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• 10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

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MRA Guide to the Top 16 Social Media Research Questions

MRA and IMRO published this  simple guide to Social Media Research  (SMR) in 2010 in order to help researchers identify and find answers to the most important questions to SMR techniques.

Introduction Social networks engulf everyday life. They represent a place to share news, ideas, and information of all kinds. The connections made among people in these networks, and the resulting information shared, can have a profound effect on the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs of individuals. Moreover, even the flow of information itself can be a powerful predictor of key business and program outcomes.

Recognizing the power of social networks, opinion researchers have increasingly begun to take advantage of social media to answer critical business questions. In doing so, the research profession has invented new tools and methods to supplement an already impressive array of techniques. The Marketing Research Association (MRA) has developed this guide in order to describe the current landscape of social media research as well as to facilitate and advance further development of the technique. Ultimately, it is the goal of the Association and its members to foster universally accepted and practiced standards and best practices for these and other research methods.

What is Social Media?

There are many definitions of social media but, at its core, social media uses Internet-based technologies that facilitate the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Social media refers to Web sites that permit people to interact with the site and with each other using simple interfaces. At the time of publication, Facebook, qq.com, Twitter and YouTube are among the most popular social media sites.

Social media refers to the information that people share on those sites, including status updates, image and video comments, responses to blogs and forums, and any other individual contributions to the online space. This information reflects naturally occurring conversations among people who may or may not personally know each other.

What is Social Media Research?

Though evolving rapidly, social media research (SMR) is the application of marketing and opinion research methods to social media data for the purposes of conducting research (e.g., usage and attitude studies, social media research tracking studies, custom research, etc.). Similar to other types of marketing research usage and attitude studies, tracking studies, research goals and objectives are developed, methodologies are prepared, and social media data are analyzed quantitatively and/or qualitatively depending on the goals of the project.

SMR is distinct from other forms of marketing research in that it uses social media as its data source as opposed to surveys, focus groups and other data collection modes and techniques. SMR can be a complementary or stand-alone analytical tool for researchers, providing them with a unique opportunity to listen and measure the opinions of potentionally vast numbers of people who communicate online, some of whom may not normally or easily be accessible through non-observational forms of research.

About the Authors MRA is grateful to the following for their contributions to this Guide to the Top 16 Social Media Research Questions: Jim Longo, PRC, Itracks, Committee Chair; Janet Savoie, PRC, Online Survey Solution; Annie Pettit, Conversition Strategies; Ray Poynter, The Future Place; Ellie Schwartz; Ed Sugar, PRC, OLC Global; Tamara Barber, Forrester Research; Tamara Kenworthy, PRC, On Point Strategies; Steven Runfeldt, Schwartz Consulting; Benjamin Smithee, Spych Market Analytics; Aaron Hill, PRC, Sawtooth Software; Susan Saurage-Altenloh, PRC; Steffen Hück, HVYE; and Patrick Glaser, MRA.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH

#1. what are the advantages and disadvantages of smr.

From a capacity standpoint, SMR provides the ability to collect and analyze information from the past as well as in real-time, as it is generated. Moreover, the richness of data available on social media networks is conducive to both qualitative designs (e.g., digital ethnographies) as well as quantitative designs, including numerical aggregation of large quantities of data.

In terms of methodological considerations, SMR utilizes an observational form of data collection. Information is collected from Web sites as posted by individuals who may not be specifically aware of the research role. As such, social media communications are thought to be free of, or less subject to, response biases that occurs in interviewer-administered, and even self-administered, forms of opinion surveys and focus groups. However, social media is inherently a public form of communication, with varying degrees of privacy which may affect some social media users’ willingness to reveal information, particularly sensitive or potentially embarrassing personal details.

From an ethical standpoint, SMR has the additional advantage of eliminating the burden that would otherwise be placed on a research participant. Social media users do not participate in “active” data collection (e.g., survey, focus group). They generate data simply by engaging in their natural online communications. However, SMR presents unique ethical considerations of which researchers must be aware (see “Ethical and Legal Issues”).

SMR offers researchers a host of benefits, a few of which include:

• Ease of adjusting research criteria throughout the study
• Potential cost savings and reduced logistical burden
• Ease of application across locations
• Access to hard-to-reach research participants
• Benchmarking (e.g., reported vs. observed opinions)

Likewise, researchers should be aware of various challenges associated with SMR. For example, researchers who are new to SMR methods will need to familiarize themselves with both the characteristics of social media users as well as specific SM sites in order to properly draw conclusions about research findings. Additional considerations include the need to learn and become proficient with:

• SM tools and techniques including sentiment and content analysis
• Indicators of SMR validity and reliability at each stage of the process
• Relevant types of biases, particularly those arising from unique SMR tools
• The types of brands and categories that are more likely to be successful carrying out SMR, e.g., due to volume of data or consumer importance

#2. What data sources are typically used in SMR?

Millions of Web sites (small and large) currently facilitate the practice of social media research. However, online sites, which currently facilitate social media communications come and go, and change very rapidly. Researchers involved in SMR need to stay abreast of changes in social media communication patterns and trends, including the rise of mobile access, and popular SM vehicles. Current examples of SM Web sites that generate data suitable for SMR include:

• Social Networking Sites:Social News: e.g., Digg, Reddit, Mashable, Technorati  Facebook: Search, Community Pages, Fan Pages, Groups, Chat, Facebook-based  Apps

        Twitter: Location-based Application, Real-time Search, Advanced Search                             (search.twitter.com)

        LinkedIn: Search, Groups, Q&A

• Photo/Video Sharing: e.g., YouTube, Flickr
• Online Communities: Industry, Topic-related, Branded or Unbranded
• Blogs: e.g., Blogger, Posterous, Wordpress
• Forums: Industry or Topic-related
• Questions and Answers: e.g., Yahoo Answers, Linkedin Answers, Yedda
• Commenting: e.g., Disqus, Backtype
• Traditional News: e.g., CNN, BusinessWeek

#3. How does SMR interact with other forms of traditional and non-traditional research, including online, offline, in-person, and qualitative and quantitative?

SMR can effectively stand on its own, but may also be integrated with traditional research methods to create a holistic research solution. In fact, SMR may sometimes springboard or support other forms of traditional research. Examples of SMR integration with other research methods include:

• Observing the flow of conversation in real time, thus prompting the most effective methodology for further research
• Accessing user supplied media such as photos and video
• Measuring trending topics for further “traditional” research
• Assisting in the preparation of discussion guides or surveys
• Identifying key influencers in an industry or on a topic
• Reaching a segment of the population that may not otherwise be reachable
• Comparing community-based insights to natural observational social media insights
• Establishing trust between researcher and participant, potentially for further recruitment into another form of research
• Exploring, and discovering “unknowns” via observations

#4. How reliable are SMR results?

Validity refers to the degree to which results reflect truth or reality while reliability reflects the degree to which results can be replicated if someone else were to conduct a similar study. Because research suppliers have different methods, standards of quality, and processing rules, research consumers must conduct their own validity and reliability analysis of any potential supplier to ensure the quality of work is sufficient. As with all types of marketing research, the validity and reliability of social media research varies greatly:

What is the validity and reliability of the sentiment and/or content analysis processes? If manual coders are used, reliability might be lower. If automated coders are used, validity might be lower.

• Given that sentiment differs by Web site (e.g., Twitter is more negative while blogs are more positive), what is the range of social media venues that are measured and what percentage of the Internet population do they represent? Do any of the sites overwhelm the data collection strategy in a proportion that does not reflect the Internet space? Does the vendor know how and why to sample and weight data?
• To what extent is the intended target group reflected by the social media venues being used?
• Is the intention to measure and generalize to the general Internet population or to a particular segment of the Internet?
• How is geographic and demographic information being measured in order to assess the validity of generalizing outside of the sample?
• What timeframe is appropriate for the research objectives? Though small samples may be acceptable for long-term research, shorter time frames must use larger sample sizes.

#5. Within businesses and organizations, how will SMR activities be tracked and aggregated, and whose responsibility is it to handle each of those functions?

Social media research may be executed in multiple ways. For example, numerous departments within a single company may be involved in SMR, including internal research departments, and cross-functional teams from marketing, customer relationship management, public relations, public affairs, and other departments. SMR may also be outsourced to vendors who may or may not specialize in research. Regardless, the skill set of the user must be appropriate for the function.

#6. What additional knowledge, skills, and abilities will a corporate researcher need to learn in order to improve their level of competency with SMR?

SMR may involve several different methods and analytical approaches. As such, corporate researchers may find it most advantageous to learn a wide breadth of relevant techniques while continually honing their skills and knowledge in the areas that are most relevant to their organization. Commonly used techniques include both sentiment analysis and content analysis. Additionally, researchers will need to learn about, and become comfortable with, important explanatory variables beyond traditional “respondent” demographics, such as how different types of Web sites (e.g., blogs, forums, media, etc.) generate and facilitate different types of data (e.g., whether data is more positive versus negative, descriptive versus condensed, etc.).

#7. Are the participants aware that their usergenerated content is under observation?

Research contributors have demonstrated the occasional tendency to provide sub-optimal information when they are aware that others are studying or observing them. Oftentimes, this is attributable to concerns over the privacy of sensitive information or feelings of being compelled to give a socially-desirable response to a question. In SMR, though it commonly is understood that conversations are generally public and open to viewing by almost anyone, the individual under observation may or may not be aware of the presence of a researcher.

At the same time, participation in the social media space offers varying degrees of privacy. Users may participate for personal and/or professional reasons and they may or not seek relationships with other users. Researchers should be aware of the potential and likelihood for “social observational bias” and the effect it will have on the type, candor and direction of the user’s comments.

Ethical and Legal Issues

#8. how are sources cited in research reports and on research web portals are the citations different based on the source, e.g., twitter, blogger, forums.

As in traditional forms of research, it is important to protect the privacy of contributors. As such, without prior express consent, data transmitted from vendor to client should not include direct references or citations to individuals that would reveal their identity.

However, sources may be recorded for validation purposes as well as for potential data quality checks. Any data or reporting intended for transfer to an outside entity should be purged of personally identifiable information (PII) prior to changing-hands. This includes IP addresses, usernames, user id numbers, user photos, e-mail addresses, and other types of commonly available online data.

Where detailed information must be shared for the purposes of data quality or validation, the data should include source citations using the current link of the information (e.g., http:// twitter.com/xxxx/xxxx/). Notably, links should be expected to expire or become “broken” overtime. Researchers should plan to record any pertinent administrative or relevant source data (e.g., date/time, source identifier, query details, etc.) to be used in validation at the time of data collection.

#9. What are the controversies and legal issues regarding the rights of the people whose data is being used?

Social media is a relatively new form of communication and individuals from every stakeholder group, including the public, researchers and governments, are participating in an on-going conversation about the nature of its privacy and ethics. For this reason, it’s critical for researchers to understand that they have a responsibility to respect social media user’s privacy and that the definition and expectations for social media user’s privacy can and will change over time. Some brief areas of consideration are described below.

Privacy: Individuals and their social media privacy expectations should be respected. If an individual has posted information on a public Web site under a public “privacy” setting, they may be considered to have a very low or no expectation of privacy for the information they reveal. Even so, researchers who collect and analyze this information should take care to protect it from becoming identifiable to an individual.

Conversations should not be copied verbatim into reports as those direct quotes can be searched and identities discovered. A small number of relevant conversations can be summarized, without losing their flavor, in reports. Moreover, full quotations can be used with permission.

Interacting with individuals: Clients must never use information collected during or for social media research for the purpose of direct marketing or otherwise influencing the opinions and behaviors of the data subject. Marketing may only occur in places like branded and client communities where contributors would naturally expect those types of conversations to take place.

Combining data from multiple sources where privacy policies differ: In general, the policy provisions that tend to favor the rights and needs of the contributors should be given weight. Best practices call for researchers to respect the coded crawling terms of every Web site they visit. Where Web sites are coded to indicate that crawling is not permitted, those Web sites should not be crawled even if it is technically possible. Researchers must not join Web sites under the pretense of being a member so that they then have access to crawl a Web site that prohibits such crawling otherwise – this condition holds for both automated and manual crawling. Where researchers do join groups, they must immediately make it explicit that they are there for the purposes of marketing research. Notably, issues concerning access to data sources are paramount to the conduct of social media research and can be expected to be a major focus of the opinion research industry moving forward, both in terms of how to ethically gain access to the widest net of sources as well as appropriate ways to handle and adjust for cases where this is not possible.

SM Research Processes & Providers

#10. what is the level of expertise and industry qualifications of social media researchers and/or smr companies.

Anyone selecting a social media research vendor must be aware that the technique is relatively new. They must be careful to select a research partner with the appropriate level of expertise and skill in the practice of SMR. Some relevant questions to ask include:

• Is the company primarily an IT or social media company that expanded into research, or a research company that expanded into social media? While IT and social media companies may have expertise in social media, crawling and data collection techniques, research companies have expertise in data analysis techniques.
• Does the company focus on research exclusively or do they maintain other functions as well? For example, companies that conduct SMR may specialize in buzz monitoring, customer relationship management, public relations, research, or some other social media function.
• Does the company specialize in qualitative methods, quantitative methods, or a combination of both?
• Is the provider aware of traditional research practices such as sampling and weighting and, if so, how and when do they apply those practices?
• For the practice of ethics and standards of quality, does the provider classify themselves as a researcher or as some other profession?

#11. What are the standard data and/or research outputs?

Since SMR is relatively new, industry standards for outputs have not yet been developed. It is important to understand the vendor’s policies and capacities for standard and custom reporting. Relevant questions include:

• Does the company offer a full-service model of data collection, analysis and presentation or do they offer a self-service tool such as a portal?
• In cases where the vendor offers full-service reporting and presentation, what substantive outputs may be expected? What technical explanation and reporting may be expected (e.g., a technical appendix)?
• Are the SMR analyses incorporated with traditional types of marketing research and does the company have expertise doing so?
• Does the provider offer standardized or customized tools?
• How often are outputs updated and/or delivered?

#12. What is the process for gathering data?

Like other forms of opinion research, a wide variety of approaches exist for the implementation of SMR. It is important to understand the company policies undertaken. Relevant questions include:

• Does the company gather its own data or is a data collection vendor used?
• How many Web sites are crawled and how are those Web sites selected?
• Does the company seek out permission-based relationships with the sites they crawl?
• Does the company honor the electronic privacy notifications of individual Web sites?

#13. What data quality processes are implemented in each stage of the SMR?

What quality and validation protocols have been adopted and implemented to safeguard the quality of the research at each stage of the process? Are there validation processes in place for initial data collection, scoring and coding, etc.? Does the organization collect and retain information at the initial stages for validation purposes while removing/anonymizing data for reporting purposes?

#14. Does the company provide sentiment scoring?

Sentiment scoring is a process of assigning a positive or negative emotion to a conversation. Some vendors may provide strictly positive or negative emotions, while others may assign a continuum ranging from positive to neutral, to negative. If the vendor provides sentiment scoring, is the process an internal proprietary method, a third party purchased product, or some combination of the two? How is the sentiment scored (e.g., dictionary, bayesian, manually)?

#15. If sentiment scoring is provided, what is the process for validating results?

Simple and commonly-used systems of sentiment validation may prove to be inadequate. More rigorous approaches should be used, specifically blinded methods. For example:

For automated systems, researchers should receive a list of uncoded conversations and then code them manually. The manual codes should then be matched back and compared to the automated codes to derive a percentage match (i.e., validation coefficient).

For manual systems, two unique raters should independently code conversations. A validation coefficient may be derived from a comparison of the two outputs.

The above processes are two relatively simple examples of validation systems. More complicated calculations are available, but their use should be weighed according to the capacity of stakeholders to understand the meaning and method of the technique.

Language constantly changes and evolves due to new and lapsed slang, terminology, and speech patterns. As such, simple systems of sentiment validation may prove to be inadequate. When conducting SMR, rigorous and constantly monitored approaches to sentiment analysis are most appropriate.

#16. What, if any, methods are used for determining the geography associated with the data?

Demographic and geographic information can often be an important and meaningful element for research and validation purposes. When considering SMR, what geographic information is available and how precise is the information (e.g., city or town, region, country, unknown)? What types of demographic data are available (e.g., age, gender, income, education)?

Researchers must take care to specify the methodology and sample size associated with the information. Inferred methods (based on Web site sources or language) may be associated with large sample sizes but have low validity. On the other hand, precise information is currently only available for an extremely tiny percentage of conversations and therefore often has insufficient generalizability.

The “Top 16 Questions” presented in this guide represent the core matters of importance to the research field with respect to social media research. They include issues of reliability, execution, interaction with other kinds of research, ethics and legal compliance, data quality, process, and outputs.

Importantly, the 16 questions in this document do not stand as the only ones the opinion research profession needs to address, nor do they take the place of standards of practice. Instead, they provide a starting point for experts and professionals to debate and discuss development toward this goal. As in any profession, a reasonable consensus should be reached in order to validly define and represent an industry standard of best practice. It is the goal of the Marketing Research Association that this document be widely distributed and contribute as such.

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234 Social Media Research Topics & Ideas

18 January 2024

last updated

Social media research encompasses a broad range of different topics that delve into the ever-evolving digital landscape. People investigate the impact of social platforms on society, exploring subjects, such as online identity formation, self-presentation, the psychology of virtual interactions, and others. Additionally, studies examine the influence of social media on politics, activism, and public opinion, uncovering patterns of information dissemination and polarization. Privacy concerns, cyberbullying, and online safety are also explored in-depth, seeking strategies to mitigate the associated risks. In this article, people can find many social media research topics, ideas, and examples.

