Online relationship management, friendship cultures, and ego-networks of young people in Thailand and Austria

Picture-perfect lives on social media: a cross-national study on the role of media ideals in adolescent well-being

“…Individuals from a collectivistic culture focus more on social interactions when using social media, whereas individuals from an individualistic culture focus more on self-promotion. For example, research comparing Austrian and Thai users indicates that Austrians mainly used social media to express themselves and construct their identity, compared to Thai users, who focused more on intensifying close relationships (Götzenbrucker & Köhl, 2014). Similarly, several studies found that Americans focus on disclosing personal information and engaging in positive selfpresentation when using social media, whereas South Koreans attach more importance to social support and developing committed relationships (e.g., Kim, Sohn, & Choi, 2011).…”

“…Second, this study used an intercultural sample of Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and South Korean adolescents. Previous research indicates that culture affects social media content and motivations to use social media (e.g., Götzenbrucker & Köhl, 2014). It thus seems meaningful to take cross-national differences into account when studying the relations between social media use, the internalization of media ideals, and poor mental well-being.…”