Do you get tired of socializing? An empirical explanation of discontinuous usage behaviour in social network services

"Left on read" examining social media users' lurking behavior: an integration of anxiety and social media fatigue

Introduction

With the widespread use of social media, the behavior and mindset of users have been transformed, leading to a gradual increase in lurking users, which can impede the sustainable development of social media platforms. In this study, we aim to investigate the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors on social media users' anxiety, social media fatigue, and lurking behavior.

Methodology

For the confirmation of these phenomena and to validate the theories, a structural equation model was constructed based on the SSO (Stressor-Strain-Outcome) theoretical framework. The model was then tested and validated with data from 836 valid online surveys. These data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 24.0 software.

Results

The results indicate that intrinsic motivations (such as social comparison and privacy concerns) and extrinsic motivations (including information overload, functional overload, and social overload) are positively associated with users' lurking behavior through the mediating effects of social media fatigue and anxiety. Additionally, for the mediator variables, social media fatigue was found to be positively associated with anxiety.

Discussion

These findings underscore the importance of social media platforms considering both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors to mitigate user anxiety and social media fatigue. By addressing these factors, platforms can foster user satisfaction and increase engagement, ultimately contributing to the sustainable development of social media platforms.

How do social and parasocial relationships on TikTok impact the well-being of university students? The roles of algorithm awareness and compulsive use

Social media now has emerged as one of the most widely used communication channels. The objective of this work is to verify the factors that influence the compulsive use of TikTok, as well as the mediating role of algorithm awareness, and to identify the predictors of well-being related to the use of TikTok. In the present work, the relevance of the study of PSRs and FoMO that affect the compulsive use of TikTok in young people is discussed. A total of 379 young university students (56.7 % girls) between 15 and 25 years old (M = 19.80; S.D. = 1.49) were surveyed using self-reports. Data treatment followed serial mediation through structural equation modeling. The results showed that exist significant relationships between these variables. Likewise, they reinforce the understanding of the diversity of the mechanisms of social and parasocial motivations on compulsive use and well-being. The results highlight the need to strengthen the training and education of young people in the appropriate and regulated use of TikTok in the university setting.

The spread of fake news: Disclosure willingness role

The epidemic has had a profound negative impact on individuals worldwide, leading to pervasive anxiety, fear, and mental instability. Exploiting these fears, a significant amount of fake information proliferates and spreads rapidly on social networks. This study explores the factors that cause individuals to believe fake news under stressful and fearful conditions by applying the truth-default theory. Data was collected online in Vietnam, using Smart PLS software to analyze the research model. The findings indicated that risk perception, media trust, trust in celebrity posts, and stress were factors that urge users to believe news posted on social media, and even they actively share this news on their own channels. Disclosure willingness moderated the relationship between adoption fake news and sharing it. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Impact of health science popularization videos on user perceived value and continuous usage intention: based on the C-A-C and ECM model framework

Objective

To enhance individuals' sustained intention to use health science popularization videos, this study investigated the path relationships and influencing mechanisms of health science popularization video factors on users' perceived value, expectancy confirmation, enjoyment, satisfaction, trust, and continuous usage intention based on the cognitive-affective-conative and expectation-confirmation model theoretical framework.

Methods

This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected data using self-administered questionnaires. The hypotheses were analyzed using the smart partial least squares (Smart-PLS) structural equation modeling method with a dataset containing 503 valid responses. Subsequently, comprehensive data analysis was conducted.

Results

Blogger and video quality factors present in health science popularization videos substantially influenced users' perceived value (p < 0.001). Furthermore, users' expectancy confirmation exerted a positive influence on both users' perceived value (p < 0.001) and satisfaction (p < 0.01). Perceived value, in turn, positively impacted satisfaction (p < 0.001) and pleasure (p < 0.001). User satisfaction (p < 0.001) and pleasure (p < 0.001) directly enhanced trust, which, in turn, significantly and directly impacted continuous usage intention (p < 0.001).

Discussion

This study offers both theoretical and practical insights into enhancing the quality of health science popularization videos. From a theoretical perspective, it expands upon the cognitive-affective-conative and expectation-confirmation model theoretical frameworks, enriches the theoretical model, and offers theoretical references for future research in this domain. From a practical perspective, enhancing the overall quality of health science popularization content significantly influences users' perceived value, emotional engagement, and continued usage intention to engage with the content.

Unveiling the Dynamics: Exploring User Affective and Behavioral Responses to Social Media

Social media has outperformed traditional media as a source of interpersonal and masspersonal communication tools. The extant literature offers valuable knowledge on the positive and (or) negative attributes of social media and their ultimate effects on users' affective and behavioral responses. However, it is unclear how the positive and negative attributes of social media affect users' responses simultaneously. Drawing on the newly proposed social media demands and resources (SMD-R) model, the present study examined the positive and negative attributes of social media on the affective outcomes of social media fatigue (hereafter SM fatigue) and SM engagement (hereafter SM engagement) and behavioral outcomes of users in a single integrated framework. Data were gathered from 235 social media users in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) to test the proposed framework. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted, and the results showed that SM demands positively related to SM fatigue and negatively related to SM engagement. SM resources positively related to SM engagement and did not affect SM fatigue. SM fatigue positively related to SM discontinuous intention and negatively related to SM loyalty. Finally, SM engagement positively related to SM loyalty and negatively related to SM discontinuous intention. These findings contribute to the social media literature by proposing and empirically testing the SMD-R model, which integrates SM demands, SM resources, and the affective and behavioral responses of users.

Perceived Overload on Short Video Platforms and Its Influence on Mental Health Among the Elderly: A Moderated Mediation Model

Background

In the post-epidemic era, the problem of short-video app addiction among older adults has become increasingly prominent, and people have begun to pay attention to the negative emotional and psychological consequences of Perceived Overload of short-video apps. Given the growing mental health concerns of older adults, it is critical to understand the potential relationship between the Perceived Overload of short video apps for older adults and older adults' mental health.

