nevertheless, social media have frequently received bad press in the mainstream media with reports of their use being associated with cyberbullying, stalking, grooming, and poor physical and mental health. Although some of these claims are grounded in good quality research and are real issues experienced by some social media users, there is also a sizable amount of research that suggests some positive associations with social media use. After all, why would billions of people use these sites if there were no benefits?

Before this chapter examines the literature, it offers a definition of social media. Obar and Wildman (2015) discuss the difficulties of defining social media, partly due to the speed at which new platforms emerge, which may not fit with current definitions. Nevertheless, they propose four common characteristics of social media platforms: Social media are: (i) web 2.0 Internet-based platforms where (ii) user-generated content is the central factor to the workings of the platform; (iii) individuals and groups create user profiles specific to each social media platform and that are governed within the boundaries of that platform; (iv) social media platforms facilitate the communication between online social networks by connecting social media profiles with individuals or groups. Given this definition, this chapter focuses on any online platform that allows and encourages social interaction with others and allows users to create content with the intention of sharing with others—it refers to them all as “social media.” In looking at these social media platforms, the chapter acknowledges the presence and possibility for negative outcomes associated with their use, but provides a discussion of the literature that focuses on positive associations.

Connecting with Others

Over the last two decades, the Internet has become more social, offering many different platforms on which to interact with others. In light of this, it is understandable that one of the motivations driving general Internet use is to fulfill social needs ( Kaye, 1998 ; Stafford, Stafford, & Schkade, 2004 ). Stafford and Gonier (2004) report that people not only use the Internet to stay in touch with others, but also that keeping in contact via the Internet is an enjoyable activity. Further developments in technology (such as the ability to access the Internet on mobile devices) now mean that the opportunities for social interaction via the Internet can take place almost anywhere and at any time.

Social media specifically can offer fulfillment of social or interpersonal needs in ways that face-to-face (FTF) communication or other forms of media cannot. For example, social media can offer social interaction constantly and immediately if the user so desires and individuals will be motivated to use these sites if they think it will fulfill their objective of socializing with others ( Urista, Dong, & Day, 2009 ). Looking at general social media use among adolescents, Barker (2009) found that communicating with friends from the peer group was a central motivation for using these sites. Other motivations included social identity gratification, passing time, social compensation, entertainment, and social learning. Looking at Twitter specifically, Chen (2011) found that the amount of time a user spent on Twitter and the number of Twitter behaviors (e.g., retweeting) correlated highly with the gratification of the need to connect with others on this site. Similar findings have been found among Facebook users who report using this platform to keep in touch with friends ( Joinson, 2008 ) and to feel connected to friends ( Bumgarner, 2007 ). One of the key motivations of using these platforms then is to attempt to satiate the need to keep in touch with and feel connected to others.

However, a key question is whether or not these sites actually satiate this need for interaction and connectedness to others. Sheldon, Abad, and Hinsch (2011) investigated the links between Facebook use and feelings of connection to others, and in a series of studies they concluded that Facebook use increased feelings of connection. Moreover, they found that feelings of disconnection motivated Facebook use, and in an experimental study that deprived people of using Facebook, they found that those who felt more disconnected were more likely to spend a longer period of time on Facebook at the end of the deprivation stage of the experiment. The authors conclude that there is a two-way process involved in Facebook use: feelings of disconnection motivate people to use the site, and feelings of connection increase after using Facebook. There is also evidence to show that the feelings of connectedness felt through social media use is a separate construct from social connectedness felt in FTF settings ( Grieve, Indian, Witteveen, Anne Tolan, & Marrington, 2013 ). Grieve and colleagues asked participants to complete two identical social connectedness scales (one with reference to FTF interactions and the other with reference to Facebook interactions). Subsequent analysis of these two scales showed that both were independent of each other and were therefore not measuring the same construct. Although Grieve and colleagues do not speculate exactly how Facebook fulfills feelings of connectedness differently to FTF interactions, they do speculate that Facebook interaction may provide an environment for certain people to gain social connectedness to others that they do not get offline (e.g., those who are socially anxious). This might therefore suggest that Facebook offers different opportunities to that of FTF interactions that help to fulfill feelings of connectedness.

One question to arise from this literature is why does the online world enable people to feel close to others in their social circles? Hyperpersonal Theory addresses this question (Walther, 1995 , 1996 ); the theory is based on the idea that there is a disinhibiting effect when interacting online. Online disinhibition has been described as “any behaviour that is characterised by an apparent reduction in concerns for self-presentation and the judgement of others” ( Joinson, 1998 , p. 44). As well as providing a “mask” for people to engage in negative behaviors, these feelings of disinhibition have also been found to be linked to positive behaviors ( Suler, 2005 ). The Hyperpersonal Theory proposes that these feelings of disinhibition result in more intimate relationships because of the asynchronous nature of online interactions and the reduction in visual and auditory cues. These two features (reduced cues and asynchronicity) mean that online communicators are able to selectively present themselves, choosing which characteristics they would like to share and having the time to think about how they want to express these characteristics. In the case of social media, this may relate to being able to think about how to respond to someone’s post or update, or being able to carefully select a photo of oneself to share on the platform. These reduced cues and asynchronicity lead to users feeling disinhibited, which then results in an increase in self-disclosure (the sharing of intimate, personal information). Self-disclosure is a key factor in developing close relationships ( Berndt, 2002 ) and the positive link between online disinhibition and self-disclosure has been found to be consistent across many studies (e.g. Joinson, 2001 ; Tidwell & Walther, 2002 ).

Although there is evidence to support the efficacy of the online environment in supporting self-disclosure, the reduced cues element may be questionable when thinking about the disinhibiting effect on social media. That is, the inclusion of photos and videos on social media could potentially challenge the assumption that these platforms offer complete visual and auditory anonymity. Nevertheless, visual and auditory cues are reduced to some extent in comparison to FTF interactions with others. For example, in the moment of posting a status update on Facebook, users do not need to manage the way they look or sound to people who will read their status. Indeed, there is evidence that supports the idea that users perceive a reduction in visual and auditory cues on social media platforms and that this reduction (along with the asynchronous nature of communication) leads to feelings of disinhibition, which subsequently increases self-disclosure ( Green, Wilhelmsen, Wilmots, Dodd, & Quinn, 2016 ). However, newer social media may challenge this. For example, Snapchat interactions largely consist of photo and video messages, rather than just text, and it is unclear how this difference affects feelings of disinhibition during the interaction itself. In addition, Snapchat allows for control over the length of time the image or video is viewed (up to a maximum of ten seconds), and the ephemerality of the content may add an additional factor which could affect feelings of disinhibition. The present model of the disinhibition effect may need to be updated to consider the more recent characteristics of some social media platforms. Nevertheless, there is evidence that there is a perception of reduced cues and asynchronicity on social media and thus this reduction has been found to be conducive to self-disclosure behaviors.

This ability of social media to provide an environment which helps self-disclosure means these sites can be a useful tool to maintain relationships. Whether people use these sites, and if so, the degree to which they are used, has been of great interest in terms of investigating the links between their use and positive effects on relationships with others. Park, Jin, and Jin (2011) examined different types of self-disclosure on Facebook and how this related to perceived intimacy with Facebook friends. They found that the amount of self-disclosure and the degree of positive self-disclosure (i.e., disclosing positive information about the self) were positively related to feelings of intimacy towards Facebook friends. As most of a user’s contacts on Facebook are people known to that user offline ( boyd & Ellison, 2007 ), this study suggests that Facebook could be a useful platform for encouraging intimacy with friends. However, the authors did find that honest and intentional self-disclosure was not related to intimacy; thus, it may be that only certain elements of self-disclosure (e.g., disclosing positive information about the self) on social media has this effect.

Not only is it important to consider the different types of self-disclosure but also the different ways in which people communicate on social media. For example, Bayer, Ellison, Schoenebeck, and Falk (2016) report that Snapchat, a relatively new social media platform, is usually used among close friends to share small moments of day-to-day life, with the content often having some meaning between close friends. In addition, content can be shared for all contacts to see, or it can be targeted at certain individuals. Utz (2015) examined this by asking participants to rate their own Facebook private messages, and their own and friends’ status updates (content which is by default shared to all of a user’s Facebook contacts). The results showed that private messages were rated as more intimate than status updates, and this intimacy within private messages was found to be the strongest predictor of feelings of connection to the person. These findings may be due to the motivations behind using the different ways of communicating with others on Facebook. For example, Utz also found that the use of private messages was motivated by relationship maintenance, whereas the use of status updates was motivated by wanting to share information and to entertain Facebook contacts. Hence, the different ways of communicating on these sites may serve different functions.

The motivations and subsequent benefits of using social media are strongly linked to connecting with others and using these platforms as a way to maintain relationships with others. Given that these platforms provide social interactions with others, many users find they also offer access to social support from other users.

Social Support

Having access to social support can be important in times of need and one motivation of using social media is to receive this support from friends ( Kim, Sohn, & Choi, 2011 ). Moreover, users of Facebook have reported to be satisfied with the support they get through the site ( Wright et al., 2013 ) and perceived emotional support on Facebook has been found to be negatively related to stress among college students ( Wright, 2012 ).

One conceptualization of social support is social capital. Generally, social capital is the degree to which one has access to resources (social, psychological, and physical) through ties and relationships with other people ( Coleman, 1988 ). Having a high degree of social capital gives access to more opportunities for social support. Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2007) investigated links between Facebook use and social capital among university students. They found that high-intensity use of Facebook was associated with high levels of bonding social capital (social capital gained through intimate, close-knit relationships) and with bridging social capital (capital gained through weak ties). Importantly, their findings suggested that this might be particularly useful for people with low levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction because they may find these harder to achieve in their offline lives. Similar findings have been reported for other social media platforms. For example, Piwek and Joinson (2016) found that the intensity of Snapchat use was positively related to both bonding and bridging social capital, with the strongest relationship seen with bonding capital.

However, there is evidence to suggest that only certain uses of social media are related to social capital. In an analysis of Facebook patterns of behaviors, Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe (2011) found that usage consisted of three forms: initiating friendships with new people, seeking out information on others, and maintaining existing friendships, with the latter being the most common type of usage. Ellison and colleagues examined how these three uses of Facebook were related to both bonding and bridging social capital on this social media platform, and found that information seeking was the only significant predictor of both types of social capital. This may seem counterintuitive, given that one would expect actual interactions (rather than information gathering) to be related to social capital. However, Ellison and colleagues speculate that information seeking on Facebook enables users to learn about potential commonalities (e.g., shared interests, mutual friends) between themselves and other users, which can then act as a catalyst to encourage both online and offline communication, increasing the perception of social capital received through the site. This suggests that people may use Facebook in conjunction with FTF interactions to get to know people. However, this also supports the finding that these sites not only provide support from people with whom users have close relationships, but also from those whom users consider as less close ( Rozzell et al., 2014 ). These weaker ties may be people that are not often seen in FTF settings and thus social media may be facilitating support from a wider array of people than a user could potentially access offline.

Different types of social media may also be perceived as more appropriate platforms on which to seek social support. In their study looking at various social media platforms, Hayes, Carr, and Wohn (2016) report that Facebook, rather than Twitter, was perceived to be more effective in gaining social support, and that Snapchat, Instagram, and LinkedIn were the platforms where participants were least likely to attempt to gain social support from their social media contacts. Moreover, they also found that different platforms might be used for different types of support. Although overall Snapchat was not one of the sites most used to gain social support, it was found to be used for support with self-evaluation (judgments made about one’s own performance). One reason given for this was that Snapchat friends are a smaller and more relevant group of friends to a user’s own life and the “snaps” (image messages sent through Snapchat) can be targeted towards certain people. On the other hand, Twitter was used mostly for information support (support with solving a problem through providing facts) rather than seeking out emotional support. Hayes and colleagues suggest that social media users may use different social platforms to access different types of social support, implying that the picture may be more complex than all social media platforms offering sources of support.

There is some research backing the idea that support received through social media like Facebook is an extension of the support received offline ( Blight, Jagiello, & Ruppel, 2015 ; Li, Chen, & Popiel, 2015 ), and so social media does little to increase perceptions of social support ( Li et al. 2015 ). However, these groups of studies as well as those previously discussed do not differentiate between different users, and few examine certain uses of social media, particularly those that are targeted at specific support (e.g., pages or groups set up to support a particular group of people). Those who have unique interests, beliefs, or set of circumstances may be unlikely to find similar others or effective social support in their offline social circles ( Stepanikova, Nie, & He, 2010 ).

Social media offer opportunities for different people who have something in common to connect with and support each other. For example, Facebook pages and groups are often set up to support usual life events such as pregnancy and motherhood, and have been found to be important platforms through which to access support from others ( Holtz, Smock, & Reyes-Gastelum, 2015 ). However, they can also be used in more life-changing circumstances, such as serious illnesses. Chen, Yang, Toso-Salman, Chang, Schear, and McGoldrick (2016) conducted an analysis of a Facebook page set up in Mexico aimed at addressing the stigma around cancer. They found that the site was being used by cancer sufferers and survivors to support one another by sharing stories about their own experiences and how they had coped with the reality of living with cancer. This support was mostly from people unknown to the original poster of the content and consisted predominantly of emotional support, as well as support which gave information about the disease. More importantly, the users shared their feelings of empowerment with each other; having cancer had propelled them into trying to help reduce the stigma in Mexico around cancer.

Groups can also be set up on social media by sufferers themselves, rather than being moderated by an external body. Facebook groups exist for sufferers of certain illnesses and are used to share information with each other as well as to provide support to each other ( Greene, Choudhry, Kilabuk, & Shrank, 2011 ). Greene and colleagues found that on Facebook pages for people with diabetes, sufferers were sharing stories about what it felt like to be diabetic, helping them to create a sense of identity. There were clear examples of advice being given to newly diagnosed diabetics from more “veteran” diabetics. Social support is also found on YouTube. Of the comments found on YouTube videos containing testimonials of people with eating disorders, 75 percent were found to be in support of the person who had made and posted the video (i.e., the individual suffering from the eating disorder; Pereira, Quinn, & Morales, 2016 ).

Social support is not only visible on pages specifically set up for this purpose. Billions of people use social media, create profiles, add content, interact, and share with others. However, when social media users die, these profiles are often used as a place for friends and family to express their grief and to support each other, generating a feeling of solidarity ( Church, 2013 ). The content of the deceased’s profile is a historical record of interaction and conversations with friends and family, and hence is as much a part of the living’s life as it was the deceased’s ( Lingel, 2013 ). It is understandable how these profiles become a memorial for the dead.

Research that has analyzed social media profiles of the deceased shows that in the early days following the death, posts are made which express disbelief or shock at the death of the person ( Brubaker & Hayes, 2011 ; Church, 2013 ), but shortly afterwards it becomes an important place to gain information on the funeral ( Brubaker & Hayes, 2011 ), which enables a wider circle of people to publicly grieve “at the graveside” ( Lingel, 2013 ). After these initial days, the comments and messages change and are mostly directed at the deceased. A qualitative analysis of comments left on 1369 MySpace profiles of deceased people found that many of the comments formed a one-sided conversation; some comments suggested a belief that the deceased could see the messages left on the page or profile: “Ashley … you can see already how much you’ve meant to everyone … there are so many people who cared about u … look at all these comments” ( Brubaker & Hayes, 2011 , p. 4).

This feeling that the deceased can see the messages was also found by Brubaker, Hayes, and Dourish (2013) who interviewed 16 people about their death-related experiences on social media. These interviews generally indicated that the content left on the deceased’s profile was going to the deceased. Brubaker and Hayes (2011) refer to this as “post-mortem social networking” and argue that, in some way, the content left after the death of the profile/page owner is a way in which the deceased are still integrated into the lives of the living through the sharing of memories and telling the deceased about current life events. These sites can create an illusion that the deceased and living are having a two-way conversation ( Church, 2013 ).

