Recent year have shown a worldwide growth pattern in social interaction in digital media more knows as social media. Today more than hundreds of millions internet user all over the world visited thousand of social media sites. Social media come out parallel with various technological affordances, supporting with a wide range of interests and practices. While, their key technological features are fairly consistent and the cultures that emerge around social media sites are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on reasons, shared interests, political views, or activities.
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Universal McCann (2009) conducted an extensive study on social media usage among 232000 active internet users in 38 countries during spring 2009. This study showed that social consumption of digital content is either highly penetrated among active internet users or still growing rapidly. Besides that, through this study also find out that consumers continue to flock to digital destinations in order to create and share content, but they are now becoming more selective in terms of where they are doing it included the tools of social media are starting to coalesce on to a single platform type, namely the social network.
According to Universal McCann (2009), 17 percent of active internet users globally now access the internet on the move, in others words internet and social media use are becoming more mobile. Social media platforms also are becoming more multi-media and the number of bloggers and social network users who have uploaded photos, videos, music and widgets has continued to rise since the last study conducted in 2007 until 2008. From this information, there is no doubt at all that social media increasingly important and become a culture for people all over the world in this era 21st century.
Background of the study
This study will carry out in Universiti Utara Malaysia because students are not exceptional as the active internet user and they have a higher access to the internet especially in variety types of social media. It is also because many students are teenager and still young. Usually, at this age the student have a higher desire to do something that their feel interesting and something new. Commonly, student will use many type of social media depending on their reasons. Sometimes, they visited social networking sites, collaboration websites, creativity work sharing sites and others type of social media to get any information, to make a discussion, to keep in touch with friend, for media sharing, self presentation and debate, social networks, referencing and recommendation services and many else.
Problem statement
Currently, social media become phenomena to all internet users not only in Malaysia but all over the world. According to the recent report, more than 30% teenager neglecting their school and also family because spend a long time to access social media. We can see that young became addicted to social media. Social media addiction will occur when people visited websites regularly without any motive, goal and became of their habit every day. Social media addicted is more likely to happens to a university student that have a greater access to the computer. So, this research will conduct a study in Universiti Utara Malaysia to identify the social media usage among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and also to determine the factors that motivate them to take part in social media.
1.3 Research question
This research aims to answer the following question:
What are the social media usages among Universiti Utara Malaysia student and what are the factors motivate them to take part in social media?
1.4 Research objective
Research objective has listed below:
To determine social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student.
To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by performance.
To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by passing time.
To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by information seeking.
To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by social connection.
To determine whether social media usage among University Utara Malaysia student is motivate by entertainment.
1.5 Significance of the study
A study on internet user regarding social media was done by previously researchers. However, the author choose to take the graduate as the scope of the study as this group is those who are educated and expose to technologies changes especially in emerging of variety type social media. They believe through social media they can gain many advantages and beneficial information. Hence, this group should be addressed to enhance a better understanding about social media and the factors motivate to take part in social media.
The author chooses Universiti Utara Malaysia to conduct this study because Universiti Utara Malaysia is one of the early higher education’s in Malaysia. Besides that, this study location at northern peninsular of Malaysia because until now, there did not have any study conduct regarding social media in Malaysia.
This study is considered important because to identified the social media usage and to determined the factors that motivate Universiti Utara Malaysia student to take part in social media. This study also was conducted to view growing rapidly all over the world. The previously research about social media should be given a new lease.
1.6 Scope and limitation of the study
The studies on the social media usages and motivation factors to take part in social media only focused only to the graduates. Graduated are here devoted to College of Business student that consist of undergraduate student and also postgraduate’s student. The researcher will make Universiti Utara Malaysia student from College of Business as their population and sample will be randomly selected from the population. The limitation of this study is limited to the Universiti Utara Malaysia student only because of timing problem and also budget problem.
Organization of the research project
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
In this chapter earlier studies connected to the problem area and more specifically to the research questions, will be discussed. First, previous studies related to the definition of social media from previous research, will be presented. Then, literature regarding the research question from first question until the last question about social media usage and motivation factor to take part in social media among Universiti Utara Malaysia student will be brought up in this chapter.
