Wang, Tawei (David)Deng, Xuefei2022-12-272022-12-272023-01-03978-0-9981331-6-4https://hdl.handle.net/10125/103413This study investigates the effect of social media (SM) use purposes and user characteristics on individual psychological wellbeing (PWB) during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Informed by the uses and gratifications theory and PWB research, this study analyzed survey data collected from 282 SM users aged 18 through 59 from a minority-serving university in the United States in March-April 2020. Our quantitative data analysis showed that social media can be used to improve the quality of personal experiences during the COVID-19 crisis through three mechanisms—connectedness (i.e., social), engagement (i.e., collaborative), and entertainment (i.e., hedonic). However, the effect varied by gender, SM usage level, and individual concern about COVID-19 risk. The findings contribute to the literature and offer implications in technology use for enhancing public mental health during crises.10engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalTechnological, Educational, and Organizational Impacts of Global Crisescovid-19 pandemicgenderpsychological wellbeingsocial media usagesocial media use purposetext10.24251/HICSS.2023.779