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This study focused on the impact of misinformation on social networking sites. Through theorizing and integrating literature from interdisciplinary fields such as information behavior, communication and relationship management, this study explored how misinformation on Facebook influences users' trust, distrust and intensity of Facebook use.

This study employed quantitative survey research and collected panel data via an online professional survey platform. A total of 661 participants in the USA completed this study, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the theoretical model using Amos 20.

Based on data from an online questionnaire (N = 661) in the USA, results showed that information trustworthiness and elaboration, users' self-efficacy of detecting misinformation and prescriptive expectancy of the social media platform significantly predicted both trust and distrust toward Facebook, which in turn jointly influenced users' intensity of using this information system.

This study contributes to the growing body of literature on information and relationship management and digital communication from several important aspects. First, this study disclosed the underlying cognitive psychological and social processing of online misinformation and addressed the strategies for future system design and behavioral intervention of misinformation. Second, this study systematically examined both trust and distrust as cognitive and affective dimensions of the human mindsets, encompassed the different components of the online information behavior and enriched one’s understanding of how misinformation affected publics' perceptions of the information system where it appeared. Last but not least, this study advanced the relationship management literature and demonstrated that a trustful attitude exerted a stronger influence on the intensity of Facebook use than distrust did.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2020-0130

Regret is an undesirable yet very common outcome of social networking site (SNS) use. To date, the literature has examined SNS regret at an aggregate level. The purpose of this paper is to decompose the dimensions and constituents of SNS regret into networking regret and brand page regret, to better understand it, and examine how the two facets of regret are created by SNS use intensity and gratification. The authors also decomposed SNS activities into networking activities and brand page activities and positioned them as predictors of networking regret and brand page regret, respectively.

The authors drew on uses and gratifications theory and positioned interpersonal connectivity and exhibitionism as the antecedents of networking activities as well as informational value and exhibitionism as the antecedents of brand page activities. The authors collected data from 246 Facebook users from France and analyzed the data using the partial least squares approach.

The results show that use intensity has a marginal effect on both brand page and networking regret. However, exhibitionism was found to reinforce the effect of use intensity on both brand page and networking regret. It also had a positive effect on both networking and brand page activities. The other two gratifications, interpersonal connectivity and informational value, had a positive effect on networking and brand page activities, respectively.

To date, empirical attempts at investigating decomposed SNS regret have been rare. The paper fills this theoretical and empirical gap and contributes to the literature on regret in an SNS use context.

The study explores the antecedents and consequences of social network fatigue (SNF) using the stress–strain–outcome (S-S-O) model. It builds on the work of previous scholars in the area of SNS by focussing on the intervening processes that explain the study's focal constructs.

To test the proposed framework, the study draws cross-sectional data from Indian Facebook users. Data were collected using an online survey, and the final sample of 309 valid and complete responses was analysed using SmartPLS to test the study's hypotheses.

The findings of the study report fear of missing out (FoMO) to be positively related to compulsive use (CU) of Facebook. CU had positive and significant direct and indirect effects (via information and social overload) on SNF. SNF was significantly associated with both depression (DEP) and discontinuous use intention (DUI). However, Facebook use intensity (FBI)'s moderating role on the relationship between FoMO and CU was insignificant.

First, the current study proposes and empirically tests a comprehensive model on the lines of the S-S-O model to understand the antecedents and consequences of SNF. Second, the study uses an Indian sample that is not age-specific (adolescents or young adults), unlike most past studies. Third, it examines various intervening stages and processes (through mediation and moderation) suggested by previous scholars but not yet explored.

Interaction and communication through social networking sites (SNSs) has witnessed exponential growth every year. The rising popularity of this platform has made researchers take a deeper look at this phenomenon and try and study it in a structured fashion. The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating role of SNS usage intensity on the relationship between social capital and social identity. There are very few published literature studies available and none in the context of a developing economy, which is undergoing enormous digital transformation. While studies like this have been done in abundance in the Western world, it is still a new approach in this part of the world. Even though the variables that are being studied have been adapted from the work done earlier by other researchers, the application and interpretation are very different, primarily because of the context.

A primary online survey was conducted to collect data for this study. A majority of 258 respondents were in the age group of 20–40 years. Most of them had an undergraduate and/or a postgraduate degree and spent an average of 70% of their weekly time on social media. The sample size was balanced in terms of gender (male/female) as well. To validate the research model and test the hypotheses of the study, through two analysis phases including measurement model and structural model, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlations and hierarchical multiple regression were deployed. The CFA was applied to assess the validity of the four factors under study.

Factors that were studied in this article were checked for content validity and reliability. Cronbach's alpha values were <1.0 indicating the reliability of the factors taken for the study. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that with the increase in bridging and SNS usage intensity, social identity also increases at a high level of bridging. Similar results were observed when regression was conducted for bonding and SNS usage intensity. Thus, the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that SNS usage intensity positively moderated the effects of social capital on social identity. Hence, the two hypotheses were supported.

The results of this study are significant for business organizations and society as well. A similar type of study in the context of an economy, which has embarked on the path of digitization as a state-sponsored policy has not been reported.

Building on consumer socialization theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine antecedents and consequences of generating and sharing brand-related content on social media in a restaurant context.

A scale development process was undertaken to develop the scale for brand-related user-generated content (BRUGC). Then the authors tested the antecedents and consequences of BRUGC using 375 responses obtained through a mall-intercept survey. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with AMOS.

