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No description available.

Målet med denna studie är att genomföra kvalitativa intervjuer med svenska 60-talister och undersöka hur och varför de använder Facebook, med särskilt fokus på deras användning utifrån ett Uses and gratifications-perspektiv och ett generationsteoretiskt perspektiv. Syftet med studien är att bidra med fördjupad kunskap om 60-talisters tankar och upplevelser kring Facebook, deras vardagliga Facebookanvändning, samt om varför de använder applikationen utifrån ett Uses and gratifications-perspektiv och ett generationsteoretiskt perspektiv. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med åtta svenska 60-talister undersöker denna studie tre forskningsfrågor där det empiriska materialet analyserats utifrån en tematisk analysstrategi. Det teoretiska ramverket för denna studie består av Uses and gratifications och generationsteori. Resultatet visar att 60-talisterna är aktiva Facebookanvändare vilka använder flera olika funktioner på plattformen för att kommunicera samt ta del av och interagera med olika typer av innehåll. Slutsatsen dras att deras starka anpassningsförmåga gentemot Facebook bidragit till att de aktivt använder plattformen i sin vardag. Genom denna användning tillfredsställs flertalet olika behov och samtliga sökta gratifikationer erhålls, vilka är betydelsefulla för att de ska använda Facebook. Därutöver konstaterar studien att 60-talisternas användning av Facebook skapat två nya behov vilka kan tänkas grunda sig i deras generationstillhörighet som svenska 60-talister.

The aim of this study was to investigate how social media was used by Swedish female pensioners during the Covid-19 pandemic and what significance it has had to them. During the pandemic, many elderly people, who have been considered a risk group for the disease, have had to isolate themselves in their homes to avoid getting ill. The study was conducted through individual qualitative interviews with eight Swedish female pensioners aged between 70-80 years who were users of at least one social media platform. The two research questions for the study were: 1) How and why do female pensioners use social media? 2) How do female pensioners experience social media's meaning and impact on them during the pandemic? The interviews were semi-structured and executed using an interview-guide. The answers from the interviews were coded to find keywords and themes. Four themes were found and used as titles for the different sections of the analysis chapter. Uses and gratifications theory was used to analyze the interview results. Results showed that social media was mostly used as a way to pass time, but also for social interaction and acknowledgement through likes and comments. Social media was also used for information seeking, entertainment and keeping up with what other people posted. The pensioners overall had a positive attitude towards social media. Even though not all of them seemed to have used social media more than usual during the pandemic, it seemed that social media might have had some special meaning during the pandemic to many of them. This might be due to the possibilities for communicating with others even with the risks and restrictions that the pandemic brought. This study can help with a better understanding of what social media usage can mean in terms of communication and loneliness for pensioners and elderly.

No description available.

No description available.

The demand for audiobooks is higher than ever--and increasing each year, surpassing the growth rate of electronic books, print books, and the US economy overall. Audiobooks have long been used to aid adolescent and struggling readers; however, recent studies have revealed that the majority of audiences consume audiobooks for the purpose of entertainment and relaxation. Despite this, much of the research available on audiobooks still applies to audiobooks as they are used in education. The purpose of this study was to understand the attitudes, opinions, and beliefs of people who love listening to audiobooks. The study was conducted using Q methodology, a behavioral research approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods in order to measure audience perspectives. The results produced four factors: (a) Busy Bookworms, who listen because they do not have time to sit down and read; (b) Non-Readers, who enjoy audiobooks because they dislike reading physical books; (c) Experience Lovers, who listen so they can be immersed in a world of their own; and (d) Entertainment Seekers, who view audiobooks as a reward to motivate them to accomplish mundane daily tasks. The results of this study also revealed nuanced multitasking behaviors, as well as psychological gratifications for audiobook consumption.

Instagram is revolutionary in social media and networking, but little is known about the factors, social or psychological, that motivate users to become constant users on this app. A comprehensive survey was created, 277 college-aged Instagram users responded about their motivation, attitude, purpose, and primary activities regarding Instagram. The results show that Instagram users have five fundamental social and psychological motives: social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism, and peeking. Results showed that males were different from females in the following areas of using Instagram: create a personal space, interact with a number of people, keep in touch with friends far away, get updates on close friends and family, provide updates on life, or show off. Also, there was only one significant difference in the results of the age group: in using Instagram to keep in touch with friends far away, the 21-23 and 30+ age groups were significantly different.

This study presents qualitative research examining the relationship youth have with television. Information for this study was collected through media journals, personal essays, in-depth interviews, and focus groups held with eighteen sixth-graders who attended a charter elementary school in Lindon, Utah. The question posed to the students multiple times during the data collection was: “Would you give up television for $1 million?” Through the students’ answers and ensuing dialogue, the researcher examined the social value the pre-adolescents attributed to watching television. The findings identify three main categories the students said were reasons they were attached to television, which also corresponded adolescent-needs that have been identified by scholars. The categories are 1) youth need friendship and television offers potential to develop parasocial relationships 2) youth need intimacy and television is an activity they can do with and talk about with friends and 3) youth need to learn about the new group they’re being socialized into and television offers portrayals of future situations. The study also includes ideas about why television is so valuable to the youth; it concludes with suggestions for future research, including expanding this research to other demographics, and recommendations for parents and school teachers, including media literacy and parental mediation.

Internet social networking sites have been the source of much speculation and controversy in the few years that they have been in existence. These sites (the most popular being MySpace and Facebook) allow their users to create online profiles, with which they can post pictures of themselves and interact with other users via text-based messaging. These sites are especially popular among teens and young adults, many of whom find their lives controlled by these sites. Utilizing the Uses and Gratificatioons approach in combination with the theory of the niche, the aim of this study is to understand the gratifications that are derived from the use of social networking sites, and how those gratifications compare with those obtained from the use of other communications methods (face-to-face communication and e-mail). Additionally, the study explores whether or not there has been a displacement effect for these older media with the introduction of social networking. A sample of 340 undergraduate and graduate students from a large western university were surveyed in-class regarding their use of three communications media (internet social networking, e-mail, and face-to-face communication). Students responded to 25 gratifications statements for each medium, rating how often they had used it for that particular purpose. They also responded to a question regarding whether their use of e-mail and face-to-face conversation has changed since they started using social networking sites. Answers from the gratification statements were subjected to principal component factor analysis using varimax rotation. After throwing out 10 statements due to their incompatibility across the three media, three gratification factors emerged: Gratification Opportunities, Social Utility, and Entertainment. Then using niche formulas, the media was compared across these three factors. Overall, face-to-face communication had the broadest niche, signalling that is best capable of fulfilling media gratifications. It also had the broadest niche in the Social Utility and Entertainment Factor, while e-mail had the broadest niche in the Gratifications Opportunities dimension. The results suggest that social networking may be popular because it acts as a convenient place to hang out — combining its relatively broad niches in Gratifications Opportunities and Entertainment gratifications, but shows little support for a displacement effect caused by its adoption.