University students’ reactions to social comparison via digital trans-literacies

This qualitative study investigated how a group of university students in Hong Kong experienced social comparison concerning academic achievement and performance when socializing in a digitalized multilingual and multicultural society, and how they responded to it through digital trans-literacies. Data were collected through screenshots of digital activities shared by the participants, semi-structured interviews, and information sheets of daily social media use. Employing the theories of social comparison and the concept of digital trans-literacies, data analysis reveals that students showed great agency when drawing on diverse functions of social media platforms, as well as leveraging different linguistic and multimodal resources to deal with the complex influences of social comparison on their well-being. They strategically used diverse translingual and multimodal practices to express and manage negative emotions, enhance learning, and construct a talented image. This study enriches our understanding that students’ digital trans-literacies are the mediated actions between social comparison and well-being. Besides, when students react to social comparisons, they can switch from recipients to producers of social comparison information.