Journal
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE
Volume 4, Issue 5, Pages 579-586Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/1948550612469233
Keywords
Facebook; loneliness; social integration; well-being; Internet methodologies
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Funding
- NICHD NIH HHS [R01 HD069498] Funding Source: Medline
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Online social networking is a pervasive but empirically understudied phenomenon. Strong public opinions on its consequences exist but are backed up by little empirical evidence and almost no causally conclusive, experimental research. The current study tested the psychological effects of posting status updates on Facebook using an experimental design. For 1 week, participants in the experimental condition were asked to post more than they usually do, whereas participants in the control condition received no instructions. Participants added a lab Research Profile'' as a Facebook friend allowing for the objective documentation of protocol compliance, participants' status updates, and friends' responses. Results revealed (1) that the experimentally induced increase in status updating activity reduced loneliness, (2) that the decrease in loneliness was due to participants feeling more connected to their friends on a daily basis, and (3) that the effect of posting on loneliness was independent of direct social feedback (i.e., responses) by friends.
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