Understanding Compulsive Social Media Use Among Employees: The Roles of Public Social Media Usage, Workplace Fear of Missing Out and Employee Ambition

The increasing integration of public social media (PSM) into workplace practices has transformed employee communication and collaboration while also creating new challenges for managing digital connectivity. Drawing on the Stressor–Strain–Outcome (S–S–O) framework, this study examines how work-related and social-related PSM usage are associated with employees’ compulsive social media use and explores the mediating role of workplace fear of missing out (WFoMO) and the moderating role of employee ambition. Using survey data from 326 employees in China, this study finds that both work-related and social-related PSM usage are positively associated with compulsive social media use. Furthermore, WFoMO mediates the relationships between both forms of PSM usage and compulsive social media use, indicating that workplace PSM usage may contribute to compulsive use behavior through employees’ concerns about missing important information, interactions, and opportunities. The results also show that employee ambition strengthens the relationships between both forms of PSM usage and WFoMO. The moderated mediation analysis further indicates that the indirect effect of work-related PSM usage on compulsive social media use through WFoMO is stronger among employees with higher ambition. This study extends research on workplace digital technology usage by highlighting the psychological mechanisms and individual differences underlying employees’ digital behaviors.