Characteristics of Social Network Fatigue

This paper examines the unique characteristics of ´fatigue´ in the context of use of social networks to stay socially connected. Guided by literature on ´fatigue´ from within the domains of clinical and occupational studies, the paper uses a combination of in-depth interviews and individual activity logs gathered from members of a selected Facebook community to investigate social network fatigue. Characteristics of the phenomenon are culled from individual user experiences giving rise to negative emotions and/ or a change in activity patterns in the course of use of social networks, so as to derive a working definition of fatigue in the context.