2.1 Social media
From the previous research, we can see there have several definitions of social media given by the previous researcher. The definition that already given by the previous researchers is so variety and there is no clear definition about social media.
According to Universal McCann (2009), social media is a platform for social connection and also an application to user generated content. It is a new kind of online media that can be characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Blog, micro blog, RSS, widget, social networking sites, chat room, message board, video and photo sharing is included in central of social media (Universal McCann, 2009).
According to Universal McCann (2009), social media design is about designing platforms and applications for social interaction and user generated content. Social media is a new kind of online media characterized by user participation, openness, conversation, community, and connectedness (Mayfield, 2006). Central social media platforms include blogging, micro blogging, RSS, widgets, social networking, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, video sharing, and photo sharing (Universal McCann, 2009)
Social media is an application and system that can support content sharing, and create environment for sociable online that included solution for media sharing, presentation and debate, social network, referencing and recommendation and also sources for create knowledge. It also may include technology platform interactive television and also mobile phone (Karahasanovic & Folstad, 2008).
According to Karahasanović & Følstad (2008), social media are systems and applications supporting content sharing and co-creation in sociable online environments. This includes solutions for media sharing (e.g. YouTube, Flickr), self presentation and debate (e.g. MySpace, blogs), social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn), referencing and recommendation services (e.g. Digg, Del.icio.us) and co-created knowledge resources (e.g. Wikipedia). Social media may also include technology platforms such as interactive television and mobile phones (Karahasanović & Følstad, 2008).
According to Kaplan et al (2010), social media is a group of internet based application that can build ideology and technology foundation of Web 2.0 that can allow creations of user generated contents and also exchanges the user generated contents. Web 2.0 can be consider as platform for the evolution of social media because it represent the ideology and technology foundation that have being seeing as the sum of all way in which people make use the social media (Kaplan et al, 2010).
Social Media is a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content. They consider Web 2.0 as the platform for the evolution of Social Media because when Web 2.0 represents the ideological and technological foundation, User Generated Content (UGC) can be seen as the sum of all ways in which people make use of Social Media (Kaplan et al, 2010).
There have three requirements in User Generate Content that included need to be published, certain amount of creative effort need to be show and lastly need to create outside from the practices and routine (Kaplan et al, 2010).
According to Kaplan et al, (2010) User Generated Content needs to fulfil three basic requirements in order to be considered as such first, it needs to be published either on a publicly accessible website or on a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people and second, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort and finally, it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices.
The combination of technological drivers likes increased broadband availability and hardware capacity, economic drivers likes increased availability of tools for the creation of User Generated Content and social drivers likes rise of a generation of ”digital natives” and ”screenagers”: younger age groups with substantial technical knowledge and willingness to engage online will make User Generated Content nowadays fundamentally different from what was observed in the early 1980s. (Kaplan et al, 2010).
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According to Danah & Allison (2007), social media is a web based service that allow user to construct a profile either public or semi public profile that will be bound by the system, all will be listed in the system included list of other user that they are connected with and lastly view and traverse their list that they are connected with and other within the systems. The connection is different between sites to sites.
Social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and lastly view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site (Danah and Ellison, 2007).
2.2 Factors motivate to take part in social media
They are many factors that can motivate user to take part in social media. It is included because of performance, passing time, information seeking, social connection and entertainment that will be elaborate below:
2.2.1 Self expression
From literature we can find several different reasons why customers visit social media sites. Shao (2008), believe that the user contributed to social media because their need to self expression. This statement also supported by Sirgy’s (1982) claim that user looking for the experience that will enhance their self concept.
Shao (2008) suggests that users contribute because they have a need for self-expression and self-actualization, which is supported by Sirgy’s (1982) claim that individuals look for experiences that enhance their self-concept.
According to Shao (2008), self expression refer to user communicated their own identities and also their individualities. It is assume that user wan to communicate themselves to other person, so other person will know about themselves as they know themselves (Shao, 2008).
Self-expression refers to users communicating their own identity and individuality (Shao, 2008). It is assumed that people want to communicate themselves to other people, so that others can know them as they know themselves (Goffman, 1959; McKenna and Bargh 1999; Swann, 1983; Shao, 2008).
