Associations Between Fear of Missing Out, Problematic Smartphone Use, and Social Networking Services Fatigue Among Young Adults

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to adapt the Information and communication technology (ICT) Overload and social networking service (SNS) Fatigue Scale to measure the overload and SNSs fatigue experienced by individuals while using ICTs in the Turkish language and analyze the adapted scale based on various variables. The scale adaptation procedure was conducted by surveying 225 undergraduate-level university students. In addition to discriminant and convergent reliability, the general fitness index parameters were compared with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the model results were found in accordance with the acceptable fitness index criteria, with clarification as a complete model in all sub-dimensions. The relationships between fear of missing out (FoMO), problematic smartphone use (PSU), and SNSs Fatigue levels of the participants were also investigated. The adapted scale was then applied to 469 participants. The findings demonstrated that there was a significant difference between PSU and SNS Fatigue levels of participants based on gender, favoring females. It was also revealed that the variables of interest FoMO and SNS Fatigue together predicted the PSU.

A Preliminary Validation of the Polish Version of the Social Media Fatigue Scale

“…There is no consensus on a concept that captures the meaning of declining interest within the number of active users. 4 Although many authors define this phenomenon differently, using terms such as "social network fatigue," 10,13,14 "social networking services fatigue," 12,15 "social media burnout," 4,16 and "social media fatigue," 3,5,11,[17][18][19] all of them adhere to the same type of trend related to quitting or abandoning social networking services. Given that social media fatigue (hereinafter: SMF) seems to be the most popular and common term in the scientific publications, we decided to assume this concept in the present research.…”

“…Bright and colleagues 17,23 defined SMF as a user's tendency to retreat from social network engagement when they are overloaded with too much information. Other studies showed that SMF refers to suffering from mental 12,18 or emotional 16,24 exhaustion, and manifests itself in decreased interest in accessing to social platforms. 4,10 The presented definitions confirm that SMF reflects a multidimensional user experience 5 in cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dimensions.…”

“… 5 Moreover, several different studies showed that some users of well-known social media platforms are considering temporary disconnection from Instagram, 6 , 7 Facebook, 6 , 8 WeChat, 9 MySpace, 10 WhatsApp, 11 or Twitter. 12 …”

Alleviating the impact of SNS fatigue on user discontinuance

“…Also, it is referred to as “a subjective, multidimensional user experience comprising feelings such as tiredness, annoyance, anger, disappointment, guardedness, loss of interest, or reduced need/motivation associated with various aspects of SNS use and interactions” (Ravindran et al , 2014). In addition, SNS fatigue has also been determined as an adverse emotional reaction or mental condition relating to individuals' SNS usages and activities (Hwang et al , 2019; Tugtekin et al , 2020; Zhang et al , 2016).…”

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri Aşırı Yükleme ve Sosyal Ağ Tükenmişlik Durumlarının İncelenmesi

“…However, some negative effects can result from obsessive social media use, including psychological and physical stress and strain (Zhu & Bao, 2018), as users are constantly encouraged to stay in touch, maintain interest, and respond to a huge amount of information on social networking platforms (Lee et al, 2016). The negative impact of social network usage has been referred to as "social networking service fatigue" in the literature (Lee et al, 2016;Tugtekin et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2016). The current study examines the information and communication technology overload and social networking fatigue levels of young college students using the "Information and Communication Technology Overload & Social Networking Service Fatigue Scale" developed by Lee et al (2016), which was adapted into Turkish by Tugtekin et al (2020).…”