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

Reetta Oksa, Tiina Saari, Markus Kaakinen and Atte Oksanen
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Reetta Oksa: Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Tiina Saari: Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Markus Kaakinen: Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Atte Oksanen: Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-22

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.

Keywords: social media; work life; millennials; technostress; burnout; psychological distress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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