Methods

This study applied the stress-strain-outcome (SSO) framework to explore the relationship between perceived overload of a short-video application and loneliness, mental health, and Confucianism tenets in 1300 Chinese older adults. The relationship between perceived overload and loneliness, mental health, and Confucianism tenet moderated mediation models of perceived overload and mental health were created using SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS 4.1 for SPSS.

Results

The perceived overload of a short video application for older adults directly predicted loneliness and mental health in older adults, and the Confucianism tenet moderated the mediation process between perceived overload and mental health. Perceived overload affects mental health through loneliness in older adults.

Discussion

The results of this study are of practical significance for understanding the current problem of short-video addiction among older adults. Understanding the effects of perceived overload on older adults' loneliness and mental health can help prevent loneliness and mental health problems caused by short-video addiction among older adults on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also help to develop targeted coping strategies and create psychological intervention programs based on the Confucianism tenet of intervention ethics to improve mental health in a changing technological stress environment.

Psychological status of residents at the onset of nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in low- and medium-risk areas of China

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a dual threat to public physical and mental health, prompted an investigation into the psychological well-being of residents in low- to medium-risk areas of China during the initial stages of the pandemic. We administered WeChat-based questionnaire surveys and employed chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression to analyze correlations between residents' age, gender, education, symptoms, COVID-19 close contact history, information sources, and anxiety, depression, and attitudes toward lockdown measures. We received 10,433 valid questionnaires, revealing 26% anxiety and 19.5% depression. Support for lockdown measures reached 98.2%. Factors such as female gender, self-diagnosed pneumonia symptoms, close contact history, and higher education levels increased anxiety risk. Having a doctorate posed a severe anxiety risk, at 4.5 times (P = .019, 95% CI 1.29-15.73). Older age acted as a protective factor, reducing severe anxiety risk to 0.98 and 0.22 times (P < .001, 95% CI 0.14-0.34). Females with a master degree or below and those receiving COVID-19 information from multiple channels faced higher depression risk. Pneumonia symptoms were a risk for all anxiety and depression degrees. Attitudes toward lockdown measures had no significant impact on psychological status, nor did any of the analyzed factors affect residents' overall attitude toward lockdown. Our findings underscore the need for increased psychological counseling, particularly for young females with lower educational backgrounds or self-suspected infection symptoms, to mitigate mild to moderate anxiety and depression in future epidemics or pandemics. The public, especially those of working age with doctorates or higher education, bears the highest risk of severe anxiety. Lockdown measures enjoy strong support in low- to medium-risk areas of China.

The impact of SNS and Covid-19-related stress of Chinese students in Korea based on the transaction theory of stress and coping

Many countries attract international students to higher education programs to invest in human resources. However, living abroad can be stressful and adversely affect international students' mental and physical health. This study, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigated stress-related factors affecting the socio-psychological health of Chinese students, the greatest proportion of international students in Korea. The path coefficients and mediating effects of COVID-19-related stress factors were analyzed via a transaction-based stress model for 307 students using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Cultural adaptive stress had the greatest impact on mental health. Perceived financial stress was not statistically significant. Additionally, because the COVID-19 situation in Korea is relatively mild, anxiety regarding the pandemic did not lead to stress. However, excessive COVID-19-related information on social networking services negatively impacted mental health. Understanding the causes of stress and taking preemptive measures to prevent it will result in positive educational and social impacts for both international students and host countries. This study's results have implications for the formulation of international student policies.

Exploring discontinuous intentions of social media users: a cognition-affect-conation perspective

Introduction

Drawing on the cognition-affect-conation (C-A-C) framework, this study investigates how perceived information and social and system feature overload induce depression and anxiety, which leads to affect discontinuous intentions of the social media users.

Methods

The data collected from 570 social networking site users in China are analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM).

Results and Discussion

The findings show that perceived information overload, perceived social overload, and perceived system feature overload directly affect depression and anxiety among social networking site users, which directly leads to discontinuous intentions. This study fulfills the identified need for an in-depth investigation of discontinuous behavior in social networking sites. The findings provide social networking site providers with guidelines on how to actively manage social networking site user's behavior to reduce the effects of negative emotions on social networking sites.

Mechanism study of social media overload on health self-efficacy and anxiety

Previous studies have found that people's excessive use of social media may have a negative impact on their crisis coping skills. This study focuses on the effects of social media overload (information overload, communication overload and social overload) on anxiety and health self-efficacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used an online questionnaire and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to obtain data (816 valid samples), analyze the data and validate the model. The findings revealed that social media overload (information overload, communication overload and social overload) triggers increased social media fatigue, which in turn leads to the development of anxiety and the consequence of diminished health self-efficacy; social media fatigue plays a partially mediating role between social media and health self-efficacy and a fully mediating role between communication overload and health self-efficacy. The results of this study can inform the development of crisis communication strategies during public health emergencies.

Exploring how health-related advertising interference contributes to the development of cyberchondria: A stressor-strain-outcome approach

Objectives

Cyberchondria is increasingly recognized as the dark side of digital health, given the pervasive use of the internet as a main source of health information in people's daily lives. While previous studies have identified many factors contributing to cyberchondria, there is a dearth of research on the impact of health-related advertisements. Therefore, this study adopts the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) model to investigate how health-related advertising interference is directly and indirectly related to cyberchondria.

Methods

To empirically validate the proposed research model, we conducted an online survey with 437 internet users with medical information seeking experience in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the survey data.

Results

Our findings revealed a positive, direct association between health-related advertising interference and cyberchondria. Meanwhile, advertising interference was positively related to both information overload and information irrelevance, with the former further predicting cyberchondria. Moreover, doctor-patient communication weakened the positive effect of information overload on cyberchondria.

Conclusions

The study not only theoretically contributes to the literature by theorizing the relationship between health-related advertising interference and cyberchondria but also practically underlines the pivotal role of effective doctor-patient communication in reducing the development of cyberchondria.

