Exploring the Impact of SNS Alienation and Attachment on Proactive Use of Facebook

SNS 소외감과 애착이 능동적 사용에 미치는 영향: 페이스북 사용자를 중심으로

The social network services (SNS) like Facebook, have gained an enormous amount of popularity. However, side-effects of Facebook usage are occasionally reported such as sense of alienation and cyber-bullying. Among these potential factors threatening to the success of SNS, this research focused on alienation and intends to investigate possible factors that affect SNS alienation and how it affects on SNS attachment and proactive use of SNS. Through extensive literature reviews regarding online and offline alienation, SNS characteristics, and SNS usage, we generated the research model and hypotheses. We surveyed 142 Facebook users and empirically proved that among SNS characteristics, complexity increases SNS alienation, and interactivity and social presence positively affect SNS attachment. Offline alienation, one of the personal attributes, increases both SNS alienation and SNS attachment at the same time while the number of SNS friends have no significant effects. In addition, SNS alienation decreases proactive use of Facebook while SNS attachment increases it. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on research findings, and we also suggest future research directions to minimize negative consequences due to SNS users' sense of alienation.