On Corporate Responsibility When Studying Social Media Use and Well-Being

Problematic social media use in childhood and adolescence

At the time of writing, about 4.59 billion people use social media with many adolescents using their social media accounts across a myriad of applications and platforms. According to recent statistics, in 2022 individuals spent an average of 151 minutes on social media each day, illustrating the global relevance of social media (Dixon, 2022a,b). One of the pressing questions, internationally, is whether social media use is harmful and/or addictive. This question is of particular importance because many teenagers - and younger adolescents - spend considerable time on these platforms, which have increasingly become an integral part of their lives. Moreover, considering lifespan development, adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to specific features and advertisements shown to them on social media platforms. Growing prevalence of poor mental health in young people has led to recent recommendations in the United States to routinely screen for anxiety in 8-18 year olds, and for depression and suicide risk for adolescents between 12-18 years of age (US Preventive Services Task Force et al., 2022 a,b) - the conditions often accompanying problematic social media use. The present work not only provides insights into the current state of the literature but provides also recommendations.

Unlocking the brain secrets of social media through neuroscience

Neuroscientific buzzwords, such as 'brain hacks', have become commonplace when discussing social media (SM)-platform engineering. Despite societal debates, few studies have used neuroscientific approaches to validate the claims empirically. We call here for a transformative shift engaging scientists and other stakeholders to address this critical knowledge gap.

Predicting Big Five personality traits from smartphone data: A meta-analysis on the potential of digital phenotyping

OBJECTIVE

Since the first study linking recorded smartphone variables to self-reported personality in 2011, many additional studies have been published investigating this association. In the present meta-analyses, we aimed to understand how strongly personality can be predicted via smartphone data.

METHOD

Meta-analytical calculations were used to assess the association between smartphone data and Big Five traits. Because of the lack of independence of many included studies, analyses were performed using a multilevel approach.

RESULTS

Based on data collected from 21 distinct studies, extraversion showed the largest association with the digital footprints derived from smartphone data (r = .35), while remaining traits showed smaller associations (ranging from 0.23 to 0.25). For all traits except neuroticism, moderator analyses showed that prediction performance was improved when multiple features were combined together in a single predictive model. Additionally, the strength of the prediction of extraversion was improved when call and text log data were used to perform the prediction, as opposed to other types of smartphone data CONCLUSIONS: Our synthesis reveals small-to-moderate associations between smartphone activity data and Big Five traits. The opportunities, but also dangers of the digital phenotyping of personality traits based on traces of users' activity on a smartphone data are discussed.

Negative psychological and physiological effects of social networking site use: The example of Facebook

Social networking sites (SNS), with Facebook as a prominent example, have become an integral part of our daily lives and more than four billion people worldwide use SNS. However, the (over-)use of SNS also poses both psychological and physiological risks. In the present article, we review the scientific literature on the risk of Facebook (over-)use. Addressing this topic is critical because evidence indicates the development of problematic Facebook use ("Facebook addiction") due to excessive and uncontrolled use behavior with various psychological and physiological effects. We conducted a review to examine the scope, range, and nature of prior empirical research on the negative psychological and physiological effects of Facebook use. Our literature search process revealed a total of 232 papers showing that Facebook use is associated with eight major psychological effects (perceived anxiety, perceived depression, perceived loneliness, perceived eating disorders, perceived self-esteem, perceived life satisfaction, perceived insomnia, and perceived stress) and three physiological effects (physiological stress, human brain alteration, and affective experience state). The review also describes how Facebook use is associated with these effects and provides additional details on the reviewed literature, including research design, sample, age, and measures. Please note that the term "Facebook use" represents an umbrella term in the present work, and in the respective sections it will be made clear what kind of Facebook use is associated with a myriad of investigated psychological variables. Overall, findings indicate that certain kinds of Facebook use may come along with significant risks, both psychologically and physiologically. Based on our review, we also identify potential avenues for future research.

Emotion dysregulation factors associated with problematic smartphone use severity: The mediating role of fear of missing out

Based on current theoretical frameworks, there has been increasing research examining psychopathology leading to problematic smartphone use (PSU). However, less is known about the affective and cognitive processes linked to PSU. The present study aimed at analyzing the fear of missing out (FoMO) as a mediator in the association between emotion dysregulation and PSU severity. Participants were 343 U.S. undergraduate students (64.7  % female, Mage = 19.3, SD = 2.51) who completed online measures of emotion dysregulation, FoMO and PSU. A fully latent structural equation model was analyzed. Results indicate greater impulse control dysregulation was associated with heightened PSU via increased FoMO. Our findings present evidence suggesting emotion dysregulation and FoMO as affective and cognitive mechanisms associated with PSU, with FoMO serving a mediating role between impulse control and PSU severity. Clinical implications are discussed.