Emotional straying: Flux and management of women's emotions in social media

In recent years, social media, which has emerged with the core focus on interaction within "acquaintance networks," has gradually been infiltrated by "strangers," leading to the disorientation of many users, especially women, amidst the diverse and intricate social platforms and emotional landscapes. Grounded in the experiential perspective of social media users, this study explores the correlations among woman emotions, satisfaction, and behavior, starting from the standpoint of the impact of social media. Through in-depth interviews with woman cohorts in China, various dimensions such as emotional fluctuations, satisfaction levels, and behaviors in social media were examined. The findings reveal that emotional expression serves as a primary motivation and purpose for users to sustain their engagement with social media. Additionally, emotional masking represents a proactive operational behavior induced by the needs for social relationship maintenance and the accumulation of social capital. Furthermore, emotional management manifests as user-initiated abandonment or shift of social media activities in response to perceived emotional stress. On this basis, a conceptual model integrating woman emotions, satisfaction, and behavior in the context of social media was constructed. The outcomes of this research hold significant theoretical and practical implications for future studies on woman emotions and behaviors, as well as for the development of social media functionalities, content management, public media usage, and psychological health interventions.

Examining the Association Between Digital Stress Components and Psychological Wellbeing: A Meta-Analysis

Extant research suggests that digital stress (DS) and its various components (Hall et al. in Psychol Assess 33(3):230-242, 2021) may mediate the association between social media use and psychosocial distress among adolescents and young adults. Yet no systematic review and meta-analysis has been conducted to examine the direct associations among DS components (i.e., approval anxiety, availability stress, fear of missing out [FOMO], connection overload, and online vigilance) and psychological outcomes. Thus, we aimed to comprehensively synthesize and quantify the association between these five DS components and psychosocial distress, and to examine whether these associations were statistically different from one another. Our search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Communication and Mass Media Complete yielded a wide range of article abstracts across the five DS components. After reviewing inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7, 73, 60, 19, and 16 studies were included for availability stress, approval anxiety, FOMO, connection overload, and online vigilance, respectively. The results suggested that all five digital stress components had significant medium association with psychosocial distress (r = .26 to .34; p < .001). Age and sex did not significantly moderate the association between most digital stress components and psychosocial distress. However, age moderated the association between connection overload and psychosocial distress. Our findings further suggested no statistical differences among the associations between the five digital stress components and psychosocial distress. Notwithstanding its limitations, our outcomes help integrate the disparate effect sizes in the literature, indicate the strength of associations, and suggest directions for clinical intervention and future research.

"Switching the mind off completely" - Understanding the psychology of rest in coaches

OBJECTIVES

To better understand the psychology of rest in coaches. Rest appears to be important for coping, recovery, and well-being in coaches, yet there is limited research on and in turn understanding of this concept in this population.

DESIGN

A qualitative description study design was employed.

METHOD

22 NCAA Division I coaches were interviewed about what rest means to them, key barriers to rest in coaching, and strategies employed to obtain rest in the face of these barriers. A codebook thematic analysis was undertaken to examine the analytical generalizability (Smith, 2018) to the coaching context of an extant model of the psychology of rest in athletes (Eccles & Kazmier, 2019).

RESULTS

The Eccles-Kazmier model appears to offer some analytical generalizability to the coaching context. Consistent with the model, the process of resting in coaches involves both sleep and resting while awake. Resting while awake involves (a) a break from thinking about work, (b) a break from effortful thinking generally, and (c) engaging in life outside coaching. However, departures from the model were also observed; specifically, unlike for athletes, the wakeful resting process for coaches does not appear to involve assuming control or experiencing variety.

CONCLUSION

The findings advance the current understanding of the constituents of rest in coaches and can inform coach education about how to obtain the rest needed to perform effectively and stay healthy.

Risks of passive use of social network sites in youth athletes: a moderated mediation analysis

Background

With the popularity of social media platforms, the use of social networks challenges the well-being and mental health of athletes.

Motivation

Despite ongoing scholarly discussions about the effects of passive use of social network sites, few studies have examined the relationship between the passive use of social network sites and mental health in young athletes from a social comparison perspective.

Hypothesis

To address this research gap, we draw on the social comparison and developmental systems theories to explore the mediating effect of upward social comparison on passive social network site use and mental health, as well as the moderating effects of positive psychological capital.

Methods

We analyzed data about 350 young athletes from professional Chinese sports universities.

Results

As predicted, passive use of social network sites by young athletes increased anxiety (β = 0.26, p < 0.001) and decreased subjective well-being (β = -0.35, p < 0.001). Upward social comparisons had positive (β = 0.22, p < 0.001) and negative (β = -0.34, p < 0.001) mediating effects in passive social network site use and anxiety/subjective well-being. Positive psychological capital played a moderating effect between upward social comparison and anxiety (β = -0.28, p < 0.001), and subjective well-being (β = 0.24, p < 0.001); the moderated mediation effect was also supported.

Conclusion

Our study informs the current research by highlighting the importance of upward social comparison as a critical mechanism and positive psychological capital as a boundary condition. We suggest actively maintaining and enhancing positive psychological capital to mitigate the adverse effects of upward social comparison.

Social Media Overload as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms Under the COVID-19 Infodemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey From Chinese University Students

Objectives: People's mental health and digital usage have attracted widespread attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate how social media overload influenced depressive symptoms under the COVID-19 infodemic and the role of risk perception and social media fatigue. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 644 college students during the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, and data analysis was conducted using the PROCESS4.0 tool. Results: The findings showed that in the COVID-19 information epidemic: 1) both information overload and communication overload were significantly and positively associated with depressive symptoms; 2) risk perception of COVID-19, and social media fatigue mediated this association separately; 3) and there was a chain mediating relationship between communication overload and depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Social media overload was positively associated with depressive symptoms among college students under the COVID-19 infodemic by increasing risk perception and social media fatigue. The findings sparked further thinking on how the public should correctly use social media for risk communication during public health emergencies.

Enabling and Inhibiting Factors of the Continuous Use of Mobile Short Video APP: Satisfaction and Fatigue as Mediating Variables Respectively

Purpose

The short video APP has entered the stage of competition for stock, making it crucial to keep users engaged in their APP to promote continuous usage. Previous studies on the continuous use intention of mobile short video APP were relatively limited, with most studies focusing only on promoting factors. Therefore, based on the dual-factor theory of "enabling-inhibiting", and drawing on the Information System Continuance Model (ECM-ISC) and Cognitive Load Theory, this study extracted two variables, satisfaction and fatigue, to construct an integrated model to explore their enabling and inhibiting effects on continuous use intention.

Methods

This study selected TikTok APP users as the respondents, obtained 681 valid questionnaires and analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM) using SPSS24.0 and Amos23.0 software.

Findings

The study investigated the factors that influence users' continuous use intention of short video APP. It shows that in enabling mechanism, perceived usefulness and social influence will increase user satisfaction and thus promote their continuous use intention, and perceived playfulness has a direct effect on the continuous use intention. In inhibiting mechanism, information overload and communication overload are positively correlated with emotional fatigue, which further reduces the continuous use intention.

Contribution/Conclusion

Based on the dual-factor theory of "enabling-inhibiting", the study established an integration model to more comprehensively reveal the impact mechanism of short video APP users' continuous use intention. The study found that the fatigue caused by information and communication overload can inhibit users' continuous use intention of short video APP. Therefore, to improve users' continuous use intention, short video APP should not only increase users' satisfaction but also reduce the fatigue caused by overload.

Unpacking the relationship between technological conflicts, dissatisfaction, and social media discontinuance intention: An integrated theoretical perspective

Previous research has largely overlooked the examination of the association between family, work, and personal (FWP) conflict, user dissatisfaction, and subsequent discontinuation intention in the context of social networking sites (SNS). Addressing this research gap, the present study aims to present an integrated theoretical perspective that combines Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) and Merton's functions. By doing so, we seek to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing SNS withdrawal behavior. To achieve this objective, data were collected from 360 SNS users using a time-lag method across three waves, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The findings of our study reveal that all three disconfirmation-based factors (i.e., FWP conflicts) positively contribute to SNS user dissatisfaction, which subsequently leads to users' intention to discontinue their SNS usage. Additionally, we explored the moderating role of Merton's functions, specifically manifest and latent functions, in influencing users' decisions to discontinue SNS use. The results indicate that the manifest functions of social media weaken the relationship between dissatisfaction and discontinuation intention, whereas the latent functions do not exhibit a significant interaction effect. By proposing a dual theoretically integrated mechanism of SNS discontinuation intention, study contributes to the existing literature in the field of information systems. Furthermore, our findings provide valuable insights for managers regarding the timing and manner in which social media FWP conflicts can lead to user dissatisfaction. This knowledge can assist in the development of effective strategies aimed at retaining users in SNS and enhancing their overall user experience.

"No more COVID-19 messages via social media, please": the mediating role of COVID-19 message fatigue between information overload, message avoidance, and behavioral intention

Employing the stressor-strain-outcome framework, this study demonstrates that COVID-19 information overload on social media exerts a significant effect on the level of fatigue toward COVID-19-related messages. This feeling of message fatigue also makes people avoid another exposure to similar types of messages while diminishing their intentions to adopt protective behaviors in response to the pandemic. Information overload regarding COVID-19 on social media also has indirect effects on message avoidance and protective behavioral intention against COVID-19, respectively, through the feeling of fatigue toward COVID-19 messages on social media. This study emphasizes the need to consider message fatigue as a significant barrier in delivering effective risk communication.

Unraveling the Influential Mechanisms of Social Commerce Overloads on User Disengagement: The Buffer Effect of Guanxi

Purpose

Although user engagement has been paid increasing attention, the work on user disengagement is scarce, and little is understood about how overloads elicited by excessive social commerce activities affect user disengagement. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework and psychological reactance theory (PRT), the authors aimed to investigate the effects of social commerce overloads (SCOs) on user disengagement, its influential mechanism, and the buffer effect of guanxi.

Participants and Methods

The authors conducted an online survey to collect the data and then examined our theoretical model and hypotheses. This study employed SPSS 20.0 software and Amos 24.0 software to examine the hypothesized relationships and the model.

Results

Social commerce overloads (ie, information overload (IO), social overload (SO), and communication overload (CO)) positively impact reactance via inferences of manipulative intent (IMI) and compulsive perception (CP); IMI and CP positively influence reactance; IMI, CP, and reactance positively affect user disengagement (ie, neglecting behavior and blocking behavior); guanxi has the buffer effect on the relationship between IMI (CP) and user disengagement, negatively moderates the impacts of IMI on user disengagement (ie, neglecting behavior and blocking behavior), and negatively moderates the effects of CP on blocking behavior but not neglecting behavior.

Conclusion

The findings of this study contribute to the literature on PRT and user disengagement by displaying the effects of excessive social commerce activities on user disengagement and uncovering the buffer effect of guanxi, which can help social e-commerce practitioners better reduce the negative effect of social commerce overloads.

Fake news during the war in Ukraine: coping strategies and fear of war in the general population of Romania and in aid workers

Introduction

In addition to the health crisis that erupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine is impacting the mental health and wellbeing of the Romanian population in a negative way.

Objectives

This study sets out to investigate the impact that social media consumption and an overload of information related to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine is having on the distribution of fake news among Romanians. In addition, it explores the way in which several psychological features, including resilience, general health, perceived stress, coping strategies, and fear of war, change as a function of exposure to traumatic events or interaction with victims of war.

Methods

Participants (N = 633) completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the CERQ scale with its nine subscales, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the BRS scale (Brief Resilience Scale), the last of which measures resilience. Information overload, information strain and the likelihood of the person concerned spreading fake news were assessed by adapting items related to these variables.

Findings

Our results suggest that information strain partially moderates the relationship between information overload and the tendency to spread false information. Also, they indicate that information strain partially moderates the relationship between time spent online and the tendency to spread false information. Furthermore, our findings imply that there are differences of high and moderate significance between those who worked with refugees and those who did not as regards fear of war and coping strategies. We found no practical differences between the two groups as regards general health, level of resilience and perceived stress.

Conclusion and recommendations

The importance of discovering the reasons why people share false information is discussed, as is the need to adopt strategies to combat this behavior, including infographics and games designed to teach people how to detect fake news. At the same time, aid workers need to be further supported to maintain a high level of psychological wellbeing.

