Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use: When People Experience Negative Life Impact and a Lack of Control

While many people use social network sites to connect with friends and family, some feel that their use is problematic, seriously affecting their sleep, work, or life. Pairing a survey of 20,000 Facebook users measuring perceptions of problematic use with behavioral and demographic data, we examined Facebook activities associated with problematic use as well as the kinds of people most likely to experience it. People who feel their use is problematic are more likely to be younger, male, and going through a major life event such as a breakup. They spend more time on the platform, particularly at night, and spend proportionally more time looking at profiles and less time browsing their News Feeds. They also message their friends more frequently. While they are more likely to respond to notifications, they are also more likely to deactivate their accounts, perhaps in an effort to better manage their time. Further, they are more likely to have seen content about social media or phone addiction. Notably, people reporting problematic use rate the site as more valuable to them, highlighting the complex relationship between technology use and well-being. A better understanding of problematic Facebook use can inform the design of context-appropriate and supportive tools to help people become more in control.Comment: CHI 201

Digital inequalities and social media: Experiences of young people in Chile

Purpose – This paper aims to report the findings from a survey of secondary school students in Chile by exploring their use of social networking services for information-seeking purposes. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was distributed via Chile’s Ministry of Education and 12,354 responses were received. Findings – The results indicate that young people in Chile extensively use SNSs, but there are differences in the ways in which they use these services, specifically for information purposes. When considering schoolrelated activities, there are differences in the use of SNSs by students in different types of schools. Those in academic-focussed institutions are more likely to use SNSs for school-related information purposes and are more likely to publish most types of information on SNSs than their counterparts in vocational schools. Research limitations/implications – The sample was self-selecting and excluded students without online access to the survey. Practical implications – The findings indicate more needs to be done in schools serving lower socioeconomic communities to support students’ use of SNSs for information-seeking, especially for academic purposes. Social implications – The findings suggest that school-associated social capital may have a role in shaping students’ use of SNSs for information and learning purposes and, potentially, in exacerbating digital inequalities. Originality/value – The focus on the use of social media specifically for information-seeking distinguishes this research. The findings challenge possible assumptions about the links between social media use and social class and suggest that differences may be exacerbated by school practices

Affecting brand loyalty intention: The effects of UGC and shopping searches via Facebook

Despite the fact that social networking sites (SNSs) provide new opportunities for firms and brands, there is still a little understanding of how user-generated contents (UGC) and shopping-related research via Facebook (FB) affects brand loyalty intention in the luxury fashion context. The present work develops a conceptual model to empirically analyze how brand loyalty intention is affected by customers’ trust in a brand’s FB page, by their willingness to utilize brand’s FB page for shopping-related searches, and by three different types of UGC: peer recommendations, informational support and emotional support. In order to fulfill this aim, the study examines 277 Millennials and the Victoria’s Secret FB page. Structural equation model results reveal that online shopping-related searches, peer recommendations and social support have significant positive effects on customers’ trust. Moreover, the research points out a significant positive effect between customers’ trust and their brand loyalty intention, supporting marketers to better understand the role played by trusted UGC. The research provides interesting insights, for both academic and practitioners, because it contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field of brand and social media marketing. Moreover, UGC, especially informational support, could enable firms to influence consumers’ behavior positively and to transform their brands’ FB pages into trusted ones