Lindsay K. Fullerton
Liberty University
Suggested Citation:
Fullerton, L. K. (2026). Caught in the scroll: A uses and gratifications thematic content analysis of social media. Utah Journal of Communication, 4(1), 6-11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20741587
Abstract
Social media use among Gen Z has drawn great attention as doomscrolling becomes an increasing problem. Mental health concerns continue to rise regarding the unconscious use of social media, questioning whether usage is a passive or active activity. This study examines whether the stated motivations for social media use among college students align with the content found in their social media feeds. Framed by uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this paper explores goal-driven social media behaviors. Participants included 98 college students completing an online survey requiring an audit of the first 10 posts found on their social media feed, followed by a reflective analysis. Primary motivations for social media use included connecting with friends and family, as well as entertainment and passing time. The content analysis discovered themes of advertisement overload, surveillance-based personalization, escapism, and goal misalignment.
Keywords: social media, uses and gratifications theory, thematic content analysis, algorithms
In late 2018 internet users coined the term doomscrolling to explain excessive time spent on social media that is both habitual and immersive, occurring on algorithmically sorted social media feeds (Blacha et al., 2025). In a 2024 article from the American Association of Colleges and Universities, Gen Z were found to spend an average of 4.5 hours daily on social media sites (Cooper, 2024). According to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens, 45% reported that they spend too much time on social media platforms, a number that has risen 9% in the last 3 years (Faverio et al., 2025).
Through the immersion of social media use, studies have raised concerns between excessive usage and the decline of mental health in this population, with many mental health professionals calling it an epidemic (Cooper, 2024; Faverio et al., 2025). The question then becomes, why is this happening? According to uses and gratifications theory, individuals are discriminating users of social media with goals and direction rather than passive consumers (Littlejohn et al., 2021). Access to social media is an active choice, requiring intentional engagement from users, not a passive reaction to being subjected to a preselected show in a doctor’s office waiting room.
In the spirit of active choice consumption, the purpose of this paper is to analyze college students’ social media behaviors to determine if they support the students’ intended goals. If these individuals start with a plan in mind for their social media use, does the information they receive align with their stated interests, or does the algorithm take over and redirect attention elsewhere? If attention is redirected, why do users continue to stay online? This is relevant to understand as the mental health crisis continues, and a significant amount of each student’s day is spent on these sites.
Literature Review
Theoretical Framework
Utilizing uses and gratifications theory (Katz et al., 1973) as the framework, social media engagement was analyzed. One of the underlying questions behind uses and gratifications theory is asking the question in a way that challenged previous media consumption. The focus was once, “What do the media do to people?” and instead has switched to “What do people do with the media?” (Katz & Foulkes, 1962). This distinction takes media selection from passive consumption to active choice (Katz et al., 1973).
Interestingly, one of the main findings in media use is the concept of escapism (Katz & Foulkes, 1962). Even as early as the 1960’s, it was clear that media use drove deprivation, alienation, and loneliness, which at the time was linked to suicide, alcoholism, and drug addiction (Katz & Foulkes, 1962). Current research holds the same findings with a strong correlation of high media use to lowered mental health (Cooper, 2024). Uses and gratifications theory provides the appropriate theoretical framework for this study as it lays the groundwork for examining purposeful activity, links media choice to audience agency, examines how social media competes with other sources of need satisfaction, and the audience is able to report their interests and motives in clearly intelligible ways (Katz et al., 1973).
Identity
Social media use has identity implications, with most users admitting they show only the highlights of their lives, rather than the reality of what is happening (Cooper, 2024). Abdullah et al. (2023) had similar findings with users engaging through platforms in ways that reflect both personal and social identity needs. This would suggest that the information presented in that feed would demonstrate themes giving context clues as to that person’s identity. A feed filled with beauty products, the latest fashionwear, and trending haircuts would signify a major lifestyle difference in personality from someone who is watching viral political commentary and news analysis.
Algorithms
Algorithms tailor content and use predictive data that personalizes user feeds to keep individuals scrolling mindlessly (Zarouali et al., 2022). Feeds are designed strategically to increase user engagement, although time is a factor, more importantly it leads to increased revenue (Zarouali et al., 2022). Blacha et al. (2025) argue that doomscrolling creates a psychologically activated state where users feel continually compelled to remain engaged even after their original goals have been met. Content being fed to users is based on the time the user dwells on the ad, their overall viewing history, and likes of similar content (Gaenssle & Budzinski, 2021). Consistent findings demonstrate that feeds are structured to prolong use and keep the user engaged in the content (Blacha et al., 2025; Karnowski et al., 2021).