The evidence seems to suggest that sites like Facebook can be important platforms to help people cope with the death of a loved one ( Lingel, 2013 ). However, there is no empirical evidence currently to show that engaging in this type of social media use actually aids in the bereavement process, nor is there any information to show whether it is more helpful to certain groups of people. Church (2013) reports that the family of a deceased person take comfort in the messages left by others and Brubaker and colleagues (2013) report that reading others’ comments can help other mourners to know the deceased in a better or different way. However, these are qualitative studies that have their own limitations in terms of generalizability. Although the evidence available seems to suggest that bereaved social media users take comfort in this form of social media use, since the majority of studies are qualitative, it cannot be concluded that it is better than or supplements other methods of coping with grief (e.g., offline support networks). Nevertheless, the evidence to date seems to suggest that social media can provide a positive experience for bereaved individuals.

Social media platforms can offer sources of support to many people, from gaining different types of support on different platforms as well as getting support from others who are experiencing similar difficulties. Given this, and that social media can help to maintain friendships and connections with others, there is a body of research that has found links between their use and the well-being of their users.

Social Media and Well-being

Human beings are social creatures and having social connections to and support from others is important for well-being and there is evidence to support the notion that social media use can have positive effects on some aspects of psychological well-being in particular. Liu and Yu (2013) report that Facebook use was an important factor in online social support, which, in turn, had a small but significant direct effect on well-being. Moreover, online social support had an indirect effect on well-being, with general social support being a significant mediator of this relationship. Similar results were found by Nabi, Prestin, and So (2013) , who reported that the number of Facebook friends had a positive effect on perceived social support, which was then related to perceptions of reduced stress, and subsequently increases in physical health and psychological well-being. In addition, this pattern seems to be found among adolescents. Valkenburg and Peter (2007a) found that using instant messaging to communicate with friends resulted in better quality of friendships, which, in turn, was positively related to well-being. In addition, there is some evidence which shows that using social media to present the “self” might impact positively on well-being. Kim and Lee (2011) demonstrated that portraying oneself in a positive light (e.g., uploading photographs in which one looks happy) on Facebook was significantly associated with feelings of happiness. They also found that portraying oneself in a more realistic way (e.g., expressing negative emotions) led to higher perceptions of social support, which, in turn, was positively related to feelings of happiness. Social media use may therefore be indirectly related to well-being.

One element of well-being is self-esteem. Self-esteem is a psychological construct that refers to the degree to which a person respects and likes themselves. Having feedback on the self can be an important predictor of self-esteem ( Pujazon-Zazik & Park, 2010 ) and one context in which this can occur is social media. For example, positive comments left on social media profiles can lead to higher levels of self-esteem ( Valkenburg, Peter, & Schouten, 2006 ). However, social media can also provide opportunities for others to leave negative comments, and Valkenburg and colleagues found evidence that those who receive negative comments may be at risk of lower self-esteem. Hence, the ability to leave comments on social media profiles may not be a wholly positive experience for everyone. However, these platforms enable people to feel connected, and these feelings of connectedness have also been found to have a positive effect on self-esteem ( Abellera, Ouano, Conway, Camilotes, & Doctor, 2012 ).

Positive associations have also been found between social media use and other measures of well-being. For example, Grieve and colleagues (2013) found that increased feelings of social connectedness via Facebook was correlated with a reduction in depression and anxiety. Using experimental methods, Deters and Mehl (2012) found that increasing the frequency of posting status updates on Facebook can reduce loneliness. These relationships between social media and well-being may also differ depending on the type of social platform used. Pittman and Reich (2016) examined the relationship between uses of five different social media platforms and well-being. They found that use of the image-based platforms were most strongly related to reduced feelings of loneliness and increased perceptions of happiness and satisfaction with life, suggesting that seeing an image gives a sense of social presence and is therefore more likely to increase feelings of connectedness to others, which in turn increases well-being. Therefore, social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram (i.e., that are more image based) may be more useful in helping to have a positive effect on well-being.

Thus far, this chapter has outlined several positive aspects related to social media use, including providing connectedness to others, providing sources of social support, and having a positive effect on well-being. However, there are certain groups of people who may benefit from the positive aspects more than other users.

Who Benefits Most from Social Media Use?

There are two hypotheses regarding who benefits most from general social uses of the Internet. The first is the rich-get-richer (or social enhancement) hypothesis, which states that those who already have a rich offline social life will use social media to further this, widening their social circle and enhancing relationships they already have offline. One key characteristic of this group of people is extraversion, which has been found to be positively related to the frequency of social media use ( Correa, Hinsley, & de Zuniga, 2010 ), the number of friends on social media ( Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010 ; Lönnqvist & große Deters, 2016 ), and the number of Facebook groups ( Ross et al., 2009 ). This access to more friends may therefore offer more sources of support. In addition, Seidman’s (2013) study shows evidence that people high in extraversion are more likely to make emotional self-disclosures via social media. Self-disclosure is conducive to relational development and subsequently helps to increase well-being, and there is evidence to suggest that the relationship between Facebook use and well-being holds more strongly for those high in extraversion ( Lönnqvist & große Deters, 2016 ). These studies therefore suggest that those who are already rich in friendships, social support, and well-being will become socially richer from being on social media.

The second hypothesis is the social compensation hypothesis, which suggests that those who are socially poor offline will benefit from online interactions. As discussed, general Internet communication and social media use can enhance social relationships because the reduced cues and asynchronous nature of the Internet and subsequent feelings of disinhibition can encourage self-disclosure behaviors. Being able to select more intimate communication on social media may be more important to people who may find FTF contact difficult, resulting in them choosing communication via the Internet to fulfill their interpersonal needs ( Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000 ).

Those who experience greater social anxiety typically struggle with FTF interactions as they fear negative evaluations from others ( Schlenker & Leary, 1982 ) and as part of a self-protective strategy may be less likely to self-disclose in FTF situations ( Meleshko & Alden, 1993 ). Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that these people place more importance on the features of online communication (i.e., reduced cues and asynchronicity), which enables them to feel less inhibited ( Weidman et al., 2012 ), leading to more self-disclosure ( Schouten, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2007 ). Green and colleagues (2016) tested this process to see if it held for both private communication on Facebook (i.e., private messages) and public communication on Facebook (e.g., status updates, comments on others’ posts). Although those experiencing greater social anxiety valued the controllability and reduced cues of both private and public communication, they only felt disinhibited on private communication which then resulted in higher levels of self-disclosure. Given that Utz (2015) found that private Facebook messages were more intimate than status updates, this suggests that socially anxious people may prefer to self-disclose in more intimate spaces online. These relationships between individual differences and the benefits of communication on social media have also been found for shy people ( Baker & Oswald, 2010 ) and people low in self-esteem ( Steinfield, Ellison and Lampe, 2008 ). Lonely people may also benefit from social media as they have been found to be more likely to use the Internet in general as a source of emotional support and for connecting with others with similar interests, compared to people who are low in loneliness ( Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2003 ). This body of research supports the social compensation hypothesis whereby those who are typically socially poor offline will benefit from interacting with others online.

The two hypotheses—the rich-get-richer hypothesis and the social compensation hypothesis—are not necessarily opposing hypotheses since both can co-exist; Zywica and Danowski (2008) found support for both. Some participants showed positive associations between extraversion and self-esteem and being popular online, but some who were less sociable with lower self-esteem used the online environment to try to increase their popularity. The authors argue that self-esteem may play a role in explaining this dual support for the hypotheses. That is, those with lower self-esteem (e.g., those who are socially poor offline) are using the social side of the Internet to attempt to increase their self-esteem by striving to enhance their self-image. Conversely, those with high self-esteem (e.g., those who are socially rich offline) may be using this part of the Internet to protect their self-image as a popular person and to advertise their popularity.

Although social media platforms could offer benefits to all users, the evidence suggests that certain types of users may be more likely to benefit from their use. Another group of social media users are young people (children and adolescents) who are prolific users of sites like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. The following section discusses the positive aspects of social media that are associated with their use among young people.

Social Media and Young People

There have been various concerns surrounding the use of social media by young people, for example, cyberbullying, exposure to unwanted material, interacting with Internet predators. However, recent evidence suggests this is not the case for all young people. Many see these sites as an important part of their social life ( Brennan, 2006 ) and the key aim of social media use among adolescents is to maintain and strengthen offline relationships ( Hew & Cheung, 2012 ; Reich et al., 2012 ). Lenhart and colleagues (2015) report that 94 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds spend time with their friends on social media, and 68 percent report having been supported through difficult times by friends on social media platforms. In addition, young people can stay in contact with friends who have moved away or friends who attend a different school ( Clarke, 2009 ). Some young people have also reported that using social media makes them feel as though they are always connected to each other ( Markow, 2006 ); this may be particularly beneficial to children and adolescents who live in rural areas by helping them to feel connected to friends regardless of the geographical challenges of meeting FTF ( Valentine & Holloway, 2002 ).

Due to feelings of disinhibition, early adolescents in particular use social media to share intimate thoughts and feelings ( Clarke, 2009 ), which is one characteristic of friendships at this age, particularly among girls ( Maccoby, 2002 ). One study shows evidence that instant messaging (IM) platforms might be being used as a rehearsal space (particularly by boys) to practise these self-disclosure skills to enable offline intimacy to be carried out more efficiently in the future ( Valkenburg, Sumter, & Peter, 2011 ). Hence, using IM services to contact friends has been found to be related to increased quality of friendships (e.g., increased intimacy, trust, and communication, Blais et al., 2008 ). In a study with 10–17-year-olds, Valkenburg and Peter (2007b) also found that those who perceived online communication to be conducive to discussing a wider breadth of topics and to discussing topics in more depth were more likely to use the online environment to communicate with others. These perceptions were positively related to actual online communication, which, in turn, was positively related to closeness to friends. Importantly, there is evidence that these positive effects of social media communication are only seen when this communication is with people known offline, and not with people met online ( Valkenburg & Peter, 2007a ).

Similar effects appear in terms of more recent social media. Mobile use of social media enables more frequent use of social media platforms and has a subsequent relationship with feelings of connectedness to friends ( Quinn & Oldmeadow, 2013 ). Quinn and Oldmeadow (2012) found that among 9–13-year-old boys, social media use, such as Facebook, was positively related to feelings of belonging to their friendship group. In conjunction with Valkenburg and colleagues’ (2011) findings that boys in particular are likely to use these kinds of platforms for practising self-disclosure skills, these studies suggest that social media are also important platforms particularly for adolescent boys to practise and create intimacy between friends. This may relate to typical social roles seen offline. For example, girls’ friendships during adolescence are characterized by higher levels of intimacy than boys’ friendships ( Buhrmester, 1996 ), and this may become an accepted norm (i.e., boys are not expected to self-disclose). However, due to feelings of disinhibition, the constraints of social roles in offline contexts may not hold in online contexts (therefore boys may feel more at ease to self-disclose intimate information online). However, this is only a theory, and future research could investigate the reasons for increased self-disclosure online among boys.

Related to friendship maintenance, children and adolescents also use social media as a space outside school to repair relationships that may have been fractured during the school day. Reich (2010) reports that teens have used social media to help them solve problems with friends. In line with the reduced cues, asynchronicity, and feelings of disinhibition offered by these sites, it may be easier for adolescents to repair these relationships on social media rather than FTF. O’Sullivan (2000) found that people preferred to communicate with others via mediated channels (e.g., email) when sensitive or embarrassing information was being discussed or divulged, as these channels allow people to better control information that may threaten self-presentation. Given this, it is understandable that adolescents may choose social media platforms to make amends for issues that may have occurred during the school day. The ability to maintain and repair relationships is important particularly during adolescence, when belonging to a peer group is extremely important ( Brown, 1990 ), and when friendships are seen as important for cognitive, social, and emotional development ( Newcomb & Bagwell, 1996 ). Social media can therefore offer an alternative way for these friendships to be developed and maintained, but also crucially the idiosyncratic features of social media sites might allow young people to resolve conflicts and ambiguity with greater ease.

Adolescence is also a period of time where children begin to exhibit greater independence, and it is also a time of identity exploration with the reference point for this development of identity shifting to friends rather than family ( Kroger, 2000 ). Greenhow and Robelia (2009) suggest that “adolescence is a time when young people explore the physical, sexual, occupational, and ethnic dimensions of their identity within a larger social context” (p. 123). This exploration also allows the individual to learn how to appropriately socially interact with others and how to manage the impressions people have of them. boyd (2008) asserts that social media are a social context where young people can learn about social interactions, how to behave, and decide how they want others to perceive them through a process of impression management. These platforms are a place where adolescents in particular disclose intimate information about themselves, allowing others to comment on this information ( Ahn, 2011 ). boyd argues that these messages and comments left by others (both positive and negative) are a way for adolescents to experience the process of impression management. Posting content onto their own profile may lead others to leave some sort of feedback, and it is this feedback (positive or negative) that helps the young person to decide whether or not to continue behaving in a certain way. In other words, they are using this process as a way of deciding who they want to be. Manago, Graham, Greenfield, and Salimkhan (2008) support this idea and show that receiving social verification in the form of positive feedback on identity explorations can have a reinforcing effect. Thus, social media platforms provide social spaces where young people can experiment with their identity.

boyd’s (2008) work is part of a larger body of research that examines online identity development among adolescents. Valkenburg, Schouten and Peter (2005) found that half of their sample of 9- to 18-year-olds reported that they had used instant messaging platforms or chat rooms for identity exploration. Social media in particular offers users the ability to construct, modify, or completely change their self-presentation ( Coyle & Vaughn, 2008 ; Livingstone, 2008 ), and it is this flexibility that provides young people with opportunities to explore their identity ( Livingstone, 2009 ; Mitchell & Ybarra, 2009 ); for example, many sites allow the user to decorate their profile page, add links to external sites, post pictures and video clips, and to update their status. In line with Walther’s Hyperpersonal Communication Theory (Walther, 1995 , 1996 ), the asynchronous nature of social media interactions (and to some extent the reduced cues) may provide a safe environment for identity development to those who are less confident, enabling them to express themselves in a more confident way; social media allow the user time to consider their responses and if they do become embarrassed, the emotion is invisible to others ( Valentine & Holloway, 2002 ). Valentine and Holloway also argue that this type of interaction actually provides a higher level of control to the individual over their identity construction, and Greenhow and Robelia (2009) report that young people find construction of identity easier to carry out on social media than they do offline. Another possible reason for this is that it provides a non-adult (and therefore potentially non-judgmental) environment in which to explore identity ( Livingstone, 2008 ).

Although there may be legitimate concerns about the use of social media by young people, this section shows that social media platforms can be a useful place for young people to connect with others, to maintain their relationships, and to explore their identity.

This chapter discussed several positive aspects associated with the use of social media. It is clear that social media are forever changing and the new characteristics of different platforms need to be studied, for example, more recent social media like Snapchat offer the ability to post content that has a very short life span. The impact of ephemerality on aspects like disinhibition and the value this holds to certain groups of people (e.g., the socially anxious) has yet to be studied. While this could potentially encourage negative behaviors, it is also possible that platforms that offer this level of control over content will be particularly attractive to the types of people discussed in Who Benefits Most from Social Media Use (e.g. people who are socially anxious). Research must therefore play “catch up” with this constantly changing landscape.