Hot Social Media Research Topics

• Impacts of Social Media and Internet Algorithms on User Experience
• The Rise of TikTok: A Socio-Cultural Analysis
• Dealing With Cyberbullying: Strategies and Solutions
• Understanding the Phenomenon of Social Media ‘Cancel Culture’
• NFTs and Social Media: The Future of Digital Art?
• Ethical Concerns in the Era of Influencer Marketing
• Social Media’s Role in Accelerating E-Commerce Growth
• Impacts of Internet and Social Media on Journalism and News Reporting
• Understanding the Psychology of Viral Challenges on Social Platforms
• Cryptocurrency and Social Media: The Intersection
• Mitigating Misinformation and ‘Fake News’ on Social Media
• Augmented Reality (AR) in Social Media: A Game Changer?
• Evaluating the Impact of Social Media on Political Campaigns
• Social Media’s Influence on Fashion and Beauty Trends
• Privacy, Safety, and Security Concerns in the Age of Social Networking
• Roles of Free Access and Social Media in Promoting Sustainable Practices
• Implications of Social Media Addiction on Mental Health
• Examining Social Media’s Role in Crisis Communication
• The Power of User-Generated Content in Branding
• Influence of Social Media on Food Culture and Dining Trends

Easy Social Media Research Topics

• Impacts of Online Videos and Social Media on Mental Health
• Influencer Marketing: Efficacy and Ethical Concerns
• Evolution of Privacy Policies Across Social Platforms
• Understanding Virality: What Makes Content Shareable?
• Cyberbullying: Prevalence and Prevention Strategies
• Social Media and Political Polarization: An In-Depth Study
• Role of Social Media in Modern Business Strategies
• Effect of Social Media on Interpersonal Relationships
• Social Platforms as Tools for Social Change
• Navigating Online Hate Speech: A Legal Perspective
• Emerging Trends in Social Media Advertising
• Online Identity Construction and Self-Presentation
• The Psychology of Social Media Addiction
• Social Media’s Role in Crisis Management and Communication
• Sentiment Analysis in Social Media and Its Implications
• Social Media Algorithms: Bias and Implications
• The Phenomenon of Cancel Culture on Social Platforms
• Cybersecurity Threats in the Era of Social Media
• Analyzing Adverse Impacts of Social Media on Consumer Behavior

Interesting Social Media Research Topics

• Evaluating the Effects of Social Media on Language and Communication
• Roles of Social Media in Fostering Political Engagement
• Misinformation and Propaganda Spread Through Social Platforms
• Analyzing the Shift From Traditional Media to Social Media
• Dark Patterns in Social Media: Hidden Manipulative Tactics
• Social Media and Digital Activism: Revolutionizing Advocacy
• Augmented Reality (AR) and Its Impact on Social Networking
• Exploring Cybersecurity Issues in Social Media Platforms
• Roles and Effects of Social Media and News in Mental Health Promotion
• Strategies for Effective Social Media Crisis Management
• The Power of Live Streaming for Brands and Influencers
• Using Social Media to Enhance Classroom Learning
• Analyzing the Influence of Memes on Internet Culture
• Impacts of Social Media Algorithms on User Behavior
• Assessing the Correlation Between Social Media and Loneliness
• Geotagging and Its Implications for Personal Privacy
• Social Media and E-commerce: A Cross-Industry Study
• The Ethics of Digital Advertising on Social Platforms
• Understanding the Psychology of Social Media Trolls
• The Cultural Shift Caused by Social Media Localization

Social Media Research Paper Topics for High School

• The Phenomenon of Cyberbullying: Prevention and Strategies
• How Does Social Media Influence Teen Body Image?
• Evaluating the Educational Potential of Social Media Platforms
• Impacts of Social Media on Adolescents’ Self-Esteem
• Roles of Free Connection and Social Media in Modern Political Activism
• Exploring the Concept of ‘Digital Citizenship’ Among Teenagers
• The Ethics of Social Media Privacy: User Rights and Responsibilities
• Social Media Addiction: Understanding Its Causes and Effects
• Influence of Social Media on Modern Communication Styles
• Analyzing Positive Roles of Social Media in Promoting Reading Culture
• Social Media and Mental Health: Correlation or Causation?
• The Role of Social Media in Global Environmental Awareness
• Examining Social Media’s Impact on Real-Life Social Skills
• Social Media Platforms: Tools for Personal Branding or Narcissism?
• Influence of Social Media Trends on Youth Fashion Choices
• Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers’ Sleep Patterns
• Online Safety: The Role of Parents and Schools in Social Media Usage
• How Does Social Media Influence Teenagers’ Views on Relationships?
• Social Media and Empathy: Does Online Interaction Decrease Compassion?

Social Media Research Paper Topics for College Students

• Evaluating the Impact of Social Media on Body Image and Self-Esteem
• The Influence of Social Media on Voting Patterns Among Young Adults
• Social Media as a Valid Tool for Social Change: A Case Study Approach
• Unveiling the Psychology of Social Media Addiction
• Social Media’s Role in Modern Journalism: Opportunities and Challenges
• Privacy Implications of Data Collection on Social Media Platforms
• Cyberbullying in the Age of Social Media: Scope and Solutions
• The Ethical Aspects of Social Media Influencer Marketing
• Roles and Effects of Social Media in Crisis Communication and Management
• Social Media and Its Effects on Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Analyzing Social Media Strategies of Successful Businesses
• Impacts of Internet Use and Social Media on Mental Health Among College Students
• The Roles That Social Media Has in Modern Political Campaigns
• Understanding the Social Media Algorithm: Bias and Implications
• Social Media and Consumer Behavior: The Power of Influencer Marketing
• Fake News, Authors, and Disinformation Spread Through Social Media Platforms
• Exploring Direct Links Between Social Media Use and Academic Performance
• Social Media’s Role in Promoting Sustainable Lifestyle Choices
• Regulation of Hate Speech and Offensive Content on Social Media
• The Power and Peril of Virality in the Age of Social Media

Social Media Research Paper Topics for University

• The Effect That Social Media Has on Global Politics
• The Ethics of Data Mining in Social Media
• Roles of Social Media in Business Marketing Strategies
• Social Media, Internet Use, and Their Impacts on Mental Health: A Systematic Review
• Algorithmic Bias in Social Media Platforms: Causes and Consequences
• The Influence of Colors and Social Media on Consumer Behavior
• Exploring Possible Relationships Between Social Media Use and Academic Performance
• Privacy, Morality, and Security Concerns in the Age of Social Media
• Social Media as a Platform for Digital Activism
• Impacts of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication and Relationships
• Cyberbullying on Social Media: Scope, Impact, and Preventive Measures
• The Role of Social Media in Spreading Health-Related Misinformation
• Analyzing the Effect of Social Media on Journalism Practices
• Understanding the Influence of Social Media on Body Image Perceptions
• Social Media’s Role in Crisis Management: Case Studies
• The Power and Effectiveness of Influencer Marketing on Social Media
• Fake News and Disinformation in the Social Media Age
• Regulatory Approaches to Hate Speech on Social Media Platforms
• The Economic Implications of Social Media: From Startups to Giants

Social Media Research Paper Topics for Masters

• Advanced Algorithms and Their Role in Shaping Social Media Interactions
• Evaluating the Impact of Social Media on Democratic Processes Globally
• The Intersection of Privacy, Data Mining, and Ethics in Social Media
• Quantitative Analysis of Social Media’s Impact on Consumer Buying Behavior
• Cybersecurity Threats in Social Media: Mitigation and Prevention Strategies
• Analyzing the Psychological Implications of Social Media Addiction
• Using Social Media Data to Predict Market Trends: An Econometric Approach
• Role of Social Media in Crisis Management: A Comparative Study
• The Sociolinguistic Impact of Social Media on Communication
• Machine Learning and AI in Social Media: An Examination of Emerging Trends
• Social Media as a Valid Tool for Public Health: Opportunities and Challenges
• Social Media’s Influence on Modern Journalism: A Critical Analysis
• Mapping Social Networks: A Graph Theory Approach
• Evaluating the Efficacy of Social Media Campaigns in Social Change Movements
• Analyzing the Role of Social Media in Corporate Reputation Management
• Data Privacy Laws and Social Media: A Comparative Study
• The Use of Small and Big Data Analytics in Social Media Marketing
• Social Media and Its Role in Strengthening Democracy: A Deep Dive
• The Impact of Social Media on Cultural Assimilation and Identity
• Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Social Media Content Moderation

Social Media Research Paper Topics for Ph.D.

• Analyzing the Impact of Social Media Algorithms on User Behavior and Perceptions
• Deciphering the Influence of Social Media on Political Campaign Strategies
• Examining the Role of Social Media in Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
• Social Media and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Analysis of Recent Studies
• Effects of Social Media and Internet Use on Consumer Buying Behavior: An Econometric Approach
• Social Media and Digital Diplomacy: A Critical Analysis
• Ethical Implications of Data Mining Techniques in Social Media Platforms
• Unpacking the Psychological Mechanisms of Social Media Addiction
• Role of Social Media in Contemporary Journalism: Opportunities and Challenges
• Social Media and Privacy: A Comparative Study of Data Protection Laws
• Machine Learning and AI in Social Media: Identifying Future Trends
• Social Media’s Possible Influence on People, Body Image, and Self-Esteem: A Meta-Analysis
• Analyzing the Role of Social Media in Crisis Management and Communication
• Impacts of Social Media on Different Language and Communication Styles
• Cybersecurity in Social Media: An Analysis of Current Threats and Mitigation Strategies
• Social Media as a Good Tool for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
• Effects of Social Media on Children and Their Parents: Social Skills and Interpersonal Relationships
• Roles of Social Media in Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Rights
• Social Media and its Influence on Cultural Assimilation and Identity Formation

Social Media Research Topics for Argumentative Papers

• Impacts of Social Media on Social and Political Discourses: Enhancing or Hindering Democratic Engagement?
• Social Media and Mental Health: Exploring the Association Between Excessive Usage and Psychological Well-Being
• Fostering Online Activism and Social Movements: The Role of Social Media
• Balancing Personal Information Sharing and Data Protection: Social Media and Privacy
• Exploring the Effects of Social Media on Body Image and Self-Esteem
• Social Media and Political Polarization: Reinforcing Echo Chambers or Encouraging Diverse Perspectives?
• Youth Culture and Identity Formation: The Influence of Social Media
• Fake News and Misinformation: Combating Inaccurate Information in the Era of Social Media
• Social Media and Cyberbullying: Examining the Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being
• The Ethics of Social Media Research: Privacy, Informed Consent, and Ethical Considerations
• Relationships in the Digital Age: Exploring the Influence of Social Media Use
• The Influence of Internet, Technology, and Social Media on Consumer Behavior and Buying Decisions
• Analyzing the Role of Online Platforms in Elections: Social Media and Political Campaigns
• Social Media in Education: Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of Integration in the Classroom
• Impacts of Social Media and Interface on News Consumption and Journalism Practices
• Body Politics in the Digital Space: Examining Representations of Gender, Race, and Body Image on Social Media
• Addressing Ethical and Security Concerns in the Digital Age: Social Media and Cybersecurity
• Shaping Consumer Behavior and Brand Perception: The Role of Social Media Influencers
• Civic Engagement in the Digital Era: Assessing the Role of Social Media Platforms
• The Influence of Social Media Algorithms on Information Consumption and Personalization

Social Media Research Topics for Persuasive Papers

• The Power of Social Media in Driving Social and Political Change
• Promoting Digital Literacy: Empowering Users to Navigate the Complexities of Social Media
• Social Media as a Catalyst for Social Justice Movements: Amplifying Marginalized Voices
• Countering Fake News and Misinformation on Social Media: Strategies for Critical Thinking
• Harnessing the Influence of Social Media for Environmental Activism and Sustainability
• The Dark Side of Social Media: Addressing Online Harassment and Cyberbullying
• Influencer Marketing: Ethical Considerations and Consumer Protection in the Digital Age
• Leveraging Social Media for Public Health Campaigns: Increasing Awareness and Behavioral Change
• Social Media and Mental Health: Promoting Well-Being in a Hyperconnected World
• Navigating the Privacy Paradox: Balancing Convenience and Personal Data Protection on Social Media
• Roles of Social Media and Internet in Fostering Civic Engagement and Democratic Participation
• Promoting Positive Body Image on Social Media: Redefining Beauty Standards and Empowering Individuals
• Enhancing Online Safety: Developing Policies and Regulations for Social Media Platforms
• Social Media and the Spread of Disinformation: Combating the Infodemic
• Roles of Social Media and Technology in Building and Sustaining Relationships: Connecting in a Digital Era
• Influencer Culture and Materialism: Examining the Impact on Consumer Behavior
• Social Media and Education: Maximizing Learning Opportunities and Bridging the Digital Divide
• The Power of Viral Hashtags: Exploring Social Movements and Online Activism
• Social Media and Political Polarization: Bridging Divides and Encouraging Constructive Dialogue

Social Media Topics for Pros and Cons Research Papers

• Examining the Social Effects of Digital Connectivity: Pros and Cons of Using Social Media
• Balancing Privacy Concerns in the Digital Age: Evaluating the Cons and Risks of Social Media Use
• Information Sharing in the Digital Era: Uncovering the Advantages of Social Media Platforms
• Building Online Communities: Analyzing the Strengths and Weaknesses of Social Media Interaction
• Navigating Political Discourse in the Digital Age: The Disadvantages of Social Media Engagement
• Mental Health in the Digital Sphere: Understanding the Benefits and Drawbacks of Social Media
• Combating Cyberbullying: Addressing the Negative Side of Online Social Interactions
• Personal Branding in the Digital Landscape: Empowerment vs. Self-Objectification on Social Media
• Establishing Meaningful Connections: Exploring the Pros and Cons of Social Media Relationships
• Leveraging the Educational Potential of Digital Platforms: Examining the Benefits of Social Media in Learning
• Body Image and Self-Esteem in the Age of Social Media: Weighing the Positives and Negatives
• From Digital Activism to Political Change: Assessing the Opportunities and Limitations of Social Media
• Unraveling the Influence: Social Media and Consumer Behavior in the Digital Marketplace
• Misinformation in the Digital Landscape: The Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Spread of Disinformation
• Crisis Communication in the Digital Age: Navigating the Benefits and Challenges of Social Media
• Tackling Fake News: Navigating Misinformation in the Era of Social Media
• Maximizing Business Opportunities: Evaluating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing
• The Psychology of Social Media: Analyzing the Upsides and Downsides of Digital Engagement
• Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Socialization: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Implications
• Online Activism: The Power and Limitations of Social Media Movements

Social Media Topics for Cause and Effect Research Papers

• Enhancing Political Activism: Exploring the Relationship Between Social Media and Civic Engagement
• The Psychological Effects of Digital Connectivity: Investigating the Relationship Between Mental Health of People and Social Media Use
• Political Polarization in the Online Sphere: Understanding the Impact of Digital Networks
• Disrupted Sleep Patterns in the Digital Era: Exploring the Role of Online Platforms
• Digital Distractions and Academic Performance: Analyzing the Effects of Online Engagement
• Navigating Online Relationships: Understanding the Impacts of Digital Interactions
• The Digital Marketplace: Exploring Consumer Behavior in the Age of Online Platforms
• The Loneliness Epidemic: Investigating the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Social Isolation
• Redefining Political Participation: The Influence of Digital Networks on Democracy
• Unmasking Digital Identities: The Psychological Effects of Social Media Use
• News Consumption in the Digital Era: Exploring the Impacts of Online Platforms
• Cyberbullying in the Virtual World: Analyzing the Effects of Online Interactions
• The Digital Campaign Trail: Investigating the Influence of Online Platforms on Voter Behavior
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) in the Digital Age: Exploring the Psychological Consequences
• Body Dissatisfaction in the Digital Sphere: Understanding the Impacts of Online Presence
• Information Overload: Coping With the Digital Deluge in the Information Age
• Privacy Concerns in the Online Landscape: Analyzing the Implications of Digital Footprints
• Unveiling the Dark Side: Exploring the Relationship Between Online Activities and Substance Abuse
• Bridging the Political Divide: The Impact of Digital Networks on Sociopolitical Polarization

To Learn More, Read Relevant Articles

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The Top 10 Most Interesting Social Media Research Topics

Finding social media research topics you’re interested in is tricky. Social media is a fairly new field, and the constant arrival of new technology means that it’s always evolving. So, students have a lot to think about in their search for topics.

In this article, we’re going to walk you through social media research paper topics that are timely and relevant. We’ll also show you examples of social media research topics you can get inspiration from. Lastly, we’re going to lay out some social media research questions you can ponder while formulating your topic.

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What makes a strong social media research topic.

A strong social media research topic requires clarity of focus. This means that your topic must be timely, relevant, and coherent. This allows your research topic to be compelling and easily understandable to others.

Tips for Choosing a Social Media Research Topic

• Know the trends. Learning what social media topics are trending allows you to know the relevant issues and emergent themes in the field of social media. This also lets you know what topics are well-researched and which ones are still emerging.
• Explore knowledge gaps. Knowing what previous researchers have written prevents you from repeating knowledge that has already been explored and shared. Nobody wants to reinvent the wheel when doing research. Exploring knowledge gaps lets you increase the impact of your work and identify opportunities for further research.
• Choose something that you’re interested in. Diving deep into a topic that you’re interested in motivates you to learn more about it. The research process becomes more engaging when you know you care about your topic.
• Be specific. Knowing what you want to research and what you don’t want to research are keys to the research process. This entails narrowing down your topic to a specific area, subject, theme, or relationship. You want to know the scope and the limitations of your study.
• Check your timeframe. Limiting your topic to a specific timeframe helps in narrowing down what you need to study. For example, you can decide to study a phenomenon that has emerged in just the last three years. By doing this, you’re making sure that your research is both specific and relevant.

What’s the Difference Between a Research Topic and a Research Question?

The difference between a research topic and a research question is in the scope. Research topics tend to be broader than research questions. Research topics focus on a specific area of study within a larger field, while a research question further narrows down what you are researching. A good research question allows you to write on your topic with greater precision.

How to Create Strong Social Media Research Questions

The key to creating strong social media research questions is learning enough about your topic to know where the gaps are. This means that you have to conduct a thorough social media literature review, reading previous studies until you have a handle on what’s been said and what questions are still unanswered. Your question will emerge from this preliminary research.

Top 10 Social Media Research Paper Topics

1. a comparative review of facebook, instagram, and tiktok as primary marketing platforms for small businesses.

A lot of small businesses have flocked to various social media sites to market their products and services. Social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok are platforms that deliver constant online content to their users. Comparing the marketing and advertising strategies of these online platforms will shed light on how social media helps businesses .

2. The Influence of Social Media on Mental Health

Mental health has been an important topic in social media research these past few years. Social media use and its connection to mental health has even been the subject of systematic reviews. This means that there’s a huge body of previous studies that you can look to when developing your research question.

Exploring both the positive effects and negative impacts of social media sites on mental health helps people and firms establish guidelines that help user communities. This research topic might also cover strategies for helping social media users improve their mental health.

3. The Role of Social Media in Political Campaigning

Social media is a new tool for political campaigning. Exploring what social media strategies have been conducted by politicians running for office helps in determining how social media aids in political campaigning. Studying new strategies like user-generated content for political campaigning allows you to know how voters interact with political candidates.

4. The Role of Social Media in Disinformation

The rise of fake news has coincided with the rise of social networking websites. This topic involves dissecting how social media technologies allow certain types of online content to thrive and make it easier for bad actors to spread disinformation.

5. How Social Media Can Benefit Communities

More and more social issues have been popularized through online content. Diving deep into how social media can facilitate organizational networking lets you compare the traditional and new organizing strategies being created in digital spaces. It also lets you understand how social media activity influences trends in virtual communities.

6. The Effects of Social Media Exposure on Child Development

Children also use social media sites. Some children use social networking sites under the supervision of their parents, and some do not. Social interaction, online or not, affects how children develop. Studying the psychological effects of social media exposure lets you know how social media may improve or derail the growth of children.

7. How Communication Has Evolved Through Social Media

Body language, tone of voice, and other non-verbal cues are absent in online forms of communication. In their place, emojis and other new ways to express thoughts and emotions have appeared. Learning how social media changes the way we talk to one another allows you to develop a theory of communication that takes into account the role of digital communities.

8. Social Media Platforms as Primary News Sources

A lot of people now are getting their daily dose of news and current events through social media. News networks have also established their social media presence on platforms that they can use to deliver news and current events to their audiences. Researching this topic lets you investigate the changes and innovations in information dissemination.

9. How Social Media Paves Way for Non-Traditional Advertising

Regular social media posts, advertisements, and other forms of online content aren’t the only ways businesses market to their audiences. Social media has paved the way for user-generated content and other non-traditional types of online marketing. With this topic, you can learn social media marketing strategies that have been capitalized on the social connection fostered by social networking websites.

