Purpose: During the past few years, social media has faced the challenge of maintaining its user base. Reports show that the social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter experienced a decline in their users. Taking WhatsApp’s recent change of its terms of use as our case and using the push-pull-mooring model and a configurational perspective, this study aims to identify pathways for switching intentions.

Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 624 WhatsApp users recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and analyzed using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

Findings: The findings identify seven configurations for high switching intentions and four configurations for low intentions to switch. Firm reputation and critical mass increase intention to switch, while low firm reputation and absence of attractive alternatives hinder switching.

Research limitations/implications: This study extends extant literature on social media migration by identifying configurations that result in high and low switching intention among messaging applications.

Practical implications: The study identifies factors the technology service providers should consider to attract new users and retain existing users.

Originality: This study complements the extant literature on switching intention that explains the phenomenon based on a net-effect approach by offering an alternative view that focuses on the existence of multiple pathways to social media switching. It further advances our understanding of the relevant importance of switching factors.