Despite social media getting bad press in mainstream media, there are many positive outcomes associated with its use. However, it is important to remain cautious about proclaiming that using social media causes positive outcomes. As with the literature examining the negative aspects of social media, much of the literature discussed in this chapter includes cross-sectional, non-experimental studies that clearly have their limitations in being able to provide firm conclusions on cause and effect relationships, which should be borne in mind when drawing conclusions. Nevertheless, social media platforms are used by billions of people and are also integrated into many areas of everyday life. It is therefore imperative that research continues to investigate how these platforms can affect relationships, social support, and well-being.

Abellera, N. , Ouano, J. , Conway, G. , Camilotes, L. , & Doctor, H. ( 2012 ). The mediating effect of relatedness on Facebook use and self-esteem.   International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology 1 (3), 59–67.

Google Scholar

Ahn, J. ( 2011 ). The effect of social network sites on adolescents’ social and academic development: Current theories and controversies.   Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 62 (8), 1435–2882.

Amichai-Hamburger, Y. , & Vinitzky, G. ( 2010 ). Social network use and personality.   Computers in Human Behavior 26 (6), 1289–5632.

Baker, L. R. , & Oswald, D. L. ( 2010 ). Shyness and online social networking services.   Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 27 (7), 873–4075.

Barker, V. ( 2009 ). Older adolescents’ motivations for social network site use: The influence of gender, group identity, and collective self-esteem.   Cyberpsychology & Behavior: The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society 12 (2), 209–213.

Bayer, J. B. , Ellison, N. B. , Schoenebeck, S. Y. , & Falk, E. B. ( 2016 ). Sharing the small moments: ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat.   Information, Communication and Society 19 (7), 956–977.

Berndt, T. J. ( 2002 ). Friendship quality and social development.   Current Directions in Psychological Science 11 , 7–10.

Blais, J. J. , Craig, W. M. , Pepler, D. , & Connolly, J. ( 2008 ). Adolescents online: The importance of Internet activity choices to salient relationships.   Journal of Youth and Adolescence 37 (5), 522–536.

Blight, M. G. , Jagiello, K. , & Ruppel, E. K. ( 2015 ). “Same stuff different day”: A mixed-method study of support seeking on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior 53 , 366–373.

boyd, d. ( 2008 ). Why youth heart social network sites: The role of networked publics. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, identity, and digital media (pp. 119–142). London: MIT Press.

Google Preview

boyd, d. , & Ellison, N. B. ( 2007 ). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship.   Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (1), Article 11.

Brennan, M. ( 2006 ). Understanding online social network services and risks to youth . London: Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre.

Brown, B. B. ( 1990 ). Peer groups and peer culture. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 171–196). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Brubaker, J. R. , & Hayes, G. R. (2011). We will never forget you [online]: An empirical investigation of post-mortem MySpace comments. In Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 123–132). New York: ACM.

Brubaker, J. R. , Hayes, G. R. , & Dourish, P. ( 2013 ). Beyond the grave: Facebook as a site for the expansion of death and mourning.   The Information Society 29 (3), 152–163.

Buhrmester, D. ( 1996 ). Need fulfillment, interpersonal competence and the developmental contexts of early adolescent friendships. In W. M. Bukowski , A. F. Newcomb , & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep. Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 158–185). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bumgarner, B. A. ( 2007 ). You have been poked: Exploring the uses and gratifications of Facebook among emerging adults.   First Monday 12 (11). Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu

Chen, G. M. ( 2011 ). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others.   Computers in Human Behavior 27 (2), 755–762.

Chen, X. , Yang, L. H. , Toso-Salman, J. , Chang, Schear R. , & McGoldrick, D. ( 2016 ). Social support within online communities: Internet reach and content analysis of a cancer anti-stigma Facebook page in Mexico.   Global Media Journal 2016 , S1:1

Church, S. H. ( 2013 ). Digital gravescapes: Digital memorializing on Facebook.   The Information Society 29 (3), 184–189.

Clarke, B. ( 2009 ). Friends forever: How young adolescents use social-networking sites.   IEEE Intelligent Systems 24 (6), 22–26.

Coleman, J. S. ( 1988 ). Social capital in the creation of human capital.   The American Journal of Sociology 94 , S95–S120.

Correa, T. , Hinsley, A. W. , & de Zuniga, H. G. ( 2010 ). Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use.   Computers in Human Behavior 26 (2), 247–253.

Coyle, C. L. , & Vaughn, H. ( 2008 ). Social networking: Communication revolution or evolution?   Bell Labs Technical Journal 13 (2), 13–17.

Deters, F. , & Mehl, M. ( 2012 ). Does posting Facebook status updates increase or decrease loneliness? An online social networking experiment.   Social Psychological and Personality Science 4 (5) https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612469233

Ellison, N. B. , Steinfield, C. , & Lampe, C. ( 2007 ). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (4), 1143–1168.

Ellison, N. B. , Steinfield, C. , & Lampe, C. ( 2011 ). Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices.   New Media & Society , 13 (6), 873–892.

Facebook (n.d.). Facebook About. Retrieved July 21, 2017 from https://www.facebook.com/pg/facebook/about/

Facebook (2017). Facebook newsroom statistics. Retrieved July 21, 2017 from https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/

Green, T. , Wilhelmsen, T. , Wilmots, E. , Dodd, B. , & Quinn, S. ( 2016 ). Social anxiety, attributes of online communication and self-disclosure across private and public Facebook communication.   Computers in Human Behavior 58 , 206–213.

Greene, J. A. , Choudhry, N. K. , Kilabuk, E. , & Shrank, W. H. ( 2011 ). Online social networking by patients with diabetes: a qualitative evaluation of communication with Facebook.   Journal of General Internal Medicine 26 (3), 287–292.

Greenhow, C. , & Robelia, B. ( 2009 ). Informal learning and identity formation in online social networks.   Learning, Media and Technology 34 (2), 119–140.

Grieve, R. , Indian, M. , Witteveen, K. , Anne Tolan, G. , & Marrington, J. ( 2013 ). Face-to-face or Facebook: Can social connectedness be derived online?   Computers in Human Behavior 29 (3), 604–609.

Hayes, R. A. , Carr, C. T. , & Wohn, D. Y. ( 2016 ). It’s the audience: Differences in social support across social media.   Social Media and Society 2 (4), 1–12.

Hew, K. F. , & Cheung, W. S. ( 2012 ). Use of Facebook: A case study of Singapore students’ experience.   Asia Pacific Journal of Education 32 (2), 181–196.

Holtz, B. , Smock, A. , & Reyes-Gastelum, D. ( 2015 ). Connected motherhood: Social support for moms and moms-to-be on Facebook.   Telemedicine Journal and E-Health 21 (5), 415–421.

Joinson, A. ( 1998 ). Causes and implications of disinhibited behavior on the Internet. In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications (pp. 43–60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Joinson, A. N. ( 2001 ). Self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication: The role of self-awareness and visual anonymity. European Journal of Social Psychology 31 (2), 177–192.

Joinson, A. N. (2008). “Looking at”, “looking up”, or “keeping up with” people? Motives and uses of Facebook. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2008 (pp. 1027–1036). Florence, Italy, 5–10 April 2008. New York: ACM.

Kaye, B. K. ( 1998 ). Uses and gratifications of the World Wide Web: From couch potato to Web potato.   The New Jersey Journal of Communication 6 (1), 21–40.

Kim, J. , & Lee, J.-E. R. ( 2011 ). The Facebook paths to happiness: Effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being.   Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking 14 (6), 359–364.

Kim, Y. , Sohn, D. , & Choi, S. M. ( 2011 ). Cultural difference in motivations for using social network sites: A comparative study of American and Korean college students.   Computers in Human Behavior 27 (1), 365–372.

Kroger, J. ( 2000 ). Identity development. Adolescence through adulthood . London: Sage.

Lenhart, A. , Smith, A. , Anderson, M. , Duggan, M. , & Perrin, A. , “Teens, Technology and Friendships.” Pew Research Center, August, 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/

Li, X. , Chen, W. , & Popiel, P. ( 2015 ). What happens on Facebook stays on Facebook? The implications of Facebook interaction for perceived, receiving, and giving social support.   Computers in Human Behavior 51 , 106–113.

Lingel, J. ( 2013 ). The digital remains: Social media and practices of online grief.   The Information Society 29 (3), 190–195.

Liu, C. , & Yu, C. ( 2013 ). Can Facebook use induce well-being?   Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking 16 (9), 674–678.

Livingstone, S. ( 2008 ). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression.   New Media & Society 10 (3), 393–411.

Livingstone, S. ( 2009 ). Children and the Internet . Cambridge: Polity Press.

Lönnqvist, J.-E. , & große Deters, F. ( 2016 ). Facebook friends, subjective well-being, social support, and personality.   Computers in Human Behavior 55 , 113–120.

Maccoby, E. E. ( 2002 ). Gender and group process: A developmental perspective.   Current Directions in Psychological Science 11 , 54–58.

Manago, A. M. , Graham, M. B. , Greenfield, P. M. , & Salimkhan, G. ( 2008 ). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace.   Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29 (6), 446–458.

Markow, D. (2006). Friendships in the age of social networking websites. Trends and Tudes . Harris Interactive.

Meleshko, K. G. , & Alden, L. E. ( 1993 ). Anxiety and self-disclosure: Toward a motivational model.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64 (6), 1000–1009.

Mitchell, K. J. , & Ybarra, M. ( 2009 ). Social networking sites finding a balance between their risks and benefits.   Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 163 (1), 87–89.

Morahan-Martin, J. , & Schumacher, P. ( 2003 ). Loneliness and social uses of the Internet.   Computers in Human Behavior 19 (6), 659–671.

Nabi, R. L. , Prestin, A. , & So, J. ( 2013 ). Facebook friends with (health) benefits? Exploring social network site use and perceptions of social support, stress, and well-being.   Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking 16 (10), 721–727.

Newcomb, A. F. , & Bagwell, C. L. ( 1996 ). Developmental significance of friendship. In W. M. Bukowski , A. F. Newcomb , & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The Company they keep (pp. 289–321). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Obar, J. , & Wildman, S. ( 2015 ). Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue.   Telecommunications Policy 39(9 ), 745–750 .

O’Sullivan, B. ( 2000 ). What you don’t know won’t hurt me.   Human Communication Research 26 (3), 403–431.

Papacharissi, Z. , & Rubin, A. M. ( 2000 ). Predictors of Internet use.   Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44 (2), 175–196.

Park, N. , Jin, B. , & Jin, S. A. A. ( 2011 ). Effects of self-disclosure on relational intimacy on Facebook.   Computers in Human Behavior 27 (5), 1974–1983.

Pereira, L. M. , Quinn, N. , & Morales, E. ( 2016 ). Breaking news: “I have an eating disorder.” Video testimonials on YouTube. Computers in Human Behavior 63 , 938–942.

Pittman, M. , & Reich, B. ( 2016 ). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words.   Computers in Human Behavior 62 , 155–167.

Piwek, L. , & Joinson, A. ( 2016 ). “What do they snapchat about?” Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service. Computers in Human Behavior 54 , 358–367.

Pujazon-Zazik, M. , & Park, M. J. ( 2010 ). To tweet, or not to tweet: Gender differences and potential positive and negative health outcomes of adolescents’ social Internet use.   American Journal of Men’s Health 4 (1), 77–85.

Quinn, S. & Oldmeadow, J. A. ( 2012 ). Is the iGeneration a ‘we’ generation? Social networking use among 9- to 13-year-olds and belonging. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 31 (1), 136–142.

Quinn, S. , & Oldmeadow, J. ( 2013 ). The Martini Effect and social networking sites: Early adolescents, mobile social networking and connectedness to friends.   Mobile Media & Communication 1 (2), 237–247.

Reich, S. M. ( 2010 ). Adolescents’ sense of community on MySpace and Facebook: A mixed-methods approach.   Journal of Community Psychology 38 (6), 688–705.

Reich, S. M. , Subrahmanyam, K. , & Espinoza, G. ( 2012 ). Friending, IMing, and hanging out face-to-face: Overlap in adolescents’ online and offline social networks.   Developmental Psychology 48 (2), 356–368.

Ross, C. , Orr, E. S. , Sisic, M. , Arseneault, J. M. , Simmering, M. G. , & Orr, R. R. ( 2009 ). Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use.   Computers in Human Behavior 25 (2), 578–586.

Rozzell, B. , Piercy, C. W. , Carr, C. T. , King, S. , Lane, B. L. , Tornes, M. , … Wright, K. B. ( 2014 ). Notification pending: Online social support from close and nonclose relational ties via Facebook.   Computers in Human Behavior 38 , 272–280.

Schlenker, B. R. , & Leary, M. R. ( 1982 ). Social anxiety and self-presentation: A conceptualization and model.   Psychological Bulletin 92 (3), 641–669.

Schouten, A. P. , Valkenburg, P. M. , & Peter, J. ( 2007 ). Precursors and underlying processes of adolescents’ online self-disclosure: Developing and testing an “Internet-attribute-perception” model. Media Psychology 10 (2), 292–314.

Seidman, G. ( 2013 ). Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: How personality influences social media use and motivations.   Personality and Individual Differences 54 (3), 402–407.

Sheldon, K. M. , Abad, N. , & Hinsch, C. ( 2011 ). A two-way process view of Facebook use and relatedness need-satisfaction: Disconnection drives use and connection rewards it.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100 (4), 766–775.

Stafford, T. F. , & Gonier, D. ( 2004 ). What Americans like about being online.   Communications of the ACM 47 (11), 107–112.

Stafford, T. F. , Stafford, M. R. , & Schkade, L. L. ( 2004 ). Determining uses and gratifications for the Internet.   Decision Sciences 35 (2), 259–288.

Steinfield, C. , Ellison, N. B. , & Lampe, C. ( 2008 ). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis.   Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29 (6), 434–445.

Stepanikova, I. , Nie, N. H. , & He, X. ( 2010 ). Time on the Internet at home, loneliness, and life satisfaction: Evidence from panel time-diary data.   Computers in Human Behavior 26 (3), 329–338.

Suler, J. ( 2005 ). The online disinhibition effect.   International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies 2 (2), 184–188.

Tidwell, L. C. , & Walther, J. B. ( 2002 ). Computer-mediated communication effects on disclosure, impressions, and interpersonal evaluations: Getting to know one another a bit at a time.   Human Communication Research 28 (3), 317–348.

Twitter (2016). Company Facts. Retrieved July 21, 2017 from https://about.twitter.com/company

Urista, M. A. , Dong, Q. , & Day, K. D. ( 2009 ). Explaining why young adults use MySpace and Facebook through the uses and gratifications theory.   Human Communication Research 12 (2), 215–229.

Utz, S. ( 2015 ). The function of self-disclosure on social network sites: Not only intimate, but also positive and entertaining self-disclosures increase the feeling of connection.   Computers in Human Behavior 45 , 1–10.

Valentine, G. , & Holloway, S. L. ( 2002 ). Cyberkids? Exploring children’s identities and social networks in on-line and off-line worlds.   Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92 (2), 302–319.

Valkenburg, P. M. , & Peter, J. ( 2007 a). Online communication and adolescent well-being: Testing the stimulation versus the displacement hypothesis.   Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (4), Article 2.

Valkenburg, P. M. , & Peter, J. ( 2007 b). Preadolescents’ and adolescents’ online communication and their closeness to friends.   Developmental Psychology 43 (2), 267–277.

Valkenburg, P. M. , Peter, J. , & Schouten, A. P. ( 2006 ). Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem.   Cyberpsychology & Behavior: The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society 9 (5), 584–590.

Valkenburg, P. M. , Schouten, A. P. , & Peter, J. ( 2005 ). Adolescents’ identity experiments on the Internet.   New Media & Society 7 (3), 383–402.

