title: Things online social networking can take away: Reminders of social networking sites undermine the desirability of offline socializing and pleasures.
abstract: People are beginning to develop symbiotic relationships with social networking sites (SNSs), which provide users with abundant opportunities for social interaction. We contend that if people perceive SNSs as sources of social connection, the idea of SNSs may reduce the desire to pursue offline social activities and offline pleasures. Experiment 1 demonstrated that priming with SNSs was associated with a weakened desirability of offline social activities and an increased inclination to work alone. Felt relatedness mediated the link between SNS primes and reduced desire to engage in offline social activities. Experiment 2 showed that exposure to SNS primes reduced the desirability of offline socializing and lowered the desire for offline pleasurable experiences as well. Moreover, heavy users were more susceptible to this detrimental effect. We provide the first experimental evidence that the idea of online social networking may modulate users' engagement in offline social activities and offline pleasures. Hence, online social networking may satisfy the need for relatedness but undercut the likelihood of reaping enjoyment from offline social life.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shiang-Shiang
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Hospitality Management, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yevvon Yi-Chi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Chiou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D057181:Pleasure; D012929:Psychological Distance; D060756:Social Networking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Online and offline interaction; online social networking; priming; relatedness; social activity