scholarly journals The Social Media Experiences of Long-term Patients: Illness, Identity, and Participation

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brita Ytre-Arne

Abstract The present article investigates the meanings of social media use for long-term patients, focusing on a group of Norwegian bloggers diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This severe illness can confine patients to their homes for long periods of time, drastically reducing possibilities to participate on most social arenas and leaving Internet use as a rare opportunity for connection with the outside world. A qualitative analysis of interviews with ME bloggers investigates the meanings of social media use in this particular situation. Drawing on perspectives from research on patients’ Internet use, this phenomenon is analysed as management of identity narratives in the face of illness. However, the article further argues that the concept of participation provides a relevant supplementary perspective that highlights the societal and political relevance of these practices.

2018 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Archer ◽  
Kai-Ti Kao

Many mothers can find themselves increasingly isolated and overwhelmed after giving birth to a new baby. This period can be a source of extreme stress, anxiety and depression, which can not only have an economic impact on national health services, but can also have long-term effects on the development of the child. At the same time, social media use among most new mothers has become ubiquitous. This research investigates the role of social media, potentially as a mechanism for social support, among Australian mothers of young children aged from birth to 4 years. The findings indicate that participants had mixed responses to their social media use. While social support was deemed a benefit, there were also some negative aspects to social media use identified. The findings highlight the need to critically interrogate social media’s ability to act as a source of social support for new mothers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke

Do social media affect users’ mental health and well-being? By now, considerable research has addressed this highly contested question. Prior studies have investigated the effects of social media use on hedonic well-being (e.g., affect and life satisfaction), psychopathology (e.g., depressive or anxiety symptoms), or psychosocial risk/resilience factors (e.g., loneliness, stress, self-esteem). Yet, public concern over social media effects often centers on more long-term negative outcomes, which may be better captured by indicators of eudaimonic well-being. Indeed, neglecting the eudaimonic side of well-being may have introduced outcome omission bias, since eudaimonia is both conceptually and empirically distinct from other dimensions of mental health and may be uniquely affected by social media use. Specifically, psychology currently theorizes eudaimonic well-being to be best represented by the experiences of (a) meaningfulness, (b) authenticity, and (c) self-actualization. A research synthesis of how social media use relates to these core indicators of eudaimonia is currently missing, however. We thus present a first narrative review that synthesizes both theoretical and empirical links between three key social media uses (i.e., active, passive, and “screen time”) and eudaimonic well-being. The synthesis shows that while there are indeed several plausible theoretical links, the evidence is too scarce and inconsistent to allow definitive conclusions at this time. We instead give recommendations for how the field can close important gaps by investigating whether social media afford or constrain opportunities to find meaning, live authentically, and grow as a person.


Author(s):  
Johannes Knoll ◽  
Jörg Matthes ◽  
Raffael Heiss

Although studies suggest that the use of social media can promote political participation (PP), there is a lack of theorizing about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. This article attempts to fill this gap by suggesting a social media political participation model. Taking a goal systemic perspective, the model specifies a set of interrelated processes that need to be realized so that social media use affects PP. Furthermore, key contingent conditions are outlined and insights into fostering PP are offered. The article explains ways of testing the model with surveys and experiments. Implications for future research are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110621
Author(s):  
Monique West ◽  
Simon Rice ◽  
Dianne Vella-Brodrick

The pervasiveness of social media in adolescents’ lives has important implications for their relationships. Considering today’s adolescents have grown up with social media, research capturing their unique perspectives of how social media impacts their relationships is needed to increase understanding and help guide behaviors that nurture social-connectedness. Utilizing multiple qualitative methods, this study explores adolescents’ perspectives of how their social media use impacts their relationships. The sample comprised 36, Year 9 students aged 15 years from four metropolitan schools in Melbourne, Australia. All participants completed a rich picture mapping activity and focus group discussions. To gain deeper understandings, a sub-sample of 11 adolescents participated in subsequent one-on-one interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis generated two overarching themes (1) developing and strengthening relationships and (2) diminishing relationships. Sub-themes included; making new friends, maintaining relationships, deepening connections, enhancing belonging, rifts and strains, and anti-social behavior. Findings revealed nuanced insights into “how” and “why” adolescents believe social media impacts relationships. Adolescents explained that social media transforms interactions through amplifying and intensifying relational experiences resulting in both beneficial and detrimental outcomes for their relationships. Cultivating the positive aspects of adolescents’ social media use whilst mitigating the negative is important toward supporting relatedness and fostering wellbeing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warner Myntti ◽  
Jensen Spicer ◽  
Carol Janney ◽  
Stacey Armstrong ◽  
Sarah Domoff