10. Impacts of Social Media Presence on Corporate Image

More businesses increasingly build and curate their digital presence through various social networks. Knowing how a business can improve its corporate image through social media influence clarifies the role of technology in modern economics and online marketing.

Other Examples of Social Media Research Topics & Questions

Social media research topics.

• Social Media Addiction and Adolescent Mental Health
• The Rise of Social Media Influencers
• The Role of Social Media Sites as Political Organizing Tools Under Repressive Governments
• Social Media Influencers and Adolescent Mental Health
• How Social Media Is Used in Natural Disasters and Critical Events

Social Media Research Questions

• How was Facebook used as a political campaigning tool in the 2020 United States presidential election? 
• What social platforms are the most effective in influencing consumer behavior?
• How does user-generated content boost the credibility of a business?
• How do different types of online content disseminated through popular networks affect the attention span of people?
• What are the most effective forms of online content and social media strategies for increasing sales conversions for small businesses?

Choosing the Right Social Media Research Topic

Choosing the right social media research topic helps you create meaningful contributions to the discipline of social media studies. Knowing the most popular topics in the field can make you an expert on social media. By reading up on previous studies, you will not only be more informed but you will also be in a position to make a positive impact on future studies.

Studying the relationship between social media and different fields produces valuable knowledge. Even if you’re only interested in exploring one social platform or a single social media event or phenomenon, your research can help people better understand how social media engagement changes the face of social relationships in the world at large.

Social Media Research Topics FAQ

Social media is a computer-based technology that allows digital communities to exchange information through user networks. Various social media networks specialize in text, photo, or video transfer. All of these are ways for people on the Internet to share information and ideas with each other.

Social media research is important because it helps you contribute to the growing body of knowledge about digital social settings. In 2021, according to DataReportal, at least 4.88 billion people around the world use the Internet . The more that people connect with each other through the social media domain, the more their quality of life changes, for better or worse.

According to Statista, the most popular social media platforms right now are Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp , each of which has at least two billion users. These social networks allow users to share text, picture, and video content with one another.

People use social media to connect with each other, share information, and entertain themselves. Social media sites can broadly serve all of these purposes or be focused on just one of these functions.

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Home » 300+ Social Media Research Topics

300+ Social Media Research Topics

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, and it has transformed the way we communicate, share information, and interact with each other. As social media platforms continue to evolve and gain popularity, they have also become a rich source of data for researchers. Social media research is a rapidly growing field that encompasses a wide range of topics , from understanding the psychological and social effects of social media to analyzing patterns of user behavior and identifying trends in online conversations. In this era of data-driven decision-making, social media research is more important than ever, as it provides insights into how we use and are influenced by social media. In this post, we will explore some of the most fascinating and relevant social media research topics that are shaping our understanding of this powerful medium.

Social Media Research Topics

Social Media Research Topics are as follows:

• The effects of social media on mental health
• The role of social media in political polarization
• The impact of social media on relationships
• The use of social media by businesses for marketing
• The effects of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The influence of social media on consumer behavior
• The use of social media for education
• The effects of social media on language use and grammar
• The impact of social media on news consumption
• The role of social media in activism and social change
• The use of social media for job seeking and career development
• The effects of social media on sleep patterns
• The influence of social media on adolescent behavior
• The impact of social media on the spread of misinformation
• The use of social media for personal branding
• The effects of social media on political participation
• The influence of social media on fashion trends
• The impact of social media on sports fandom
• The use of social media for mental health support
• The effects of social media on creativity
• The role of social media in cultural exchange
• The impact of social media on language learning
• The use of social media for crisis communication
• The effects of social media on privacy and security
• The influence of social media on diet and exercise behavior
• The impact of social media on travel behavior
• The use of social media for citizen journalism
• The effects of social media on political accountability
• The role of social media in peer pressure
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships
• The use of social media for community building
• The effects of social media on gender identity
• The influence of social media on music consumption
• The impact of social media on academic performance
• The use of social media for social support
• The effects of social media on social skills
• The role of social media in disaster response
• The impact of social media on nostalgia and memory
• The use of social media for charity and philanthropy
• The effects of social media on political polarization in developing countries
• The influence of social media on literary consumption
• The impact of social media on family relationships
• The use of social media for citizen science
• The effects of social media on cultural identity
• The role of social media in promoting healthy behaviors
• The impact of social media on language diversity
• The use of social media for environmental activism
• The effects of social media on attention span
• The influence of social media on art consumption
• The impact of social media on cultural values and norms.
• The impact of social media on mental health
• The impact of social media on mental health.
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem.
• The use of social media for political activism and social justice movements.
• The role of social media in promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity.
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships and dating.
• The use of social media for customer service and support.
• The impact of social media on mental health and well-being among young adults.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and partisanship.
• The use of social media for health communication and behavior change.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards vaccination.
• The impact of social media on political participation and civic engagement.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and echo chambers.
• The use of social media for political campaigning and the manipulation of public opinion.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards vaccination and public health.
• The impact of social media on news consumption and trust in journalism.
• The use of social media for promoting sustainable fashion practices and ethical consumption.
• The role of social media in influencing beauty standards and body image.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and the role of social media influencers.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among healthcare professionals.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards gun violence and gun control policies.
• The impact of social media on social activism and advocacy.
• The use of social media for promoting cross-cultural communication and intercultural understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards climate change and environmental policies.
• The impact of social media on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and access to financial services for low-income individuals.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards immigration policies and refugee crises.
• The impact of social media on political activism and social movements.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology education in developing countries.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards gender and sexual orientation.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among first responders.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards racial justice and police brutality.
• The impact of social media on privacy concerns and data security.
• The use of social media for promoting interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards income inequality and economic justice.
• The impact of social media on the film and television industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among military personnel.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards privacy and data security.
• The impact of social media on the hospitality industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting intergenerational communication and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards animal welfare and animal rights.
• The impact of social media on the gaming industry and gamer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology skills among seniors.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards renewable energy and sustainability.
• The impact of social media on the advertising industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among children and adolescents.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards online privacy and security.
• The impact of social media on the beauty industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural preservation and heritage tourism.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards criminal justice reform.
• The impact of social media on the automotive industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among marginalized communities.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards sustainable development goals.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural communication in the workplace.
• The role of social media in shaping public attitudes towards mental health policies.
• The impact of social media on the travel industry and sustainable tourism practices.
• The use of social media for health information seeking and patient empowerment.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental activism and sustainable practices.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior and brand loyalty.
• The use of social media for promoting education and lifelong learning.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards mental health issues.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and fast fashion practices.
• The use of social media for promoting social entrepreneurship and social innovation.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun control.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of adolescents.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural exchange and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards climate change.
• The impact of social media on political advertising and campaign strategies.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy relationships and communication skills.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards police brutality and racial justice.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and personal finance management.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ rights.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and fan engagement.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among marginalized populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration and border policies.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of journalists.
• The use of social media for promoting community building and social cohesion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards healthcare policies.
• The impact of social media on the food industry and consumer behavior.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gender equality.
• The impact of social media on the sports industry and athlete-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting financial inclusion and access to banking services.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards animal welfare.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among college students.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards privacy and data security.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards income inequality and poverty.
• The use of social media for promoting digital literacy and technology skills.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards renewable energy.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among elderly populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards online privacy and security.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards criminal justice reform.
• The impact of social media on online activism and social movements.
• The use of social media for business-to-business communication and networking.
• The role of social media in promoting civic education and engagement.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry and sustainable fashion practices.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural diversity and inclusion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards police reform.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of frontline healthcare workers.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and investment education.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental sustainability and conservation.
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem among adolescent girls.
• The use of social media for promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration policies and refugees.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of healthcare professionals.
• The use of social media for promoting community resilience and disaster preparedness.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards the Black Lives Matter movement.
• The impact of social media on the music industry and artist-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy eating habits and nutrition education.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among college students.
• The impact of social media on the entertainment industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting workplace diversity and inclusion.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards climate change policies.
• The impact of social media on the travel industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among military veterans.
• The role of social media in promoting intergenerational dialogue and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of educators.
• The use of social media for promoting animal welfare and advocacy.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards reproductive rights.
• The impact of social media on the sports industry and fan behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting financial inclusion and literacy among underprivileged populations.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among LGBTQ+ populations.
• The impact of social media on the food and beverage industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun ownership.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among caregivers.
• The role of social media in promoting sustainable tourism practices.
• The impact of social media on the gaming industry and gamer culture.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural heritage tourism and preservation.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards public transportation policies.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among homeless populations.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among immigrants and refugees.
• The use of social media for promoting financial literacy and entrepreneurship among youth.
• The use of social media for political mobilization and participation in authoritarian regimes.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards immigration policies.
• The impact of social media on the professional development of teachers and educators.
• The use of social media for emergency communication during public health crises.
• The role of social media in promoting LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on body positivity and self-acceptance among women.
• The use of social media for public diplomacy and international relations.
• The impact of social media on the mental health and well-being of marginalized communities.
• The use of social media for crisis management and disaster response in the corporate sector.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental activism and conservation.
• The impact of social media on the professional development and networking of entrepreneurs.
• The use of social media for medical education and healthcare communication.
• The role of social media in promoting cultural exchange and understanding.
• The impact of social media on social capital and civic engagement among young adults.
• The use of social media for disaster preparedness and community resilience.
• The role of social media in promoting religious pluralism and tolerance.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness.
• The use of social media for fundraising and philanthropy in the non-profit sector.
• The role of social media in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the travel and tourism industry and consumer behavior.
• The use of social media for customer engagement and brand loyalty in the retail sector.
• The impact of social media on the political attitudes and behaviors of young adults.
• The use of social media for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• The use of social media for promoting animal welfare and adoption.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and well-being among the elderly.
• The impact of social media on the art industry and artist-fan interactions.
• The use of social media for promoting healthy food choices and nutrition.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards income inequality.
• The use of social media for promoting political satire and humor.
• The role of social media in promoting disability rights and advocacy.
• The use of social media for promoting voter registration and participation.
• The role of social media in promoting entrepreneurship and small business development.
• The use of social media for promoting mental health and well-being among incarcerated populations.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and attitudes towards gun violence prevention.
• The use of social media for promoting cultural heritage and preservation.
• The impact of social media on mental health and well-being.
• The relationship between social media use and academic performance.
• The use of social media for emergency communication during natural disasters.
• The impact of social media on traditional news media and journalism.
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion and discourse.
• The use of social media for online learning and education.
• The impact of social media on the fashion and beauty industry.
• The use of social media for brand awareness and marketing.
• The impact of social media on privacy and security.
• The use of social media for job searching and recruitment.
• The impact of social media on political polarization and extremism.
• The use of social media for online harassment and cyberbullying.
• The role of social media in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.
• The impact of social media on youth culture and identity formation.
• The use of social media for travel and tourism marketing.
• The impact of social media on consumer behavior and decision-making.
• The role of social media in shaping beauty standards and body positivity.
• The use of social media for crisis communication and disaster response.
• The impact of social media on the music industry.
• The use of social media for fundraising and philanthropy.
• The role of social media in promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness.
• The impact of social media on sports fandom and fan behavior.
• The use of social media for political lobbying and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on the entertainment industry.
• The use of social media for healthcare communication and patient engagement.
• The role of social media in promoting gender equality and feminism.
• The impact of social media on the restaurant and food industry.
• The use of social media for volunteerism and community service.
• The role of social media in promoting religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
• The impact of social media on the art industry.
• The use of social media for political satire and humor.
• The role of social media in promoting disability awareness and advocacy.
• The impact of social media on the real estate industry.
• The use of social media for legal advocacy and justice reform.
• The role of social media in promoting intercultural communication and understanding.
• The impact of social media on the automotive industry.
• The use of social media for pet adoption and animal welfare advocacy.
• The role of social media in promoting mental health and wellness for marginalized communities.
• The impact of social media on the retail industry.
• The use of social media for promoting civic engagement and voter participation.
• The impact of social media on the film and television industry.
• The use of social media for fashion and style inspiration.
• The role of social media in promoting activism for human rights and social issues.
• The effectiveness of social media for political campaigns.
• The role of social media in promoting fake news and misinformation.
• The impact of social media on self-esteem and body image.
• The impact of social media on romantic relationships.
• The use of social media for online activism and social justice movements.
• The impact of social media on traditional news media.
• The impact of social media on interpersonal communication skills.
• The impact of social media on the fashion industry.
• The use of social media for social support and mental health awareness.
• The use of social media for political lobbying and activism.
• The impact of social media on travel and tourism behavior.
• The use of social media for customer feedback and market research.
• The impact of social media on the restaurant industry.
• The role of social media in political activism
• The effect of social media on interpersonal communication
• The relationship between social media use and body image concerns
• The impact of social media on self-esteem
• The role of social media in shaping cultural norms and values
• The use of social media by celebrities and its impact on their image
• The role of social media in building and maintaining personal relationships
• The use of social media for job searching and recruitment
• The impact of social media on children and adolescents
• The use of social media by political candidates during election campaigns
• The role of social media in education
• The impact of social media on political polarization
• The use of social media for news consumption
• The effect of social media on sleep habits
• The use of social media by non-profit organizations for fundraising
• The role of social media in shaping public opinion
• The influence of social media on language and communication patterns
• The use of social media in crisis communication and emergency management
• The role of social media in promoting environmental awareness
• The influence of social media on music preferences
• The impact of social media on body positivity movements
• The role of social media in shaping beauty standards
• The influence of social media on sports fandom
• The use of social media for health promotion and education
• The impact of social media on political participation
• The role of social media in shaping parenting practices
• The influence of social media on food preferences and eating habits
• The use of social media for peer support and mental health advocacy
• The role of social media in shaping religious beliefs and practices
• The influence of social media on humor and comedy
• The use of social media for online activism and social justice advocacy
• The impact of social media on public health awareness campaigns
• The role of social media in promoting cultural diversity and inclusion
• The influence of social media on travel behavior and decision-making
• The use of social media for international diplomacy and relations
• The impact of social media on job satisfaction and employee engagement
• The role of social media in shaping romantic preferences and dating behavior
• The influence of social media on language learning and language use
• The use of social media for political satire and humor
• The impact of social media on social capital and community building
• The role of social media in shaping gender identity and expression
• The influence of social media on fashion and beauty advertising.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Social media research: Step-by-step tutorial with examples

• Introduction: What is social media research?
• Step 1: Develop a research design
• Step 2: Collect & import your social media data
• Step 3: Data preparation

Step 4: Get an overview

• Step 5: Categorize your data
• Step 6: Aggregate & present your results

Further learning materials

Friday, January 5, 2024

How to conduct social media research with MAXQDA?

Social Media has drastically changed the way we communicate. Nowadays it’s a lot easier for an individual to communicate with a large audience or with strangers living on the other side of the planet, and to find and communicate with others researching similar topics. Companies, organizations, and political parties can target a specific group of people for their campaign and receive immediate feedback. So, it’s not a surprise that online communication has become more prevalent, which in turn has increased the significance of social media platforms.

Researchers and marketers alike benefit from the wealth of data available on social media platforms, gaining insights into the public’s opinions, communication patterns, and more. Social media research describes the process of collecting and analyzing social media data, such as posts, comments, and likes in order to understand communication patterns, public opinions, and trends.

Who conducts social media research?

Compared to other data collection instruments, such as focus group discussions, collecting social media data is less resource-intensive as the data is easily accessible. However, researchers are confronted with extensive data when performing social media research. Depending on the topic thousands and thousands of posts and comments exist. Consequently, social media researchers need QDA software that is well-equipped for challenges like these, such as MAXQDA. MAXQDA can facilitate your social media research with its numerous data organization and analysis tools. MAXQDA’s auto-coding and sentiment analysis are particularly useful tools, allowing you to explore many posts without reading each one individually. Furthermore, AI Assist, MAXQDA’s AI-based features, are well-suited to handle big data. In the present guide we aim to explain how you can perform social media research with MAXQDA.

Step 1: Develop a research design for social media research

As for any other research project, we advise you to develop a research design before starting your social media research. A research design serves as a structured plan outlining how a researcher intends to answer a specific research question. Determine the specific social media data you wish to analyze and define the precise methodology for your analysis. Among other considerations, ask yourself which social media platform(s) you want to consider, whether there is a time frame of interest; and if you plan to exclusively focus on social media posts containing particular hashtags or keywords. You must address these questions to develop a well-designed study that ensures reliable and valid results. We recommend reading our Research Design guide if you need clarification on what a research design entails.

Please note that the order of the steps presented here is flexible and depends on your research design and research question.

Step 2: Collect & import your social media data

With MAXQDA, you have several options for importing your social media data. On the one side, MAXQDA provides specialized import tools for YouTube comments and specialized analysis tools for YouTube data and X (formerly known as Twitter) data. Suppose you want to import and analyze data from a different social media platform. Then, you can either use MAXQDA’s WebCollector to collect and import entire webpages into MAXQDA or another social media data collection service, saving the data in a MAXQDA-compatible format, like an Excel file. There are several online tools for exporting social media data.

MAXQDA’s WebCollector

You can use MAXQDA’s WebCollector – a free Chrome Browser extension – to export entire websites in a format that can be imported into MAXQDA. The free MAXQDA WebCollector is availale on the Chrome WebStore.

Get the MAXQDA WebCollector

After installing the extension, export the webpage from your social media platform of interest. In the case of X (formerly known as Twitter) you have two options. You can either export only top-level posts or a specific top-level post, including all its replies. Search for a hashtag and export the search results, i.e., all posts containing this hashtag, by opening the WebCollector extension and clicking “Collect.” If you want, you can add notes in the Document Memo section, such as the time frame or other parameters of your search. Upon import into MAXQDA, these notes will be imported as a Document Memo.

Use the MAXQDA WebCollector to export social media data

In the case you are specifically interested in specific posts, e.g., posts from a certain account or posts with a lot of replies, click on the post so that the original post and all comments are displayed. Now, export the website with MAXQDA’s WebCollector to compile the original posts, including all replies.

Step 3: Social media research data preparation

Before starting the actual analysis, you might want to clean and organize your data in a meaningful way. For example, you could remove irrelevant and duplicate posts. You could also organize your data in document groups, e.g., based on the social media platform, a time range, a hashtag, or whatever category is important to your social media research.

Organize your data in Document groups

You may add variables to the imported social media data depending on your research design. For example, when investigating social media trends over time, it can be handy for further analysis to add variables such as the date and timing of the post. To do so, simply go to the “Variables” tab and click “List of Document Variables.” By clicking “New variable,” you can add new variables, specify their type, and define missing values.

Add document variables to improve your social media research

Depending on your research approach, you might benefit from an overview of the data before creating and applying codes, e.g., when following an inductive approach. In other cases, you might already have codes in mind and use them prior to summarizing the data, e.g., in deductive approaches.

When following an inductive approach, you might want to get a basic understanding of the collected social media data and base your codes on the actual content. MAXQDA offers numerous tools, allowing you to get a quick overview. Especially useful when working with big data, such as in social media research, are MAXQDA’s auto-coding and AI-based tools.

