Patterns of Social Media Use across Age Groups during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study across Four Countries

Tore Bonsaksen (), Hilde Thygesen, Janni Leung, Gary Lamph, Isaac Kabelenga and Amy Østertun Geirdal
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Tore Bonsaksen: Department of Health and Nursing Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2418 Elverum, Norway
Hilde Thygesen: Center for Health and Technology, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3045 Drammen, Norway
Janni Leung: Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
Gary Lamph: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Keele University, Keele ST5 5BG, Staffordshire, UK
Isaac Kabelenga: Department of Social Work and Sociology, University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
Amy Østertun Geirdal: Department of Social Work, Child Welfare, and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine patterns of social media use across age groups in four countries (Norway, USA, UK, and Australia) two years after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and whether types of use and time spent using social media was related to health worries. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 1578 adult participants. The data were analysed with one-way analyses of variance and a linear regression analysis. Younger people spent more time on and were more likely to be passive users of social media than older people. Motives for social media use, and perceived effects of using social media, varied by participants’ age. Passive social media use and more time spent using social media were related to higher levels of health worries. Thus, an age perspective is relevant for understanding patterns of social media use, and different types of social media use appear to be differently related to health worries.

Keywords: age; COVID-19; cross-national study; health worries; motives; social media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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