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How American Students Perceive Social Networking Sites: An Application of Uses and Gratifications Theory

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Social Networking and Education

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Social Networks ((LNSN))

Abstract

A survey of 467 U.S. college students provided insight into the positive and negative gratifications of using social networking sites. Results corroborate and move forward extant research on how participants use social networking to share information, build community, and engage with people and news that they might not otherwise access. Participants also acknowledged the negatives of social networking, particularly for college students, including a lack of focus on work and concerns for privacy and the decrease in face-to-face interaction as it is replaced with putting forward the “great, exciting lives” they feel they need to keep up with others online. This brings forth the idea of social surveillance, a distorted reality stemming from comparison of the self with others, and the need to compete in order to build the community they desire through social networking sites.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA

    Rowena L. Briones

  2. University of Memphis, Memphis, USA

    Melissa Janoske

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  1. Rowena L. Briones
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  2. Melissa Janoske
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Correspondence to Rowena L. Briones .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Tomayess Issa

  2. Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Isaias

  3. Dept. of Media, Communication & Org., University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Piet Kommers

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Briones, R.L., Janoske, M. (2016). How American Students Perceive Social Networking Sites: An Application of Uses and Gratifications Theory. In: Issa, T., Isaias, P., Kommers, P. (eds) Social Networking and Education. Lecture Notes in Social Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17715-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17716-8

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