Abstract
This study investigates how reality television viewing is linked to Facebook. Utilizing a survey of 736 students in a school of journalism at a large Midwestern university, researchers examined whether viewers of different genres of reality television were more prone to problematic information sharing on Facebook. The study found that all viewers of reality were prone to problematic information sharing. However, viewers of drama-, competition-, and crime-based shows were most likely to share problematic information. These results are interpreted using social cognitive theory.
Introduction
The last decade has seen an explosion in both the popularity of reality television programming and the use of social networking sites (SNS). Murray and Ouellette (2009) argued that reality television has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States due to its inexpensive production costs and the ability of editors to highlight real and manufactured drama and comedy easily. Since the debut of Survivor in the summer of 2000, reality television has become a staple of both networks and cable channels (Baruh, 2010).
At the same time that reality television embarked on a journey up the Nielsen charts, SNS, especially Facebook, became common destinations for Internet users. Ellison and boyd (2013) define SNS as
a networked communication platform in which participants 1) have uniquely identifiable profiles that consist of user-supplied content, content provided by other users, and/or system-provided data; 2) can publicly articulate connections that can be viewed and traversed by others; and 3) can consume, produce, and/or interact with streams of user-generated content provided by their connections on the site. (p. 158)
Of those SNS, Facebook currently has more than 1 billion users worldwide, which is by far the most among all (Fowler, 2012). In fact, Facebook currently has more users today than the entire Internet did as recently as late 2004 (Pingdom, 2012). More than 30 billion pieces of information in the form of posts, photos, and links are shared monthly on Facebook (Pingdom, 2011).
Scholars have examined how a person’s individual traits predict Facebook use (e.g., Hargittai, 2007; Quan-Haase & Young, 2010; Ross et al., 2009). An interesting aspect of Facebook use is what Peluchette and Karl (2009) termed “problematic profile information.” They created a scale that investigates how much information pertaining to topics such as sex or alcohol consumption a Facebook user shares (Peluchette & Karl, 2009). Like Facebook, reality television also consistently earns attention from scholars of various fields and interests. The vast majority of research on reality television has either used critical cultural paradigms (e.g., Orbe, 2008; Walsh, Fürsich, & Jefferson, 2008) or employed uses and gratifications theory to understand why people view reality television programs (e.g., Barton, 2009; Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007).
The current study builds on this previous literature to investigate the intriguing link between the reality television programming that college students watch and how they behave on Facebook. Specifically, we examine whether or not individuals who watch reality programming “model” some of the mediated “real” behavior that they see on television, and then enact those behaviors on their Facebook accounts.
This study expands social cognitive theory by examining whether viewers of reality television can model the behavior depicted on the television shows in their own behavior on Facebook, thus modeling behavior from one medium on another. As reality television continues its run of popularity, and SNS become part of the everyday routines of college students, this study examines the important and underresearched link between behavior on reality television and behavior on SNS.
Review of the Literature
This literature review will first explore reality television and the effects this genre of programming can have on individual viewers. Next, this section will synthesize relevant research on SNS, specifically Facebook, and how users behave on SNS, including a detailed look at the concept of problematic profile information. Finally, we will define and explore social cognitive theory and how it informs this study.
Reality Television
Reality television has been defined in a number of ways (Orbe, 2008). While Dowd (2006) simply described the concept as any programming based in reality, most reality television scholars have determined that this definition is too simplistic. Andrejevic (2002) defined the genre as any programming that depicts real people in a nonfictional storyline. However, he noted that reality television is not really a depiction of reality but just an inexpensive way for television programmers to sell products. Baker (2003) presented a more specific definition that described reality television as “non-fictional programming in which the portrayal is presumed to present current or historical events or circumstances” (p. 57). Definitions of the genre may vary slightly, but almost all scholars agree with Murray and Ouellette (2009), who defined reality television as programming that utilizes nonactors to portray themselves in either organic or planned activities that put them under constant surveillance. Barton (2009) wrote that while an exact definition may be difficult to ascertain, the impact of reality television “is nothing short of phenomenal” (p. 460).
