The links that bind: Uncovering novel motivations for linking on Facebook

Given the increasing uptake of the social network site Facebook, mass communication researchers have begun focusing on what drives people to use the site and what kinds of information they interact with. Perhaps because of the relative novelty of Facebook, little research has scratched beneath the surface to explore why people engage in certain functions the site offers. Attention to these engagements and the motivations behind them could help improve current mass communication approaches, especially in critical industries such as news media, where traditional models are struggling to evolve. This study explored user motivations for engaging in link-sharing through Facebook, uncovering motives that extend beyond those of previous research. The findings also consider the influence of those motivations on linking frequency, and link content, introducing motivations that add to current viewpoints of social network sites as information hubs. It also provides new media researchers and practitioners with novel insight into an increasingly important Facebook behavior.     

Students’ and teachers’ use of Facebook

The purpose of this article is to review current published research studies focusing on the use of Facebook by students and teachers. The aim of the review is not to solely discuss Facebook in relation to teaching or learning purposes, or about its educational value per se, but also to present a detailed account of the participants’ Facebook usage profile or the extent to which users are engaged in Facebook activities. The emphasis of this review will be upon empirical findings rather than opinion- or theoretical explanations. Following the review guidelines set by Creswell (Research Design Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 1994), I summarize the hitherto accumulated state of knowledge concerning Facebook and highlight questions or issues that research has left unresolved. This review is organized into three sections that cover the major topics of current research: (a) students’ Facebook usage profile or extent of Facebook use (e.g., time students spend on Facebook each day, students’ motives for using Facebook, as well as various factors that may affect these usage profiles), (b) the effects of Facebook use (e.g., effects of Facebook self-disclosure on teacher credibility, effects of Facebook use on student social presence and discussion, and effects of Facebook on students’ academic performance), and (c) students’ attitudes toward Facebook. The conclusions overall suggest that Facebook thus far has very little educational use, that students use Facebook mainly to keep in touch with known individuals, and that students tend to disclose more personal information about themselves on Facebook; hence attracting potential privacy risks upon themselves.     

Facebook usage,socialization and academic performance

This paper examines the impact of Facebook usage on students' academic performance. In addition, it also analyse whether Socialization influences Facebook usage. Empirical data was collected from 1165 Malaysian university students using a questionnaire survey. It was found that the construct Socially Accepted influences Facebook usage while Acculturation does not have any significant relationship with usage. The results also illustrated that there is a positive relationship between students' Academic Performance and Facebook usage i.e. the higher the usage the better they perceived they perform.     

Motives for Facebook use and expressing “true self” on the Internet

A survey on 143 university students was conducted to examine what motives young adults have for Facebook use, which of those motives were endorsed more than the others, and how those motives were related to the tendency of expressing one’s “true self” through Facebook use. According to the results, primary motive for Facebook use was to maintain long-distance relationships. This motive was followed by game-playing/entertainment, active forms of photo-related activities, organizing social activities, passive observations, establishing new friendships, and initiating and/or terminating romantic relationships. Another interesting result was that individuals’ tendency for expressing one’s true self on the Net had an influence on their Facebook use motives: The ones with high tendency to express their true self on the Internet reported to use Facebook for establishing new friendships and for initiating/terminating romantic relationships more than the individuals’ with low and medium levels of the same tendency did.     

Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring the role of narcissism in the motives and usage of different social media platforms

The amount of research on social networking sites (SNS) and narcissism is accumulating quickly requiring greater levels of variable specification and more fine-tuned hypothesis testing to clearly determine the relationships among key variables. The current investigation examines two of the most popular SNS, Facebook and Twitter, formulating hypotheses around the specific features of each site within college and adult samples. Unlike previous research that has focused almost exclusively on SNS usage, we focused on active usage (i.e., SNS content generation) as opposed to passive usage (i.e., SNS consumption) and included reasons for usage as a potential black box in the narcissism to SNS usage relationship. Results suggest that the features of Twitter make tweeting the preferred means of active usage among narcissists in the college sample, but not the adult sample, who prefer Facebook. In fact, we found no significant direct or indirect relationship with active usage on Facebook for the college sample, calling into question popular press articles linking Millennial narcissism with Facebook use. Additionally platform differences (i.e., microblogging versus profile-based) may explain the importance of active usage on Twitter relative to Facebook. That is, with Twitter, narcissistic motives for usage all manifest through tweeting while Facebook provides other mechanisms to achieve narcissistic motives.     

