Online social networking sites continue to grow as a medium of consumption, acting as a changing force for interpersonal communication and media interaction. It is important to understand how and why each demographic segment is using these sites. Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the U.S., with older adults representing a substantial portion of the site’s growth. Previous studies have investigated the use of Facebook among college students and young adults; however, older age demographics are a fairly new segment to the online social networking landscape that has not yet been investigated. Through a large-scale online survey, this study represents the first empirical investigation of Facebook members age 35 and older. Findings provide a baseline of knowledge for understanding time spent, frequent activities and gratifications obtained by this audience on Facebook. Results indicate adults 35 and older allocate a substantial amount of time to the site and use it most often for communication with people in their network. While many activities on the site were found to be similar between older and younger audiences, adults 35 and older in this study reported more passive activities of surveillance rather than participation. Factor analysis yielded five gratification factors for Facebook of which three were salient against the 35 and older audience: interpersonal habitual entertainment, passing time and self-expression. Exploratory open-ended questions also revealed some additional unique possible motives to be considered in future research among this audience.

This diploma thesis deals with a phenomenon of influencers - specifically how do these producers of media content perceive their audience. The goal of this diploma thesis is to identify and understand the behavior and culture of followers from the perspective of influencers in the context of media literacy. Nowadays anyone with an internet connection can become a follower of an influencer and basic knowledge about the cyberspace is not necessary. Thanks to the qualitative research among six different influencers this diploma thesis does offer theoretical and empirical point of view on a behavior, culture and media literacy of a young digital audience. The first part of the diploma thesis is dedicated to theoretical knowledge related to the digital audience, internet and danger that comes with the usage of cyberspace as well as media literacy in the context of a new media. The next part focuses on the interpretation of the methodology of research, followed by the presentation of results of the conducted research and their summary. Based on the research the author found out that participating influencers are aware of a connection between their behavior and hobbies and behavior and hobbies of their influencers. Subjects of the research perceive their audience in a positive way, their feedback is important to...