Table of Contents
Abstract
A research study on college students was conducted to examine what motives college students have for social media use and why they use different social media platforms. According to the results, the primary motive for social media usage was to remain connected to the users friends and family. This motive was determined by college students needing more than one social media account considering all platforms are designed in a way that creates a unique experience for each user for different purposes which in this case would be to remain in contact with others. Another interesting result was that college students portray themselves differently on each platform which ultimately hides one’s true self on social media which has an influence on their content depending on the platform and what they wanted that audience to see. This study is part of a growing body of research that continues to learn what motivates college students to continue social media use and what gratifications come with everyday usage.
Introduction
Social media was designed to help people in building online presences and networking with others virtually. Specifically, considering there are multiple platforms that serve multiple purposes, social media serves to the gratification of many personal and social needs: This means that social media makes it possible for users to keep in touch with old or current friends, to post or look at photos, to make new friends, to have fun, to share information about oneself, and to learn about social events (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Joinson, 2008; Lampe, Ellison, & Steinfield, 2006; Pennington, 2009). The primary purpose of the present study is to better understand how and why college students use these different platforms mentioned above and what gratifications are present.
Literature Review
Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) is a framework that focuses fully on the consumer or the audience member – rather than the message (Elibu Katz, 2017). There are a few main assumptions of this theoretical framework which are: social media users (college students) are goal-directed in their social media platform selection and actively integrate social media within their everyday lives in order to achieve maximum levels of gratification (Rubin, 1986). The aim of the current study was to examine how different social media platforms influence college students and what gratifications they experience through social media. The study examined college students within the social media community.
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Uses and Gratifications Theory
UGT in a sense is mainly goal oriented meaning that the user uses messages or other factors to achieve their own set of goals. The theory itself is broken up into five assumptions. First, the audience constantly seeks out different forms of media. This applies directly to the research because it shows that users choose not to use just one social media platform. Second, the users themselves are active and goal oriented. This implies that every user has their own set of goals they plan to achieve which can range anywhere from how the user wants to be perceived and what their motives are in the first place. Third, the media platforms that are available are constantly competing amongst each other.
Like I mentioned before, this means that while most of the platforms are similar, they each have to be unique in their own way in order to remain different than the rest of the platforms. Fourth, societal norms shape audience activity. This can be seen heavily in terms of Twitter, the reason for this is because Twitter shows the latest information in the world but the information is so broad and universal that it creates a “funnel type” way of thinking. Finally, the effects of social media and its audience are interrelated. This means that social media has the power of influence over its particular users because certain users choose to be apart of that certain platform. These assumptions come together to give the audience a sense of direction as to why this theory connects directly with social media and its users.
Filling the Gap Between UGT and Social Media
According to the uses and gratifications approach (Joinson, 2008), people are goal oriented in their preferences for communication channels. In other words, college students use multiple social media platforms to fulfill their needs and the reason for using multiple platforms is so that the gratification experience can be chosen fully by the user. When exploring social media uses and gratifications, we must identify why college students are on certain platforms and why it requires identifying gratifications. It is also important to develop a more concrete understanding as to why certain platforms give users a certain sense of comfort meaning that not all platforms are created the same therefore they each have their own individual purpose.
Past researchers who also follow the uses and gratification tradition have noticed that social media is not just one single entity; it consists of multiple platforms and can be broken up into many different categories that aren’t just your typical Facebook or Instagram and each platform has its own different purpose (Lin, 2002). Facebook has many functions within its platform that have made it the most popular social media platform today. For example, Facebook is considered a self-presentation platform that is designed like a personal blog of sorts; it is a tool designed to connect with others through the form of messaging.
If a college student chooses, Facebook can be used for instant gratification when it comes to the satisfaction of different communication needs due to the complete customization of the platform itself. Quan-Haase and Young (2010) have identified six different gratifications which are (passing time, showing affection, following fashion, sharing problems, demonstrating sociability, and improving social knowledge) which are drawn directly from Facebook use. Each gratification is important when fully understanding social media, particularly Facebook, because it highlights the motives that college students have to continue the use of the platform. Passing time is significant in this example because it highlights the reason college students admire social media in the first place because it allows them to constantly be “occupied or doing something.”
Showing affection and following trends also show significant importance because college students constantly want to be involved in the latest trends as well as come off to society as caring and understanding. Lastly, problem solving, social norms and knowledge also play a role in gratification because we as users want to fit into society and social media gives us that immediate platform. While Facebook was the primary example used, it is important to understand that the same concept applies to other platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, ext. Below are different categories broken down in a manner that makes the material more understandable. We will look at certain patterns, experiences, habits, regulations, motivations, and the goal that social media provides its users, this will help contribute to find an answer to our research question.
Gratifications Present
When it comes to gratifications, it is often also seen as rewards and in this case, rewards that college students receive from social media usage. Denis McQuail explored gratifications further and found that there are actually four general type of gratifications. The first gratification is entertainment which is whole heartedly social media in the case of this research which is considered the source. Next is information, this is the set of data that we as users collect from the entertainment provided and this explains how and why users are constantly informed with what is happening in the world. Third has to do with our personal identity, which is the image we paint for the audience who keeps up with our social media accounts.