Summarize social media data with AI Assist

We acknowledge that AI can assist researchers in qualitative data analysis as well as in other areas of life. Therefore, we developed the AI Assist add-on – your virtual research assistant. AI Assist features several tools that can facilitate your social media research. AI Assist’s Summarize Document function is handy for a quick content overview. This feature creates a summary of entire documents, e.g., of a post and its replies, which it stores in Document Memos. To let AI Assist summarize your document, right-click on it in the Documents window, and choose AI Assist > Summarize Document. You can edit and refine the summary within the Document Memo. These summaries might help you get an idea about the key points discussed and develop codes accordingly.

With AI-generated summaries you can speed up your social media research

Automatically analyze the public’s sentiment

Often, people performing social media research are not interested in every single opinion of every single individual but in the general sentiment towards a topic, politician, issue, or product. With MAXQDA, you can perform a sentiment analysis in no time. To perform a sentiment analysis, open the Smart Coding Tool in the Codes tab. Since the Smart Coding tool works on the level of coded segments, you need to dummy-code your data prior to the sentiment analysis. When importing YouTube comments, comments and replies are automatically coded. However, when importing data through other means, such as via the WebCollector, you may want to manually create the codes ‘post’ and ‘reply’ to quickly code your data. Subsequently, you can perform automatic sentiment analysis by clicking on the button “Analyze Sentiments.” To autocode your social media data with the respective sentiment, click “Autocode Segments with Sentiment.” Then, MAXQDA creates the code ‘Sentiment’ with the identified sentiments as subcodes. By looking at the code frequencies you get a first impression of the general public sentiment.

Autocode the sentiment of your social media data

Subsequently, you can use MAXQDA’s retrieval function to, e.g., focus your social media research on negative posts. To do so, simply activate the documents of interest and the code ‘Sentiment’ > ‘Negative’. All text segments coded with this code will be displayed in the Retrieved Segments window. If you plan to create subcodes, for example to divide the negative sentiment into reasons why people dislike your product, you can again use the Smart Coding tool. Select the code ‘Negative’ from the Code tree on the left site and MAXQDA will display only the segments with a negative sentiment to which you can apply additional codes.

Summarize coded segments with AI Assist

Rather than going through the ‘Negative’ posts individually, you can again use the power of artificial intelligence to create a summary of the coded segments. To do so, right-click the code ‘Negative’ in the Codes window and select AI Assist > Summarize coded segments. Similarly, to the Summarize Document feature, AI Assist will add the summary in a memo.

Step 5: Categorize your social media research data

In many qualitative research projects, including social media research, coding/categorizing your data is an important step. When working inductively, the AI-generated summaries might provide initial ideas for codes. When working deductively, you probably already have codes in mind. With MAXQDA you can easily create codes, assign code colors, and define rules for coding in the New Code window regardless of your approach. Furthermore, you can organize your codes hierarchically. But there is more – MAXQDA allows you to create emoticodes which might come handy when analyzing social media data. For more information on various coding methods, you can refer to:

Learn more about coding with MAXQDA

Autocode your social media data

Especially useful for big data is MAXQDA’s Text Search & Autocode feature, which is located in the Analysis tab. This feature allows you to search for keywords and automatically code them. You can also use logical operators, such as OR, to search for a list of keywords simultaneously e.g., to find all synonyms of a word with just one search. If you are interested in certain concepts, you can create dictionaries of keywords defining the concept and search for multiple concepts at once (search for the whole dictionary). To do so, you first need to create a dictionary. Therefore, go to the MAXDictio tab and select Dictionaries.

Search & autocode important keywords for your social media research

Generate subcode suggestions with AI Assist

In the coding of qualitative data, researchers often start with broad codes, intending to refine them in a later step of the social media research. Alongside the Smart Coding Tool, which is ideal for code refinement, as explained earlier, AI Assist’s “Suggest Subcodes” is another valuable tool. You can use this feature to to get subcode suggestions. Simply, right-click on a code and select AI Assist > Subcode Suggestions.

Step 6: Aggregate & present your results

A crucial step involves consolidating your social media research results into a format that is easily understandable for others. For example, charts and visualisations can aggregate huge amount of data in an easily comprehensible graph that answers your research question. Of course, MAXQDA has integrated visualisation and charting tools. Some tools that might be especially useful for presenting social media data are presented in the following sections.

Word Cloud for visualizing the most frequent words

MAXQDA’s World Cloud, which can also be used with data that hasn’t been coded, is one of the most appropriate visualization tools in social media research. Select the document(s) that serve as the basis for your word cloud and generate a visual representation of the most recurring words. To exclude frequent, yet non-informative words such as ‘the’ or ‘a,’ you can apply a stop word list to the data, effectively filtering out these ubiquitous terms. We offer several Stop Word Lists in several languages on our website, so you don’t have to create one yourself.

Get Stop Word Lists

Word Cloud displaying the most frequent words of YouTube comments

Visualize trends

If your social media research analyzes a topic over time, the Trends function might also interest you. Currently, MAXQDA offers Word Trends, Code Trends, and Dictionary Categories Trends. To explore how code or word frequencies change across time, you should store your social media data in distinct documents – one document per time range. While Word Trends can be used even when the data is not coded, Code Trends requires coded data. No matter whether you are using Code or Word trends, select Trends for multiple documents. Then, select the documents (and codes) of interest and MAXQDA will visualize them. For example, you can use the Code Trends tool on auto-generated sentiment codes to investigate how sentiments towards a topic change over time.

Aside from analyzing trends across time, you can also use MAXQDA’s Trends tool to compare reactions, e.g., between different social media plattforms. To do this, you need to organize your data as follows: create a separate document for each social media plattform containing all posts of interest. Next, choose your preferred Trends tool and again choose trends for multiple documents. In case you are interested in how a discussion evolves in a comment section, given that the data is stored in one document, you can opt for the single document trends feature. MAXQDA splits the document in 10 segments, allowing you to see how word/code frequencies look across them.

Visualizing sentiment trends for #maxqda across weeks

Write your report with QTT

Questions-Themes-Theories (QTT) provides an innovative workspace for gathering important visualizations, notes, segments, and other analytical results. It is an excellent tool for organizing your thoughts and crafting your social media research report. To get started, create a dedicated worksheet for your topics and research questions, and populate it with pertinent analysis elements extracted from other MAXQDA functions. For example, you can incorporate your Trends visualization to a QTT worksheet by clicking on the button, as shown in the screenshot below. Exploratory coded segments related to a set of social media posts can be added to the QTT worksheet via the context menu. For each imported element you can add insights. Furthermore, you have the option to add your conclusions and theories, as well as your research design. Subsequently, you can view all analysis elements and insights to write your final conclusion. The new Questions-Themes-Theories tool is designed to assist you finalize your social media research. With just one click, you can export your worksheet and use it as a starting point for your social media research report.

Add a visualization to a QTT worksheet

We offer a variety of complimentary learning materials to help you get started with your social media research. Check out the recording of a spotlight session on analyzing social media data with MAXQDA which was held at the MAXDAYS conference in 2023. In addition, the free book “The Practice of Qualitative Data Analysis,” provides ten case studies with brief real-world examples, demonstrating MAXQDA’s practical applications.

Spotlight Session: Analyzing Social Media Data with MAXQDA

The Practice of Qualitative Data Analysis

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13 social media research topics to explore in 2024

Last updated

15 January 2024

Reviewed by

Miroslav Damyanov

To help you choose a specific area to examine, here are some of the top social media research topics that are relevant in 2024.

• What makes a strong social media research topic?

Consider the factors below to ensure your topic is strong and compelling:

Clarity: regardless of the topic you investigate, clarity is essential. It ensures readers will be able to understand your work and any wider learnings. Your argument should be clear and your language unambiguous.

Trend relevancy: you need to know what’s currently happening in social media to draw relevant conclusions. Before choosing a topic, consider current popular platforms, trending content, and current use cases to ensure you understand social media as it is today.

New insights: if your research is to be new, innovative, and helpful for the wider population, it should cover areas that haven’t been studied before. Look into what’s already been thoroughly researched to help you uncover knowledge gaps that could be good focus areas.

• Tips for choosing social media research topics

When considering social media research questions, it’s also important to consider whether you’re the right person to conduct that area of study. Your skills, interests, and time allocated will all impact your suitability.

Consider your skillset: your specific expertise is highly valuable when conducting research. Choosing a topic that aligns with your skills will help ensure you can add a thorough analysis and your own learnings.

Align with your interests: if you’re deeply interested in a topic, you’re much more likely to enjoy the process and dedicate the time it needs for a thorough analysis.

Consider your resources: the time you have available to complete the research, your allocated funds, and access to resources should all impact the research topic you choose.

• 13 social media research paper topics

To help you choose the right area of research, we’ve rounded up some of the most compelling topics within the sector. These ideas may also help you come up with your own.

1. The influence of social media on mental health

It’s well-documented that social media can impact mental health. For example, a significant amount of research has highlighted the link between social media and conditions like anxiety, depression, and stress—but there’s still more to uncover in this area.

There are high rates of mental illness worldwide, so there’s continual interest in ways to understand and mitigate it. Studies could focus on the following areas:

The reasons why social media can impact mental health

How social media can impact specific mental health conditions (you might also look at different age groups here)

How to reduce social media’s impact on mental health

2. The effects of social media exposure on child development

There are many unknowns with social media. More research is needed to understand how it impacts children. As such, this is a very valuable research area.

You might explore the following topics:

How social media impacts children at different ages

The long-term effects of childhood social media use

The benefits of social media use in children

How social media use impacts childhood socialization, communication, and learning

3. The role of social media in political campaigning

Social media’s role in political campaigning is nothing new. The Cambridge Analytica Scandal, for example, involved data from millions of Facebook profiles being sold to a third party for political advertising. Many believe this could have impacted the 2016 US election results. Ultimately, Facebook had to pay a private class-action lawsuit of $725 million.

The role of social media in political campaigns is of global significance. Concerns are still high that social media can play a negative role in elections due to the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and the bandwagon effect.

Research in this area could look into the following topics:

How people are influenced by social media when it comes to voting

Ways to mitigate misinformation

Election interference and how this can be prevented

4. The role of social media in misinformation and disinformation

Misinformation and disinformation mean slightly different things. Misinformation is unintentionally sharing false or inaccurate information, while disinformation is sharing false information with the deliberate intent to mislead people.

Both can play a role not just in elections but throughout social media. This became particularly problematic during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research into this area is important given the widespread risk that comes with spreading false information about health and safety-related topics.

Here are some potential research areas:

How misinformation and disinformation are spread via social media

The impact of false information (you could focus on how it impacts health, for example)

Strategies for mitigating the impact of false information and encouraging critical thinking

The avenues through which to hold technology companies accountable for spreading misinformation

5. The impact of AI and deepfakes on social media 

AI technology is expected to continue expanding in 2024. Some are concerned that this could impact social media. One concern is the potential for the widespread use of deepfake technology—a form of AI that uses deep learning to create fake images.

Fake images can be used to discredit, shame, and control others, so researchers need to deeply understand this area of technology. You might look into the following areas:

The potential impacts of deepfakes on businesses and their reputations

Deepfake identities on social media: privacy concerns and other risks

How deepfake images can be identified, controlled, and prevented

6. How social media can benefit communities

While there’s much research into the potential negative impacts of social media, it can also provide many benefits.

Social media can establish connections for those who might otherwise be isolated in the community. It can facilitate in-person gatherings and connect people who are physically separated, such as relatives who live in different countries. Social media can also provide critical information to communities quickly in the case of emergencies.

Research into the ways social media can provide these key benefits can make interesting topics. You could consider the following:

Which social media platforms offer the most benefits

How to better use social media to lean into these benefits

How new social platforms could connect us in more helpful ways

7. The psychology of social media

Social media psychology explores human behavior in relation to social media. There are a range of topics within social media psychology, including the following: 

The influence of social media on social comparison

Addiction and psychological dependence on social media

How social media increases the risk of cyberbullying

How social media use impacts people’s attention spans

Social interactions and the impact on socialization

Persuasion and influence on social media

8. How communication has evolved through social media

Social media has provided endless ways for humans to connect and interact, so the ways we do this have evolved.

Most obviously, social media has provided ways to connect instantaneously via real-time messaging and communicate using multimedia formats, including text, images, emojis, video content, and audio.

This has made communication more accessible and seamless, especially given many people now own smartphones that can connect to social media apps from anywhere.

You might consider researching the following topics:

How social media has changed the way people communicate

The impacts of being continuously connected, both positive and negative

How communication may evolve in the future due to social media

9. Social media platforms as primary news sources

As social media use has become more widespread, many are accessing news information primarily from their newsfeeds. This can be particularly problematic, given that newsfeeds are personalized providing content to people based on their data.

This can cause people to live in echo chambers, where they are constantly targeted with content that aligns with their beliefs. This can cause people to become more entrenched in their way of thinking and more unable or unwilling to see other people’s opinions and points of view.

Research in this area could consider the following:

The challenges that arise from using social media platforms as a primary news source

The pros and cons of social media: does it encourage “soloization” or diverse perspectives?

How to prevent social media echo chambers from occurring

The impact of social media echo chambers on journalistic integrity

10. How social media is impacting modern journalism

News platforms typically rely on an advertising model where more clicks and views increase revenue. Since sensationalist stories can attract more clicks and shares on social media, modern journalism is evolving.

Journalists are often rewarded for writing clickbait headlines and content that’s more emotionally triggering (and therefore shareable).

Your research could cover the following areas:

How journalism is evolving due to social media

How to mitigate social media’s impact on neutral reporting

The importance of journalistic standards in the age of social media

11. The impact of social media on traditional advertising

Digital advertising is growing in popularity. Worldwide, ad spending on social media was expected to reach $207.1 billion in 2023 . Experts estimate that ad spending on mobile alone will reach $255.8 billion by 2028 . This move continues to impact traditional advertising, which takes place via channels like print, TV, and radio.

Most organizations consider their social strategy a critical aspect of their advertising program. Many exclusively advertise on social media—especially those with limited budgets.

Here are some interesting research topics in this areaThe impact of different advertising methods

Which social media advertising channels provide the highest return on investment (ROI)

The societal impacts of social media advertising

12. Impacts of social media presence on corporate image

Social media presence can provide companies with an opportunity to be visible and increase brand awareness. Social media also provides a key way to interact with customers.

More and more customers now expect businesses to be online. Research shows that 63% of customers expect companies to offer customer service via their social media channels, while a whopping 90% have connected with a brand or business through social media.

Research in this area could focus on the following topics:

The advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing for businesses

How social media can impact a business’s corporate image

How social media can boost customer experience and loyalty

13. How social media impacts data privacy

Using social media platforms is free for the most part, but users have to provide their personal data for the privilege. This means data collection, tracking, the potential for third parties to access that data, psychological profiling, geolocation, and tracking are all potential risks for users.

Data security and privacy are of increasing interest globally. Research within this area will likely be in high demand in 2024.

Here are some of the research topics you might want to consider in this area:

Common privacy concerns with social media use

Why is social media privacy important?

What can individuals do to protect their data when using social media?

• The importance of social media research

As social media use continues to expand in the US and around the world, there’s continual interest in research on the topic. The research you conduct could positively impact many groups of people.

Topics can cover a broad range of areas. You might look at how social media can harm or benefit people, how social media can impact journalism, how platforms can impact young people, or the data privacy risks involved with social media use. The options are endless, and new research topics will present themselves as technology evolves.

Get started today

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83 Qualitative Research Questions & Examples

Qualitative research questions help you understand consumer sentiment. They’re strategically designed to show organizations how and why people feel the way they do about a brand, product, or service. It looks beyond the numbers and is one of the most telling types of market research a company can do.

The UK Data Service describes this perfectly, saying, “The value of qualitative research is that it gives a voice to the lived experience .”

Read on to see seven use cases and 83 qualitative research questions, with the added bonus of examples that show how to get similar insights faster with Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence.

What is a qualitative research question?

A qualitative research question explores a topic in-depth, aiming to better understand the subject through interviews, observations, and other non-numerical data. Qualitative research questions are open-ended, helping to uncover a target audience’s opinions, beliefs, and motivations.

How to choose qualitative research questions?

Choosing the right qualitative research questions can be incremental to the success of your research and the findings you uncover. Here’s my six-step process for choosing the best qualitative research questions.

• Start by understanding the purpose of your research. What do you want to learn? What outcome are you hoping to achieve?
• Consider who you are researching. What are their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs? How can you best capture these in your research questions ?
• Keep your questions open-ended . Qualitative research questions should not be too narrow or too broad. Aim to ask specific questions to provide meaningful answers but broad enough to allow for exploration.
• Balance your research questions. You don’t want all of your questions to be the same type. Aim to mix up your questions to get a variety of answers.
• Ensure your research questions are ethical and free from bias. Always have a second (and third) person check for unconscious bias.
• Consider the language you use. Your questions should be written in a way that is clear and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon , acronyms, or overly technical language.

Types of qualitative research questions

For a question to be considered qualitative, it usually needs to be open-ended. However, as I’ll explain, there can sometimes be a slight cross-over between quantitative and qualitative research questions.

Open-ended questions

These allow for a wide range of responses and can be formatted with multiple-choice answers or a free-text box to collect additional details. The next two types of qualitative questions are considered open questions, but each has its own style and purpose.

• Probing questions are used to delve deeper into a respondent’s thoughts, such as “Can you tell me more about why you feel that way?”
• Comparative questions ask people to compare two or more items, such as “Which product do you prefer and why?” These qualitative questions are highly useful for understanding brand awareness , competitive analysis , and more.

Closed-ended questions

These ask respondents to choose from a predetermined set of responses, such as “On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the new product?” While they’re traditionally quantitative, adding a free text box that asks for extra comments into why a specific rating was chosen will provide qualitative insights alongside their respective quantitative research question responses.

• Ranking questions get people to rank items in order of preference, such as “Please rank these products in terms of quality.” They’re advantageous in many scenarios, like product development, competitive analysis, and brand awareness.
• Likert scale questions ask people to rate items on a scale, such as “On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the new product?” Ideal for placement on websites and emails to gather quick, snappy feedback.

Qualitative research question examples

There are many applications of qualitative research and lots of ways you can put your findings to work for the success of your business. Here’s a summary of the most common use cases for qualitative questions and examples to ask.

Qualitative questions for identifying customer needs and motivations

These types of questions help you find out why customers choose products or services and what they are looking for when making a purchase.

• What factors do you consider when deciding to buy a product?
• What would make you choose one product or service over another?
• What are the most important elements of a product that you would buy?
• What features do you look for when purchasing a product?
• What qualities do you look for in a company’s products?
• Do you prefer localized or global brands when making a purchase?
• How do you determine the value of a product?
• What do you think is the most important factor when choosing a product?
• How do you decide if a product or service is worth the money?
• Do you have any specific expectations when purchasing a product?
• Do you prefer to purchase products or services online or in person?
• What kind of customer service do you expect when buying a product?
• How do you decide when it is time to switch to a different product?
• Where do you research products before you decide to buy?
• What do you think is the most important customer value when making a purchase?

Qualitative research questions to enhance customer experience

Use these questions to reveal insights into how customers interact with a company’s products or services and how those experiences can be improved.