Facebook use intensity and depressive symptoms: a moderated mediation model of problematic Facebook use, age, neuroticism, and extraversion

BACKGROUND

Research on the relationship between Facebook use intensity and depressive symptoms has resulted in mixed findings. In contrast, problematic Facebook use has been found to be a robust predictor of depressive symptoms. This suggests that when intense Facebook use results in a problematic usage pattern, it may indirectly predict depressive symptoms. However, this mediation pathway has never been examined. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the possible indirect relationship between Facebook use intensity and depressive symptoms through problematic Facebook use is moderated by demographic (age), and personality (neuroticism and extraversion) characteristics.

METHODS

To address these gaps, we conducted an online cross-sectional study (n = 210, 55% female, age range: 18-70 years old, M_age = 30.26, SD = 12.25). We measured Facebook use intensity (Facebook Intensity Scale), problematic Facebook use (Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale), depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised), and neuroticism and extraversion (Ten Item Personality Inventory).

RESULTS

A mediation analysis revealed that problematic Facebook use fully mediates the relationship between Facebook use intensity and depressive symptoms. Moreover, a moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that this indirect relationship is especially strong among young users and users scoring high on neuroticism.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings expand our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between Facebook use intensity and depressive symptoms and describe user characteristics that act as vulnerability factors in this relationship.

Use of social network as a coping strategy for depression among young people during the COVID-19 lockdown: findings from the COMET collaborative study

BACKGROUND

Use of social media (SM) has exponentially grown particularly among youths in the past two years, due to COVID-19-related changing lifestyles. Based on the Italian COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET), we investigated the association between SM use and depressive symptoms among Italian young adults (aged 18-24).

METHODS

The COMET is a nationwide multi-center cross-sectional study that investigated socio-demographic data, social networking addiction (BSNAS), depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), as well as impulsiveness (BIS-15) and aggressiveness (AQ) in a large sample of youngsters, in order to assess the association between BSNAS and DASS-21 indices. Mediation analyses were performed to evaluate the role of impulsiveness and aggressive personality traits in the association between SM use (SMU) and depression.

RESULTS

75.8% of the sample (n = 491) had a problematic SMU. SMU was reduced by high AQ and high DASS-21 scores (F = 42.338, p < 0.001, R² = 0.207). Mediation analyses showed that SMU negatively predicted depressive symptomatology with the interaction mediated by AQ total (ß = - 0.1075), physical (ß = - 0.207) and anger (ß = - 0.0582), BIS-15 total (ß = - 0.0272) and attentional (ß = - 0.0302). High depressive levels were predicted by high AQ scores, low SMU levels, low verbal and physical AQ, and low attentional BIS-15 (F = 30.322, p < 0.001, R² = 0.273). Depressive symptomatology negatively predicted SMU with their interaction mediated by AQ total (ß = - 0.1640), verbal (ß = 0.0436) and anger (ß = - 0.0807), BIS-15 total (ß = - 0.0448) and attentional (ß = - 0.0409).

CONCLUSIONS

SMU during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic could have a beneficial role in buffering negative consequences linked to social isolation due to quarantine measures, despite this association being mediated by specific personality traits.

Digitale Phänotypisierung in der Psychologie – ein Quantensprung in der psychologischen Forschung?

Zusammenfassung. Digitale Phänotypisierung stellt einen neuen, leistungsstarken Ansatz zur Realisierung psychodiagnostischer Aufgaben in vielen Bereichen der Psychologie und Medizin dar. Die Grundidee besteht aus der Nutzung digitaler Spuren aus dem Alltag, um deren Vorhersagekraft für verschiedenste Anwendungsmöglichkeiten zu überprüfen und zu nutzen. Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung sind elaborierte Smart Sensing Ansätze sowie Big Data-basierte Extraktions- (Data Mining) und Machine Learning-basierte Analyseverfahren. Erste empirische Studien verdeutlichen das hohe Potential, aber auch die forschungsmethodischen sowie ethischen und rechtlichen Herausforderungen, um über korrelative Zufallsbefunde hinaus belastbare Befunde zu gewinnen. Hierbei müssen rechtliche und ethische Richtlinien sicherstellen, dass die Erkenntnisse in einer für Einzelne und die Gesellschaft als Ganzes wünschenswerten Weise genutzt werden. Für die Psychologie als Lehr- und Forschungsdomäne bieten sich durch Digitale Phänotypisierung vielfältige Möglichkeiten, die zum einen eine gelebte Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Fachbereiche und zum anderen auch curriculare Erweiterungen erfordern. Die vorliegende narrative Übersicht bietet eine theoretische, nicht-technische Einführung in das Forschungsfeld der Digitalen Phänotypisierung, mit ersten empirischen Befunden sowie einer Diskussion der Möglichkeiten und Grenzen sowie notwendigen Handlungsfeldern.

