Drink, Share, and Comment; Wait, What Did I Just Do? Understanding Online Alcohol-Related Regret Experiences Among Emerging Adults

• DOI: 10.1177/0022042621994542
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042621994542

Journal of Drug Issues

2021, Vol. 51(3) 442 –460

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042621994542

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Article

Drink, Share, and Comment;

Wait, What Did I Just Do?

Understanding Online Alcohol-

Related Regret Experiences

Among Emerging Adults

Femke Geusens1,2 and Ilse Vranken1,2

Abstract

This study investigated the causes and coping strategies of regret of sharing alcohol-related

content on social media. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among emerging adults

who experienced regret of having shared either general alcohol references or drunken references

(n = 29, ages 19–25 years, M = 21.38, SD = 1.60). The most important cause of regret was

a disruption of one’s online self-presentation. When delving deeper into the specific causes

of online alcohol-related regret and how this content can disrupt the self-presentation, two

overarching themes emerged: (a) content-related regret, and (b) audience-related regret. When

examining the coping strategies, we found that emerging adults applied different strategies (a) to

minimize their regret (e.g., delete the content), and (b) to avoid future regret (e.g., delete social

media before going out). Implications for prevention are discussed.

Keywords

online regret, social media, alcohol, intoxication, emerging adults

Introduction

Drinking in college is usually engaged in to enhance socialization, bonding, and have disinhib-

ited fun (Colby et al., 2009). Most college students consume alcohol and references to fun

drinking events are often shared on social media such as Facebook or Instagram (Beullens &

Schepers, 2013; Hendriks et al., 2017). Alcohol-related content shared on social media can

have many different forms: Individuals can share textual updates referencing upcoming or

prior drinking events (e.g., “Completely wasted yesterday night”), textual references to alcohol

in general (e.g., “I love champagne”), pictures or video clips in which people are drinking or

holding an alcoholic beverage (e.g., a picture taken at a bar or at a party), pictures or video

clips in which an alcoholic beverage is the focus (e.g., a close-up of a cocktail with a reference

to the nice weather), or pictures or video clips in which alcohol is shown in the background

(e.g., a picture taken during a dinner with a glass of wine on the table). Other examples of

1KU Leuven, Belgium

2Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen), Belgium

Corresponding Author:

Femke Geusens, School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Parkstraat 45 box

3603, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Email: femke.geusens@kuleuven.be

994542JODXXX10.1177/0022042621994542Journal of Drug IssuesGeusens and Vranken

research-article2021

Geusens and Vranken 443

alcohol-related content are pictures or video clips depicting drinking games (e.g., a picture of

a group of friends playing beer pong), pictures or video clips in which someone is clearly

intoxicated or drunk (e.g., a video clip of friends drunkenly singing), or textual updates (e.g.,

twitter status updates) shared while drunk (Beullens & Schepers, 2013; Cavazos-Rehg et al.,

2015; Hendriks et al., 2017). In general, these examples can be divided in two overarching

types of alcohol-related content: alcohol references and drunken references. Alcohol refer-

ences are defined as textual or visual social media content that shows or refers to alcoholic

beverages, and drunken references are defined as textual or visual social media content that

was shared while drunk, or which depicts people in a drunken state.

Although most alcohol-related content on social media is fairly innocent (i.e., alcohol refer-

ences such as a picture of friends laughing together with glasses of beer on the table in front of

them; Beullens & Schepers, 2013; Hendriks et al., 2017), research has indicated that more than

15% of young individuals share photos or messages on social media while they are intoxicated

(i.e., drunken references; Moreno et al., 2012). Whereas more innocent alcohol references are

often shared without thinking (Hendriks et al., 2017), sharing drunken references appears to be a

deliberate choice (Hebden et al., 2015; Niland et al., 2014). Individuals share drunken references

because it is fun and exciting, and because it heightens the expectations and pleasures of getting

drunk with friends (Hebden et al., 2015; Moewaka Barnes et al., 2016).

It has been posited that sharing these drunken references is at odds with the wider cultural and

policy environment dominated by the idea of risk management (Brown & Gregg, 2012). Societal

norms center around moderate alcohol consumption and strict impression management, espe-

cially online (Brown & Gregg, 2012; Hebden et al., 2015). It has been argued that this is espe-

cially true for young women, who are expected to adhere to beauty and appearance standards tied

to the performance of ideal femininity (Brown & Gregg, 2012). In contrast, getting drunk and

sharing alcohol or drunken references online is deemed risky and a potential source of regret as

it is not in line with societal expectancies (Brown & Gregg, 2012). Regret is an aversive emotion

characterized by “a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over one’s own actions and

their factual or potential outcomes” (Wang et al., 2011, p. 1). Although Brown and Gregg (2012)

argue that there is too much emphasis on the idea that young people, and especially women, will

regret getting drunk or sharing content on social media, other research has indicated that alcohol

consumption can lead to regret of drinking and related behaviors (Fjær, 2015; Giguère et al.,

2014). One study on Facebook-related regret found that some individuals can experience regret

after sharing alcohol-related content on social media (Wang et al., 2011).

Although regret is an inherently negative emotion (Wang et al., 2011; Zeelenberg & Pieters,

2007), it can also teach young individuals important life lessons (Saffrey et al., 2008; Zeelenberg

& Pieters, 2007). For instance, one of the core propositions of regret regulation theory is that

individuals are motivated to avoid the negative feeling of regret and this regret avoidance influ-

ences behavioral decisions (Pieters & Zeelenberg, 2007; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007). One meta-

analysis of anticipated regret in health behaviors found that if individuals anticipated regretting

an action (e.g., drinking too much), their intention to engage in this behavior as well as their

actual engagement in this behavior decreased (Brewer et al., 2016). In contrast, if individuals

anticipated regretting an inaction (e.g., not using a condom), their behavioral intentions and

actual behaviors increased (Brewer et al., 2016). Another meta-analysis testing anticipated regret

as an additional predictor in the theory of planned behavior (TPB), found that anticipated regret

was related to both behavioral intentions and actual behavior, over and above other TPB vari-

ables (Sandberg & Conner, 2008). This shows that regret can be a strong motivator to engage in

more healthy behavior in the future.

The present study will add to the literature on alcohol-related social media use by delving

deeper into the causes and impact of regret caused by online alcohol-related communication.

Although some research exists on either drinking-related regret (Fjær, 2015) or social