Valkenburg, P. M. , Sumter, S. R. , & Peter, J. ( 2011 ). Gender differences in online and offline self-disclosure in pre-adolescence and adolescence.   The British Journal of Developmental Psychology 29 (2), 253–269.

Walther, J. B. ( 1995 ). Relational aspects of computer-mediated communication—experimental observations over time.   Organization Science 6 (2), 186–203.

Walther, J. B. ( 1996 ). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction.   Communication Research 23 (1), 3–43.

Weidman, A. C. , Fernandez, K. C. , Levinson, C. A. , Augustine, A. A. , Larsen, R. J. , & Rodebaugh, T. L. ( 2012 ). Compensatory Internet use among individuals higher in social anxiety and its implications for well-being.   Personality and Individual Differences 53 (3), 191–195.

Wright, K. B. ( 2012 ). Emotional support and perceived stress among college students using Facebook.com: An exploration of the relationship between source perceptions and emotional support.   Communication Research Reports 29 (3), 175–184.

Wright, K. B. , Rosenberg, J. , Egbert, N. , Ploeger, N. A. , Bernard, D. R. , & King, S. ( 2013 ). Communication competence, social support, and depression among college students: a model of Facebook and face-to-face support network influence.   Journal of Health Communication 18 (1), 41–57.

Zywica, J. , & Danowski, J. ( 2008 ). The faces of Facebookers: Investigating social enhancement and social compensation hypotheses; predicting Facebook and offline popularity from sociability and self-esteem, and mapping the meanings of popularity with semantic networks.   Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14 , 1–34.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

It is evident that social media has negative and positive impacts on the lives of many people. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks have brought changes to the communication industry. This can be attributed to advanced technology and innovation. Equally, many people are conducting research with an aim of contributing to social media. In my opinion, social media is part of the human life in the 21st century.

In fact, it has reached a point where people cannot do without social media. However, social media has two contradicting perspectives. One of the perspectives views social media as an aspect that has made life easy as compared to the last century. On the other hand, some people view social media as an aspect that has made more harm than good to society. Thus, this paper seeks to bring out the two aspects in a clear manner.

Social media has enabled people to get connected regardless of the distance between them. For instance, social media has facilitated communication between people in different continents. It has been determined to be the best and cheapest way of communication.

Unlike the use of cellphones, there is an opportunity for video conferencing. Research shows that the only cost incurred encompasses internet services. Once a person is connected to a reliable internet service provider, they can communicate with their friends, peers, family members and other people in any part of the world.

Social media has enabled many people to get connected in many parts of the world. Equally, remarkable business operations have been accomplished through social media. In the same way, social media has enabled people that had lost contact to reunite.

Besides, people need not travel because they can use video conferencing to communicate via social media. Thus, travel costs and the burden associated with traveling have been eliminated by the use of social media.

Equally, social media is used in marketing and advertising activities. This presents customers and consumers an opportunity to make a choice of products that they need. Additionally, social media has seen to it that there is proper dissemination of information of consumer products. Thus, it has seen the proliferation of business activities across the globe.

On the other hand, some people view social media as a bad thing. In fact, some people have associated social media with negative aspects. For instance, they claim that social media makes people lazy. Before social media was invented, people travelled so that they would meet with other people. In most cases, people would walk to the place where they agreed to meet.

Equally, after meeting, some people would decide to take a walk. This made them active and made their bodies healthy. However, the introduction of social media brought about many changes. People became lazy because they would communicate at the comfort of their beds and couches.

Further, this made them have poor health. In fact, most users of social media do not travel or even go for walks. Hence, the body does not burn the extra calories resulting in excess weight gain and the associated medical conditions.

Also, some schools of thoughts say that social media has isolated people rather than connecting them. In my opinion, this is true. For instance, people do not physically meet with their relatives, neighbors, friends, and even peers.

Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype detach people instead of connecting them. People spend most of their time chatting over the social media at the expense of physical meeting. This underpins isolation and personal contact is lost.

There are other times that people misunderstand each other. Research shows that some of them find solace in the use of social media. People whose relationships are not working tend to run to the social media for help. Social media has become a channel of airing their views and sentiments. They are consoled and encouraged on the social media by other social media users.

Equally, some seek fame on the social media. Likewise, some people upload photos of magnificent places and even outfits that they love with the main aim of seeking attention. True to that, they get attention from friends and other users of social media.

However, this does not solve their problems. In fact, the situation worsens. After going offline, they find themselves in the same situation. Thus, they are not even ready to reconcile with their loved ones. Besides, social media has facilitated infidelity and other social evils encompassing marriages. It has facilitated cheating that has led to sour relationships among lovers and couples.

Others social evils that have been associated with social media include sharing of illegal or unethical content. For instance, some users of social media share pornographic material on the internet. Similarly, drug and child trafficking have been associated with social media. Communication relating to the above unethical practices has been achieved through the use of social media networks owing to their security aspects.

In summary, social media is an invention that has made communication and dissemination of information easy. However, it has been associated with negative aspect and social evils. Therefore, people have the responsibility of doing the right thing or ethical things when using the social media.

• Business Proposal Project and Macroeconomics Policy
• Analysing and Presenting Complex Communication
• Facebook and Twitter: Privacy Policy
• The Effect of Social Media on Today’s Youth
• Media Ethics: Beavis and Butthead
• Intimacy and Sexuality Behaviors in Social Media
• Social media effect on the purchase decision of the young generation in Saudi Arabia
• Social Media and Globalization: Positive and Negative Effects Essay
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, June 3). Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-media-4/

"Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts." IvyPanda , 3 June 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/social-media-4/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts'. 3 June.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts." June 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-media-4/.

1. IvyPanda . "Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts." June 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-media-4/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Social Media: Negative and Positive Impacts." June 3, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-media-4/.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Psychol

Effects of Social Media Use on Psychological Well-Being: A Mediated Model

Dragana ostic.

1 School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

Sikandar Ali Qalati

Belem barbosa.

2 Research Unit of Governance, Competitiveness, and Public Policies (GOVCOPP), Center for Economics and Finance (cef.up), School of Economics and Management, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

Syed Mir Muhammad Shah

3 Department of Business Administration, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA) University, Sukkur, Pakistan

Esthela Galvan Vela

4 CETYS Universidad, Tijuana, Mexico

Ahmed Muhammad Herzallah

5 Department of Business Administration, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Israel

6 Business School, Shandong University, Weihai, China

Associated Data

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

The growth in social media use has given rise to concerns about the impacts it may have on users' psychological well-being. This paper's main objective is to shed light on the effect of social media use on psychological well-being. Building on contributions from various fields in the literature, it provides a more comprehensive study of the phenomenon by considering a set of mediators, including social capital types (i.e., bonding social capital and bridging social capital), social isolation, and smartphone addiction. The paper includes a quantitative study of 940 social media users from Mexico, using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings point to an overall positive indirect impact of social media usage on psychological well-being, mainly due to the positive effect of bonding and bridging social capital. The empirical model's explanatory power is 45.1%. This paper provides empirical evidence and robust statistical analysis that demonstrates both positive and negative effects coexist, helping to reconcile the inconsistencies found so far in the literature.

Introduction

The use of social media has grown substantially in recent years (Leong et al., 2019 ; Kemp, 2020 ). Social media refers to “the websites and online tools that facilitate interactions between users by providing them opportunities to share information, opinions, and interest” (Swar and Hameed, 2017 , p. 141). Individuals use social media for many reasons, including entertainment, communication, and searching for information. Notably, adolescents and young adults are spending an increasing amount of time on online networking sites, e-games, texting, and other social media (Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ). In fact, some authors (e.g., Dhir et al., 2018 ; Tateno et al., 2019 ) have suggested that social media has altered the forms of group interaction and its users' individual and collective behavior around the world.

Consequently, there are increased concerns regarding the possible negative impacts associated with social media usage addiction (Swar and Hameed, 2017 ; Kircaburun et al., 2020 ), particularly on psychological well-being (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Jiao et al., 2017 ; Choi and Noh, 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ). Smartphones sometimes distract their users from relationships and social interaction (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Li et al., 2020a ), and several authors have stressed that the excessive use of social media may lead to smartphone addiction (Swar and Hameed, 2017 ; Leong et al., 2019 ), primarily because of the fear of missing out (Reer et al., 2019 ; Roberts and David, 2020 ). Social media usage has been associated with anxiety, loneliness, and depression (Dhir et al., 2018 ; Reer et al., 2019 ), social isolation (Van Den Eijnden et al., 2016 ; Whaite et al., 2018 ), and “phubbing,” which refers to the extent to which an individual uses, or is distracted by, their smartphone during face-to-face communication with others (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Jiao et al., 2017 ; Choi and Noh, 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ).

However, social media use also contributes to building a sense of connectedness with relevant others (Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ), which may reduce social isolation. Indeed, social media provides several ways to interact both with close ties, such as family, friends, and relatives, and weak ties, including coworkers, acquaintances, and strangers (Chen and Li, 2017 ), and plays a key role among people of all ages as they exploit their sense of belonging in different communities (Roberts and David, 2020 ). Consequently, despite the fears regarding the possible negative impacts of social media usage on well-being, there is also an increasing number of studies highlighting social media as a new communication channel (Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ; Barbosa et al., 2020 ), stressing that it can play a crucial role in developing one's presence, identity, and reputation, thus facilitating social interaction, forming and maintaining relationships, and sharing ideas (Carlson et al., 2016 ), which consequently may be significantly correlated to social support (Chen and Li, 2017 ; Holliman et al., 2021 ). Interestingly, recent studies (e.g., David et al., 2018 ; Bano et al., 2019 ; Barbosa et al., 2020 ) have suggested that the impact of smartphone usage on psychological well-being depends on the time spent on each type of application and the activities that users engage in.

Hence, the literature provides contradictory cues regarding the impacts of social media on users' well-being, highlighting both the possible negative impacts and the social enhancement it can potentially provide. In line with views on the need to further investigate social media usage (Karikari et al., 2017 ), particularly regarding its societal implications (Jiao et al., 2017 ), this paper argues that there is an urgent need to further understand the impact of the time spent on social media on users' psychological well-being, namely by considering other variables that mediate and further explain this effect.

One of the relevant perspectives worth considering is that provided by social capital theory, which is adopted in this paper. Social capital theory has previously been used to study how social media usage affects psychological well-being (e.g., Bano et al., 2019 ). However, extant literature has so far presented only partial models of associations that, although statistically acceptable and contributing to the understanding of the scope of social networks, do not provide as comprehensive a vision of the phenomenon as that proposed within this paper. Furthermore, the contradictory views, suggesting both negative (e.g., Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Van Den Eijnden et al., 2016 ; Jiao et al., 2017 ; Whaite et al., 2018 ; Choi and Noh, 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ) and positive impacts (Carlson et al., 2016 ; Chen and Li, 2017 ; Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ) of social media on psychological well-being, have not been adequately explored.

Given this research gap, this paper's main objective is to shed light on the effect of social media use on psychological well-being. As explained in detail in the next section, this paper explores the mediating effect of bonding and bridging social capital. To provide a broad view of the phenomenon, it also considers several variables highlighted in the literature as affecting the relationship between social media usage and psychological well-being, namely smartphone addiction, social isolation, and phubbing. The paper utilizes a quantitative study conducted in Mexico, comprising 940 social media users, and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a set of research hypotheses.

This article provides several contributions. First, it adds to existing literature regarding the effect of social media use on psychological well-being and explores the contradictory indications provided by different approaches. Second, it proposes a conceptual model that integrates complementary perspectives on the direct and indirect effects of social media use. Third, it offers empirical evidence and robust statistical analysis that demonstrates that both positive and negative effects coexist, helping resolve the inconsistencies found so far in the literature. Finally, this paper provides insights on how to help reduce the potential negative effects of social media use, as it demonstrates that, through bridging and bonding social capital, social media usage positively impacts psychological well-being. Overall, the article offers valuable insights for academics, practitioners, and society in general.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section Literature Review presents a literature review focusing on the factors that explain the impact of social media usage on psychological well-being. Based on the literature review, a set of hypotheses are defined, resulting in the proposed conceptual model, which includes both the direct and indirect effects of social media usage on psychological well-being. Section Research Methodology explains the methodological procedures of the research, followed by the presentation and discussion of the study's results in section Results. Section Discussion is dedicated to the conclusions and includes implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

Literature Review

Putnam ( 1995 , p. 664–665) defined social capital as “features of social life – networks, norms, and trust – that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives.” Li and Chen ( 2014 , p. 117) further explained that social capital encompasses “resources embedded in one's social network, which can be assessed and used for instrumental or expressive returns such as mutual support, reciprocity, and cooperation.”

Putnam ( 1995 , 2000 ) conceptualized social capital as comprising two dimensions, bridging and bonding, considering the different norms and networks in which they occur. Bridging social capital refers to the inclusive nature of social interaction and occurs when individuals from different origins establish connections through social networks. Hence, bridging social capital is typically provided by heterogeneous weak ties (Li and Chen, 2014 ). This dimension widens individual social horizons and perspectives and provides extended access to resources and information. Bonding social capital refers to the social and emotional support each individual receives from his or her social networks, particularly from close ties (e.g., family and friends).

Overall, social capital is expected to be positively associated with psychological well-being (Bano et al., 2019 ). Indeed, Williams ( 2006 ) stressed that interaction generates affective connections, resulting in positive impacts, such as emotional support. The following sub-sections use the lens of social capital theory to explore further the relationship between the use of social media and psychological well-being.

Social Media Use, Social Capital, and Psychological Well-Being

The effects of social media usage on social capital have gained increasing scholarly attention, and recent studies have highlighted a positive relationship between social media use and social capital (Brown and Michinov, 2019 ; Tefertiller et al., 2020 ). Li and Chen ( 2014 ) hypothesized that the intensity of Facebook use by Chinese international students in the United States was positively related to social capital forms. A longitudinal survey based on the quota sampling approach illustrated the positive effects of social media use on the two social capital dimensions (Chen and Li, 2017 ). Abbas and Mesch ( 2018 ) argued that, as Facebook usage increases, it will also increase users' social capital. Karikari et al. ( 2017 ) also found positive effects of social media use on social capital. Similarly, Pang ( 2018 ) studied Chinese students residing in Germany and found positive effects of social networking sites' use on social capital, which, in turn, was positively associated with psychological well-being. Bano et al. ( 2019 ) analyzed the 266 students' data and found positive effects of WhatsApp use on social capital forms and the positive effect of social capital on psychological well-being, emphasizing the role of social integration in mediating this positive effect.

Kim and Kim ( 2017 ) stressed the importance of having a heterogeneous network of contacts, which ultimately enhances the potential social capital. Overall, the manifest and social relations between people from close social circles (bonding social capital) and from distant social circles (bridging social capital) are strengthened when they promote communication, social support, and the sharing of interests, knowledge, and skills, which are shared with other members. This is linked to positive effects on interactions, such as acceptance, trust, and reciprocity, which are related to the individuals' health and psychological well-being (Bekalu et al., 2019 ), including when social media helps to maintain social capital between social circles that exist outside of virtual communities (Ellison et al., 2007 ).

Grounded on the above literature, this study proposes the following hypotheses:

• H1a: Social media use is positively associated with bonding social capital.
• H1b: Bonding social capital is positively associated with psychological well-being.
• H2a: Social media use is positively associated with bridging social capital.
• H2b: Bridging social capital is positively associated with psychological well-being.