In this situation we as users are able to create a sense of self through our social media platforms and while it is a reflection of us, it will always highlight the best features rather than the whole self. Lastly, the final type is integration and social interaction which has to do with the sharing of information pertaining to entertainment through the use of social media platforms. The purpose of these four gratifications is to highlight that rewards are present for social media users and these gratifications lead to motivations for continual social media usage. Interesting enough, an author by the name of Philip Palmgreen actually created an extension to this gratification theory based on not only his work but the work of others.
The theory takes Expectancy Value Theory and combines it with Gratification Theory and its extension says that the gratifications you seek from social media are ultimately determined by your attitudes, beliefs, and evaluation of the material found through social media (Philip Palmgreen, 2017). To better explain this connection of the theories, we can use the example of romantic comedy movies, if you believe these movies are entertaining and you like the feeling of entertainment, you will ultimately seek gratification of those needs from romantic comedy movies. This example can also be flipped around, meaning that either way, if there is a source that we have a solid opinion on weather its a good or bad opinion, it ultimately creates a decision for us as users weather or not we will continue the source or drop it.
Purpose for Using Multiple Social Media Platforms
In today’s world, especially among college students, it may be more difficult than it sounds to decrease the number of social media platforms used. This is because college students tend to use different platforms for different reasons (Pantic, 2014), and thus they may be hesitant to give up any one of these. The reason that this is important to understand in terms of this research is so that we can better understand the true purpose and reasoning behind having multiple social media accounts. When it comes to Facebook, while it is one of the oldest social media platforms compared to the other new and upcoming platforms, it is still the biggest and most used platform of them all.
The reason Facebook remains so dominantly used is because it is used by the largest age range of people making Facebook conveniently easy to maintain relationships with family and friends so it makes sense for college students to keep ahold of their Facebook accounts. The purpose of Snapchat for college students might be to send private pictures or messages to whoever they choose with little to no consequence. This means that Snapchat gives its users an experience of privacy without it remaining available after a few seconds of opening a message. College students probably admire this considering there is no other platform like it that allows students to feel safe in terms of the content they send through the platform.
Next is Instagram, which is becoming one of the most used platforms in the world. The purpose of Instagram is simple, it allows the users to upload pictures of their life through the appearance of a grid like system. This platform allows its users to highlight whatever pictures they choose to their audience and allows them to post a description of each photo posted. We can see from the literature above that each platform creates a different experience for the user and while all the platforms have very similar functions, they are each unique in their own way. This creates an issue for users because it creates the opportunity to where they feel the need to be apart of every platform and if they aren’t, they fear they might miss out on what is happening in the world.
Literature Review Summary and Research Question
This study will shed light on how individuals negotiate multiple social media platforms as they continue to evolve, and the following research question was aimed to be answered:
Q: How do college students discuss how and why they use different social media platforms? Research has shown that multiple social media platforms provide people with the ideal opportunity to perceive control over the communication process (Carducci & Zimbardo, 1995). While the research shows great progress in my search for patterns, it still has gaps when it comes to other factors that contribute to these patterns. My goal is to look further into the connection factor of social media and better understand what it is that social media provides people and to better understand why college students use their selected platforms. In the current study, various motives for social media use were organized under certain categories in order to make it easier to make sense of these motives and the users reasoning for using multiple platforms. It is possible to sum up social media use motives as following:
Using social media to showcase someone’s existing life events and routines/routines: e.g. Keeping in contact with friends and family, showing off photos of what is happening throughout the users life, interacting online or participating in group activities. This ultimately creates a convenient space for the user which allows them to conveniently stay connected to the world through a virtual lens.
Using social media to expand a users current hobbies or interests. This means that users are able to use these platforms to expand their hobbies or even potential job opportunities. This works mainly with the platform Instagram since it is well known for food bloggers and influencers to showcase their work and current lifestyle.
Using social media to observe and see what is going on in other people’s life: e.g. reading other’s profiles and looking at their pictures to keep track of what they are currently doing. Social media allows people to make information public which depending on how it is used can be both a good and a bad feature. When platforms allow exposure to a users information about others it may encourage individuals to act negatively or encourage stronger bonds amongst friends. This particular idea might contribute to one of the motives that social media creates for its users, especially with college students.
To tie all the data together, it is important to understand where the research currently stands, where I as the researcher want to direct future research pertaining gratification theory, and explore the motives of college students pertaining to how and why the choose certain platforms. The goal of this paper is to take the present information that has been expanded on in the literature review and try to better understand the gaps that are currently present in my research that I wasn’t able to find within my own understanding.
This data is important for future research and is a topic that will remain important due to the constant growth of social media and the presence that it currently carries and has carried the last few years. While it is hard to fully understand why a user chooses the platforms they do, I was able to explore a deeper understanding of why each platform resinates so heavily with each user. There will never be one solid answer as to why these platforms are chosen and why different users have different preferences but there will be data that will be able to point future researchers in a direction towards an answer. The current study showcases an in depth look into a select amount of college students who use multiple platforms as well as the reasoning for the usage of these platforms and a deeper understanding of what these platforms provide the students on a personal level.