• What aspects of our product or service do customers find most valuable?
• How do customers perceive our customer service?
• What factors are most important to customers when purchasing?
• What do customers think of our brand?
• What do customers think of our current marketing efforts?
• How do customers feel about the features and benefits of our product?
• How do customers feel about the price of our product or service?
• How could we improve the customer experience?
• What do customers think of our website or app?
• What do customers think of our customer support?
• What could we do to make our product or service easier to use?
• What do customers think of our competitors?
• What is your preferred way to access our site?
• How do customers feel about our delivery/shipping times?
• What do customers think of our loyalty programs?

Qualitative research question example for customer experience

• 🙋‍♀️ Question: What is your preferred way to access our site?
• 🤓 Insight sought: How mobile-dominant are consumers? Should you invest more in mobile optimization or mobile marketing?
• 🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: While using this type of question is ideal if you have a large database to survey when placed on a site or sent to a limited customer list, it only gives you a point-in-time perspective from a limited group of people.
• 💡 A new approach: You can get better, broader insights quicker with Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence. To fully inform your research, you need to know preferences at the industry or market level.
• ⏰ Time to insight: 30 seconds
• ✅ How it’s done: Similarweb offers multiple ways to answer this question without going through a lengthy qualitative research process. 

First, I’m going to do a website market analysis of the banking credit and lending market in the finance sector to get a clearer picture of industry benchmarks.

Here, I can view device preferences across any industry or market instantly. It shows me the device distribution for any country across any period. This clearly answers the question of how mobile dominate my target audience is , with 59.79% opting to access site via a desktop vs. 40.21% via mobile

I then use the trends section to show me the exact split between mobile and web traffic for each key player in my space. Let’s say I’m about to embark on a competitive campaign that targets customers of Chase and Bank of America ; I can see both their audiences are highly desktop dominant compared with others in their space .

Qualitative question examples for developing new products or services

Research questions like this can help you understand customer pain points and give you insights to develop products that meet those needs.

• What is the primary reason you would choose to purchase a product from our company?
• How do you currently use products or services that are similar to ours?
• Is there anything that could be improved with products currently on the market?
• What features would you like to see added to our products?
• How do you prefer to contact a customer service team?
• What do you think sets our company apart from our competitors?
• What other product or service offerings would like to see us offer?
• What type of information would help you make decisions about buying a product?
• What type of advertising methods are most effective in getting your attention?
• What is the biggest deterrent to purchasing products from us?

Qualitative research question example for service development

• 🙋‍♀️ Question: What type of advertising methods are most effective in getting your attention?
• 🤓 Insight sought: The marketing channels and/or content that performs best with a target audience .
• 🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: When using qualitative research surveys to answer questions like this, the sample size is limited, and bias could be at play.
• 💡 A better approach: The most authentic insights come from viewing real actions and results that take place in the digital world. No questions or answers are needed to uncover this intel, and the information you seek is readily available in less than a minute.
• ⏰ Time to insight: 5 minutes
• ✅ How it’s done: There are a few ways to approach this. You can either take an industry-wide perspective or hone in on specific competitors to unpack their individual successes. Here, I’ll quickly show a snapshot with a whole market perspective.

Using the market analysis element of Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence, I select my industry or market, which I’ve kept as banking and credit. A quick click into marketing channels shows me which channels drive the highest traffic in my market. Taking direct traffic out of the equation, for now, I can see that referrals and organic traffic are the two highest-performing channels in this market.

Similarweb allows me to view the specific referral partners and pages across these channels. 

Looking closely at referrals in this market, I’ve chosen chase.com and its five closest rivals . I select referrals in the channel traffic element of marketing channels. I see that Capital One is a clear winner, gaining almost 25 million visits due to referral partnerships.

Next, I get to see exactly who is referring traffic to Capital One and the total traffic share for each referrer. I can see the growth as a percentage and how that has changed, along with an engagement score that rates the average engagement level of that audience segment. This is particularly useful when deciding on which new referral partnerships to pursue.  

Once I’ve identified the channels and campaigns that yield the best results, I can then use Similarweb to dive into the various ad creatives and content that have the greatest impact.

These ads are just a few of those listed in the creatives section from my competitive website analysis of Capital One. You can filter this list by the specific campaign, publishers, and ad networks to view those that matter to you most. You can also discover video ad creatives in the same place too.

In just five minutes ⏰ 

• I’ve captured audience loyalty statistics across my market
• Spotted the most competitive players
• Identified the marketing channels my audience is most responsive to
• I know which content and campaigns are driving the highest traffic volume
• I’ve created a target list for new referral partners and have been able to prioritize this based on results and engagement figures from my rivals
• I can see the types of creatives that my target audience is responding to, giving me ideas for ways to generate effective copy for future campaigns

Qualitative questions to determine pricing strategies

Companies need to make sure pricing stays relevant and competitive. Use these questions to determine customer perceptions on pricing and develop pricing strategies to maximize profits and reduce churn.

• How do you feel about our pricing structure?
• How does our pricing compare to other similar products?
• What value do you feel you get from our pricing?
• How could we make our pricing more attractive?
• What would be an ideal price for our product?
• Which features of our product that you would like to see priced differently?
• What discounts or deals would you like to see us offer?
• How do you feel about the amount you have to pay for our product?

Get Faster Answers to Qualitative Research Questions with Similarweb Today

Qualitative research question example for determining pricing strategies.

• 🙋‍♀️ Question: What discounts or deals would you like to see us offer?
• 🤓 Insight sought: The promotions or campaigns that resonate with your target audience.
• 🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: Consumers don’t always recall the types of ads or campaigns they respond to. Over time, their needs and habits change. Your sample size is limited to those you ask, leaving a huge pool of unknowns at play.
• 💡 A better approach: While qualitative insights are good to know, you get the most accurate picture of the highest-performing promotion and campaigns by looking at data collected directly from the web. These analytics are real-world, real-time, and based on the collective actions of many, instead of the limited survey group you approach. By getting a complete picture across an entire market, your decisions are better informed and more aligned with current market trends and behaviors.
• ✅ How it’s done: Similarweb’s Popular Pages feature shows the content, products, campaigns, and pages with the highest growth for any website. So, if you’re trying to unpack the successes of others in your space and find out what content resonates with a target audience, there’s a far quicker way to get answers to these questions with Similarweb.

Here, I’m using Capital One as an example site. I can see trending pages on their site showing the largest increase in page views. Other filters include campaign, best-performing, and new–each of which shows you page URLs, share of traffic , and growth as a percentage. This page is particularly useful for staying on top of trending topics , campaigns, and new content being pushed out in a market by key competitors.

Qualitative research questions for product development teams

It’s vital to stay in touch with changing consumer needs. These questions can also be used for new product or service development, but this time, it’s from the perspective of a product manager or development team. 

• What are customers’ primary needs and wants for this product?
• What do customers think of our current product offerings?
• What is the most important feature or benefit of our product?
• How can we improve our product to meet customers’ needs better?
• What do customers like or dislike about our competitors’ products?
• What do customers look for when deciding between our product and a competitor’s?
• How have customer needs and wants for this product changed over time?
• What motivates customers to purchase this product?
• What is the most important thing customers want from this product?
• What features or benefits are most important when selecting a product?
• What do customers perceive to be our product’s pros and cons?
• What would make customers switch from a competitor’s product to ours?
• How do customers perceive our product in comparison to similar products?
• What do customers think of our pricing and value proposition?
• What do customers think of our product’s design, usability, and aesthetics?

Qualitative questions examples to understand customer segments

Market segmentation seeks to create groups of consumers with shared characteristics. Use these questions to learn more about different customer segments and how to target them with tailored messaging.

• What motivates customers to make a purchase?
• How do customers perceive our brand in comparison to our competitors?
• How do customers feel about our product quality?
• How do customers define quality in our products?
• What factors influence customers’ purchasing decisions ?
• What are the most important aspects of customer service?
• What do customers think of our customer service?
• What do customers think of our pricing?
• How do customers rate our product offerings?
• How do customers prefer to make purchases (online, in-store, etc.)?

Qualitative research question example for understanding customer segments

• 🙋‍♀️ Question: Which social media channels are you most active on?
• 🤓 Insight sought: Formulate a social media strategy . Specifically, the social media channels most likely to succeed with a target audience.
• 🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods: Qualitative research question responses are limited to those you ask, giving you a limited sample size. Questions like this are usually at risk of some bias, and this may not be reflective of real-world actions.
• 💡 A better approach: Get a complete picture of social media preferences for an entire market or specific audience belonging to rival firms. Insights are available in real-time, and are based on the actions of many, not a select group of participants. Data is readily available, easy to understand, and expandable at a moment’s notice.
• ✅ How it’s done: Using Similarweb’s website analysis feature, you can get a clear breakdown of social media stats for your audience using the marketing channels element. It shows the percentage of visits from each channel to your site, respective growth, and specific referral pages by each platform. All data is expandable, meaning you can select any platform, period, and region to drill down and get more accurate intel, instantly.

This example shows me Bank of America’s social media distribution, with YouTube , Linkedin , and Facebook taking the top three spots, and accounting for almost 80% of traffic being driven from social media.

When doing any type of market research, it’s important to benchmark performance against industry averages and perform a social media competitive analysis to verify rival performance across the same channels.

Qualitative questions to inform competitive analysis

Organizations must assess market sentiment toward other players to compete and beat rival firms. Whether you want to increase market share , challenge industry leaders , or reduce churn, understanding how people view you vs. the competition is key.

• What is the overall perception of our competitors’ product offerings in the market?
• What attributes do our competitors prioritize in their customer experience?
• What strategies do our competitors use to differentiate their products from ours?
• How do our competitors position their products in relation to ours?
• How do our competitors’ pricing models compare to ours?
• What do consumers think of our competitors’ product quality?
• What do consumers think of our competitors’ customer service?
• What are the key drivers of purchase decisions in our market?
• What is the impact of our competitors’ marketing campaigns on our market share ? 10. How do our competitors leverage social media to promote their products?

Qualitative research question example for competitive analysis

• 🙋‍♀️ Question: What other companies do you shop with for x?
• 🤓 Insight sought: W ho are your competitors? Which of your rival’s sites do your customers visit? How loyal are consumers in your market?
• 🤯 Challenges with traditional qualitative research methods:  Sample size is limited, and customers could be unwilling to reveal which competitors they shop with, or how often they around. Where finances are involved, people can act with reluctance or bias, and be unwilling to reveal other suppliers they do business with.
• 💡 A better approach: Get a complete picture of your audience’s loyalty, see who else they shop with, and how many other sites they visit in your competitive group. Find out the size of the untapped opportunity and which players are doing a better job at attracting unique visitors – without having to ask people to reveal their preferences.
• ✅ How it’s done: Similarweb website analysis shows you the competitive sites your audience visits, giving you access to data that shows cross-visitation habits, audience loyalty, and untapped potential in a matter of minutes.

Using the audience interests element of Similarweb website analysis, you can view the cross-browsing behaviors of a website’s audience instantly. You can see a matrix that shows the percentage of visitors on a target site and any rival site they may have visited.

With the Similarweb audience overlap feature, view the cross-visitation habits of an audience across specific websites. In this example, I chose chase.com and its four closest competitors to review. For each intersection, you see the number of unique visitors and the overall proportion of each site’s audience it represents. It also shows the volume of unreached potential visitors.

Here, you can see a direct comparison of the audience loyalty represented in a bar graph. It shows a breakdown of each site’s audience based on how many other sites they have visited. Those sites with the highest loyalty show fewer additional sites visited.

From the perspective of chase.com, I can see 47% of their visitors do not visit rival sites. 33% of their audience visited 1 or more sites in this group, 14% visited 2 or more sites, 4% visited 3 or more sites, and just 0.8% viewed all sites in this comparison. 

How to answer qualitative research questions with Similarweb

Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence drastically improves market research efficiency and time to insight. Both of these can impact the bottom line and the pace at which organizations can adapt and flex when markets shift, and rivals change tactics.

Outdated practices, while still useful, take time . And with a quicker, more efficient way to garner similar insights, opting for the fast lane puts you at a competitive advantage.

With a birds-eye view of the actions and behaviors of companies and consumers across a market , you can answer certain research questions without the need to plan, do, and review extensive qualitative market research .

Wrapping up

Qualitative research methods have been around for centuries. From designing the questions to finding the best distribution channels, collecting and analyzing findings takes time to get the insights you need. Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence drastically improves efficiency and time to insight. Both of which impact the bottom line and the pace at which organizations can adapt and flex when markets shift.

Similarweb’s suite of digital intelligence solutions offers unbiased, accurate, honest insights you can trust for analyzing any industry, market, or audience.

• Methodologies used for data collection are robust, transparent, and trustworthy.
• Clear presentation of data via an easy-to-use, intuitive platform.
• It updates dynamically–giving you the freshest data about an industry or market.
• Data is available via an API – so you can plug into platforms like Tableau or PowerBI to streamline your analyses.
• Filter and refine results according to your needs.

Are quantitative or qualitative research questions best?

Both have their place and purpose in market research. Qualitative research questions seek to provide details, whereas quantitative market research gives you numerical statistics that are easier and quicker to analyze. You get more flexibility with qualitative questions, and they’re non-directional.

What are the advantages of qualitative research?

Qualitative research is advantageous because it allows researchers to better understand their subject matter by exploring people’s attitudes, behaviors, and motivations in a particular context. It also allows researchers to uncover new insights that may not have been discovered with quantitative research methods.

What are some of the challenges of qualitative research?

Qualitative research can be time-consuming and costly, typically involving in-depth interviews and focus groups. Additionally, there are challenges associated with the reliability and validity of the collected data, as there is no universal standard for interpreting the results.

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74 Best Social Media Research Paper Topics

Whether in college or high school, you will come across research writing as a student. In most cases, the topic of research is assigned by your teacher/professor. Other times, students have to come up with their topic. Research writing in school is inescapable. It’s a task you are bound to undertake to fulfill your academic requirements. If you are in college, there are several topics for research depending on your discipline. For high school students, the topic is usually given. In this article, we focus on social media and topics about social media.

A social media paper is a research paper about social media that studies social media generally or an aspect of it. To write research papers on social media, you’ll need to conduct thorough research for materials and scholarly materials that’ll assist you. For social media, most of the scholarly works will be media-focused.

Sometimes, Professors or teachers ask students to write an essay or research a topic without narrowing it down. In that case, students will have to develop specific research topics. If you’re writing a paper on social media, we’ve provided you with helpful topics to consider for research.

How to Start a Social Media Research Paper

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Before giving a research writing, Professors and teachers believe students already know how to write one. Not every student knows how to write a research paper in most cases.

Research writing follows a systematic pattern, which applies to research on social media. Below is the pattern of a research paper to use;

• Paper title
• Introduction
• Statement of problem
• Research methodology
• Research objective
• Critical analysis
• Results and discussion

Every research follows this basic pattern, and it also applies to your research paper on social media.

Social media has become a powerful tool for engagement of various kinds. Before now, social media was merely apps used for interpersonal affairs. Today, with the modification of digital technology, social media encompasses a lot more. Below are some social media topics to write about.

• The impact of social media in promoting interpersonal relationships
• A study on how social media is a vital tool for social change
• Social media censorship: A new form of restriction on freedom of speech
• The constantly growing oversharing nature of social media
• Social media is a vital tool for political campaign
• The proliferation of social media platforms into a buying space
• The juxtaposition of personal engagement and business on social media platforms

There is a wide range of topics to coin from social media for college students because social media is a platform with diverse issues that can form into topics. Here are some research topics about social media to consider.

• Breach of Privacy: A study on the ability of the government to monitor personal affairs on social media
• A study of the toxicity brewing within social media
• The increased cyberbullying perpetrated on social media platforms
• The evolution of Twitter into a space for diverse conversations
• A study of the emergence and growth of social media over the years
• Effects of social media: How social media is breeding laziness amongst children
• Social media as a distraction tool for students

If you are searching for interesting topics, there are many interesting research topics on social media. Examples of research paper topics that sound fun to choose from include;

• A study on how the emergence of social media and social media advertising has infiltrated its primary purpose
• An evaluation of how social media has created employment opportunities for people
• Social media influence and its negative impact on society
• Advertising on social media: Will influencer businesses take over advertising agencies?
• A study on ways to improve advertisement for social media engagement
• A look into how social media creates a distorted view of real life
• Social media and real-life: Does social media obscure reality?

Research questions are helpful when carrying out research in a particular field. To know more about your thesis on social media, you will need to create research questions on social media to help inform your writing. Some social media research questions to ask are;

• Are social media platforms designed to be addictive?
• What is a social media Algorithm, and how to navigate it?
• To what extent are personal data stored on social app databases protected?
• Can social media owners avoid government monitoring?
• Should parents allow their children to navigate social media before they are 15?
• Have social media jobs come to stay, or are they temporary?
• Is social media influencer culture overtaking celebrity culture?
• To what extent can social media help to curb racism and homophobia?
• Does social media exacerbate or curb discriminatory practices?
• Is social media an effective tool for learning?

Everyone has access to social media apps until they’ve reached a certain age. There are several social media essay topics for high school students to write about. Some social media titles for essays include;

• How social media affects the academic performance of students
• Why the use of social media is prohibited during school hours
• Why students are obsessed with Tiktok
• Running a profitable social media business while in high school and the challenges
• The dangers of overusing editing apps
• A critical essay on how editing apps and filters promote an unrealistic idea of beauty
• The death of TV: how social media has stolen student’s interest

The challenge students have with their topic ideas for research papers is that they’re broad. A good social media thesis topic should be narrowed down. Narrowing a topic down helps you during research to focus on an issue.

Some narrow social media topics for the research paper include;

• A study of how social media is overtaking Television in entertainment
• A study of how social media has overtaken traditional journalism
• An evaluation of the rise of influencer culture on Instagram
• YouTube and how it has created sustainable income for black content creators
• A comparative study of social media managers and content creators
• A study of the decline of Instagram since the emergence of Tiktok
• How Twitter breeds transphobic conversations

There are several areas of social media to focus your research on. If you are looking for some social media marketing topics, below are some social media research paper topics to consider;

• Influencer culture and a modified model of mouth-to-mouth marketing
• The growth of video marketing on Instagram
• Social media managers as an essential part of online marketing
• A study on how social media stories are optimized for marketing
• An analysis of social media marketing and its impact on customer behavior
• An evaluation of target marketing on social media

There are so many topics to choose from in this aspect. Some social issues research paper topics to explore are;

• The growth of cyberattacks and cyberstalking in social media
• Social media and how it promotes an unrealistic idea of life
• Social media and the many impacts it has on users and businesses
• Social media detox: Importance of taking scheduled social media breaks
• How social media enable conversation on social challenges

Writing a research paper on social issues touches on various areas. Some are challenging, while others are easier to navigate.

Below are some of the easy social issues topics to choose from.

