Erica Williams
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
UROP Fellowship: Biomedical and Life Sciences
Research Mentor(s): Ellen Selkie, MD, MPH, Victoria Adkins, MSW
Department of Pediatrics
Presentation Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 | Session 1 | Presenter: 3
Authors: Erica Williams, Ellen Selkie
Abstract
Introduction: Social media is used almost globally and use can lead to numerous mental health consequences. Insecurity, depression, and even suicide have all been described in users of social media platforms. Most social media users do not realize the negative effects of using the platforms, only the excitement and attention it brings to their fingertips. Users who have been negatively affected by social media may continue to use it, in particular if they have a large following of other users. The purpose of this study is to describe the scope of influencer content and comments on Instagram. Influencers are the main subjects of this research because they are constantly posting content for their fans/ followers, openly accepting likes and comments from everyone’s point of view.
Methods: This qualitative study using content analysis included the top 100 most followed influencers/celebrities globally on Instagram. Each social media influencer’s age, body type, birthplace, and category of celebrity (for example, model, actor, athlete, social media personality) was recorded. A single random post was chosen for each influencer. For each post, the number of likes and comments were recorded and the comments were coded as being positive, neutral, or negative. Analysis included descriptive statistics for influencer characteristics and codes applied to comments.
Results: 100 Instagram posts were observed and examined for the study. With each post there were positive comments, but there were also negative comments left under posts. Influencers’ number of followers ranged from 3.2 million to 228 million. Posts had between 31,000 and 16.6 million likes, while comments ranged from no comments at all to 210,000 comments. Further prevalence results are pending at the time of submission.
Discussion: The findings suggest that social media influencers are exposed to positive and negative comments. In order to avoid mental health consequences, users could use their platforms less often, turn off commenting, or avoid reading comments. Future studies could focus on ways to use social media while improving mental health for not only influencers, but any user of the platforms.
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Research Disciplines
Health Sciences