Understanding social media users' information avoidance intention: a C-A-C perspective

Purpose

Based on the C-A-C framework, this article examined users' information avoidance intention in social media platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted data analysis using a mixed method of the SEM and fsQCA.

Findings

The results indicated that information overload, functional overload and social overload influence fatigue and dissatisfaction, both of which further determine users' information avoidance intention. The results of the fsQCA identified two paths that trigger users' information avoidance intention.

Originality/value

Extant studies have examined the information avoidance in the contexts of healthcare, academics and e-commerce, but have seldom explored the mechanism underlying users' information avoidance in social media. To fill this gap, this article will empirically investigate users' information avoidance in social media platforms based on the C-A-C framework.

Mind over Matter: Examining the Role of Cognitive Dissonance and Self-Efficacy in Discontinuous Usage Intentions on Pan-Entertainment Mobile Live Broadcast Platforms

The current body of literature indicates a growing trend of discontinuous usage intentions among users of social media platforms. While several factors affecting discontinuous usage intentions have been explored in previous research, the specific factors and mechanisms impacting discontinuous usage intentions among users of pan-entertainment mobile live broadcast platforms remain undefined. This study aims to clarify these factors and mechanisms and to provide both theoretical and practical guidance to users to encourage rational usage of the platform, as well as support the optimization of innovative services offered by the platform’s operator. This study, which is grounded in the theoretical framework of “Cognition-Emotion-Behavior intention,” develops an influencing mechanism model based on cognitive dissonance and self-efficacy. A total of 340 valid samples were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using a structural equation model, which revealed that information overload, service overload, and user addiction had a positive impact on cognitive dissonance, which was moderated by self-efficacy. Cognitive dissonance also had a positive impact on discontinuous usage intentions, again moderated by self-efficacy. These findings expand upon previous research on discontinuous usage intentions among social media users and offer insights into the underlying psychological mechanisms among users of pan-entertainment mobile live broadcast platforms. Additionally, the study provides valuable information for practitioners to consider in the design of the platform, with the ultimate goal of improving user experience and promoting retention.

Local social network structure and promotion effectiveness in social commerce

Purpose

Drawing on social network and information diffusion theories, the authors study the impact of the structural characteristics of a seller’s local social network on her promotion effectiveness in social commerce.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors define a local social network as one formed by a focal seller, her directly connected users and all links among these users. Using data from a large social commerce website in China, the authors build econometric models to investigate how the density, grouping and centralization of local social networks affect the number of likes received by products posted by sellers.

Findings

Local social networks with low density, grouping and centralization are associated with more likes on sellers’ posted products. The negative effects of grouping and centralization are reduced when density is high.

Originality/value

The paper deepens the understanding of the determinants of social commerce success from a network structure perspective. In particular, it draws attention to the role of sellers’ local social networks, forming a foundation for future research on social commerce.

When WhatsApp changed its privacy policy: explaining WhatsApp discontinuation using an enablers-inhibitors' perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that enable and inhibit WhatsApp users' discontinuance intention (DI) following the change in WhatsApp's privacy policy.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the enabler-inhibitor model as a framework, a research model consisting of discontinuation enabler distrust (DT) and the DT's antecedents [(negative electronic word of mouth (NEWOM), negative offline word of mouth (NOWOM) and privacy invasion (PI)], discontinuation inhibitor inertia (INR) and INR's antecedents (affective commitment, switching cost and use habit) and moderator structural assurance was proposed and tested with data from 624 WhatsApp users using partial least square structure equational modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results show that DT created due to NEWOM and a sense of PI significantly impact DI. However, INR has no significant impact on DI. Structural assurance significantly moderates the relationship between DT and DI.

Originality/value

The paper collected data when many WhatsApp users switched to other platforms due to the change in WhatsApp's terms of service. The timing of data collection allowed for collecting the real impact of the sense of PI compared to other studies where the effect is hypothetically induced. Further, the authors acknowledge social media providers' efforts to address privacy criticism and regain users’ trust, an area that has received little attention in prior literature.

Unpacking the Potential Influence of Life Satisfaction on Network Heterogeneity, Emotional Exhaustion and Mobile App Fatigue: A Stressor-Strain-Outcome Approach

The ramifications of mobile apps' detrimental aspect on users' life satisfaction have garnered increased attention from academics. To probe the underlying association between life satisfaction and mobile app fatigue, this article builds a research model based on a stressor-strain-outcome approach. In addition, the study investigates the relationships between different dimensions of network heterogeneity, emotional exhaustion, and mobile app fatigue among users. Furthermore, the study uncovers the moderating influence of upward comparison, self-presentation, and privacy invasion on the association between life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in the mobile app context. The study collected data in mainland China using a cross-sectional approach and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrate that life satisfaction is positively associated with self-presentation and negatively associated with upward comparison. Moreover, privacy invasion and upward comparison are positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, whilst self-presentation exerts no correlation with emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, upward comparison could mediate the association between life satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. The results provide fresh light on the mechanisms through which the life satisfaction of mobile app users and network heterogeneity might lead to emotional exhaustion and mobile app fatigue, highlighting important theoretical and practical implications.

Excessive enterprise social media usage and employee creativity: An application of the transactional theory of stress and coping

This study proposed a research model based on the transactional theory of stress and coping to examine the relationship between excessive enterprise social media (ESM) usage and employee creativity. The research model proposed that excessive ESM usage positively influences Techno-overload and technology-family conflict which influence ESM fatigue. Furthermore, ESM fatigue negatively influences employee creativity. The model was tested using a sample of 367 individual employees from the information technology industry in China. Results reveal that excessive ESM usage is significantly related to employees' perceptions of Techno-overload and technology-family conflict which contribute to generating ESM fatigue. Results further reveal that ESM fatigue is negatively related to employee creativity. The contributions of this research to the theory and practice are discussed in the later section.

