The Scroll of Approval: Receiving More Likes on Social Media Makes People Feel More Powerful

Abstract

Previous work has shown the importance of social capital and positive feedback for garnering power and feeling powerful. We explore whether these relationships hold online (n = 289). In study 1, we test our hypothesis in a correlational study of both Facebook and Instagram users. We also test our findings experimentally (Studies 2 and 3) using the Ostracism Online paradigm which closely resembles a social media site and allows participants to be assigned to receive many or few likes and assign them to a responsibility v. opportunity condition (Study 3). We found that a larger number of contacts in one’s network and receiving more likes were positively associated with feeling more powerful online. Together, these studies show how social media can influence feelings of power.