Engagement and Addiction Dilemma Among Older Adults in Short Video Applications: Socio-technical and Self-control Perspectives

Short videos are becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment for older adults and even an integral part of their lives. However, this also raises the dilemma of meaningful engagement and addiction when older adults engage with short video apps. The current research aims to explore the mechanism underlying engagement and addiction dilemma when older adults use short video apps. We employ the socio-technical and self-control perspectives to highlight the influences of social, technical, and individual factors on engagement and addiction dilemma. We constructed the research model and collected survey data from 182 older short video app users for hypothesis testing. The results by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) show that besides social isolation, other technical factors (i.e., immersion affordance and achievement affordance) and social factors (digital feedback) have a significant impact on satisfaction, which leads to engagement and addiction dilemma. Meanwhile, perceived self-control positively moderates the effects of satisfaction and addiction. Our work advances knowledge by explaining the causes of engagement and addiction dilemma when older adults engage in short video apps, and we contribute the practical insights for short video app practitioners, family members, and older users to cope the engagement and addiction dilemma.