Social Media Elements, Ecologies, and Effects

“Engaging in social comparison with these biased, predominantly positive portrayals can encourage negative upward comparisons (Bayer et al., 2020), which may be associated with lower self-esteem (Vogel et al.”

“We, researchers, bemoan the fact that the exact same term — social media — is used to describe elements like the private message, the pro fi le, the network, and the stream (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Drawing on prior conceptualizations (e.g., Bayer, Triệu, and Ellison 2020; Kümpel, 2022; Leaver, Highfield, and Abidin 2020; Soffer 2021), we aim to tackle this research gap and center our theoretical framework around five characteristics: visuality, personalization, incidentalness,…”

“We de fi ne social media broadly as 1254 Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 41(5) internet-based communication channels that allow users to interact with broad or narrow audiences (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“It refers to a communication platform that enables users to engage with a broad or specific audience in real-time or delayed interactions, through which information can be created, commented and shared (1).”

“We are proud to have followed Bayer et al. (2020) by pursuing theoretically driven research approaches with the aim “to produce enduring knowledge about social technologies” (p. 472).”

“It also improves the participants’ health by avoiding compulsive use of the Internet in daily online activities, such as posting on social networks, instant messaging, sending and receiving emails or watching online videos [15, 21, 38].”

“Bayer’s study, like that of Vaid S. and Harari G., demonstrates the need to differentiate the specific types of social media use being studied to better understand the social media ecology of individual users and the platform features that may drive their use 19 .”

“First, social media lack restrictions of time and space in offline contexts; users are free to interact with others regardless of the time of day or physical location (Bayer et al., 2020; McFarland & Ployhart, 2015).”

“Self-disclosure on an SNS is desirable behavior (Bayer et al., 2020; Masur, 2018).”

“The Meaning in Life questionnaire has 10 items designed to measure two dimensions of meaning in life: (1) Presence of Meaning (how much respondents feel their lives have meaning), and (2) Search for Meaning (how much respondents strive to find meaning and understanding in their lives)(49).”

“In this study, we focus specifically on social media platforms, which, despite their internal variation, share the four stable elements of profile, network, stream, and message (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Because social media platforms are designed to facilitate social feedback by receiving likes and comments on their posts (Trekels, 2018), they can render reigning peer norms highly visible by providing metrics of social approval (Bayer et al., 2020; Trekels, 2018).”

“That is, many people do not actively visit websites of news providers but are exposed to news in their social media streams (i.e., “aggregated flows of content” Bayer et al., 2020, p. 481).”

“Perceptions of stronger network association may intensify one’s sense of context collapse on Facebook where audiences of different ideologies are brought together (Bayer et al., 2020; Fox & McEwan, 2017).”

“…sug - gesting that adolescents typically engage with a small set of widely popular platforms alongside additional platforms specific to their personal interests (van der Wal et al., 2024), making a tailored, multi-platform approach ecologically most valid (Bayer et al., 2020; Frey & Friemel, 2023).”

“However, in addition to enabling direct messaging capabilities, many social media platforms encompass public-facing elements like live news feeds, streams, and/or stories (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“…of social media are the core appeal for most users and are characterized by the editability, accessibility, and asynchronicity of social media (Bayer et al., 2020), blending mass and interpersonal features through personalized content (Cho et al., 2022) and fostering communicative…”

“In line with scholars’ suggestions (Bayer et al., 2020; Burke et al., 2010; Chen et al., 2014; Gerson et al., 2017), we differentiate the activities on social media into social and content use.”

“…media use is shaped by pronounced generational changes in attitudes to technology and work. these include Generation Z needs for social connectedness, immediacy, and self-expression mediated through digital communication (Bayer, triệu, and ellison 2020; Gabrielova and Buchko 2021; schroth 2019).”

“3) highlight that social comparison can facilitate positive affective outcomes, such as hope for oneself and excitement for others; in this way, our findings validate recent online comparison work addressing inspiration and envy as outcomes contributing to individual well-being [12,64,65].”

“In this special issue, we define social media use as “computer-mediated communication channels that allow users to engage in social interaction with broad and narrow audiences in real-time or asynchronously” (Bayer et al., 2020, p. 316).”

“Social media may fill a need for social belongingness, provide a distraction from various stressors, or enable people to express and receive support via common features, such as being “friended” or “followed” by others, liking a post, or leaving an encouraging comment [11,12].”

“Social media encompasses computer-mediated channels enabling social interaction (active and passive), self-presentation, and content sharing with diverse audiences (Carr & Hayes, 2015), in real-time or asynchronously (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“These elements represent relatively stable components that tend to shape users’ schemas for SMU in general [4].”

“Algo clave de las redes sociales es que ofrece la posibilidad de permanencia, en una Bayer et al. (2020) encontraron que se relaciona a la mensajería en línea como un estado de “permanentemente en línea, permanentemente conectado” (p. 29).”

