Improving social inclusion for people with physical disabilities: The roles of mobile social networking applications (MSNA) by disability support organizations in China

Abstract

Having friendships and interpersonal social connections is a normal and expected necessity of life that enhances an individual’s well-being. Digital platforms, such as mobile social network applications (MSNA), present a means for people with disabilities to integrate in society. This study combines intrinsic benefits (such as enjoyment experience and information) and extrinsic benefits (such as social networking) to explore the impact of these benefits on online friendships, and the influence of these online friendships on the perceived social connectedness and well-being of people with physical disabilities. The partial least squares methodology was used to conduct statistical analysis on survey data; the outputs were obtained through convergent analysis, discriminant analysis, and bootstrapping. The results showed that enjoyment experience and social network benefits significantly influence online friendships, which influence perceived social connectedness and well-being. In addition, the perceived social exclusion has a significant moderation effect. Our findings are expected to help local disability service organizations develop effective digital disability inclusion strategies to combat widespread social exclusion among people with disabilities.