The Impact of
Recommendation Systems
on Social Media
Consumption and Mental
Well-being
Introduction: Highly visual social media platforms have grown in popularity, and they
do exceptionally well at keeping their users online by making use of IT technologies such
as recommendation systems. However, concerns have been raised regarding the negative
impact excessive use of social media can have on the mental state of its users. One study,
in particular, showed that watching personalized content stimulates dopamine-rich areas
of the brain more than watching non-personalized content. Aims: As a result, one of the
objectives of this master's thesis is to investigate the extent to which it influences
increased social media consumption, its effect on the mental state of the user, and how
much can be attributed to the use of recommendation systems. It also seeks to determine
how users feel about being subjected to such tools. Methods: An empirical analysis will
be conducted to examine the potential relationship between the variables, and an
interview will be conducted to gain additional insight into the users' perceptions of these
tools. Results: The first hypothesis that users who consume a higher ratio of
recommended content have a higher usage time had to be rejected as the correlation
coefficient was not statistically significant. However, the second hypothesis, that
watching an increased amount of recommended content decreases the mental well-being
of the users, was accepted. The model is able to explain about 7.49% of the variance in
the mental well-being score. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the amount of
recommended content consumed affects mental well-being, but it is not the only factor
that does so. The additional findings from the interviews support this statement, as
depression, regret, and exhaustion were the most frequently reported emotions after a
lengthy session of scrolling through recommended content.
Loosli, Mauritius Joseph, 2022
Art der Arbeit Master Thesis
Auftraggebende
Betreuende Dozierende Hanne, Thomas
Keywords
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Studiengang: Business Information Systems (Master)
Vertraulichkeit: öffentlich