Does Posting Facebook Status Updates Increase or Decrease Loneliness? An Online Social Networking Experiment

doi:10.1177/1948550612469233

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Does Posting Facebook Status Updates Increase or Decrease Loneliness? An Online Social Networking Experiment

Journal Article•DOI•

Does Posting Facebook Status Updates Increase or Decrease Loneliness? An Online Social Networking Experiment

Fenne große Deters¹, Matthias R. Mehl²•Institutions (2)

Humboldt University of Berlin¹, University of Arizona²

01 Sep 2013-Vol. 4, Iss: 5, pp 579-586

TL;DR: It is revealed that the experimentally induced increase in status updating activity reduced loneliness, and that the decrease in loneliness was due to participants feeling more connected to their friends on a daily basis.

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Abstract: Online social networking is a pervasive but empirically understudied phenomenon. Strong public opinions on its consequences exist but are backed up by little empirical evidence and almost no causally-conclusive, experimental research. The current study tested the psychological effects of posting status updates on Facebook using an experimental design. For one week, participants in the experimental condition were asked to post more than they usually do, whereas participants in the control condition received no instructions. Participants added a lab "Research Profile" as a Facebook friend allowing for the objective documentation of protocol compliance, participants' status updates, and friends' responses. Results revealed (1) that the experimentally-induced increase in status updating activity reduced loneliness, (2) that the decrease in loneliness was due to participants feeling more connected to their friends on a daily basis and (3) that the effect of posting on loneliness was independent of direct social feedback (i.e. responses) by friends.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time:

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Jean M. Twenge¹, Thomas E. Joiner², Megan L. Rogers², Gabrielle N. Martin¹•Institutions (2)

San Diego State University¹, Florida State University²

01 Jan 2018-Clinical psychological science

TL;DR: In two nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents in grades 8 through 12 (N = 506,820) and national statistics on suicide deaths for those ages 13 to 18, adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females as discussed by the authors.

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Abstract: In two nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents in grades 8 through 12 (N = 506,820) and national statistics on suicide deaths for those ages 13 to 18, adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. Adolescents who spent more time on new media (including social media and electronic devices such as smartphones) were more likely to report mental health issues, and adolescents who spent more time on nonscreen activities (in-person social interaction, sports/exercise, homework, print media, and attending religious services) were less likely. Since 2010, iGen adolescents have spent more time on new media screen activities and less time on nonscreen activities, which may account for the increases in depression and suicide. In contrast, cyclical economic factors such as unemployment and the Dow Jones Index were not linked to depressive symptoms or suicide rates when matched by year.

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819 citations

Cites background from "Does Posting Facebook Status Update..."

...Inperson social interaction (also known as faceto face communication) provides more emotional close ness than electronic communication (Sherman, Minas, & Greenfield, 2013) and, at least in some studies, is more protective against loneliness (Kross et al., 2013; cf. Deters & Mehl, 2013)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Passive Facebook usage undermines affective well-being: Experimental and longitudinal evidence

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Philippe Verduyn¹, David Lee², Jiyoung Park², Holly Shablack², Ariana Orvell², Joseph B. Bayer², Oscar Ybarra², John Jonides², Ethan Kross² - Show less +5 more•Institutions (2)

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven¹, University of Michigan²

23 Feb 2015-Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that passive Facebook usage undermines affective well-being, and this issue is examined using experimental and field methods.

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Abstract: Prior research indicates that Facebook usage predicts declines in subjective well-being over time. How does this come about? We examined this issue in 2 studies using experimental and field methods. In Study 1, cueing people in the laboratory to use Facebook passively (rather than actively) led to declines in affective well-being over time. Study 2 replicated these findings in the field using experience-sampling techniques. It also demonstrated how passive Facebook usage leads to declines in affective well-being: by increasing envy. Critically, the relationship between passive Facebook usage and changes in affective well-being remained significant when controlling for active Facebook use, non-Facebook online social network usage, and direct social interactions, highlighting the specificity of this result. These findings demonstrate that passive Facebook usage undermines affective well-being.

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587 citations

Cites background from "Does Posting Facebook Status Update..."