Research has employed uses and gratifications theory to examine why people view reality television programming, finding that people receive tangible and intangible benefits from the genre. Papacharissi and Mendelson (2007) discovered that people tune in to reality television for both entertainment and relaxation. Similarly, Hall (2009) established that the more “real” viewers thought a show was, the more attention they paid to it and the more they thought about the situations depicted.
Reality programming has many subgenres that often feature very different formats, characteristics, and production values. However, most research does not take these differences into account (Barton, 2009). For example, Barton (2009) found that people watch competition-based reality television for very different reasons from other types of reality television. However, Barton did not identify the other subgenres of reality television.
Nabi (2007) conducted a survey of both college students and nonstudent residents of the same city to determine how viewers perceive genres of reality television. She found that people generally put reality programming into four overlapping categories: romantic, not romantic, competitive, and not competitive. A show such as The Apprentice can be both competitive and not romantic, while one such as Baby Story can be both not romantic and not competitive. To avoid overlapping as much as possible, the present study utilizes the seven categories of reality television that Orbe (2008) defined: drama, informational, talent, crime, competition, lifestyle and makeover, and romance.
Effects of Watching Reality Television
A few studies have investigated the effects of reality TV on people’s attitudes and even behaviors (e.g., Coyne, Robinson, & Nelson, 2010; Y. Kim & Jun, 2009). The findings, however, are not unanimous in terms of whether the effects are positive, negative, or if reality television consumption has any effects at all on viewers. However, research suggests that the effects reality television viewing can have on individuals would be different depending on the genre of the program.
For example, a study found that watching cosmetic surgery makeover programs could be a factor in women having negative body image perceptions (Mazzeo, Trace, Mitchell, & Walker Gow, 2007). Survey research revealed that this effect was stronger among White women. However, another survey found that watching reality police programming can improve people’s attitudes toward police officers (Eschholz, Blackwell, Gertz, & Chiricos, 2002).
Gottfried, Vaala, Bleakley, Hennessy, and Jordan (2013) also sought to determine links between watching particular TV genres and sexual behavior among adolescents. They found that comedies positively predicted having had sex while dramas negatively predicted having had sex. The researchers concluded that because comedies portrayed sexual situations with less risk and responsibilities and usually in a comedic context, viewers were less likely to have a negative perception of sex. However, neither cartoons nor reality programs were a significant predictor (Gottfried et al., 2013). A plausible explanation is that their content analysis also found that reality programming had the least sex content among the four genres. This finding, however, is probably due to the programs selected (e.g., American Idol, Super Nanny, Extreme Home Makeover, Fear Factor). The authors acknowledged that because they focused primarily on network television, the study mostly utilized competition- and informational-based programs devoid of sexual content. Regardless of the genre of reality programming, though, researchers have consistently found that viewing does have some effect on an individual viewer’s behavior.
Numerous studies have examined how people behave and present themselves on Facebook. People use Facebook to create an image of themselves they would like to project to the world (Tufekci, 2008). However, studies have revealed there is a reason to be concerned about some of the information users choose to share (e.g., Christofides, Muise, & Desmarais, 2009; Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Hudiburgh, 2012; Kilburn, 2011; Peluchette & Karl, 2009; Stefanone & Lackaff, 2009).
Previous literature identified several individual factors that predict how people use SNS. These factors include age (Quan-Haase & Young, 2010), Internet access (Quan-Haase & Young, 2010), gender (Hargittai, 2007), and personality traits such as extroversion (Ross et al., 2009) and self-esteem (H.-K. Kim & Davis, 2009). Researchers have also examined what people share on SNS, such as photos of drinking on Facebook (Beullens & Schepers, 2013). When users share information through SNS, one of their main goals is to be seen (Hong, Tandoc, Kim, Kim, & Wise, 2012; Tufekci, 2008). The user controls all of this, but why a user shares what he does is underexplored.
