PERCEPTION TOWARDS ENTERTAINMENT VALUE OF USERS BY SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

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1 PERCEPTION TOWARDS ENTERTAINMENT VALUE OF USERS BY SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AN EMPIRICAL STUDY DR. DHIRAJ JAIN*; MS. FARHAT FATIMA SADRIWALA** *ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, UDAIPUR (RAJASTHAN) **PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (PART I), 247, SADRIWALA BUILDING, BAPU BAZAR, UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN ABSTRACT Social networking site (SNS) are online services, platform, or sites that focus on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. The main objective of the study was to study the importance of SNS for entertainment and excitement and to analyze the increased interest of the people in forming and maintaining new and old relationship through SNS. Random sampling method was used in order to select the random respondents, A well structured and pre tested questionnaires was developed and administered, One way ANNOVA was used to find the significance of the results. The study concluded that social networking sites could be entertaining and exiting and is dependent upon the age and not upon the other demographic factors selected. The perception that social networking site help in developing new relations, keeping in touch with friends and making the user feel good is not affected by the demographic determinants selected and is independent of them. KEYWORDS: Entertainment, excitement, friends, relation. TRACK Information Systems Management Introduction Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, politics and alternative lifestyles. Once granted access to a social networking website one can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. The phenomenon of online social networking made extremely popular by MySpace.com, has evolved to include more than the teenage stereotype looking to expand his/her network of online friends. People of all ages and backgrounds have discovered that they can enrich their lives 1

2 through the contacts they make on a social networking website. Below are the criteria Top Ten Reviews used to evaluate Social Networking websites. Profiles :The heart and soul of social networking sites are user s personal profiles. It s like their own Internet sanctuary, a place where they can express their thoughts and feelings, post photographs and show off their network of friends. The most popular social network websites put a strong emphasis on the user s profile, making it easy to use yet still reflective of the user s personality. Security :The Internet is a dangerous place to post personal information. All social networks should provide the ability to set profiles to private in some way or the other. Additionally they should have the ability to report and block users. Networking Features :A good social network goes above and beyond just allowing users to post profiles and update pictures. Additional features should include music sections, video uploads, groups and more. Search :The object of a social network is to find friends and expand relationships. Top social networking websites allows members to search for other members in a safe and easy to use environment. Common search functions include search by name, city, school and address. Help/Support :Most social network sites are self-explanatory. However, in the off-chance a user needs help there needs to be some way to contact the webmaster or answers in an FAQs section. Legitimate Friend Focus :The growing trend for social networks is to communicate and keep in touch with people one already knows. No one wants to be inundated with unsolicited spam friend requests. The best social network sites keep profiles and search options private enough that the only people that can find you are the ones actually looking for users in their own school or neighborhood networks. Even with a completely public profile, users shouldn t be bothered with more than a couple of unsolicited comments or messages. Review-of literature A review of literature was conducted to identify the possible gap and identify the objective of the study. (Hsi-Peng Lu, 2007) examined the behavioral motivations underlying individual intention to keep using blogs. The proposed model was empirically evaluated using randomized survey data collected from 155 users of a popular web site in Taiwan (Meredith Rinquel Morris, 2010) conducted a survey of 624 people, asking them to share the questions they had asked and answered on their online social networks. They presented a detailed data on the frequency of this type of question asking, the types of questions asked, and respondents' motivations for asking their social networks rather than using more traditional search tools like Web search engines. They reported on the perceived speed and quality of the answers received, as well as what motivated people to respond to questions seen in their friends' status messages. (MacGregor, 2004)examined whether factors such as business size, business age, business 2

