Lurking behavior in older adults: Considering extraversion, online social anxiety, and perceived information overload

Older people have been using online communities to share information and communicate with other users. However, the decline in their physical and cognitive capabilities hinders their information processing and social participation, resulting in less willingness to actively participate in online communities. To understand this issue, the present study drew from self-verification theory and personality traits to explore the correlates between extraversion, perceived information overload, online social anxiety, and lurking behavior. Samples were from older adult learning centers located in northern Taiwan, with 328 data usefully returned and subjected to structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses. The results indicated that extraversion can negatively predict online social anxiety, perceived information overload, and lurking behavior, while online social anxiety and perceived information overload have positive impacts on lurking behavior. The results of this study help us to understand the influential factors which cause older adults’ lurking behavior in the digital society. The present study also provides implications regarding user requirements of social media for the older population.