Dealing With Unnecessary: The Mediation Role of Social Overload on Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Fatigue

Previous studies have shown that the fear of missing out (FoMO) is positively associated with social media fatigue. However, few studies have explored the mediating and moderating mechanisms behind this association. In this study, we analyzed whether social overload mediates the association between FoMO and social media fatigue and whether this mediation process is moderated by interdependent self-construal. Using social support theory and the theory of compensatory Internet use, we analyzed valid questionnaire responses from 3,000 Chinese social media users to empirically validate the proposed model. The results showed that FoMO was positively related to social media fatigue and that social overload mediated the association between FoMO and social media fatigue. In addition, the mediation effect was stronger for social media users with high levels of interdependent self-construal. These findings could increase understanding of users’ psychological states when using social media and reduce the negative effects of FoMO on social media users.