Social Media Use, Social Isolation, and Psychological Well-Being

Social isolation is defined as “a deficit of personal relationships or being excluded from social networks” (Choi and Noh, 2019 , p. 4). The state that occurs when an individual lacks true engagement with others, a sense of social belonging, and a satisfying relationship is related to increased mortality and morbidity (Primack et al., 2017 ). Those who experience social isolation are deprived of social relationships and lack contact with others or involvement in social activities (Schinka et al., 2012 ). Social media usage has been associated with anxiety, loneliness, and depression (Dhir et al., 2018 ; Reer et al., 2019 ), and social isolation (Van Den Eijnden et al., 2016 ; Whaite et al., 2018 ). However, some recent studies have argued that social media use decreases social isolation (Primack et al., 2017 ; Meshi et al., 2020 ). Indeed, the increased use of social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter, among others, may provide opportunities for decreasing social isolation. For instance, the improved interpersonal connectivity achieved via videos and images on social media helps users evidence intimacy, attenuating social isolation (Whaite et al., 2018 ).

Chappell and Badger ( 1989 ) stated that social isolation leads to decreased psychological well-being, while Choi and Noh ( 2019 ) concluded that greater social isolation is linked to increased suicide risk. Schinka et al. ( 2012 ) further argued that, when individuals experience social isolation from siblings, friends, family, or society, their psychological well-being tends to decrease. Thus, based on the literature cited above, this study proposes the following hypotheses:

• H3a: Social media use is significantly associated with social isolation.
• H3b: Social isolation is negatively associated with psychological well-being.

Social Media Use, Smartphone Addiction, Phubbing, and Psychological Well-Being

Smartphone addiction refers to “an individuals' excessive use of a smartphone and its negative effects on his/her life as a result of his/her inability to control his behavior” (Gökçearslan et al., 2018 , p. 48). Regardless of its form, smartphone addiction results in social, medical, and psychological harm to people by limiting their ability to make their own choices (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ). The rapid advancement of information and communication technologies has led to the concept of social media, e-games, and also to smartphone addiction (Chatterjee, 2020 ). The excessive use of smartphones for social media use, entertainment (watching videos, listening to music), and playing e-games is more common amongst people addicted to smartphones (Jeong et al., 2016 ). In fact, previous studies have evidenced the relationship between social use and smartphone addiction (Salehan and Negahban, 2013 ; Jeong et al., 2016 ; Swar and Hameed, 2017 ). In line with this, the following hypotheses are proposed:

• H4a: Social media use is positively associated with smartphone addiction.
• H4b: Smartphone addiction is negatively associated with psychological well-being.

While smartphones are bringing individuals closer, they are also, to some extent, pulling people apart (Tonacci et al., 2019 ). For instance, they can lead to individuals ignoring others with whom they have close ties or physical interactions; this situation normally occurs due to extreme smartphone use (i.e., at the dinner table, in meetings, at get-togethers and parties, and in other daily activities). This act of ignoring others is called phubbing and is considered a common phenomenon in communication activities (Guazzini et al., 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ). Phubbing is also referred to as an act of snubbing others (Chatterjee, 2020 ). This term was initially used in May 2012 by an Australian advertising agency to describe the “growing phenomenon of individuals ignoring their families and friends who were called phubbee (a person who is a recipients of phubbing behavior) victim of phubber (a person who start phubbing her or his companion)” (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2018 ). Smartphone addiction has been found to be a determinant of phubbing (Kim et al., 2018 ). Other recent studies have also evidenced the association between smartphones and phubbing (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Guazzini et al., 2019 ; Tonacci et al., 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ). Vallespín et al. ( 2017 ) argued that phubbing behavior has a negative influence on psychological well-being and satisfaction. Furthermore, smartphone addiction is considered responsible for the development of new technologies. It may also negatively influence individual's psychological proximity (Chatterjee, 2020 ). Therefore, based on the above discussion and calls for the association between phubbing and psychological well-being to be further explored, this study proposes the following hypotheses:

• H5: Smartphone addiction is positively associated with phubbing.
• H6: Phubbing is negatively associated with psychological well-being.

Indirect Relationship Between Social Media Use and Psychological Well-Being

Beyond the direct hypotheses proposed above, this study investigates the indirect effects of social media use on psychological well-being mediated by social capital forms, social isolation, and phubbing. As described above, most prior studies have focused on the direct influence of social media use on social capital forms, social isolation, smartphone addiction, and phubbing, as well as the direct impact of social capital forms, social isolation, smartphone addiction, and phubbing on psychological well-being. Very few studies, however, have focused on and evidenced the mediating role of social capital forms, social isolation, smartphone addiction, and phubbing derived from social media use in improving psychological well-being (Chen and Li, 2017 ; Pang, 2018 ; Bano et al., 2019 ; Choi and Noh, 2019 ). Moreover, little is known about smartphone addiction's mediating role between social media use and psychological well-being. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap in the existing literature by investigating the mediation of social capital forms, social isolation, and smartphone addiction. Further, examining the mediating influence will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of social media use on psychological well-being via the mediating associations of smartphone addiction and psychological factors. Therefore, based on the above, we propose the following hypotheses (the conceptual model is presented in Figure 1 ):

Conceptual model.

• H7: (a) Bonding social capital; (b) bridging social capital; (c) social isolation; and (d) smartphone addiction mediate the relationship between social media use and psychological well-being.

Research Methodology

Sample procedure and online survey.

This study randomly selected students from universities in Mexico. We chose University students for the following reasons. First, students are considered the most appropriate sample for e-commerce studies, particularly in the social media context (Oghazi et al., 2018 ; Shi et al., 2018 ). Second, University students are considered to be frequent users and addicted to smartphones (Mou et al., 2017 ; Stouthuysen et al., 2018 ). Third, this study ensured that respondents were experienced, well-educated, and possessed sufficient knowledge of the drawbacks of social media and the extreme use of smartphones. A total sample size of 940 University students was ultimately achieved from the 1,500 students contacted, using a convenience random sampling approach, due both to the COVID-19 pandemic and budget and time constraints. Additionally, in order to test the model, a quantitative empirical study was conducted, using an online survey method to collect data. This study used a web-based survey distributed via social media platforms for two reasons: the COVID-19 pandemic; and to reach a large number of respondents (Qalati et al., 2021 ). Furthermore, online surveys are considered a powerful and authenticated tool for new research (Fan et al., 2021 ), while also representing a fast, simple, and less costly approach to collecting data (Dutot and Bergeron, 2016 ).

Data Collection Procedures and Respondent's Information

Data were collected by disseminating a link to the survey by e-mail and social network sites. Before presenting the closed-ended questionnaire, respondents were assured that their participation would remain voluntary, confidential, and anonymous. Data collection occurred from July 2020 to December 2020 (during the pandemic). It should be noted that, because data were collected during the pandemic, this may have had an influence on the results of the study. The reason for choosing a six-month lag time was to mitigate common method bias (CMB) (Li et al., 2020b ). In the present study, 1,500 students were contacted via University e-mail and social applications (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram). We sent a reminder every month for 6 months (a total of six reminders), resulting in 940 valid responses. Thus, 940 (62.6% response rate) responses were used for hypotheses testing.

Table 1 reveals that, of the 940 participants, three-quarters were female (76.4%, n = 719) and nearly one-quarter (23.6%, n = 221) were male. Nearly half of the participants (48.8%, n = 459) were aged between 26 and 35 years, followed by 36 to 35 years (21.9%, n = 206), <26 (20.3%, n = 191), and over 45 (8.9%, n = 84). Approximately two-thirds (65%, n = 611) had a bachelor's degree or above, while one-third had up to 12 years of education. Regarding the daily frequency of using the Internet, nearly half (48.6%, n = 457) of the respondents reported between 5 and 8 h a day, and over one-quarter (27.2%) 9–12 h a day. Regarding the social media platforms used, over 38.5 and 39.6% reported Facebook and WhatsApp, respectively. Of the 940 respondents, only 22.1% reported Instagram (12.8%) and Twitter (9.2%). It should be noted, however, that the sample is predominantly female and well-educated.

Respondents' characteristics.

Measurement Items

The study used five-point Likert scales (1 = “strongly disagree;” 5 = “strongly agree”) to record responses.

Social Media Use

Social media use was assessed using four items adapted from Karikari et al. ( 2017 ). Sample items include “Social media is part of my everyday activity,” “Social media has become part of my daily life,” “I would be sorry if social media shut down,” and “I feel out of touch, when I have not logged onto social media for a while.” The adapted items had robust reliability and validity (CA = 783, CR = 0.857, AVE = 0.600).

Social Capital

Social capital was measured using a total of eight items, representing bonding social capital (four items) and bridging social capital (four items) adapted from Chan ( 2015 ). Sample construct items include: bonging social capital (“I am willing to spend time to support general community activities,” “I interact with people who are quite different from me”) and bridging social capital (“My social media community is a good place to be,” “Interacting with people on social media makes me want to try new things”). The adapted items had robust reliability and validity [bonding social capital (CA = 0.785, CR = 0.861, AVE = 0.608) and bridging social capital (CA = 0.834, CR = 0.883, AVE = 0.601)].

Social Isolation

Social isolation was assessed using three items from Choi and Noh ( 2019 ). Sample items include “I do not have anyone to play with,” “I feel alone from people,” and “I have no one I can trust.” This adapted scale had substantial reliability and validity (CA = 0.890, CR = 0.928, AVE = 0.811).

Smartphone Addiction

Smartphone addiction was assessed using five items taken from Salehan and Negahban ( 2013 ). Sample items include “I am always preoccupied with my mobile,” “Using my mobile phone keeps me relaxed,” and “I am not able to control myself from frequent use of mobile phones.” Again, these adapted items showed substantial reliability and validity (CA = 903, CR = 0.928, AVE = 0.809).

Phubbing was assessed using four items from Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas ( 2018 ). Sample items include: “I have conflicts with others because I am using my phone” and “I would rather pay attention to my phone than talk to others.” This construct also demonstrated significant reliability and validity (CA = 770, CR = 0.894, AVE = 0.809).

Psychological Well-Being

Psychological well-being was assessed using five items from Jiao et al. ( 2017 ). Sample items include “I lead a purposeful and meaningful life with the help of others,” “My social relationships are supportive and rewarding in social media,” and “I am engaged and interested in my daily on social media.” This study evidenced that this adapted scale had substantial reliability and validity (CA = 0.886, CR = 0.917, AVE = 0.688).

Data Analysis

Based on the complexity of the association between the proposed construct and the widespread use and acceptance of SmartPLS 3.0 in several fields (Hair et al., 2019 ), we utilized SEM, using SmartPLS 3.0, to examine the relationships between constructs. Structural equation modeling is a multivariate statistical analysis technique that is used to investigate relationships. Further, it is a combination of factor and multivariate regression analysis, and is employed to explore the relationship between observed and latent constructs.

SmartPLS 3.0 “is a more comprehensive software program with an intuitive graphical user interface to run partial least square SEM analysis, certainly has had a massive impact” (Sarstedt and Cheah, 2019 ). According to Ringle et al. ( 2015 ), this commercial software offers a wide range of algorithmic and modeling options, improved usability, and user-friendly and professional support. Furthermore, Sarstedt and Cheah ( 2019 ) suggested that structural equation models enable the specification of complex interrelationships between observed and latent constructs. Hair et al. ( 2019 ) argued that, in recent years, the number of articles published using partial least squares SEM has increased significantly in contrast to covariance-based SEM. In addition, partial least squares SEM using SmartPLS is more appealing for several scholars as it enables them to predict more complex models with several variables, indicator constructs, and structural paths, instead of imposing distributional assumptions on the data (Hair et al., 2019 ). Therefore, this study utilized the partial least squares SEM approach using SmartPLS 3.0.

Common Method Bias (CMB) Test

This study used the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test to measure the sampling adequacy and ensure data suitability. The KMO test result was 0.874, which is greater than an acceptable threshold of 0.50 (Ali Qalati et al., 2021 ; Shrestha, 2021 ), and hence considered suitable for explanatory factor analysis. Moreover, Bartlett's test results demonstrated a significance level of 0.001, which is considered good as it is below the accepted threshold of 0.05.

The term CMB is associated with Campbell and Fiske ( 1959 ), who highlighted the importance of CMB and identified that a portion of variance in the research may be due to the methods employed. It occurs when all scales of the study are measured at the same time using a single questionnaire survey (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986 ); subsequently, estimates of the relationship among the variables might be distorted by the impacts of CMB. It is considered a serious issue that has a potential to “jeopardize” the validity of the study findings (Tehseen et al., 2017 ). There are several reasons for CMB: (1) it mainly occurs due to response “tendencies that raters can apply uniformity across the measures;” and (2) it also occurs due to similarities in the wording and structure of the survey items that produce similar results (Jordan and Troth, 2019 ). Harman's single factor test and a full collinearity approach were employed to ensure that the data was free from CMB (Tehseen et al., 2017 ; Jordan and Troth, 2019 ; Ali Qalati et al., 2021 ). Harman's single factor test showed a single factor explained only 22.8% of the total variance, which is far below the 50.0% acceptable threshold (Podsakoff et al., 2003 ).

Additionally, the variance inflation factor (VIF) was used, which is a measure of the amount of multicollinearity in a set of multiple regression constructs and also considered a way of detecting CMB (Hair et al., 2019 ). Hair et al. ( 2019 ) suggested that the acceptable threshold for the VIF is 3.0; as the computed VIFs for the present study ranged from 1.189 to 1.626, CMB is not a key concern (see Table 2 ). Bagozzi et al. ( 1991 ) suggested a correlation-matrix procedure to detect CMB. Common method bias is evident if correlation among the principle constructs is >0.9 (Tehseen et al., 2020 ); however, no values >0.9 were found in this study (see section Assessment of Measurement Model). This study used a two-step approach to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model.

Common method bias (full collinearity VIF).

Assessment of Measurement Model

Before conducting the SEM analysis, the measurement model was assessed to examine individual item reliability, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. Table 3 exhibits the values of outer loading used to measure an individual item's reliability (Hair et al., 2012 ). Hair et al. ( 2017 ) proposed that the value for each outer loading should be ≥0.7; following this principle, two items of phubbing (PHUB3—I get irritated if others ask me to get off my phone and talk to them; PHUB4—I use my phone even though I know it irritated others) were removed from the analysis Hair et al. ( 2019 ). According to Nunnally ( 1978 ), Cronbach's alpha values should exceed 0.7. The threshold values of constructs in this study ranged from 0.77 to 0.903. Regarding internal consistency, Bagozzi and Yi ( 1988 ) suggested that composite reliability (CR) should be ≥0.7. The coefficient value for CR in this study was between 0.857 and 0.928. Regarding convergent validity, Fornell and Larcker ( 1981 ) suggested that the average variance extracted (AVE) should be ≥0.5. Average variance extracted values in this study were between 0.60 and 0.811. Finally, regarding discriminant validity, according to Fornell and Larcker ( 1981 ), the square root of the AVE for each construct should exceed the inter-correlations of the construct with other model constructs. That was the case in this study, as shown in Table 4 .

Study measures, factor loading, and the constructs' reliability and convergent validity.

Discriminant validity and correlation.

Bold values are the square root of the AVE .

Hence, by analyzing the results of the measurement model, it can be concluded that the data are adequate for structural equation estimation.

Assessment of the Structural Model

This study used the PLS algorithm and a bootstrapping technique with 5,000 bootstraps as proposed by Hair et al. ( 2019 ) to generate the path coefficient values and their level of significance. The coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) is an important measure to assess the structural model and its explanatory power (Henseler et al., 2009 ; Hair et al., 2019 ). Table 5 and Figure 2 reveal that the R 2 value in the present study was 0.451 for psychological well-being, which means that 45.1% of changes in psychological well-being occurred due to social media use, social capital forms (i.e., bonding and bridging), social isolation, smartphone addiction, and phubbing. Cohen ( 1998 ) proposed that R 2 values of 0.60, 0.33, and 0.19 are considered substantial, moderate, and weak. Following Cohen's ( 1998 ) threshold values, this research demonstrates a moderate predicting power for psychological well-being among Mexican respondents ( Table 6 ).

