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Burn or Balm?: Exploring University Students' Experiences With Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The impact on perceived burnout experiences among university students from the intensification of social media use during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet fully understood. In total, 516 university students (430 females) in a midsized city in Ontario, Canada completed one online survey that explored student characteristics (i.e., personality, life satisfaction, perceived stress, and basic psychological needs) as well as frequency and perceived purpose of social media use. Approximately 80% indicated an increase in their social media use with iMessage/Text messaging, Instagram, and Snapchat being the three most frequently accessed platforms. Social media use was associated with higher levels of perceived stress, extraversion, satisfaction and frustration of psychological relatedness needs, and frustration of competence need. Most students (87%) reported experiencing burnout. Greater burnout was associated with individuals who reported higher perceived stress, scored high in extroversion, and greater use of Instagram. Overall, intensified social media use during the pandemic yielded both positive and negative outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Lee J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10183348 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Burn or Balm?: Exploring University Students' Experiences With Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Lee Joanne J Wood Eileen E Vogel Natasha N Santhosh Edwin E Chauhan Preet K PK

Psychological reports 20230510

The impact on perceived burnout experiences among university students from the intensification of social media use during the earliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet fully understood. In total, 516 university students (430 females) in a midsized city in Ontario, Canada completed one online survey that explored student characteristics (i.e., personality, life satisfaction, perceived stress, and basic psychological needs) as well as frequency and perceived purpose of social media use. A ...[more]

PMID: 37165472

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Project description:BackgroundThe rapid surge in social media platforms has significant implications for users' mental health, particularly anxiety. In the case of social media, the impact on mental well-being has been highlighted by multiple stakeholders as a cause for concern. However, there has been limited research into how the association between social media and anxiety arises, specifically among university students-the generation that has seen the introduction and evolution of social media, and currently lives through the medium. Extant systematic literature reviews within this area of research have not yet focused on university students or anxiety, rather predominantly investigating adolescents or generalized mental health symptoms and disorders. Furthermore, there is little to no qualitative data exploring the association between social media and anxiety among university students.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review of the existing literature and a qualitative study that aims to develop foundational knowledge around the association of social media and anxiety among university students and enhance extant knowledge and theory.MethodsA total of 29 semistructured interviews were conducted, comprising 19 male students (65.5%) and 10 female students (34.5%) with a mean age of 21.5 years. All students were undergraduates from 6 universities across the United Kingdom, with most students studying in London (89.7%). Participants were enrolled through a homogenous purposive sampling technique via social media channels, word of mouth, and university faculties. Recruitment was suspended at the point of data saturation. Participants were eligible for the study if they were university students in the United Kingdom and users of social media.ResultsThematic analysis resulted in 8 second-order themes: 3 mediating factors that decrease anxiety levels and 5 factors that increase anxiety levels. Social media decreased anxiety through positive experiences, social connectivity, and escapism. Social media increased anxiety through stress, comparison, fear of missing out, negative experiences, and procrastination.ConclusionsThis qualitative study sheds critical light on how university students perceive how social media affects their anxiety levels. Students revealed that social media did impact their anxiety levels and considered it an important factor in their mental health. Thus, it is essential to educate stakeholders, including students, university counselors, and health care professionals, about the potential impact of social media on students' anxiety levels. Since anxiety is a multifactorial condition, pinpointing the main stressors in a person's life, such as social media use, may help manage these patients more effectively. The current research highlights that there are also many benefits to social media, and uncovering these may help in producing more holistic management plans for anxiety, reflective of the students' social media usage.

Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic-related isolation measures caused significant unexpected changes in learning experiences for all university students, including autistic students. So far, there has been a lack of information on autistic university students' lived learning experiences caused by the changes in the teaching delivery formats from face-to-face to online during this time. Our study addressed this gap by investigating eight autistic students' reported learning experiences during the rapid changes caused by the pandemic and discussing student-advocated learning supports.MethodsThe participants in this qualitative study were eight formally or self-diagnosed, English-speaking, autistic undergraduate and graduate university students from a mid-sized Canadian university. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews that focused on their learning experiences and preferences before and during the pandemic, including what supports they found helpful. To analyze and interpret the data, autistic and nonautistic researchers used reflexive thematic analysis and a consultative participatory approach.ResultsOur findings suggest that individual (i.e., organizational skills; mental health), interactional (i.e., prior experiences interacting with instructors and teaching assistants), and environmental (i.e., sensory environments, class sizes, virtual learning environments) factors, which were interrelated, determined the nature and quality of these autistic students' learning experiences and their academic preferences during the pandemic. We also found that each autistic student reported unique learning experiences and needed individualized supports for their learning.ConclusionsSeveral interrelated factors (individual, interactional, and environmental) affected the nature and quality of autistic university students' experiences during the pandemic. Each student had unique experiences and needed individualized supports.

Project description:BackgroundSocial media addiction (SMA) is known to be associated with excess use of social media. However, few studies have focused on the links of self-presentation on social media, fear of missing out (FoMO) and SMA. The present study investigated the relationships of self-presentation, FoMO and SMA among university students.MethodsOnline survey was conducted with 2,744 respondents, who completed online survey including social media use, FoMO and SMA. Self-presentation on social media and privacy information protection were assessed via researcher-designed questionnaires. Self-presentation on social media was composed of basic information shown on social media and expression willingness. Privacy information protection contained information viewed by others and privacy settings in social media platforms.ResultsThe most common information posted on social media were gender, hobby, age, personal photos, videos, and birthday. The most common social platforms with privacy setting were QQ zone (62.2%), WeChat (60.1%), and QQ (40.3%). FoMO (OR = 2.852, P = 0.000), information viewed by others (OR = 4.261, P = 0.000), managing a personal homepage (OR = 1.339, P = 0.002), accept a stranger's "friend request" (OR = 1.251, P = 0.028) and undergraduate students and above (OR = 1.439, P = 0.001) predicted expression willingness. FoMO (OR = 5.278, P = 0.000), information viewed by others (OR = 9.673, P = 0.000), privacy setting in QQ (OR = 0.817, P = 0.002) and in Tik Tok (OR = 0.536, P = 0.019) and female (OR = 0.588, P = 0.004) significantly influenced basic information shown on social media. Furthermore, FoMO (OR = 4.165, P = 0.000), expression willingness (OR = 1.645, P = 0.000), and information viewed by others (OR = 1.406, P = 0.000) positively affected the level of SMA. Risk of SMA increased as time spent on social media per day. However, basic information shown on social media did not significantly influence SMA.ConclusionIn general, students with higher level of FoMO and expression willingness are more likely to experience SMA. These results highlight individual behaviors on social media should be considered as essential elements for assessing problematic engaging to social media.

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Burn or Balm?: Exploring University Students' Experiences With Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Burn or Balm?: Exploring University Students' Experiences With Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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