The internet and social media have had a significant impact on recipients’ media consumption. As the converging media environment recipients face today offers not only more media products but also new practices of using certain media products, this study focuses on how the social micro-blogging service Twitter impacts the watching of television series. The presented study aims at explaining a new form of media reception by employing a multi-method approach. A content analysis case study of tweets about the US-American series “Homeland” and the German series “Tatort” will give insight into the Twitter content on two different series. Further, qualitative semi-standardized interviews and a survey will shed light on the situational aspects and motivational factors to use Twitter while watching television series. The uses and gratification theory is used as a backdrop to study the motivations to use Twitter while watching television series. The results of the content analysis on the two series indicate that there is a strong focus on the series itself within the tweets. Nevertheless, both series provide somewhat differing Twitter content. While tweets on “Tatort” are more critical and realistic towards the series, tweets about “Homeland” are more likely to be referential. The situation of tweeting while watching television series seems to be characterized by the usage of a second screen. The major motivational factors identified in this study are socializing at a distance and exchanging social information. All in all this study presents a fascinating new form of media reception and furthermore offers description and explanation of its application. Additionally it provides suggestions as to how to approach such a fast-changing, new media environment.

The internet brings a great impact to the magazine industry no matter in the reading way or media form which also pushes magazines to setup their own websites. Through websites, magazines can provide readers 24 hours information and online service and will help to improve their brand image. We use the uses and gratifications theory to discuss the motivation and satisfaction of the content of the business magazine websites and the result shows the ¡§practicability¡¨ of the content is the key motivation for readers. The ¡§correct¡¨, ¡§immediate¡¨ and ¡§diversity¡¨ of the content of the magazine websites just fit users¡¦ expectation, however, the ¡§practicability¡¨, ¡§uniqueness¡¨, ¡§trust¡¨, ¡§easy-to-understand¡¨, ¡§profession¡¨ and ¡§In-depth¡¨ of the content still need to be improved, especially most of the magazine websites lack ¡§uniqueness.¡¨ Comparing to male users, female users are more willing to read the content which is practical, trustful, professional or has depth. The result also shows, ¤Ñ¤UÂø»xºô¯¸is the most popular business magazine website for users. Through this research we intend to show how users think of the content quality of the business magazine websites and provide useful suggestions for magazine industry.

Social media is the undisputed leader regarding video streaming consumption at an international level, to the detriment of SVOD services. We arrived at this observation trying to understand consumer behaviors regarding this phenomenon. Surprised by this, we sought to understand what motivates consumers to watch streaming video. In the literature, scholars seeking to study the motivations and satisfactions (called gratification factors) of consumers in media use are working with the Uses and Gratification Theory. However, while this theory explains the use of a medium, it does not explain the preference of one medium over another. We therefore wanted to use the Uses and Gratifications framework to make this comparison between social media and SVOD, and thus find an explanation for our observation: the superiority of social media. We drew on previous work to construct gratification factors applicable to SVOD, social media and video streaming. To confirm the reliability and validity of these constructs, we conducted a factorial analysis in a quantitative study, using a questionnaire distributed to the French population. Moreover, we used the data from this survey to build explanatory models for the use of social media and SVOD. Therefore, our study shows that the Uses and Gratifications Theory can be used to explain consumers’ preference for social media over SVOD services, by highlighting that the gratification factors which are the most decisive are content, process and social. Moreover, the formation of our constructs (content, social, process and technology gratifications) is the result of our reorganization of the gratifications already considered in the existing literature so that they correspond most accurately to the current behaviors of streaming video consumers. We thus provide a new basic model of analysis, which could be used by other studies on video streaming. From a practical point of view, our study also allows us to suggest to video streaming companies the points on which they can work to meet consumers’ expectations: that is to say on the possibility for users to adapt their consumption to their available time and on the possibility for interactivity directly on the platforms.

In addition to recruitment pressures felt by all in higher education, community colleges have the unique challenge of communicating with students of all ages, interests, and academic levels, and doing so with limited staff and resources. Many recruiters have turned to social media as an important tool for reaching potential students. However, for community colleges with few staff, social media communication can be difficult and time-consuming. This study explores how community college administrators are using social media as a recruitment tool, and how this use aligns with students' needs and expectations. This two-part study employs uses and gratifications theory to guide qualitative interviews with the social media administrators at three Virginia community colleges and focus groups with current students at each of the colleges. This study takes a unique approach to theory by comparing the uses and gratifications of both the message creator and user. Social media administrators at the community colleges were found to use social media to gratify their awareness, recruitment, and reach/engagement needs. Students thinking about the recruitment process were found to expect community colleges' social media content to gratify their needs for socialization, discovery, and access. Administrators are meeting many of the students' reported social media recruitment needs but could use the data provided in this study to improve their social media efforts in a few emerging areas. / Master of Arts