Psychopathological profiles of adolescent and young adult problematic Facebook users

BackgroundThe dramatic increase in the use of the Facebook in recent years has led to problematic use.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to explore the psychopathological profiles of Facebook users.Participants and methodThe sample consisted of 456 adolescents and young adults aged from 12 to 25 with a Facebook account. They answered to an online self-questionnaire assessing Facebook use, motives for Facebook use, depressive symptoms, social anxiety, sensation seeking, borderline personality traits, parental bonding and attachment, and peer attachment.ResultsA three-cluster solution was identified among Facebook users. The first cluster, called “borderline” was well above the mean on borderline traits, depressive symptoms, social anxiety and sensation seeking. Another cluster, labeled “sensation seeking” was distinguished by high levels of sensation seeking and low levels of other psychopathological variables. The third cluster, called “low traits” was well below the mean on all psychopathological symptoms.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first study that examined associations between problematic Facebook use, motives, attachment and psychopathological symptoms among a sample of adolescents and young adults, using a person-centered approach. This social network could become an indicator of psychopathological features among adolescents and young adults.     

Facebook as a toolkit: A uses and gratification approach to unbundling feature use

Research on social network sites (SNSs) typically employ measures that treat SNS use as homogenous although the user-base, user practices, and feature sets of these tools are increasingly diverse. Using a uses and gratifications approach, we address this problem by reconceptualizing SNSs as collections of features. Survey data collected from undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university (n = 267) revealed that users’ motivations for using Facebook predict their use of different features, such as status updates and Wall posts, but features that share similar capabilities do not necessarily share underlying motivations for use. When these results are contrasted against models employing a more unidimensional measure of Facebook use, we find differences between motivations for both general Facebook use and use of specific features of the site. This suggests that unidimensional measures of SNS use obfuscate motivations for using specific features. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings and this approach are discussed.     

Exploring students’ purposes of usage and educational usage of Facebook

In order to better understand why students use Facebook and how Facebook can be used for educational activities students’ attitudes and perceptions towards purposes of Facebook usage and Facebook educational usage were investigated in this study. Also, theoretical models of the purposes of Facebook usage and Facebook educational usage proposed in literature were examined using the sample of 226 students from University of Belgrade, Technical faculty in Bor. Previous studies have pointed out that there are three underlying dimensions of purposes of Facebook usage that can be indicated as social relations, work related activities and daily activities. Facebook educational usage also includes three underlying dimensions defined as communication, collaboration and resource/material sharing. These hypothesized three-factor models of purposes of Facebook usage and Facebook educational usage were tested on the present sample data using confirmatory factor analysis. The results confirmed hypothesized latent structures and theoretical validity of both investigated factor models. Further analysis revealed that, according to students, collaboration through academic groups (communities) represents the most important value of Facebook implementation in academic activities.     

Schizotypal personality traits and problematic use of massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs)

A link between maladaptive personality traits and an excessive use of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has been documented. However, the role of schizotypal personality traits in MMORPG use is understudied. The aim of this study was to explore the potential links between schizotypal traits, motivations for playing MMORPGs, and symptoms of problematic MMORPG use. Eighty-three MMORPG gamers were enrolled in the study. They filled out questionnaires measuring schizotypal personality traits and an adapted version of the same scale designed to measure in-game schizotypal traits. All participants also filled out questionnaires assessing motivations for gaming and disordered use of MMORPGs. Results of the study showed that the disorganized and interpersonal traits of schizotypy decreased when participants were thinking about themselves in the virtual world. Schizotypal traits, together with achievement and immersion motives, predicted problematic use of MMORPGs. The findings of this study may suggest that schizotypal traits and motivations for playing can interact and play a pivotal role in the onset and maintenance of problematic gaming.     

