The Psychology of Likes: Relevance of Feedback on Instagram and Relationship to Self-esteem and Social Status

Social media such as Instagram have become extremely popular and part of many people’s daily routine. At the same time, critics see mental health risks, warning that post can turn into a competition and users become addicted to other users' feedback (e.g., likes, new followers) to boost their self-esteem. In line with such concerns, Instagram recently started an invisible likes test phase in several countries. The present study relates such claims and interventions to the academic literature and empirical research. We refer to existing concepts and models such as impression management, media addiction and the uses and gratification approach, considering subjective feedback relevance as a proxy for individually perceived gratification. As a complement to previous research, which typically examined social media feedback in terms of frequency (e.g., number of likes received), our field study among 255 Instagram users surveyed subjective feedback relevance, i.e., individual differences in how important one considers other users' feedback in the form of likes or other engagement on Instagram. We explored the relationships between subjective feedback relevance and usage behavior and the correlations between these measures and self-esteem and subjective social status. Low self-esteem and low social status were associated with higher feedback relevance; low social status was further correlated with high engagement in many Instagram activities and choosing to have a public profile. Our study's limitations, future research tasks, and practical implications for well-being-oriented media design are discussed.

以Instagram为代表的社交媒体已极具普及度，成为众多民众日常生活的组成部分。与此同时，批评人士指出这类平台存在心理健康风险，警示发帖行为可能演变为攀比竞赛，用户会沉溺于获取其他用户的反馈（如点赞、新增关注）以提升自尊水平。针对此类担忧，Instagram近期已在多个国家启动隐藏点赞功能的测试阶段。本研究将此类舆论观点与平台干预举措与学术文献及实证研究相结合进行探讨。本研究援引印象管理（impression management）、媒介成瘾以及使用与满足理论（uses and gratification approach）等既有概念与模型，并将主观反馈相关性作为个体感知满足感的替代指标。过往研究多从频次维度（如获赞数）对社交媒体反馈展开分析，本研究作为其补充，针对255名Instagram用户开展实地调研，对主观反馈相关性进行测量——即个体在多大程度上认为Instagram上的点赞或其他互动形式的他人反馈具有重要性的个体差异。本研究探究了主观反馈相关性与使用行为之间的关联，以及这些指标与自尊水平、主观社会地位之间的相关性。低自尊与低社会地位均与更高的反馈相关性呈正相关；低社会地位还与参与更多Instagram互动活动、选择公开个人主页存在关联。本研究最后讨论了其局限性、未来研究方向，以及面向福祉导向的媒介设计所具备的实践启示。

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集基于一项针对255名Instagram用户的实地研究，聚焦于主观反馈相关性（即用户对点赞等反馈重要性的个体差异）与自尊、社会地位的关系。研究发现，低自尊和低社会地位的用户更重视反馈，且低社会地位与高Instagram活动参与度和公开个人资料选择相关。数据集旨在补充以往研究，从频率分析转向主观感知，为以幸福感为导向的媒体设计提供实证依据。