2017/08/23 by Christine J. Syrek, Christine Syrek, Jana Kühnel +4
Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · #Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
paper · doi:10.1080/02678373.2017.1367736
openalex publication_date 2017/08/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Non-work social media use at work has seen a dramatic increase in the last decade and is commonly deemed counterproductive work behaviour. However, we examined whether it may also serve as a micro-break and improve work engagement. We used ecological momentary assessment across 1 working day with up to 10 hourly measurements in 334 white-collar workers to measure non-work social media use and work engagement, resulting in 2235 hourly measurements. Multilevel modelling demonstrated that non-work social media use was associated with lower levels of work engagement between persons. Within persons, non-work social media use was also associated with lower concurrent work engagement. However, non-work social media use was related to higher levels of work engagement 1 hour later. While more extensive non-work social media use at work was generally associated with lower work engagement, our advanced study design revealed that the longer employees used social media for non-work purposes during 1 working hour, the more work engaged they were in the subsequent working hour, suggesting that employees turn to social media when energy levels are low and/or when they (temporarily) lose interest in their work. This behaviour may serve as a break, which in turn increases work engagement later during the day.