Cross-platform- and subgroup-differences in the well-being effects of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook in the United States
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Abstract
Spatial aggregates of survey and web search data make it possible to identify the heterogeneous well-being effects of social media platforms. This study reports evidence from different sources of longitudinal data that suggests that the well-being effects of social media differ across platforms and population groups. The well-being effects of frequent social media visits are consistently positive for Facebook but negative for Instagram. Group-level analyses suggest that the positive well-being effects are experienced mainly by white, high-income populations at both the individual and the county level, while the adverse effects of Instagram use are observed on younger and Black populations. The findings are corroborated when geocoded web search data from Google is used and when self-reports from surveys are used in place of region-level aggregates. Greater Instagram use in regions is also linked to higher depression diagnoses across most sociodemographic groups.
Keywords
Humans, Names, Social Media, Surveys and Questionnaires, United States
Source Title
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Series/Report No.
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Date
2022-12-01
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-07219-y
Type
Article