The Psychology of Likes: Relevance of Feedback on Instagram and Relationship to Self-esteem and Social Status

Social media such as Instagram have become extremely popular and part of many people’s daily routine. At the same time, critics see mental health risks, warning that post can turn into a competition and users become addicted to other users' feedback (e.g., likes, new followers) to boost their self-esteem. In line with such concerns, Instagram recently started an invisible likes test phase in several countries. The present study relates such claims and interventions to the academic literature and empirical research. We refer to existing concepts and models such as impression management, media addiction and the uses and gratification approach, considering subjective feedback relevance as a proxy for individually perceived gratification. As a complement to previous research, which typically examined social media feedback in terms of frequency (e.g., number of likes received), our field study among 255 Instagram users surveyed subjective feedback relevance, i.e., individual differences in how important one considers other users' feedback in the form of likes or other engagement on Instagram. We explored the relationships between subjective feedback relevance and usage behavior and the correlations between these measures and self-esteem and subjective social status. Low self-esteem and low social status were associated with higher feedback relevance; low social status was further correlated with high engagement in many Instagram activities and choosing to have a public profile. Our study's limitations, future research tasks, and practical implications for well-being-oriented media design are discussed.

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集基于一项针对255名Instagram用户的实地研究，聚焦于主观反馈相关性（即用户对点赞等反馈重要性的个体差异）与自尊、社会地位的关系。研究发现，低自尊和低社会地位的用户更重视反馈，且低社会地位与高Instagram活动参与度和公开个人资料选择相关。数据集旨在补充以往研究，从频率分析转向主观感知，为以幸福感为导向的媒体设计提供实证依据。