As the number of messages and social relationships embedded in social networking sites (SNS) increases, the amount of social information demanding a reaction from individuals increases as well. We observe that, as a consequence, SNS users feel they are giving too much social support to other SNS users. Drawing on social support theory (SST), we call this negative association with SNS usage 'social overload' and develop a latent variable to measure it. We then identify the theoretical antecedents and consequences of social overload and evaluate the social overload model empirically using interviews with 12 and a survey of 571 Facebook users. The results show that extent of usage, number of friends, subjective social support norms, and type of relationship (online-only vs offline friends) are factors that directly contribute to social overload while age has only an indirect effect. The psychological and behavioral consequences of social overload include feelings of SNS exhaustion by users, low levels of user satisfaction, and a high intention to reduce or even stop using SNS. The resulting theoretical implications for SST and SNS acceptance research are discussed and practical implications for organizations, SNS providers, and SNS users are drawn.
Although much research has been performed on the adoption and usage phases of the information systems life cycle, the final phase, termination, has received little attention. This paper focuses on the development of discontinuous usage intentions, i.e. the behavioural intention in the termination phase, in the context of social networking services (SNSs), where it plays an especially crucial role. We argue that users stressed by using SNSs try to avoid the stress and develop discontinuous usage intentions, which we identify as a behavioural response to SNS‐stress creators and SNS‐exhaustion. Furthermore, as discontinuing the use of an SNS also takes effort and has costs, we theorize that switching‐stress creators and switching‐exhaustion reduce discontinuous usage intentions. We tested and validated these effects empirically in an experimental setting monitoring individuals who stopped using Facebook for a certain period and switched to alternatives. Our results show that SNS‐stress creators and SNS‐exhaustion cause discontinuous usage intentions, and switching‐stress creators and switching‐exhaustion reduce these intentions.
This paper investigates under what conditions stress fromthe use of SNS is linked to addiction to the use of the same SNS. Integrating three theoretical strands-the concept of feature-rich Information Technology (IT), the theory of technology frames, and distraction as a coping behaviour-we theorize two types of coping behaviours in response to stressors experienced from the use of SNS. These are -distraction through use of the same SNS and distraction through activities outside the use of the SNS. We hypothesize relationships between stressors from SNS use, the two coping behaviours and SNS addiction. We further articulate the role of SNS use habit. We test the hypotheses through a three-wave survey of 444 Facebook users with data collected at three different points in time. The paper's contributions are to theorize and empirically validate the psychological concept of distraction as a coping behaviour in response to stress from the use of SNS and, in doing so, explain why there may be a link between technostress from and technology addiction to the use of the same SNS.
In this paper, we focus on a critical aspect of work in organizations: using information in work tasks which is provided by information systems (IS) such as enterprise content management (ECM) systems. Our study based on the IS success model, 34 interviews, and an empirical study of 247 ECM system users at a financial service provider indicates that it is appropriate to differentiate between contextual and representational information quality as two information quality dimensions. Furthermore, we reveal that in addition to system quality, the two information quality dimensions are important in determining end-user satisfaction, which in turn influences the manifestation of workarounds. Our study also finds that employees using workarounds to avoid an ECM system implemented several years is negatively related to individual net benefits of the ECM system. Hence, we conclude that when investigating largescale IS such as ECM systems, it is important to differentiate among information quality dimensions to more deeply understand end-user satisfaction and the resulting manifestation of workarounds. Moreover, this research guides organizations in implementing the most appropriate countermeasures based on the importance of either contextual or representational information quality.
This research is driven by the assumption made in several user resistance studies that employees are generally resistant to change. It investigates the extent to which employees' resistance to IT-induced change is caused by individuals' predisposition to resist change. We develop a model of user resistance that assumes the influence of dispositional resistance to change on perceptual resistance to change, perceived ease of use, and usefulness, which in turn influence user resistance behavior. Using an empirical study of 106 HR employees forced to use a new human resources information system, the analysis reveals that 17.0-22.1 percent of the variance in perceived ease of use, usefulness, and perceptual resistance to change can be explained by the dispositional inclination to change initiatives. The four dimensions of dispositional resistance to change -routine seeking, emotional reaction, short-term focus and cognitive rigidity -have an even stronger effect than other common individual variables, such as age, gender, or working experiences. We conclude that dispositional resistance to change is an example of an individual difference that is instrumental in explaining a large proportion of the variance in beliefs about and user resistance to mandatory IS in organizations, which has implications for theory, practice, and future research.
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