Happiness on Instagram – Content Analysis and Engagement Based on Attention Theory
ISBN 978-3-030-20141-8
DOI 10.1007/978-3-030-20470-9_2
PUBLISHER. Springer
AUTHOR/S/. Qiuwen Li & Young Ae Kim
CATEGORIES. Social media, Happiness, Value of Life
KEYWORDS. Social media, Attention theory, Hashtags, Happiness, Photography posts
ABSTRACT.
Which photography posts get more likes and comments? How frequently do people feel truly happy when they use hashtag #happy and/or #happiness on Instagram? How often do people give sincere comments on Instagram posts? In this research, we conducted a content analysis of photography posts tagged with the hashtag #happy and/or #happiness. We downloaded the 200 most recent posts from individual accounts between January 9–20, 2019 from age ranges 10 to 55 years old. 91% of posts were from young adults or millennials (18–35 years old) and only 2% of posts were from adolescent and 7% of posts were from middle-aged adults.
“Birds of a feather flock together”
Homophily Principle
Methods.
PROCEDURE.
This study examined the influences of attention theory on happiness and how an individual portrays one’s happiness. We conducted a content analysis of posts tagged with hashtag #happy. We downloaded the 200 most recent posts January 20, 2019 and coded for the presence or absence of specific content elements. The Instagram posts were posted on Instagram and tagged with the hashtag #Happy and/or # Happiness between January 9 and January 20. In addition, we analyzed all comments of 200 posts into two group “sincere” and “insincere.” All variables were coded dichotomously (0 = absent, 1 = present) by one coder. For the reliability analysis, we randomly selected 10% of the material. The analysis generally indicated reliable measurement. Krippendorff’s α values were acceptable all (all values, α > .76).
VARIABLES.
a) Reference to Happiness. This variable was coded as present when the post included an explicit reference to happy thoughts, plans, value, or expression. All posts were categorized by 9 types of life values that considered to be happy - Not Defined (no clear reference), Smile (no content reference), Physical Appearance, Relationship, Travel/Experience, Achievement, Wealth, and spiritual.
b) Sincerity. This variable was coded as present when the comments of post included an explicit reference to thoughtful expression. All comments were counted and categorized into two groups, sincere and insincere.
c) Emotions. The following emotional expressions were coded when they were visually or verbally present: Happiness/Happy (e.g., smiling faces, proud/confident faces and gesture).
d) Demographics. A total of 200 most recent Instagram post from both groups, 100 males and 100 females, were downloaded. We coded whether the post visually (e.g., pictures, visuals) or verbally (e.g., words, phrases) presented a female or male. We did not code for sex when the post ambiguously represents in terms of biological sex. Furthermore, the age of the individual was coded. We coded whether the post included young individuals, older adults, or held no age-related information.
e) Inconsistency. We coded whether the post explicitly addressed a conflict experience when internal cognitive and emotional content was inconsistent. Inconsistency was coded as present, for example, when the post presented a verbal statement with a contradictory visual image.
f) Data Analysis. We calculated descriptive statistics with percentage values and 95% confidence intervals based on bootstrapping techniques. The percentage values are significantly different when the confidence interval does not overlap. The confidence interval lower and upper limits are reported after the percentage value.
Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on specific information while editing out non-essential information.
- John Robert Anderson
What we found.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.
The research found that physical appearance was by far the most frequently depicted expression of happiness, followed by travel/experience, relationship, and achievement. Happiness posts included young adults (91%, 95% CI = 84.2-96.2), followed by youth (2%, 95% CI = 0.0-5.4) and adults (7%, 95% CI = 2.8-10.4).
GENDER, COMMENTS, & LIKES
Females are 2.3 times likely post more comments and 1.7 times likely click likes the post than males. However, it is important to consider that there were variety numbers of likes for each post based on the popularity of an individual. Regardless of biological sex, each post is receiving only between 12.1 % (female) and 15.5% (male) sincere comments among total number of comments. Majority comments between 86.2% (female) and 84.6% (male) were insincere comments.
GENDER, SINCERE & INSINCERE COMMENTS
The study found that females are 2.3 times more likely to leave comments than males. Regardless of biological sex, both male and female received a significantly larger number of insincere comments (85.7%) than sincere comments (13.1%) of their posts.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Things to think about.
01.
Further research is required to investigate more ranges of emotions (i.e., anger, fear, sadness) with more representative sample sizes.
02.
Social media communication is proven to be the most effective for millennials. Future research can provide explanations of how these influences shift their viewpoints and to what they give value.
Social Media Obsession
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