3 sector or market focus were associated with decisions to collaborate in a network or remain outside such arrangements. It showed that small businesses, with fewer than ten employees, were more likely to be a part of a formal network of small businesses. The age of the business, the number of suppliers, the existence of a marketing strategy and the educational level of the CEO were significantly associated with decisions to become part of a formal networking arrangement. (Charles Steinfield, 2009) explored the relationship between various dimensions of organizational social capital and the use of an internal social network site (SNS). They hypothesized that the use of a SNS contributes to social capital within the organization in that SNS users are able to maintain larger networks of heterogeneous contacts. Additionally, the affordances of the site support social interaction between users, thus helping individuals maintain existing relationships and deepen the developing ones. The sense of corporate citizenship, interest in connecting globally, and access to new people and expertise are all associated with greater intensity of use of the social network site. (Chin-Lung Hsu, 2004) viewed on-line games as entertainment technology. However, while most past studies had focused on task-oriented technology, predictors of entertainment-oriented technology adoption had seldom been addressed. They had applied the technology acceptance model (TAM) that incorporates social influences and flow experience as belief-related constructs to predict users acceptance of on-line games. The proposed model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 233 users about their perceptions of on-line games. The overall results revealed that social norms, attitude, and flow experience explained about 80% of game playing.(clark, 2004) revealed a small, but significant, amount of variance in consequences of Internet use that could be explained by time, social norms, and adopter category. (Pei-Chen Sun, 2008) developed an integrated model with six dimensions: learners, instructors, courses, technology, design, and environment. A survey was conducted to investigate the critical factors affecting learners satisfaction in e- Learning. Results revealed that learner computer anxiety, instructor attitude toward e-learning, e-learning course flexibility, e-learning course quality, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and diversity in assessments were the critical factors affecting learners perceived satisfaction. (Zaineb De Souza, 2009) examined the reasons why children disclose information on the website and their understanding of some of the privacy issues involved. The study provided a useful beginning for further work in this area. Regression was used to validate a proposed model of the factors influencing information disclosure and cluster analysis provided an indication of characteristics shared by children who disclose sensitive information, such as name, address and telephone number. It also suggested that children who were taught to value privacy were less likely to disclose sensitive information on-line. (Leung, 2007) presented stressful life events that were significantly associated with the consumption of the Internet for mood management (such as entertainment and information seeking) and social compensation (such as recognition gaining and relationship maintenance) motives. It was found that more children and adolescents exhibit high levels of social support, either online or offline, the less they find stressful life events upsetting. They also found that as individuals exhibit greater ability to personally access different types of social support to meet their needs, their motivations for internet use were characteristically more allied to mood-management and social-compensation. 3

4 Objective framed for the study From the above review of literature the following objectives were framed for the study: 1.To study the importance of Social Networking sites for entertainment and excitement. 2. To analyze the increased interest of people in forming and maintaining new and old relationship through Social networking sites. Hypothesis framed for the study H 01 H 02 H 03 H 04 H 05 There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that using SNS was entertaining & exiting. There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that SNS helps me in developing new relations. There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that SNS helps in keeping in touch with my friends & relation. There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that lack of access to SNS upsets. There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that you feel good while using social networked Methodology 1. Random sampling method was used in order to select the sample respondents. 2. A well structured and pre tested questionnaires was developed and administered. 3. A total of 200 questionnaires were administered of which 37 were found incomplete and hence were not considered for study. 4. One way ANNOVA was used to find significance of result. 4

5 Data Analysis & Interpretation Table No. 1 Demographic profile of the respondents Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Frequency Percent Male Female Total < 15 years years years years > 50 years Total High School Intermediate Graduation Post- graduation & above Others Total Student Government Sector Job Private sector job Professional Self Employed Others Total < 1 year years years > 5 years Total Constantly online Several times a day Daily Weekly Monthly Total

6 Interpretation Most of the respondents were male (64.4%), within the age group of years(68.7%), majority of them were pursuing graduation (42.3%) or post- graduation (30.7%), majority of the social networking sites users were students (57.7%) followed by employees of private sector (17.2%), majority of them (41.1%) have been associated with the social networking sites for a period of 1-3 years and used to surf daily (42.9%). Association between the demographics and the perception that using Social Networking site was entertaining & exiting H 01 :There is no significant association between the demographic factors and the perception that using social networking site was entertaining & exiting. Table 2 Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Sum of Mean df Squares Square Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total F Sig

7 Interpretation The above table reveals that the difference between the means is statistically significant in case of age as the significant value is less than.05 and hence the null hypothesis is rejected implying that there is a significant association between age and the perception that using social networking sites was entertaining and exciting. But in all the other demographic determinants the significant value was greater than.05 indicating that the differences between the means were not statistically significant. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted in all the cases that there is no significant association between demographic factors (except age) and the perception that using Social Networking site was entertaining & exiting. Association between demographic determinants and the fact that using social networking site helped in developing new relations H 02 : There is no significant association between demographic factors and the fact that using Social Networking site helped in developing new relations. Table 3 Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Sum of Squares df Mean Square Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total F Sig

