Social Media Type Matters: Investigating the Relationship Between Motivation and Online Social Network Heterogeneity

Abstract

This study investigated relationships between social media motivation, relative preferences for social media type, and network heterogeneity, using a U.S. national survey. By classifying social media into the symmetrical and the asymmetrical, we showed that relationship motivation was more likely to be associated with a preference for the symmetrical type, whereas information motivation with a preference for the asymmetrical. Network heterogeneity was positively predicted by relationship motivation but not by information motivation. Finally, a relative preference for the symmetrical type was found to mediate the association between relationship motivation and network heterogeneity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cheonsoo Kim

Cheonsoo Kim (M.A., University of Minnesota) is a doctoral candidate in the Media School at Indiana University Bloomington. His research interests include political public relations, political communication, and new media.

Jae Kook Lee

Jae Kook Lee (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is corresponding author and an associate professor in the Media School at Indiana University Bloomington. His research interests include public opinion in the changing media environment.