Problematic Smartphone Use and Social Media Fatigue: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Background

Excessive social media consumption leads to addiction and affects mental health. It is a phenomenon that is difficult to avoid. Previous research on the effects of excessive Internet use shows that people who engage in social media (SM) without restraint experience over-involvement, over-disclosure, technostress, and social media fatigue (SMF). SMF, conceptualized as an emotional and cognitive feeling of being overwhelmed, manifests itself in mindless browsing of content, limiting the amount of time spent on SM, or quitting SM altogether. Self-control, although present in the technology addiction literature and psychology research, has been rarely described in relation to both excessive SM use and SMF. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to verify whether there is a direct relationship between problematic smartphone use and SMF, and whether this association is mediated by self-control.

Methods

The study included 210 respondents (M = 25.85, SD = 9.84) living in different Polish cities. The survey was conducted online, and the respondents consented to participate in the study. They completed the following measures: the Mobile Phone Problematic Use, the Self-Control Scale, the Social Media Fatigue Scale, and a brief questionnaire with socio-demographic data.

Results

Statistical analysis was performed to verify the relationship between problematic mobile phone use, level of self-control, and SMF. The outcomes indicate that there are significant interrelationships between the three studied variables. The association between problematic smartphone use and SMF is mediated by self-control.

Conclusion

A lack of impulse-inhibition skills, such as compulsive checking of notifications, can be a significant factor in SM exhaustion, fatigue, or frustration. SMF can also be understood as a natural defensive response, triggered in situations where individuals are overwhelmed, when the self-control is insufficient to stop the compulsion to use SM, and the use of a smartphone for this purpose is excessively engaging.

Understanding the Migration Intention of Psychological Home in Cyberspace

The present study views the personal main page on social media as a psychological home in cyberspace, since they have identical characteristics. Many young people share their lives on social media. However, a backlash is triggered among young people when parents start to use social media and attempt to participate in their children's online activities, causing young users to migrate social media platforms. This study introduced two concepts of psychological home, self-disclosure and psychological ownership, and the research purpose aims to investigate the relationships between self-disclosure, psychological ownership, and migration intention based on the expectation-disconfirmation theory. A survey research method was used in the study. A total of 561 samples were collected through online questionnaires, and SmartPLS 4.0 was applied for analysis. The results reveal that (1) parental involvement in social media has a positive relationship with dissatisfaction; (2) disconfirmation of psychological ownership and disconfirmation of self-disclosure have a negative relationship with dissatisfaction; (3) the greater the users' dissatisfaction with social media is, the greater the intention to migrate social medias.

Social Media Overload and Anxiety Among University Students During the COVID-19 Omicron Wave Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shanghai, China, 2022

Objectives: The increase in the intensity of social media use during the COVID-19 lockdown has affected mental health. Therefore, it is of practical implications to explore the association between social media overload and anxiety and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Using data from 644 university students during the COVID-19 blockade in Shanghai from March to April 2022, the chain mediation model of information strain and risk perception of omicron between social media overload and anxiety was then tested using the macro PROCESS4.0 tool. Results: The findings showed that social media overload (including information overload and social overload) was positively associated with anxiety. This relationship was mediated by information strain and risk perception of Omicron. A chain mediating role of information strain and risk perception of Omicron has also been proved in this study. Conclusion: Social media overload has a positive effect on anxiety by increasing information strain and risk perception of Omicron. This study provides some implications for future interventions on how to use social media properly for mental health during the pandemic and health management of urban governance.

Perceived Information Overload and Intention to Discontinue Use of Short-Form Video: The Mediating Roles of Cognitive and Psychological Factors

The current study investigated the effects of Chinese young adult users' perceived information overload (i.e., the daily perception of exposure to excessive information) on their intention to stop using short-form video applications. Specifically, this study accomplished this by measuring the direct and indirect effects of social media fatigue, maladaptive coping, and life dissatisfaction in relation to users' intention to discontinue their use of short-form video applications. The data were collected using a web-based survey and validated questionnaire, with a sample of 340 young adult (18-26 years old) respondents. The results indicated that perceived information overload had a direct effect on the intention to discontinue the use of short-form video applications. Moreover, short-form video fatigue, maladaptive coping, and life dissatisfaction all played mediating roles in the relationship between perceived information overload and the intention to discontinue the use of short-form video applications among young adults in China.

An investigation on information quality, media richness, and social media fatigue during the disruptions of COVID-19 pandemic

Mobile social platforms have become a valuable information source by which users gain information about the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about whether users have experienced increased daily fatigue as a result of the disruptions caused by pandemic. Drawing on the cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS), this study proposed that two typical characteristics of social media platforms (SMP), information quality and media richness, are associated with event disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic (EDC), and then induce social media fatigue. To address this, this study used the experience sampling method (ESM), collecting 550 matched cases from 110 users of the WeChat application in mainland China over five consecutive days. Through multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM), this study discovered three main findings: (1) daily information quality is negatively related to event disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn decreases daily social media fatigue; (2) daily media richness is positively associated with such event disruptions, which ultimately increases daily social media fatigue; (3) these effects were stronger for users who reported higher (vs. lower) levels of health consciousness. The implications of these results for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond are discussed.

Reverse adoption of information and communication technology among organisers of academic conferences

This study examines the formats offered for academic conferences in the mature stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two out of three organisers discontinue their usage of online video tools and focus on in-person conferences. Only one out of five conferences offers hybrid solutions and even fewer a virtual alternative (13%). Data for the analysis originate from 547 calls for proposals announced in Spring 2022 for conferences to be held during the period August 2022 to July 2023. Estimates using a multinomial logit model show that the planning time is significantly related to the choice of format offered. The longer the lead time, the more likely it is to offer an in-person conference. International travel restrictions and bans on gatherings for the location of the venue at the time of planning are significantly related to the choice of virtual, but not hybrid formats. There are also large differences in the choice across disciplines, with conferences in arts and humanities as well as natural sciences showing the lowest preference for the virtual format.

Job demands and technology overload influencing work stress in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

This study is based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model to examine how job demands and technology overload affect work stress for workers using video conferencing apps (VCAs) in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effect of technology self-efficacy was tested in the model on the relationship between technology overload and work stress.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted to investigate workers on PTT forums in Taiwan. A sample was obtained of 253 workers, and structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Job demands positively affect work stress through information overload, communication overload and system feature overload. Moreover, high technology self-efficacy may weaken the relationship between technology overload and work stress.

