The online ideal persona vs. the jealousy effect: Two explanations of why selfies are associated with lower-quality romantic relationships

Social Media Friendship Jealousy

A new measure to assess friendship jealousy in the context of social media was developed. This one-factor, seven-item measure was psychometrically sound, showing evidence of validity and reliability in three samples of North American adults (Study 1, n = 491; Study 2, n = 494; Study 3, n = 415) and one-, two-, and three-year stability (Study 3). Women reported more social media friendship jealousy than men (Studies 2 and 3) and younger women had the highest levels of social media friendship jealousy (compared with younger men and older men and women; Study 2). Social media friendship jealousy was associated with lower friendship quality (Study 1) and higher social media use and trait jealousy (Study 2). The relation between social media friendship jealousy and internalizing symptoms indicated positive within time associations and longitudinal bidirectional relations (Study 3). Specifically, social media friendship jealousy predicted increases in internalizing problems, and internalizing problems predicted greater social media friendship jealousy accounting for gender and trait levels of social media friendship jealousy and internalizing problems. Anxious and depressed adults may be predisposed to monitor threats to their friendships via social media and experience negative consequences because of this behavior. Although social media interactions can be associated with positive well-being and social connectedness, our results highlight that they can also undermine friendships and mental health due to jealousy.

Online identity work dynamics of Instagram micro-influencers: an extreme case approach

Background

Advanced media technologies have become an integral part of people's daily lives, providing them with new tools and environments for the formation and enactment of their identities. To date, the literature acknowledges that media technologies, such as social networking sites, are used to form and enact online identities, and that these platforms can simultaneously pose challenges to individuals' identity work. However, we know little about the precise online identity work strategies that individuals employ in response to the challenges they face over time.

Objective

This paper examines the online identity work dynamics of Instagram micro-influencers, for whom social network sites enable and guide them in forming and enacting their online identities on a daily basis. The study was guided by the following research question: what are the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers perceive online and what are the online identity work strategies that they employ in response to these challenges over time?

Methods

This study employs an extreme case approach to rigorously explore the lives of seven micro-influencers on Instagram. We combine in-depth data from narrative interviews, longitudinal data from online autobiographical narratives revealed through the participants' Instagram timelines, and follow-up interviews.

Results

Our analysis revealed three main themes that highlight the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers face online: (1) amplified social expectations, (2) feelings of inauthenticity, and, as a result thereof, (3) psychological distress. We found that these challenges were viewed as catalysts for their online identity work processes. We identified three key online identity work strategies that the Instagram micro-influencers employed in response over time: (1) experimenting with their online identities, followed by either (2) segmenting between their online and offline identities, or (3) adding identities through online multiplicity.

Conclusion

Our research provides new insights into how individuals may respond to the challenge of managing their online identities over time by engaging in different online identity work strategies. This study highlights the importance of designing online media technologies that enable individuals to cope with online challenges. We emphasize the need to design online spaces for (1) the expression of authentic identities, (2) community building, and (3) online multiplicity.

From #RelationshipGoals to #Heartbreak – We use Instagram differently in various romantic relationship statuses

Nowadays Social Media plays a key role in the formation, maintenance and breaking up of romantic relationships. Instagram, one of the most popular platforms among young adults, was examined by many researchers from the viewpoints of e.g. relationship goals, satisfaction and conflicts. These studies concentrate on the impact of online activities on relationships. With this current research our aim is to widen this perspective: we attempt to investigate how relational factors influence the use of the popular social network site. In Study 1 a qualitative approach was introduced (N = 18), in Study 2 participants (N = 238) reported in an online survey about their Instagram activity in various relationship statuses as well as relationship satisfaction and jealousy. We found that changes in the relationship status can be detected through the modification of Instagram usage. The characteristics of Instagram activity are significantly different at the beginning and at the end of a relationship. Furthermore, using cluster analysis we found that jealousy and relationship satisfaction are core predictors of post frequency, the amount of time spent with browsing and the importance of Instagram. In sum, the patterns of Instagram activity are strongly influenced by romantic relationship status.

