A longitudinal study of directly observed social media posting: Association with socioemotional well-being during the transition to high school

Abstract

Previous research has found mixed evidence for the relationship between active social media use (e.g., posting, direct messaging) and well-being. The current study extends understanding around active social media use and well-being by isolating how posting to social media relates to well-being through direct observation of adolescents' posting behaviors. We examine the existence of a bidirectional association between posting and self-esteem and posting and loneliness using a longitudinal design. The sample consisted of 142 U.S. adolescents from low-socioeconomic backgrounds (52.11 % female; Time 1 M_age = 13.29; Time 2 M_age = 15.31). Number of social media posts were recorded during a one-month period at age 13 and 2-years later at age 15. Self-report surveys measured demographics, self-esteem, and loneliness. Multilevel modeling showed that higher self-esteem predicted more social media posting over time, but more social media posting did not predict higher self-esteem over time. Social media posting did not mitigate loneliness across the high school transition, nor did loneliness increase posting. Exploring these relationships between direct observation of social media posting and socioemotional well-being helps develop understanding of adolescents’ active social media use during the transition to high school.