Research limitations/implications

The study may have sample bias because our sample was obtained from an online survey on social networking sites. Regarding the theoretical implications, this study demonstrated that technology overload, as an internal organism, is a critical mediator influencing the relationship between job demands (stimulus) and work stress (response). Thus, this study extended the applicability of the SOR model in the context of working with VCAs in organizations.

Practical implications

Company managers need to effectively control the information amount, communication interruptions and system features of social media at optimum levels for workers. Moreover, companies should recruit workers with high technology self-efficacy or provide technology training and technology-related consulting to those with low technology self-efficacy.

Originality/value

The extant work stress knowledge is extended to workers using VCAs in organizations.

The effect of mindfulness on online self-presentation, pressure, and addiction on social media

As social media has become more imperative in daily life, people pay more attention to self-presentation and impression management on social media, and some have even become psychologically dependent. There is a large group of socially addicted users who continuously strive to improve their online self-presentation. Due to stress and burnout arising from social media addiction, people change their social media behavior. The influence of mindfulness on social behavior cannot be ignored. This study aims to explore coping behaviors and the role of mindfulness for people under social media pressure and social media addiction in China's special political environment. We found significant differences in self-presentation, social media pressure, and social media addiction among different circles in the Chinese context. Experiments have shown that people's socially addictive behaviors and abilities to withstand social media pressure are affected by their mindfulness. In addition, the more social media pressure people perceive on social media, the more likely they are to stop using social media and shift to offline interpersonal interactions. However, when there are more offline interpersonal interactions, people's willingness to return to social media platforms increases.

Influencing factors of users' shift to buying expensive virtual gifts in live streaming: Empirical evidence from China

The market size of live streaming on the Internet, in which the streamer earns profit by prompting users to give virtual gifts through emotional labor, is getting bigger and bigger. However, most users will only buy cheap virtual gifts in live streaming, therefore exploring how to promote users to buy expensive virtual gifts is a valuable topic in live commerce research. Based on social presence theory and information overload theory, this study used the PLS-SEM method to investigate the factors influencing live streaming users to shift from buying cheap virtual gifts to buying expensive virtual gifts, and analyzed the moderating role of information overload in these relationships. The results show that immediate interaction anxiety, verbal intimacy, and virtual physical intimacy positively influence users' shift to purchasing expensive virtual gifts, and that perceived network size and perceived financial risk are negative factors in users' shift to purchasing expensive virtual gifts. Information overload has a moderating role in the relationship between immediate interaction anxiety and switch intention, and it also plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceived network size and perceived financial risk on users' switch intention.

Enforced remote working: The impact of digital platform-induced stress and remote working experience on technology exhaustion and subjective wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most individuals to work from home. Simultaneously, there has been an uptake of digital platform use for personal purposes. The excessive use of technology for both work and personal activities may cause technostress. Despite the growing interest in technostress, there is a paucity of research on the effects of work and personal technology use in tandem, particularly during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 306 employees, this paper addresses this research gap. The findings highlight how both work and personal digital platforms induce technostress during the enforced remote work period, which in turn increases psychological strains such as technology exhaustion and decreases subjective wellbeing. Study results also show that employees with previous remote working experience could better negotiate technostress, whereas those with high resilience experience decreased wellbeing in the presence of technostress-induced technology exhaustion in the enforced remote work context.

Go Green, Go Social: Exploring the Antecedents of Pro-Environmental Behaviors in Social Networking Sites beyond Norm Activation Theory

The paucity of environmental resources and the threatening warning of global climate change have led to increasing research on environmental issues [e.g., pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs)]. Although norm activation theory (NAT) is a well-recognized theory for approaching PEBs, existing works appear insufficient to explain PEB in the context of social networking sites (SNSs) without taking contextual, emotional, and social factors into account. Grounded in the egocentric tactician model (ETM), NAT, along with the notions of guilt and social stressors, this study integrates a new ETM path, a supplemented emotional path, alongside the conventional NAT path to achieve a more complete picture of what are crucial determinants of PEBs in the context of SNSs. Social stressors positively moderate the emotional path. Data collected from 897 Facebook users confirm all of our proposed hypotheses. Results indicate that beyond the traditional NAT path, the new ETM path and the emotional path add values to illustrate PEBs on SNSs, and new constructs of self-influence on SNSs (SIS) and guilt remarkably drive PEBs alongside personal norms. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, and guidelines for future research are identified.

What keeps me engaging? A study of consumers' continuous social media brand engagement practices

Purpose

This study examines some pertinent individual-level factors and consequences of consumers' continuous social media brand engagement (SMBE) practices. Further, this study examines the moderating effect of other-efficacy to deepen the understanding.

Design/methodology/approach

Online survey data collected from 785 respondents, through a convenience sampling technique on Facebook, was analyzed through structural equation (SEM) modeling with AMOS 23.0.

Findings

The findings suggest that compatibility with lifestyle, perceived information quality and escapism, which significantly drive consumers' continuous engagement with brands on social media. However, perceived enjoyment does not. Other-efficacy duly moderates consumers' continuous SMBE practices. While continuous SMBE significantly drives consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), continuous SMBE does not have any significant relationship with consumers' subjective well-being (SWB).

Research limitations/implications

This study reports robust findings on the effects of individual-level factors that drive consumers' continuous SMBE practices. However, the study only focused on Facebook brand pages. This is a limitation for generalizability of results because the research did not take a holistic view of all types of social media.

Practical implications

The research suggests a need for managers to project their brands and share relevant and stimulating information throughout their continuous SMBE with consumers to build strong consumer–brand relationships. Managers should also engage consumers with interesting social media messages as well as both informative and transformative creative strategies to excite them. This will further give consumers a reason to continuously interact with the brand on social media platforms.

Originality/value

This study is one of the very few works to tease out pertinent factors that drive consumers' continuous SMBE practices. The paper integrates the consumer-level factors and moderating effects of other-efficacy through the lens of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) to make a significant contribution to the SMBE literature.

