How does social media change people?

This article from Marginal REVOLUTION comments on a research paper by Ertugrul Uysal, Sascha Alavi, and Valéry Bezençon that investigates how social media changes people's identities, beyond the usual beneficial or harmful effects. The study suggests social media acts as a catalyst shifting individual values toward achievement and conformity. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, the authors found that countries with higher social media adoption show increased achievement and conformity orientation compared to culturally similar countries. They also manipulated social media use to establish a causal link, finding that social media activates these values through an increased need for approval, especially among those who self-ruminate. The article's author expresses skepticism about trusting the results of any such paper but praises the inquiry along different dimensions.