Social network activity and social well-being

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown a relationship between use of social networking sites and feelings of social capital. However, most studies have relied on self-reports by college students. The goals of the current study are to (1) validate the common self-report scale using empirical data from Facebook, (2) test whether previous findings generalize to older and international populations, and (3) delve into the specific activities linked to feelings of social capital and loneliness. In particular, we investigate the role of directed interaction between pairs---such as wall posts, comments, and "likes" --- and consumption of friends' content, including status updates, photos, and friends' conversations with other friends. We find that directed communication is associated with greater feelings of bonding social capital and lower loneliness, but has only a modest relationship with bridging social capital, which is primarily related to overall friend network size. Surprisingly, users who consume greater levels of content report reduced bridging and bonding social capital and increased loneliness. Implications for designs to support well-being are discussed.

References

1. Coleman, J.S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American journal of sociology 94, S1 (1988), 95.
2. Diener, E., Suh, E., & Oishi, S. (1997). Recent findings on subjective well-being. Indian J. of Clinical Psychology, 24 (1), 25--41.
3. Economist.com (2009, Feb 26). Primates on Facebook. The Economist. http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13176775
4. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. JCMC 12(4).
5. Gilbert, E. and Karahalios, K. Predicting tie strength with social media. Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in computing systems, (2009), 211--220.
6. Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (2002). Internet Paradox Revisited. J. of Social Issues, 58 (1), 49--74.
7. Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53 (9), 1017--1031.
8. Krosnick, J.A. (1999). Survey Research. Annual Review of Psychology 50, 1 (1999), 537--567.
9. Putnam, R.D. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
10. Rosenberg, M. (1989). Society and the Adolescent Self-Image (Rev. ed.). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
11. Russell D.W. (1996). UCLA loneliness scale: reliability, validity, and factor structure. J. of Personality Assessment 66(1), 20--40.
12. Schwarz N., Hippler H., Deutsch B., Strack F. (1985). Response scales: effects of category range on reported behavior and subsequent judgments. Public Opinion Quarterly 49: 388--95
13. Shaw, L. & Gant, L. (2002). In defense of the Internet: The relationship between Internet communication and depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and perceived social support. CyberPsychology & Behavior 5(2), 157--172.
14. Steinfield, C., DiMicco, J.M., Ellison, N.B., and Lampe, C. Bowling online: social networking and social capital within the organization. Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Communities and technologies, (2009), 245--254.
15. Steinfield, C., Ellison, N. & Lampe, C. (2008). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis. J. of Applied Developmental Psychology 29 (6).
16. Valenzuela, S., Park, N., and Kee, K. (2009) Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation. JCMC 14(4), 875--901.
17. Williams, D. (2006). On and off the 'net: Scales for social capital in an online era. JCMC, 11(2), article 11.
18. Zhao, S. Do Internet users have more social ties? A call for differentiated analyses of Internet use. JCMC 11, 3 (2006), 844--862.

Index Terms

• Human-centered computing

  • Collaborative and social computing

    • Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms

      • Computer supported cooperative work

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • Interaction paradigms

      • Web-based interaction

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing and business

      • Computer supported cooperative work