Variation in social media sensitivity across people and contexts

Social media impacts people’s wellbeing in different ways, but relatively little is known about why this is the case. Here we introduce the construct of “social media sensitivity” to understand how social media and wellbeing associations differ across people and the contexts in which these platforms are used. In a month-long large-scale intensive longitudinal study (total n = 1632; total number of observations = 120,599), we examined for whom and under which circumstances social media was associated with positive and negative changes in social and affective wellbeing. Applying a combination of frequentist and Bayesian multilevel models, we found a small negative average association between social media use AND subsequent wellbeing, but the associations were heterogenous across people. People with psychologically vulnerable dispositions (e.g., those who were depressed, lonely, not satisfied with life) tended to experience heightened negative social media sensitivity in comparison to people who were not psychologically vulnerable. People also experienced heightened negative social media sensitivity when in certain types of places (e.g., in social places, in nature) and while around certain types of people (e.g., around family members, close ties), as compared to using social media in other contexts. Our results suggest that an understanding of the effects of social media on wellbeing should account for the psychological dispositions of social media users, and the physical and social contexts surrounding their use. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of social media sensitivity for scholars, policymakers, and those in the technology industry.

1b. Cross-Level Findings for Psychological Dispositions Loneliness.People who were higher in depression, dispositional loneliness, and have a dispositional negative affect reported feeling lonelier after using social media as compared to their counterparts.Stress.People who were higher in dispositional loneliness reported feeling more stressed after using social media platforms as compared to people who were lower in dispositional loneliness.Affect Balance.People who were higher in depression reported a negative affect balance after using social media platforms as compared to people who were lower in depression.
People who were higher in depression reported a negative affect balance after using social media for longer durations than their own average, as compared to people who were lower in depression.
1c. Between-Person Findings for Psychological Dispositions Loneliness.People who were higher in dispositional loneliness and loneliness and tended to use social media for long durations of time reported greater feelings of loneliness generally, as compared to people who were lower in dispositional loneliness and depression, and tended to use social media for long durations of time.Stress.People who were higher in dispositional loneliness and tended to use social media frequently reported greater feelings of stress generally, as compared to people who were lower in dispositional loneliness and tended to use social media frequently.People who were higher in depression and tended to use social media for longer durations of time reported greater feelings of stress generally, as compared to people who were lower in depression.Affect Balance.People who were higher in depression and tended to use social media frequently and for long durations of time reported a negative affect balance generally, as compared to people who were lower in depression and tended to use social media frequently for long durations of time.
Feelings of Being Accepted.People who were higher in conscientiousness and tended to use social media for long durations of time reported lower feelings of being accepted generally, as compared to people who were lower in conscientiousness and tended to use social media for long durations of time.
1d. Within-Person Findings for Physical and Social Context Loneliness.People reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media around close ties, as compared to using social media around other types of interaction partners.Stress.People reported greater feelings of after using social media for longer durations of time as compared to their own average when they were in transit, as compared to using social media for long durations in other types of places.Affect Balance.People reported a lower affect balance after using social media in social places, as compared to using social media in other types of locations.Similarly, people reported a lower affect balance after using social media when they were with others, specifically with close ties and family ties, as compared to using social media when they were alone or with distant ties.Feelings of Being Accepted.People reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media for longer durations than their own average in social places, as compared to other types of locations.People also reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media for longer durations than their average when they were in work places, as compared to after using social media for longer durations than their average in other types of places.
1e. Cross-level Findings for Physical and Social Context Loneliness.People who were around distant ties frequently reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media as compared to people who were around distant ties less frequently.People who tended to be in nature more often reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media more, and for longer durations of time as compared to their own average, relative to people who were in nature less often in general.People who were in transit more often reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media as compared to people who were in transit less generally.
Stress.People who were around distant ties frequently reported greater feelings of stress after using social media for longer durations of time as compared to their own average, relative to people who were around distant ties less frequently.Feelings of Being Accepted.People who were in nature frequently reported feeling less accepted after using social media as compared to people who were in nature less frequently.
Similarly, people who were around others more often reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media for longer durations as compared to people who were alone more often.