8 Interpretation The above table revealed that for all the demographic determinants the differences between the means were not statistically significant as the value was greater than.05. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted in all the cases that there is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception that Social Networking sites helped in developing new relations. Association between demographic determinants and the perception that social networking site helped in keeping touch with friends and relations H 03 :There is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception that Social Networking site helped me to keep in touch with friends & relation. Table 4 Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Sum of Squares df Mean Square Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total F Sig

9 Interpretation The above table revealed that for all the demographic determinants the differences between the means were not statistically significant as the value was greater than.05. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted that there is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception that Social Networking site helped to keep in touch with friends & relation. Association between demographic factors and the perception that lack of access to social networking sites upsets you H 04 : There is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception that lack of access to social networking site upsets you. Table 5 Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Interpretation Sum of Mean df Squares Square Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total F Sig The above table reveals that the difference between the means is statistically significant in case of education qualification, period of association with social networking site and time spent on social networking site as the significant value is less than.05 and hence the null hypothesis is rejected implying that there is a significant association between education qualification, period of association with social networking site and time spent on social networking site and the perception that lack of access to Social Networking sites upsets. But in cases other demographic determinants the significant value is greater than.05 indicating that the differences between the means were not statistically significant. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted in those cases 9

10 that there is no significant association between gender, age and occupation and the perception that lack of access to Social Networking sites upsets. Association between demographic factors and the perception that Social Networking sites makes you feel good H 05 :There is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception that using SNS makes you feel good Table 6 Gender Age Education Qualification Occupation How long you are associated with Social Networking sites How much time do you spent on Social Networking sites Sum of Mean df Squares Square Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total Within Total F Sig

11 Interpretation The above table reveals that for all the demographic determinants the differences between the means were not statistically significant as the value is greater than.05. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted that there is no significant association between demographic factors and the perception thatusing Social Networking site makes you feel good. Conclusion The perception that social networking site can be entertaining and exiting is dependent upon the age and not upon the other demographic factors selected. The perception that social networking site helps in developing new relation, keeping in touch with friends and making the user feel good is not affected by the demographic determinant selected and is independent of them. References Breslin, D.(2007). The Future of Social Networks on the Internet: The Need for Semantics Charles Steinfield, J. M.(2009). Bowling online: social networking and social capital within the organization Chin-Lung Hsu, H.-P. L.(2004). Why do people play on-line games? An extended TAM with social influences and flow experience. Information and management, 47 (7), CLARK, D. J. (2004). The Physical, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Consequences of Internet Use in College Students. 22 (3), Cross, S. P. (2003). A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks. journal of the institute for operations research and the management services, 49, Harvey Skinner, S. B. (2003). Quality of internet access: barrier behind internet use statistics Hsi-Peng Lu, K.-L. H.(2007). Understanding intention to continuously share information on weblogs. Internet research, 17 (4), Kristiansen, S.(2004). Social Networks and Business Success. American journal of economics and sociology, 63 (5), Kuan-Yu Lin, H.-P. L. (2011). Why people use social networking sites: An empirical study integrating. Kuan-Yu Lin, H.-P. L.(2011). Why people use socialnetworking sites: An empirical study integrating network externalities and motivation theory Leung, D. L. (2007). Stressful Life Events, Motives for Internet Use, and Social Support Among Digital Kids. Cyberpshychology, 10 (2),

12 MacGregor, R.(2004). Factors associated with formal networking in regional small business: some findings from a study of Swedish SMEs. Journal of small business and enterprise development, 11 (1), Meredith Rinquel Morris, J. T. (2010). What do people ask their social networks, and why?: a survey study of status message q&a behavior Pei-Chen Sun, R. J.-Y.(2008). What drives a successful e-learning? An empirical investigation of the critical factorsinfluencing learner satisfaction. Computers and education, 60 (4), Richard D. Waters, E. B.(2009). Engaging stakeholders through socialnetworking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Public relation review, 35 (2), Robert C. Beatty, J. P. (2001). Factorsinfluencing corporate web site adoption: a time-based assessment Teresa Correa, A. W.(2009). Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users personality and social media use Tiffany A. Pempek, Y. A.(2009). College students' socialnetworking experiences on Facebook Weiser, E. B.(2004). Gender Differences in Internet Use Patterns and Internet Application Preferences: A Two-Sample Comparison. Zaineb De Souza, G. N.(2009). Disclosure of information by children in socialnetworking Not just a case of you show me yours and I ll show you mine