A large amount of the literature on Facebook examines what motivates people to use Facebook, not how they use it. Researchers have applied uses and gratifications theory to numerous studies (e.g., Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Gibbs, Ellison, & Heino, 2006; Peluchette & Karl, 2009). However, because so many people, especially young adults, share problematic information (Peluchette & Karl, 2009), it is important to investigate what makes people discuss topics such as sex or alcohol consumption, or share information that could inhibit getting a job (Christofides et al., 2009), or receive attention from law enforcement (Taraszow, Aristodemou, Shitta, Laouris, & Arsoy, 2010; Young & Quan-Haase, 2009).
Problematic Profile Information
Young adults have a tendency to share more information on SNS than older users (Peluchette & Karl, 2009). St. John (2006) wrote that young people have what borders on a compulsion to share information about their personal lives. Previous studies have shown that young people are far more likely than people older than 30 to post information about drinking at parties or sexual behavior (Peluchette & Karl, 2009). Students who have just transitioned to college and who have large Facebook networks also tend to display references to drinking alcohol in their profiles either through photos or text-based posts (Moreno et al., 2014). Karl, Peluchette, and Schlaegel (2010) and Peluchette and Karl (2009) examined why certain users share problematic profile information. Peluchette and Karl (2009) developed a scale to measure problematic profile information, which they defined as “information which employers would find inappropriate” (p. 31). They measured how likely users were to post problematic profile information by asking about their likelihood to post biographical information such as home address, photos with nudity or depictions of alcohol consumption or firearms, or comments about participating in illegal activities.
Social Cognitive Theory
Bandura (2008) conducted the earliest studies to test social cognitive theory, which he then called social learning theory. The theory does not posit that people will see something and then observationally learn the behavior. How behavioral patterns are learned is a far more complicated process. Bandura (2001) used the term modeling to describe this process. Modeling is the manner in which people witness behavior, then decode that behavior, and, finally, adjust their own behavior in response to what they have seen and interpreted. Hill (2004) posited that there is a strong possibility that individuals could model behavior depicted on one medium on another.
Stefanone, Lackaff, and Rosen (2010) applied Hill’s (2004) approach to argue that studying behavior on both SNS and reality television made sense. They argued that reality television’s viewership is principally composed of the same demographic that has adopted Facebook universally—young adults. College students today have grown up in an era that always featured reality television (Murray & Ouellette, 2009). A traditional 18-year-old freshman student would have been born years after MTV premiered The Real World, and would have only been 5 years old when CBS unveiled Survivor. When Facebook became available to all with an email address in 2006, these students would have been 10 or 11 years old, too young to legally sign up for the SNS, which, at the time, only allowed people 13 or older to join. In terms of social cognitive theory, Bandura (2008) would argue that today’s college students have been exposed to enough reality television that modeling that behavior on Facebook would be very possible.
Hypotheses
The rising popularity of both reality television and Facebook has resulted in scholars examining whether there is any connection between the two. Stefanone and Lackaff (2009) and Stefanone et al. (2010) utilized social cognitive theory to investigate the link between consumption of reality television and SNS behavior. Stefanone et al. (2010) found that reality TV viewing was positively correlated with a larger SNS circle, time spent on SNS, and the amount of friends on SNS not known in real life. In short, the study found that the more people watched reality television, the less “real” their lives were on SNS. They found that the more these participants watched reality television, the more likely they were to have mediated online relationships through Facebook with “friends” they did not know offline. While the study’s findings are interesting, the authors operationalized reality television as anything unscripted; there is no differentiation between programs such as the controversial and provocative Jersey Shore and the staid and informational PBS staple This Old House. The study also operationalized living a less real life in terms of time spent on Facebook and size of one’s network, but Facebook is a platform where users can engage in multiple types of behavior unaccounted for by just looking at frequency of use and number of friends. Thus, this present study seeks to understand how different genres of reality television influence behavior on Facebook, particularly if more college students that share problematic profile information on Facebook view programs that depict problematic profile information.