...…our study focused on how type of Facebook usage influences the two components of subjective well-being (affect and life satisfaction), we also measured loneliness and social connection because some research has linked active Facebook usage with changes in these constructs (Deters & Mehl, 2013)....
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...7 Prior research (Deters & Mehl, 2013) indicates that directing people to post more status updates (i.e., one type of active Facebook usage) leads to reduced feelings of loneliness....
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...…some evidence suggests that certain types of active Facebook usage enhance positive outcomes such as social connectedness (Burke & Kraut, 2014; Deters & Mehl, 2013; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007), we did not observe any relationship between active Facebook usage and well-being in the…...
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...Prior research indicates that Facebook activities can be dichotomized into active and passive forms of usage (Burke, Marlow, & Lento, 2010; Deters & Mehl, 2013; Krasnova, Wenninger, Widjaja, & Buxmann, 2013)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents

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Betul Keles¹, Niall McCrae¹, Annmarie Grealish¹•Institutions (1)

King's College London¹

31 Jan 2020-International journal of adolescence and youth

TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review synthesized evidence on the influence of online social media on mental health problems in younger people, and found that social media is inextricable to our daily lives.

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Abstract: While becoming inextricable to our daily lives, online social media are blamed for increasing mental health problems in younger people. This systematic review synthesized evidence on the influence ...

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564 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Do Social Network Sites Enhance or Undermine Subjective Well‐Being? A Critical Review

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Philippe Verduyn¹, Philippe Verduyn², Oscar Ybarra³, Maxime Résibois², John Jonides³, Ethan Kross³ - Show less +2 more•Institutions (3)

Maastricht University¹, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven², University of Michigan³

01 Jan 2017-Social Issues and Policy Review

TL;DR: In this paper, the consequences of interacting with social network sites for subjective well-being are discussed, i.e., how people feel moment-to-moment and how satisfied they are with their lives.

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Abstract: Social network sites are ubiquitous and now constitute a common tool people use to interact with one another in daily life. Here we review the consequences of interacting with social network sites for subjective well-being—that is, how people feel moment-to-moment and how satisfied they are with their lives. We begin by clarifying the constructs that we focus on in this review: social network sites and subjective well-being. Next, we review the literature that explains how these constructs are related. This research reveals: (a) negative relationships between passively using social network sites and subjective well-being, and (b) positive relationships between actively using social network sites and subjective well-being, with the former relationship being more robust than the latter. Specifically, passively using social network sites provokes social comparisons and envy, which have negative downstream consequences for subjective well-being. In contrast, when active usage of social network sites predicts subjective well-being, it seems to do so by creating social capital and stimulating feelings of social connectedness. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of this work.

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539 citations

Cites background from "Does Posting Facebook Status Update..."

...Currently, most researchers have to rely on self-report or time-consuming coding procedures (e.g., copying and manually coding Facebook wall data) to attain objective measures (Deters & Mehl, 2013; Park et al., 2016)....
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...Deters and Mehl (2013) tested the psychological effects of posting status updates on Facebook....
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...These activities can be broadly classified into two categories: active and passive usage (Burke, Marlow, & Lento, 2010; Deters & Mehl, 2013; Krasnova, Wenninger, Widjaja, & Buxmann, 2013; Verduyn et al., 2015)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation

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Larry D. Rosen¹, Kelly M. Whaling¹, L. M. Carrier¹, Nancy A. Cheever¹, Jeffrey N. Rokkum¹ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (1)

California State University, Dominguez Hills¹

01 Nov 2013-Computers in Human Behavior

TL;DR: The new Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale was suggested as a method of measuring media and technology involvement across a variety of types of research studies either as a single 60-item scale or any subset of the 15 subscales.

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444 citations

Additional excerpts

...…Williams, & Wise, 2012; Tosun, 2012; Trepte & Reinecke, 2013), and a raw count or assessment of Facebook activities and friends (Clayton et al., 2013; Deters & Mehl, 2013; Kittinger et al., 2012; Moore & McElroy, 2012; Ong , Ang, Ho, Lim, Goh, Lee, & Chua 2011; Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert,…...
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References

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Journal Article•DOI•

SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models.