Summary of path coefficients and hypothesis testing.

Structural model.

Strength of the model (Predictive relevance, coefficient of determination, and model fit indices).

Goodness of fit → SRMR = 0.063; d_ULS = 1.589; d_G = 0.512; chi-square = 2,910.744 .

Apart from the R 2 measure, the present study also used cross-validated redundancy measures, or effect sizes ( q 2 ), to assess the proposed model and validate the results (Ringle et al., 2012 ). Hair et al. ( 2019 ) suggested that a model exhibiting an effect size q 2 > 0 has predictive relevance ( Table 6 ). This study's results evidenced that it has a 0.15 <0.29 <0.35 (medium) predictive relevance, as 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 are considered small, medium, and large, respectively (Cohen, 1998 ). Regarding the goodness-of-fit indices, Hair et al. ( 2019 ) suggested the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) to evaluate the goodness of fit. Standardized root mean square is an absolute measure of fit: a value of zero indicates perfect fit and a value <0.08 is considered good fit (Hair et al., 2019 ). This study exhibits an adequate model fitness level with an SRMR value of 0.063 ( Table 6 ).

Table 5 reveals that all hypotheses of the study were accepted base on the criterion ( p -value < 0.05). H1a (β = 0.332, t = 10.283, p = 0.001) was confirmed, with the second most robust positive and significant relationship (between social media use and bonding social capital). In addition, this study evidenced a positive and significant relationship between bonding social capital and psychological well-being (β = 0.127, t = 4.077, p = 0.001); therefore, H1b was accepted. Regarding social media use and bridging social capital, the present study found the most robust positive and significant impact (β = 0.439, t = 15.543, p = 0.001); therefore, H2a was accepted. The study also evidenced a positive and significant association between bridging social capital and psychological well-being (β = 0.561, t = 20.953, p = 0.001); thus, H2b was accepted. The present study evidenced a significant effect of social media use on social isolation (β = 0.145, t = 4.985, p = 0.001); thus, H3a was accepted. In addition, this study accepted H3b (β = −0.051, t = 2.01, p = 0.044). Furthermore, this study evidenced a positive and significant effect of social media use on smartphone addiction (β = 0.223, t = 6.241, p = 0.001); therefore, H4a was accepted. Furthermore, the present study found that smartphone addiction has a negative significant influence on psychological well-being (β = −0.068, t = 2.387, p = 0.017); therefore, H4b was accepted. Regarding the relationship between smartphone addiction and phubbing, this study found a positive and significant effect of smartphone addiction on phubbing (β = 0.244, t = 7.555, p = 0.001); therefore, H5 was accepted. Furthermore, the present research evidenced a positive and significant influence of phubbing on psychological well-being (β = 0.137, t = 4.938, p = 0.001); therefore, H6 was accepted. Finally, the study provides interesting findings on the indirect effect of social media use on psychological well-being ( t -value > 1.96 and p -value < 0.05); therefore, H7a–d were accepted.

Furthermore, to test the mediating analysis, Preacher and Hayes's ( 2008 ) approach was used. The key characteristic of an indirect relationship is that it involves a third construct, which plays a mediating role in the relationship between the independent and dependent constructs. Logically, the effect of A (independent construct) on C (the dependent construct) is mediated by B (a third variable). Preacher and Hayes ( 2008 ) suggested the following: B is a construct acting as a mediator if A significantly influences B, A significantly accounts for variability in C, B significantly influences C when controlling for A, and the influence of A on C decreases significantly when B is added simultaneously with A as a predictor of C. According to Matthews et al. ( 2018 ), if the indirect effect is significant while the direct insignificant, full mediation has occurred, while if both direct and indirect effects are substantial, partial mediation has occurred. This study evidenced that there is partial mediation in the proposed construct ( Table 5 ). Following Preacher and Hayes ( 2008 ) this study evidenced that there is partial mediation in the proposed construct, because the relationship between independent variable (social media use) and dependent variable (psychological well-being) is significant ( p -value < 0.05) and indirect effect among them after introducing mediator (bonding social capital, bridging social capital, social isolation, and smartphone addiction) is also significant ( p -value < 0.05), therefore it is evidenced that when there is a significant effect both direct and indirect it's called partial mediation.

The present study reveals that the social and psychological impacts of social media use among University students is becoming more complex as there is continuing advancement in technology, offering a range of affordable interaction opportunities. Based on the 940 valid responses collected, all the hypotheses were accepted ( p < 0.05).

H1a finding suggests that social media use is a significant influencing factor of bonding social capital. This implies that, during a pandemic, social media use enables students to continue their close relationships with family members, friends, and those with whom they have close ties. This finding is in line with prior work of Chan ( 2015 ) and Ellison et al. ( 2007 ), who evidenced that social bonding capital is predicted by Facebook use and having a mobile phone. H1b findings suggest that, when individuals believe that social communication can help overcome obstacles to interaction and encourage more virtual self-disclosure, social media use can improve trust and promote the establishment of social associations, thereby enhancing well-being. These findings are in line with those of Gong et al. ( 2021 ), who also witnessed the significant effect of bonding social capital on immigrants' psychological well-being, subsequently calling for the further evidence to confirm the proposed relationship.

The findings of the present study related to H2a suggest that students are more likely to use social media platforms to receive more emotional support, increase their ability to mobilize others, and to build social networks, which leads to social belongingness. Furthermore, the findings suggest that social media platforms enable students to accumulate and maintain bridging social capital; further, online classes can benefit students who feel shy when participating in offline classes. This study supports the previous findings of Chan ( 2015 ) and Karikari et al. ( 2017 ). Notably, the present study is not limited to a single social networking platform, taking instead a holistic view of social media. The H2b findings are consistent with those of Bano et al. ( 2019 ), who also confirmed the link between bonding social capital and psychological well-being among University students using WhatsApp as social media platform, as well as those of Chen and Li ( 2017 ).

The H3a findings suggest that, during the COVID-19 pandemic when most people around the world have had limited offline or face-to-face interaction and have used social media to connect with families, friends, and social communities, they have often been unable to connect with them. This is due to many individuals avoiding using social media because of fake news, financial constraints, and a lack of trust in social media; thus, the lack both of offline and online interaction, coupled with negative experiences on social media use, enhances the level of social isolation (Hajek and König, 2021 ). These findings are consistent with those of Adnan and Anwar ( 2020 ). The H3b suggests that higher levels of social isolation have a negative impact on psychological well-being. These result indicating that, consistent with Choi and Noh ( 2019 ), social isolation is negatively and significantly related to psychological well-being.

The H4a results suggests that substantial use of social media use leads to an increase in smartphone addiction. These findings are in line with those of Jeong et al. ( 2016 ), who stated that the excessive use of smartphones for social media, entertainment (watching videos, listening to music), and playing e-games was more likely to lead to smartphone addiction. These findings also confirm the previous work of Jeong et al. ( 2016 ), Salehan and Negahban ( 2013 ), and Swar and Hameed ( 2017 ). The H4b results revealed that a single unit increase in smartphone addiction results in a 6.8% decrease in psychological well-being. These findings are in line with those of Tangmunkongvorakul et al. ( 2019 ), who showed that students with higher levels of smartphone addiction had lower psychological well-being scores. These findings also support those of Shoukat ( 2019 ), who showed that smartphone addiction inversely influences individuals' mental health.

This suggests that the greater the smartphone addiction, the greater the phubbing. The H5 findings are in line with those of Chatterjee ( 2020 ), Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas ( 2016 ), Guazzini et al. ( 2019 ), and Tonacci et al. ( 2019 ), who also evidenced a significant impact of smartphone addiction and phubbing. Similarly, Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas ( 2018 ) corroborated that smartphone addiction is the main predictor of phubbing behavior. However, these findings are inconsistent with those of Vallespín et al. ( 2017 ), who found a negative influence of phubbing.

The H6 results suggests that phubbing is one of the significant predictors of psychological well-being. Furthermore, these findings suggest that, when phubbers use a cellphone during interaction with someone, especially during the current pandemic, and they are connected with many family members, friends, and relatives; therefore, this kind of action gives them more satisfaction, which simultaneously results in increased relaxation and decreased depression (Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2018 ). These findings support those of Davey et al. ( 2018 ), who evidenced that phubbing has a significant influence on adolescents and social health students in India.

The findings showed a significant and positive effect of social media use on psychological well-being both through bridging and bonding social capital. However, a significant and negative effect of social media use on psychological well-being through smartphone addiction and through social isolation was also found. Hence, this study provides evidence that could shed light on the contradictory contributions in the literature suggesting both positive (e.g., Chen and Li, 2017 ; Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ; Roberts and David, 2020 ) and negative (e.g., Chotpitayasunondh and Douglas, 2016 ; Jiao et al., 2017 ; Choi and Noh, 2019 ; Chatterjee, 2020 ) effects of social media use on psychological well-being. This study concludes that the overall impact is positive, despite some degree of negative indirect impact.

Theoretical Contributions

This study's findings contribute to the current literature, both by providing empirical evidence for the relationships suggested by extant literature and by demonstrating the relevance of adopting a more complex approach that considers, in particular, the indirect effect of social media on psychological well-being. As such, this study constitutes a basis for future research (Van Den Eijnden et al., 2016 ; Whaite et al., 2018 ) aiming to understand the impacts of social media use and to find ways to reduce its possible negative impacts.

In line with Kim and Kim ( 2017 ), who stressed the importance of heterogeneous social networks in improving social capital, this paper suggests that, to positively impact psychological well-being, social media usage should be associated both with strong and weak ties, as both are important in building social capital, and hence associated with its bonding and bridging facets. Interestingly, though, bridging capital was shown as having the greatest impact on psychological well-being. Thus, the importance of wider social horizons, the inclusion in different groups, and establishing new connections (Putnam, 1995 , 2000 ) with heterogeneous weak ties (Li and Chen, 2014 ) are highlighted in this paper.

Practical Contributions

These findings are significant for practitioners, particularly those interested in dealing with the possible negative impacts of social media use on psychological well-being. Although social media use is associated with factors that negatively impact psychological well-being, particularly smartphone addiction and social isolation, these negative impacts can be lessened if the connections with both strong and weak ties are facilitated and featured by social media. Indeed, social media platforms offer several features, from facilitating communication with family, friends, and acquaintances, to identifying and offering access to other people with shared interests. However, it is important to access heterogeneous weak ties (Li and Chen, 2014 ) so that social media offers access to wider sources of information and new resources, hence enhancing bridging social capital.

Limitations and Directions for Future Studies

This study is not without limitations. For example, this study used a convenience sampling approach to reach to a large number of respondents. Further, this study was conducted in Mexico only, limiting the generalizability of the results; future research should therefore use a cross-cultural approach to investigate the impacts of social media use on psychological well-being and the mediating role of proposed constructs (e.g., bonding and bridging social capital, social isolation, and smartphone addiction). The sample distribution may also be regarded as a limitation of the study because respondents were mainly well-educated and female. Moreover, although Internet channels represent a particularly suitable way to approach social media users, the fact that this study adopted an online survey does not guarantee a representative sample of the population. Hence, extrapolating the results requires caution, and study replication is recommended, particularly with social media users from other countries and cultures. The present study was conducted in the context of mainly University students, primarily well-educated females, via an online survey on in Mexico; therefore, the findings represent a snapshot at a particular time. Notably, however, the effect of social media use is increasing due to COVID-19 around the globe and is volatile over time.

Two of the proposed hypotheses of this study, namely the expected negative impacts of social media use on social isolation and of phubbing on psychological well-being, should be further explored. One possible approach is to consider the type of connections (i.e., weak and strong ties) to explain further the impact of social media usage on social isolation. Apparently, the prevalence of weak ties, although facilitating bridging social capital, may have an adverse impact in terms of social isolation. Regarding phubbing, the fact that the findings point to a possible positive impact on psychological well-being should be carefully addressed, specifically by psychology theorists and scholars, in order to identify factors that may help further understand this phenomenon. Other suggestions for future research include using mixed-method approaches, as qualitative studies could help further validate the results and provide complementary perspectives on the relationships between the considered variables.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Jiangsu University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Funding. This study is supported by the National Statistics Research Project of China (2016LY96).

