User Perceptions of Social Media: A Comparative Study of Perceived Characteristics and User Profiles by Social Media

Abstract

Despite the proliferation of social media and the widespread adoption of these diverse communication tools, there is a lack of studies that conceptualize the characteristics of social media as perceived by users and compare the perceived characteristics or benefits of different social media types. This study examines the user perceptions of six main groups of social media—blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, wikis, forums, and content communities—on five dimensions: participation, commonality, connectedness, conversationality, and openness. User profiles are also investigated to assess the role of demographics and usage in such perceptions.