3 ms·

Right, came here to ask if anyone had read the paper and looked at the correlation / causation methodology. Because another obvious hypothesis is that social m

by gdubs 3y ago

Right, came here to ask if anyone had read the paper and looked at the correlation / causation methodology. Because another obvious hypothesis is that social media causes some kind of fight-or-flight response in people that triggers inflammation.

jablongo 3y ago
I think it’s a pretty basic/uninteresting relation; for a subset of users, being inflamed causes them to be uncomfortable which causes them to post about being uncomfortable, probably sometimes talking about inflammation itself (for a super meta example, see posts in this thread).
- lazide 3y ago
  Or being uncomfortable causes them to want to seek comfort (social?), but lacking adaptive outlets they instead do maladaptive ones like social media. Like gambling to thrill seek because of stress from overdue bills.
- captainbland 3y ago
  imo: inflammatory conditions often lead to fatigue and discomfort which makes physical activities less appealing and sedentary activities more appealing. Social media is already very accessible and highly 'rewarding' so the incentive to use it is very strong. (super meta: I am tired and uncomfortable and am spending stupid amounts of time reading reddit/HN)
iak8god 3y ago
Here's what they say in the abstract: > Providing stronger evidence of the directionality of this effect, Study 3 (N = 171) showed that in college students CRP predicted increased social media use in the subsequent week even after controlling for current week’s use. The basic methodology for this part is: * Blood sample (measured for CRP) * 1 week later: survey on social media use (participants using Screen Time app to objectively measure their activity) * 1 week after that: survey on social media use again Then they ran some regression analyses. I didn't see anything here that rules out the alternative possible explanation: college students who use social media more are more stressed out as a result of their social media use.

by gdubs 3y ago

jablongo 3y ago

I think it’s a pretty basic/uninteresting relation; for a subset of users, being inflamed causes them to be uncomfortable which causes them to post about being uncomfortable, probably sometimes talking about inflammation itself (for a super meta example, see posts in this thread).

lazide 3y ago
Or being uncomfortable causes them to want to seek comfort (social?), but lacking adaptive outlets they instead do maladaptive ones like social media. Like gambling to thrill seek because of stress from overdue bills.
captainbland 3y ago
imo: inflammatory conditions often lead to fatigue and discomfort which makes physical activities less appealing and sedentary activities more appealing. Social media is already very accessible and highly 'rewarding' so the incentive to use it is very strong. (super meta: I am tired and uncomfortable and am spending stupid amounts of time reading reddit/HN)

iak8god 3y ago

Here's what they say in the abstract: > Providing stronger evidence of the directionality of this effect, Study 3 (N = 171) showed that in college students CRP predicted increased social media use in the subsequent week even after controlling for current week’s use. The basic methodology for this part is: * Blood sample (measured for CRP) * 1 week later: survey on social media use (participants using Screen Time app to objectively measure their activity) * 1 week after that: survey on social media use again Then they ran some regression analyses. I didn't see anything here that rules out the alternative possible explanation: college students who use social media more are more stressed out as a result of their social media use.