The existing studies on the effects of social media on adolescent well-being have shown mixed results, with
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Beyens et. al. conducted a week-long ESM study among 63 middle adolescents ages 14 and 15 on their affective well-being and social media use (p.2). The participants of this study were recruited in a secondary school in the south of the Netherlands. The study explores the unique associations between active versus passive social media use overall, as well as the active and passive use on specific platforms - Instagram and WhatsApp. The authors use both categorical (active use vs. no active use; passive use vs. no passive use) and dose-response (duration of use) predictors to understand how social media use affects adolescent well-being (p.2). The model with the categorical predictors shows that on average, the overall use of social media did not have an impact on adolescents' well-being. However, the association of passive social media use with well-being varies greatly from adolescent to adolescent with effect sizes ranging from 0.24 to 0.68. On the other hand, the analysis using continuous predictors indicated a notable dose-response relationship for active social media use. When adolescents use social media, the duration of their active usage is linked with higher levels of well-being (p.5).
The study also found that based on the categorical predictor, passive Instagram and WhatsApp use was significantly associated with an increase in adolescent well-being, while the active use of these platforms did not have any effect. Furthermore, there was a significant dose-response association for passive WhatsApp use, where spending more time reading messages was positively associated with adolescent well-being (p.5). The findings of this study shed light on individual susceptibility to social media use. They also provide explanations on why previous media effects research has yielded only minimal results. However, participants of this study were recruited in a secondary school in the south of the Netherlands along with the fact that the sample size comprises only 63 adolescents may limit the generalizability of the results. Studying the individual differences in their susceptibility to media effects can have significant real world implications. The findings can serve as references for government agencies and educational institutes to establish guidances on adolescent social media use.
After reading the article in its entirety, please respond to the following questions:
It is easy to make the assumption that the effect of social media use on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent and the findings of this study perfectly align with this assumption. In your opinion, do you think studies like this are necessary? Why or why not.
The authors mentioned that "a one-week ESM study is only a snapshot of adolescent development". How would you design the study differently to make the results more generalizable?
The authors of this study suggested some topics/directions for future research, do you see any real world implications in these topics?
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