Mixed Emotions in Active Social Media Use – Fun and Convenient or Shameful and Embarrassing?

This paper discusses self-perceived observations of social media use among undergraduate students. 132 media diaries are analyzed in order to identify media usage patterns, profiles and emotions expressed as a consequence of an extensive and frequent social media use. By asking the students to report in detail of their media use and to reflect on their behavior in a personal media diary, we go beyond the typical snapshot acquired from a cross-sectional survey design. The diaries were analyzed using NVivo, focusing on the students’ own reflections on their media and social media consumption. We were able to identify four different media consumption profiles based on the level of activity in social media and the emotions expressed in the reflections. Most of the students are active social media users, and about 40 % of the students express strong emotions, both positive and negative, when reflecting on their own frequent social media use. The aim is to discuss how does this kind of extensive and frequent social media affect these young adults and what we can learn from analyzing their perceptions and self-reported social media use.