Unique motivation for using global social network site in Korea

Abstract

This study is an attempt to connect the distinctive motivation of Korean self-expression [1] with growth of the global social network sites (SNSs) in Korea. To explore the motivation using global SNSs, we conducted in-depth interview. The result of the interviews suggests that Korean expected to look more attractive or charming when they have foreign online friends, thus leading them to seek to make such foreign friends on Facebook, a widely used SNS. In addition, a questionnaire was conducted to analyze the correlation between the offline and online tendencies of Koreans to prefer foreign friends. The results showed that the respondents perceived themselves as more attractive if he (she) had a foreign friend offline and as more attractive if he (she) was a person who had comments from foreign friends on Facebook. The above results implicate that there are various motives for using global SNSs, depending on the cultural backgrounds of the users. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.