1f. Between-Person Findings for Physical and Social Context
Stress.People who were in work contexts frequently and reported using social media for long durations of time reported generally greater stress, as compared to people who were in work contexts frequently and reported using social media for short durations of time.Affect Balance.People who were in transit frequently and reported using social media for long durations of time reported a generally negative affect balance, as compared to people who were in transit frequently and reported using social media for short durations of time.
Feelings of Being Accepted.People who were in transit contexts frequently and used social media frequently reported feeling more accepted generally as compared to people who were in transit contexts frequently and reported using social media frequently.Similarly, people who were around family ties more often and reported using social media frequently time felt more accepted generally, as compared to people who were around family ties less often and reported using social media frequently.[0.981,1.092]   1.035  [0.977,1.094]   1.022  [0.966,1.078]   1.021  [0.966,1.078]   1.022  [0.966,1.078]   1.021  [0.965,1.076]   1.025  [0.968,1.083]   1.023  [0.969,1.078]Context (WP) Affect Balance.People who were higher in openness reported feeling a negative affect after using social media as compared to people who were lower in openness.
Lonely.People who had a dispositional negative affect balance reported feeling lonelier after using social media as compared to people who had a dispositional positive affect balance.
2c. Between-Person Findings for Psychological Dispositions Stress.People who used social media for long durations of time and were high in openness generally reported greater stress as compared to people who used social media for long durations of time were low in openness.
Feelings of Being Accepted.People who used social media frequently and were higher in dispositional loneliness generally reported lower feelings of being accepted as compared to people who used social media frequently and were lower in dispositional loneliness.People who used social media for long durations of time and had a dispositional negative affect reported generally reported lower feelings of being accepted as compared to people who used social media for long durations of time and had a dispositional positive affect.

2d. Within-Person Findings for Context
Affect Balance.People reported a negative affect balance after using social media in nature as compared to after using social media in other types of places.People reported a negative affect balance after using social media around others as compared to after using social media alone.Specifically, people reported a negative affect balance after using social media around close ties as compared to other types of people.
Lonely.People reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media around family ties as compared to after using social media around types of people.
Stress.People reported greater stress after using social media around close ties as compared to after using social media around other types of interaction partners.Similarly, people reported greater stress after using social media for greater durations than their own average when they were around family ties, as compared to when they were with other types of people.People reported greater stress after using social media than in nature, as compared to using social media in other types of places.
Accepted.People reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media around others, as compared to after using social media when they were alone.People reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media in nature as compared to after using social media in other types of places.People reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media in social places, as compared to after using social media in other types of places.
People reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media in study places as compared to after using social media in other types of places.
2e. Cross-Level Findings for Context Affect Balance.People who were in transit frequently reported a negative affect balance after using social media as compared to people who were not in transit frequently.People who were around close ties often reported a negative affect balance after using social media for longer durations of time as compared to their own average, relative to people who were around close ties less often.
Accepted.People who were around close ties frequently reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media as compared to people who were around close ties less frequently.
2f. Between-Person Findings for Context Affect Balance.People who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media for long durations generally reported a negative affect balance as compared to people who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media for short durations of time.Similarly, people who were in transit frequently and reported using social media for long durations generally reported a negative affect balance as compared to people who were in transit less frequently and reported using social media for short durations.
Lonely.People who were around distant ties frequently and reported using social media for long durations of time generally reported higher feelings of loneliness as compared to people who were around distant ties less frequently.People who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media for greater durations of time reported feeling lonelier generally, as compared to people who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media for shorter durations of time.People who reported being outside the home frequently and used social media for long durations of time reported feeling lonelier on average, as compared to people who reported being outside the home frequently and used social media for shorter durations of time.
Stress.People who were around distant ties frequently and reported using social media for long durations of time generally reported higher feelings of stress, as compared to people who were around distant ties frequently and reported using social media for short of durations of time.People who were in social places frequently and reported using social media for long durations of time generally reported higher feelings of stress, as compared to people who were in social places frequently and reported using social media for short durations of time.
Accepted.People who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media more frequently reported generally greater feelings of being accepted as compared to people who were in the gym frequently and reported using social media less frequently.3.367 [3.31,3.424] 3.455 [3.408,0.13] 3.455 [3.408,3.501] 3.454 [3.407,3.502] 3.373 [3.317,3.431]3. 373 [3.317,3.431] 3.374 [3.317,3.43] 3.375 [3.319,3.432White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

3a. Between-Person Findings for Psychological Dispositions
Loneliness.Frequent social media users who were higher in dispositional loneliness tended to report greater feelings of loneliness on average as compared to frequent social media users who were lower in dispositional loneliness.Stress.Frequent social media users who were higher in dispositional loneliness tended to report greater feelings of stress generally, as compared to frequent social media users who were lower in dispositional loneliness.Similarly, people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and were higher in dispositional loneliness tended to report greater feelings of stress as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and were lower in dispositional loneliness.Feelings of Being Accepted.Frequent social media users who were higher in depression, dispositional loneliness and lower in agreeableness tended to generally report lowers feelings of being accepted, as compared to frequent social media users who were lower in depression, dispositional loneliness and lower in agreeableness.Similarly, people who used social media for long durations of time and were higher in depression tended to report lowers feelings of being accepted as compared to people who used social media for longer durations of time and were lower in depression.

