Social platform use and psychological well-being

Journal article

Social platforms facilitate the daily interactions of billions of people globally. Prior research generally concludes that social platforms negatively affect people’s welfare. This research reopens this debate by using a robust methodology to examine the time series effects of social platform use on users’ subjective well-being, psychological well-being, physical health, and financial security. We report a six-month longitudinal study of 1,029 adults. Participants’ daily time using social platforms on their mobile device was unobtrusively tracked and their well-being was measured every two weeks. The findings suggest a small, positive effect of time spent using social platforms on both subjective well-being and psychological well-being (but no significant effects on physical health or financial security). Further, it is time spent using social platforms that facilitate interactions with intimate/close ties, that is correlated with positive subjective and psychological well-being.

Authors: Crolic, C; Pal Zubcsek, P; Stephen, AT; Brooks, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Journal of Consumer Psychology
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 463-474
• Publication date: 2024-08-16
• Acceptance date: 2024-07-04
• DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1437
• EISSN: 1532-7663
• ISSN: 1057-7408
• Language: English
• Keywords: social media; consumer welfare; social ties; social platforms; psychological well-being; subjective well-being