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The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies that have used the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the context of social network sites (SNS). It describes various studies undertaken to examine user behaviours and attitudes towards SNS.

This paper comprehensively reviews the selected literature associated with applications of TAM in the SNS context. Different studies conducted within the SNS context were evaluated for understanding the changes incorporated into the model.

The findings illustrated that the TAM has been successfully applied via its extension and modification for explaining user adoption and acceptance of SNS.

The study contributes to the theoretical novelty of the body of the existing literature in the domains of TAM and SNS. The study also provides insight on future research directions by helping in identifying gaps in literature in this field.

User trust in social networking sites (SNS) has become an important issue in SNS discussions. This is because of its impact on knowledge sharing, social commerce, social interaction, among many others. However, information systems researchers have primarily explored the benefits of trust with little attention to its antecedents. In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this study proposed a model that investigated the factors that promote trust among SNS users. Data was gathered from voluntary respondents using a questionnaire. A PLS-SEM analysis of 912 valid responses suggested that Norm of Reciprocity, Social Interaction Ties and Identification are significant factors that encourage Trust among SNS users. Shared Language was also identified to have impact on Norm of Reciprocity, Social Interaction Ties and Identification. The results of the study provide significant theoretical and practical contributions. They bridge the knowledge gap regarding the formation of Trust on SNS. The model evaluated explains 49.6% of the variance in Trust and thus suitable for analyzing the antecedents of Trust on SNS. Furthermore, with the significance of Identification, Social Interaction Ties and Norm of Reciprocity on Trust, SNS developers are tasked to offer SNS features that proliferate the formation of these factors as well as shared interpretations.

Social distancing is an important strategy to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is imperative to understand the behavioral impact of social distancing on individuals. This research studied social distancing from a cognitive appraisal of voluntary social distancing compliance (CAVSD) point of view and a non-medical perspective, specifically the psychological impact (PI) of social distancing on the usage intensity of social networking sites (SNS) during the COVID-19 outbreak in India.

The study was conducted on 477 SNS users as a full sample and groups based on age, sex and work status. The model was empirically investigated using structural equation modeling.

CAVSD was negatively associated with PI although it was not a significant predictor, while CAVSD and PI were significant predictors of SNS usage intensity; moreover, SNS usage intensity differed between groups of people.

These findings are significant for organizations, corporations and educational institutions in both the public and private sectors. There is a need to identify subsections of individuals in need of social support and relief from isolation and loneliness. Individuals are relying on social media to handle social distancing and the pandemic, and this shows up in an increase in social networking activity.

This study contributes to the existing literature by positing social networking as a basic virtual need for socialization, and social media platform assists in that. Cognitive appraisal is an important determinant of individual response.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of network externality on users’ continuance of mobile social network sites (SNS).

Based on the 230 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model.

The results indicated that network externality, which includes referent network size and perceived complementarity, has a significant effect on perceived usefulness and flow. Privacy concern affects perceived usefulness, flow and privacy risk. These three factors determine continued use.

Previous research has focussed on the effects of motivations such as perceived value on user adoption of SNS. The effect of network externality on user continuance has seldom been examined. This research tries to fill the gap.

As our time spent on social networking sites (SNS) is increasing, more people are facing the psychological and mental consequences of SNS use. Given the growing body of research on the relationship between social network use and life satisfaction, this study aims to provide an overview of empirical studies through a systematic literature review.

As a result of the screening process, 43 articles were included in the review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. First, the characteristics of the studies included in the review, such as sample country, data collection method and data analysis method, are presented. Then, the findings on the relationship between SNS use and life satisfaction are outlined.

Based on the results, it is seen that the relationship between SNS use and life satisfaction varies considerably with the sample and platforms studied. Theoretically, this systematic review provides a comprehensive picture of the relationship between SNS use and life satisfaction and encourages researchers to study the topic further.

There are reviews on the relationship between SNS use and psychological factors such as self-esteem, loneliness or depression. In the reviews, limited variables such as problematic social network use, adolescents’ social network use and social network addiction have been examined instead of general social network use. However, the number of reviews on the relationship between social network use and life satisfaction is quite limited. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this systematic review is both a comprehensive literature review and one of the first studies to provide a broad perspective on the relationship between social network use and life satisfaction.

Social networking sites (SNS) are enjoying growing popularity and have triggered new ethical issues including risks of deception, social grooming, cyber-bullying and surveillance. This development along with the growing power of SNS providers calls for an investigation of the CSR engagement of SNS companies. The chapter examines to what extent three prominent providers – Google, Facebook and Twitter – fulfill their responsibilities.

The chapter draws heavily on a politicized concept of CSR, namely ‘corporate citizenship’ (Crane, Matten, & Moon, 2008a; Matten & Crane, 2005) and ‘political CSR’ (Scherer & Palazzo, 2007, 2011) and discusses the role SNS providers play in administering citizenship rights. The chapter takes a qualitative case study approach.

