Bowman, N. D., Westerman, D. K, & Claus, C. J. (2012, April). How Demanding is Social Media: Understanding Social Media Diets as a Function of Perceived Costs and Benefits – a Rational Actor Perspective. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Communication Association, Boston-Cambridge.
Nicholas David Bowman, WVUNicholas David Bowman, WVUDavid Keith Westerman, WVUDavid Keith Westerman, WVU
Christopher James Claus, Towson UChristopher James Claus, Towson U
Why is Why is Twitter so Twitter so
Demanding? Demanding? (for some)(for some)
Overview
• Rational Actor Perspective (Markus, 1994) argues for a goal-oriented, purposive usage of communication technology
• Differs from U&G (Katz et al. 1974) in that it places focus on cost and benefit
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Overview
• Goals are a function of costs and benefits – Costs in SM might include
task demand– Benefits in SM might be
informational or relational
• Self-efficacy should drive perceptions of cost and benefit
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Theoretical Model
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H2 (-)
H1 (+) H3 (+)
H4 (-)
Social Media Self-Efficacy
Task Load Index
Goal Attainment
Social Media “Diet”
Method
• Survey administered at “large, Mid-Atlantic University” completed in 15 minutes
• Course credit for participation • N = 337
– 213 males, Mage = 20.3 (SD = 1.57)– 176 in Facebook survey, 161 in Twitter survey– 188 for informational goals, 149 for relational
goals
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Method
• Spitzburg (2006) CMC self-efficacy, adapted • COST
– Hart & Staveland (1988) NASA-TLX, adapted
• BENEFIT– Eastin & LaRose (2000) goal attainment, adapted
• KMSK (2003) substance usage, adapted – Amount + Frequency + Duration
• Controls included age, sex, usage (light v. heavy), modality (mobile v. stationary)
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(Pre) Results
• NASA-TLX and social media self-efficacy (r = -.321, p < .001) and social media diet (r = -.225, p < .001).
• Social media diet greater for mobile users• Males, Older report + TLX, - self-efficacyMales, Older report + TLX, - self-efficacy
– Age unique given restriction (95% b/w 18-22)Age unique given restriction (95% b/w 18-22)
• Neither goal seems harder to attain; collapsed across goal attainment conditions
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Results: Facebook
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-.39***
.15* .44***
R2 = .19
-.22**Social MediaSelf-Efficacy
Task Load Index
Goal Attainment
Social Media “Diet”
-.09
χ2 (2) = 1.78, p = .410CMIN/df = .891, CFI ~ .999, RMSEA ~ .000
χ2 (2) = 1.78, p = .410CMIN/df = .891, CFI ~ .999, RMSEA ~ .000
Results: Twitter
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-.39***
.15* .44***
R2 = .28Social MediaSelf-Efficacy
Task Load Index
Goal Attainment
Social Media “Diet”
-.18**
χ2 (2) = 3.13, p = .209CMIN/df = 1.57, CFI = .982, RMSEA = .059
χ2 (2) = 3.13, p = .209CMIN/df = 1.57, CFI = .982, RMSEA = .059
Discussion
• Social media users seem to be rational actors whose usage of Twitter and Facebook is a function of a ‘lay’ cost/benefit analysis
• Facebook has no perceived cost qua task demand, a transparent technology (Clark, 2003)?
“is so well fitted to, and integrated with, our own lives, biological capacities, and projects as to become almost invisible in use” (pp. 37).
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Limitations
• Surveys establish correlation, not causality• Post-hoc model fit (Facebook) in need of
replication• Narrow set of costs and benefits;
– Privacy rules (CPM, Petronio, 2002)
• College-aged sample; heavy user base
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Future Research
• Age effects, even with restriction of range
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18 y.o.
22 y.o.??
Future Research
• Sex differences, such that males perceived both programs as: – More cognitively demanding– Having less self-efficacy
• Technology usually masculine (Henwood, 19980;
• relational maintenance more prominent in women (sev.)
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Conclusion
“For Facebook usage, perceptions of task load indirectly influenced usage via a direct effect on benefits; for Twitter, the influence was direct and negative. Applying Clark’s (2003) of opaque and transparent technology provides a novel explanation for this result. Based on anecdotal and empirical evidence, it is plausible that Facebook – the elder statesman of social media – is so engrained in one’s social media diet that its usage is “invisible to us” (pp. 37). Conversely, Twitter usage as a lesser-used technology is a more opaque technology with a still-salient cognitive demand associated with it.”
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Thank you!
• In progress research, so for information:Nicholas David Bowman, [email protected]@bowmanspartan
David Keith Westerman, Ph.D. [email protected]@DKWesterman04/11/23 (c) ND Bowman, 2011 15
