BOUNCE BACK AND DON’T LET GO: THE MITIGATING EFFECT OF USERS’ SNS RESILIENCE ON SNS EXHAUSTION AND DISCONTINUOUS USAGE INTENTION.

Social networking services (SNS) have become one of the most popular Internet services globally. Yet, there is also a dark side to SNS use that threatens users’ well-being. Recently, the constant growth in SNS users is diminishing and users are deciding to discontinue using SNS. Thus, research has started to explore the reasons behind discontinuance behavior from a technostress perspective. Nonetheless, there is a call for research and mechanisms explaining why some individuals continue their SNS use (compared to individuals who discontinue) in similar perceived technostress situations – especially regarding individual personality traits. As such, users’ resilience (one’s ability to bounce back and positively adapt) has been chosen as a promising area for our longitudinal research project. Through an initial two-wave study of 403 SNS users in two European countries, the preliminary results show mitigating effects of users’ resilience in SNS-induced stress processes. An outlook on the upcoming waves is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]