Habit Formation
One of the most significant cases for habit formation comes from the work of Yesilyurt & Karaduman (2025), in their study which found that 90% of participants use a second screen while watching television, with smartphones being the most common second device. Cuesta et al. (2021) label this as routinized behavior and demonstrated that one screen is only used as background noise. Additionally, many participants could not determine the motivation for picking up their phone, when already engaged with another form of media (Yesilyurt & Karaduman, 2025). Blacha et al. (2025) also found that participants demonstrated reduced control over stopping their behavior. In a study by Naab et al. (2019), users reported their social media use as automatic, and that they lacked situational awareness in moments of use.
Summary
It has been established that users choose to engage in social media, with goals that align with their identity (Abdullah et al., 2023). Once online, users experience the algorithmic shift that is designed to keep the users engaged in content, long after their primary motivations have been fulfilled (Zarouali et al., 2022). This leads to the concern of habit formation, which has been demonstrated with strong evidence to be a primary reason users stay online (Gaenssle & Budzinski, 2021). Where does consciousness begin and end in this cycle? Is social media use primarily an active choice, or as Segado-Boj et al. (2019) argue, have most individuals become so conditioned to turn to their phone anytime they experience boredom or become overwhelmed? The method of this study has been designed to engage users with their social media feed and allow for conscious reflection to understand their behavior when faced with targeted messaging.
Method
Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in online communication courses at a public university in the western United States. A total of 98 students completed the online survey. The majority of participants fell within the 18-21 age category, with participants ranging in age from 18-30.
A convenience sample approach was used to recruit students. Faculty members in the communication department were contacted via email and asked to forward the recruitment message with the survey link to students enrolled in their online courses. Participation was anonymous and voluntary, with no incentives offered. The survey was administered via Google Forms, without collecting identifying information; however, survey responses from the same IP address were prohibited.
The survey began with questions measuring participants’ motivations for using social media. This included options such as connecting with loved ones, obtaining news information, shopping, and entertainment (e.g., viewing reels, passing time). Each participant shared their top two motivations for choosing to go online. Next, the participants categorized the first 10 posts in their feed. They were directed to categorize the type of post, followed by a brief description for any item that wasn’t a post from their friends or family. Following their classification of posts, students shared the platform they used to complete the audit and answered one reflective question. The reflective question was designed to measure how they felt the content of the first 10 items on their feed aligned with their goals and motivations for being online.
Responses were coded using a hybrid inductive-deductive thematic content analysis. Post-type categories were established deductively prior to data collection. This allowed for efficiency in participant survey completion. Additional inductive themes were created based on their reflective responses. Following Braun & Clarke’s (2006) foundational article on thematic analysis, the six-phase recursive process was used to examine and interpret the data.
Results
The majority of the 98 participants were aged 18-25, comprising 88% of the results; the remaining participants were 26+, making up 11% of the population (Table 1). Instagram was the preferred platform for users, accounting for 80% of the total responses. Participants were directed to choose their preferred platform for study participation and asked to identify the platform at the end of their analysis. The primary motivation users shared for spending time on social media was to connect with family and friends, followed by entertainment and/or killing time. The secondary motivation for most users ended in a reverse order of the primary motivation, with more users stating entertainment or killing time as the top choice and connecting with family and friends as the second choice. The next highest category was self-expression and sharing, capturing 10% for secondary motivation and 7% as a primary motivation. All other motivations were lower than 10% for both primary and secondary reasons.
| Table 1 Participant Information (n=98) | ||
| Variable | n | % |
| Age | ||
| 18-21 | 59 | 60.2 |
| 22-25 | 28 | 28.6 |
| 26-30 | 5 | 5.1 |
| 31+ | 6 | 6.1 |
| Platform Used | ||
| 79 | 80.6 | |
| TikTok | 8 | 8.2 |
| 8 | 8.2 | |
| Other | 2 | 3.0 |
| Primary Motivation | ||
| Connect with family/friends | 43 | 43.9 |
| Entertainment/Kill Time | 38 | 38.8 |
| Get News/Information | 4 | 4.1 |
| Self-expression/Sharing | 7 | 7.1 |
| Community/Belonging | 1 | 1.0 |
| Other | 5 | 5.1 |
| Secondary Motivation | ||
| Connect with family/friends | 30 | 30.6 |
| Entertainment/Kill Time | 41 | 41.8 |
| Get News/Information | 6 | 6.1 |
| Self-expression/Sharing | 10 | 10.2 |
| Community/Belonging | 5 | 5.1 |
| Shopping | 2 | 2.0 |
| Other | 4 | 4.1 |
A total of 980 social media posts were analyzed throughout the course of this study (Table 2). Posts were grouped into three categories, analyzing the top, middle, and bottom portion of the feed in a 3-4-3 pattern. Participants’ feeds demonstrated a clear positional shift in content. Participants indicated their primary motivation for using social media was to connect with family and friends. Initially 17.7% of the posts in the top portion of their feed met this desire, but that number dropped to 13% through the middle portion of their feed and 11% at the end of their feed. Also, following a downward trend was the posts from accounts the participants chose to follow. These types of posts began at 31%, dropping to 20% and 17% respectively.
