Experience Sampling Self-Reports of Social Media Use Have Comparable Predictive Validity to Digital Trace Measures

Abstract

Existing research agrees that subjective, self-reported measures of time spent with social media (TSM) show poor convergent validity, because they correlate only modestly with equivalent objective digital trace measures. This experience sampling study among 159 adolescents (12,617 self-reports) extends this work by examining the predictive validity of self-reported TSM, that is, the extent to which self-reported and digital trace measures of TSM correspond in their effects on self-esteem, well-being, and friendship closeness. Using an advanced N=1 method of analysis, we investigated the predictive validity on a between-person, within-person, and person-specific level. Although our results confirmed the poor convergent validity of self-reported TSM reported in earlier work, we found high predictive validity of self-reported TSM for all three outcomes and all three levels. Because a high predictive validity of self-reported TSM is crucial for investigating the effects of social media, our results have important implications for future research using self-reported TSM.

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