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Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use

Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use

While many people use social network sites to connect with friends and family, some feel that their use is problematic, seriously affecting their sleep, work, or life. Pairing a survey of 20,000 Facebook users measuring perceptions of problematic use with behavioral and demographic data, we examined Facebook activities associated with problematic use as well as the kinds of people most likely to experience it. People who feel their use is problematic are more likely to be younger, male, and going through a major life event such as a breakup. They spend more time on the platform, particularly at night, and spend proportionally more time looking at profiles and less time browsing their News Feeds. They also message their friends more frequently. While they are more likely to respond to notifications, they are also more likely to deactivate their accounts, perhaps in an effort to better manage their time. Further, they are more likely to have seen content about social media or phone addiction. Notably, people reporting problematic use rate the site as more valuable to them, highlighting the complex relationship between technology use and well-being. A better understanding of problematic Facebook use can inform the design of context-appropriate and supportive tools to help people become more in control.

Presented at CHI 2019.

Justin Cheng

May 07, 2019
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  1. But sometimes, people feel that their social media use is


    problematic !4 (i.e., negative life impact + difficulty controlling use)
  2. Problematic Facebook use has been linked to... !9 worse grades

    Junco & Cotten 2012; Kirschner & Karpinski 2010
  3. Challenge: no formal definition exists !17 Multiple
 proposed symptoms Negative

    Life Impact
 Lack of Control
 Salience
 Tolerance
 Mood Modification
 ... Billieux, et al. 2015; Cash, et al. 2012; Chakraborty, et al. 2010; Kuss & Griffiths 2011; Ryan, et al. 2014
  4. Challenge: no formal definition exists !18 Wildly varying
 prevalence estimates

    0.3% (US)
 3.5% (Korea) 8.1% (US) 18% (UK) 38% (China) ... Billieux, et al. 2015; Cash, et al. 2012; Chakraborty, et al. 2010; Kuss & Griffiths 2011; Ryan, et al. 2014
  5. Problematic Facebook use is... !19 Negative life impact + Difficulty

    controlling use Our Broad Definition Peng, et al. 2010; Griffiths 2005
  6. Survey !22 4 questions on
 negative life impact 2 questions

    on
 difficulty controlling use Relationships Lack of sleep Work/school performance Life impact Control over
 time spent Concern over not
 logging in more
  7. Survey !23 4 questions on
 negative life impact 2 questions

    on
 difficulty controlling use Relationships Lack of sleep Work/school performance Life impact Control over
 time spent Concern over not
 logging in more (and a question on major life events as a control)
  8. How does problematic use vary with age? !30 Banyai, et

    al. 2017; Fernández-Villa, et al. 2015; Hur, 2006; Koc & Gulyagci 2013 Is it highest among teens?
  9. Reported Problematic Use 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%

    7% Age 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 !31 Problematic use decreases with age Steinberg & Monahan 2007; Steinberg 2008
  10. Is problematic use higher among... !33 Men? Women? Andreassen, et

    al. 2012 Banyai, et al. 2017 De Cock, et al. 2014 Cam & Isbulan 2012 Durkee, et al. 2012 Yen, et al. 2009
  11. Is problematic use higher among... !34 Neither? Blachnio, et al.

    2016; Rumpf, et al. 2014; Tang, et al. 2016 Men? Women? Andreassen, et al. 2012 Banyai, et al. 2017 De Cock, et al. 2014 Cam & Isbulan 2012 Durkee, et al. 2012 Yen, et al. 2009
  12. Problematic use is higher among men !35 Reported Problematic Use

    0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% Age 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 Men Women (Insufficient data for non-binary genders)
  13. Major life events play a role too !36 People who

    recently experienced a breakup were
 2.4x more likely to report problematic use
  14. Major life events play a role too !37 2.4x 2.0x

