Quantifiable Peer Feedback on Social Media: Differences by Gender and Associations with Depressive Symptoms

• In Event: Gender today: Advances in the gendered nature of children’s and adolescents’ peer relationships

Abstract

The quantifiability of peer feedback on social media (e.g., number of “likes”) is a major component of adolescents’ online peer interactions. Preliminary findings suggest that emotional investment in quantifiable social media feedback is associated with depressive symptoms (McLean et al., 2019). Evidence suggests social media affects adolescent girls more negatively than boys, in part because girls report greater investment in online experiences (Nesi & Prinstein, 2018). Racial/ethnic differences in social media use and its role in depressive symptoms, however, remain unclear. With social media constantly evolving, novel forms of quantifiable feedback (e.g., maintaining “snapstreaks,” comparing number of followers to number of profiles following), are not yet understood. To address this gap, we investigated rates of these novel experiences and associations with depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that adolescent girls would report greater investment in quantifiable feedback than boys and that emotional investment—rather than quantity of feedback itself—would be associated with depressive symptoms. Analyses also examined if these associations are stronger for girls and explored the moderating role of race/ethnicity in these associations.

U.S. high school students (n=819, Mage=15.59, 29.7% White, 7.6% Black, 49.2% Hispanic/Latinx, 11.2% multiracial or other race) completed online self-report measures. Participants reported their quantifiable peer feedback and investment in peer feedback (see Table 1 for individual items).

Girls reported more Instagram followers and were more likely to participate in “snapstreaks” than boys. Compared to girls, boys reported more Facebook friends and following more classmates than follow them (Table 1). Using linear regression, these experiences were unrelated to depressive symptoms with one exception: following more classmates than follow them was associated with higher depressive symptoms (Table 2).

In terms of investment, girls reported more stress related to maintaining “snapstreaks,” more investment in acquiring new friends/followers and “likes,” and more frequently deleting posts because they did not get enough “likes” (Table 1). Linear regression models showed that all of these experiences, with the exception of “snapstreak” stress, were associated with higher depressive symptoms (Table 2).

Gender did not moderate any of these associations. Rates of these behaviors were similar across racial/ethnic groups. Race/ethnicity did not moderate any of the associations with depressive symptoms, nor were any three-way interactions with race and gender significant.

Consistent with prior work, the present results highlight gender differences in peer experiences on social media. Girls reported more emotional investment in receiving quantifiable peer feedback. Investment in these novel metrics was generally associated with depressive symptoms. Notably, associations were similar across gender. Youth in all racial/ethnic groups reported similar rates of investment, with no significant differences in the association between social media behaviors and depressive symptoms by race.

These results underscore the importance of subjective experiences (rather than time spent on social media) in driving the presumed link between social media use and depressive symptoms. Investment in social media metrics should be considered as a potential point of intervention for boys and girls of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Future research should further examine the quality of adolescents’ online interactions, including peers’ gender.
 

Authors

• Anne Maheux, University of Delaware
  Presenting Author

• Savannah R Roberts, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jacqueline Nesi, Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brian Galla, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sophia Choukas-Bradley, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author