• The growing issue of women’s and trans people’s rights
• Religious bigotry and how it affects social progress
• Sustainable living and why it’s important to the society
• The social impact of climate change and global warming

Social science is a broad discipline. If you are looking for social science essay topics, below are some social science topics for research papers to look into;

• Consumerism and how it’s perpetrated on social media
• How religious beliefs impact social relationships
• Inflation and how it affects the economy of a nation
• A study of the limited availability of work opportunities for minority groups
• A look into the concept of “low wage” jobs

Research writing is not always technical or challenging. Sometimes, it can be fun to write. It all depends on your choice of topic. Below are some topics on social media that are fun to work on;

• The importance of social media branding for small businesses
• A look into the monetization of Instagram
• User engagement and how it can be converted into business leads
• The study of emojis and their role in social media engagement
• From Instagram to Tiktok: the poaching nature of social media apps

Research writing on social media networking studies social networking and its design and promotion on social media platforms. Some research papers on social media networking are;

• The impact of social media networking on business owners
• Social media networking and how it impacts influencer culture
• Social media and how it’s used to build and develop social relationships
• How social media made social networking services easier

Social media research writing is one of the most interesting research to conduct. It cuts across several interesting areas. The writer can handle almost every aspect of the dissertation or thesis statement about social media . But, students who find it challenging should seek professional help. You can reach out to  our expert team of writers to help you handle every element of your writing. We have the best on our team who are always ready to give you their best.

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Media Studies

• Developing a Research Question

Understanding Your Assignment

Selecting and narrowing a topic, exercises for generating topics, constructing your research question.

• Finding Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Writing Tips
• Citing Sources
• News & Newspapers
• Television & Ratings Data
• Accessing Our Collections
• Foundational Texts
• Reference Sources
• Primary Sources & Archival Collections
• Journals and Newspapers
• Image, Stock Photo, and Audiovisual Resources
• Open Access & Additional Resources
• Resources & Services for Scholars
• Instructional Support
• MSCH F306 Writing Media Criticism
• MSCH J450 History of Journalism
• Campus & Community Resources
• Monthly Community Celebrations
• Collection & Subject Spotlights
• Representation in Media
• Other Features
• Indigenous Heritage & History Month

Before you select a topic or develop a research question, it is important to understand your assignment. Understanding your assignment from the outset will help you craft a re search question that you can adequately answer in the space and time allotted to you. In this section, we will look at some questions to ask when first decoding a prompt:  

• What is the purpose of the assignment? Think about the goal of your assignment: Are you trying to persuade a reader? Explain an idea? Apply theories to a text? Tell a story? The purpose of your assignment will guide your research and writing.
• What kind of writing am I doing? Look for words in the assignment that tell you about the type of writing you are being asked to produce. For example, there is a difference between being asked to summarize and being asked to analyze. Other verbs to look out for include, discuss, define, explain, evaluate, etc.
• Who is my audience?  How will this affect the tone and content of my paper? What are the conventions of the discipline within which I am working?
• What is the scope of the assignment? Determine what the purpose of the paper will be and how much ground you will need to cover. How many topics will you be looking at? How long should the paper be?
• What is the topic of the assignment? Has the professor given you a specific topic? Will you need to find your own?
• What are the requirements of the assignment? Familiarize yourself with the criteria of the prompt. It is easy to forget about details like number/types of sources, word counts, and formatting guidelines. Look at these early on so that you can better plan for the content and scope of your project.
• Ask for clarification. Reach out to your professor, other instructors,  Writing Tutorial Services (WTS) , or the Learning Commons Research Desk , for assistance with understanding and getting started on an assignment.

Video: Understanding Assignments . UNC Writing Center (2018)

Adapted from: Swarthmore Writing Associates Program,  Understanding Your Assignment  (2023); Grinnell College,  Choosing A Research Topic ; The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center,  Understanding Your Assignment .

In some cases, an instructor may assign you a topic or a list of topics. In other cases, you might be asked to generate a topic on your own. An assignment may also fall somewhere between these two cases, asking you to pick a narrower topic from a broader one. In this section we will talk about strategies for selecting a topic that both interests you and helps you develop a research question. 

• Think about the scope and content requirements of your assignment.
• Consider topics or units which have come up in class.
• Was there a reading you really enjoyed? A lecture that stuck with you? If you’re excited about your topic, others will be too! Plus, your research will be much more fun. 
• Do you feel a personal or academic connection to any specific topic?
• Generate a list of subtopics that relate to the broader topic.
• Look at your class notes and syllabus for themes.
• Find an interesting text on IUCAT , Indiana University's Library Catalog.
• Scroll down on the catalog page to find the subject headings for this text, which may contain more specific topics of interest to you. Below is an example of subject headings for  Shadowlines: Women and Borders in Contemporary Asia :

Video:   Picking a Topic is Research . University of Houston Libraries (2020).

Adapted from: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Choosing a Topic .

In this section we will discuss some exercises designed to help you generate topics for your paper:

• Brainstorm with classmates, friends, and professors. This can help you develop ideas and explore topics you might not have considered on your own. 
• Explore non-peer reviewed sources such as newspapers , blogs, and magazines. Looking at current events can help you identify topics that interest you and explore subtopics within those areas.
• Free-write about the broader topic: Set a time limit and write about your topic. Even if you feel as though you have nothing else to say, keep writing! When you’re done, read over the text and look for patterns in your thoughts, ideas that stick out, and anything of interest that you want to explore some more.
• Concept map : A concept map is a visual way to organize your thoughts and make connections between ideas. They can take the form of charts, graphic organizers, tables, flowcharts, Venn Diagrams, timelines, or T-charts. Concept mapping is similar to visual mapping, visual webbing, and mind mapping. You can draw a concept map on a piece of paper, reserve a space at the library to use a whiteboard, or use these websites to create concepts maps online: Miro , TheBrain , Lucidchart , Coggle . Below are concept maps for "Concept Mapping" and a "Personal Philosophy of Online Learning":

Chart :  Concept Mapping Concept Map . Teton Science Schools (TSS). This concept map depicts ideas related to the concept mapping technique.

Chart:  Personal philosophy concept map and rationale . Myles’ Blog (2016).

In the video below, English Literature PhD student Lucy Hargrave explains how graduate students in the humanities can use concept maps to help them organize their thoughts and notes:

Video:  How I Use MindMaps as a PhD Student: Organising my Research Notes . Lucy Hargrave (2021).

Now that you have narrowed down your topic, let's turn that topic into a research question. In this section we will talk about how to develop a question that sets you up for success. Keep in mind that your question may change as you gather more information and start writing—this is okay! Having a sense of your direction from the outset can help you evaluate sources and identify relevant information during the research process.

Explore your topic

• Return to some of the articles/sources that you discussed in class or that you found when researching your topic—what questions do these sources raise? What are other researchers in this area writing about?
• Ask open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your topic.
• Consider the “so what?” of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you? Why should it matter to others?
• What would you like to know more about? What do you think your audience would like to learn about?
• Think about the value of focusing on a specific period of time, geographic location, organization, or group of people. Narrowing the scope of your paper can make it easier to find sources and develop a strong, concise argument.
• What do you want to say in your assignment? What are the key points and arguments that you want to get across? Which subtopic, timeframe, or other limitation would allow you to make these points in the most effective way?
• Try filling out a worksheet  to organize your thoughts.

Pick One Research Question

Evaluate the questions you’ve asked and pick one that speaks to you. If there are a few questions that interest you, focus and tailor their components into a singular research question which you can address in the space and time allotted for your paper. Consider the wording of the question and the scope of the assignment. A good research question is clear, focused, and has an appropriate level of complexity. Developing a strong question is a process, so you will likely refine your question as you continue to research and to develop your ideas. Use the following guidelines to evaluate whether or your question will be appropriate for your assignment:

Clarity. Is your question clear? Do you have a specific aspect of your general topic that you are going to explore further? 

Unclear: Why are social networking sites harmful sometimes? Clear: How are online users experiencing privacy issues on the social networking sites Facebook and TikTok?

Focus. Is your question focused? Will you be able to cover the topic adequately in the space available? 

Unfocused: How are Asian Americans represented in the media? Focused: How do television advertisements in the United States perpetuate the model minority stereotype?

Complexity. Is your question sufficiently complex? Can your question be answered with a simple yes/no response or does it requires research and analysis?

Too simple: Did COVID-19 affect parents? Appropriately Complex: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the mental health and work-life balance of teleworking parents with young children?

Video:   Developing a Research Question . Laurier Library (2017).

Adapted from: George Mason University Writing Center,  How to Write a Research Question  (2008); Monash University Library,  Developing research questions .

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Social media use and depression in adolescents: a scoping review

There have been increases in adolescent depression and suicidal behaviour over the last two decades that coincide with the advent of social media (SM) (platforms that allow communication via digital media), which is widely used among adolescents. This scoping review examined the bi-directional association between the use of SM, specifically social networking sites (SNS), and depression and suicidality among adolescents. The studies reviewed yielded four main themes in SM use through thematic analysis: quantity of SM use, quality of SM use, social aspects associated with SM use, and disclosure of mental health symptoms. Research in this field would benefit from use of longitudinal designs, objective and timely measures of SM use, research on the mechanisms of the association between SM use and depression and suicidality, and research in clinical populations to inform clinical practice.

Introduction

Over the past several decades, adolescent depression and suicidal behaviours have increased considerably. In the USA, depression diagnoses among youth increased from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2014 ( Mojtabai, Olfson, & Han, 2016 ). Additionally, suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth between the ages of 10 and 34 ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2017 ), with a 47.5% increase since 2000 ( Miron, Yu, Wilf-Miron, & Kohane, 2019 ). One suggested cause for this rise in adolescent depression and suicide is the advent of social media (SM) ( McCrae, Gettings, & Purssell, 2017 ; Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, & Martin, 2018 ).

The term ‘social media’ describes types of media that involve digital platforms and interactive participation. SM includes forms such as email, text, blogs, message boards, connection sites (online dating), games and entertainment, apps, and social networking sites (SNS) ( Manning, 2014 ). Over the past decade, SNS platforms designed to help people communicate and share information online have become ubiquitous. Among youth, 97% of all adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 use at least one of the following seven SNS platforms: YouTube (85% of adolescents), Instagram (72%), Snapchat (69%), Facebook (51%), Twitter (32%), Tumblr (9%) or Reddit (7%) ( Pew Research Center, 2018a ).

Concerns have arisen around the effects of SM on adolescents’ mental health, due to SM’s association with decreased face-to-face interpersonal interactions ( Baym, 2010 ; Kraut et al., 1998 ; Nie, Hillygus, & Erbring, 2002 ; Robinson, Kestnbaum, Neustadtl, & Alvarez, 2002 ), addiction-like behaviours ( Anderson, Steen, & Stavropoulos, 2017 ), online bullying ( Kowalski, Limber, & Agatston, 2012 ), social pressure through increased social comparisons ( Guernsey, 2014 ), and contagion effect through increased exposure to suicide stories on SM ( Bell, 2014 ).

Conversely, others have described potential benefits of SM use in adolescents such as feelings of greater connection to friends and interactions with more diverse groups of people who can provide support ( Pew Research Center, 2018b ). In fact, higher internet use has been associated with positive social well-being, higher use of communication tools, and increased face-to-face conversations and social contacts in college students ( Baym, Zhang, & Lin, 2004 ; Kraut et al., 2002 ; Wang & Wellman, 2010 ). These findings suggest that internet use, including SM, may provide opportunities for social connection and access to information ( Reid Chassiakos et al., 2016 ).

Recent systematic reviews examining the association between online technologies and depression have found a ‘general correlation’ between SM use and depression in adolescents, but with conflicting findings in some domains (e.g. the association between time spent on SM and mental health problems), overall limited quality of the evidence ( Keles, McCrae, & Grealish, 2019 ), and a relative absence of studies designed to show causal effects ( Best, Manktelow, & Taylor, 2014 ). The scope of search in these reviews is broader in topic, including online technologies other than SM ( Best et al., 2014 ) or focussed on a select number of studies in order to meet the requirements of a systematic review ( Keles et al., 2019 ). With this scoping review, we aim to expand the inclusion of studies with a range of designs, while narrowing the scope of the topic of SM to those studies that specifically included SNS use. Additionally, we aim to expand the understanding and potential research gaps on the bi-directional association between SM and depression and suicidal behaviours in adolescents, including studies that consider SM use as a predictor as well as an outcome. A better understanding of this relationship can inform interventions and screenings related to SM use in clinical settings.

This scoping review was initiated by a research team including 3 mental health professionals with clinical expertise in treating depression and suicidality in adolescents. We followed the framework suggested by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) for scoping reviews. The review included five steps: (1) identifying the research question; (2) identifying relevant studies; (3) study selection; (4) charting the data; and (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results.

Research question

The review was guided by the question: What is known from the existing literature about the association between depression and suicidality and use of SNS among adolescents? Given that much of the literature used SM and SNS interchangeably, this review used the term ‘social media’ or ‘SM’ when it was difficult to discern if the authors were referring exclusively to SNS.

Data sources and search strategy

The team conceived the research question through a series of discussions, and the first author (CV) consulted an informationist to identify the appropriate search terms and databases. A search of the database PsychINFO limited to peer-reviewed articles was conducted on 5 June 2019 (see Table 1 for search strategy). No additional methods were identified through other sources. The search was broad to include articles measuring depression as an outcome variable, and as a co-variate or independent variable. There was no restriction on the type of study design included, and English and Spanish language articles were included in the search. Articles were organized using Covidence systematic review software (Veritas Health Innovation, Melbourne, Australia).

Search strategy.

Eligibility criteria

(1) The study examined SM (versus internet use in general) and made specific mention of SNS; (2) participants were between the ages of 10 and 18. If adults were included, the majority of the study population was between 10–18 years of age, or the mean participant age was 18 or younger; (3) the study examined the association between SM use and depression and/or suicidality; (4) the study included at least one measure of depression; and (5) if the focus of the study was on SM addiction or cyberbullying, it included mention and a measure of depressive symptoms. We did not include articles in which: (1) the study primarily focussed on media use other than SM, or that did not specifically mention inclusion of SNS (e.g. studies that focussed only on TV, video game, smartphone use, blogging, email); (2) included primarily adult population; (3) was not an original study, but a case report, review, commentary, erratum, or letter to the editor; (4) focussed on addiction and cyberbullying exclusively without a depression measure; and (5) the method used was content analysis of SM posts without specification of the population age range.

Title and abstract relevance screening

The search yielded 728 articles of which six duplicates were removed. One author (CV) screened the remainder of the articles by title and abstract and a second author (TL) reviewed every 25th article for agreement. All authors screened full-text articles and extracted data from those that met the inclusion criteria. The authors met over the course of the full-text review process to resolve conflicts and maintain consistency among the authors themselves and with the research question. Of the total number of studies included for full-text review, 505 articles were excluded. Out of the 223 full-text studies assessed for eligibility, 175 were excluded. A total of 42 articles were eligible for review (see Figure 1 : PRISMA flow chart for details). A form was developed to extract the characteristics of each study that included author and year of publication, objectives of the study, study method, country where the study was conducted, depression scale used, number of participants, participant age, and results (see Table 2 for details).

PRISMA flow chart of data selection process.

Data charting form including author and year of publication, objectives of the study, method used, country where the study was conducted, depression scale used, number of participants, participant age, results and main social media focus.

AIU = Addictive internet Use; BIU = Borderline Addictive Internet Use; BSMAS = Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale; BIU = Borderline addictive internet use; CBP = Cyberbullying Perpetration; CERM = Cuestionario de Experiencias Relacionadas con el móvil (Questionnaire of Experiences Related to the cellphone); DIB = Dysfunctional Internet Behaviour; DSM-IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision); FOMO = Fear of Missing Out; HVSM = Highly Visual Social Media; SNI = Intensity of social network use; IA = Internet Addiction; IAB = Internet Addictive Behaviour; OSNA = Online social networking addiction; PSMU = Problematic Social Media Use; RADS-2 = Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale - Version 2; SITBs = self-injurious thoughts and behaviours; SNS = social networking sites.

Data summary and synthesis

After reviewing the table, each study was labelled according to the main focus of research related to SM, based on the objectives, variables used, and results of the study. The topics were classified into nine different categories based on the main SM focus of the article; categories were discussed and reviewed by two authors (TL and CV) ( Table 2 ). All authors then discussed the categories and grouped them into four main themes of studies looking at SM and depression in adolescents.

A total of 42 studies published between 2011 and 2019 met the inclusion criteria. Of the studies included, 16 were conducted in European Countries, 14 in the USA, 5 in Asia, 3 in Canada, 2 in Australia, and 2 in Latin American Countries. The number of participants per study ranged from 23 in a qualitative study (94 in the smallest quantitative study) to 118,545 participants in the largest study ( Table 2 ).

The studies reviewed were grouped into four themes with nine categories according to the main focus of the research. The themes and categories were: (1) quantity of SNS use: effects of the frequency of SM use and problematic SM use (or evidence of addictive engagement with SM); (2) quality of SM use: characteristics of SNS use and social comparisons; (3) social aspects of SM use: cyberbullying, social support, and parental involvement; and (4) disclosure of mental health symptoms: online disclosure and prediction of symptoms and suicide contagion effect ( Figure 2 ).

Number of studies by theme (quantity, quality, social and disclosure) and time period (2011–2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016 and 2017–2018).

Quantity of SM use

The majority of studies ( n = 24) examined quantity of SM use by measuring either frequency or time spent on SM ( n = 17), or problematic or addictive engagement with SM ( n = 7).

Frequency of use

The majority of studies found a positive correlation between time spent on SNS and higher levels of The majority of studies found a positive correlation between time spent on SNS and higher levels of depression ( Akkın Gürbüz, Demir, Gökalp Özcan, Kadak, & Poyraz, 2017 ; Marengo, Longobardi, Fabris & Settanni, 2018 ; Pantic et al., 2012 ; Twenge et al., 2018 ; Woods & Scott, 2016 ). Higher frequency of SM use (≥2 h a day) was also found to be positively associated with suicidal ideation ( Sampasa-Kanyinga & Lewis, 2015 ) and attempts ( Sampasa-Kanyinga & Hamilton, 2015 ), in addition to deficits in self-regulation ( Lee, Ho, & Lwin, 2017 ). Factors such as the number of SM accounts and the frequency of checking SM ( Barry, Sidoti, Briggs, Reiter, & Lindsey, 2017 ) were associated with a variety of symptoms, including depression.

A study ( Oberst, Wegmann, Stodt, Brand, & Chamarro, 2017 ) examining SM use as an outcome suggested that depression may affect SM use both directly, and indirectly, mediated by the Fear of Missing Out (or the apprehension of missing rewarding experiences that others might be enjoying) ( Przybylski, Murayama, DeHaan, & Gladwell, 2013 ). Adolescents with depression were also found to have more difficulty regulating their SM use ( Lee et al., 2017 ).

Longitudinal studies suggested a reciprocal relationship between quantity of SM use and depression. Frison and Eggermont (2017) found that frequency of Instagram browsing at baseline predicted depressed mood six months later and depressed mood at baseline predicted later frequency of photo posting. Additionally, heavy use (>4 h per day) of the internet to communicate (including social networking) and play games (gaming) predicted depressive symptoms a year later ( Romer, Bagdasarov, & More, 2013 ). Further, depressive symptoms predicted increased internet use and decreased participation in non-screen activities (e.g. sports). Finally, Salmela-Aro, Upadyaya, Hakkarainen, Lonka, and Alho (2017) found that school burnout increased the risk for later excessive internet use and depressive symptoms. Conversely, Houghton et al. (2018) found small, positive bi-directional associations between depressive symptoms and screen use 1 year later, but their final model did not support a longitudinal association.