Therefore, we test the following hypotheses. Hypotheses 1 and 2 are consistent with what Stefanone et al. (2010) found. Hypotheses 3 and 4 are based on the study that Peluchette and Karl (2009) conducted, and Hypothesis 5 and Research Question 1 are our attempt at linking the two studies through the framework of social cognitive theory:
Method
This study used the survey method. Since this study furthers the research questions first asked by Stefanone and Lackaff (2009), survey methodology is optimal. Stefanone and colleagues utilized surveys to gather the results that inform this study, and a survey allows us to sample a large segment of our desired population and draw conclusions (Groves et al., 2009).
Sample
Since teenagers are considered the most voracious users of Facebook and other SNS, and since their generation grew up with the reality television genre, this study recruited college students from a large Midwestern university as respondents. The study used convenience sampling, with a focus on testing hypothesized relationships more than generalizing to the population of college students. Though we used nonprobability sampling, we sought a large number of participants. The final sample for this study consists of 736 students. Sixty-eight percent of the participants were females, and the average age was about 19 years (SD = 2.51 years). Seventy-eight percent identified themselves as White Americans. The participants used Facebook for an average of 2 hours per day (SD = 1.99) and had an average of 630 Facebook friends.
We recruited students from introductory journalism classes. Participants joined in the study in exchange for course credit. They filled out a web-based survey questionnaire that asked questions about their Facebook use and reality TV viewing habits, among other things.
Variables
Problematic Profile Information
This study adopted the scale developed by Peluchette and Karl (2009) that asked respondents to report how frequently they post particular types of information. We excluded one item—home address—from the original scale to achieve a higher statistical reliability, Cronbach’s α = .80 (see Table 1). The participants had to rate 10 items in a 5-point scale that ranges from never (1) to very frequently (5).
Frequency Distributions.
Used a scale of very frequently (5) to never (1).
Reality TV Viewing
This study categorized reality television programs through the classifications defined by Orbe (2008). For each genre, we provided examples of programs that have recently aired or are currently running to provide respondents a better idea of each genre. Respondents had to rate each of the seven items in a 5-point scale that ranged from never (1) to very frequently (5). The scale was likewise reliable, Cronbach’s α = .82 (see Table 1). For more demographic information, see Table 1.
Findings
Hypotheses 1 and 2 predicted associations between reality TV consumption and number of friends and time spent on Facebook. Stefanone et al. (2010) used the latter two variables as a measure of living a “less real” life. We ran correlation analysis to measure association. The analysis did not find a correlation between reality television consumption and either number of friends or time spent on Facebook. Therefore, Hypotheses 1 and 2 are not supported.
A regression analysis was conducted to test the next three hypotheses. The regression model included the following predictors: number of Facebook friends, time spent on Facebook, and reality television consumption. The effects of age and gender were controlled for. Gender turned out to be a significant predictor, β = −.112, p < .01, with males more likely to engage in problematic information sharing on Facebook than females. The regression model is significant, F(5, 601) = 9.826, p < .001. It explained 7% of the variance in problematic Facebook use (see Table 2).
Predicting Problematic Information Sharing on Facebook.
Note. The regression model is significant, F(5, 601) = 9.826, p < .001, explaining 7% of the variance in problematic Facebook use. Coefficients are standardized betas.
p < .05. **p < .01.
Hypothesis 3 predicted that number of Facebook friends would significantly predict problematic information sharing on Facebook. There is a positive, although minimal, significant relationship between number of friends on Facebook and problematic information sharing on Facebook, β = .079, p < .05. Hypothesis 3 is supported (see Table 2). Thus, users who have more friends on Facebook are more likely to engage in problematic information sharing on Facebook than do users with fewer friends.
