The Motivations for and Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work among Millennials and Members of Former Generations

Abstract

Working life has digitalized considerably in recent decades and organizations have taken into use new forms of collaborative technologies such as social media platforms. This study examined the relationship between social media use at work and well-being at work for millennials and members of former generations in Finland. The research data contained focus group interviews (N = 52), an expert organization survey (N = 563), and a nationally representative survey (N = 1817). Well-being measures included technostress, burnout, psychological distress, and a set of background variables. Content analysis and linear regression models were used as analysis methods. The results showed that millennials have various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for social media use at work. Intrinsic motivations included employees’ personal choice and their pure interest to follow the market and discussions in their own field. Extrinsic motivations were related mainly to organizations’ work culture and personal branding. The survey findings revealed, however, that millennials were not only more active social media users for work, but they also experienced higher technostress and burnout than members of former generations. Social media use motivations were associated with both higher and lower technostress and burnout depending on motivation, indicating that social media use can have both positive and negative effects. Overall, our findings suggest that employees tend to utilize social media more if their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled.

Technostress of Chilean Teachers in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Teleworking

“…In a study on the use of social media at work, it was found that when workers see the personal advantage of using them, they tend to use them more, compared to when the employer requires them to use them. In this sense, it is essential to provide training to workers, as this contributes to improving their skills, having better regulatory mechanisms, fostering opportunities to establish meaningful connections with others, producing intrinsic motivation, and having a good state of mental health [17].…”

Ramen Among Millennials: Display of Mediational Process in Social Learning

“…The finding uncovered that the majority consigned the responsibilities to 'all', and showed concern for future generations despite being optimistic. Oksa et al (2021) examined the connection between social media use at work and welfare at work for millennials and members of previous generations in Finland by interviewing 52 respondents of a focus group, surveying 563 respondents in an expert organization, and 1817 respondents of national representatives. The survey revealed that millennials were not active in social media for work, however, they faced technostress and burnout compared to former generations.…”

Influence of Social Media on Purchase Intention and Customer Loyalty of Generation Y With the Mediating Effect of Conviction: A Case of Pakistan

“…In recent years, shopping has digitized considerably and its advancement still goes on (Frey & Osborne, 2017;Oksa, Saari, Kaakinen, & Oksanen, 2021). Generally, young consumers are more likely to have a more positive outlook towards technology (Frey & Osborne, 2017).…”

“…Pakistan is well-known all over the world for its textiles and stitch clothing (Munir, Humayon, Ahmed, Haider, & Jehan, 2017). The use of the Internet has encouraged people to prefer online shopping methods and the number of online shoppers is growing rapidly around the world (Laumer, Maier, Eckhardt, & Weitzel, 2016;Oksa et al, 2021). For clothing businesses, social media becomes an important tool, but social media can harm businesses if it is not used correctly (Ghorfi & Hatimi, 2020).…”