Social media has become a powerful tool that many claim to use to stay in touch with the world around them. Motivations for using different platforms can vary, and the Uses and Gratifications Theory focuses on media use and what motivates different kinds of media use. According to this theory, audience members are active and goal-directed wherein various motivations lead them to choose a piece of media to consume, and these motivations act as variables in the media effects process. I am an avid Twitter user, so I would like to focus on what motivates most people to use Twitter.
Twitter originated as the short messaging service “Twttr” in 2006 where groups of people could share updates with each other by texting a common number. The service eventually evolved into the microblogging platform that it is today and is currently “…one of the world’s leading social networking platforms”. A recent study revealed that the average user does not post often and found that “the top 10% of users who are most active in terms of tweeting are responsible for 80% of all tweets created by U.S users”. These top tweeters also differ from the average user in that they are more likely to regularly tweet about politics. In a different survey, it was also noted that “…Twitter users are also noticeably more likely than others to say that it is easier to keep up with the news today”. Combining this data and observations, it may be safe to say that a leading motivation as to why many people use Twitter is to keep up to date with current news and events, or surveillance. Krcmar states in their article that “…higher levels of instrumental motives have been positively related to greater news affinity and greater involvement…” (Krcmar, Marina. Uses and Gratifications: Basic Concepts, pg.2001). To apply this to Twitter, the instrumental motive is to seek information about current news. It is important to note the use of Twitter by demographics, however, as Twitter users on average are younger (40) than the typical U.S adult (47) and are more likely to have a college degree (42%). With this in mind, this may change the interpretation of the data so that users who are already inclined towards politics and keeping up to date with news are more likely to use platforms that cater to their existing interests than users who are not already inclined and may choose other social media platforms as a result, as can be described by selective exposure.
There are of course other motivations for why people use Twitter, and although statistically these motivations are less represented they are nonetheless important to note. About 31% of users report that they use Twitter as a means to meet interpersonal activity needs by telling others what they’re doing and thinking, whereas another 20% report that Twitter is a way for them to keep in touch with celebrities or to maintain parasocial relationships.