The Impact of Facebook Use on University Students’ Subjective Wellbeing and the Quality of Their Friendships
摘要
This study aimed to provide information on the role that online sociability plays in subjective well-being of university students, online self-disclosure, and the quality of their friendships. There is a lack of research on online self-disclosure on Facebook. Few researchers have used honesty, intent, and positive valence as individual constructs, rather than as separate decision variables, a gap which this study aims to fill. The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between online sociability, online self-disclosure, the quality of their friendships, and the well-being of the subjects in South Africa. A quantitative data collection method was used. Data were collected through a web-based survey using structured questionnaires. A theoretical framework was evaluated by means of data collected from university students (n = 460). The results show that online sociability was negatively related to the quality of their friendships. In addition, online self-disclosure was a significant predictor of the quality of users’ friendships and their subjective well-being. There was also a significant relationship between the users’ quality of their friendships and their subjective well-being. The results have been collated in a comprehensive model, which could offer guidelines to university students and South African society.