CHAPTER 1- BOREDOM PRONENESS AS THE ANTECEDENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER CREDIBILITY             15

Mehmet Ozer DEMIR
                                                                                                    
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Demir, M. O. (2023). Chapter 1 Boredom Proneness as the Antecedent of Social Media Influencer Credibility. In B. L. Salvador Bizotto (Ed.), Academic Research & Reviews in Social, Human, and Administrative Sciences-III- (pp. 15-36). Ankara, Türkiye: Global Academy Publishing House. https://dx.doi.org/10.59740/academy.39

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Introduction
Social networks (SNs) like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, and Tic-Tac have become increasingly popular in the 21st century, changing how people connect. Researchers looked at how SNs affect people's behavior. Early studies (Wang et al., 2014) have revealed a relationship between SNs use and subjective measures of well-being and friendship quality, but they have also raised many possibilities to reflect on missed opportunities. According to Andrew K. Przybylski et al. (2013) and A. K. Przybylski et al. (2013), fear of missing out (FoMO) refers to the worry that others might be enjoying a good event without them. It has been discovered that boredom propensity influences FoMO by modulating the impact of anxiety and sadness.
According to Headey et al. (1993), people who struggle with anxiety and depression tend to be less satisfied with their lives, thus it seems that they could be afraid of missing out on events that could raise their level of pleasure. Boredom appears to have an impact on this relationship since people who are lacking cognitively stimulating stimuli are more likely to have a wandering mind and feel like they are missing out (Danckert & Merrifield, 2018; Game, 2007; Martin et al.,
2006). Second, a tendency toward boredom predicts FoMO. People who are bored are less likely to be cognitively entertained and are therefore more likely to believe they are losing out on pleasant experiences. Those with greater degrees of boredom proneness (BP) tend to be more focused with FoMO, compared to those who experience cognitive stimulation and are consequently less worried about losing out. Furthermore, anxiety attachment mediates the association between BP and FoMO. People who struggle with anxiety attachment tend to ruminate more and are more likely to be preoccupied with thoughts about the viability and stability of their interpersonal relationships. This inclination might logically affect how anxious they are about passing up fulfilling opportunities (Holte & Ferraro, 2020).

While literature reveals a variety of reasons for being online, some people may follow influencers purely out of boredom. According to boredom were linked to Internet addiction. The majority of internet time is now spent on social media, where users follow Social Media Influencers (SMI). Smartphones are now the primary source for entertainment, shopping, learning, and other online activities. According to Ksinan et al. (2021), research indicates a connection between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and compulsive smartphone usage. They proposed that boredom might play a role as a
contributing factor in this association. In other words, individuals with grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits may be more prone to compulsively use smartphones due to feelings of boredom. For instance, numerous research have confirmed the association between smartphone usage and boredom (Leung, 2008; Lin et al., 2009). According to various studies (Bae et al., 2019; Bozaci, 2020; Lidholm et al., 2017; Pelegrn-Borondo et al., 2020), people's intentions and
behaviors tend to increase when they experience boredom. This increase in intention and behavior is directly associated with their purchasing behavior. In other words, individuals may be more likely to make impulsive or unplanned purchases when they are feeling bored.
Researchers are investigating the effects of social media on well-being and friendship quality in an effort to better understand how the rise of social media has affected human behavior. The relationship between boredom propensity, social media influencers (SMIs), and SMI credibility is examined in this paper. The main objective of the study is to investigate how individuals' propensity for boredom (boredom proneness) influences their perception of the credibility of Social Media Influencers (SMIs). The researchers aim to understand whether individuals who are more prone to
experiencing boredom are more likely to perceive SMIs as credible compared to those who are less prone to boredom. Additionally, the study looks at how Escape/forget and Relaxation affect the association between boredom propensity and SMI credibility.