“Too much to handle”: Impact of mobile social networking sites on information overload, depressive symptoms, and well-being

Autor(en)
Jörg Matthes, Kathrin Karsay, Desiree Schmuck, Anja Stevic
Abstrakt

Mobile social networking sites (SNS) are frequently theorized to lead to perceived information overload, which may affect the well-being of individuals in negative ways. However, the available body of research is mainly based on cross-sectional data. Based on the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (Lang, 2002), we tested the over-time relationships between mobile SNS use, information overload, depressive symptoms, and well-being in a two-wave panel study. Using a quota sample of adults (N-T2 = 461), we found that YouTube use increased perceived information overload for all individuals. WhatsApp and Snapchat use did only lead to perceived information overload for older adults. Facebook as well as Instagram use were unrelated to perceived information overload. Furthermore, perceptions of information overload were a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, which in turn, negatively influenced individuals' well-being over time. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft
Externe Organisation(en)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen (FWO), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Journal
Computers in Human Behavior
Band
105
Anzahl der Seiten
11
ISSN
0747-5632
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106217
Publikationsdatum
04-2020
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft, 508014 Publizistik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Psychology(all), Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous), Human-computer interaction
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/too-much-to-handle-impact-of-mobile-social-networking-sites-on-information-overload-depressive-symptoms-and-wellbeing(c62ef00a-65f6-4332-89b8-6ae246c38566).html