To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being
In this paper, we develop the concept of agentic social media use: a way of engaging with social media that emphasizes having the beliefs, knowledge, and practices to use it intentionally. In comparison to instances of “mindless” social media use, people who use social media agentically do so with a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Computer Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1123323/full |
| _version_ | 1827974566801047552 |
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| author | Angela Y. Lee Nicole B. Ellison Jeffrey T. Hancock |
| author_facet | Angela Y. Lee Nicole B. Ellison Jeffrey T. Hancock |
| author_sort | Angela Y. Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we develop the concept of agentic social media use: a way of engaging with social media that emphasizes having the beliefs, knowledge, and practices to use it intentionally. In comparison to instances of “mindless” social media use, people who use social media agentically do so with a purpose in mind: they leverage the affordances of social media to do things that are meaningful, useful, or satisfying for them. For example, people can use social media to intentionally build or manage their relationships, to seek out and learn new information about their interests, or to craft a positive image of themselves through the content they post. Crucially, however, there are many other valuable uses of social media that may not be considered conventionally productive but are nonetheless deliberate and useful, such as using social media intentionally to relax, unwind, and entertain themselves in an effort to modulate their emotions. To use social media agentically means to (1) hold an agentic mindset about one's relationship with social media, (2) have the knowledge and literacy to understand how to navigate social media effectively, and (3) enact practices that assert control over specific elements of social media use, such as curating content and refining algorithmic recommendation. Approaching social media use from the perspective of agency and intentionality allows us to better understand heterogeneous social media effects and to identify new ways of helping people benefit from these technologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:56:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72425e6c47694ae49ecf3111caadbf48 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9898 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:56:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Computer Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-72425e6c47694ae49ecf3111caadbf482023-04-03T05:27:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Computer Science2624-98982023-04-01510.3389/fcomp.2023.11233231123323To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-beingAngela Y. Lee0Nicole B. Ellison1Jeffrey T. Hancock2Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesSchool of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDepartment of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesIn this paper, we develop the concept of agentic social media use: a way of engaging with social media that emphasizes having the beliefs, knowledge, and practices to use it intentionally. In comparison to instances of “mindless” social media use, people who use social media agentically do so with a purpose in mind: they leverage the affordances of social media to do things that are meaningful, useful, or satisfying for them. For example, people can use social media to intentionally build or manage their relationships, to seek out and learn new information about their interests, or to craft a positive image of themselves through the content they post. Crucially, however, there are many other valuable uses of social media that may not be considered conventionally productive but are nonetheless deliberate and useful, such as using social media intentionally to relax, unwind, and entertain themselves in an effort to modulate their emotions. To use social media agentically means to (1) hold an agentic mindset about one's relationship with social media, (2) have the knowledge and literacy to understand how to navigate social media effectively, and (3) enact practices that assert control over specific elements of social media use, such as curating content and refining algorithmic recommendation. Approaching social media use from the perspective of agency and intentionality allows us to better understand heterogeneous social media effects and to identify new ways of helping people benefit from these technologies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1123323/fullwell-beingsocial mediamindsetspsychological well-beingagencycontrol |
| spellingShingle | Angela Y. Lee Nicole B. Ellison Jeffrey T. Hancock To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being Frontiers in Computer Science well-being social media mindsets psychological well-being agency control |
| title | To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being |
| title_full | To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being |
| title_fullStr | To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being |
| title_full_unstemmed | To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being |
| title_short | To use or be used? The role of agency in social media use and well-being |
| title_sort | to use or be used the role of agency in social media use and well being |
| topic | well-being social media mindsets psychological well-being agency control |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1123323/full |
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