How WeChat, the Most Popular Social Network in China, Cultivates Wellbeing

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dc.contributor.authorWu, Jiaqi
dc.date2023-05-17T09:35:59.000
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-22T23:39:15Z
dc.date.available2023-05-22T23:39:15Z
dc.date.issued2014-09-01
dc.date.submitted2014-09-14T21:42:47-07:00
dc.description.abstractSocial media sites like Facebook have recently been blamed for their negative impact on wellbeing, with support from recent research. However, certain features and mechanisms of social media sites may actually increase their users’ wellbeing, and the sites may serve as platforms for positive interventions to reach large populations and improve their lives. This paper examines China’s leading Social Network, WeChat, and its potential effectiveness in cultivating wellbeing among Chinese users, through a review of the literature. The paper has six sections. Part 1 presents a brief summary of Positive Psychology and Positive Interventions. Part 2 reviews research findings regarding the impact of social media on wellbeing. Part 3 introduces WeChat’s design features and how they may affect the users’ behaviors. Part 4 suggests six hypotheses on how WeChat may improve user wellbeing. Part 5 proposes possible ways to apply positive interventions on WeChat which would enable users to actively improve their wellbeing. Finally, Part 6 reviews how datasets from various social networks have assisted psychological and developmental research. The last section also outlines a quantitative research proposal to validate the hypothesis that WeChat makes a positive impact on users’ wellbeing, and offers limitations and implications for future work.
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/38941
dc.legacy.articleid1066
dc.legacy.fulltexturlhttps://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&context=mapp_capstone&unstamped=1
dc.source.issue65
dc.source.journalMaster of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.subject.otherwellbeing
dc.subject.otherbig data
dc.subject.othersocial media
dc.subject.otherstrong tie
dc.subject.otherweak tie
dc.subject.otherwechat
dc.subject.otherfacebook
dc.subject.otherSocial Psychology
dc.titleHow WeChat, the Most Popular Social Network in China, Cultivates Wellbeing
dc.typeDissertation/Thesis
digcom.contributor.authorisAuthorOfPublication|email:jiaqiwu@sas.upenn.edu|institution:Master of Applied Positive Psychology, UPENN|Wu, Jiaqi
digcom.identifiermapp_capstone/65
digcom.identifier.contextkey6117292
digcom.identifier.submissionpathmapp_capstone/65
digcom.typethesis
dspace.entity.typePublication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication9957a6cd-e99e-4649-bd40-7b25079ce0f3
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery9957a6cd-e99e-4649-bd40-7b25079ce0f3
upenn.schoolDepartmentCenterMaster of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstones
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