Keeping up with the e-Joneses: Do online social networks raise social comparisons?

Sabatini, Fabio and Sarracino, Francesco (2015): Keeping up with the e-Joneses: Do online social networks raise social comparisons?

Abstract

Online social networks such as Facebook disclose an unprecedented volume of personal information amplifying the occasions for social comparisons. We test the hypothesis that the use of social networking sites (SNS) increases people’s dissatisfaction with their income. After addressing endogeneity issues, our results suggest that SNS users have a higher probability to compare their achievements with those of others. This effect seems stronger than the one exerted by TV watching, it is particularly strong for younger people, and it affects men and women in a similar way.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: social networks; social networking sites; social comparisons; satisfaction with income; relative deprivation.
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution; D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

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