Social Overload and Discontinuance Intention on Facebook: A Comparative Study

Abstract

When users begin to feel uncomfortable about the influence of social network services (SNSs) on their lives, they react with various discontinuance behaviors. This comparative study intends to provide a comprehensive explanation of how the fatigue or regret phenomenon is related to users’ diverse reactions against SNSs. This study attempts to answer two questions: (1) How do specific types of relationships influence social overload from SNS interactions on Facebook? and (2) How does social overload threaten the free usage of services and lead to users’ dissatisfaction with SNSs, and how do these constructs influence users’ intent to discontinue usage of SNSs? To this end, we test a reactance model with Facebook users (n = 433) using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). This study found significant results of the reactance mechanism using samples from two countries, Korea and Japan, which support the generalizability of the reactance mechanism in SNS fatigue. The path of the psychological reactance mechanism in SNSs could differ by country. We also found that reactions toward persona non grata in SNSs differed by country. Our findings suggest that the specific cultural context should be considered when analyzing social overload in SNSs. In previous studies, insufficient attention has been paid to the social features or contexts of SNS. This study proposes a new categorization of relationships in the context of SNSs through the persona non grata concept. As SNSs are social platforms, emotions perceived from the social features of SNSs are an important construct that motivates people to continue using SNSs. Therefore, promoting free activities for users can be an important strategy for maintaining their motivation to use the service. It should be noted that the sample used in this study was slightly unbalanced by the inclusion of a greater proportion of young participants.

Exploring the Impact of Techno-Complexity and Techno-Uncertainty on Academic Staff's Job Performance in the Era of Social Networking Stressors

“…Due to the widespread use of ICTs in both the job and private life, SNS stress is a disorder that is gaining more attention. The stresses that come with utilizing technology, also referred to as "technostress" or "SNSs-stress," is one drawback (Brod & Hall, 1984;Lim et al, 2017;Ragu-Nathan et al, 2008;Tarafdar et al, 2007). It is noteworthy that SNSs should cause stress and exhaustion in users when attempting to comprehend such SNS stress phenomena via the lens of information communication technologies (ICTS) usage.…”

“Should I Post or Ghost?”: Examining how privacy concerns impact social media engagement in US consumers

“…A body of literature on social media fatigue has focused on what users do about their social media fatigue such as discontinuous use intention, platform shift, and temporary usage retreat, across countries and social media platforms (e.g., Lim et al, 2017; Luqman et al, 2017; Shin & Shin, 2016). Maier et al (2015) suggest users adopt discontinuous social media usage as their coping strategy toward social media fatigue and information overload.…”