• Abbas R., Mesch G. (2018). Do rich teens get richer? Facebook use and the link between offline and online social capital among Palestinian youth in Israel . Inf. Commun. Soc. 21 , 63–79. 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1261168 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Adnan M., Anwar K. (2020). Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: students' perspectives . J. Pedagog. Sociol. Psychol. 2 , 45–51. 10.33902/JPSP.2020261309 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ali Qalati S., Li W., Ahmed N., Ali Mirani M., Khan A. (2021). Examining the factors affecting SME performance: the mediating role of social media adoption . Sustainability 13 :75. 10.3390/su13010075 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bagozzi R. P., Yi Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models . J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 16 , 74–94. 10.1007/BF02723327 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bagozzi R. P., Yi Y., Phillips L. W. (1991). Assessing construct validity in organizational research . Admin. Sci. Q. 36 , 421–458. 10.2307/2393203 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bano S., Cisheng W., Khan A. N., Khan N. A. (2019). WhatsApp use and student's psychological well-being: role of social capital and social integration . Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 103 , 200–208. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.06.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Barbosa B., Chkoniya V., Simoes D., Filipe S., Santos C. A. (2020). Always connected: generation Y smartphone use and social capital . Rev. Ibérica Sist. Tecnol. Inf. E 35 , 152–166. [ Google Scholar ]
• Bekalu M. A., McCloud R. F., Viswanath K. (2019). Association of social media use with social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health: disentangling routine use from emotional connection to use . Health Educ. Behav. 46(2 Suppl), 69S−80S. 10.1177/1090198119863768 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Brown G., Michinov N. (2019). Measuring latent ties on Facebook: a novel approach to studying their prevalence and relationship with bridging social capital . Technol. Soc. 59 :101176. 10.1016/j.techsoc.2019.101176 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Campbell D. T., Fiske D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix . Psychol. Bull. 56 , 81–105. 10.1037/h0046016 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carlson J. R., Zivnuska S., Harris R. B., Harris K. J., Carlson D. S. (2016). Social media use in the workplace: a study of dual effects . J. Org. End User Comput. 28 , 15–31. 10.4018/JOEUC.2016010102 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chan M. (2015). Mobile phones and the good life: examining the relationships among mobile use, social capital and subjective well-being . New Media Soc. 17 , 96–113. 10.1177/1461444813516836 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chappell N. L., Badger M. (1989). Social isolation and well-being . J. Gerontol. 44 , S169–S176. 10.1093/geronj/44.5.s169 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chatterjee S. (2020). Antecedents of phubbing: from technological and psychological perspectives . J. Syst. Inf. Technol. 22 , 161–118. 10.1108/JSIT-05-2019-0089 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chen H.-T., Li X. (2017). The contribution of mobile social media to social capital and psychological well-being: examining the role of communicative use, friending and self-disclosure . Comput. Hum. Behav. 75 , 958–965. 10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.011 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Choi D.-H., Noh G.-Y. (2019). The influence of social media use on attitude toward suicide through psychological well-being, social isolation, and social support . Inf. Commun. Soc. 23 , 1–17. 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1574860 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chotpitayasunondh V., Douglas K. M. (2016). How phubbing becomes the norm: the antecedents and consequences of snubbing via smartphone . Comput. Hum. Behav. 63 , 9–18. 10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.018 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chotpitayasunondh V., Douglas K. M. (2018). The effects of phubbing on social interaction . J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 48 , 304–316. 10.1111/jasp.12506 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cohen J. (1998). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [ Google Scholar ]
• Davey S., Davey A., Raghav S. K., Singh J. V., Singh N., Blachnio A., et al.. (2018). Predictors and consequences of phubbing among adolescents and youth in India: an impact evaluation study . J. Fam. Community Med. 25 , 35–42. 10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_71_17 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• David M. E., Roberts J. A., Christenson B. (2018). Too much of a good thing: investigating the association between actual smartphone use and individual well-being . Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 34 , 265–275. 10.1080/10447318.2017.1349250 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dhir A., Yossatorn Y., Kaur P., Chen S. (2018). Online social media fatigue and psychological wellbeing—a study of compulsive use, fear of missing out, fatigue, anxiety and depression . Int. J. Inf. Manag. 40 , 141–152. 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.01.012 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dutot V., Bergeron F. (2016). From strategic orientation to social media orientation: improving SMEs' performance on social media . J. Small Bus. Enterp. Dev. 23 , 1165–1190. 10.1108/JSBED-11-2015-0160 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ellison N. B., Steinfield C., Lampe C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook friends: Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites . J. Comput. Mediat. Commun. 12 , 1143–1168. 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fan M., Huang Y., Qalati S. A., Shah S. M. M., Ostic D., Pu Z. (2021). Effects of information overload, communication overload, and inequality on digital distrust: a cyber-violence behavior mechanism . Front. Psychol. 12 :643981. 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643981 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fornell C., Larcker D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error . J. Market. Res. 18 , 39–50. 10.1177/002224378101800104 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gökçearslan S., Uluyol Ç., Sahin S. (2018). Smartphone addiction, cyberloafing, stress and social support among University students: a path analysis . Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 91 , 47–54. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.05.036 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gong S., Xu P., Wang S. (2021). Social capital and psychological well-being of Chinese immigrants in Japan . Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18 :547. 10.3390/ijerph18020547 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Guazzini A., Duradoni M., Capelli A., Meringolo P. (2019). An explorative model to assess individuals' phubbing risk . Fut. Internet 11 :21. 10.3390/fi11010021 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hair J. F., Risher J. J., Sarstedt M., Ringle C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM . Eur. Bus. Rev. 31 , 2–24. 10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hair J. F., Sarstedt M., Pieper T. M., Ringle C. M. (2012). The use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in strategic management research: a review of past practices and recommendations for future applications . Long Range Plann. 45 , 320–340. 10.1016/j.lrp.2012.09.008 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hair J. F., Sarstedt M., Ringle C. M., Gudergan S. P. (2017). Advanced Issues in Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hajek A., König H.-H. (2021). Social isolation and loneliness of older adults in times of the CoViD-19 pandemic: can use of online social media sites and video chats assist in mitigating social isolation and loneliness? Gerontology 67 , 121–123. 10.1159/000512793 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Henseler J., Ringle C. M., Sinkovics R. R. (2009). The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing, in New Challenges to International Marketing , Vol. 20, eds R.R. Sinkovics and P.N. Ghauri (Bigley: Emerald; ), 277–319. [ Google Scholar ]
• Holliman A. J., Waldeck D., Jay B., Murphy S., Atkinson E., Collie R. J., et al.. (2021). Adaptability and social support: examining links with psychological wellbeing among UK students and non-students . Fron. Psychol. 12 :636520. 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636520 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jeong S.-H., Kim H., Yum J.-Y., Hwang Y. (2016). What type of content are smartphone users addicted to? SNS vs. games . Comput. Hum. Behav. 54 , 10–17. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.035 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jiao Y., Jo M.-S., Sarigöllü E. (2017). Social value and content value in social media: two paths to psychological well-being . J. Org. Comput. Electr. Commer. 27 , 3–24. 10.1080/10919392.2016.1264762 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jordan P. J., Troth A. C. (2019). Common method bias in applied settings: the dilemma of researching in organizations . Austr. J. Manag. 45 , 3–14. 10.1177/0312896219871976 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Karikari S., Osei-Frimpong K., Owusu-Frimpong N. (2017). Evaluating individual level antecedents and consequences of social media use in Ghana . Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 123 , 68–79. 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.06.023 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kemp S. (January 30, 2020). Digital 2020: 3.8 billion people use social media. We Are Social . Available online at: https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media .
• Kim B., Kim Y. (2017). College students' social media use and communication network heterogeneity: implications for social capital and subjective well-being . Comput. Hum. Behav. 73 , 620–628. 10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.033 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kim K., Milne G. R., Bahl S. (2018). Smart phone addiction and mindfulness: an intergenerational comparison . Int. J. Pharmaceut. Healthcare Market. 12 , 25–43. 10.1108/IJPHM-08-2016-0044 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kircaburun K., Alhabash S., Tosuntaş S. B., Griffiths M. D. (2020). Uses and gratifications of problematic social media use among University students: a simultaneous examination of the big five of personality traits, social media platforms, and social media use motives . Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 18 , 525–547. 10.1007/s11469-018-9940-6 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Leong L.-Y., Hew T.-S., Ooi K.-B., Lee V.-H., Hew J.-J. (2019). A hybrid SEM-neural network analysis of social media addiction . Expert Syst. Appl. 133 , 296–316. 10.1016/j.eswa.2019.05.024 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li L., Griffiths M. D., Mei S., Niu Z. (2020a). Fear of missing out and smartphone addiction mediates the relationship between positive and negative affect and sleep quality among Chinese University students . Front. Psychiatr. 11 :877. 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00877 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li W., Qalati S. A., Khan M. A. S., Kwabena G. Y., Erusalkina D., Anwar F. (2020b). Value co-creation and growth of social enterprises in developing countries: moderating role of environmental dynamics . Entrep. Res. J. 2020 :20190359. 10.1515/erj-2019-0359 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li X., Chen W. (2014). Facebook or Renren? A comparative study of social networking site use and social capital among Chinese international students in the United States . Comput. Hum. Behav . 35 , 116–123. 10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.012 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Matthews L., Hair J. F., Matthews R. (2018). PLS-SEM: the holy grail for advanced analysis . Mark. Manag. J. 28 , 1–13. [ Google Scholar ]
• Meshi D., Cotten S. R., Bender A. R. (2020). Problematic social media use and perceived social isolation in older adults: a cross-sectional study . Gerontology 66 , 160–168. 10.1159/000502577 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mou J., Shin D.-H., Cohen J. (2017). Understanding trust and perceived usefulness in the consumer acceptance of an e-service: a longitudinal investigation . Behav. Inf. Technol. 36 , 125–139. 10.1080/0144929X.2016.1203024 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nunnally J. (1978). Psychometric Methods . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oghazi P., Karlsson S., Hellström D., Hjort K. (2018). Online purchase return policy leniency and purchase decision: mediating role of consumer trust . J. Retail. Consumer Serv. 41 , 190–200. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pang H. (2018). Exploring the beneficial effects of social networking site use on Chinese students' perceptions of social capital and psychological well-being in Germany . Int. J. Intercult. Relat. 67 , 1–11. 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.08.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Podsakoff P. M., MacKenzie S. B., Lee J.-Y., Podsakoff N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies . J. Appl. Psychol. 88 , 879–903. 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Podsakoff P. M., Organ D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: problems and prospects . J. Manag. 12 , 531–544. 10.1177/014920638601200408 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Preacher K. J., Hayes A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models . Behav Res. Methods 40 , 879–891. 10.3758/brm.40.3.879 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Primack B. A., Shensa A., Sidani J. E., Whaite E. O., yi Lin L., Rosen D., et al.. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the US . Am. J. Prev. Med. 53 , 1–8. 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Putnam R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: the strange disappearance of social capital in America . Polit. Sci. Polit. 28 , 664–684. 10.2307/420517 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Putnam R. D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. [ Google Scholar ]
• Qalati S. A., Ostic D., Fan M., Dakhan S. A., Vela E. G., Zufar Z., et al.. (2021). The general public knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding COVID-19 during the lockdown in Asian developing countries . Int. Q. Commun. Health Educ. 2021 :272684X211004945. 10.1177/0272684X211004945 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Reer F., Tang W. Y., Quandt T. (2019). Psychosocial well-being and social media engagement: the mediating roles of social comparison orientation and fear of missing out . New Media Soc. 21 , 1486–1505. 10.1177/1461444818823719 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ringle C., Wende S., Becker J. (2015). SmartPLS 3 [software] . Bönningstedt: SmartPLS. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ringle C. M., Sarstedt M., Straub D. (2012). A critical look at the use of PLS-SEM in MIS Quarterly. MIS Q . 36, iii–xiv. 10.2307/41410402 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Roberts J. A., David M. E. (2020). The social media party: fear of missing out (FoMO), social media intensity, connection, and well-being . Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 36 , 386–392. 10.1080/10447318.2019.1646517 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Salehan M., Negahban A. (2013). Social networking on smartphones: when mobile phones become addictive . Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 , 2632–2639. 10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sarstedt M., Cheah J.-H. (2019). Partial least squares structural equation modeling using SmartPLS: a software review . J. Mark. Anal. 7 , 196–202. 10.1057/s41270-019-00058-3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schinka K. C., VanDulmen M. H., Bossarte R., Swahn M. (2012). Association between loneliness and suicidality during middle childhood and adolescence: longitudinal effects and the role of demographic characteristics . J. Psychol. Interdiscipl. Appl. 146 , 105–118. 10.1080/00223980.2011.584084 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shi S., Mu R., Lin L., Chen Y., Kou G., Chen X.-J. (2018). The impact of perceived online service quality on swift guanxi . Internet Res. 28 , 432–455. 10.1108/IntR-12-2016-0389 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shoukat S. (2019). Cell phone addiction and psychological and physiological health in adolescents . EXCLI J. 18 , 47–50. 10.17179/excli2018-2006 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shrestha N. (2021). Factor analysis as a tool for survey analysis . Am. J. Appl. Math. Stat. 9 , 4–11. 10.12691/ajams-9-1-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stouthuysen K., Teunis I., Reusen E., Slabbinck H. (2018). Initial trust and intentions to buy: The effect of vendor-specific guarantees, customer reviews and the role of online shopping experience . Electr. Commer. Res. Appl. 27 , 23–38. 10.1016/j.elerap.2017.11.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Swar B., Hameed T. (2017). Fear of missing out, social media engagement, smartphone addiction and distraction: moderating role of self-help mobile apps-based interventions in the youth , Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Health Informatics (Porto). [ Google Scholar ]
• Tangmunkongvorakul A., Musumari P. M., Thongpibul K., Srithanaviboonchai K., Techasrivichien T., Suguimoto S. P., et al.. (2019). Association of excessive smartphone use with psychological well-being among University students in Chiang Mai, Thailand . PLoS ONE 14 :e0210294. 10.1371/journal.pone.0210294 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tateno M., Teo A. R., Ukai W., Kanazawa J., Katsuki R., Kubo H., et al.. (2019). Internet addiction, smartphone addiction, and hikikomori trait in Japanese young adult: social isolation and social network . Front. Psychiatry 10 :455. 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00455 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tefertiller A. C., Maxwell L. C., Morris D. L. (2020). Social media goes to the movies: fear of missing out, social capital, and social motivations of cinema attendance . Mass Commun. Soc. 23 , 378–399. 10.1080/15205436.2019.1653468 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tehseen S., Qureshi Z. H., Johara F., Ramayah T. (2020). Assessing dimensions of entrepreneurial competencies: a type II (reflective-formative) measurement approach using PLS-SEM . J. Sustain. Sci. Manage. 15 , 108–145. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tehseen S., Ramayah T., Sajilan S. (2017). Testing and controlling for common method variance: a review of available methods . J. Manag. Sci. 4 , 146–165. 10.20547/jms.2014.1704202 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tonacci A., Billeci L., Sansone F., Masci A., Pala A. P., Domenici C., et al.. (2019). An innovative, unobtrusive approach to investigate smartphone interaction in nonaddicted subjects based on wearable sensors: a pilot study . Medicina (Kaunas) 55 :37. 10.3390/medicina55020037 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Twenge J. M., Campbell W. K. (2019). Media use is linked to lower psychological well-being: evidence from three datasets . Psychiatr. Q. 90 , 311–331. 10.1007/s11126-019-09630-7 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vallespín M., Molinillo S., Muñoz-Leiva F. (2017). Segmentation and explanation of smartphone use for travel planning based on socio-demographic and behavioral variables . Ind. Manag. Data Syst. 117 , 605–619. 10.1108/IMDS-03-2016-0089 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Van Den Eijnden R. J., Lemmens J. S., Valkenburg P. M. (2016). The social media disorder scale . Comput. Hum. Behav. 61 , 478–487. 10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.038 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Whaite E. O., Shensa A., Sidani J. E., Colditz J. B., Primack B. A. (2018). Social media use, personality characteristics, and social isolation among young adults in the United States . Pers. Indiv. Differ. 124 , 45–50. 10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.030 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Williams D. (2006). On and off the'net: scales for social capital in an online era . J. Comput. Mediat. Commun. 11 , 593–628. 10.1016/j.1083-6101.2006.00029.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

64% of Americans say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the U.S. today

About two-thirds of Americans (64%) say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 13-19, 2020. Just one-in-ten Americans say social media sites have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going, and one-quarter say these platforms have a neither positive nor negative effect.

Those who have a negative view of the impact of social media mention, in particular, misinformation and the hate and harassment they see on social media. They also have concerns about users believing everything they see or read – or not being sure about what to believe. Additionally, they bemoan social media’s role in fomenting partisanship and polarization, the creation of echo chambers, and the perception that these platforms oppose President Donald Trump and conservatives.

This is part of a series of posts on Americans’ experiences with and attitudes about the role of social media in politics today. Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans think about the impact of social media on the way things are currently going in the country. To explore this, we surveyed 10,211 U.S. adults from July 13 to 19, 2020. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

The public’s views on the positive and negative effect of social media vary widely by political affiliation and ideology. Across parties, larger shares describe social media’s impact as mostly negative rather than mostly positive, but this belief is particularly widespread among Republicans.

Roughly half of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (53%) say social media have a largely negative effect on the way things are going in the country today, compared with 78% of Republicans and leaners who say the same. Democrats are about three times as likely as Republicans to say these sites have a mostly positive impact (14% vs. 5%) and twice as likely to say social media have neither a positive nor negative effect (32% vs. 16%).

Among Democrats, there are no differences in these views along ideological lines. Republicans, however, are slightly more divided by ideology. Conservative Republicans are more likely than moderate to liberal Republicans to say social media have a mostly negative effect (83% vs. 70%). Conversely, moderate to liberal Republicans are more likely than their conservative counterparts to say social media have a mostly positive (8% vs. 4%) or neutral impact (21% vs. 13%).

Younger adults are more likely to say social media have a positive impact on the way things are going in the country and are less likely to believe social media sites have a negative impact compared with older Americans. For instance, 15% of those ages 18 to 29 say social media have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going in the country today, while just 8% of those over age 30 say the same. Americans 18 to 29 are also less likely than those 30 and older to say social media have a mostly negative impact (54% vs. 67%).

However, views among younger adults vary widely by partisanship. For example, 43% of Democrats ages 18 to 29 say social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going, compared with about three-quarters (76%) of Republicans in the same age group. In addition, these youngest Democrats are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say social media platforms have a mostly positive (20% vs. 6%) or neither a positive nor negative effect (35% vs. 18%) on the way things are going in the country today. This partisan division persists among those 30 and older, but most of the gaps are smaller than those seen within the younger cohort.

