Loneliness, Boredom and Information Anxiety on Problematic Use of Social Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 is a global health concern with emerging economies expected to endure lasting effects. Massive information in social media while beneficial for some is perceived to have caused unnecessary anxiety for others. Although research on technological factors and their relationships to social media adoption is well documented, limited studies explored the psychology behind problematic use of social media especially during a health crisis. Analyzing survey responses from 257 participants, we tested the influence of loneliness, boredom and information anxiety on the problematic use of social media during the COVID-19 health crisis. Structural regression analysis supported prior literature that boredom and anxiety positively influence the escalation of problematic social media use. Although previous findings support the influence of loneliness on problematic social media use, this cannot be supported within the context of this study. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of our study to informal education while highlighting the limitations of the study to provide directions for future scholarly endeavors.