Do Facebook and Instagram differ in their influence on life satisfaction? A study of college men and women in South Korea

While a number of previous studies examined the impacts social networking sites (SNSs) on young people’s well-being, they usually focused single platform without considering increasing use multiple media platforms. In addition, only few have explored gender differences, and empirical evidence outside Western culture is still lacking. To this end, present study explores how two different types (i.e., active vs. passive) most popular SNS (social network sites) platforms Facebook Instagram) are related to college men’s women’s life satisfaction via support comparison in South Korea. Path analyses conducted using data from nationwide online survey Korean students (N = 360) revealed that contributes perceived SNSs, while passive decreases negative SNSs. Both Instagram support, tends be use. Gender differences were not observed hypothesized relationships except for those involving control variables amount overall used). The results suggest influences subjective well-being depend nature practical implications literacy education discussed.