Yet, not all studies found a positive association between frequency of use and depressed mood. While Blomfield-Neira and Barber (2014) reported a link between adolescents having a SM profile and depressed mood, they found no correlation between SM frequency of use and depressed mood. Rather, investment in SM (a measure of how important SM is to an adolescent) was linked to poorer adjustment, lower self-esteem and depressed mood. Moderate SM use (a stable trend in the time spent on SM during adolescence and into early adulthood that did not interfere with functioning) was associated with better emotional self-regulation ( Coyne, Padilla-Walker, Holmgren, & Stockdale, 2018 ) and healthier development, especially when used to acquire information ( Romer et al., 2013 ). Finally, Rodriguez Puentes and Parra (2014) found a positive association between SM and externalizing behaviours, but no significant association between SM use and depression.

Additionally, age moderated the effects of frequency of use on depression. For example, in one study, older adolescents with higher SM use had higher ‘offline’ social competence, while younger adolescents with higher SM use had more internalizing problems and diminished academics and activities ( Tsitsika, Janikian, et al., 2014 ).

Problematic SM use

Seven studies explored problematic use or engagement with SM or the internet in an addictive manner (a dysfunctional pattern of behaviour similar to that of impulse control disorders, which causes distress and/or functional impairment) ( Critselis et al., 2014 ).

An addiction-like pattern of internet use (including SM use) was associated with emotional maladjustment ( Critselis et al., 2014 ), internalizing and externalizing symptoms ( Tsitsika, Tzavela, et al., 2014 ), and depressive mood ( Van Rooij, Ferguson, Van de Mheen, & Schoenmakers, 2017 ). Further, depressive mood predicted problematic internet use (both SM and gaming, independently) ( Kırcaburun et al., 2018 ; Van Rooij et al., 2017 ).

Bányai et al. (2017) assessed the prevalence of problematic internet use conducting a latent profile analysis to describe classes of users and found that the class described as ‘at risk’ for problematic internet and SM use tended to be female, use the internet for longer periods, and have lower self-esteem and more depressive symptoms. Yet, while Banjanin, Banjanin, Dimitrijevic, and Pantic (2015) found a positive correlation between internet addiction and depression in high school students (particularly for females), no such correlation was found with engagement with SM (measured by number of pictures posted).

Several studies examined mediators of the association of problematic SM use and depression. Wang et al. (2018) found that rumination mediated the relationship between SM addiction and adolescent depression, with a stronger effect among adolescents with low self-esteem. Additionally, insomnia partially mediated the association between SM addiction and depressive symptoms ( Li et al., 2017 ). Woods and Scott (2016) found that nighttime-specific SM use (in addition to overall use and emotional investment in SM) was associated with poorer sleep quality, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Finally, problematic SM use mediated the association between depressive symptoms and cyberbullying perpetration ( Kırcaburun et al., 2018 ).

Quality of SNS use

In addition to the frequency of adolescents’ engagement with SM, another focus of research has been the ways in which adolescents engage with SM. Of the studies selected, four primarily examined engagement styles with SM and two specifically examined social comparisons with other users.

Characteristics of SM use

The ways in which adolescents use SM may also have an effect on depression. One study ( Frison & Eggermont, 2016 ) characterized SM use as public (e.g. updating one’s status on a profile) vs private (e.g. messaging), and active (e.g. interacting with others on SM) vs passive (e.g. browsing on SM) and found that public Facebook use was associated with adolescent depressed mood. Among girls, passive use of Facebook yielded negative outcomes such as depressed mood, while active use yielded positive outcomes such as perceived social support ( Frison & Eggermont, 2016 ). A longitudinal study of Flemish adolescents by the same group ( Frison & Eggermont, 2017 ) found passive SM use at baseline to predict depressive symptoms 7 months later, while depressive symptoms predicted active use of SM. Interestingly, there was no association between depressive symptoms and Facebook use (frequency of use, network size, self-presentation, and peer interaction) in a study conducted among healthy adolescents ( Morin-Major et al., 2016 ).

Romer et al. (2013) found that the types of internet activities utilized (e.g. SNS, blogs, etc.) were associated with the frequency of self-reported depression-like symptoms. Additionally, using the internet for information searching was associated with higher grades, more frequent participation in clubs, and lower reports of depressive symptoms, while using the internet more than 4 h per day to communicate or play games was associated with greater depression-like symptoms, suggesting that Internet use for acquiring information is associated with healthy development.

A qualitative study further explored positive and negative aspects of SM use among adolescents diagnosed with clinical depression ( Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, & Miller, 2017 ). Participants described positive SM use as including searching for positive content (e.g. entertainment, humour, content creation) or social connection, while they described negative SM use as sharing risky behaviours, cyberbullying, or making self-denigrating comparisons with others. Furthermore, this study found that adolescents’ use of SM shifted from negative to positive during the course of treatment.

Social comparisons

Two studies examined social comparisons made through SM and the association with depression. Nesi and Prinstein (2015) found that technology-based social comparison and feedback-seeking were associated with depressive symptoms, even when controlling for the effects of overall frequency of technology use, offline excessive reassurance-seeking, and prior depressive symptoms. This association was strongest among females and adolescents low in popularity (as measured by peer report). Niu et al. (2018) found that negative social comparisons mediated the association between Qzone use (a Chinese SM site) and depression, and that the association between Qzone use and negative social comparisons was stronger among individuals with low self-esteem. However, there was no direct effect of Qzone use on depression. An additional study that primarily focussed on studying frequency of use ( Marengo et al., 2018 ) found that increased use of highly visual SM (e.g. Instagram) predicted internalizing symptoms and body image concerns in a student sample. Moreover, in this study, the effect of highly visual SM on internalizing symptoms was mediated by body image concerns.

Social aspects of SM use

Several studies looked at the social aspects of engagement with SM, either by evaluating the effects of cybervictimization ( n = 4) on depression, parental involvement both through monitoring of SM use or direct engagement with the adolescent ( n = 3), and aspects of social support received by the adolescent within and outside of SNS ( n = 2).

Cyberbullying/cybervictimization

Four studies examined cyberbullying via SM and depressive symptoms. Duarte, Pittman, Thorsen, Cunningham, and Ranney (2018) found that symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation were more prevalent among participants who reported any past-year cyberbullying (either victimization or perpetration). After adjusting for a range of demographic factors, only lesbian, gay, and bisexual status correlated with cyberbullying involvement or adverse mental health outcomes. Another study found that cyberbullying victimization fully mediated the association between SM use and psychological distress and suicide attempts ( Sampasa-Kanyinga & Hamilton, 2015 ). Furthermore, a 12-month longitudinal study found that cybervictimization predicted later depressive symptoms ( Cole et al., 2016 ). Depressive symptoms have also been shown to be a risk factor (rather than an outcome) for cybervictimization on Facebook ( Frison, Subrahmanyam, & Eggermont, 2016 ), showing evidence of the bi-directionality of this association.

Social support

While many studies examined potential negative effects of SM use, some studies examined the positive effects of SM use on youth outcomes, including social support. Frison and Eggermont (2015) found that adolescents seeking social support through Facebook had improved depressive symptoms if support was received, but worsened symptoms if support was not received. This pattern was not found in non-virtual social support contexts, suggesting differences in online and traditional social support contexts. A later study that primarily focussed on the characteristics of SM use ( Frison & Eggermont, 2016 ) found that perception of online support was particularly protective against depressive symptoms in girls with ‘active’ Facebook use (e.g. those who update their status or instant message on Facebook). Finally, Frison et al. (2016) showed that support from friends can be a protective factor of Facebook victimization.

Parental involvement/parental monitoring

Studies examining parent and family role in adolescent SM use and its outcomes were heterogeneous. One study ( Coyne, Padilla-Walker, Day, Harper, & Stockdale, 2014 ) explored adolescent use of SM with parents and found lower internalizing behaviours in participants who used SNS with their parents (mediated by feelings of parent/child connection). Another study ( Fardouly, Magson, Johnco, Oar, & Rapee, 2018 ) examined parent control over preadolescents’ time spent on SM and found no association between parental control and preadolescent depressive symptoms.

Family relationships offline were also associated with adolescent outcomes. Isarabhakdi and Pewnil (2016) examined adolescents’ engagement with offline relationships and found improved mental health outcomes with higher involvement in family activities and with peers, while internet use did not significantly improve mental well-being. This finding suggests that in-person support systems were more effective for the promotion of mental well-being. Interestingly, in Szwedo, Mikami, and Allen (2011) , negative interactions with mothers during early adolescence were associated with youth preferring online versus face-to-face communication, experiencing more negative interactions on webpages, and forming close friendships with someone they met online 7 years later. An additional study that primarily focussed on suicide contagion ( Tseng & Yang, 2015 ) found that family support was protective for both males and females, while friend support was protective only for females. However, ‘significant other’ support was a risk factor for suicidal plans among females.

Disclosure of mental health symptoms on SM

A few of the studies selected focussed on studying the disclosure of depressive symptoms on SM and explored the potential of disclosure of symptoms of distress on SM to predict depression and suicide, in addition to the phenomenon of suicide contagion.

Online disclosure and prediction of mental health symptoms

Although content analysis is a method theorized to have potential to predict and prevent non-suicidal and suicidal self-injurious behaviours, the data are mixed. Ophir, Asterhan, and Schwarz (2019) examined the predictive validity of explicit references to personal distress in adolescents’ Facebook postings, comparing these postings with external, self-report measures of psychological distress (e.g. depression) and found that most depressed adolescents did not publish explicit references to depression. Additionally, adolescents published less verbal content than adult users of SNS. Conversely, Akkın Gürbüz et al. (2017) found that while disclosures of depressed mood were frequent among both depressed and non-depressed adolescents, those who were depressed shared more negative feelings, anhedonia, and suicidal thoughts on SM than those who were not depressed.

Suicide contagion effect

One longitudinal study examined suicide contagion effects ( Dunlop, More, & Romer, 2011 ) finding that even though traditional SNS (e.g. Facebook or MySpace) were a significant source of exposure to suicide stories, this exposure was not associated with increases in suicidal ideation one year later. On the other hand, exposure to online discussion forums (including self-help forums) did predict increases in suicidal ideation over time. Notably, this study found that in a quarter of the sample, the exposure to suicide stories took place through SM. Another study ( Tseng & Yang, 2015 ) found that higher importance attributed to web communication (e.g. chatting or making friends online) was associated with increased risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviours in boys.

The recent rise in the prevalence of depression and suicide among adolescents has coincided with an increase in screen-related activities, including SM use ( Twenge et al., 2018 ), sparking an interest in investigating the effects of SM use on adolescent mental health. This interest has given rise to a broad scope of research, ranging from observational to experimental and qualitative studies through interviews or analysis of SM content, and systematic studies. This scoping review aimed to understand the breadth of research in the area of depression and SM (with a focus on SNS) and to identify the existing research gaps.

We identified four main themes of research, including (1) the quantity of SM use; (2) the quality of SM use; (3) social aspects associated with SM use; and (4) SM as a tool for disclosure of mental health symptoms and potential for prediction and prevention of depression and suicide outcomes.

Most research on SM and depressive symptoms has focussed on the effects of frequency of SM use and problematic SM use. The majority of articles included in this review demonstrated a positive and bi-directional association between frequency of SM use and depression and in some instances even suicidality. Yet some questions remain to be determined, including to what degree adolescents’ personal vulnerabilities and characteristics of SM use moderate the association between SM use and depression or suicidality, and whether other environmental factors, such as family support and/or monitoring, or cultural differences influence this association. Although moderate SM use may be associated with better self-regulation, it is unclear if this is due to moderate users being better at self-regulation.

Findings from the studies examining problematic SM use were consistent with prior studies linking problematic internet use with a variety of psychosocial outcomes including depressive symptoms ( Reid Chassiakos et al., 2016 ). Though limited in number, studies reviewed here suggested that problematic or addictive SM use may be more common in females ( Banyai et al., 2017 ; Kırcaburun et al., 2018 ) and in those starting use at a younger age ( Tsitsika, Janikian, et al., 2014 ). These findings suggest a possible role of screening for addictive SM use, with a particular focus on risk stratification for younger and female adolescents.

With respect to the effects of patterns and types of SM use, studies reviewed here suggest possible differential effects between passive and active, and private versus public SM use. This suggests that screening only for time spent on SM may be insufficient. Moreover, though there are types of SM use that have adverse mental health effects for adolescents (e.g. addictive patterns, nighttime use), other types of SM use, such as for information searching or receiving social support, may have a positive effect ( Coyne et al., 2018 ; Frison & Eggermont, 2016 ; Romer et al., 2013 ). Furthermore, over time, depressed adolescents can successfully shift their use of SM from negative (e.g. cyberbullying) to positive (e.g. searching for humour), possibly through increasing awareness of the effect of SM use on their mood ( Radovic et al., 2017 ). Given the ubiquity of SM use, these results suggest that interventions targeting changes in adolescents’ use of SM may be fruitful in improving their mental health.

Consistent with prior research ( Feinstein et al., 2013 ), studies examining social comparisons found significant associations between social comparisons made via SM and depression. The tendency of individuals to share more positive depictions of themselves on SM ( Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008 ), and the increased opportunities for comparisons ( Steers, Wickham, & Acitelli, 2014 ) may suggest a confluence of risks for depression and an important avenue for interventions. Moreover, the studies reviewed and previous findings ( Buunk & Gibbons, 2007 ) suggest that individuals with low self-esteem may be at higher risk for the negative effects of social comparisons on mental health.

As previously shown ( Cénat et al., 2014 ), most studies found cyberbullying (either perpetration or victimization) was either associated with mental health problems ( Cole et al., 2016 ; Duarte et al., 2018 ) or moderated the relationship between SM use and depression and suicidality ( Sampasa-Kanyinga & Hamilton, 2015 ). Additionally, cyberbullying may be a distinctive form of victimization that requires further investigation in order to understand its impact on adolescent mental health ( Dempsey, Sulkowski, Nichols, & Storch, 2009 ).

Studies examining social support highlight the association of both depressed mood and low in-person social support with social networking and online support-seeking ( Frison & Eggermont, 2015 ). Moreover, while social support online can be beneficial ( Frison & Eggermont, 2015 ), excessive reliance on online communication and support may be problematic ( Twenge et al., 2018 ). Of note, parental involvement both positively and negatively affected SM use and adolescent outcomes. These mixed findings suggest a need to include parental relationships in research (both via online and ‘offline’ communication), to better understand their role in adolescents’ SM use and depression.

Surprisingly, depressed adolescents were not more likely to publish explicit references to depression on SM platforms than their healthy peers ( Ophir et al., 2019 ) which suggests that screening for depression via SM may not be useful when used alone. However, some depressed adolescents posted more negative feelings, anhedonia and suicidal ideation ( Akkın Gürbüz et al., 2017 ), suggesting that SM may be used as a supplemental tool to track the course of depressive mood over time and start discussions about mental health.

Suicide contagion effect is a relatively understudied area, despite concerns raised that increased exposure to SM may amplify this effect ( Bell, 2014 ). Given that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the group contagion effect of suicide ( Stack, 2003 ) and the potential for increased exposure to suicide stories online ( Dunlop et al., 2011 ), interventions to limit this exposure could decrease suicide contagion.

The studies reviewed identified several potential moderators of the association between SM use and adolescent depression, including age and gender. The differential effects of SM use on mental health depending on the age of the adolescent ( Tsitsika, Tzavela, et al., 2014 ) are not surprising given the developmental differences in social and mood regulation skills between younger and older adolescents. Likewise, potential mediators of the effects of SM on mental health such as social comparisons ( Niu et al., 2018 ), body image concerns ( Marengo et al., 2018 ), perceived support online ( Frison & Eggermont, 2015 ), and parent–child relationship ( Coyne et al., 2014 ) may also be important targets for future interventions.

The studies reviewed present several limitations. Most studies were cross-sectional and could not elucidate the directionality of the association between SM use and depression. Most of the studies included self-report rather than clinician-administered measures of depression, and retrospective reports, asking participants to report on past activities. Newer methods that measure actual (and not just reported) use (e.g. news feed activity, number of likes and comments) and more frequent and timely reports of SM use (e.g. diaries) could more accurately explain these associations. Another limitation is that many of the studies recruited participants in schools, limiting the generalizability to clinical samples. It is possible that those students not in school were spending more time on SM and/or experiencing more depressive symptoms. Most studies included general assessments of SM without specifying whether the use was limited to SNS or other forms of SM or internet use. While we tried to narrow our search to studies that explicitly included questions on SNS use, many also asked about other types of SM use. Separating the different types of SM use may be difficult when asking for adolescents’ self-reports, but more immediate measures of mood symptoms and SNS use could be more specific and informative. Finally, while some studies included contextual factors such as the educational and family environments, other contextual factors such as ethnicity and cultural context are areas of potential for investigation.

Conclusions

In summary, extensive research on the quantity and quality of SM use has shown an association between SM use and depression in adolescents. Given that most studies are cross-sectional, longitudinal research would help assess the direction of this association. At the same time, some aspects of SM use may have a beneficial effect on adolescent well-being, such as the ability to have diversity of friendships and easily accessed supports. Furthermore, the use of SM content to detect symptoms has potential in depression and suicide prevention. Finally, moderators of the association between SM and adolescent depression and suicidality (e.g. gender, age, parental involvement) are areas to explore that would allow more targeted interventions. Since SM will remain an important facet of adolescents’ lives, a better understanding of the mechanisms of its relationship with depression could be beneficial to increase exposure to mental health interventions and promote well-being.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the help of Jaime Blanck, MLIS, MPA for her help with the search and retrieval of full-text articles.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Vidal is supported by the Stravos Niarchos Foundation. Ms. Lhaksampa and Dr. Miller are supported by the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Drs. Miller and Dr. Platt are supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Dr. Platt is supported by the NIMH 1K23MH118431 and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Adolescence

More research questions the “social media hypothesis” of mental health, a new study shows that social media does not lead to anxiety or depression..

Posted August 10, 2023 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

• What Changes During Adolescence?
• Find a therapist to support kids and teens
• Many believe that social media causes teens to experience depression and anxiety, despite lacking evidence.
• A new study found that when teenagers used social media more, their mental health did not change over time.
• Mainstream media should devote more coverage to studies like this one.

As I’ve discussed previously , conventional wisdom suggests that using social media promotes poor mental health, especially in teenagers . But there is good reason to question this idea. As more high-quality research becomes available, we can see room for nuance and see that social media is not consistently detrimental to everyone’s well-being.

A critical limitation in many existing studies on this topic is that they are cross-sectional. This means all variables are assessed only once, and at the same time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just means we don’t know how behavioral changes over time might be associated with changes in emotional variables. Longitudinal research helps us to better understand how change happens by measuring these variables repeatedly over a period of months or even years.

Longitudinal research is especially valuable in this case because some young people may use social media to alleviate distress , so we might observe that increases in depression or anxiety will predict increases in social media use , rather than the reverse. On the other hand, if the social media hypothesis is correct, then as teenagers spend more and more time online, this should be followed by decreased mental health (i.e., greater anxiety/depression). But that’s not what the data reveal.

