Research Questions

The authors Anabel Quan-Haase and Alyson Leigh Young in the article “Uses and Gratifications of Social Media: A Comparison of Facebook and Instant Messaging” published in “Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society” in 2010 explores the pattern of the usage of the various social media applications and instant messaging services (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The authors at the same time also try to find out the main factors that motivate or influence or the individuals to use multiple platforms for the process of interaction with the other individuals (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). In addition to this, it is generally seen that the present day users take the help of the diverse kinds of media tools since they serve diverse kinds of purposes and it is generally that contrary to the general perception of the people that with the usage of a new media tool the older ones will be given up by the users it rarely happens (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). However, in the majority of the cases it is seen that the newer forms of media tools gets integrated with the already existing ones and gradually it is seen that the actual purpose for the usage of these tools gets segregated and each of these media tools are being used for specific purposes only (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). A pertinent example of this particular fact is being given by the authors in the article when they compare the media tools of Facebook and Instant Messaging. 

The authors on the basis of the results of the past studies begin with the hypothesis or the rationale that the various media tools which the individuals usually take the help of generally serves more than one purpose and in most cases is related to the aspect of gratification of the users as well (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). It is significant to note that the results of the data collected by the authors through the help of surveys and interviews also hint towards the same (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). Therefore, it can be said that the hypothesis with which the authors begin the article is indeed a valid one.

There are various questions that the authors try to explore in the article under discussion here. For example, the primary question that the authors try to explore tries to explore in this particular article is about the factors that motivate the undergraduate students to take the help of the various media tools like Facebook and others (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). In addition to this, the authors at the same time try to explore the kind of gratifications that the undergraduate students get through the use of the diverse media tools like Facebook and others (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). Furthermore, they also try to explore the relation between the gratifications that the undergraduate students derive from Facebook and also the use of the same tool for interaction purposes (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). Finally, the authors also try to find out the difference between the gratifications that the undergraduate students derive from the use of Facebook and the media tools like Instant Messaging (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). It is significant to note that according to an estimate more than half the population of the entire world are actively taking the help of the kinds of media tools not only for the process of interaction with not only their friends and family members but at the same time with people from the other parts of the world as well. Thus, in this particular context it becomes important to analyze the factors that motivate the people from the different parts of the world to take the help of the various media tools. Therefore, it can be said that the research questions that the authors are trying to explore is of universal importance.

Factors Motivating Use of Social Media Tools

According to the official website of Facebook there are more than 10 billion active Facebook users worldwide from the different nations of the world which accounts for more than half of the population of the entire world itself (Gan and Wang 2015). In addition to this, the purposes for which the different people use the media tool of Facebook and others generally vary from person to person (Chen 2015). For example, there are various people who take the help of the social media tool under discussion here just for the purpose of interacting with family members as well as friends (Chen 2015). Furthermore, another social trend which is being seen in the present times is the fact that people from one particular country generally like to make friends from the other nations of the world and also to stay connected with them through the use of this particular tool (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The best aspect about the usage of this particular tool is the fact this particular media tool is not very easy to access but at the same time very cost effective as well (Stavros et al. 2014). In other words, it can be said that just like the concept of globalization has transformed the entire world into a by-lane where organizations can easily conduct their business with the others irrespective of their nationality and the nature of their business the emergence of the social media tools has also in the likewise manner helped in a significant manner to unite the different people of the world in a significant manner (Stavros et al. 2014). Furthermore, in the specific context of the business world as the use of these media tools has gained a significant amount of prominence. In addition to this, it is also seen there are diverse kinds of motivational as well as gratification factors which entice the undergraduate students to take the help of these social media tools.

 The authors Quan-Haase and Young (2010) who conducted an analysis of the factors that motivate the undergraduate to take the help of Facebook and Instant Messaging found that although the students use diverse kinds of media tools to stay connected with the different people there are various reasons or gratification factors for which they use them. For example, the authors found out that the majority of the students took the help of the media tool of Facebook just to know about the things that were going on in the lives of their friends and family members by going through the posts or the status updates that they provided over there (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). This at the same time helped them to not only enhance their social circle but at the same time provided them the opportunity to stay connected as well as make new friends from the different parts of the world (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The tool of Instant Messaging, on the other hand, was mainly used by the students to stay connected with their friends as well as family since it not only provided an easy but at the same time a much more simpler process with text them and also to stay connected with them (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). One would normally think that one of the students had came across a new and better media tool the undergraduate students would give up the older ones that have been using (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). However, the study found out that instead of giving up the older media tools the new media tool got integrated into the ones that were already been used by the students earlier (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). Furthermore, at the same time it was also seen by the authors after the process of integration the purpose or the objective for which they were being used by the undergraduate students also gets segregated as the findings of the article suggests (Quan-Haase and Young 2010).

