Understanding the Implications of Social Media Invisible Responses for Well-Being and Relational Development
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Seeing the Invisible: Understanding the Implications of Social Media Invisible Responses for Well-Being and Relational Development by Penny Triệu A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Information) in the University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Professor Nicole B. Ellison, Chair Dr. Nancy K. Baym, Microsoft Research Professor Scott W. Campbell Associate Professor Sarita Y. Schoenebeck Penny Triệu [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8394-803X © Penny Triệu 2020 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my nephew and niece, Quân and Vivi. When I inevitably fail to keep up with the latest technology, I will count on you to show me the ways. ii Acknowledgement The best part of doing the PhD for me was about the people and the community whose support I am privileged to count upon, at and beyond University of Michigan. From the moment I start to consider graduate school as a prospective PhD student, I have received generous offers of help and advice from others, a theme that continues to this day. Here goes my best attempt to acknowledge “the village:” Nicole, I have always considered it my immense luck and privilege to have such a brilliant and supportive advisor to guide me through my PhD, from pointing me in the right literature, leaving innumerable edits and comments on all of my drafts, to organizing the best white elephant gift exchanges. You were always so generous with your time, attention, and wisdom with me, and I grew so much from working with you and being your advisee. My PhD has not been without personal difficulties, which you supported me through and help me feel truly cared for as your student. I would also like to thank members of my committee. Nancy, thank you for taking me on as your intern with the Social Media Collective. Our collaboration on Stories is one of my favorite research projects ever and shaped my thinking about social media onwards. Scott, your ideas and advice were so helpful for my dissertation, and I wished we had worked together earlier in my PhD. Your input was instrumental to this dissertation. Sarita, I am so grateful and privileged to have worked with you closely throughout my PhD. I love the different projects we tackled, and it is incredible to me how much you care about supporting students, which I iii definitely benefited from. I look forward to seeing all the changes you will bring to the academic community. I want to thank the current and past members of the Social Media Research Lab—my research home for the past five years for your intellectual and personal companionship: Nazanin Andalibi, Tawfiq Ammari, Joe Bayer, Lindsay Blackwell, Robin Brewer, Eshwar Chandrasekharan, Michaelanne Dye, Eric Gilbert, Oliver Haimson, Jane Im, Aarti Israni, Youyang Hou, Cliff Lampe, Harman Kaur, Liz Marquis, Carol Moser, Casey Pierce, Elizabeth Whittaker, Xuan Zhao. I was lucky to enter the UMSI PhD program with a cohort of talented and kind colleagues, with diverse interests and backgrounds: Jean Hardy, Licia He, Joey Hsiao, Yoshi Kano, Linfeng Li, Cindy Lin, Megh Marathe, Ed Platt, Shriti Raj, Hari Subramonyam, and Iman Yeckehzaare. Thank you all for being awesome friends and research companions! In case it seems like I was unable to make friends outside of my immediate research lab and cohort, I would also like to list friends and mentors at and beyond Michigan. All jokes aside, these people made my PhD journey all that much more enriching and fun: Seyram Avle, Megan French, Ryan Burton, Robyn Caplan, Caleb Carr, Yan Chen (student), Padma Chirumamilla, Heeryung Choi, Veronica Falandino, Gabriel Gill, Tarleton Gillespie, Mary Gray, Rebecca Hayes, Jeff Huang, Brad Iott, Vaishnav Kameswaran, Rebecca Krosnick, Elena Maris, Chris Persaud, Chanda Phelan, Divya Ramesh, Christian Sandvig, Allison Sweet, Sam Taylor, Jessica Vitak, Jana Wilbricht, Yvette Wohn, and Sangseok You. I would like to thank the Graduate Employees’ Organization and their tireless fight towards livable wages, comprehensive health insurance, and fair working conditions for all University of Michigan graduate employees. iv As I navigated my PhD journey for the last five years, I have also been able to count on my academic ride-or-die: Seyram Avle, Lindsay Blackwell, Michaelanne Dye, Megan French, Jean Hardy, Licia He, Joey Hsiao, Cindy Lin, Megh Marathe, Hari Subramonyam. From reading a draft, taking advantage of the free drinks at conference happy hours together, to letting me crash on their couches, all of you made my PhD easier, more fun, and more rewarding. Cindy, even though you continually leave Ann Arbor and me for years on end for your research extravaganzas in South East Asia, your presence in my life as a fellow cohort member, housemate, and friend has been immensely fun and rewarding. I like that we tell each other things that we then have to have the other person remind us. So, here they are again, from me to you: your research agenda is impactful; your research skills are rigorous; you are a great writer. I cannot wait to see all that you accomplish with your career. Sai, thank you for reassuring me that, though I may not have enough time for all the deadlines, I will always have enough time for the important ones. Since you entered my life, you have been such a positive influence in making my work life balance tremendously better and the life part a lot more fulfilling. You also introduced me to so many (probably too many) TV shows and an incredible array of fine cuisine dishes like pizza smothered in cheese, nachos smothered in cheese, or eggs smothered in cheese. Every once in a while, you also make amazing South Indian dishes and broaden my experiences with vegetarianism, helping me become a slightly better citizen of the world. Chị Lan, I would never get to where I am today without you. You are my lifelong role model and mentor, and my life is so much easier thanks to the path you paved. From tutoring me on school subjects to guiding me to study abroad, you have been pivotal to any successes that I have as a scholar, a professional, and a person. Now that I am finally done with school, I no v longer have an excuse to have you buy everything for me, but thank you for spoiling me all these years. I will try to do the same, but I also would not mind if you continue to cover our meals. Bố và mẹ, you have always emphasized the importance of education, to develop intellectual curiosity, and to nurture a love for learning. You both are so inquisitive, which teaches me to interrogate my own assumptions and seek out research to answer my questions. Even when I struggled academically, you instilled confidence in me and encouraged me to believe in myself. Mom, your can-do attitude about so many things in life teaches me to believe in myself and my capabilities, in a society that is not always empowering of women. Con cảm ơn bố mẹ nhiều lắm. vi Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 – Study 1: Implications of Facebook Engagement Types and Feed’s Social Content for Self-Esteem via Social Comparison Processes ............................................................................. 15 Chapter 3 – Study 2: Private Responses for Public Sharing: Understanding Self-Presentation and Relational Maintenance via Stories in Social Media .................................................................... 35 Chapter 4 – Study 3: “Social Media is the Second Impression”: The Invisible Roles of Social Media Information in Interpersonal Communication ................................................................... 64 Chapter 5: Conclusion................................................................................................................... 99 References ................................................................................................................................... 116 Appendix A. Focus Group Guide ............................................................................................... 134 vii List of Tables Table 1. Key Variables from Study 1 ......................................................................................... 138 Table 2. Regression analysis output for Study 1 - H1, and H2 ................................................... 139 Table 3. Regression analysis output for Study 1 – H3 ................................................................ 140 Table 4. Participant information for Study 2 .............................................................................. 141 Table 5. Participant information