The relationships between Twitter use, social comparison and satisfaction with friendship among university students

Abstract

Human being tends to compare him/her-self with others (social comparison), which does not only happen in the real world but also online communities. This study sought to determine the relationships between Twitter use, social comparison on it and satisfaction with friendship among university students in Japan. In order to examine these, a self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted targeting university students who were enrolled at a national university in the Kanto Region and 177 respondents became the analyzed targets. The following results were observed. (a) Students with higher levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy were satisfied with their friendship, but no effects for personality traits (self-esteem and self-efficacy) on Twitter use were detected. (b) Students who read/retweeted others' posts and pressed “Like” frequently tended to compare themselves with others more, which lowered their satisfaction with friendship. (c) When the people they followed were “friends/acquaintances known after entering the university”, they tended to compare themselves with those people. However, no similar effects were found when the people they followed were “friends/acquaintances known before entering the university,” “friends/acquaintances meet at the university,” nor “intimate friends at the university.”

The results of this study indicate that for university students who use Twitter frequently, it may be effective not to compare themselves with those unfamiliar people among their friends/ acquaintances after entering the university, in order to maintain a good friendship with each other.