Social Media vs. Messaging: Using GPS Data to Explore Social App Ecologies in Context

Drawing on a large-scale mobile trace dataset (N = 463 participants; N = 19,867,944 app logs),we examined variability in social app ecologies while directly contrasting social media andmessaging apps. We found that users had primary apps that dominated their media andmessaging usage, respectively; concurrently, users were more likely to draw on a diverse set ofsocial media (vs. messaging) apps. However, we observed small to insignificant correlationsbetween social media and messaging use, suggesting that the two categories – or sub-ecologies –are not strongly displacing or driving one another. Both social media and messaging apps wereused consistently across space – though individuals averaged slightly more time on social mediaat home and messaging on foot. Overall, the study affirms the importance of taking a naturalisticapproach to studying app ecologies, while also offering insights into the increasingly complexrelationship between social media and messaging use (and users).