Fight or Flight? Curvilinear Relations between Previous Cyberbullying Victimization Experiences and Continuous Use of Social Media: Social Media Rumination and Distress as Chain Mediators

Recently, the number of active users of social media platforms is declining, posing a challenge to the sustainability of interest in social media and related industries. Therefore, it is of great significance to examine the environmental and psychological factors that influence the continuous use of social media. Until recently, little research has examined this topic from the perspective of the relationship between previous cyberbullying victimization experiences (PCVE) and the continuous use of social media (CUOSM), not to mention the psychological mechanisms that lead to this relationship. In addition, there are paradoxes in existing studies: one side believes that PCVE causes users to become addicted to using social media, while the other side argues that PCVE drives users to escape from using social media. In order to respond to this controversy and clarify the relationship between PCVE and CUOSM, this study introduces two psychological variables, namely “social media rumination (SMR)” and “distress”, in order to construct a chain mediation model. Researchers surveyed 692 people who had experienced social media cyberbullying, and analyzed the data through SPSS and Mplus. The findings were as follows: 1. There is an inverted U-shaped curve relationship between PCVE and CUOSM. Specifically, the relationship initially exhibits a positive correlation (the period named fight), which then becomes negative (the period named flight). 2. When PCVE and CUOSM are positively correlated, SMR is the main factor that contributes to an increase in CUOSM. 3. When PCVE and CUOSM are negatively correlated, distress is the major factor that causes a decline in CUOSM. This study provides an explanation for the controversy in previous research, expands the scope of social media research, and provides a practical reference for social media platforms to enhance their existing users’ continuous use.

How Do Passive Social Networking Services Use and Its Antecedents Affect Users' Continuance Intention? An Empirical Study of WeChat Use

PURPOSE

Although social networking services (SNSs) have attracted billions of people to maintain and extend their social relationships online, more and more passive usage behaviors have been found during the daily SNS usage. The aim of this paper is to investigate how SNS users' continuance intention is affected by passive SNS use, subjective well-being, as well as perceived concern regarding privacy and impression management.

METHODS

A research model was developed according to the proposed hypotheses, and then partial least square (PLS) SEM was adopted to empirically assess the valid data collected from 389 WeChat users.

RESULTS

The findings show that passive SNS use cannot significantly undermine continuance intention, but it has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between subjective well-being and continuance intention. Besides, the results of empirical research also reveal the antecedents of passive SNS use and subjective well-being from the perspectives of privacy concern and impression management concern, and thereby present the mechanism underlying users' continuance intention.

CONCLUSION

This study enriches the SNS literature by indicating the moderating role of passive SNS use in the process of SNS usage, which facilitates the understanding regarding how users' continuance intention can be influenced when they use SNSs passively. This study can help SNS providers to better understand the factors affecting users' continuance intention in the case of passive SNS use, and then formulating effective strategies for retaining users and avoiding passive usage behaviors.

Information overload's double-edged sword effect on sense of safety: Examining the moderating role of hypervigilance

Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, long-term overlooked motives concerning a sense of safety have become a primary concern. People's sense of safety largely depends on the information they receive. Indeed, a tsunami of information about the virus has been disseminated by all forms of media to people's electronic devices, thus permeating their lives. This study proposed that the over-abundance of information, known as information overload, could endanger individuals' sense of safety by increasing their rumination about COVID-19. However, it could also enhance their sense of safety by increasing their positive attitudes toward COVID-19 precautions. Furthermore, we proposed that individuals' hypervigilance could strengthen the relationship between information overload and rumination about COVID-19 and attitudes toward COVID-19 precautions. We tested these hypotheses using a cross-sectional survey study (N = 403) in February 2021 and a diary study (N = 98) in July 2021 in China. The results of both studies support the dual mediating paths of the relationship between information overload and sense of safety. We also found that hypervigilance moderated the relationship between information overload and rumination about COVID-19. Overall, our study offers insights into how social media may influence people's sense of safety and how individual differences in hypervigilance play a role in the process.

Empirical investigation of the impact of overload on the discontinuous usage intentions of short video users: a stressor-strain-outcome perspective

Purpose

This study focuses on perceived overload from environmental stimuli and individual psychology and behavioral interactions. It constructs a theoretical model with overload as the key stressor based on the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) model. The authors argue that system feature overload (SFO), information overload, and social overload lead to two psychological strains: fear of missing out (FoMO) and fatigue among users of short video platforms, affecting their discontinuous usage intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypotheses, the authors conducted a questionnaire survey on 412 users' short video platform usage and empirically tested the constructed model using the research tool SmartPLS 3.3.2.

Findings

The results of data analysis showed that most of the hypotheses were supported. Specifically, system feature overload, information overload and social overload all positively affected FoMO. However, SFO and information overload significantly affected fatigue. There was no significant relationship between social overload and fatigue. In addition, both FoMO and fatigue negatively influenced users' discontinuous usage intentions.

Originality/value

The current research on user behavior in information systems tends to focus on the influence in the positive direction and less on the negative direction. The research on discontinuous usage intention (DUI) is a very new research topic. This research studies the influencing factors of users' discontinuous behavior from the perspective of perceptual overload. It provides a unique view for future short video platform user behavior research, with significant theoretical contributions and essential practice for short video platform operators to improve services.

Problematic social media use and associated consequences on academic performance decrement during Covid-19

Based on the Stressor-Strain-Outcome (SSO) model, this study investigates the mechanism by which problematic social media use (PSMU) influences academic performance decrement via two psychological factors namely, technostress and exhaustion. It also identifies the social media usage characteristics of undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia during Covid-19. An online questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate social media users from Shaqra University. Analysis of the 312 responses shows that PSMU is a significant stressor affecting both technostress and exhaustion and thus reducing academic performance. Moreover, both are important mediators in the link between PSMU and decline in academic performance. WhatsApp, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram are the most popular social media networks used by the undergraduates while Facebook and Skype are the least preferred. Roughly one-third (31.41%) of the students spend more than six hours a day on social media. The findings will help educators and other stakeholders to design appropriate interventions and strategies to minimize the unfavourable effects of social media in academia.