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Kristopher J. Preacher¹, Andrew F. Hayes²•Institutions (2)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill¹, Ohio State University²

01 Nov 2004-Behavior Research Methods Instruments & Computers

TL;DR: It is argued the importance of directly testing the significance of indirect effects and provided SPSS and SAS macros that facilitate estimation of the indirect effect with a normal theory approach and a bootstrap approach to obtaining confidence intervals to enhance the frequency of formal mediation tests in the psychology literature.

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Abstract: Researchers often conduct mediation analysis in order to indirectly assess the effect of a proposed cause on some outcome through a proposed mediator. The utility of mediation analysis stems from its ability to go beyond the merely descriptive to a more functional understanding of the relationships among variables. A necessary component of mediation is a statistically and practically significant indirect effect. Although mediation hypotheses are frequently explored in psychological research, formal significance tests of indirect effects are rarely conducted. After a brief overview of mediation, we argue the importance of directly testing the significance of indirect effects and provide SPSS and SAS macros that facilitate estimation of the indirect effect with a normal theory approach and a bootstrap approach to obtaining confidence intervals, as well as the traditional approach advocated by Baron and Kenny (1986). We hope that this discussion and the macros will enhance the frequency of formal mediation tests in the psychology literature. Electronic copies of these macros may be downloaded from the Psychonomic Society's Web archive at www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

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15,041 citations

"Does Posting Facebook Status Update..." refers methods in this paper

...As recommended by Preacher and Hayes (2004), especially for small samples, we tested for mediation using bootstrapping analyses....
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...Causal priority of status updating and connectedness was established by (1) experimentally manipulating status updating and (2) measuring connectedness temporally before changes in loneliness (Preacher & Hayes, 2004)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

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danah boyd¹, Nicole B. Ellison²•Institutions (2)

University of California, Berkeley¹, Michigan State University²

01 Oct 2007-Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

TL;DR: This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright and which are likely to be copyrighted.

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Abstract: Social network sites SNSs are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research

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14,912 citations

"Does Posting Facebook Status Update..." refers background in this paper

...Status updating is pervasive in this population because Facebook was specifically created for this group (Boyd & Ellison, 2007)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites

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Nicole B. Ellison¹, Charles Steinfield¹, Cliff Lampe¹•Institutions (1)

Michigan State University¹

01 Jul 2007-Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

TL;DR: Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

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Abstract: This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one’s ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

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9,001 citations

"Does Posting Facebook Status Update..." refers background in this paper

...On the other hand, some studies support the notion that computer-mediated communication can help maintain and solidify existing friendships, especially if regular face-to-face communication is hampered by physical distance (e.g., Ellison et al., 2007; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007b)....
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...It is our hope that the present study will encourage researchers to directly observe behavior on online social networking sites (Ellison et al., 2007)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?

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Robert E. Kraut¹, Michael Patterson, Vicki Lundmark, Sara Kiesler, Tridas Mukophadhyay, William L. Scherlis - Show less +2 more•Institutions (1)

Carnegie Mellon University¹

01 Sep 1998-American Psychologist

TL;DR: Greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness.

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Abstract: The Internet could change the lives of average citizens as much as did the telephone in the early part of the 20th century and television in the 1950s and 1960s. Researchers and social critics are debating whether the Internet is improving or harming participation in community life and social relationships. This research examined the social and psychological impact of the Internet on 169 people in 73 households during their first 1 to 2 years on-line. We used longitudinal data to examine the effects of the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being. In this sample, the Internet was used extensively for communication. Nonetheless, greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness. These findings have implications for research, for public policy and for the design of technology.

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4,091 citations

"Does Posting Facebook Status Update..." refers background in this paper

...As a form of computer-mediated communication, status updates could be criticized for possibly undermining face-toface communication, which is considered richer, more natural, and thus more beneficial to our social well-being (e.g., Kraut et al., 1998; Moody, 2001; Nie & Erbring, 2000)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Screening for depression in well older adults: Evaluation of a short form of the CES-D

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Elena M. Andresen¹, Judith A. Malmgren², William B. Carter², Donald L. Patrick²•Institutions (2)

University of Rochester Medical Center¹, University of Rochester²

01 Mar 1994-American Journal of Preventive Medicine

TL;DR: A short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), derived and tested for reliability and validity among a sample of well older adults in a large Health Maintenance Organization, showed good predictive accuracy when compared to the full-length 20-item version.

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4,021 citations