Research On The Problematic Use Mechanism Of UGC Content Platform Users

As a new type of social media,content platforms have become an important part of the Internet nowadays.While bringing convenience to people,problems such as problematic use of content platforms have also caused considerable negative impacts on individuals and society.In previous studies on problematic use of social media,most scholars have focused on traditional social media scenarios,such as Facebook and Weibo,and analyzed the problematic use mechanisms of social media users in terms of social-related factors.However,content platforms are a kind of"content-light" social media,which are different from traditional social media that are "relationship-light".Therefore,this study will investigate the problematic use mechanism of users in the context of content platforms.Based on the use and gratification theory,this study concludes that users’ use motives(information-seeking motives and entertainment motives)have a positive effect on users’ problematic use of content platforms.In addition,based on the information search process model,delay theory,and compensatory Internet use theory,this study further suggests that fear of missing out(FoMO)mediates the relationship between usage motivation and problematic use of content platforms.Based on the perceived value theory and the I-PACE model,this study also suggests that perceived information value and perceived entertainment value will moderate the effect of user motivation on FoMO,which in turn affects the problematic use of content platforms.To test the above theoretical hypotheses,this study conducted empirical tests through two online questionnaires.The results of the first experiment(N=619)showed that information-seeking motivation and entertainment motivation positively predicted problematic use of content platforms,and information-seeking motivation and entertainment motivation also influenced problematic use of content platforms through FoMO.The results of the second experiment(N=688)showed that information-seeking motivation and entertainment motivation each had a significant positive effect on problematic use of the content platform,and that FoMO mediated these two paths.Further,perceived information value moderates the mediating effect of FoMO between information-seeking motivation and problematic use of content platforms,and perceived entertainment value moderates the mediating effect of FoMO between entertainment motivation and problematic use of content platforms.Based on the above empirical results,this study concludes that 1)user motivation has a positive predictive effect on problematic use of content platforms;2)FoMO is a key factor in the problematic use mechanism of content platform users and mediates the relations between user motivation and problematic use of content platforms;3)perceived value moderates the mediating effect of FoMO between user motivation and problematic use of content platforms.Based on the above findings,this study provides some management insights into the intervention problem of problematic use of content platforms.