What does 'by' mean in the context? Ji Won Kim, a doctoral student at the university’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, worked on the study. She said because social media can be superficial, it is a good place for people to “work towards satisfying their own vanity.” By superficial, she means social media is mostly used by people to share unimportant information about their lives -- not deeply personal issues. Does 'by' mean 'with'?