Clicks and gazes: investigating the impact of social-relational goals and media capabilities on active and passive social media use

System use is one of the most researched areas in Information Systems (IS) scholarship. In the context of social media (SM), scholars differentiate between active and passive SM use, yet the factors that influence these different types of SM use are less well understood. We draw on relationship science and media synchronicity theory (MST) to conceptualize SM use types as a function of users’ goal-striving behavior for relationship management. In a multi-wave mixed-methods study, we examined two social-relational goals (i.e., connecting and deepening) and five media capabilities as factors influencing active and passive SM use. We tested our model quantitatively (in two data collections) with SM users and expanded it in a subsequent qualitative study. The findings illustrate an asymmetry: Connecting goals influence passive SM use, whereas deepening goals influence active SM use. Four of the five MST capabilities influence both SM use types, although in different ways. Based on our findings, we propose reconceptualizing connecting goals from users’ “wanting to connect” to “feeling connected”. We also refine the theoretical reach of the MST capability of rehearsability to include post-transmission modifications as influential for SM use.