The Social Comparison Tendency of Social Media Users

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to examine social comparison tendency of social media users. Therefore the aim of the present study is to determine a) social comparison targets, b) the feelings in social comparison and c) the behaviors revealed in social comparison among social media users who attend to college. Criterion sampling technique, which is one of the purposive sampling methods, was used in the determination of the students who will participate in this research carried out with the basic qualitative research method. Seven undergraduate students including 4 females and 3 males with an age range of 18 and 22 were included into the research. The data were gathered through semi-structures interview form by the researcher within March and April, 2018; and inductive analysis method was used for analysis of the data obtained (Patton, 2014). Demonstrativeness of the analyses performed was achieved by an expert on the concerning field. The findings related to social comparison tendency of social media users were categorized in form of "comparison target", "the feelings arisen in comparison" and "the behaviors disclosed in comparisons" through the objectives of the research. It is detected from the findings obtained related to the comparison target that the participants tend to up comparisons in general and refer down comparisons less. When the feelings arisen in comparison are reviewed, it is observed that the participants experience assimilating feelings such as hope and admiration; they have contrast feelings such as jealousy less in up comparisons; they experience assimilating feelings such as sorrow, mercy and fear rather than contrast feelings such as contempt in down comparisons. Finally, within the context of behaviors disclosed in comparisons, the participants presented ego improving behaviors in up comparisons whereas they refer to avoidance behavior in upward comparisons. Such findings indicate that social comparison tendencies of social media users may be up or down; and their emotions and behaviors may change accordingly during comparison process.

Keywords

• Social comparison,social media,social desirability

Sosyal Medya Kullanıcılarının Sosyal Karşılaştırma Eğilimlerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı, sosyal medya kullanıcılarının sosyal karşılaştırma eğilimlerini incelemektir. Bu çerçevede üniversite öğrencisi sosyal medya kullanıcılarının sosyal karşılaştırma hedeflerinin, karşılaştırma sürecinde yaşadıkları duyguların ve ortaya koydukları davranışların incelenmesi hedeflenmiştir. Temel nitel araştırma yöntemi ile gerçekleştirilen bu araştırmaya katılacak öğrencilerin belirlenmesinde amaçlı örnekleme yöntemlerinden ölçüt örnekleme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Araştırmaya sosyal medya hesabı olan ve yaşları 18-22 aralığında değişen 4’ü kız, 3’ü erkek 7 lisans öğrencisi katılmıştır. Veriler, araştırmacı tarafından yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile Mart-Nisan 2018 ayları içerisinde toplanmış ve elde edilen verilerin analizinde tümevarımsal analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analizlerin inandırıcılığı ise ilgili bir alan uzmanın kontrolü ile sağlanmıştır. Sosyal medya kullanıcılarının sosyal karşılaştırma eğilimlerine ilişkin bulgular araştırmanın amaçları doğrultusunda “karşılaştırma hedefi”, “karşılaştırmalarda ortaya çıkan duygular” ve “karşılaştırmalarda ortaya koyulan davranışlar” şeklinde kategorileştirilmiştir. Bu doğrultuda karşılaştırma hedefine ilişkin elde edilen bulgularda, katılımcıların sosyal medyada çoğunlukla yukarı doğru karşılaştırmalara yöneldiği, aşağı doğru karşılaştırmalara ise daha az başvurduğu görülmektedir. Karşılaştırmalarda ortaya çıkan duygulara bakıldığında ise; katılımcıların yukarı doğru karşılaştırmalarda çoğunlukla umut, imrenme gibi asimilasyon duyguları, daha az ise kıskançlık gibi kontrast duyguları yaşadıkları; aşağı doğru karşılaştırmalarda ise daha çok üzüntü, acıma, korku gibi asimilasyon duyguları, daha az ise küçümseme gibi kontrast duyguları yaşadıkları görülmektedir. Son olarak karşılaştırmalarda ortaya koyulan davranışlar bağlamında katılımcıların yukarı doğru karşılaştırmalarda benliği geliştirici davranışlar sergiledikleri; aşağı doğru karşılaştırmalarda ise kaçınma davranışına başvurdukları görülmektedir. Bu bulgular genel olarak sosyal medya kullanıcılarının sosyal karşılaştırma eğilimlerinin yukarı veya aşağı doğru olabildiğine, buna göre de karşılaştırma sürecinde yaşadıkları duygu ve davranışların değişebileceğine işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

• Sosyal karşılaştırma,sosyal medya,sosyal beğenirlik

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