The Motivations for and Well-Being Implications of Social Media Use at Work among Millennials and Members of Former Generations.

Reetta Oksa,Atte Oksanen,Markus Kaakinen,Tiina Saari

doi:10.3390/ijerph18020803

Reetta Oksa, Atte Oksanen + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020803

Copy DOI

Abstract

Working life has digitalized considerably in recent decades and organizations have taken into use new forms of collaborative technologies such as social media platforms. This study examined the relationship between social media use at work and well-being at work for millennials and members of former generations in Finland. The research data contained focus group interviews (N = 52), an expert organization survey (N = 563), and a nationally representative survey (N = 1817). Well-being measures included technostress, burnout, psychological distress, and a set of background variables. Content analysis and linear regression models were used as analysis methods. The results showed that millennials have various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for social media use at work. Intrinsic motivations included employees’ personal choice and their pure interest to follow the market and discussions in their own field. Extrinsic motivations were related mainly to organizations’ work culture and personal branding. The survey findings revealed, however, that millennials were not only more active social media users for work, but they also experienced higher technostress and burnout than members of former generations. Social media use motivations were associated with both higher and lower technostress and burnout depending on motivation, indicating that social media use can have both positive and negative effects. Overall, our findings suggest that employees tend to utilize social media more if their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled.

Highlights

Working life has digitized considerably in recent decades and the progress still goes on [1]
The content analysis was initially based on self-determination theory (SDT), our scope was developed during the analysis process more towards data driven analysis to discover methods of social media use and benefits and strains related to usage
One of our interviewees referred to their own choice in using social media without feeling any pressure: “You might be reading, sharing, or familiarizing yourself with some content that is related to your work through social media (e.g., LinkedIn), but there is no pressure or conflict, but it’s your own choice”

Summary

Introduction

Working life has digitized considerably in recent decades and the progress still goes on [1]. Younger employees tend to have a more positive attitude toward technology [4] (Morris & Venkatesh, 2000) and adapt more to new technologies compared to their older colleagues [5,6]. Younger employees lay their usage more on attitudinal base and older employees on social and process factors [4]. The content analysis was initially based on SDT, our scope was developed during the analysis process more towards data driven analysis to discover methods of social media use (active versus passive) and benefits and strains related to usage. The interview transcripts were coded deductively by two researchers and cross-checked to confirm the reliability

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion