World Media Economics and Management Conference 2016

This paper explores whether and how events moderate the effect of social network sites (SNS) use on life satisfaction. We draw on Eurobarometer survey data and on our own content analysis data. We apply a longitudinal (2010-2015) and cross-country (14 European countries from different media systems) comparative research design and run a two-step logistic regression. The results show that high-impact events significantly moderate the effect of SNS use on happiness. However, they do not moderate the effect of print, radio and TV use on happiness. Thus, the results support our proposition that high-impact events trigger emotional contagion in SNS – a phenomenon we coin as happiness cascades. Moreover, the results suggest that high-impact events moderate the direction of the effect, i.e., high-impact events with positive consequences increase happiness of SNS users while high-impact events with negative consequences decrease their happiness. These happiness cascades, in turn, might have consequences for individuals' well-being and ultimately for society. This paper provides a contribution to research related to happiness economics and digital divides.