Social media users and their media motivation

By Christina Barron

When I try to picture someone who uses social media networks I sometimes get a blurred vision of a nerdy teenage boy constantly in front of his computer screen uploading and downloading content like a mad scientist. Who exactly are social network users and is there really a category that they can be placed? And is social media use really that detrimental to society as most argue it is? My answers from multiple interviews showed me that social network members span through a wide variety of traits and that online activity can actually promote involvement in the real world.

After looking over all of my interviews and trying to talk to users in the broadest spectrum that I can, I think that social media sites are used more or less through generational patterns. I also noticed that people that are involved in more activities during their day to day life use social media networks more extensively and to their greatest potential then someone who only has one job or is unemployed. Social media sites give people a chance to network socially and promote themselves or the groups they are a part of. So, in a sense, social networks actually push people to be more social in reality as well as provide a space for individuals to stay active by checking and updating their multiple profiles.

Concerning the demographic use of social network sites, the women that I talked to were more prone to use the sites for personal reasons only. They were concerned with talking to their friends and family rather than gaining any personal advantage from the sites. Younger girls had more of a recreational use of social media sites such as Tweeting with their favorite celebrities or chatting with their friends on Facebook. Older women kept their social network site use to a minimum and only checking their profiles for updates on close family and relatives. I think part of that use eases the thought of getting older and becoming less connected to the people they have known for so long. Social media sites can keep them current on events in other people’s lives that they might otherwise miss out on.

Men that I had a chance to interview were much keener on using social network sites to promote themselves or events that they were involved in. They also seemed to have a larger amount of knowledge on each site and its tools available to them. Another thing that differed from male to female use is that males had many more profiles on many different sites. The personal use of sites shifted to more professional benefits and became an integrated activity in their daily activities. The more driven that the person seemed to be, the more likely they were to produce, share, and read content available to them.

One interview that I thought was most interesting was with a man I see at Starbucks during my afternoon runs between classes. I decided to use him as a subject for the report and it drew me into the extreme of social network use. He is 34 years-old, unmarried and unemployed. He is more or less addicted to gaming and appropriately called himself a “Gamer”. Not only is he constantly connected to his headset online but he is part of multiple online teams that collect money in gaming competitions for winning challenges. He plays because the games “pay the bills that kills, for the skills that thrills.” When asked about outside activities he told me that games are all he knows after being laid off and estranged from people close to him. I wondered if the videos I watched in class were right…Do social networks make us more social or just help with the feeling that we’re all alone together?

Although my research and interviews answered many questions, it raised more questions that go unanswered. However, even after just this small project I do think that social networks generally promote being active in the community or the area that the user lives in. A reflection of what people do in reality is seen in the activity they partake in on social media networks. There is no norm to who uses social network sites and I think the spectrum makes for a more interesting experience. The more responsive that we become to the devices available to us, the easier the transition will be for the coming generations.