Study findings revealed that age, time on Facebook, number of Facebook friends, Facebook usage intensity, and need for self-enhancement were key antecedents of both the generation and sharing of BRUGC. The results also indicated that gender, race and need for self-affirmation were not significantly related to generating and sharing BRUGC. Both generating and sharing BRUGC were positively associated with attitude and intentions toward the restaurants.

This study is the first to develop a BRUGC scale through a rigorous scale development process. It thus contributes to consumer socialization theory literature in considering social media as a socialization agent. The findings provide valuable insights for both academicians and social media managers and aid in enhancing BRUGC.

The association between social media and jealousy is an aspect of the dark side of social media that has garnered significant attention in the past decade. However, the understanding of this association is fragmented and needs to be assimilated to provide scholars with an overview of the current boundaries of knowledge in this area. This systematic literature review (SLR) aims to fulfill this need.

The authors undertake an SLR to assimilate the current knowledge regarding the association between social media and jealousy, and they examine the phenomenon of social media-induced jealousy (SoMJ). Forty-five empirical studies are curated and analyzed using stringent protocols to elucidate the existing research profile and thematic research areas.

The research themes emerging from the SLR are (1) the need for a theoretical and methodological grounding of the concept, (2) the sociodemographic differences in SoMJ experiences, (3) the antecedents of SoMJ (individual, partner, rival and platform affordances) and (4) the positive and negative consequences of SoMJ. Conceptual and methodological improvements are needed to undertake a temporal and cross-cultural investigation of factors that may affect SoMJ and acceptable thresholds for social media behavior across different user cohorts. This study also identifies the need to expand current research boundaries by developing new methodologies and focusing on under-investigated variables.

The study may assist in the development of practical measures to raise awareness about the adverse consequences of SoMJ, such as intimate partner violence and cyberstalking.

Based on the premises of Putnam’s bridging social capital, and on Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe’s notion of maintained social capital, the purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the well-being variables of self-esteem and loneliness, as well as What’s App attitudes and intention to use variables, explain the social capital students gain from What’s App use.

The research was conducted in Israel during the second semester of the 2014 academic year and included 124 students from two major universities in Israel. Researchers used six questionnaires to gather data.

Findings confirm that the well-being variables, as well as What’s App attitudes and intention to use, affect the social capital students gain while using What’s App.

The findings of this study shed light on a new technological platform: What’s App that has rarely been examined to date. In addition, it expands the social capital and well-being perspectives to new media.

This chapter describes a research study in which data about the uses of Facebook by higher education students were gathered simultaneously with measurements of a set of psychological dimensions (personal and collective self-esteem, self-concept, general self-efficacy, satisfaction with social support and with academic life, and several aspects of academic experiences: interpersonal, career, institutional, personal and course satisfaction). The final result of the study is a path model inspired on the structural model proposed by Mazman and Usluel (2010) in which the psychological variables that have a significant influence on the academic use of Facebook were incorporated. A positive total effect of identity collective self-esteem in the educational use of Facebook was found and a negative total effect was found for public collective self-esteem in the educational usage of Facebook (EUF). Institutional adaptation proved to have a significant positive total effect on students’ willingness to use Facebook for educational purposes. Satisfaction with life was not a direct predictor of the educational use of Facebook. However, it was a direct predictor of the use of Facebook for work-related purposes, which was the strongest predictor of educational use of Facebook. Therefore, although the effect of satisfaction with life in the educational use of Facebook was only indirect, it was nevertheless positive and statistically significant.

Although Facebook addiction has been found to be a key motive for using Facebook, scant research has explored the association of Facebook addiction with social capital. While researchers addressed how Facebook use strengthened social capital, they did not address the resultant excessive and uncontrollable Facebook use, which is a key sign of Facebook addiction. Therefore, the authors develop this project to study this research gap.

This research explores the motive of Facebook addiction by using a questionnaire to examine the relationships between Facebook addiction and two types of social capital: cognitive and bonding social capital. The authors recruited Hong Kong youth through Facebook and peer groups to complete a set of questionnaires on Facebook addiction, cognitive social capital, bonding social capital and the degree of extraversion. Hierarchical regression is used for analyzing the data collected.

Hierarchical regression results indicated that the more addicted one was to Facebook, the lower the cognitive social capital one perceived. Such a negative relationship was particularly significant for female participants. A similar but marginally significant effect is also found for bonding social capital.

This research sheds light on the impact of Facebook addiction on how one perceives shared meanings and the sense of belongingness with other people on social networks.

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2021-0300.

Facebook has been identified as a primary source of political information by a majority (63 percent) of its users. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Facebook use and political participation, and investigate the mediating effects of the characteristics of one’s Facebook network (i.e. network size, proportion of strong ties, and discussion network heterogeneity).

This study relies on a representative survey of American adults (n=1,032) conducted during the 2012 primary election campaigns from May 3 to May 10. The sample was randomly selected from a representative online panel maintained by a professional research organization. Given this study’s focus on the influence of Facebook use and network characteristics, an online panel is suitable for testing the hypotheses.

The results show positive associations between Facebook use and both off- and online political participation. Further, the positive association between Facebook use and political participation is mediated by discussion network heterogeneity and the proportion of strong ties in one’s Facebook network, but not the network size.

This study sheds light on the roles played by network characteristics of Facebook. The composition of a user’s Facebook network is closely related with what kind of information she encounters and how likely she is to participate in politics. Hence, network characteristics (e.g. Facebook discussion network heterogeneity) arise as important for gaining a nuanced understanding of the relationship between general use of the medium and its political outcomes.