Social Media Use Effects on Self-Cognition and Behavior Patterns under the Network Environment

With the rapid development of science and technology and the popularity of the Internet, social media has become an indispensable part of people’s daily lives. Whether sharing life with friends or getting news information, social media has deeply penetrated into our social life, constantly affecting our cognition of society and self. Based on cluster analysis, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and agenda-setting theory, this paper adopts a questionnaire survey method to sample users of nine platforms, including WeChat, Today’ Headlines, Weibo, QQ, TikTok, bilibili, Zhihu, Baidu Post Bar and Tianya Community. A total of 350 valid samples were collected, and the influence mechanism of social cognition and happiness was analyzed, revealing the potential effects of the content and form of social media on users’ cognition and emotions. Finally, the author puts forward some suggestions from different angles and puts forward the shortcomings of this study to provide a reference for later researchers.