A Stimulated Recall Method for the Improved Assessment of Quantity and Quality of Social Media Use

It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it: An experimental task delineates among passive, reactive and interactive styles of behaviour on social networking sites

Studies have produced vastly disparate findings when exploring relationships between social networking site (SNS) usage and psychosocial well-being. These inconsistencies might reflect a lack of consideration for how people use SNS; specifically, while meaningful interactions are suggested to foster positive feelings, the passive consumption of others' feeds is proposed to have negative effects on users' well-being. To facilitate the empirical evaluation of these claims, the present study developed a computerised task to measure styles of usage on a mock SNS platform. Administering this Social Network Site Behaviour Task (SNSBT) online to 526 individuals, we identified three dissociable usage styles that extend the active-passive dichotomy employed frequently in the literature: passive use (consuming content posted by others), reactive use (reacting to others' content), and interactive use (interacting with others through content sharing). Furthermore, our data reveal that these usage styles differ on several measures of psychosocial variables employed frequently in the disparate literature: more interactive users reported greater feelings of social connectedness and social capital than passive or reactive users. Importantly, however, our results also reveal the multi-dimensional nature of usage styles, with online network size and time spent on SNS platforms serving as potentially confounding influences on some psychosocial measures. These findings not only advance our understanding of SNS behaviour by providing empirical support for theoretic propositions, but also demonstrate the utility of the SNSBT for experimental investigations into the psychosocial outcomes of different SNS usage styles.

From Wellbeing to Social Media and Back: A Multi-Method Approach to Assessing the Bi-Directional Relationship Between Wellbeing and Social Media Use

Literature concerning the relationship between social media use and wellbeing is inconsistent in its findings, and most research has focused on time spent on social media rather than on what emerging adults do there, with whom and why. Here, we investigated whether momentary social stress affects emerging adults’ social media use, and whether this social media use relates to subsequent changes in wellbeing. We implemented a multi-method paradigm utilising objective and self-report data to investigate how social stress relates to how (much) and why emerging adults use social media. We report on findings based on 114 17–25-year-old emerging adults recruited on university campus. Our findings suggest that social stress does not affect adolescents’ subsequent social media use and that there is no relationship between social media use after stress and changes in momentary wellbeing. Our work illustrates the need for detailed approaches in social media and psychological wellbeing research.

Importance of Digital Communication in Adolescents' Development: Theoretical and Empirical Advancements in the Last Decade

The past decade saw a sharp increase in the use of smartphones and digital communication platforms. This manuscript reviews advancements in the study of digital communication and adolescent development over the last decade. We highlight theoretical models that seek to explain the power of digital media in adolescents' lives. We then examine research conducted over the last decade on five aspects of digital media: (1) potential to contribute to adolescent development, (2) associations with mental health, (3) differential impact of active versus passive social media use, (4) cyberbullying, and (5) sexting. We conclude with a discussion of potential opportunities and challenges for studying the role of digital communication in adolescents' development during the coming decade.

"Ur a freakin goddess!": Examining Appearance Commentary on Instagram

Frequent use of highly visual online platforms such as Instagram may be linked to greater body image concerns. One prominent feature of Instagram is the ability to receive feedback in the form of likes and comments. The goal of this cross-sectional study (conducted in laboratory and online) was to examine college students' receipt of appearance commentary on their most recent Instagram posts, and how this relates to their self-reported body image concerns. The Instagram commentary that 337 students (M _age=20.39) received on their posts was observationally coded for positivity and negativity. Receiving positive appearance commentary was common and linked to greater appearance-related social media consciousness, and, weakly, to body surveillance. There were no associations with self-objectification, appearance-contingent self-worth, facial satisfaction, and body dissatisfaction. Negative appearance commentary was not associated with body image concerns. Photos depicting only the self were especially likely to elicit positive appearance commentary. Females received more positive appearance commentary compared to males, whereas males received more negative appearance commentary. Future research should examine long-term effects of receiving appearance comments via Instagram.

Browsing Different Instagram Profiles and Associations With Psychological Well-Being

Social networking sites (SNSs) may be transforming young people's social experiences, and browsing SNSs in particular may harm psychological well-being. However, browsing different types of SNS profiles may differentially relate to psychological well-being. In a large and ethnically diverse sample of emerging adults (N = 405), this experimental study examined changes in state affect and self-perceptions after browsing one of three different types of profiles on Instagram: an acquaintance, an influencer, or one's own profile. Moreover, this study investigated how individual characteristics may moderate relations between browsing and well-being, by exploring feedback seeking behaviors and the fear of missing out. Browsing one's own Instagram profile led to positive changes in psychological well-being, whereas browsing the profile of either an acquaintance or an Instagram influencer led to negative changes in psychological well-being. Many observed effects, especially those found for the acquaintance and influencer conditions, were moderated by participants' dispositional levels of the fear of missing out and feedback seeking, in which effects were primarily observed for those higher in these characteristics. Findings suggest that SNSs may have positive or negative effects on well-being depending on who is online and what those individuals are browsing.