Facebook, Twitter and Google have not only made clear commitments to act responsibly, they actually enhance the citizenship status of their users in many ways, e.g. by offering a platform for democracy activists. Deficiencies and contradictions also become visible, e.g. SNS providers inhibit citizenship by failing to provide sufficient privacy protection.

The chapter is limited by its case study approach, but provides valuable insights to an industry with considerable influence. It contributes to CSR research by applying and testing the politicized concept of CSR in the context of SNS providers.

Although SNS have received appraisal as effective tools of CSR communication, there has been little attention to CSR policy and practice of the companies providing social networks. This is unfortunate since the activities of SNS providers directly impact on millions of users worldwide.

This paper aims to better comprehend the psychological elements that drive the adoption of social networking sites (SNS). The paper attempts to explain the reasons why people sustainably use social networking websites in the workplace and how this happens.

Using a survey to collect data that was analyzed using structural equation modeling by applying the partial least squares technique.

The results indicated that SNS use continuance was due more to habit rather than established perceived and normative beliefs such as satisfaction and social norms.

The authors recommend that the model in the study be tested in other technology environments to evaluate the external validity of the research study. The research was based on an unspecific platform, but each SNS may have its singularity that should merit further consideration.

Peers or coworker influences were noticeable in shaping one’s normative beliefs to continue using SNS in the organization. In this regard, it will be interesting to identify the mechanisms that raise the awareness of SNS in the employees’ social networks in the organization. Specifically, it will be an advantage to reach out to peers in promoting SNS use in the organization because they speak the same language as their fellow employees.

Despite several benefits related to SNS use in organizations, studies showed that most of these technologies are boycotted in the workplace. Although extensive studies are dedicated to understanding information and communication technology use continuance in general, this paper aims to inform both academicians interested in the use of enterprise SNS for business purposes and business actors concerned with growing SNS usage and retaining its users in their organizations. The paper will contribute to information systems continuance literature by integrating and extending two major theoretical frameworks.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether negative network externalities would contribute to social networking site (SNS) fatigue and how this mechanism works.

A research model was proposed integrating two dimensions of negative network externalities and three dimensions of mediators (impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload) to indicate how negative network externalities affect users’ SNS fatigue. Online questionnaires were adopted to collect data, and 307 valid samples were analyzed by structural equation modeling approach.

The findings indicate that negative network externalities have significant indirect effects on SNS fatigue through impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload, and among the three dimensions, privacy concern plays a more important role.

This study offers a solidly grounded and well-demonstrated conceptual model that not only indicates the effects of negative network externalities in the context of SNS but also facilitates the understanding of SNS fatigue. Some theoretical and practical implications are also provided.

This study is novel in exploring users’ SNS fatigue a perspective of negative network externalities. Besides, the mediating roles of impression management concern, privacy concern, and social overload have been employed to indicate the formation of SNS fatigue.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand why many researchers do not have a profile on social networking sites (SNS), and whether this is the result of conscious decisions.

Thematic analysis was conducted on a large qualitative data set from researchers across three levels of seniority, four countries and four disciplines to explore their attitudes toward and experiences with SNS.

The study found much greater scepticism toward adopting SNS than previously reported. Reasons behind researchers’ scepticism range from SNS being unimportant for their work to not belonging to their culture or habits. Some even felt that a profile presented people negatively and might harm their career. These concerns were mostly expressed by junior and midlevel researchers, showing that the largest opponents to SNS may unexpectedly be younger researchers.

A limitation of this study was that the authors did not conduct the interviews, and therefore reframing or adding questions to specifically unpack comments related to attitudes, feelings or the use of SNS in academia was not possible.

By studying implicit attitudes and experiences, this study shows that instead of being ignorant of SNS profiles, some researchers actively opt for a non-use of profiles on SNS.

The rapid growth of online social networking sites (“SNS”) such as LinkedIn and Facebook has created new forms of online labor market intermediation that are reconfiguring the hiring process in profound ways; yet, little is understood about the implications of these new technologies for job seekers navigating the labor market, or more broadly, for the careers and lives of workers. The existing literature has focused on digital inequality – workers’ unequal access to or skilled use of digital technologies – but has left unanswered critical questions about the emerging and broad effects of SNS as a labor market intermediary. Drawing on in-depth interviews with unemployed workers this paper describes job seekers’ experiences using SNS to look for work. The findings suggest that SNS intermediation of the labor market has two kinds of effects. First, as an intermediary for hiring, SNS produces labor market winners and losers involving filtering processes that often have little to do with evaluations of merit. Second, SNS filtering processes exert new pressures on all workers, whether winners or losers as perceived though this new filter, to manage their careers, and to some extent their private lives, in particular ways that fit the logic of the SNS-mediated labor market.