Keywords

communication, mass communication, adolescent females, social networking websites, uses and gratifications

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore the ways adolescent females, age 14 through 17, utilized social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for communication, self-presentation and identity development purposes. Uses and gratifications theory served as a framework for identifying the participants' motivations for heavily using these websites, which allow users to post pictures, interests and updates for their friends to view and interact with online. Using a qualitative method, one preliminary focus group and ten in-depth interviews were conducted, totaling fifteen female participants between the ages of 14 and 17. Interview questions covered topics such as peer interactions through social networking sites, posting personal content to their profile pages, self-presentations through pictures and text, creating and maintaining friendships through these sites, and negative and positive feedback received through comments. Results indicated that the participants frequently used social networking websites for five main gratifications: Information Sharing, Convenient Communication, Self-Expression, Friendship Formation and Social Support.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2010

Advisor

DeLorme, Denise

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Nicholson School of Communication

Degree Program

Communication

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003180

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003180

Language

English

Release Date

August 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Included in

Communication Commons

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