The way people choose to communicate can affect current and future relationships between sender and receiver. Business professionals communicate internally and externally using a variety of communication channels, such as e-mail, letters, phone, or face-to-face and must choose the best channel for the message they are trying to convey. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how business professionals choose between the available channels, the premise being that users choose communication channels due to the gratification obtained (GO). Guided by gratifications theory, which proposes that choice of a communication channel depends upon the GO, this study assessed 15 communication channels to gauge how well frequency, duration, and function predict GO. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect the research data from a random sample of currently employed alumni from an international hospitality school in Switzerland. Multiple linear regression was conducted to assess statistically significant relationships between the independent variables of frequency of use (how often), duration (how long), and functions (specific tasks) and the dependent variable: GO. The results confirmed that the regression model of frequency of use, duration, and function predict GO with a 52% variance. This study concluded with implications for positive social change for employees in higher education and the workplace and recommendations for further research on other channels or variables to improve the model for predicting GO.

Varför sitter människor i flera timmar och tittar på när någon annan spelar ett dator/tv-spel? Idag har spelstreaming vuxit sig stort och flera miljoner väljer att titta på spelandet. I vår undersökning kommer vi att svara på vad som motiverar vissa människor att titta på spelstreams genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Från den data som vi samlar in från intervjuer tar vi ut de motivationsfaktorer som nämns och delar in dem i fem behovskategorier: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative samt tension release. Genom vår studie så blev det klart att samma person kan titta på spelstreams vid olika tillfällen, med olika motiv. De två absolutvanligaste motiven till att se på spelstreams var underhållning och att lära sig något. / Why do people sit for hours to watch someone else play a videogame? Today gamingstreaming has grown large and millions of people choose to watch others play games. In our study we will answer what motivates people to watch gamingstreams through a qualitative interview study. From the data that we collect through interviews we will extract the motivationsfactors mentioned and sort them by five need-categories: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative and tension release. Our study showed that the same person can watch gamingstreams with different motives at different times. The two most common motives for watching thestreams was entertainment and learning something new.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Louise Benjamin / In 2013, creating a 57-second video can lead to more than $150,000 in profit for the creator and the creator can be anyone. This money-making opportunity comes from a recent popular trend known as a “viral video,” defined as a phenomenon of a video becoming highly popular through rapid, user-led distribution via the internet. However, research has not determined a clear model for creating a non-professional viral video. Interviews and YouTube analytics revealed how the video “I’m Farming and I Grow It,” a non-professional video created by three Kansas boys, was spread. Using the theories Uses and Gratifications and Two-Step Flow, this case study then analyzed the comments posted on the viral video and a content analysis of the comments identified the key factors mentioned by users, which contributed to the videos’ millions of views. The results conclude the key components for making a non-professional video go viral are “opinion leaders” spreading the message and video content that elicits positive feelings such as joy, humor, or praise. This study also provides a model to help a non-professional video go viral based on previous research and this case study.

In a society where media use is increasingly fragmented, social media expand people’s media practices and satisfy peoples’ needs in new ways. Instagram is currently the social media platform with the highest growth of users around the world. The purpose of this study is to examine what needs of information, entertainment, self-confirmation and social connections are being fulfilled by Instagram-use. By applying Uses and Gratifications theory, the study analyzes the motivations behind Instagram use and how needs are fulfilled through user practices. The study builds on a quantitative survey (n=252) examining the Instagram use of students at Örebro University. The analysis assesses factors such as time, user practices and motivations as well as questions regarding interactivity and response. The study finds that students primarily use Instagram to fulfill needs of entertainment and social connection. The importance of response (interactive communication) is more important to those who spend more time on the platform. The study also concludes that younger students and women use the platform more extensively compared to older students and men.

Streamed media is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives and companies like Netflix is competing with linear television for consumers. It is hard to deny that there is a shift in the media industry and streamed media is progressing, within the last three years the number of subscribers has almost been doubled. With this in mind it is both interesting and necessary to study motives and content in users to gain a better understanding of this yet very little explored phenomenon that is streamed media. This report contains a qualitative study of motives behind the use of streamed media and how the content affects our choice of streaming service. We interviewed seven young adults between the ages of 21-26 at the Linneaus University in Kalmar. The result suggests that the user’s motives and the content depend on economy and generation factors, such as social situation and personal interests.

This research aims to fill a research gap by examining WeChat to explore whether changes of social context would exert any influence on the information disclosure of social networking site (SNS) users. Selective Exposure Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory were used as the theoretical foundation for this study. Four-hundred Chinese college students in China and the U.S. who have a WeChat App and have logged in to use it within the last 30 days from the day administered were asked to participate in a survey about their motivations and consequences when using WeChat. Results from MANOVA showed that the motivations and consequences of female participants’ self-disclosure were significantly higher than were male participants on WeChat. Moreover, the social context of Chinese students studying in the U.S. is perceived to be more individualized than the traditionally collective context that is perceived by Chinese students studying in China.