Hypothesis 4 predicted that time spent on Facebook will significantly predict problematic information sharing on Facebook. The relationship is not significant, β = .049, p > .10. Hypothesis 4 is not supported.
Hypothesis 5 projected that reality television consumption will predict problematic information sharing on Facebook. The relationship is significant, β = .255, p < .001. Hypothesis 5 is supported. Thus, users who watch a lot of reality television tend to engage in problematic information sharing on Facebook more so than do users who watch less reality television.
But not all reality television programs are the same. Thus, Research Question 1 asked about which particular reality television genres are strongly associated with problematic behavior on Facebook. To answer this, we ran partial correlation analysis, controlling for the effect of number of friends on Facebook and gender (which are significant predictors of problematic Facebook behavior, as what we found). In the analysis, we found that all the seven genres we tested were positively correlated with problematic information sharing on Facebook, with drama reality shows (r = .190), competition reality shows (r = .183), and romance reality shows (r = .178) showing the strongest relationships (see Table 3 for the complete list of the partial correlations).
Correlations Between Reality Television Genres and Problematic Information Sharing on Facebook.
Note. Controlling for number of Facebook friends, all the correlations reported here are significant, p < .001.
Discussion
This study found support for the usefulness of social cognitive theory in explaining problematic information sharing on Facebook. The consumption of particular media messages results in some form of modeling in terms of SNS behavior. In this study, we focused on reality television messages and explored the effects on problematic information sharing on Facebook. Indeed, we found that having a larger network of friends and spending a lot of time watching reality television is related to problematic information sharing on Facebook. In particular, we found that drama, competition, and romance reality TV programs tend to be strongly associated with problematic information sharing on Facebook. Most of these programs, particularly the drama and romance reality shows, feature many sexually suggestive scenes as well as images of young people partying (Murray & Ouellette, 2009).
We embarked on this study out of the concern that the possible combination of two activities that college students of this generation regularly consume could lead to negative consequences. While viewing reality television and using Facebook may seem like harmless hobbies, we have to go beyond the surface to explore underlying processes that might result in potential hazards. A large body of research examines both how and why people watch reality television and log on to Facebook (e.g., Hill, 2004; Y. Kim & Jun, 2009; Ross et al., 2009; Taraszow et al., 2010). Stefanone and Lackaff (2009) and Stefanone et al. (2010) sought to find a link between the two, finding a connection between time spent viewing reality television and time spent on Facebook. But these two intriguing pieces of research did not discriminate between genres of reality television or how participants used Facebook. That is where the present study contributes to this stream of research.
Our first two hypotheses sought to replicate Stefanone et al.’s (2010) findings that reality television consumption is associated with individuals’ number of Facebook friends and time spent on Facebook. The data did not support these hypotheses. Stefanone et al. (2010) treated increased numbers of friends and time spent on Facebook as measures of having a “less real” life. We argue, however, that these two variables do not really get at the core of Facebook behavior. The number of Facebook friends does not necessarily measure how different users interact with each other. In addition, time spent on Facebook does not tell us much because different users do different things while on Facebook. Instead, we suggest that measuring problematic information sharing behaviors on Facebook (Peluchette & Karl, 2009) provides a clearer picture of how people behave on Facebook, particularly when those behaviors are similar to those seen in reality television programs.
Thus, Hypotheses 3 and 4 predicted that number of friends and time spent on Facebook would predict problematic information sharing on Facebook. Only Hypothesis 3 is supported. People enact behavior on Facebook with an expectation of audience reaction; therefore, this finding makes sense. The more friends a Facebook user has, the more time they spend on Facebook (Stefanone et al., 2010). Research shows these people use SNS as a means to present themselves. Therefore, there is more incentive for this type of person to engage in a particular performance if the potential audience is larger. Hypothesis 4 is not supported, and again we point to the idea that time spent on Facebook does not differentiate among the different types of activities that users can engage on in the site. This finding is significant because it shows that simply spending time on Facebook does not lead to problematic behavior. While time spent on Facebook could have negative consequences, this research indicates that it does not lead to posting problematic behavior. Future studies should also investigate other potential predictors of such behavior on Facebook.
