Applying the Uses and Gratifications Model to Examine Consequences of Social Media Addiction

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to test the uses and gratifications model (U&G) with respect to addictive outcomes for young adult social media users. Two cross-sectional survey studies were completed with college students aged 18–25 years. Study 1 applied path analysis with regression to determine how individual traits, motives, and dependency related to intrusive and emotional consequences of addiction (N = 373). Results indicated that, among other predictor variables, being dependent on social media for personal understanding was associated with increased emotional consequences of addiction. In Study 2, the functional alternative of interpersonal interaction and frequency of social media use were included to more fully test the U&G model with structural equation modeling (N = 446). Interpersonal interaction was a significant predictor in the intrusive consequences model. Participants who reported engaging in more offline interpersonal interactions that engaged in heavy use of social media found it to be more intrusive in their lives. In addition, being dependent on social media to understand oneself mediated the relationships between various motives and emotional consequences of addiction. Taken together, results of these studies supported U&G. Contextual age variables were found to be related to motives, dependency, and addictive consequences. In addition, motives in both studies were important variables in explaining addictive consequences.