Vacationing from Facebook: Adoption, Temporary Discontinuance, and Readoption of an Innovation

Individuals discontinue use of a technological innovation in two situations: when a superior innovation outmodes an inferior one (replacement discontinuance) and when the performance of an innovation is no longer perceived as satisfactory (disenchantment discontinuance). In both situations, diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory implicitly assumes the rejection of the innovation is permanent. However, a new behavioral phenomena surrounding Facebook—the so-called “Facebook vacation”—suggests some innovations are only temporarily discontinued. Using nationally representative survey data, this study explores demographic and motivational factors that contribute to “temporary discontinuance” and readoption of Facebook. Results show, counter to DOI's predictions, that respondent socioeconomic status and geographical location explain little variation in temporary Facebook discontinuance behavior. Additionally, a majority of Facebook users report temporarily leaving because the Web site is a burden on personal time and cognitive and social resources—motivations not readily explained by DOI theory.