Communication Technology & Mental Health

A first major focus is on the theoretical and empirical integration of the mental health effects of social media. The use of social media by younger people in particular is viewed very critically and usually unanimously negatively by the public – but the scientific evidence is far more complex. Explaining this complexity theoretically, resolving contradictions, and deriving actionable insights for society and politics, users, parents, educators and tech companies is a long-standing focus of our research, especially through systematic literature synthesis. Another goal is to further develop literature synthesis methods in their application to interdisciplinary questions such as the health effects of social media. For example, we advance synthesis methodology  in communication science in the form of computational scoping reviews, meta reviews, adversarial reviews, or the use of artificial intelligence in systematic reviews.

A second line of research focuses on social comparison processes in (passive) social media use. Social upward and downward comparisons are deeply human and, from the perspective of users, social media companies, and academic research, an important theoretical mechanism that may explain many effects of social media. However, (upward) comparisons are usually understood and researched as predominantly one-sidedly negative. Our research represents a counterbalance and carves out the occurrence, boundary conditions, and consequences of positive upward comparisons in social media. In particular, our studies show that social media can be a central source of everyday inspiration and that comparison and envy processes play a key role for inspiration under certain conditions. In literature reviews, we also critically classify the findings in this field and identify key research gaps, particularly with regard to the active-passive model of social media use.

Building on the first two strands of research, we are trying to identify what a healthy way of using social media can look like. For example, in addition to a better understanding of positive upward comparisons, we are also trying to identify the conditions for so-called digital flourishing, or to understand the conditions and consequences of authentic self-presentation in social media.