Learning bloggers on Xiaohongshu and young followers: Could learning bloggers’ social media feed influence youth’s mental well-being?

This research aims to analyze the impact of learning bloggers' social media feed about study effectiveness on youngsters' mental health by applying theories about social comparison, self-esteem and self-efficacy.Online survey was conducted with 350 Chinese college students in 2025.The results highlighted that frequent consumption of social media content from learning bloggers on Xiaohongshu increased college students' intention to compare with them.However, social comparison with learning bloggers on Xiaohongshu did not have a notable effect on anxiety levels among young people as self-esteem functioned as a competitive mediator to affect the relationship between social comparison and anxiety.Exploring the important role played by psychological factors in preventing anxiety, this study provides feasible suggestions for social media platform and users in terms of how to manage young users' mental wellbeing in the situation of frequent use of social media to do social comparison.