The social media discontinuance model: the trio of dark side, regret, and privacy control

This study introduces the Social Media Discontinuance Model (SMDM), a conceptual framework aimed at identifying the factors influencing social media discontinuance intention. Previous research has primarily addressed dissatisfaction and only partially addressed regret as reasons for social media discontinuance, leaving the antecedents of regret and strategies to mitigate it unexplored. In our research, we identify five dimensions of dark side experience, encompassing cyberbullying, misinformation, information overload, misuse, and behaviours causing online social stress. Additionally, we consider three moderators: privacy control, valence, and tie strength, which either amplify or mitigate the impact of regret stemming from dark side experiences. Our findings demonstrate that regret fully mediates the relationship between the dark side and discontinuance intention. Moreover, the relationship between the dark side and regret is influenced by privacy control and the valence of social media usage. These results suggest that, to alleviate social media regret and intention to discontinue, platform providers should address negative effects by optimising privacy controls and fostering positive user experiences.