Does Instagram Have More Negative Impact on Psychological Well-Being? The Case of Korean College Students

Abstract

Previous research has empirically demonstrated the negative effects of social media use on young people's psychological well-being. Unlike most previous studies that focused on either Facebook or Instagram, this study comparatively examined the differences in upward comparison and its effects on self-esteem, life satisfaction, and depression between Facebook and Instagram. An analysis of survey data from 641 Korean college students, who reportedly use these two social media more actively than any other age group, found that college students experience more upward comparisons on Instagram than on Facebook. Upward comparisons on both Facebook and Instagram increased by college students' age and weekly usage time. Upward comparisons on Instagram increased by the additional factors of gender (females more than males) and number of "followings." Subsequently, the effects of upward comparison on psychological well-being were found to differ by social media platform. Upward comparisons were found to negatively impact all determinants of psychological well-being only on Instagram, but not on Facebook. The differences in upward comparison and its impact on young users' psychological well-being found in this study were discussed in terms of the different functional characteristics of the two social media platforms, which provides direction for further research needed to establish guidelines for healthy social media use by young people.