research methods
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding why young adults use different types of social media: A uses and gratifications approach
Alec McDowell, Hala Elbarmil, Joseph Lacy, Nico Rodrigo, & Aaron Toomer
So what?• Social media use is widespread in society• App for that• Interesting to see how different networks gratify different
needs
Uses and Gratifications• Active audience theory• The uses and gratifications (U&G) theory was originally used
to examine traditional media, such as newspapers and television. Recently, studies have used the same theory and applied it to new media, such as social media sites (Quan-Hasse, et al., 2010, p. 351).
• Assesses the kinds of media and types of content that satisfy social and psychological needs
• Perfect for new media, where we are termed ‘users’
Social Media Use• According to the Pew research center 71% online adults use
Facebook alone, 26% use Instagram and 23% use Twitter (2014). • Facebook is the most established social network, attracting 70%
users to engage with the site on a daily basis (2014). • People tend not to limit themselves to one social network, 52% of
adults have profiles on at least two social networking sites (Pew, 2014).
Background Research1. social interaction2. information seeking3. pass time4. entertainment5. relaxation6. expression of opinions7. communicatory utility8. convenience utility 9. information sharing10. surveillance/knowledge about others
Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. 16. 362-369.
Facebook vs Snapchat
• Research comparing Facebook and Instant Messaging “showed that Facebook is about having fun and knowing about the social activities occurring in one’s social network whereas instant messaging is geared more toward relationship maintenance and development” (Quan-Hasse, et al., 2010, p. 350)
• Snapchat allows more intimate relational maintenance strategies to be used
• Very little research on Snapchat
They go together like lamb and tuna fish!
RQ’s
Realizing that Facebook and Snapchat might harbor different reasons for use, we came up with a couple of research questions:
• Primary Research Question: What gratifications do young adults who are members of social networking sites earn from using those sites?
• Secondary question: Are there specific gratifications earned from either Facebook or Snapchat?
Methodology• Participants -> convenience sample drawn from GMU student
body• Procedures -> Online surveys issued to gather data• Distributed through e-mails and social media posts
• Measures -> demographics like age, race, and gender. Social media use questions such as:• Networks used• Frequency of use for different networks• Network size• Likert comparison of use preferences to inform our uses and grats
framework
Results and Discussion• N=128 includes 25.7% male respondents and 74.3% female respondents • .898 correlation for those who frequently use Snapchat and those who view
others stories• Facebook shows no correlation between frequency of use and checking
of others status updates• Remember AIM? Checking away messages back in the day has turned
into checking Snapchat stories…similar relational maintenance strategies• Facebook use shows higher importance rating for expressing your opinion
than does Snapchat use (28.1% rate important on Facebook compared to 8.6%• Also higher in importance for making long term plans
• 47% said they would be more likely to post a selfie on Snapchat, compared to 11.7% who chose Facebook. 18% chose neither network
Uses and Gratifications
Socia
lSta
tus
Passtime
Entertain
Relax
Opinion
Communicate
Conven
Shareinfo
Knowothers
Intouch
LT plans
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
FB SC
Importance ratings for Snapchat and Facebook
Limitations/conclusion• Survey fatigue• Had 1 smurf respondent
• Survey diffusion• Ambiguity in survey questions
Facebook remains to be the dominant social media platform, it is the most convenient network for people to be on as it is ubiquitous. Snapchat is becoming more popular and is arguably the new destination for ‘status’ updates (away messages)
ReferencesGarcia, J. A., Cruz, L. M., & Gaona, P. C. (2012). A vision of uses and gratifications applied to study of
internet use by adolescents. Comunicacíon y Sociedad. 25. 231-254.
Quan-Haase, A., & Young, A. (2010). Uses and gratifications of social media: a comparison of facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 30. 350-361.
Urista, M., Qingwen, D., & Day, K. (2009). Explaining why young adults use myspace and Facebook through uses and gratifications theory. Human Communication. 12. 215-229
Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. 16. 362-369.