What Researchers Found

A research team in Norway recently published a study in which they tracked young people aged 10-16, and assessed them every 2 years. Each time, the researchers interviewed participants about their behaviors online (e.g., posting photos, “liking,” or commenting on others' posts), and they conducted clinical assessments of depression and anxiety with standardized psychiatric measures. The researchers found no evidence that increased social media use was followed by elevated anxiety or depression. This means that as these teenagers used more social media, their mental health did not change. These findings directly contradict the idea that social media use leads to poor psychological well-being.

The authors are careful to note that even though social media did not make teenagers feel worse, on average, it also did not make them feel better. So, social media use may not have an overall negative or positive effect for the average teenager. This idea is consistent with what I have argued previously , which is that social media use may have differential effects depending on the user’s initial motivations. When people are motivated to use social media because they find it interesting or rewarding, then it’s likelier to make them happy, whereas when they feel compelled or obligated to use it, then it’s likelier to make them feel worse. Motivations matter more than the technology itself.

The researchers also suggest that perhaps subgroups of teenagers may experience different outcomes following social media use, such as those who are bullied or have low self-esteem . The specific content that people view on social media may also play a role. It is also true that digital technologies change rapidly and we cannot assume that all future forms of social media will operate the same way psychologically. New applications have the potential to be better or worse than what people currently use.

Time Trend Data Are Inconclusive

Those who hold with the “social media hypothesis” of mental health will often point to time trend data as evidence. They argue that because social media use has risen in teenagers over the past 15 years, and that teen depression and anxiety has also risen over the same period of time, then those two trends are likely connected.

But if that were true, we ought to be able to observe this trend happening during teenagers’ lives. The fact is, we do not observe this pattern, and these null findings should make us skeptical about such claims. When researchers track teenagers’ mental health over a span of years, there is no link between their social media use and their experiences of depression or anxiety. In the words of the authors , “ the frequency with which adolescents engage in behaviors like posting, liking, and commenting on others’ posts does not influence their risk for symptoms of depression and anxiety .”

It would be great to see more mainstream media coverage of studies like this, especially considering the widespread belief that if young people are permitted to use social media, their mental health will deteriorate. Perhaps parents of teenagers can take some comfort in the fact that for the average user, there is little risk of this.

Cauberghe, V., Van Wesenbeeck, I., De Jans, S., Hudders, L., & Ponnet, K. (2021). How Adolescents Use Social Media to Cope with Feelings of Loneliness and Anxiety During COVID-19 Lockdown. Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking , 24 (4), 250–257. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0478

Puukko, K., Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., Alho, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2020). Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms—A Longitudinal Study from Early to Late Adolescence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 17 (16), 5921. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165921

Steinsbekk, S., Nesi, J., & Wichstrøm, L. (2023). Social media behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. A four-wave cohort study from age 10–16 years. Computers in Human Behavior , 147 , 107859.

Dylan Selterman, Ph.D., is an Associate Teaching Professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. He teaches courses and conducts research on personality traits, happiness, relationships, morality/ethics, game theory, political psychology, and more.

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U.S. Supreme Court Changes Law on Government First Amendment Liability for Social Media Activities

April 8, 2024  by  Harry Boesche Category:  Court Decisions and AGO Opinions ,  Social Media

The U.S. Supreme Court (Court) recently decided Lindke v. Freed . The case changes Washington law regarding government social media liability and has important implications for local government officials and their agency employers.

Lindke addressed whether a public official violates the First Amendment by deleting or blocking public responses to job-related comments the official posts to their personal social media account. Lindke holds that public officials are only liable for social media First Amendment violations when the official:

• has actual government speaking authority on the involved social media topic; and
• uses that actual speaking authority in the involved social media exchange.

Lindke overturns the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals  Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliff decision ( vacated and remanded by the Court due to Lindke ), which was previously Washington’s leading case on this topic.

Unlike the  Lindke  ruling, Garnier had held that public officials are liable for violating commentor’s First Amendment rights if the official’s social media activity created even an appearance of government speaking authority. Lindke ’s ruling now requiring actual speaking authority before an official can be found liable provides clear guardrails for both public officials and local governments.

A Background of the Problem

Local governments and officials (including mayors, city councilmembers, district commissioners and other officials) frequently use social media to disseminate information and to respond to public concerns or requests. Given social media’s popularity and effectiveness, this is unlikely to change and will likely only continue and increase.

However, public officials’ social media use also creates legal issues since government social media can create a public forum impacting public First Amendment rights. Public officials who delete or block public comments on government-hosted social media platforms limit the public’s access to this forum and, accordingly, may be liable for a First Amendment violation through “state action” under federal law ( 42 U.S.C. §1983 ). Since many agencies cover their officials’ job-related liabilities, an official’s liability can become the agencies’ also.

Governments agencies that own and control their social media platforms can navigate these legal issues more easily. Things get tougher when public officials discuss job-related matters on their personal social media sources, as it gets harder to tell when the official is speaking and acting officially  (and subject to First Amendment liability) and when the official is free from such liability by speaking and acting personally . The obvious question becomes: When is an official’s personal social media use “job related,” creating this potential First Amendment liability?

Lindke answers this question and changes previous Washington law in the process.

The Lindke Case

The Lindke case involved Port Huron (MI) City Manager James Freed using his personal (but publicly open) Facebook account to post both personal and job-related comments about the COVID-19 pandemic. Freed’s personal posts related to changes in family activities during the pandemic, while his job-related posts described his city’s hiring freeze and included a city press release. Port Huron resident Kevin Lindke responded to Freed’s account posts, complaining about the city’s overall pandemic response and criticizing specific actions of city leaders during the pandemic. Freed deleted Lindke’s comments and later blocked Lindke from commenting altogether.

Lindke sued Freed in federal court, claiming that Freed’s social media blocking violated Lindke’s First Amendment rights through state action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 . The Court held that a public official’s social media activity is state action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 only if the official meets both of these two requirements:

• The official had the government’s actual speaking authority on the specific social media topic involved . Whether an official has this actual government speaking authority is fact-specific and can’t be determined by an official’s government employee status alone. Instead, an official’s government speaking authority depends on the specific responsibilities that an agency has entrusted the official to perform.
• The official used their actual government speaking authority in the involved social media activity . An official with actual government speaking authority uses it when they use social media to speak in their official capacity or to further their official or legal responsibilities.

Officials and agencies cannot be found liable for First Amendment violations for social media use falling outside of this actual and used authority. The Court also noted that social media accounts labeled “personal” are entitled to “heavy presumptions” that posts to the account are personal and not attributable to the government. Likewise, an official’s social media communications that merely repeat or share already publicly available information are more likely personal than official.

How Lindke Changes Washington Law

Before Lindke , the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals  Garnier case regulated Washington in the question of public official First Amendment liability for social media use.

Garnier involved two school district trustees using Facebook and Twitter (i.e., X) accounts to communicate with constituents about district issues. The trustees blocked unfavorable comments posted to the accounts by two district parents. The parents sued, arguing that the trustees’ comment blocks were state actions infringing their First Amendment rights and triggering 42 U.S.C. §1983 liability.

In contrast to Lindke , the Garnier court decided the case by focusing on what the trustees’ social media accounts portrayed to the public and how the public reacted to the portrayal. Public officials are only liable for social media First Amendment violations if their social media use is sufficiently and legally connected to their job. Garnier found this legal connection if the officials’ social media activity made the public think that the government authorized it. Lindke finds this connection only when the government has in fact authorized the official’s social media activity.

Lindke ’s focus on a public official’s actual authority in determining social media liability under 42 U.S.C §1983 presents a few takeaways. Local governments should:

• create and designate social media accounts for public officials;
• establish clear parameters on an official’s speaking authority; and
• adopt rules to “mark” statements by officials.

Create and clearly designate social media accounts for use by officials

As stated above, the legal pitfalls related to social media use become most prominent when officials use personal accounts for official purposes. Lindke ’s heavy presumption that social media statements posted to a personal account indicates that clear designations of account ownership can help navigate questions of government liability for social media activity.

Lindke also noted that the potential for an official’s liability increases when the official fails to confine personal posts in a clearly designated personal social media account. Ensuring that officials have a clear path for “authorized” speaking lessens the temptation of mixing personal and official speech.

Establish clear parameters on an official’s speaking authority

As Lindke noted, an official is only liable for censoring social media posts that are connected to the official’s authority. An official’s authority can be established through formal enactments like ordinances, governing body and department head policies, or from prior practices that create a “permanent and well-settled” recognition of the official’s authority to speak on particular agency matters.

Adopt rules to “mark” statements of officials

In further refining the requirement that officials act pursuant to their speaking authority to be liable, Lindke noted that statements “marking” the parameters of an official’s social media activity (such as: “This is the personal page of…” or “The views expressed are my own”) give the benefit of clear context to meet the heavy presumption in favor of personal statements and against liability. Rules for officials to help them navigate communications can greatly assist in this area.

A note about public records — Lindke does not change the Washington Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Public Records Act and the application of the “scope of employment” test to determine whether activity on a personal social media account rises to the level of being a public record. For more on this topic, see the MRSC blog:  New Ruling Finds Facebook Posts Can Be a Public Record .

MRSC is a private nonprofit organization serving local governments in Washington State. Eligible government agencies in Washington State may use our free, one-on-one Ask MRSC service to get answers to legal, policy, or financial questions.

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Fox Business' Charles Payne uses workers killed in Baltimore bridge collapse as an example of migrants “destroying the country”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published 04/08/24 10:10 PM EDT

Citation From the April 8, 2024, edition of Fox News'  Hannity

CHARLES PAYNE (CONTRIBUTOR): The foreign-born getting all of the jobs while native-born are losing jobs is obviously a red, red flag. Ironically, Janet Yellen was in China wagging her finger today at the Chinese for building a bunch of cheap stuff to export to America, but you know, when you open up the borders and allow cheap labor in or cheaper labor in, you're doing the same exact thing: You're destroying jobs.

It really is remarkable when you think about the Francis Scott Key bridge and the five men who were on it. You know, they were from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Central American countries. How many Americans, native-born Americans, live in Baltimore who are not working, in part because they get paid not to work? They make enough money so they don't have to fill a pothole on a bridge. We're destroying the country and it's time we figure this out because I don't know when we cross the Rubicon -- maybe we already have -- but at some point we will.

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Four clas faculty researchers secure prestigious early career awards.

Continuing  an upward trend of University of Iowa faculty securing prestigious early-career grants, four investigators from the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Computer Science have been awarded notable grant awards to advance their careers.

DeRoo, Hoadley advance space instrumentation with Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowships in Astrophysics for Early Career Researchers

Casey DeRoo and Keri Hoadley , both assistant professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, each received a Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship in Astrophysics for Early Career Researchers. The NASA fellowship provides each researcher with $500,000 over two years to support their research in space-based instrumentation. 

Hoadley’s research is two-pronged. She will design and ultimately prototype a mirror-based vacuum ultraviolet polarizer, which will allow researchers to access polarized light from space below 120-nanometer wavelength. Polarizing light at such a low wavelength is crucial to building optics for NASA’s future Habitable World Observatory (HWO), the agency’s next flagship astrophysics mission after the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. 

“Our vacuum ultraviolet polarizer project is meant to help set up our lab to propose to NASA for one or more follow-up technology programs, including adapting this polarizer for use in vacuum systems, duplicating it and measuring its efficiency to measure additional flavors of polarized UV light, quantifying the polarization effects introduced by UV optical components that may be used on HWO, and building an astronomical instrument to measure the polarization of UV from around massive stars and throughout star-forming regions,” said Hoadley.

In addition, Hoadley and her team will build a facility to align, calibrate, and integrate small space telescopes before flight, using a vacuum chamber and wavelengths of light typically only accessible in space, which could help the university win future small satellite and suborbital missions from NASA. 

DeRoo will work to advance diffraction gratings made with electron beams that pattern structures on a nanometer scale.   Like a prism, diffraction gratings spread out and direct light coming from stars and galaxies, allowing researchers to deduce things like the temperature, density, or composition of an astronomical object.

The fellowship will allow DeRoo to upgrade the university’s Raith

 Voyager tool, a specialized fabrication tool hosted by OVPR’s Materials Analysis, Testing and Fabrication (MATFab) facility.

“These upgrades will let us perform algorithmic patterning, which uses computer code to quickly generate the patterns to be manufactured,” DeRoo said. “This is a major innovation that should enable us to make more complex grating shapes as well as make gratings more quickly.” DeRoo added that the enhancements mean his team may be able to make diffraction gratings that allow space instrument designs that are distinctly different from those launched to date.

“For faculty who develop space-based instruments, the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship is on par with the prestige of an NSF CAREER or Department of Energy Early Career award,” said Mary Hall Reno, professor and department chair. “Our track record with the program elevates our status as a destination university for astrophysics and space physics missions.”

Uppu pursues building blocks quantum computing with NSF CAREER Award

Ravitej Uppu, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received a 5-year NSF CAREER award of $550,000 to conduct research aimed at amplifying the power of quantum computing and making its application more practical. 

Uppu and his team will explore the properties of light-matter interactions at the level of a single photon interacting with a single molecule, enabling them to generate efficient and high-quality multiphoton entangled states of light. Multiphoton entangled states, in which photons become inextricably linked, are necessary for photons to serve as practical quantum interconnects, transmitting information between quantum computing units, akin to classical cluster computers. 

“ In our pursuit of secure communication, exploiting quantum properties of light is the final frontier,” said Uppu. “However, unavoidable losses that occur in optical fiber links between users can easily nullify the secure link. Our research on multiphoton entangled states is a key building block for implementing ‘quantum repeaters’ that can overcome this challenge.”

Jiang tackles real-world data issues with NSF CAREER Award

Peng Jiang, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, received an NSF CAREER Award that will provide $548,944 over five years to develop tools to support the use of sampling-based algorithms. 

Sampling-based algorithms reduce computing costs by processing only a random selection of a dataset, which has made them increasingly popular, but the method still faces limited efficiency. Jiang will develop a suite of tools that simplify the implementation of sampling-based algorithms and improve their efficacy across wide range of computing and big data applications.

“ A simple example of a real-world application is subgraph matching,” Jiang said. “For example, one might be interested in finding a group of people with certain connections in a social network. The use of sampling-based algorithms can significantly accelerate this process.”

In addition to providing undergraduate students the opportunity to engage with this research, Jiang also plans for the project to enhance projects in computer science courses.

The online eclipse experience: People on X get creative, political and possibly blind

The 2024 total eclipse is caused by a rare alignment in celestial spheres that will send millions of people in the path of totality outside to peer at the sky.

People have booked their Airbnbs years in advance , eclipse glasses are selling out and forecasters have been warning of cloudy skies for weeks.

Regardless of how otherworldly this event is and how much planning people have dedicated to experiencing it in person, the internet is being the internet and providing an eclipse experience of its own.

GIFs, quips and skits are flooding social media platforms like X on Monday.

Here are some of the best social media reactions to the eclipse:

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Forgot your eclipse glasses? So did the internet

Proper eye safety is recommended for looking at the sun during an eclipse, and several places like Warby Parker and public libraries have been giving them away for free.

But some poor souls didn't secure their pair in advance, and the internet knows it:

"I don’t have eclipse glasses and I don’t trust myself not to look at the sun," one user posted on X.

"During the eclipse, it’s important not to stare at the Sun directly, as it will take this as a provocation. Look away to the sides to indicate clearly that you are not a threat to the Sun. Do NOT run away; this will activate the Sun’s predation instinct, and then God help us all," another posted .

Viral moment: Looking back (but not directly at) Donald Trump's 2017 solar eclipse moment

Some people are making their own eclipses

*flips ipad around*, of course, it's getting political.

Several supporters of former President Donald Trump have also made their own footage showing Trump eclipsing President Joe Biden , indicating their hope for the 2024 presidential election.

"Biggest Event of 2024," wrote one user , with a picture of Trump "eclipsing" Biden attached.

But many people are reminiscing about the 2017 eclipse, when Trump seemingly looked up at the sky without glasses .

Biden joined in poking fun at him in a post saying, "don't be silly, folks – play it safe and wear protective eyewear," a presumed nod to Trump's viral moment.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Natalie Alund

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University of Utah announces major funding for new addiction treatment research

Media contact:.

Patricia Brandt Manager, Public Relations and Communications, Huntsman Mental Health Institute University of Utah Health Email: Patricia.Brandt @hsc.utah.edu

Salt Lake City (April 10, 2024) - Worldwide, someone dies from drug or alcohol addiction every four minutes. Now, researchers at Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah have been selected by Wellcome Leap to research a new treatment for substance use disorder as part of a $50 million commitment to develop innovative treatments.

Brian J. Mickey, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Huntsman Mental Health Institute (pictured top left), will lead the team of investigators with expertise in psychiatry, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, radiology, and social work to research a new, noninvasive treatment for addiction. Co-principal investigators include Jan Kubanek, PhD , (pictured top center), and Taylor Webb, PhD (pictured top right); co-investigators include (from left to right) Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW ; Rana Jawish, MD ; Vincent Koppelmans, PhD ; and Tom Riis, PhD.

The research will be funded by the Untangling Addiction program, which is a $50 million program founded by Wellcome Leap , to develop scalable measures to assess addiction susceptibility, quantify the risks stemming from addiction, and develop innovative treatments.  

“Substance use disorder is a significant global health problem, and yet the treatment options are limited,” Mickey said.  “We’re developing a non-invasive intervention for preventing and treating addiction, chronic pain, and depression. This funding will help us validate and generate the data to support the next critical step: an efficacy trial to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.”

Mickey’s team will use a novel ultrasound-based device to modulate deep brain regions and behaviors associated with opioid addiction. The goal will be to ultimately develop this approach into an individually targeted therapeutic intervention for a range of addictions. “Addictions are brain illnesses that have enormous negative impact on individuals, families, and society,” Mickey said. “A major reason that addictions have been difficult to prevent—and treat—is that they are driven by dysfunction of deep brain regions that are challenging to access. Many psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety, and addiction are caused by malfunction of brain circuits. This project is an example of our mission to understand how these neural circuits are dysregulated and to develop novel, circuit-targeted interventions that return the brain to a healthy state.”

"We are proud to bring Wellcome Leap's innovative problem-solving and funding approach to our research enterprise at the University of Utah," said Taylor Randall, President , University of Utah. "To have our mental health researchers contributing to pioneering work on addiction treatment reaffirms our commitment to improving lives through discovery."

“What makes research like this so impactful is that it brings together a variety of disciplines to help solve complex problems in mental health,” said Mark Hyman Rapaport, MD , CEO of Huntsman Mental Health Institute. “This is particularly timely news given the groundbreaking of a new translational research building on campus focused on mental health and the brain. Our nation is in a mental health crisis, but there is hope if we can think differently and work together to change this trajectory.”

About Huntsman Mental Health Institute

Huntsman Mental Health Institute at University of Utah Health brings together 75 years of patient care, research, and education into one of the nation's leading academic medical centers focused on mental health. Nestled in the campus of University of Utah, Huntsman Mental Health Institute serves the community with 1,600 faculty and staff in 20 locations providing inpatient and outpatient services for youth, teens, and adults as well as a comprehensive crisis care model which includes the nationally recognized SafeUT app and the 988 Crisis hotline for Utah. Our mission is to advance mental health knowledge, hope, and healing for all. Learn more at:  HMHI.utah.edu  and join the conversation on  Instagram ,  Facebook ,  TikTok ,  X  and  LinkedIn .

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