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More than an Anxiety Machine: How Nostalgic Social Media Use Promotes Positive Affect, Self-Regard, and Meaning in
Jeong-Woo Jang1, Jung Ah Lee2, Han-Jong Lee3
1School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking
|March 26, 2026
Summary
Revisiting nostalgic social media posts can boost psychological well-being by mentally transporting individuals to meaningful past moments. These benefits, particularly for self-regard, were more pronounced for those with lower self-continuity, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Media Studies
- Well-being Research
Background:
- Social media use is prevalent, offering opportunities to revisit past experiences.
- The concept of self-continuity influences how individuals connect with their past selves.
- External stressors, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can impact psychological well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if recalling nostalgic social media content enhances psychological benefits through mental transportation.
- To examine the moderating role of self-continuity in the relationship between nostalgic social media use and psychological benefits.
- To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic context on these psychological effects.
Main Methods:
- Two web-based experiments (N=451 in Study 1, N=431 in Study 2) were conducted.
- Participants browsed either nostalgic or ordinary social media posts.
- Measures included mental transportation, positive affect, self-regard, meaning in life, and self-continuity.
Main Results:
- Nostalgic posts facilitated mental transportation, enhancing positive affect and meaning in life, particularly for individuals with lower self-continuity in Study 1.
- Study 2 showed nostalgic posts facilitated mental transportation across all self-continuity levels, but self-regard benefits were not observed.
- The COVID-19 pandemic context influenced the observed psychological benefits.
Conclusions:
- Reliving past experiences through social media can positively impact subjective well-being.
- Self-continuity and external stressors like pandemics can moderate the psychological benefits of nostalgic social media engagement.
- Future research should explore these dynamics further to understand digital well-being strategies.
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