Assessing Instagram Use Across Cultures: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

The Instagram and Well-Being Questionnaire (IWBQ) is a 19-item self-report inventory that assesses Instagram and social media use. Item 14 of the measure contains 40 subitems specifically assessing reasons for use. Prior research in Australia regarding Item 14 specifically revealed a three-factor structure: (a) sense of belonging, (b) self-expression, and (c) documentation/curation. This study sought to assess the goodness of fit for this factor structure in a sample of undergraduate college students from the United States. Data were collected from 735 students at two public universities in Southeastern Virginia; 520 of whom were retained for the analyses. Confirmatory factor analysis using the mean and variance-adjusted weighted least squares method was conducted using Mplus 8.1 to assess goodness of model fit. The three-factor model failed to meet criteria for exact or approximate model fit: v 2 (87) = 1542.82, p < 0.001; root mean square error of approximation = 0.19, 95 percent confidence interval = 0.18-0.20; comparative fit index = 0.77; Tucker/Lewis index = 0.73. Follow-up exploratory analyses were conducted to assess the model fit after partitioning the sample based on racial identity (African American and Caucasian) to explore this potential sociocultural confound. In both cases, the model did not demonstrate goodness of fit. These results indicate that global crosscultural differences may impact the reasons why individuals use Instagram, meaning the same model may not maintain reliable fit across cultures.

A Social Media Analytics Framework to Increase Prospective Students’ Interests in STEM and TVET Education

“…Thirdly, it will potentially increase the revenues of the institutions. Fourthly, the data of the prospective students can be collected (Busalim et al, 2019;Curlin et al, 2019;Ghani et al, 2019;Irfan et al, 2017;Katal et al, 2013;Nalwoga Lutu, 2019;Schaffer & Debb, 2020;Shaikh et al, 2018;Stieglitz et al, 2018;Thomas et al, 2020;Yanai et al, 2019). The data can be used for classifications and the prediction of prospective students for an effective marketing strategy.…”

“…Three main social media are selected as the main platform to build awareness and share content with the audiences. The reason why Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are chosen is that: 1) all of these social media have many users; 2) the majority of the prospective students (teenagers and young adults) use these social media; and 3) these social media platforms provide insight functions that can be used for data analytics (Busalim et al, 2019;Curlin et al, 2019;Ghani et al, 2019;Irfan et al, 2017;Katal et al, 2013;Nalwoga Lutu, 2019;Schaffer & Debb, 2020;Shaikh et al, 2018;Stieglitz et al, 2018;Thomas et al, 2020;Yanai et al, 2019). Different types of content will be used including news, information, activities and updates in the format of texts, images, audios and videos to increase the awareness of prospective students of the benefits of STEM and TVET subjects.…”

“…Instagram is also one of the most popular social media platforms where more than 72% of the users are between 13 years old to 17 years old (Thomas, Chavez, Browne, & Minnis, 2020). A huge increase in the number of users (approximately 150 million) was identified in 2015 compared to in 2010 (Schaffer & Debb, 2020). Likewise, Instagram is more focused on photo and video content.…”

“…Likewise, Instagram is more focused on photo and video content. Instagram has served the purpose of marketing and branding, communications, building connections and entertainment (Schaffer & Debb, 2020). It was argued that self-branding using Instagram cost less in terms of money and time (Islam, 2019).…”

Social Comparisons on Instagram and Adolescent Identity Development: A Mixed-Methods Study

“…Whilst SNSs have provided notable structural changes to adolescents' peer relations, it has been argued that the activities young people participate in using these technologies are not dissimilar to those experienced by past generations in offline contexts (Ahn, 2011;boyd, 2007;Ito et al 2009): young people often use SNSs recreationally to pass time, give or receive social support, discuss personal problems, keep in touch with social norms, and engage in self-presentation and social comparison (Schaffer & Debb, 2020). Given that we know that such behaviours can inform adolescent identity in offline contexts, it appears that young people may also be playing out identity-related issues and challenges in SNS environments (Nesi et al, 2018).…”