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Social Media’s Potential in Improving the Mental Well-Being of the Unemployed

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Exploring the Abyss of Inequalities (WIS 2012)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 313))

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Abstract

This article presents research into the compensating potential of social media for the psychological consequences of job loss. In particular the questions to be answered are whether subjective well-being as well as perceived exclusion are influenced by involvement in social media, and whether age as a context variable may moderate these influences. We demonstrate, based on 2,400 telephone interviews with unemployed persons in Germany, that the use of social media may indeed increase well-being for the unemployed, if they can transfer their online contacts in real social life activities. This transfer is, curiously, easier for older participants. Digital Immigrants display a different relationship structure in their online social networks which allows them to alleviate the more exclusionary effects, whereas Digital Natives are in jeopardy to feel more excluded due to their social media usage.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Media and Communications Management, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Anne Suphan, Miriam Feuls & Christian Fieseler

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  1. Anne Suphan
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  2. Miriam Feuls
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  3. Christian Fieseler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Fänriksgatan 3B, 20500, Åbo, Finland

    Kristina Eriksson-Backa , Annika Luoma  & Erica Krook ,  & 

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Suphan, A., Feuls, M., Fieseler, C. (2012). Social Media’s Potential in Improving the Mental Well-Being of the Unemployed. In: Eriksson-Backa, K., Luoma, A., Krook, E. (eds) Exploring the Abyss of Inequalities. WIS 2012. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 313. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32850-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32850-3_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32849-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32850-3

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