Wallace, Elaine and Buil, Isabel
(2021)
Hiding Instagram Likes: Effects on negative affect and loneliness.
Personality and Individual Differences, 170 (110509).
pp. 1-5.
ISSN 0191-8869
Abstract
Instagram, the social networking site (SNS), recently tested the initiative of hiding the number of Likes a post
receives from other users. Instagram’s rationale for hiding Likes was to support wellbeing through reduced
competition for Likes. In an experiment with 280 Instagram users in the United States, we investigated the effect
of hiding Likes on negative affect and loneliness. Scenarios were created to simulate receipt of higher or lower
Likes than desired, and the visibility of those Likes to others. Findings indicate that receiving greater Likes than
desired reduces loneliness but increases negative affect, and this result is exacerbated by the visibility of Likes.
However, when Likes are low, it does not make a difference to negative affect whether those Likes are visible or
not. Vulnerable narcissism was associated with loneliness. Findings provide support for Instagram’s initiative,
and reveal new insights about the interrelationship between loneliness and negative affect in Instagram use.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Instagram;
Social comparison;
Negative affect;
Loneliness;
Vulnerable narcissism; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business |
| Item ID: |
17405 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110509 |
| Depositing User: |
Elaine Wallace
|
| Date Deposited: |
11 Jul 2023 15:41 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Personality and Individual Differences |
| Publisher: |
Elsevier |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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