Beyond Friends: Exploring the Effects of Unknown Users' Social Media Posts on Individuals’ Perceptions and Behaviors
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Date
2025-01-07
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2283
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Individuals express themselves on social media, but discrepancies between online content and reality are concerning. Previous research has primarily focused on interactions within people’s social circles, highlighting that exposure to idealized posts can lead to negative effects through social comparison or positive emotions via emotional contagion. This study examines a less-explored scenario: browsing posts from unknown users. 499 participants were randomly assigned to view one of the simulated feed–idealized, harsh, or neutral life posts. The analysis revealed minimal influence from idealized posts, whereas harsh posts significantly worsened participants' mood, life satisfaction, and social self-evaluation. Feed variations had no effect on subsequent posting behavior. These findings suggest that in the short term, emotional contagion is more likely to occur over social comparison after exposure to life moments from people outside one's social circles. This study contributes to understanding the effects of social media feeds and provides insights for improving the social media environment.
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Communication, Digital Conversation, and Media Technologies, emotional contagion, insta vs. real, life satisfaction, social comparison, social media
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10
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Proceedings of the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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