Adolescents are spending more time interacting with peers online than in person, evidencing the need to examine this shift’s implications for adolescent loneliness and mental health. The current review examines research documenting an association between social media use and mental health, and highlights several specific areas that should be further explored as mechanisms within this relationship. Overall, it appears that frequency of social media use, the kind of social media use, the social environment, the platform used, and the potential for adverse events are especially important in understanding the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Ashley Wright Joe

Assessment is increasingly important for libraries to address, as it speaks to justification for funding and support from the larger university. Many university budget models now require departments and colleges to be self-funding, whereas the library does not have traditional revenue sources. Statistics, including retention impact, encourage faculty and staff to promote library use to their students and encourage departments and colleges to support funding the library. This chapter explores best practices for assessing social media use in the context of instruction and marketing. It outlines the reasons for implementing an assessment plan as well as the steps necessary to successfully assess social media use, starting with outlining the specific goals for social media use, all the way through review and modification of the social media plan.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Koulouris ◽  
Eftichia Vraimaki ◽  
Maria Koloniari

Purpose The study aims to explore Greek libraries’ social media presence and library operation and social media use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected via an online questionnaire that was distributed to the Greek libraries. The final sample comprised 189 libraries of all types with the exception of school libraries. Findings Results indicated that Facebook is the most widely used platform, while social media are mainly used for sharing announcements about library operations and for the promotion of events. During the COVID-19 lockdown, libraries responded quickly to the new circumstances by taking many of their services online. However, they did not fully use social media for service provision but rather used social media as a static communication channel. Only a few of the libraries grasped the opportunity to highlight their role in the promotion of public health by providing timely and reliable information. Practical implications Library leaders who are looking to harness the power of social media for service promotion and outreach should build a strategy that takes platform popularity, current social media trends, patron preferences and the specific promotional objectives of their library into consideration. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current research is the first which attempts to explore the social media presence of Greek libraries of all types and changes made to library operations and social media use in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riyad Eid ◽  
Ziad Abdelmoety ◽  
Gomaa Agag

Purpose The social media have enabled companies to reach out to global markets and provided them with the opportunity to customize their strategies and offerings in an unprecedented way. Given the scant empirical evaluation of social media use in the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) business-to-business (B-to-B) context, this paper aims to offer a comprehensive description of the antecedents and consequences of social media use in international B-to-B SMEs and the way in which this use affects their export performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 277 British B-to-B SMEs and uses positivist research with a quantitative approach, adopting a survey strategy through questionnaires and structural equation modeling. Findings The results reveal that the use of social media influences export performance through the quality of international business contacts – understanding customers’ views and preferences, brand awareness and knowledge of the competition in various international markets. This study contributes to the emerging literature on B-to-B SMEs digital marketing by determining the mechanism through which B-to-B SMEs may benefit from using the social media in their efforts to export. Originality/value Despite the promising potential of the social media, especially for export-oriented companies, very limited attention has hitherto been paid to the relationship between the use of social media and export performance. This study attempts to fill the gap by investigating the extent to which actual use of social media impacts on the performance of exporting firms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-288
Author(s):  
Rahul Gadekar ◽  
Peng Hwa Ang

Who benefits more from the use of social media—those who are already socialable and have a wide network of friends or those who do not and so seek to make up for their deficiency by going online? The social enhancement hypothesis says that extroverts benefit more through being able to enlarge their network of friends online more than introverts. The social compensation hypothesis, on the other hand, argues that social media use benefits introverts more; shy users who avoid face-to-face communication can communicate freely online. MANOVA analysis of the survey of 1,392 college students in a western state of India who are Facebook users found evidence predominantly for the social enhancement hypothesis.


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