Social Networking Websites Usage and Life Satisfaction: A Study of Materialist Values Shared by Facebook Users

Abstract

This paper attempts to analyze how materialist values mediate the relationship between time spent onsocial networking websites (SNW) and overall life satisfaction. Admittedly, younger generations spend moretime on SNW compared to older generations, therefore we can anticipate that younger people are more af-fected by materialism and, consequently, less satisfied with their lives. The conceptual model proposed herewas tested on a convenience sample of 390 Romanian adults. Using structural equation modeling, our find-ings validate the hypothesis that younger people spend more time on SNW; the SNW usage makes themmore materialistic and, as a result, less satisfied with life. These findings raise ethical questions regarding the impact of SNW on overall life satisfaction. For ex-ample, Facebook, the most popular SNW in Romania, is a virtual social sphere where people become “friends”,give or receive “likes”, are “fans” of something or somebody, etc. Therefore, we argue that Facebook is asymbolical locus for quantitative manifestations of something intimate and private, like feelings or appreci-ations. Such materialist approach to friendship and relationships has a significant negative impact on lifesatisfaction.