School of Public Affairs, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 Aug 28;10:e48908. doi: 10.2196/48908.
Social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook have been central to the global exchange of health-related information throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but during this time, increased web-based interactions proved to be a source of stress and conflict for many SNS users. Prior research suggests that many users have engaged in significant boundary regulation during this period, using behaviors such as unfriending to refine and reorient their social networks in response to pandemic-related information.
This study aimed to examine Facebook unfriending during and in relation to the first year of the pandemic to better understand how SNS users have managed and maintained their social networks around the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, unfriending may be motivated by an attempt to protect the utility and accuracy of a user's informational environment. On the other hand, it may be motivated by a desire to tune out alternative viewpoints and opinions. Both motivations may have significant implications for public health discourse and outcomes.
A sample of 824 active Facebook users (drawn from a representative survey of 1000 American adults) was analyzed using a series of logit regression models. Survey respondents were selected using a stratified quota sampling approach to ensure a representative sample of the US population. Balanced quotas were determined (by the region of the country) for sex, age, race, ethnicity, and political affiliation.
In total, 31.7% (261/824) of active Facebook users unfriended at least one account over COVID-19 pandemic-related posts during the first year of the pandemic. The most common reasons for unfriending included "making political comments about COVID-19" (191/824, 23.2%) and "posting information that was inconsistent with public health guidelines" (162/824, 19.7%). As hypothesized, reliance on Facebook for COVID-19 pandemic-related news and information was associated with a greater likelihood of unfriending, particularly in response to information that was inconsistent with public health guidelines. Political factors (particularly partisan intensity) were also predictive of unfriending, especially in the case of COVID-19 pandemic-related disagreements.
Both information utility concerns and political factors were associated with a greater likelihood of COVID-19 pandemic-related unfriending, although the magnitude of the effects associated with utility appears to be greater. Although utility-motivated unfriending may lead to more reliable health information experiences for some SNS users, the tendency of consumers to assess accuracy and credibility on the basis of partisan predilections obscures this finding and warrants further consideration.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，社交媒体（SNS）如 Facebook 已成为全球健康相关信息交流的核心，但在此期间，网络互动的增加被证明是许多 SNS 用户压力和冲突的来源。先前的研究表明，许多用户在此期间进行了大量的边界监管，例如删除好友，以根据与大流行相关的信息来调整和重新定位他们的社交网络。
本研究旨在研究大流行期间和大流行第一年的 Facebook 删除好友行为，以更好地了解 SNS 用户如何管理和维持他们的社交网络。一方面，删除好友可能是为了保护用户信息环境的效用和准确性。另一方面，它可能是为了屏蔽其他观点和意见。这两种动机都可能对公共卫生话语和结果产生重大影响。
使用一系列逻辑回归模型对 824 名活跃 Facebook 用户（从对 1000 名美国成年人的代表性调查中抽取）进行了分析。调查对象是通过分层配额抽样方法选择的，以确保对美国人口的代表性样本。根据国家的地区，确定了平衡配额（性别、年龄、种族、民族和政治派别）。
在大流行的第一年中，共有 31.7%（261/824）的活跃 Facebook 用户因与 COVID-19 大流行相关的帖子而删除了至少一个好友。删除好友的最常见原因包括“就 COVID-19 发表政治评论”（191/824，23.2%）和“发布与公共卫生指南不一致的信息”（162/824，19.7%）。正如假设的那样，依赖 Facebook 获取与 COVID-19 大流行相关的新闻和信息与删除好友的可能性更大相关，尤其是在与公共卫生指南不一致的信息方面。政治因素（特别是党派强度）也与删除好友有关，尤其是在与 COVID-19 大流行相关的分歧方面。
与 COVID-19 大流行相关的删除好友行为与信息效用的担忧和政治因素都有关，但与效用相关的影响的幅度似乎更大。虽然效用驱动的删除好友可能会为一些 SNS 用户带来更可靠的健康信息体验，但消费者根据党派倾向评估准确性和可信度的倾向掩盖了这一发现，值得进一步考虑。
