An empirical study on cyber ostracism and students' discontinuous usage intention of social networking sites during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mediated and moderated model

A sudden change in a person's social life, such as the adjustments caused by COVID-19, can raise social and psychological issues, with people's loneliness and boredom affecting their physical and mental well-being. Cyber ostracism (CO) refers to scenarios in which people feel that others are ignoring them over the internet, e.g., on social networking sites (SNSs) (such as Facebook and Twitter), and placing little importance on their thoughts. The study investigates the mediating role of anger between CO and discontinuous usage intention (DUI) and the moderating role of growth belief. Data were collected during three different periods from 517 Pakistani university students. Statistical procedures were conducted using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS). The study results reveal that anger mediates the relationship between CO and DUI of SNSs; moreover, growth belief moderates the relationship.