Mapping Social Media Dependency: Functional and Psychological Platform Reliance as Mechanisms of Digital Vulnerability

Paper Title

Mapping Social Media Dependency: Functional and Psychological Platform Reliance as Mechanisms of Digital Vulnerability

Publication Info

• Topic area: Social media dependency and its implications for vulnerability, design, and policy.
• Keywords: Social media dependency, functional dependency, psychological dependency, digital vulnerability, manipulative design, platform choice, user profiles, HCI, EU policy, layered vulnerability.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Social media dependency is often treated as a uniform phenomenon or framed as addiction, neglecting its nuanced forms and interplay with individual, motivational, and design-related factors.
• Significance: Understanding dependency is critical for addressing digital vulnerability, informing platform design, and shaping policy interventions to protect user autonomy.
• Motivation and related work: Previous studies have highlighted manipulative design patterns and compulsive behaviors but lack integrative approaches linking individual experiences with platform architectures. EU policy frameworks often rely on static definitions of vulnerability, overlooking its dynamic and layered nature.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The study introduces a layered conceptualization of social media dependency, distinguishing between functional (needs-based reliance) and psychological (compulsive engagement) dependency, and identifies five distinct dependency profiles.
• Novelty:
  1. Empirical demonstration of dependency as a dynamic and layered phenomenon contributing to digital vulnerability.
  2. Development of five user profiles capturing diverse dependency patterns.
  3. Integration of individual, motivational, and design-related factors into the analysis of dependency.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted a survey of 873 adult social media users across Europe.
  • Measured functional and psychological dependency using validated scales.
  • Applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify dependency profiles.
  • Used multinomial logistic regression to examine predictors of profile membership, including demographics, motivations, platform choice, and exposure to manipulative design features.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Five dependency profiles were identified: Functional Use, Low-Dependency Pragmatic Use, High-Dependency Social Use, Moderate-Dependency Hedonic Use, and Very High-Dependency Multi-Motivated Use.
  • Functional dependency (M = 2.63, SD = 0.61) was slightly more prevalent than psychological dependency (M = 2.26, SD = 0.83).
  • Dependency was positively correlated (r = .388, p < .001), suggesting mutual reinforcement.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • The study moves beyond addiction framings to offer a nuanced understanding of dependency as layered and dynamic.
  • It highlights the interplay of individual, motivational, and design-related factors in shaping dependency.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Survey data analyzed using LPA and multinomial logistic regression.
  • Dependency profiles linked to age, life position, motivations, platform choice, and exposure to manipulative design features.
  • TikTok and Instagram users showed higher dependency levels compared to Facebook and YouTube users.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Cross-sectional design limits causal inference; longitudinal studies needed.
  • Self-report measures may introduce biases; future work could incorporate behavioral trace data.
  • Uneven distribution across EU countries limits cross-national comparisons.
  • Aggregated exposure to manipulative designs lacks granularity; specific design patterns should be analyzed.
  • Profiles do not account for relational and structural contexts; future research should explore these dimensions.

Summary

This study conceptualizes social media dependency as a layered and dynamic phenomenon, distinguishing between functional and psychological dependency and identifying five distinct user profiles. It demonstrates how dependency is shaped by individual characteristics, motivations, platform choice, and manipulative design features, with implications for understanding digital vulnerability. The findings provide a nuanced framework for platform design and policy, emphasizing the need for tailored interventions that account for diverse dependency experiences. Future research should explore causal mechanisms, cross-cultural variations, and relational contexts to deepen insights into dependency and vulnerability.