Posting alcohol-related content on social media: Comparing college student posters and non-posters

Social networking sites (SNSs) are popular among college-aged adults. The defining characteristic of SNSs is that they are a platform to electronically share content. Most students report posting alcohol-related content (ARC) on SNSs. Little is known concerning these students who consume both alcohol and ARC yet choose not to generate ARC. Objective: The purpose of the current study was to compare key characteristics of posters and non-posters and develop a measure assessing reasons for not posting ARC. Method: The researchers recruited a diverse sample of 1063 college students from two universities for an online study. Results: Relative to posters of ARC, non-posters tend to drink less, have fewer alcohol-related problems, and report fewer reasons for drinking. Non-posters also report viewing several positive and negative consequences of drinking on SNSs, but at lower levels than ARC posters. The Reasons Not to Post ARC Scale was correlated with common alcohol measures (drinking motives, drinking problems) and self-monitoring. The scale was not correlated with some other measures (posting and sharing alcohol-related content). Conclusions: Given the dominant echo chamber effects of ARC on SNSs, examining non-posters can provide insight into the cognitions that might prevent others from joining the ARC social media culture.