Integration of Media Tools

The points made by the authors as well as the conclusions arrived at by the authors also finds support from the various contemporary literature on the same issue. For example, the individual researches conducted by the other authors in the different parts of the world also hints to the same kind of conclusions that have been arrived at the authors in the article under discussion here (Bazarova and Choi 2014). A common factor among all these diverse researches conducted by the authors conducted in the diverse parts is the fact that they tend to take the help of the concept of gratification and the theories related to it so that they can explain the usage of the social media tools and also for the purpose that they take the help of these tools in their daily lives (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015). In addition to this, almost all of them concur on the point of the integration of the new media tools into the older ones that the undergraduate students have already been taking the help. However, it is significant to note that the different researches points towards different motivations or gratification factors for the extensive use of these diverse kinds of media tools in their daily lives (Oh and Syn 2015). Therefore, it would be apt to say that the questions that the authors under discussion here are trying to explore in this particular article are not only of universal nature but at the same time the conclusions derived by them to a larger extent explains the primary motivational and gratification factors. 

The authors in the article under discussion here Anabel Quan-Haase and Alyson Leigh Young take the help of mixed method of data collection  for the purpose of collecting the data that were needed for the composition of the article (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). A mixed method of data collection is the one which takes the help of qualitative as well as quantitative approaches for the collected of the necessary and relevant data or information that are needed for the effective conduct of the research (Bryman 2017). Thus, it is seen that for the composition of the article under discussion here takes the help of the mixed method of methodology for the collection of the data which were needed for the creation of the article. For example, the authors for the collection of the necessary data that would be needed for the purpose of the research took the help of surveys which were collected comprised of 77 participants and they at the same time also interviewed around 21 undergraduate students to help them to understand in a much better manner the motivational and the gratification factors that influence them to take the help of the different types of media tools and more appropriately, Facebook and Instant Messaging (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). It is significant to note that there are various kinds of advantages that the mixed method of data collection provides to the concerned individuals. For example, it is generally seen that through the surveys often only subjective information is obtained and the responses require the participants to answer in mostly “yes or no” and thus sometimes important information that might have helped in the process of research is not obtained (Bryman 2017). This particular problem can be obliterated by the use of the process of interviews. The use of the system of interviews helps the researchers to not only know the perspectives of the concerned individuals in the best possible manner but at the same time helps them to get  the required kind of data in the most effective manner (Brannen 2017). Thus, it can be said that through the use of both of these methods the authors were able to collect the data that were needed for the process of the research in the best possible manner.

Mixed Method Data Collection

There are various ethical considerations that the researchers are needed to take into effective consideration not only during the collection of the data that are needed for the process of the research but at the same time during the entire research as well  (Guesalaga 2016). One of the most important ethical considerations that the authors took into effective consideration for regarding the safety of the information shared by the participants in the process of data collection (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The Data Protection Act of 1998 makes it mandatory for the researchers to protect the data of the participants and also to use not only not reveal the identity of the participants anywhere in the research report but at the same time not to use them for any unethical purposes (Brannen 2017). This particular aspect was taken into effective consideration by the authors.

The findings of the authors clearly indicates that the gratification or the motivational factor which entices the students to take the help of Facebook is find out about the things that are going on in the lives of the other people from the different parts of the world (Quan-Haase and Young 2010). The students, on the other hand, take the help of the media tool of Instant Messaging for the purpose of interacting with the other people in the best possible manner (Quan-Haase and Young 2010).

References

Bazarova, N.N. and Choi, Y.H., 2014. Self-disclosure in social media: Extending the functional approach to disclosure motivations and characteristics on social network sites. Journal of Communication, 64(4), pp.635-657.

Brannen, J., 2017. Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches: an overview. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 3-37). Routledge.

Bryman, A., 2017. Quantitative and qualitative research: further reflections on their integration. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 57-78). Routledge.

Chen, G.M., 2015. Why do women bloggers use social media? Recreation and information motivations outweigh engagement motivations. New Media & Society, 17(1), pp.24-40.

Gan, C. and Wang, W., 2015. Uses and gratifications of social media: a comparison of microblog and WeChat. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 17(4), pp.351-363.

Guesalaga, R., 2016. The use of social media in sales: Individual and organizational antecedents, and the role of customer engagement in social media. Industrial Marketing Management, 54, pp.71-79.

Ngai, E.W., Tao, S.S. and Moon, K.K., 2015. Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), pp.33-44.

Oh, S. and Syn, S.Y., 2015. Motivations for sharing information and social support in social media: A comparative analysis of F acebook, T witter, D elicious, Y ou T ube, and F lickr. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(10), pp.2045-2060.

Quan-Haase, A. and Young, A.L., 2010. Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of Facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30(5), pp.350-361.

Stavros, C., Meng, M.D., Westberg, K. and Farrelly, F., 2014. Understanding fan motivation for interacting on social media. Sport management review, 17(4), pp.455-469.