Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Spring;4(1):10.1037/tmb0000095.
doi: 10.1037/tmb0000095. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Using Browser Data to Understand Desires to Spend Time Online

Jesse D McCrosky  1 , Douglas A Parry  2 , Craig J R Sewall  3 , Amy Orben  4
Affiliations

Using Browser Data to Understand Desires to Spend Time Online

Jesse D McCrosky et al. Technol Mind Behav. 2023 Spring.

Abstract

There is growing recognition that many people feel the need to regulate their use of the internet and other digital technologies to support their wellbeing. In this study, we used Mozilla Firefox browser telemetry to investigate the role played by various usage factors in desires to regulate time spent online. In particular, we investigated how six metrics pertaining to time spent on the internet, and the diversity and intensity of use, predict participants' (n = 8,094) desires to spend more or less time online. Across all six metrics, we did not find evidence for a relationship between browser usage metrics and participants wanting to spend more or less time online. This finding was robust across various analytical pathways. The study highlights a number of considerations and concerns that need to be addressed in future industry-academia collaborations that draw on trace data or usage telemetry.

Keywords: Browser telemetry; Digital well-being; Log data; Mozilla Firefox; Trace data.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Distribution of responses for the questions about spending more or less time online.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Results of the separate ordinal logistic regression models for each of the six independent variables for the pre-registered and sensitivity analyses.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Results of the separate ordinal logistic regression models for the sensitivity analysis comparing the “more time online” outcome with the “less time online” outcome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allcott H, Gentzkow M, & Song L.(2021). Digital Addiction. http://www.nber.org/data-appendix/w28936
    1. Araujo T, Wonneberger A, Neijens P, & de Vreese C.(2017). How Much Time Do You Spend Online? Understanding and Improving the Accuracy of Self-Reported Measures of Internet Use. Communication Methods and Measures, 11(3), 173–190. 10.1080/19312458.2017.1317337 - DOI
    1. Beyens I, Pouwels JL, van Driel II, Keijsers L, & Valkenburg PM (2020). The effect of social media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports. 10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Büchi M.(2020). Digital Well-Being Theory and Research [Preprint]. Open Science Framework. 10.31219/osf.io/k3e2j - DOI
    1. Chib A, Ang MW, Ibasco GC, & Nguyen H.(2021). Mobile Media (Non-)Use as Expression of Agency. Mass Communication and Society, 24(6), 818–842. 10.1080/15205436.2021.1970187 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources