Come for a Job, Stay for the Socializing: Gratifications Received from LinkedIn Usage
More Detail
1 College of Saint Mary, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 8, Issue 4, pp. 345-361.
https://doi.org/10.12973/ojcmt/3956
OPEN ACCESS 5060 Views 3023 Downloads Published online: 12 Nov 2018
ABSTRACT
LinkedIn is the leading social network site focusing on professional life, with over 500 million customers, but has received far less research attention than Facebook and other personal networks. This study is one of the first to examine gratifications received from using LinkedIn by U.S. adults and relationships between those gratifications and how the site is utilized. Uses and Gratifications Theory served as conceptual framework. The cross-sectional study surveyed 390 active LinkedIn customers 25 and older about gratifications received, intensity of attitudes, and site usage. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to identify three gratification factors for using LinkedIn: jobs and job affairs, social aspects of employment, and finding old and new friends easily. The social aspects of employment factor had a significant relationship with both intensity of attitudes toward LinkedIn and site usage. This was a surprising finding, since LinkedIn is commonly associated only with utilitarian career-oriented motives, rather than hedonic gratifications like socializing.
CITATION
Brewer, S. W. (2018). Come for a Job, Stay for the Socializing: Gratifications Received from LinkedIn Usage.
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 8(4), 345-361.
https://doi.org/10.12973/ojcmt/3956
REFERENCES
- Alhabash, S., Park, H., Kononova, A., Chiang, Y. H., & Wise, K. (2012). Exploring the motivations of Facebook use in Taiwan. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(6), 304-311. https://doi.org/1i0.1089/cyber.2011.0611
- Basak, E., & Calisir, F. (2014). Uses and gratifications of LinkedIn: An exploratory study. In Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering (Vol. 2). London, UK: World Congress of Engineering. Retrieved from http://www.iaeng.org/publication/WCE2014/WCE2014_pp1153-1156.pdf
- Blank, G., & Lutz, C. (2016, July). The social structuration of six major social media platforms in the United Kingdom: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest. In Proceedings of the 7th 2016 International Conference on Social Media & Society (p. 8). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2930971.2930979
- Blank, G., & Lutz, C. (2017). Representativeness of social media in Great Britain: Investigating Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(7), 741-756. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764217717559
- Bonds-Raacke, J., & Raacke, J. (2010). MySpace and Facebook: Identifying dimensions of uses and gratifications for friend networking sites. Individual Differences Research, 8(1), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.1.1.453.8866
- Breitbarth, W. (2015). 2015 LinkedIn user survey. Milwaukee, WI: Power Formula. Retrieved from http://www.powerformula.net
- Byrne, B. M. (2006). Structural equation modeling with EQS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1302_7
- Cheung, C. M., Chiu, P. Y., & Lee, M. K. (2011). Online social networks: Why do students use Facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 27(4), 1337-1343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.028
- Claybaugh, C. C., & Haseman, W. D. (2013). Understanding professional connections in LinkedIn - a question of trust. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 54(1), 94-105. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08874417.2013.11645675 https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2013.11645675
- DeKay, S. (2009). Are business-oriented social networking web sites useful resources for locating passive jobseekers? Results of a recent study. Business Communication Quarterly, (March), 101-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569908330378
- Dhaha, I. S., & Igale, A. B. (2013). Facebook usage among Somali youth: A test of uses and gratifications approach. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(3), 299-313. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/33293260/facebook_usage.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1504306861&Signature=hnSSswRlWRdEo5zppIcAgg%2F2jZs%3D&response-contentdisposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DFacebook_Usage_among_Somali_Youth_A_Test.pdf
- Edwards, C., Stoll, B., Faculak, N., & Karman, S. (2015). Social presence on LinkedIn: Perceived credibility and interpersonal attractiveness based on user profile picture. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 5(4), 102-115. Retrieved from http://www.ojcmt.net/articles/54/545.pdf
- Ellison, N. B., Steinfeld, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook ‘‘friends’’: Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.10836101.2007.00367.x
- Ezumah, B. (2013). College students’ use of social media: Site preferences, uses and gratifications theory revisited. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(5), 27-34. Retrieved from http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_5_May_2013/3.pdf
- Florenthal, B. (2015). Applying uses and gratifications theory to students’ LinkedIn usage. Young Consumers, 16(1), 17-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-12-2013-00416
- Fortier, A., & Burkell, J. (2016). Display and control in online social spaces: Towards a typology of users. New Media & Society, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816675184
- Global social networks by number of users. (2015, November). Statista. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com
- Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (Vol. 7). New York, NY: Pearson. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmva.2009.12.014
- Inks, S., Schetzsle, S., & Ovila, R. (2012). Exploring the use of social networking tools in sales: Current perceptions and future expectations. Marketing Management Journal, 22(1), 1-16. Retrieved from http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/MMJ/MMJ-Issues/2012-Spring/MMJ-2012-Spring-Vol22-Issue1-Complete.pdf#page=8
- Katz, E. J., & Blumler, G. (1974). The uses of mass communication: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
- Kim, J. Y., Shim, J. P., & Ahn, K. M. (2011). Social networking service: Motivation, pleasure, and behavioral intention to use. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 51(4), 92-101. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08874417.2011.11645505
- Lampe, C., Wohn, D. Y., Vitak, J., Ellison, N. B., & Wash, R. (2011). Student use of Facebook for organizing collaborative classroom activities. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborate Learning, 6(3), 329-347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-011-9115-y
- LinkedIn Corporation stock information. (2016, January 22). Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com
- Most famous social network sites worldwide as of April 2017, ranked by number of active users (in millions). (2017, April). Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com
- Papacharissi, Z. (2009). The virtual geographies of social networks: A comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and A Small World. New Media & Society, 11(1-2), 199-220. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444808099577
- Papacharissi, Z., & Mendelson, A. (2011). [Toward a new(er) sociability: Uses, gratifications and social capital on Facebook]. In S. Papathanassopoulos (Ed.), Media perspectives for the 21st century (pp. 212-230). New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://zizi.people.uic.edu/Site/Research_files/NewerSociabilityMediaPerspectives.pdf
- Park, N., & Lee, S. (2014). College students’ motivations for Facebook use and psychological outcomes. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 58(4), 601-620. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2014.966355
- Peachy, K. (2013). The new boys’ club: The effect of gender on LinkedIn profiles. Sociological Viewpoints, 29(1), 17-37. Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-3226121401/2012-student-paper-competition-winner-the-new-boys
- Schultz, R., Schwepker, C., & Good, D. (2012). An exploratory study of social media in business-to-business selling: Salesperson characteristics, activities and performance. Marketing Management Journal, 22(2), 76-89. Retrieved from http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/MMJ/MMJ-Issues/2012-Fall/MMJ-2012-Fall-Vol22-Issue2-Schultz-Schwepker-Good-pp76-89.pdf
- Shyron, M. Q. (2015). Gaining access to social capital: The effects of gratifications sought, personality, and self-efficacy on LinkedIn use and social capital (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://pg.com.cuhk.edu.hk/pgp_nm/projects/2015/MAQianyunShyron.pdf
- Urista, M., Dong, Q., & Day, K. (2008). Explaining why young adults use MySpace and Facebook through uses and gratifications theory. Human Communication, 12(2), 215-229. Retrieved from http://www.uab.edu/Communicationstudies/humancommunication/merge.pdf#page=98
- Vivekananthamoorthy, N., Naganathan, E. R., & Rajkumar, R. (2016). Determinant factors on student empowerment and role of social media and eWOM communication: Multivariate analysis on LinkedIn usage. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(25), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i25/95318
- Witzig, L., Spencer, J., & Galvin, M. (2012). Organizations’ use of LinkedIn: An analysis of nonprofits, large corporations and small businesses. Marketing Management Journal, 22(1), 113-121. Retrieved from http://www.mmaglobal.org/publications/MMJ/MMJ-Issues/2012-Spring/MMJ-2012-Spring-Vol22-Issue1-Witzig-Spencer-Galvin-pp113-121.pdf
- Zhang, Y., & Leung, L. (2015). A review of social networking service (SNS) research in communication journals from 2006 to 2011. New Media & Society, 17(7), 1007-1024. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813520477
- Zide, J., Elman, B., & Shohani-Denning, C. (2014). LinkedIn and recruitment: How profiles differ across occupations. Employee Relations, 36(5), 583-604. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2013-0086