Students' perceptions of Facebook for academic purposes

Facebook is the most popular Social Network Site (SNS) among college students. Despite the popularity and extensive use of Facebook by students, its use has not made significant inroads into classroom usage.In this study, we seek to examine why this is the case and whether it would be worthwhile for faculty to invest the time to integrate Facebook into their teaching. To this end, we decided to undertake a study with a sample of 214 undergraduate students at the University of Huelva (Spain). We applied the structural equation model specifically designed by Mazman and Usluel (2010) to identify the factors that may motivate these students to adopt and use social network tools, specifically Facebook, for educational purposes.According to our results, Social Influence is the most important factor in predicting the adoption of Facebook; students are influenced to adopt it to establish or maintain contact with other people with whom they share interests. Regarding the purposes of Facebook usage, Social Relations is perceived as the most important factor among all of the purposes collected. Our findings also revealed that the educational use of Facebook is explained directly by its purposes of usage and indirectly by its adoption.     

Examining the relationship to gender and personality on the purpose of Facebook usage of Turkish university students

This study examined whether the purposes of Facebook usage is associated with gender and big five personalities in a sample of Turkish university students. Seven hundred and fifty one students filled in a set of questionnaires. While males use Facebook to express themselves, meet new people, and store and organize things more, females use Facebook for educational purposes. Agreeable and conscientious people use Facebook to maintain existing relationship more. It was concluded that gender and agreeableness, which is one of the personality types, are significant variables on the purposes of Facebook usage.     

What drives you to check in on Facebook? Motivations,privacy concerns,and mobile phone involvement for location-based information sharing

Given the popularity of checking in at a location via mobile phone, little research has examined the germane motivations tied to location check-in as a form of in-group electronic word-of-mouth and its relation to the concern of privacy. A survey with 255 college students found that the students' privacy concerns – both online and Facebook specific – did not show any relationship with the motivations of location check-in as a means of information sharing. However, the relationship varied among the non-users of location check-in on Facebook. Involvement with mobile phone showed mixed relationships with check-in motivations – commitment to Facebook, self-development and reputation, and promotional viral communication. Findings not only confirm that young Facebook users are relatively free from the concern of privacy during their location-based information sharing, but also suggest different motivational mechanisms to operate for Facebook users’ viral communication depending on the habitualness of their mobile phone use. Implications are discussed for interpersonal marketing strategies on social networking sites.     

Self-disclosure and student satisfaction with Facebook

The purpose of the current study was to extend existing research examining the specific motives for creating and maintaining Facebook, and to connect these motives to users’ levels of self-disclosure and satisfaction with Facebook. Undergraduate students identified their reasons for using Facebook, privacy and self-disclosure settings, and satisfaction with Facebook’s ability to meet these motivational needs. Results indicated that the most common motives for using Facebook were relationship maintenance, passing time, and entertainment, although gender differences in motives for creating a Facebook page were observed. Males and females also differed in the overall level of self-disclosure as well as the type of information presented on their Facebook pages. Levels of self-disclosure, but not privacy levels, were associated with greater levels of satisfaction with Facebook to meet certain motivational goals.     

Can we get from liking to buying? Behavioral differences in hedonic and utilitarian Facebook usage

Companies’ Facebook pages have emerged as a commonly used marketing channel and their importance as a sales channel is likely to increase. Details about consumers’ underlying motivations to use these pages need to be linked to their effect on the host company’s business. This study distinguishes between consumers’ hedonic and utilitarian motivations for using company-hosted Facebook pages and relates them to two types of community usage behavior: browsing and participation. The effects on variables closely linked to business performance are examined. Analysis of data collected from 1162 members of a travel agency’s Facebook page reveals that hedonic motivations indicate a higher propensity to participate in the community whereas utilitarian motivations relate more strongly to merely browsing the community page. The participating members, however, do not show intentions to buy from the host company or refer it to others, while the browsers do. For practitioners, the finding that hedonic community participants are needed to maintain the community, but that they are unlikely to profit the company, is crucial.     