3b. Cross-Level Findings for Physical and Social Context
Loneliness.People who tended to be in transit contexts frequently reported feeling greater loneliness after using social media for longer durations than their own average, as compared to people who tended to be in transit context infrequently.Similarly, people who tended to be around distant ties frequently reported greater feelings of loneliness after using social media for longer durations of time than their own average as compared to people who tended to be around distant ties less frequently.Stress.People who tended to be in nature contexts frequently reported feeling greater stress after using social media for long durations of time than their own average as compared to people who tended to be in nature contexts less frequently.Affect Balance.People who tended to be in work contexts frequently reported a negative affect after using social media for longer durations than their own average, as compared to people who tended to be in work contexts less frequently.Feelings of Being Accepted.People who tended to be in social places, workplaces and in transit frequently reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media for longer durations than their own average as compared to people who tended to be in these locations less frequently.Similarly, people who tended to be in transit locations frequently reported a lower feeling of being accepted after using social media as compared to people who tended to be in transit less frequently.People who tended to be alone frequently reported greater feelings of being accepted after using social media platforms, as compared to people who tended to be alone less frequently.Conversely, people who tended to be with distant ties more frequently reported lower feelings of being accepted after using social media platforms, as compared to people who tended to be with distant ties less frequently.

3c. Between-Person Findings for Physical and Social Context
Loneliness.People who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be at home infrequently reported lower feelings of loneliness generally, as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time but tended to be at home frequently.Similarly, people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be at social places more frequently, reported higher feelings of loneliness generally, as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time but tended to be at social places infrequently.Stress.People who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be in social places frequently reported higher feelings of stress generally, as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and but tended to be at social places infrequently.Similarly, people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be around distant ties frequently reported higher feelings of stress as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time but tended to be around distant ties less frequently.Affect Balance.People who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be at social places frequently reported a negative affect generally, as compared to people who tended to use social media for long durations of time and tended to be at social places infrequently.Feelings of Being Accepted.People who tended to use social media frequently and tended to be at the gym infrequently reported a positive affect as compared to people who tended to use social media frequently and tended to be at the gym frequently.
Figure S1: Social Media Sensitivity Across Social and Affective Wellbeing (Exploratory Sample)

Table S1 :
Dispositional Wellbeing Moderators (Momentary Loneliness) (Exploratory Sample) White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05,T p<0.1

Dispositional Trait (BP) x Social Media Use (WP) 0
Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05

Media Use (vs Non-Use) (BP) x Context (BP)
Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

Media Use (vs Non-Use) (BP) × Context (BP)
Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95%Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

Table S16 :
Social Context Moderators (Momentary Feelings of Being Accepted) (Exploratory Sample) Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

Table S24 :
Big Five Trait Moderators (Momentary Feelings of Being Accepted) (Confirmatory Sample)

Table S27 -
White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.Physical Context Moderators (Momentary Stress) (Confirmatory Sample) White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

Table S29 -
Physical Context Moderators (Momentary Affect Balance) (Confirmatory Sample)Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.

Table S31 -
Physical Context Moderators (Momentary Feelings of Being Accepted) (Confirmatory Sample)

Table S32 -
Social Context Moderators (Momentary Feelings of Being Accepted) (Confirmatory Sample)

Table S33 :
Dispositional Moderators (Momentary Loneliness) (Mega-analysis) White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05,T p<0.1 White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05,T p<0.1

Table S35 :
Dispositional Moderators (Momentary Affect Balance) (Mega-analysis) White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05,T p<0.1

Table S36 :
Dispositional Moderators (Momentary Feelings of Being Accepted) (Mega-analysis) Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.***p<0.001,**p<0.01,*p<0.05,T p<0.1

Table S37 :
Context Moderators (Momentary Loneliness) (Mega-analysis)Note: White rows correspond to the effects of social media use (vs non-use) and grey rows correspond to the effects of social media use duration.95% Bayesian credible intervals are presented below each co-efficient in square brackets.