title: How Affective Is a "Like"?: The Effect of Paralinguistic Digital Affordances on Perceived Social Support.
abstract: A national survey asked 323 U.S. adults about paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs) and how these forms of lightweight feedback within social media were associated with their perceived social support. People perceived PDAs (e.g., Likes, Favorites, and Upvotes) as socially supportive both quantitatively and qualitatively, even without implicit meaning associated with them. People who are highly sensitive about what others think of them and have high self-esteem are more likely to perceive higher social support from PDAs.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Information Systems, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Donghee Yvette
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Wohn
authors.affiliation: 2 School of Communication, Illinois State University , Normal, Illinois.
authors.forename: Caleb T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: 2 School of Communication, Illinois State University , Normal, Illinois.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hayes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult