LinkedIn’s dilemma: navigating stress and well-being on professional networking platforms

Purpose Universities are increasingly encouraging students to join LinkedIn, a professional networking site (PNS), to enhance their employability prospects. Our study explores the double-edged sword of LinkedIn use among university students with a focus on its contrasting psychological impacts of stress and well-being. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), conservation of resources theory (CORT), and recent social media research, this study proposes a theoretical model to explain users’ motivations for LinkedIn use, their experiences of LinkedIn-induced stress and well-being and how users deal with these experiences. Our model was tested via a survey of 221 undergraduate students and the use of structural equation modeling. Findings Results indicate that LinkedIn-induced well-being, stemming from the digital support of students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, belongingness and competence, enhances their intrinsic motivation to engage with the platform. However, LinkedIn is also found to generate stress – driven by excessive demand and privacy threats – which undermines intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, LinkedIn well-being is found to be a personal resource that students leverage to manage this stress. Originality/value This study examines students’ experiences on LinkedIn, a PNS that has received less scholarly attention than hedonic social networking sites. Using SDT and CORT, we highlight the coexistence of stress and well-being on non-compulsory, utilitarian PNSs like LinkedIn. We further demonstrate how LinkedIn-derived well-being helps students manage LinkedIn technostress, addressing a key research gap, as few studies explore how social media users mitigate stress through positive mechanisms.