Passive and Active Facebook Use Measure (PAUM): Validation and relationship to the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

Abstract

The aims of this study were to design and validate a questionnaire to measure passive and active Facebook use, and to explore the associations of these factors with the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality. Passive Facebook use describes the consumption but not the creation of content, while active Facebook use describes active engagement with the site. As Facebook has many features, users may interact with the site differently, thereby creating conflicting results when general use measures are assessed independently. To address this issue, we developed a 13-item questionnaire which reflects three levels of Facebook engagement: Active social, Active non-social, and Passive use. These three multi-item scales demonstrate sufficient internal reliability and discriminant validity. To further investigate individual differences in Facebook use, we used regressions to assess the associations between RST and the factors of the Passive Active Use Measure (PAUM). Reward Reactivity was positively associated with both Active social and Passive use. Impulsivity and Goal-Drive Persistence were positively associated with Active non-social use. FFFS was positively associated with Passive use, and Reward Interest was positively associated with all three PAUM factors. The findings of this study highlight how individual differences impact the way users engage with Facebook.

An exploratory investigation of online and offline social behaviour among digital natives

“…Overall, across the two platforms, SNS behaviour was shown to be characterised, primarily, by passive, undirected consumption as opposed to active, direct engagement with other users. This finding corresponds to Gerson et al [18] and to Nielsen [24]'s 90-9-1 rule, with a majority of users primarily engaging in consumptive behaviour and only a minority actively contributing. Moreover, given previous findings indicating that non-reciprocity-evoking behaviours have been associated adversely with psycho-social well-being [39,44,47], and the present finding that passive use was more prominent than active use, it is reasonable to propose that, among the present sample, use of SNSs may be negatively associated with psycho-social wellbeing.…”

“…In contrast, passive communication refers to the monitoring of content not specifically directed at a user (e.g., status broadcasts, posts, shares) through reading a feed of such content. For Facebook, Gerson et al [18] provide evidence indicating that passive communication is now the norm on the platform.…”

The Welfare Effects of Social Media

“…The pre-analysis plan specified that we would limit these tests to only the news and political outcomes in Section 5.2, The third panel presents separate estimates for active users vs. passive users. We measure this using two questions: share of active vs. passive browsing using a question based on the Passive and Active Facebook Use Measure (Gerson, Plagnol, and Corr 2017), and "what share of your time on Facebook do you spend interacting one-on-one with people you care about." Active vs. passive users are defined as having above-vs. below-median sum of their two responses to these questions.…”

Social Media Usage Patterns: Research Note Regarding the Lack of Universal Validated Measures for Active and Passive Use

“…The only validated measure we are currently aware of, which can be used to gather data regarding users' active and passive usage behaviors, is the Passive Active Use Measure (PAUM; Gerson, Plagnol, & Corr, 2017). The PAUM is a Facebook use questionnaire that includes 13 items designed to identify activities that Facebook users engage in when they are online.…”