ABOUT
A bit more about Socially Fed
People are familiar with the fast food industry, and that processed foods can by design be more enticing and unhealthy then foods we normally consume. Further to this being a business it makes economic sense for food to marketed in a way to maximise consumption.
My work has focused on finding parallels between the 'food industry' and the 'social media industry'. In a similar way Algorithms and careful design craft media in a way that is processed and more enticing.
The original Food Pyramid was designed to provide an easy way to manage nutrition without a diet.
My research has highlighted the nuances of Social Media consumption, the positive and negative aspects. Broadly speaking 'Active' consumption leads to positive outcomes 'Passive' consumption leads to negative outcomes. The tip of the pyramid what should be the smallest component of consumption I link to 'Passive'. The base of the pyramid the largest ideally I link to 'Active' consumption.
About the pyramid
Served Content(Passive)
Served content is the content that is curated for you by a platform and the 'Algorithm' it uses, for example the items in your newsfeed, the order and when they appear have been curated for you based on the data the platform has collected.
An example of this is if multiple friends of yours have shared the same content it will be highlighted in your own feed.
Connection Building(Active)
Connection building content is that which establishes and builds bonds between people and forges relationships, this is either create new ones or strengthening existing ones.
Integrated Activities(Active)
Integrated activities are an extension on a platform for some other activity, it could be a Facebook group for a soccer team, it could be a cooking group that shares tips on tiktok.
Sought Content(Active)
Sought content is the opposite of the served content, it would be the equivalent of going to the supermarket for just the eggs you need only and going directly to it without browsing anything else in the store.
Positive Characteristics of SM use
Active Usage
This study profiling the effect of different types of usage of Facebook over time found that over time users who were struggling who 'actively' used the platform over time get better. This users struggling who 'passively' used the platform got worse over time
Facebook 'friends'
found “Greater social support is predictive of lower depressions and higher quality of life (QOL)” it seeks to provide empirical evidence of the support and validate such support.
It yielded a four factor solution (Emotional support, Perceived support, Instrumental support and Negative support)
It found in most of the instances Facebook Measure of Social Support FMSS was comparable to traditional measures of social support, with some caveats surrounding those in greater distress or requiring more support.
Development and validation of a social media use integration scale.
This study
examines Social media use and its prominence within most people's lives, traditional measurements rely on a simple quantity measurement. This study develops a more nuanced approach accepting the role of social media in life but providing additional context around the integration of social media use with other activities in an individual's life. The Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) provides such context acknowledging the usefulness and integration with other activities.
Other useful aspects of this study highlight emotional intensity to a platform itself.
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Negative aspects of SM use
Passive Use
The same study as above details how passive usage of SM over time for those struggling got worse.
Moral Outrage Amplified
This study shows that 'Moral outrage shapes fundamental aspects of social life and is now widespread in online social networks. ' and analysing over 12 million tweets showed outrage was shared and learned over time.
Lack of sleep and routine
Published in 2019 this study utilises SMIUS validating Positive Mental Health PMH aspects such as
“The findings of the present study suggest that people are likely to feel more social well-being as a result of routinely using and/or integrating social media use into their social routines. However, to the extent they are emotionally connected to such use, they are less likely to experience social well-being”
Highlighting it is the emotional connection that effects users more then things like screen time.
And from the conclusion "While routine use was found to be associated with positive health outcomes, emotional connection was associated with negative outcomes, a finding that was observed consistently across the three health-related outcomes of interest: social well-being, PMH, and SRH"