Men who used LinkedIn, men who send text messages to a larger number of people, and men who comment on other people’s posts more frequently on Facebook also tend to be more aware of major events in the lives of people close to them. These same technologies had no impact on woman’s awareness of events in the lives of people close to them.
Compared with a man with similar demographic characteristics that does not use the following technologies:
- Those who send text messages to four different people through their mobile phones on an average day (the average for a male cellphone user) tend to be aware of 16% more events amongst those who are close to them.
- A male user of LinkedIn visits the site fifteen times per month and is typically aware of 14% more events in the lives of their closest social ties.
- A male Facebook user, who comments on other Facebook users content 19 times per month, is, on average, aware of 8% more events in the lives of their closest friends and family.
For women, the more friends on their Facebook network and the more pictures they shared online per week, the more aware of major life events in the lives of close friends and family. Compared with demographically similar women who do not use these technologies:
- A woman who shares 4 photos online per week tends to be aware of 7% additional major events in the lives of those who are close to her.
- A female Facebook user with 320 Facebook friends (the average for women in our sample) is, on average, aware of 13% more events in the lives of her closest social ties.
Similarly, men experienced higher levels of awareness as a result of a larger number of different technologies.
Facebook use is associated with more awareness of major events in the lives of acquaintances.
Looking beyond people’s close relationships to include a looser set of their acquaintances, we find that Facebook use is a consistent predictor of awareness of stressful events in others’ lives for both men and women. Specifically, the more Facebook friends people have, and the more frequently they “Like” other people’s content, the more major events they are aware of within their network of contacts.
- Compared with a non-Facebook user, a male Facebook user with 320 Facebook friends is, on average, aware of 6% more major events in the lives of their extended acquaintances. A female Facebook user with the same number of friends is aware of 14% more events in the lives of their weak ties.
- A male or female Facebook user who “Likes” other people’s content about once per day, is typically aware of 10% more major events in the lives of their extended acquaintances.
For women, Instagram is related to lower awareness of major events in the lives of acquaintances, while Twitter and photo sharing are related to higher awareness.
Women are also likely to have higher awareness of their extended network as a result of the number of pictures they share online and through frequent use of Twitter. Compared with a demographically similar woman who does not use these technologies:
- A female Twitter user, who uses the site once per day, tends to be aware of 19% more events in the lives of their extended network.
- A woman who shares 4 digital pictures per week is typically aware of 6% more events in their network of lose social ties.
Use of Instagram was the only technology use that we found to predict lower levels of awareness, and only for women. This might be the case because Instagram is used differently that some other kinds of social media. Scholars have found that many people make cellphone calls and exchange text messages predominantly with their closest ties. They have argued that this is “tele-cocooning,”25and they believe that people’s use of mobile phones leads to contact with more intimate relations at the expense of weaker and more diverse social ties. Instagram use may be tied to a similar pattern. Those who use Instagram might reduce their focus on the lives of their social ties that are not considered especially close. Controlling for other factors, a female user of Instagram who uses the platform a few times per day is, on average, aware of 62% fewer major events in the lives of their extended network than someone who does not use Instagram at all.
For men, text messaging, email, and Pinterest are related to higher awareness of major events in the lives of acquaintances.
In addition to use of Facebook, men’s awareness of stressful events in their friends’ lives tends to be higher for those who email and send text messages to a larger number of people. Compared with someone who does not use these technologies:
- A male email user who is in contact with 9 different people by email per day is generally aware of 13% more events in the lives of their distant social circle.
- A male who sends text messages to four people per day is, on average, aware of 11% more major events in the lives of their weaker social ties.
- Thomee, S. (2012). ICT use and mental health in young adults. Gothenburg, Sweden, University of Gothenburg; Williams, R. (2013). Can more friends on facebook induce stress and anxiety? Psychology Today.http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201307/can-more-friends-facebook-induce-stress-and-anxiety; Dick, J. (2013). Why Do Social Networks Increase Stress? Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-dick/social-networks-and-stress_b_3534170.html; Kotenko, J. (2013). Ladies, your love-hate relationship with the internet is stressing you out. Digital Trends. http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/can-too-much-social-media-exposure-cause-stress-in-women/. ↩
- Lyons, R. F., et al. (1998). “Coping as a Communial Process.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 15(5): 579-605; Smith, R. L. and A. J. Rose (2011). “The ‘cost of caring’ in youths’ friendships: Considering associations among social perspective taking, co-rumination, and empathetic distress.” Developmental psychology 47(6): 1792. ↩
- Cohen, S., et al. (1983). “A global measure of perceived stress.” Journal of health and social behavior: 385-396. ↩
- The PSS10 was modified for use in our telephone survey; the response categories were changed from a five item scale that ranged from “never” to “very often,” to a four item scale that ranged from “never” to “frequently”. ↩
- ANOVA, p<.01 ↩
- In this survey, 80% of adults say they are internet users and 89% said they have cellphones. A detailed demographic breakdown of the demographics of users of various social media platforms in this survey can be found here. ↩
- Pennebaker, J. W., et al. (2001). Disclosing and sharing emotion: Psychological, social, and health consequences. Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care. M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe and H. Schut. Washington, DC, American Psychological Association: 517-543. ↩
- Cobb, S. (1976). “Social Support as a Mediator of Life Stress.” Psychosomatic medicine 38: 300-314. ↩
- Turner, R. J., et al. (1995). “The Epidemiology of Social Stress.” American Sociological Review 60(1): 104-125. ↩
- Holmes, T. H. and R. H. Rahe (1967). “The social readjustment rating scale.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 11(2): 213-218. ↩
- Hampton, K. N., et al. (2011). “Core Networks, Social Isolation, and New Media: Internet and Mobile Phone Use, Network Size, and Diversity.” Information, Communication & Society 14(1): 130-155. ↩
- Davis, M. H. (1983). “Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44(1): 113. ↩
- Adler, A., et al. (1964). Social interest: A challenge to mankind, Capricorn Books New York. ↩
- Kessler, R. C. and J. D. McLeod (1984). “Sex Difference in Vulnerability to Undesirable Life Events.” American Sociological Review 49: 620-631. ↩
- Turner, R. J., et al. (1995). “The epidemiology of social stress.” American Sociological Review 60: 104-125. The battery of questions covered events that were likely to be relatively common and those that are rare. ↩
- Kessler, R. C. and J. D. McLeod (1984). “Sex Difference in Vulnerability to Undesirable Life Events.” American Sociological Review 49: 620-631. ↩
- Habuchi, I. (2005). Accelerating Reflexivity. Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life. M. Ito, D. Okabe and M. Matsuda. Cambridge, MA, MIT press: 165-182. ↩
Copyright 2015 Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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