Sponsored content and ads on the other hand, increase following the initial posts. They begin around 18%, but increase and hold steady just below 30% for the remainder of the feed. News content was not a significant portion of the feeds and remained constant around 4% of the overall feed outline. AI-generated content also did not have a significant impact in the study, remaining around 2% of each type of feed. Lastly, the amount of other content grew throughout the feed beginning around 7% and ending at 12%, demonstrating that at the top of the feed, participants were more likely to find content they came in search of based on their motivation, yet end up with more random information the longer they spend time scrolling.
| Table 2 Post Types by Feed Position (N=98 Participants) | |||
| Post Category | Top (Posts 1-3) n (%) | Middle (Posts 4-7) n (%) | Bottom (Posts 8-10) n (%) |
| Family/Friend | 52 (17.7) | 50 (12.8) | 32 (10.9) |
| Account user follows | 93 (31.6) | 79 (20.2) | 51 (17.3) |
| Reel/Short | 58 (19.7) | 81 (20.7) | 73 (24.8) |
| Sponsored Content/Ad | 54 (18.4) | 114 (29.1) | 82 (28.0) |
| News | 11 (3.7) | 21 (5.4) | 13 (4.4) |
| AI-Generated Content | 4 (1.4) | 7 (1.8) | 7 (2.4) |
| Other | 22 (7.5) | 40 (10.2) | 36 (12.2) |
| Note: Percentages represent the proportion of posts within each feed segment. | |||
In the final question of the survey, participants were asked to describe any insights they had during the survey regarding the alignment of their social media goals and the content of their feed (Table 3). A total of 94 participants answered the final question. Responses were first categorized as either positive, negative, or neutral; following that initial assessment, they were coded into four themes.
Nineteen respondents (20.2%) reported positive feelings toward the content of their feed, usually citing sports updates such as the 2026 Winter Olympics as the primary focus of their content. Other positive responses include seeing posts from people they want to follow or family and friends. The neutral responses also made up 19 (20.2%) of the responses. These included questions and statements of fact that did not give any indication of how the participant felt about their response. Finally, the overwhelming majority, 56 (59.6%) demonstrated negative feelings regarding the content they experienced. Most used adjectives such as scary and insane to describe the number of ads and content they did not wish to see appear in their feed. The four themes that emerged from the responses were advertisement overload, surveillance-based personalization, escapism, and goal misalignment.
| Table 3 Theme-Based Summary of Reflective Responses (N = 94) | |||
| Theme | Description | Example | Prevalence |
| Advertisement Overload | Discerned dominance of ads and sponsored content | “WAY more advertisements than I realized”; “There’s an ad like every other video”; “So many ads…it’s insane.” | Very High |
| Surveillance- Based Personalization | Recognition that content is highly tailored and tracked based on user behavior | “My algorithm has me figured out”; “It knows what I like”; “Very tailored to me.” | High |
| Escapism | Social media use to entertain, distract, or scroll habitually | “Waste of time”; “Use it for nonsense”; “Moderately entertaining.” | Moderate |
| Goal Misalignment | Realization that content feed does not match with academic and/or relational goals | “Doesn’t align with my goals”; “This opened my eyes”; “I need to be more intentional.” | High |
Discussion
The study analyzed whether college students stated motivations for using social media aligned with the content they encountered in the first 10 posts on their feeds. One of the most prominent themes found was the oversaturation of advertisements and sponsored content.
Advertisement Overload
Participants experienced early alignment to their motivations followed by rapid drift. In the top percentage of their posts, 17% were from a family or friend. In analyzing just the first post from all participants, 30% initially were greeted in the app with content connecting them to their family and friends. This suggests developers recognize the need to connect individuals immediately with their stated primary motivation, but users are quickly drawn away from that content into ads and other reels. This pattern reflects a tension within uses and gratifications theory, where initial goal fulfillment is quickly overridden by algorithmically driven content designed to maximize engagement rather than satisfaction. One participant recognized that “over half of the content” was advertisements, with others commenting on ads appearing “every other video.” Participants used words such as insane and exaggerated language of so many ads, some even commenting that it is “taking over” their page.
