Disengagement Behavior on Online Social Network the Impact of Fear of Missing Out and Addiction

Most previous research on online social networks (OSNs) has focused on the adoption and continuation of OSN as it is a newer form of social media the usage of which has increased over time. However, very little research has explored the discontinuation of users from OSN usage. Using disengagement theory, this study examines the roles of fear of missing out and addiction along with other factors such as victimization, well-being, privacy concerns, alternative attractiveness, and social influence in the disengagement process from OSN usage. The proposed conceptual model is evaluated using survey design. A preliminary investigation consisting of expert panel review, pretest, and pilot test is conducted to ensure measurement validity. A primary investigation consisting of reliability and validity testing, model fit test (i.e. goodness of fit), common method bias test, and t-test is conducted to ensure validity of structural model. The data are analyzed to recommend the findings. The study found that intention to disengage from OSN leads to actual disengagement, thus, bridging the gap between intention and actual behavior. Attractive alternatives to existing OSN, privacy concerns, and negative psychosocial wellbeing were found to positively influence intention to disengage from a specific OSN. Perceived enjoyment and social influence were found to negatively affect intention disengage from OSN. The findings also indicated that the influence of alternative attractiveness on intention to disengage from an OSN will be moderated by the fear of missing out, such that the influence will be weaker. Similarly, the influence of negative psychosocial well-being on intention to disengage from an OSN will be moderated by the fear of missing out, such that the influence will be weaker. These findings contribute to the information systems and OSN research literature by introducing several theories to expand the concepts of fear of missing out and addiction in studying disengagement process from OSN usage. Besides, there are several implications of this research on practice such as understanding the impact of dark sides of OSNs in a user’s disengagement process from OSN usage