Views on the negative impact of social media vary only slightly between social media users (63%) and non-users (69%), with non-users being slightly more likely to say these sites have a negative impact. However, among social media users, those who say some or a lot of what they see on social media is related to politics are more likely than those who say a little or none of what they see on these sites is related to politics to think social media platforms have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today (65% vs. 50%).

Past Pew Research Center studies have drawn attention to the complicated relationships Americans have with social media. In 2019, a Center survey found that 72% of U.S. adults reported using at least one social media site. And while these platforms have been used for political and social activism and engagement , they also raise concerns among portions of the population. Some think political ads on these sites are unacceptable, and many object to the way social media platforms have been weaponized to spread made-up news and engender online harassment . At the same time, a share of users credit something they saw on social media with changing their views about a political or social issue. And growing shares of Americans who use these sites also report feeling worn out by political posts and discussions on social media.

Those who say social media have negative impact cite concerns about misinformation, hate, censorship; those who see positive impact cite being informed

When asked to elaborate on the main reason why they think social media have a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in this country today, roughly three-in-ten (28%) respondents who hold that view mention the spreading of misinformation and made-up news. Smaller shares reference examples of hate, harassment, conflict and extremism (16%) as a main reason, and 11% mention a perceived lack of critical thinking skills among many users – voicing concern about people who use these sites believing everything they see or read or being unsure about what to believe.

In written responses that mention misinformation or made-up news, a portion of adults often include references to the spread, speed and amount of false information available on these platforms. (Responses are lightly edited for spelling, style and readability.) For example:

“They allow for the rampant spread of misinformation.” –Man, 36

“False information is spread at lightning speed – and false information never seems to go away.” –Woman, 71

“Social media is rampant with misinformation both about the coronavirus and political and social issues, and the social media organizations do not do enough to combat this.” –Woman, 26

“Too much misinformation and lies are promoted from unsubstantiated sources that lead people to disregard vetted and expert information.” –Woman, 64

People’s responses that centered around hate, harassment, conflict or extremism in some way often mention concerns that social media contributes to incivility online tied to anonymity, the spreading of hate-filled ideas or conspiracies, or the incitement of violence.

“People say incendiary, stupid and thoughtless things online with the perception of anonymity that they would never say to someone else in person.” –Man, 53

“Promotes hate and extreme views and in some cases violence.” –Man, 69

“People don’t respect others’ opinions. They take it personally and try to fight with the other group. You can’t share your own thoughts on controversial topics without fearing someone will try to hurt you or your family.” –Woman, 65

“Social media is where people go to say some of the most hateful things they can imagine.” –Man, 46

About one-in-ten responses talk about how people on social media can be easily confused and believe everything they see or read or are not sure about what to believe.

“People believe everything they see and don’t verify its accuracy.” –Man, 75

“Many people can’t distinguish between real and fake news and information and share it without doing proper research …” –Man, 32

“You don’t know what’s fake or real.” –Man, 49

“It is hard to discern truth.” –Woman, 80

“People cannot distinguish fact from opinion, nor can they critically evaluate sources. They tend to believe everything they read, and when they see contradictory information (particularly propaganda), they shut down and don’t appear to trust any information.” –Man, 42

Smaller shares complain that the platforms censor content or allow material that is biased (9%), too negative (7%) or too steeped in partisanship and division (6%).

“Social media is censoring views that are different than theirs. There is no longer freedom of speech.” –Woman, 42

“It creates more divide between people with different viewpoints.” –Man, 37

“Focus is on negativity and encouraging angry behavior rather than doing something to help people and make the world better.” –Woman, 66

Far fewer Americans – 10% – say they believe social media has a mostly positive effect on the way things are going in the country today. When those who hold these positive views were asked about the main reason why they thought this, one-quarter say these sites help people stay informed and aware (25%) and about one-in-ten say they allow for communication, connection and community-building (12%).

“We are now aware of what’s happening around the world due to the social media outlet.” –Woman, 28

“It brings awareness to important issues that affect all Americans.” –Man, 60

“It brings people together; folks can see that there are others who share the same/similar experience, which is really important, especially when so many of us are isolated.” –Woman, 36

“Helps people stay connected and share experiences. I also get advice and recommendations via social media.” –Man, 32

“It keeps people connected who might feel lonely and alone if there did not have social media …” – Man, 65

Smaller shares tout social media as a place where marginalized people and groups have a voice (8%) and as a venue for activism and social movements (7%).

“Spreading activism and info and inspiring participation in Black Lives Matter.” –Woman, 31

“It gives average people an opportunity to voice and share their opinions.” –Man, 67

“Visibility – it has democratized access and provided platforms for voices who have been and continue to be oppressed.” –Woman, 27

Note: This is part of a series of blog posts leading up to the 2020 presidential election that explores the role of social media in politics today. Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Other posts in this series:

• 23% of users in U.S. say social media led them to change views on an issue; some cite Black Lives Matter
• 54% of Americans say social media companies shouldn’t allow any political ads
• 55% of U.S. social media users say they are ‘worn out’ by political posts and discussions
• Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction
• Misinformation
• Misinformation Online
• National Conditions
• Political Discourse
• Politics Online
• Social Media

Brooke Auxier is a former research associate focusing on internet and technology at Pew Research Center .

Majorities in most countries surveyed say social media is good for democracy

­most americans favor restrictions on false information, violent content online, as ai spreads, experts predict the best and worst changes in digital life by 2035, social media seen as mostly good for democracy across many nations, but u.s. is a major outlier, the role of alternative social media in the news and information environment, most popular.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

© 2024 Pew Research Center

Spending too much time on social media and doomscrolling? The problem might be FOMO

Senior Lecturer - Psychology | Chair, Researchers in Behavioural Addictions, Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD), Charles Darwin University

Disclosure statement

Kim M Caudwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Charles Darwin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

For as long as we have used the internet to communicate and connect with each other , it has influenced how we think, feel and behave.

During the COVID pandemic, many of us were “cut off” from our social worlds through restrictions, lockdowns and mandates. Understandably, many of us tried to find ways to connect online .

Now, as pandemic restrictions have lifted, some of the ways we use the internet have become concerning. Part of what drives problematic internet use may be something most of us are familiar with – the fear of missing out, or FOMO.

In our latest research , my colleagues and I investigated the role FOMO plays in two kinds of internet use: problematic social media use and “doomscrolling”.

What are FOMO, problematic social media use and doomscrolling?

FOMO is the fear some of us experience when we get a sense of “missing out” on things happening in our social scene. Psychology researchers have been studying FOMO for more than a decade , and it has consistently been linked to mental health and wellbeing , alcohol use and problematic social media use .

Social media use becomes a problem for people when they have difficulty controlling urges to use social media, have difficulty cutting back on use, and where the use has a negative impact on their everyday life.

Doomscrolling is characterised by a need to constantly look at and seek out “bad” news . Doomscrollers may constantly refresh their news feeds or stay up late to read bad news.

While problematic social media use has been around for a while, doomscrolling seems to be a more recent phenomenon – attracting research attention during and following the pandemic.

What we tried to find out

In our study, we wanted to test the idea that FOMO leads individuals to engage in problematic use behaviours due to their difficulty in managing the “fear” in FOMO.

The key factor, we thought, was emotion regulation – our ability to deal with our emotions. We know some people tend to be good at this, while others find it difficult. In fact, greater difficulties with emotion regulation was linked to experiencing greater acute stress related to COVID .

Read more: Why am I online? Research shows it's often about managing emotions

However, an idea that has been gaining attention recently is interpersonal emotion regulation . This means looking to others to help us regulate our emotions.

Interpersonal emotion regulation can be helpful (such as “ affective engagement ”, where someone might listen and talk about your feelings) or unhelpful (such as “ co-rumination ” or rehashing problems together), depending on the context.

In our analyses, we sought to uncover how both intrapersonal emotion regulation (ability to self-manage our own emotional states) and interpersonal emotion regulation (relying on others to help manage our emotions) accounted for the link between FOMO and problematic social media use, and FOMO and doomscrolling, respectively.

What we found – and what it might mean for the future of internet use

Our findings indicated that people who report stronger FOMO engage in problematic social media use because of difficulty regulating their emotions (intrapersonally), and they look to others for help (interpersonally).

Similarly, people who report stronger FOMO are drawn to doomscrolling because of difficulty regulating their emotions intrapersonally (within themselves). However, we found no link between FOMO and doomscrolling through interpersonal emotion regulation.

We suspect this difference may be due to doomscrolling being more of a solitary activity, occurring outside more social contexts that facilitate interpersonal regulation. For instance, there are probably fewer people with whom to share your emotions while staying up trawling through bad news.

While links between FOMO and doomscrolling have been observed before, our study is among the first to try and account for this theoretically.

We suspect the link between FOMO and doomscrolling may be more about having more of an online presence while things are happening . This would account for intrapersonal emotion regulation failing to help manage our reactions to “bad news” stories as they unfold, leading to doomscrolling.

Problematic social media use, on the other hand, involves a more complex interpersonal context. If someone is feeling the fear of being “left out” and has difficulty managing that feeling, they may be drawn to social media platforms in part to try and elicit help from others in their network.

Getting the balance right

Our findings suggest the current discussions around restricting social media use for young people , while controversial, are important. We need to balance our need for social connection – which is happening increasingly online – with the detrimental consequences associated with problematic internet use behaviours.

It is important to also consider the nature of social media platforms and how they have changed over time. For example, adolescent social media use patterns across various platforms are associated with different mental health and socialisation outcomes.

Public health policy experts and legislators have quite the challenge ahead of them here. Recent work has shown how loneliness is a contributing factor to all-cause mortality (death from any cause).

Read more: Doomscrolling is literally bad for your health. Here are 4 tips to help you stop

We have long known, too, that social connectedness is good for our mental health . In fact, last year, the World Health Organization established a Commission on Social Connection to help promote the importance of socialisation to our lives.

The recent controversy in the United States around the ownership of TikTok illustrates how central social media platforms are to our lives and ways of interacting with one another. We need to consider the rights of individuals to use them as they please, but understand that governments carry the responsibility of protecting users from harm and safeguarding their privacy.

If you feel concerned about problematic social media use or doomscrolling, you can speak to a healthcare or mental health professional. You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 13 YARN (13 92 76) to yarn with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander crisis supporters.

• Social media
• Internet use
• Problematic Internet use
• Social media use
• Fear of missing out
• doomscrolling
• New research, Australia New Zealand

Data Manager

Research Support Officer

Director, Social Policy

Head, School of Psychology

Senior Research Fellow - Women's Health Services

Your child’s brain is developing rapidly, making them more susceptible to the harms of social media. And though they might put on a brave face, they could be hurting underneath. It’s time to unmask the harms of social media.

Up to 95% of youth ages 13–17 report using a social media platform opens in a new tab , with more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.”

There is growing concern for children and teens using social media. Social media can be incredibly harmful for youth. Kids need less screen time for healthy growth and development. We can work together to establish social media boundaries, model healthy social media use, and teach children how to use it safely.

The harms of social media

Teens who spent more than 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes.

Nearly half of teens ages 13 to 17 said using social media makes them feel worse .

Almost 60% of teenage girls say they’ve been contacted by a stranger on social media platforms in ways that make them feel uncomfortable.

According to a survey of 8th and 10th graders, the average time spent on social media is 3.5 hours per day and almost 15% (1 in 7) spends 7+ hours per day on social media .

More than 60% of teens are regularly exposed to hate-based content .

Excessive social media use has been linked to sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion among teenagers.

In a review of 36 studies, a consistent relationship was found between cyberbullying on social media and depression among children of all ages.

In a national survey of girls ages 11 to 15, one-third or more say they feel “addicted” to a social media platform .

More than half of teens report that it would be hard to give up social media .

Share this message with others

What do Utah parents think about social media?

It can be scary and intimidating raising kids in a world filled with technology—predators, inappropriate content, bullying, and a distorted reality are just some of the concerns you might have. But you’re not alone! We asked Utah parents what they thought about social media, its effects on their children, and what they’re doing to help protect their kids.

• 88% believe social media has a detrimental impact on children and youth.
• 63% were concerned about social media impacting their child’s mental health.
• 60% were concerned about social media impacting their child’s body image.
• 94% enforce boundaries with their children’s social media usage, like enforcing time limits, content restrictions, and setting age limits.
• 84% encourage their children to unplug from social media and participate in other activities.

What can you do to protect your child?

Reconsider allowing your child to have social media and encourage them to wait to use it until they are an adult.

Governor Spencer J. Cox

• Create a family media plan. Agreed-upon expectations can help establish healthy technology boundaries at home – including social media use. A family media plan opens in a new tab can promote open family discussion and rules about media use and include topics such as balancing screen/online time, content boundaries, and not disclosing personal information.
• Create tech-free zones and encourage children to foster in-person relationships. Electronics can be a distraction after bedtime and can interfere with sleep. Consider restricting the use of phones, tablets, and computers for at least 1 hour before bedtime and through the night. Keep family mealtimes and in-person gatherings device-free to build social bonds and engage in a two-way conversation. Help your child develop social skills and nurture his or her in-person relationships by encouraging unstructured and offline connections with others and making unplugged interactions a daily priority. Learn more from the American Academy of Pediatrics opens in a new tab .
• Model responsible social media behavior. Children often learn behaviors and habits from what they see around them. Parents can set a good example of what responsible and healthy social media use looks like by limiting their own use and being mindful of social media habits.
• Teach kids about technology and empower them to be responsible online participants at the appropriate age. Discuss with children the risks of social media as well as the importance of respecting privacy and protecting personal information in age-appropriate ways. Have conversations with children about who they are connecting with, their privacy settings, their online experiences, and how they are spending their time online. Encourage them to seek help should they need it. Learn more from the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health opens in a new tab and American Psychological Association Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence opens in a new tab .
• Report cyberbullying and online abuse and exploitation. Talk to your child about cyberbullying and what to do if they are being harassed through email, text message, online games, or social media. Make sure they understand the dangers of being contacted by an adult online, especially if they are being asked to share private images or perform intimate or sexual acts.
• Work with other parents to help establish shared norms and practices and to support programs and policies around healthy social media use. Despite what your kids may say, you’re not the only parent who won’t let their children have social media or who sets family rules about phones and technology.

In 2023, the Utah State Legislature passed Senate Bill 152 opens in a new tab   and opens in a new tab House Bill 311 , enacting the Utah Social Media Regulation Acts. Learn more about the laws here opens in a new tab .

Research & resources

• Gabb:  What is Sextortion? Everything You Need to Know  
• Gabb Study: When Teens Take a Break from Social Media opens in a new tab
• The Common Sense Census:  Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021 opens in a new tab
• U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: opens in a new tab Social Media and Youth Mental Health
• The Atlantic:  All Work and No Play: Why Your Kids Are More Anxious, Depressed
• American Academy of Pediatrics: National Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health opens in a new tab
• American Academy of Pediatrics: Media and Young Minds opens in a new tab
• American Psychological Association: Health advisory on social media use in adolescence opens in a new tab
• University of Utah Health: The impact of social media on teens’ mental health opens in a new tab and Tips for healthy social media use: Parents and teens opens in a new tab
• PBS Utah: Social media and youth mental health opens in a new tab
• Teen Mental Health Is Plummeting, and Social Media is a Major Contributing Cause opens in a new tab
• Social media and mental health opens in a new tab
• U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation opens in a new tab
• Haidt, J., & Twenge, J. (ongoing). Adolescent mood disorders since 2010: A collaborative review. opens in a new tab Unpublished manuscript, New York University.

View all educational and campaign materials

If you or someone you know is considering suicide

Tell us about your experience with harms to minors from engaging with social media platforms.

Presenting social harms: a parent presentation

How does social media affect sleep?