Is it the Sharing, or the checking? Exploring the role of Instagram story views checking behavior in psychological well-being – a person oriented approach

Research on the relationship between social media use and psychological well-being has yielded mixed findings, underscoring the need for more nuanced investigations. While some studies have examined public social media feedback (e.g., likes), the psychological implications of private feedback mechanisms remain underexplored. This cross-sectional study investigates how frequent checking of Instagram Stories’ views list relates to psychological well-being indicators – namely, loneliness, depression, life satisfaction – using an online survey with 694 Italian Instagram users (Mean age = 25.6, SD = 6.95; 62.2% women). We employed a profile-based approach to categorize users into four behavioral profiles: Disengaged (low Story sharing/low views checking), Sharers (high Story sharing/low views checking), Checkers (low Story sharing/high views checking), Engaged (high Story sharing/high views checking). Results revealed that frequent checking of Story views list was associated with poorer psychological well-being outcomes, regardless of Story sharing frequency. Notably, users in the Checker group exhibited heightened loneliness and reduced life satisfaction compared to Disengaged users, while users in the Engaged group reported higher depression levels than the Disengaged group. Overall Instagram usage time showed no significant association with psychological well-being. These findings support the move beyond traditional active-passive dichotomies highlighting the importance of examining specific usage patterns rather than general platform use. The study suggests that frequent checking of private feedback mechanisms may represent a distinct form of social media behavior that could be detrimental to psychological well-being. Limitations include cross-sectional design and self-report measures.