Exploring Privacy Management on Facebook: Motivations and Perceived Consequences of Voluntary Disclosure

This study examined the perceived motivations and consequences of voluntary disclosure of Facebook active users using a survey administered to college students in a public‐speaking course. College‐age students who took the survey were motivated to use Facebook because they perceived their relationships improved with friends and family, although using Facebook could become negatively habit forming. The research suggests that users of Facebook use it more for disclosing to distant friends rather than to close friends, which is divergent from most early disclosure research that equates disclosure with intimacy. This research utilizes Communication Privacy Management Theory for the theoretical framework.     

Does being on Facebook make me (feel) accepted in the classroom? The relationships between early adolescents' Facebook usage,classroom peer acceptance and self-concept

The present study aimed to explore the relationships between classroom peer relations, self-concept, and the use of social networking sites in early adolescents. The differences between Facebook users and non-users in their (teacher-assessed and sociometric) classroom peer acceptance and the peer relations, academic and global self-concept were investigated. In addition, the incremental predictive power of students' Facebook usage indicators for their peer relations self-concept beyond their actual classroom acceptance was tested, as well as the moderating role of early adolescents' gender classroom peer acceptance in the relation between Facebook usage and peer relations self-concept. 404 early adolescents (47.3% males; 82.9% Facebook users) participated in the study. No differences were found between users and non-users in their social preference, teacher-assessed peer acceptance, and academic and general self-concept. However, Facebook users reported significantly higher peer relations self-concept. No significant differences were found between Facebook users classified in different sociometric groups. Measures of Facebook usage explained incremental variance in peer-relation self-concept beyond classroom peer acceptance measures. In addition, a significant interaction effect between emotional connectedness to Facebook and gender was found; being highly emotionally connected to Facebook was beneficial only for girls’ peer relations self-concept. These results shed light on commonalities and differences in Facebook and classroom connectedness.     

The influence of personality on Facebook usage, wall postings, and regret

The Five Factor Model of personality has been used extensively in the management and psychology fields to predict attitudes and behaviors. Only recently have researchers begun to examine the role of psychological factors in influencing an individual’s use of technology platforms, such as Facebook. This study uses both a survey of Facebook users and actual Facebook data to uncover why some individuals are more involved in Facebook than others. 219 undergraduate students participated in a survey that assessed their personality and their reported usage of Facebook. Of these, 143 voluntarily befriended the investigator, which gave her access to their actual Facebook sites and objective data on their number of friends, photos, and wall postings. Results showed personality to explain significant amounts of variance over and above gender and Facebook experience in terms of actual number of Facebook friends, the nature of their wall postings and on their level of regret for inappropriate Facebook content.     

The strategic usage of Facebook by local governments: A structural topic modelling analysis

We examine the content of the official Facebook pages of 502 Italian municipalities over the period 2016–2018 to empirically infer the motivations of municipalities to use Facebook. Our inference is mostly based on the relationship between the main topics discussed by the municipalities on Facebook and the most related municipal expenses per capita, which are reported by function in municipal financial statements.Using a structural topic modelling analysis consisting of an unsupervised machine learning procedure, we find that Italian municipalities mostly post on five semantically different topics on their Facebook pages. More importantly, each topic's prevalence is positively associated with the most related municipal expenses per capita by function. Furthermore, additional covariates significantly influence each topic's prevalence. Within the framework of legitimacy theory, these results indicate the strategic usage of Facebook by Italian municipalities for self-promotion and political marketing aimed at enhancing their political legitimacy and consensus among citizens.Our findings contribute to the literature on voluntary e-disclosures of local governments and on interactions between local governments and their citizens through social media. Therefore, these findings may have practical implications for public regulators, managers, and other users of social media.     

Senior citizens on Facebook: How do they interact and why?

This study investigated why senior citizens use Facebook and how they participate in specific activities on Facebook in order to gratify their needs. An online survey of 352 senior citizens over 60 years old revealed four primary motivations for using Facebook: social bonding, social bridging, curiosity, and responding to family member requests. The analysis of the relationship between senior citizens' motivations and their participation in activities on Facebook indicates that social bonding is a major motivation for participating in most activities on Facebook. In addition, data reveal that using message-based interactivity features on Facebook (i.e., posting on other people's wall and Facebook chatting with others) leads to greater Facebook use. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of senior citizens' Facebook use as an emerging communication tool.     

The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites

This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one's ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.