Design of Digital Social Platform Features and User Well-Being
Abstract
**Please note that the full text is embargoed until 05/14/2025** ABSTRACT: The purpose of the three-essay dissertation is to advance our understanding of the effect of digital social platforms on users’ behavior and well-being. In essay 1, I investigate whether and how privacy policy can properly mitigate hosts’ privacy concerns, enhance perceived benefits, and subsequently encourage their information disclosure on an accommodation-sharing platform (ASP) such as Airbnb.com. Essay 2 examines the effect of two types of fitness app features on individuals’ exercise adherence, social engagement, and well-being based on the self-regulation theory. Finally, by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data through in-depth interviews, online surveys, and an experiment, the third essay explores how digital technologies facilitate the social connections of under-served communities to increase their well-being as well as social welfare.