2.2.2 Performance
there are various types of Social Media that need to be distinguished further. However, although most people would probably agree that Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and Second Life are all part of this large group, there is no systematic way in which different Social Media applications can be categorized.
To create such a classification scheme, and to do so in a systematic manner, we rely on a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure), the two key elements of Social Media.
Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a first classification can be made based on the richness of the medium and the degree of social presence it allows.
Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a second classification can be made based on the degree of self-disclosure it requires and the type of self-presentation it allows.
Social media encompasses a wide range of online, word-of-mouth forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, moblogs (sites containing digital audio, images, movies, or photographs), and social networking websites, to name a few. As illustrated by Table 1, social media outlets are numerous and varied.
2.2.3 Passing time
2.2.4 Information seeking
According to Shao (2008) argue that the primary use of social media among user is to find information and also to build the knowledge. Users can get technical value from social media through find the specific information that can broadening and increase their knowledge (Shao, 2008).
Shao (2008) suggest that the primary use is looking for information and building knowledge. In social media technical value can be seen as the value that the customer gets from finding specific information or just broadening his knowledge (Shao, 2008).
Desire to increase knowledge among user are motivated user to seeking for the information. User not only wants to get information about others and the world but they also want to provide information about themselves to others and the world.
Shao (2008) argues that information seeking is motivated by users desire to increase knowledge. Users want information about themselves, others and the world (Shao, 2008). Studies show that people are increasingly looking for information on the web, which has lead to sites like wikipedia.org growing rapidly (Shao, 2008).
According to Kaplan (2010), the trend of social media can be seen as evolution to the Internet root since World Wide Web already transform to became a platform that can exchanges information between user.
The current trend toward Social Media can therefore be seen as an evolution back to the Internet’s roots, since it retransforms the World Wide Web to what it was initially created for a platform to facilitate information exchange between users (Kaplan, 2010).
Shao (2008), argue that users can find and get information about product and services but in some cases, user are more trusted the information that they are getting from others user compare to the information that they are getting from the marketers.
Searching for information can also be related to reading about products or services. In most cases, users trust information that they get from other users more than they trust information that is provided by marketers (Shao, 2008).
According Kim et al, (2010) both members and non-members have two types of facilities to find the information they need on social Web sites. The facilities are keyword-based search engines and browsing. The search engines can be used to look for the names of people, names of groups, and particular UCCs. Browsing can be done on selected groups and UCCs in a particular category. Most sites allow keyword-based search of text-based contents. Some search engines are fairly powerful, while others are crude. The users can also browse the results of keyword-based searches, and groups and UCCs that are suggested as related to the group and UCCs the users currently view. All social Web sites provide categories for the UCCs stored, so that users may browse UCCs in a specific category.
2.2.5 Social connection
Social media can also increase user’s social interactions, and decreases loneliness or help users manage their moods (Shao, 2008). These motivations can also be linked to the community aspect of social media, as Tedjamulia et al (2005) suggests that one of the reasons why users choose to contribute is because they feel motivated to do so because of being part of a community.
Social Web sites provide various facilities for members to use to communicate with their online connections, that is, friends and other members. These include email, instant messaging, text messaging, and public and private bulletin boards, and even Internet phone services. Such sites as MySpace and Facebook allow their members to use the messaging and phone call facilities of Internet phone services, such as Skype (Kim et al, 2010).
Further, according to Kim et al, (2010) on behalf of the members, the sites send member updates and notices using emails or text messages to members’ friends. They also send updates and notices to members of groups. The sites also display friends’ updates to members’ public and private boards.
For example, Twitter allows members to send mes- sages to friends on what the members are doing. A message, which is restricted to 140 characters, may be sent to friends’ mobile devices and their Twitter accounts. A member may have one or more ”followers,” and many members may be ”following” a member. Facebook provides a mini bulletin board (called a ”wall”) to post a member’s message for all friends to see and respond to. LinkedIn provides an ”answers” function to allow members to answer questions posted by other members, and to refer the questions to their online connections.
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