Our findings indicate that people who watch reality television are more likely to post problematic information on Facebook. These findings, seen through the lens of social cognitive theory, suggest that participants may be modeling behaviors they see on reality television and expressing similar behaviors on Facebook. This follows the assumption of Hill (2004), that subjects can model behavior across mediums. This is an interesting extension of social cognitive theory because it indicates people may model risky behavior they see on television online and the consequences can be quite negative. Peluchette and Karl (2009) posited that while college students posting problematic information on Facebook may experience no negative outcomes in many cases, they do risk, consequences such as losing a potential job or even trouble with law enforcement.
Finally, our research question examined whether any particular genre of reality television programming had a particularly strong association with problematic information sharing on Facebook. We found that each genre, as defined by Orbe (2008), is associated with problematic information sharing on Facebook. However, the strength of each correlation provides interesting results. Problematic information sharing on Facebook correlates with all reality television genres, but our results indicate that talent reality programming such as American Idol and The Voice have the weakest association. These are the kinds of shows least likely to depict problematic behavior. The second weakest association was with informational reality programming such as Trading Spaces and House Hunters. Of course, this genre is also unlikely to depict problematic behavior. The strongest associations came from competition, romance, and drama-based programming. Competition programs such as Survivor and The Amazing Race feature contestants bending the rules as much as possible and discussing their opponents in a predominantly negative manner (Teven, 2004). Romance and drama reality shows also depict males and females in sexually charged situations. Baruh (2010) found that people who identify themselves as fans of reality television tend to enjoy all types of reality programming. Therefore, it is possible that participants in our study watched all types of genres of reality, but the people who watched the genres depicting problematic behavior more were more likely to model that behavior on Facebook.
Future research should examine this association more closely. While the present study is a first step in connecting watching reality television depictions of problematic behavior and modeling said behavior on Facebook, forthcoming studies should look at the associations between individual reality programs and problematic information sharing on Facebook. A limitation of this study is that it utilized findings from previous research to determine which programs contain problematic behavior, but a content analysis of current reality programming could provide a more precise list of programs and characteristics. Peluchette and Karl (2009) discussed some of the potential negative consequences of sharing problematic information on Facebook. However, future research concerning whether people (college students in particular) who engage in this type of behavior online also engage in similar activities in offline settings. This research could potentially find a relationship between watching reality television and offline behavior, with Facebook use as a mediating variable. Future research could also investigate which types of college students watch reality television programming. It is possible that specific individual-level factors beyond the scope of our current study account for both reality television consumption and Facebook use; this is a worthwhile issue to explore in the future.
Another limitation of this study affects all survey research. Our results relied on self-report. However, the results of this study further knowledge in two important ways. First, as previously noted, it provides another step in expanding social cognitive theory. If participants model behavior seen on reality television on a different medium such as Facebook, they could be modeling behavior on other mediums also, or even in offline interactions. More research in this area will help better understand modeling across mediums. This research helps show that it happens, but does not examine why or how it happens. The second way this study furthers knowledge is by getting a more specific understanding of how reality television viewing affects Facebook use. Previous research indicated that reality viewing did affect Facebook use, but did not go beyond showing an association between viewing and amount of time spent on Facebook. The present study suggests that reality television viewing is associated with problematic information sharing on Facebook, which could lead to negative consequences for college students. This association suggests that we need to be more diligent in understanding how college students view reality television and spend time on Facebook. This study certainly does not support the notion that watching reality television, especially reality television depicting problematic behavior, leads to engaging in problematic information sharing on Facebook. But identifying the type of college student likely to engage in both activities could help researchers understand who is at risk of partaking in a Facebook activity that they could soon regret.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.