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Chapter 3 - Social Media: An Everyday Reality

from Section 1 - Understanding Social Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2023

By
David A. Ellis
Edited by
Allan House  and
Cathy Brennan
Allan House
Affiliation:
Emeritus, University of Leeds
Cathy Brennan
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
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Summary

In the space of a single generation, social media have transformed how billions of people make friends, build communities, and share knowledge. However, approaches that suggest harm occurs based solely on time spent using social media disguise this everyday reality. In response, this chapter points toward the importance of understanding who uses social media in daily life, why, and how. While we have more data than ever to help us explore the impacts of new technologies, including social media, everyday experiences require description alongside careful theorizing about the mechanisms that might cause benefits or harms. This collectively shifts research priorities towards applied applications that can mitigate problems, injustices, and inequalities that social media and other digital cultures can foster.

Keywords

social mediaeveryday lifewell-beingonline harmdigital divide
Type
Chapter
Information
Social Media and Mental Health , pp. 23 - 32
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Bandura, A., Growing primacy of human agency in adaptation and change in the electronic era. European Psychologist, 2002. 7(1): p. 2–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayer, J. B., Anderson, I. A., and Tokunaga, R, Building and breaking social media habits. Current Opinion in Psychology, 2022. 45: p. 101303.Google Scholar

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