Time counts? A two-wave panel study investigating the effects of WeChat affordances on social capital and well-being
基于社会资本框架和社会情绪选择理论，通过双波调查微信用户，发现不同未来时间视角的用户从不同微信功能中获取社会资本和幸福感，未来导向用户更受益于广播功能，当下导向用户更受益于关联功能。
Abstract Drawing from the social capital framework and socioemotional selectivity theory, this study examines how individuals’ future time perspective (FTP) alters their social capital processes, which further influences their well-being. A two-wave survey was conducted across WeChat users possessing different FTPs. The findings showed that bonding and bridging social capital accumulation were attributed to differential WeChat affordances, which in turn exerted disparate influences on individuals’ positive affect and psychological well-being. Importantly, multigroup analyses revealed that future-oriented users were more fulfilled from the broadcasting affordance, whereas present-oriented users derived more emotional gains from the association affordance. Notably, frequent engagement with the reviewability affordance was found to diminish WeChat bonding social capital only for those who possessed open-ended FTP. The findings contribute to theoretical knowledge of social media affordances and provide practical implications for social media developers in harnessing social media to improve users’ well-being across lifespans by considering their priority of social goals.