How does online social networking enhance life satisfaction? The relationships among online supportive interaction, affect, perceived social support, sense of community, and life satisfaction

•We examined the effect of supportive interactions on social networking sites.•We used a series of multilevel models and a path model to see the relationships.•Supportive interactions enhanced positive affect after the interaction.•Positive affect indirectly enhanced sense of community and life satisfaction.•Perceived social support mediated the effect of positive affect on these outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether supportive interactions on social networking sites mediate the influence of SNS use and the number of SNS friends on perceived social support, affect, sense of community, and life satisfaction. Employing momentary sampling, the current study also looked at the relationship between supportive interaction and immediate affect after the interaction over a period of 5 days. An analysis of 339 adult participants revealed a positive relationship between supportive interaction and positive affect after the interaction. A path model revealed positive associations among the number of SNS friends, supportive interactions, affect, perceived social support, sense of community, and life satisfaction. Implications for the research of online social networking and social support are discussed.