Social Media Use at Work: Evaluating Recovery and Information Overload as Competing Mechanisms Linking Social Media Breaks to Work Focus

Abstract

This study examined whether social media use during work breaks is associated with work focus through recovery experiences and information overload. Drawing on the Effort-Recovery Model (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) and a compensatory control framework (Hockey, 1997), I tested competing indirect pathways and the potential moderation role of executive function using experience sampling data from student employees (Level 2 N = 42; Level 1 observations = 143–166). Results did not provide evidence that within-person social media use was associated with psychological detachment, relaxation, or information overload, and indirect associations of social media use with work focus via concentration and task withdrawal were not supported. Psychological detachment was associated with lower task withdrawal within persons, whereas no clear evidence emerged for moderation of hypothesized within-person relations by executive function. Overall, results did not provide evidence that social media use plays a role in recovery or information overload processes relevant to work focus, although these findings should be interpreted with caution given statistical power considerations. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing psychological mechanisms from the behaviors assumed to facilitate them.