ABSTRACT
Social network sites (SNSs) have become some of the most popular online destinations in recent years (comScore, 2009) and accordingly have started to attract the attention of academic researchers (see boyd & Ellison, 2007, for a review of related literature, as well as other chapters in this volume). Despite the upsurge in related work, most current investigations tend to look at SNS usage as an either-or phenomenon by focusing on the use of just one such site or, alternatively, investigating the use of any such site at any level of engagement (e.g., Jones, Millermaier, Goya-Martinez, & Schuler, 2008; Ross, Orr, Sisic, Arseneault, Simmering, & Orr, 2009; Steinfield, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008; Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell, & Walther, 2008). But is it justifiable to assume that there is no difference among users in intensity of their SNS usage or that such variation is inconsequential for questions exploring the implications of SNS uses? It is this gap in the literature that this chapter addresses both theoretically and empirically. We put forward a typology of SNS usage that takes into consideration both frequency and diversity of SNS uses, the combination of which we refer to as “SNS use intensity.” We then apply this framework to an empirical example of SNS usage intensity in a community. How do users differ in their engagement with SNSs ? Are there systematic differences among frequent and occasional users of such sites? Is there a difference among those who are loyal to one SNS only compared to those who are actively involved with several? The lack of data on details of SNS usage has made it difficult for researchers to ask such nuanced questions about this topic. Here, thanks to a unique data set based on a survey administered to a diverse group of young adults with sufficiently detailed information about their SNS uses, we are able to explore answers to these questions. Findings suggest that intensity of SNS use varies among the group. While some people use only one
site and do so only occasionally, others use one SNS often while yet others engage with numerous sites regularly. Moreover, level of engagement is not randomly distributed across the sample. Rather, a person’s gender, context of Internet use and online experiences are all associated with level of SNS use intensity. The results suggest the importance of more nuanced approaches to the study of SNS uses than has been traditionally the case.