Life Satisfaction and Instagram Addiction among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Bidirectional Mediating Role of Loneliness

Background: Social isolation during the lockdown, and the greater use of online platforms to connect with other people, can alter the dynamic relationship between loneliness, social media use, and subjective well-being. The study examines the mediating role of loneliness in the bidirectional association between Instagram addiction and life satisfaction. Methods: A sample of 954 university students from Poland were enrolled in a cross-sectional online study during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants aged between 19 and 42 (M = 22.56, SD = 2.36), and most of them were women (86.48%). Standardized questionnaires were used to measure Instagram addiction (BIAS), loneliness (DJGLS), and life satisfaction (SWLS). Results: The prevalence of Instagram addiction, loneliness, and dissatisfaction with life was 17.19%, 75%, and 40.15%, respectively. The mediating effect of loneliness on the relationship between Instagram addiction and life satisfaction was found bidirectionally in women but not among men. Conclusions: Loneliness seems to play a crucial role in the mechanism of social media addiction, so increasing loneliness should be a priority among emerging adults. The target group for intervention and prevention programs at campuses should include lonely and dissatisfied with life university students of the female gender.

Influence of Social Media on Corporate Communication Social Responsibility Under Entrepreneurial Psychology

The research intends to improve the optimization of social media’s nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and standardize the influence mechanism of social media. First, the research analyzes the concepts of social media, CSR, and corporate reputation from the perspective of entrepreneurial psychology and expounds on the influencing factors of CSR scores from a macro perspective. Second, the mechanism of social media’s role in CSR is briefly discussed. On this basis, it is found that the most intuitive manifestation of social media platforms affecting the communication of CSR is the impact on the score of CSR. Three hypotheses are proposed, namely, (1) social media platforms, such as “WeChat,” have a greater impact on the communication of CSR; (2) social media is positively correlated with the increase in CSR scores; and (3) user reading and liking are positively correlated with the increase in CSR scores. Finally, 78 listed companies related to the mobile communication industry are selected as samples for the questionnaire survey and statistical analysis, and the hypothesis is demonstrated. The results demonstrate that the hypothesis that the social media platform “WeChat” has an impact on the communication of CSR is valid, and the hypothesis that the open state of “social media” is positively correlated with the increase in CSR scores is not valid. It is assumed that the number of user readings and likes is positively correlated with the increase in CSR score, which is valid under a limited sample. It is concluded that the WeChat platform has the best effect on the communication of CSR and can provide the impetus for the improvement of corporate reputation. The opening of “social media” is not directly related to the improvement of CSR scores. The correct operation of “social media” will have an impact on the communication of CSR. The correlation between the number of users reading and liking on “social media” and the increase in CSR score is not significant, as only the number of “likes” on social media related to shareholders is significantly associated with an increase in CSR score. The linear regression coefficient between the number of likes and the increase in CSR score is less than 0.05. There is a positive correlation between user reads, likes, and increases in CSR scores. This research helps enterprises to effectively fulfill their social responsibilities and improve the efficiency of CSR. This makes up for the lack of social media’s influence mechanism on the nature of CSR. It innovatively explores the impact of social media on CSR from the perspective of entrepreneurial psychology and provides some ideas for entrepreneurs and enterprises to create CSR and CSR value.

Mining Digital Traces of Facebook Activity for the Prediction of Individual Differences in Tendencies Toward Social Networks Use Disorder: A Machine Learning Approach

More than three billion users are currently on one of Meta's online platforms with Facebook being still their most prominent social media service. It is well known that Facebook has designed a highly immersive social media service with the aim to prolong online time of its users, as this results in more digital footprints to be studied and monetized (via psychological targeting). In this context, it is debated if social media platforms can elicit addictive behaviors. In the present work, we demonstrate in N = 1,094 users that it is possible to predict from digital footprints of the Facebook users their self-reported addictive tendencies toward social media (R > 0.30) by applying machine-learning strategies. More specifically, we analyzed the predictive power of a set of models based on different sets of features extracted from digital traces, namely posting activity, language use, and page Likes. To maximize the predictive power of the models, we used an ensemble of linear and non-linear prediction algorithms. This work showed also sufficient accuracy rates (AUC above 0.70) in distinguishing between disordered and non-disordered social media users. In sum, individual differences in tendencies toward "social networks use disorder" can be inferred from digital traces left on the social media platform Facebook. Please note that the present work is limited by its cross-sectional design.

