Enacted Social Support on Social Media and Subjective Well-being

Heewon Kim

Abstract


This study examines supportive interactions on Facebook to understand the role of social media use in obtaining social support and promoting psychological well-being. By assessing the amount of social support received through Facebook and by other means, this study ascertains a direct relationship between Facebook use and social support reception. Facebook use was the strongest predictor of social support reception, even stronger than the number of strong ties, although its link to life satisfaction was not significant. Findings also demonstrated that gender difference in social support reception was not found in the context of social media and that fixed Internet use had a negative association with life satisfaction, whereas mobile Internet use had no such relationship.


Keywords


social media, social support, strong tie, life satisfaction, Facebook

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