The Effects of Information and Communication Technology Use on Human Energy and Fatigue: A Review

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are generally assumed to save time and energy, yet user fatigue due to ICT use is assumed to be on the rise. The question about the effects of ICT use on human energy has sparked increased research interest in recent years. however, the course is complicated by the fact that the conceptualization of human energy is extremely diverse. The aim of this paper is therefore twofold. First, we provide a conceptual framework and classification for subjective energy concepts and reflect on the theoretical embedding of technology within the theories on subjective energy. Second, we review the leading empirical literature on the relationship between ICT use and eight different subjective energy concepts prominent in different disciplines. We also include the new phenomena of social networking sites (SNS) exhaustion and SNS fatigue. With this, we aim to consolidate the existing research, illuminate the gaps and provide a conceptual baseline for future research on the relationship between ICT use and subjective energy of ICT users. We show that ICT use has predominantly negative effect on users' energy, especially in organizational contexts, and show the main patterns and mechanisms through which technology drains as well as energizes users.