Going public on social media: The effects of thousands of Instagram followers on users with a high need for social approval

Why should people opt for a public profile on a new social media? Across two studies, we tested the hypothesis that receiving tangible positive feedback on a famous social media site causes people with a high need for approval to be more willing to create a public profile on a new social media. In Study 1 (N = 200), we hypothesized and found (a) a positive association between young adults’ need for social approval and their general tendency to go public on social media, and (b) an association of the combination of high need for approval and a high number of Instagram followers, with a higher willingness to create a public profile on a new social site. In Study 2 (N = 443), we experimentally replicated this latest finding, demonstrating that obtaining thousands of Instagram followers leads users with a high need for social approval—and not those with a low need for approval—to experience more positive feelings, perceive more appreciation from others, and, consequently, report an augmented willingness to create a public profile on a new social networking site. On the other hand, participants high in need for approval that obtained just a few hundred followers on Instagram reported more negative feelings and declared to be comparatively less willing to set the new social media profile to public, showing a defensive reaction of closure to future social media feedback. Implications of these results for basic research and applied fields are discussed.