why people use social networking sites
TRANSCRIPT
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Why people use social networking sites
HCI’09 USA, San Diego
Petter Bae Brandtzæg, SINTEF and UiOJan Heim, SINTEF
RECORD(Telenor, NRK, VIF, Opinion, AHO and SINTEF)
CITIZEN MEDIA Social change, EC IST FP6
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Background
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Trend - Fast growing Social networking sites
Facebook: 200 000 million active users.
More than 100 million users log on at least once each day
Average user has 120 friends on the site
More than 900 million photos uploaded to the site each month
Source http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
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Limited understanding boyd and Ellison (2007), pinpoint the limited understanding of
who uses SNSs and their purposes for doing so, especially outside the U.S.
Source: boyd, d., Ellison, N.E.: Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2007)
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Social networking sites - popular in Norway Norway: 66 % of the internet
population (15-75 years) use social networking sites (Brandtzæg, 2009)
US: 35% according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Adults-and-Social-Network-Websites.aspx
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But..what is an social networking site?
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SNSs is defined according to boyd and Ellison (2007) as a
“web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3)
view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system”
boyd, d., Ellison, N.E.: Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2007)
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SNSs is also an ”all-in-one-place-solution”
Shopping
News
Mobile Photoalbum
Chat/IM
Blogging
Gaming
VideoTV
SNS
SNSs typical examples of media convergence and ”mashup-solutions” that try to connect all media and services in to one single solution.Brandtzæg, P. B., & Heim, J. (2008). User loyalty and online communities: why members of online communities are not faithful. In Proceedings of the 2nd international Conference on intelligent Technologies For interactive Entertainment (Cancun, Mexico, January 08 - 10, 2008). ICST. Brussels, Belgium, 1-10. ACM digital library
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Different types of Social networking sites
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Trends in Social networking sites
Entertainment
Young people12-17
People
Text based communities
Purpose
Technology
AnonymousPolicies/norms
Older people
Real identity
Education, workbusiness,
politics
Trender
3D, mobile,rich media.
Examples
Brandtzæg, P. B., & Heim, J. (2008). User loyalty and online communities: why members of online communities are not faithful. In Proceedings of the 2nd international Conference on intelligent Technologies For interactive Entertainment, Cancun
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Social networking sites - challengesUser motivation:
ParticipationUser Loyalty
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12In the US, MySpace, lost more than 1 million unique users to fall to 63.2 million in 2008
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Reasons to stop using a SNS or using it less than before in %
Brandtzæg, P. B., & Heim, J. (2008). User loyalty and online communities: why members of online communities are not faithful. In Proceedings of the 2nd international Conference on intelligent Technologies For interactive Entertainment (Cancun, Mexico, January 08 - 10, 2008). ICST. Brussels, Belgium, 1-10. ACM digital library
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The Study
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Why people use social networking sites
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Open question to 1200 SNS users (March, 2007)
“What is your most important reason for using social networking sites?”
Mean 16 years
Mean 22 years
Mean 17 years
Mean 29 years
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So…is everything about connections?
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Or… is SNSs used for personal branding and narcissism?
Generation Xtrovert "This generation wants to be known, they want to be
famous," Chris DeWolfe, founder of MySpace.com (Vanity Fair 2006)
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Overview over the user motivations in SNSs in % , number of counts = 1518 (N 1200)
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Pew Internet (2008) findings differ Online social network applications are mainly used for explaining
and maintaining personal networks, and most adults, like teens, are using them to connect with people they already know.
89% use their online profiles to keep up with friends 57% use their profile to make plans with friends 49% use them to make new friends
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(1) New relations (31%): These users reporting the motivation of seeking new relations and the
opportunity to meet new people
Easy and cheap opportunities for contact with new people are seen as the main incentive
Aware of the danger of “risky contacts,” but more convenient and more exciting to meet new people online
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New relations
Flirting Common interests
Moving to a new district Lonely
Living in rural area
seeking likeminded
“I meet funnier people online than in my home district” (Boy, 18 years old)
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(2) Friends (21%): Users reporting contact with both close friends and acquaintances
Efficient tool to keep in contact with several friends at the same time
From “one-to-one” to “one-to-many”
Several “friend” motivations
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Friends
Friends on the move
Old school friends
Friend contact
on a new level
Not seen often friends
Long distance,
rural friends
“It is difficult to keep in touch with friends when you live in a small rural area and are ‘shielded from the world.” (Female 16 years old).
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(3) Socializing (14%): sharing of experiences, reporting activities, small-talk and commenting in
each others’ guest books, social support
verbal ping-pong, chit-chat, feeling of being a part of something, of a
community.
I have contact with friends, write in friends’. guest books, comment on peoples’ pictures, send SMS, and submit pictures of myself and things.”
(14 years old, female).
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(4) Information (10%): Fashion, music, literature, cultural events, current happenings in their neighborhood and
people’s opinions related to everything from politics and to more tedious matters
“I get informed about events, publications, and net experiences; at the same time I am making bonds and having discussions with other people. (Male 42 years)
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(5) Debating (6.5%): Users highlighting debate and discussions inside the SNS. This category might
be difficult to separate from “information”
The opportunity to discuss with people their contradictory viewpoints on matters, as described in the following quote:
“It’s the differences between the people that make the discussions, and that’s what I like” (Male, 23 years old).
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Conclusion
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Many different people - many motivational reasons for using SNSs
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11 different reasons and several sub-reasons, all give insight into the personal incentives that drive people to use SNSs
Not personal branding, rather social connections - The social factors most important
Surprisingly “seeking new relations” was a key factor:
Shy people - easier connect online; Searching for new friends - with
common interests; Rural areas - seeking new friendships
with likeminded people; Lonely - searching for new friendships
online
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Fun, profile surfing, time killing
Information, debating
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Social, love, belonging
SNS user's hierarchy of needs
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Future studies How does different motivational reasons relates to:
Gender, age and different social networking sites Long term, cross-cultural patterns
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Thank you
Questions?
This study was supported by the Norwegian research council and EC, IST FP6
More information at: www.sintef.no/recordwww.ist.citizenmedia.org