Why social network site use fails to promote well-being? The roles of social overload and fear of missing out

an article by Huan-YouChai, Shuai-Lei Lian, Xiao-Wei Chu, Sanyuya Liu and Xiao-Jun Sun (Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China) and Geng-Feng Niu (Xi'an Jiaotong University, China) published in Computers in Human Behavior Volume 100 (November 2019)

Highlights

• There was no significant correlation between SNS use and subjective well-being.
• SNS use had a suppressing effect on subjective well-being via social overload.
• FoMO moderated the direct and indirect relations between SNS use and subjective well-being.

Abstract

Considering the popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) and the inconsistent results regarding the effect of SNS use on subjective well-being, this study intended to address the question “why SNS fails to predict subjective well-being” by investigating the suppressing role of social overload and moderating role of fear of missing out (FoMO).

A sample of 1,319 Chinese adolescents was recruited to complete measures on SNS use, social overload, FoMO and subjective well-being.

Results showed that SNS use had a positively direct effect on subjective well-being, while the indirect effect via social overload in this association was significantly negative, suggesting that SNS use had a suppressing effect on well-being via social overload.

FoMO moderated the suppressing effect of social overload; specifically, the indirect and direct effects were both more potent for adolescents with higher FoMO. Implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.

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