Are the negative effects of social networking a privilege of the rich? Social network usage and life satisfaction across European countries

Abstract

This paper examines the effect which social network use (SNU) has on individual life satisfaction across 27 different European countries using the 2016 Eurobarometer 86.2 survey from the European Commission (N ​= ​15,039). An ordered probit estimation technique is used to estimate the relationship between SNU and individual life satisfaction. An interaction variable between SNU and country is created and is included in this paper’s estimation to show how SNU affects life satisfaction differently across countries. Findings indicate that there are considerable variations across countries regarding the effect which SNU has on life satisfaction. Overall results show that frequent SNU negatively impacts individual life satisfaction, while moderate SNU positively impacts life satisfaction. However, the negative effect associated with frequent SNU is strongest amongst individuals from countries with higher performing economies while individuals from countries with lower performing economies prove more resilient to the negative effects of SNU. This indicates that excessive SNU is most damaging for individuals from high performing economies. We propose that this effect is due to the poorer endowment of social capital in countries with lower performing economies relative to countries with higher performing economies. This lesser level of social capital means that the beneficial effect which SNU provides to social capital, and in turn life satisfaction, is greater in countries with lower performing economies than it is in countries with higher performing economies. This paper provides an important contribution to literature concerning SNU and life satisfaction by examining and reporting disparities between the effect of SNU on life satisfaction across different countries.