Is the proposed distinction of gaming disorder into a predominantly online vs. offline form meaningful? Empirical evidence from a large German speaking gamer sample

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Disordered gaming is distinguished by predominantly online, offline, and unspecific gaming.

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Online gamers showed the highest tendencies towards disordered gaming.

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Gaming via desktop computers was linked with the highest disordered gaming levels.

In the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), Gaming Disorder (GD) is distinguished between disordered gaming occurring predominantly online, offline, and unspecified. Currently, no study has investigated whether such a distinction is meaningful in diagnosing disordered gaming. Therefore, a large group of gamers with varied tendencies towards disordered gaming was recruited to examine this issue. A large sample (N = 2,768) was recruited and data were collected on disordered gaming, along with information on their preferred gaming mode and device used to play. The present study shows that the distinction between online and offline gaming mode proposed by the WHO is meaningful because online gamers presented with the highest disordered gaming scores followed by mixed gamers (those stating to equally prefer online and offline gaming), and offline gamers. Finally, it was also observed that the type of device for gaming used associated with disordered gaming levels. Specifically, those reporting mostly to use their desktop computer for gaming showed the highest disordered gaming scores. The present study lends empirical support for the consideration of both gaming mode and gaming device in the study of disordered gaming.

Characterizing the Content Related to Oral Health Education on TikTok

Neglecting oral hygiene in adolescents negatively affects dental caries and periodontal diseases, in addition to social and emotional well-being. Thus, the TikTok platform (ByteDance, Beijing, China)as a social media could be a powerful channel to provide health-related information and educational content. This study aims to assess the quality of the TikTok videos corresponding to #oralhealtheducation. Sixty-nine videos were identified. Three oral health professionals (OHP), three health education professionals (HEP), and ten of TikTok's target audience watched and evaluated the videos from a qualitative questionnaire. OHP detected false or incorrect information in 11.6% (8/69) of the videos. At least two HEPs reported being unable to detect this type of content or whether the video met dental ethics standards in both the videos. Disagreement was observed among the professionals themselves. The evaluation indicated that TikTok's target audience was satisfied with the products viewed with an average score of >2.5, unlike the professionals, whose average score was <2.5 on a scale of 0 to 5. Users are advised to think critically and to consider the content of TikTok oral health videos with caution. The involvement of health professionals in the writing and validation of the videos could be an added value to positively respond to the needs of the adolescents.

The Potential of Digital Phenotyping and Mobile Sensing for Psycho-Diagnostics of Internet Use Disorders

Purpose of Review

The present paper provides an accessible overview on the potential of digital phenotyping and mobile sensing not only shedding light on the nature of Internet Use Disorders (IUD), but also to provide new ideas on how to improve psycho-diagnostics of mental processes linked to IUD.

Recent Findings

In detail, the psycho-diagnostic areas of prevention, treatment, and aftercare in the realm of IUDs are focused upon in this work. Before each of these areas is presented in more specificity, the terms digital phenotyping and mobile sensing are introduced against the background of an interdisciplinary research endeavor called Psychoinformatics. Obstacles to overcome problems in this emerging research endeavor—sensing psychological traits/states from digital footprints—are discussed together with risks and chances, which arise from the administration of online-tracking technologies in the field of IUDs.

Summary

Given the limited validity and reliability of traditional assessment via questionnaires or diagnostic interviews with respect to recall bias and tendencies to answer towards social desirability, digital phenotyping and mobile sensing offer a novel approach overcoming recall bias and other limitations of usual assessment approaches. This will not only set new standards in precisely mapping behavior, but it will also offer scientists and practitioners opportunities to detect risky Internet use patterns in a timely manner and to establish tailored feedback as a means of intervention.

On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings

TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on "LipSync-Videos" on the app. Despite its success in terms of user numbers, psychological studies aiming at an understanding of TikTok use are scarce. This narrative review provides a comprehensive overview on the small empirical literature available thus far. In particular, insights from uses and gratification theory in the realm of TikTok are highlighted, and we also discuss aspects of the TikTok platform design. Given the many unexplored research questions related to TikTok use, it is high time to strengthen research efforts to better understand TikTok use and whether certain aspects of its use result in detrimental behavioral effects. In light of user characteristics of the TikTok platform, this research is highly relevant because TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore from a group of potentially vulnerable individuals.