Social Media Burnout: Definition, Measurement Instrument, and Why We Care

Abstract

Social media users have shown several burnout symptoms lately. In this research, we study the social media burnout issue from three perspectives, including a user’s ambivalence, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. Building on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), we designed a new scale to measure a user’s social media burnout. Using social media continuance as an example, we investigated the effects of social media burnout on a user’s post-adoption intention. We find that ambivalence, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization can all significantly negatively influence a user’s social media continuance.