Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr 11;63(1):30-43.
doi: 10.5334/pb.1161. eCollection 2023.

Motivation Scale for Using Social Network Sites: Comparative Study between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn

Alexandra Masciantonio  1   2 , David Bourguignon  1
Affiliations

Motivation Scale for Using Social Network Sites: Comparative Study between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn

Alexandra Masciantonio et al. Psychol Belg. .

Abstract

The increasing number of Social Network Sites (SNSs) and their changing nature raise the question of why people use them. This research has a twofold objective: first, to develop a motivation scale for using SNSs; second, to compare the motivational SNSs profile of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn. Two studies on 364 university students, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, established six motivations: entertainment, social interaction, seeking information, instrumental use, self-documentation and self-enhancement. Regressions then examined the association between motivations for using SNSs, social influence measures (descriptive and injunctive norms), and frequency of use of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. The results showed that social norms complement the motivations to use SNSs. Twitter use was associated with an information-seeking SNSs motivational profile. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram were associated with self-documentation on SNSs. Snapchat was rather associated with instrumental motivations on SNSs. However, while all SNSs were associated with descriptive norms, only Facebook and LinkedIn were associated with injunctive norms (i.e., peer pressure). The results are discussed by applying a cross-media perspective to new motives behind SNSs use.

Keywords: Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn.; Snapchat; Twitter; motivation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

References

    1. Alhabash, S., & Ma, M. (2017). A tale of four platforms: Motivations and uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat among college students? Social Media+ Society, 3(1), 1–13. DOI: 10.1177/2056305117691544 - DOI
    1. Alhabash, S., & McAlister, A. R. (2015). Redefining virality in less broad strokes: Predicting viral behavioral intentions from motivations and uses of Facebook and Twitter. New Media & Society, 17(8), 1317–1339. DOI: 10.1177/1461444814523726 - DOI
    1. Al-Menayes, J. J. (2015). Motivations for using social media: An exploratory factor analysis. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 7(1), 43–49. DOI: 10.5539/ijps.v7n1p43 - DOI
    1. Amichai-Hamburger, Y., & Vinitzky, G. (2010). Social network use and personality. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1289–1295. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.018 - DOI
    1. Apaolaza, V., Hartmann, P., Medina, E., Barrutia, J. M., & Echebarria, C. (2013). The relationship between socializing on the Spanish online networking site Tuenti and teenagers’ subjective wellbeing: The roles of self-esteem and loneliness. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1282–1289. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.002 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources