Association of Social Media Use With Social Well-Being, Positive Mental Health, and Self-Rated Health: Disentangling Routine Use From Emotional Connection to Use

Abstract

Most studies addressing social media use as a normal social behavior with positive or negative effects on health-related outcomes have conceptualized and measured social media use and its effects in terms of dose–effect relations. These studies focus on measuring frequency and duration of use, and have seldom considered users’ emotional connections to social media use and the effects associated with such connections. By using a scale with two dimensions capturing users’ integration of social media use into their social routines and their emotional connection to the sites’ use, the present study has brought preliminary evidence that may help map where social media use, as a normal social behavior, may be considered beneficial or harmful. Data from a nationally representative sample ( n = 1,027) of American adults showed that while routine use is associated with positive health outcomes, emotional connection to social media use is associated with negative health outcomes. These associations have been consistent across three health-related outcomes: social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health. The data also showed that the strength of the positive and negative associations of routine use and emotional connection with the health outcomes varies across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic population subgroups. Our findings suggest that the link between social media use and health may not only be captured by and explained in terms of conventional dose–effect approaches but may also require a more sophisticated conceptualization and measurement of the social media use behavior.

The impact of social distancing and self-isolation in the last corona COVID-19 outbreak on the body weight in Sulaimani governorate- Kurdistan/Iraq, a prospective case series study

“…Another cofactor in increasing boredom and stressful, emotional eating is the uncensored media health-wise, which may be negatively associated with health-related outcomes [ 15 ]. Especially on bored isolated peoples in social distancing, bombarding the audience by unscientific data like “I think that in these times, it is not a time to diet and to make yourself crazy.…”

“…Especially on bored isolated peoples in social distancing, bombarding the audience by unscientific data like “I think that in these times, it is not a time to diet and to make yourself crazy. ” [ 11 ] TikTok videos, memes, stories, essays, and poems about living in isolation all become part of the culture [ 15 , 16 ]. In another study, social media use is conceptualized as normal social behavior [ 15 ].…”

“…” [ 11 ] TikTok videos, memes, stories, essays, and poems about living in isolation all become part of the culture [ 15 , 16 ]. In another study, social media use is conceptualized as normal social behavior [ 15 ]. Some go extreme and say that we do not need to shame ourselves for wanting treats and gaining weight.…”

Social Media Insights Into US Mental Health Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Longitudinal Twitter Analysis (JANUARY-APRIL 2020)

“…Some examples include comparing the happiness of users to their online social networks 11,12 , identifying detailed predictors of mood through social media feeds 7 , predicting cognitive distortions expressed among groups at-risk of mental health disorders 13 , tracking the emotions of social media users at high resolution 14,15 , and mapping negative affectivity among users with internalizing disorders 16 . Collectively, these studies demonstrate the feasibility and value of using sentiment analysis on social media data to study societal mood and well-being, as well as biomedical signals among social media users that can provide useful proxies for mental health 13,[17][18][19] . In fact, these approaches may be especially useful considering the speed with which the pandemic became an acute socio-economic phenomenon, the pervasiveness of COVID-19 related content available online, and the natural reaction of many to post on social media about pandemic-related events.…”

Advancing the Promise of Digital Technology and Social Media to Promote Population Health

“…Their study adds to a growing literature investigating e-cigarettes and vaping on social media, while also contributing to network-level theories by linking communities on Reddit to the diffusion of various depictions of e-cigarettes and vaping. Bekalu, McCloud, and Viswanath (2019) analyze the integration of social media into users' social routines and map their emotional connections to social media sites as a normative social behavior. Using data from a nationally representative sample of American adult users, their findings reveal that while routine use is associated with positive health outcomes, emotional connection to social media use is associated with negative health outcomes.…”