Theorizing Social Media Usage Behaviour
Uses and gratifications theory
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| 1.1. Uses and gratifications theory The Uses and Gratification theory by Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch (1974) is grounded on the assumption that people select media and content to satisfy psychological, social needs and wants. In this theory, Katz et al. (1974) identified five significant needs (1) personal integrative needs (enhance credibility, status, (2) affective needs (emotion, pleasure, feelings), (3) cognitive needs (acquire information, knowledge, (4) tension release needs (escape & diversion) and (5) social integrative needs (interact with family & friends). Similarly, the Dual Factor Model of Facebook Use proposed by Hofmann and Nadkarni (2013) explained the two motivational factors that drive an individual to use Facebook as a specific type of social networking site (1) the need to belong, which refers to the innate drive to affiliate with others and gain social acceptance and (2) the need for self-presentation, which relates to the continuous process of impression management (Hofmann & Nadkarni, 2013). Individuals enjoy social media features that cater to their characteristics and are gratified by using them (Ryan et al., 2014). Uses and gratifications theory suggests that illustrating factors responsible for media use can illuminate its popularity (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1973). Research has provided the typology of users based onuses and gratification theory which are Relationship maintenance (bringing the offline social network to be online Entertainment (engaging in passive social activities Companionship (using Facebook to avoid loneliness and improve interpersonal needs Surveillance gratifications glancing photographs and status updates Escape (engaging in Facebook to escape from worries and problems and altering mood) (Ryan et alb. Social Skills hypothesis The social compensation hypothesis suggests that individuals lacking skills in developing friends are likely to use social media to increase their online social network. The social enhancement hypothesis observes that individuals engage in social media to further increase their social circle (Valkenburg et al., 2005; Valkenburg and Peter (2007). The displacement hypothesis ponders that those users who spend more time on social media will have reduced wellbeing as they devote less time to actual social interaction. The stimulation effect hypothesizes a condition where individuals will have experienced high well-being because of spending more time on social media, increasing the quality of relationships (Valkenburg & Peter, Social enhancement and social compensation hypotheses have helped to understand the varied behaviour of different subtypes of users. The extraverted may use Facebook to expand their social circle neurotic people use Facebook to enhance mood. The lonely and introverted individuals use Facebook to find friends, which they find hard to find in offline settings. Narcissists exploit the Facebook features to gain more attention to satisfy their grandiosity ( Zywica & Danowski, 2008) & (Chen, 2014). Download 124.43 Kb. Share with your friends:
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