    Breakup or divorce Moved to new city Marriage Lost job Death in family New job Injury or illness Pregnancy 1.8x 1.7x 1.5x 1.4x 1.2x (n.s.) 1.1x (n.s.)
  15. 3% of people report problematic use.
 It's more common among

    younger people and among men. !38 The story so far... ∼
  16. Behaviors and problematic use !42 Amount of use 1 Social

    narratives about addiction 5 Notifications 2 Deactivations 3 Active vs. passive use 4
  17. How do we quantify differences? !46 Match on age, gender,


    friend count, account age Ho, et al. 2007; Iacus, et al. 2012
  18. How do we quantify differences? !47 Estimate difference
 using linear

    regression E(Y|X1 ) Ho, et al. 2007; Iacus, et al. 2012 E(Y|X)
  19. Amount of use !48 Is more time spent associated with

    problematic use? Hong, et al. 2014; Koc & Gulyagci, 2013
  20. Time spent on Facebook People who reported problematic use spent

    22% more time on Facebook than those who do not report problematic use. !50 0 10% 20% -20% -10% Amount of use All differences were computed using matching, followed by regression.
  21. !52 0 20% 40% -40% -20% Amount of use 10%

    30% -30% -10% Sessions late at night People who reported problematic use spent a greater proportion of sessions late at night (12am-4am).
  22. Likelihood of responding to notifications People who reported problematic use

    were 10% more likely
 to respond to notifications. !55 0 10% 20% -20% -10% Notifications
  23. Likelihood of deactivating account People who reported problematic use were

    160% more likely
 to have temporarily deactivated their accounts. !58 0 100% 200% -200% -100% Deactivations
  24. Active vs. passive use !59 How does active or passive

    use
 relate to problematic use? Shaw, et al. 2015, Verduyn, et al. 2015, Nontasil & Payne, 2019
  25. Active vs. passive use !60 "The pull-to-refresh and infinite scrolling


    mechanism on our News Feeds are unnervingly
 similar to a slot machine." Tristan Harris, via The Guardian 2018
  26. Proportion of time spent on News Feed !61 0 10%

    20% -20% -10% Active vs. passive use
  27. Proportion of time spent on News Feed People who reported

    problematic use spent proportionally
 less time browsing their News Feeds. !62 0 10% 20% -20% -10% Active vs. passive use
  28. Proportion of time spent on Messenger !63 0 10% 20%

    -20% -10% Active vs. passive use
  29. Proportion of time spent on Messenger People who reported problematic

    use were somewhat more likely to spend proportionally more time on Messenger. !64 Active vs. passive use 0 20% 40% -40% -20% 10% 30% -30% -10%
  30. Messages sent per hour People who reported problematic use sent

    39%
 more messages per hour to others. !66 Active vs. passive use 0 20% 40% -40% -20% 10% 30% -30% -10%
  31. Reading about technology addiction People who reported problematic use were

    115% more likely
 to have read posts and comments about technology addiction. !69 0 100% 200% -200% -100% Social narratives
  32. Behaviors associated with problematic use !70 +22% Total time spent

    Late-night sessions Close friend content Network density Time on News Feed +22% -2% (n.s.) -4% (n.s.) -8% +19% Time in Messenger Messages per hour Notification response Deactivation Read about addiction +39% +10% +160% +115%
  33. People nonetheless perceive value !71 The solution to problematic use

    isn't as
 straightforward as not using social media.
  34. Provide more control !75 Encourage breaks Allow people to better

    manage notifications Discourage late-night use
  35. !76 (To access this, go to "Settings & Privacy" >

    "Your Time on Facebook") Provide more control
  36. !77 (To access this, go to "Settings & Privacy" >

    "Your Time on Facebook") Provide more control
  37. !78 (To access this, go to "Settings & Privacy" >

    "Your Time on Facebook") Provide more control
  38. !79 (To access this, go to "Settings & Privacy" >

    "Your Time on Facebook") Provide more control
  39. They spend more time on Facebook (at night), but spend

    proportionally less time browsing their News Feeds. !82 Summary
  40. They are more likely to respond to notifications, deactivate their

    accounts, or have read about technology addiction. !83 Summary
  41. Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use !85 Justin Cheng, Moira

    Burke, and Elena Davis http://bit.ly/problematic_use