Surveillance-Based Personalization
Connected to the advertisements that take over the page, participants experienced a strong awareness, often expressed negatively, of how well the feed knows them. While uses and gratifications theory assumes users actively select content to meet needs, these findings suggest that algorithmic systems increasingly anticipate and shape those needs, complicating the notion of user agency. Participants used language such as “it has me figured out,” “it really does keep tabs on what I am doing,” and “mine is very tailored to me.” This realization was not always negative, with many users admitting they do like what they see, even though it does not match their stated intentions for going on social media. This suggests users may be more prone to spending money as a result of being online, when they initially had no intentions of making purchases (Cotter, 2021).
Some users explained the internal conflict this created feeling validated that their feed reflects their interests, yet also feeling unsettled by how much it really “knows.” This is a common occurrence many relate to. Individuals will talk about a future purchase to a friend without ever searching it on their phone. Suddenly they start seeing ads for that purchase on social media, even though they never specifically directed their phone to that search.
Escapism
The next finding demonstrates the limits of uses and gratifications theory once the algorithmic system takes over. The theory assumed goal-directed action, and most individuals can state an entry goal. What remains unknown is why an individual stays on the feed, when it clearly is not meeting that goal. This suggests that UGT may be more effective in explaining initial engagement than sustained exposure. This is where the script on Katz & Foulkes (1962) work gets flipped. They posited the question, “What do people do with media?”, and we see how almost instantaneously the question goes back to “What do the media do to people?”. While it could be argued this fits the entrainment or time killing motivation, it does not explain the negative emotions experienced with continued scrolling. In other realms of human behavior, we quickly quit and change direction when engaging in activities that upset or harm us.
Goal Misalignment
This question becomes more significant when considering participants’ emotional reactions. The findings reinforce a growing gap between intention and experience, suggesting that users may enter social media with clear goals but lack control over how those goals are maintained. Fifty-nine percent felt negative about their feed after consciously analyzing the content. The meta-awareness required for completion of this survey created cognitive dissonance in the participants. The majority realized how misaligned their feed was to their goals. Many individuals stated a goal to set limits and boundaries on their social media use as a result of completing the survey. Students recognized that they commonly continue scrolling long after the gratification has ended and are unclear as to why (Bayer et al., 2022).
Practical Applications
While some participants ended the survey with a goal and renewed vision to consciously monitor their social media use, that came with participation in a specific survey. What can individuals do to reduce doomscrolling and improve their mental health? The first suggestion is digital literacy. As more students and individuals understand the negative mental health effects of social media overuse, the easier it can be to overcome the cognitive dissonance and set directed goals. Setting timers before starting to scroll can bring individuals back into conscious awareness, rather than allowing themselves to get lost in the escape. On a broader level, this should be a call for platform transparency. Instagram claims to bring you closer to the people and things you love, with the call to action for individuals to create, share, and connect (Instagram, 2026). Based on this mission to connect with people, they miss the mark almost completely. The emphasis from the platform appears to connect them overwhelmingly with things they love, which becomes a coverup for all of the advertisements.
Limitations
Obvious limitations of the study include using a convenience sample and having such a high percentage of participants select Instagram as their platform. While not a study specifically for this platform, the amount of responses for this one company do make it appear to be a platform specific study than it was intended to be. Additionally, participants were instructed not to click on any content. They were to analyze just based on what they could see of the image, this likely led to underreported numbers of AI-generated content. It is common for AI posts to only be labeled through reading the caption for verification. Lastly, self-reported information is always open to bias and interpretation. No participants stated confusion in their ability to categorize or work with the data, however that does not mean one participant would not have coded differently than others. This would likely not affect family and friend posts though, which is important to note as a focal point of the findings.
Conclusion
One of the most startling conclusions comes back to the term doomscrolling. What may be lacking from that definition is the mind-numbing aspect involved. All participants could easily identify their reasons for using social media at the beginning of the survey and categorized their responses following the coding system. Surprisingly, when analyzing their results most shared insights that were not in alignment with their expectations. How many times in a day, prior to this study, did these same participants scroll through not just 10, but possibly 50 or more posts without cognitively recognizing their purpose? How do we shift the cognitive processing before going online, and receiving messages designed to encourage the mindless habitual loop?
Future studies into the reasons why and when someone stops scrolling would reveal important data on those motivations. Is there a realization that the content no longer provides satisfaction, is it simply time-based where the user must move to next part of their day, or finally go to sleep? If the algorithms are designed to keep us endlessly scrolling, what measures should individuals put in place to stop the scroll?
This suggests that uses and gratifications may explain entry motivation, but fails to explain sustained exposure. Sustained exposure may be better explained by attentional processes such as hypervigilance and tension-based scrolling (Blacha et al., 2025). One thing is certain, it is far too easy to unconsciously scroll. Emphasis should be placed back on the tenets of uses and gratifications theory, making social media engagement a purposeful activity.
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