Social Media and Well-Being: Pitfalls, Progress, and Next Steps

Within a relatively short time span, social media have transformed the way humans interact, leading many to wonder what, if any, implications this interactive revolution has had for people's emotional lives. Over the past 15 years, an explosion of research has examined this issue, generating countless studies and heated debate. Although early research generated inconclusive findings, several experiments have revealed small negative effects of social media use on well-being. These results mask, however, a deeper set of complexities. Accumulating evidence indicates that social media can enhance or diminish well-being depending on how people use them. Future research is needed to model these complexities using stronger methods to advance knowledge in this domain.

A "Third Wheel" Effect in Health Decision Making Involving Artificial Entities: A Psychological Perspective

In the near future, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to participate more and more in decision making processes, in contexts ranging from healthcare to politics. For example, in the healthcare context, doctors will increasingly use AI and machine learning devices to improve precision in diagnosis and to identify therapy regimens. One hot topic regards the necessity for health professionals to adapt shared decision making with patients to include the contribution of AI into clinical practice, such as acting as mediators between the patient with his or her healthcare needs and the recommendations coming from artificial entities. In this scenario, a "third wheel" effect may intervene, potentially affecting the effectiveness of shared decision making in three different ways: first, clinical decisions could be delayed or paralyzed when AI recommendations are difficult to understand or to explain to patients; second, patients' symptomatology and medical diagnosis could be misinterpreted when adapting them to AI classifications; third, there may be confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the protagonists in the healthcare process (e.g., Who really has authority?). This contribution delineates such effects and tries to identify the impact of AI technology on the healthcare process, with a focus on future medical practice.

The Town Square in Your Pocket: Exploring Four Metaphors of Social Media

In this paper we explore the use of four metaphors as a means to illuminate particular dimensions of social media logic—the norms, strategies, and economics underpinning its dynamics. Our objective is to utilise metaphor to instigate critical reflection about the nature of social media use behaviour and the role of habitual social media use in our experiences of reality. The first metaphor, social media as a town square, draws attention to the centrality of social media platforms in their users’ lives, fear of missing out, augmented reality and digital dualism. Through the second metaphor, social media as a beauty pageant, we explore self-presentation or image crafting, social comparison and self-evaluation. The third metaphor, social media as a parliament, emphasises the role of social media platforms as spaces for online deliberation and we consider social media capital, homophily and polarisation as themes. Finally, we explore anonymity, deindividuation and deceptive self-presentation through our fourth metaphor, social media as a masquerade ball. We argue that social media scholars can use these and other metaphors to enhance communication of their research findings. Additionally, we believe that social media metaphors can be powerful pedagogical and communication tools, particularly when working with students for whom high levels of social media use is the norm.

Social Media and Couples: What Are the Important Factors for Understanding Relationship Satisfaction?

The current study sought to examine specific Facebook behaviors, related to one's relationship and their association with relationship satisfaction. Data were collected from 115 undergraduates who were in a relationship and had an active Facebook account. Participants completed a number of measures focused on their relationship and gave the researcher access to their Facebook profiles to record the frequency of all posts (comments and status updates), pictures, tags, and likes from the previous two weeks. Each of these behaviors was then coded as relationship-specific (involving one's partner) or not. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each relationship-specific Facebook behavior. A number of participants did not include relationship information on their Facebook page. Only relationship status and having one's partner in a profile picture were significantly associated with relationship satisfaction. The current study is the first of its kind to examine the association between relationship-specific Facebook behaviors and relationship satisfaction, beyond that of one's relationship status or profile photo alone. The results of this study provide an initial glimpse into the specific relationship-oriented behaviors that individuals engage in on social media. Furthermore, the results provide guidance on macro- versus micro-analysis of online behavior for other researchers who are examining social media and couples' relationships.