This study examines the connection between social media usage and fertility behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Whereas the link between traditional media and fertility behaviour has been firmly established, the link between social media and fertility is yet unclear, although social media has expanded enormously in recent years and provides opportunities both to acquire information and allow social interaction. We combine digital trace data from Facebook with fertility rates for 311 subnational regions in 29 sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis starts with describing spatial patterns of crude birth rates, Facebook usage and gender gaps in Facebook usage, and continues with regression analysis to test whether the associations remain significant after controlling for confounders. We find higher social media usage and gender equality in social media usage to be associated with lower birth rates. This study is one of the first to demonstrate connections between social media usage and fertility outcomes in the SSA region.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲地区的生育率和社交媒体使用情况

本研究调查了撒哈拉以南非洲地区 (SSA) 社交媒体使用与生育行为之间的联系。尽管传统媒体与生育行为之间的联系已经牢固确立，但社交媒体与生育之间的联系尚不清楚，尽管社交媒体近年来得到了极大扩展，并提供了获取信息和进行社交互动的机会。我们将来自 Facebook 的数字追踪数据与 29 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家 311 个国家以下地区的生育率相结合。我们的分析从描述粗出生率、Facebook 使用情况和 Facebook 使用中的性别差距的空间模式开始，然后继续进行回归分析，以测试在控制混杂因素后这些关联是否仍然显着。我们发现较高的社交媒体使用率和社交媒体使用中的性别平等与较低的出生率有关。这项研究是首批证明 SSA 地区社交媒体使用与生育结果之间联系的研究之一。