Motivation scale for using Social Network Sites: comparative study between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn.
The increasing number of social network sites (SNS) 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 utilization 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. Contrary to previous studies, Facebook use was not related with social interaction or self-enhancement. Like LinkedIn, the use of the platform was rather associated with peer pressure. The results also revealed that new practices - such as social selling - affect the use of SNS: Instagram and Snapchat were driven by instrumental needs. As expected, Twitter use satisfied mainly informational needs. The results are discussed by applying a cross-media perspective to new motives behind SNSs use.