The Social Media Use Scale: Development and Validation

Abstract

Social media (SM) use has been primarily operationalized as frequency of use or as passive versus active use. We hypothesize that these constructs have shown mixed associations with psychological constructs because the factor structure underlying social media use (SMU) has not been fully identified. We conducted three studies with college students. In Study 1 ( N = 176), we collected data about participants’ SMU, informing item generation. In Study 2 ( N = 311), we tested two factor structures: (a) passive, active social, and active non-social and (b) a hypothesized four-factor structure. Neither confirmatory model produced acceptable fits, but an exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor model: belief-based, consumption-based, image-based, and comparison-based SMU. This four-factor structure was supported in Study 3 ( N = 397), which was preregistered, via a confirmatory factor analysis. The subscale items showed good internal consistencies, and evidence is presented for convergent validity. These factors represent a novel classification of people’s SMU that can be measured with the Social Media Use Scale.

Types of social media use are differentially associated with trait and momentary affect.

“…(e.g., enjoyment on SM; Tuck & Thompson, 2024). These associations between consumption-based SMU and positive outcomes were consistent with existing research.…”

“…For instance, it could be that people are more likely to engage in comparison-based SMU when experiencing greater NA. Still, taken together with findings that comparison-based SMU is associated with negative outcomes (e.g., low self-esteem; Tuck & Thompson, 2024), and that people most often regulate emotions to feel less NA and maintain or increase PA (i.e., prohedonic regulation; English et al, 2017;Riediger et al, 2009), comparison-based SMU seems to be an emotionally maladaptive form of SMU behavior both long-term and in the moment.…”

“…Belief-based SMU focuses on using SM to feel and express one's negative beliefs and opinions (Tuck & Thompson, 2024). Weekly engagement in belief-based SMU was associated with more trait PA and NA, suggesting that belief-based SMU is associated with greater emotionality in general.…”

“…This four-factor model presents a more nuanced categorization of SMU than the active-passive distinction. It includes image-based, comparison-based, belief-based, and consumption-based SMU and is the only model validated for use across different SM platforms (Tuck & Thompson, 2024).…”

“…As in R. Lin & Utz (2015) and Nereim et al (2022), researchers have primarily focused on passive versus active SMU, but a four-factor model of SMU was supported in research examining college students’ engagement in many SMU activities (Tuck & Thompson, 2024). This four-factor model presents a more nuanced categorization of SMU than the active–passive distinction.…”