“Social media refers to computer-mediated communication channels that allow users to engage in social interaction with broad and narrow audiences in real time or asynchronously (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Within most SNSs, one can engage in private messaging with others (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Social media refers to online communication networks where users can create and share content, as well as engage in social interactions with large or small audiences in real-time or delayed modes (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Similarly, even if we are exposed to different social media content over time, there are many elements that remain similar across exposure (see e.g., Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Where social media can help prospective Bayer (Bayer et al., 2020) in this way, prospective students do not have to visit the University's website directly or come to campus directly.”

“Researchers have used affordances to understand links between social media and self-presentation [7, 21, 53], disclosure [51, 72], psychological effects [9], self-branding [25], social capital [27], and organizational processes [42].”

“From this technological breakthrough, so-called “social communities” emerged, allowing users to engage in social interaction with large and small audiences synchronously or asynchronously [3].”

“Additionally, given the low uptake of social media–based HOPE accounts, websites targeting HIV prevention or other health issues for youth could implement other components, such as newsfeeds, thus allowing for passive engagement [86,87].”

“The relative salience of these features, of course, continually shifts as more features are added (e.g., the messaging element, as pointed out by Bayer, Triêu, and Ellison 2020) due to the ever-changing nature of platforms technically as well as user demands.”

“…on how ‘ Reactions ’ operate in any technical sense, we measured and analyzed ‘ Reaction ’ use in a fl exible way by characterizing the object and allowing for comparisons across objects, while ‘ focusing on high-level attributes that transcend speci fi c technologies ’ (Bayer et al., 2020, p. 475).”

“Social media platforms can elicit social comparison at a larger scale due to the ability to manage one’s online persona and self-presentation as well as the ability to view others’ persona and self-presentation [8, 105].”

“The categorization was also conceptualized based on literature describing how those social media platforms are used and what motivations for their use played a role in 2020 (Bayer et al., 2020; Rhee et al., 2021) when the data were collected.”

“The expansion of the conceptualization of social connection as interpersonal behaviour in the past two decades probably reflects the rise of technologies that enable people to communicate more flexibly across time and space, including in an increasingly diverse social media ecosystem 146 .”

“Social media provides adolescents with a convenient platform for communicating with their friends and presenting themselves [15].”

“participation in activity is not a reward; there are winners and losers everywhere [22].”

“While all social media platforms share certain characteristics (Bayer et al., 2020), there are also important differences in terms of their affordances, features, and user populations that might influence the (degree of) incivility in users’ comments.”

“Studying several social media platforms in a single work might help to overcome biases in findings from studies focusing on single prominent large networks such as Facebook [23].”

“On social media, users opt to follow specific accounts, ensuring that the content will appear on their feed and thus exposure to a modeled behavior (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Thus, SNS users experience higher levels of identifiability and connections to a relevant audience (Bayer et al., 2020) and therefore probably also perceive the feedback received in that community as important.”

“As the influence of social media in our daily lives continues to expand significantly [6,7], adolescents are committing an escalating amount of their time to diverse online networking platforms, participating in networking, e-games, and messaging [8,9].”

“Issues such as cyberbullying, online harassment, misinformation, and digital addiction present new obstacles to fostering positive character traits among students (Bayer, Triệu, & Ellison, 2020; Leontopoulos, Skenderidis, & Liapopoulos, 2024).”

“These are platforms that are Internet-based, that support asynchronous communication, are user-generated and perceived as social in nature, as well as allow users to broadcast to large audiences (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“Meanwhile, high visibility requires users to carefully manage their self-presentation to align with their target audience ’ s expectations (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“In addition, the influence of online platform design on human behaviour must be given much more attention, as SM platforms adapt known psychosocial phenomena to increase platform use and platform-specific temporal behavioural norms, co-shaped by algorithmic and human behaviour, evolve, which impact the observable beha…”

“20 Such elements may explain why social media use is linked to in-dependence.”

“Studies have highlighted the embeddedness of social media in broader communication ecologies [73], noting how users navigate platforms as tools for both mass and interpersonal communication [3].”

“SMU is particularly challenging in this regard [76]; mixing opportunities to advance personally meaningful goals (e.g., maintaining interpersonal relationships [7]) with less valued, but more immediately gratifying, enticements [76].”

“With respect to the digital media landscape, material features and affordances are constantly in fl ux (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“On social media, users communicate with friends, family, and/or strangers; present themselves; and search for information or entertainment (Bayer et al., 2020; Trepte, 2021).”

“Posting selfies serves as a convenient way for individuals to manage their appearance impression and engage in strategic self-presentations [28].”

“17 This definition of social media includes heterogeneous platforms and tools.”

“Social networking sites (SNSs) can serve multiple purposes for individuals with mental health difficulties [1].”

“All of this aligns well with a previous contribution discussing the complexity of social media (Bayer et al. 2020).”

“Although analyses of textual interaction are often integral to studies of social media [50, 51], on one hand, and to broad treatments of digital communication in select contexts [52–54], on the other, we focus here on research specifically targeted at SMS and email.”

“The elements and effects of social media, especially online communities, have complicated the established social psychological effects (Bayer et al., 2020).”

“For example, some SM behaviours are more active than others, such as messaging a friend versus ‘liking’ a post, where the latter is too active to be passive use but not as interactive as messaging [10].”