Introduction- Uses and gratification theory

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is a famous approach to understanding mass communication. It is an audience-centered approach to media study focusing on the uses to which people put media and the gratifications they seek from that use. (Baran, S.J., Daris, D.K., 2006) It emphasizes the audiences rather than the actual message because it more focuses on what audiences will do with the media instead of what media does to the people. Blumler and Katzs Uses and Gratification Theory recommend media users should take a dynamic role in interpreting and integrating media into their lives because they have alternate choices to gratify their own need. (Uses and gratifications theory) They also take a dynamic part in the communication process and this are the goal oriented in their media use.

Uses and Gratification Theory (U&G) is a psychological communication perspective that examines on how individual use mass media for satisfy their life but not study on how media impact the audiences. (Papacharissi, Z., n.d.) It also emphasizes that motives, actions or an attitude is related to the media use and might change by individual or groups. When an audience actively seeks out for media, they are usually seeking for delight a need. An audience based on theoretical structure to select media and content that can satisfy their needs and desires. (Papacharissi, Z., n.d.) The needs will deliver as a motive for adopting particular medium use and this will connected to the social and psychological which make up of the individual. For example, a family may watch a TV shows for instance The American Next Top Model for their entertainment or spend some time together with their family members while some people may choose to browse an internet or look for the magazine content in order to satisfy their information needs. Audience consumes the particular media because they like what they gained from it. However, a number of mass communications scholars have argument about uses and gratifications theory is not a strict social science theory.
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In reality, Uses and Gratifications perspective has always provided a cutting-edge theoretical approach in the early stages of each new mass communications medium for instance television, radio internet and newspapers as well. Although scientists now are continuously using traditional tools to answer questions about the media use, but we must also be prepared to enlarge our existing theoretical models of Uses and Gratification.

Besides that, the theory explains the uses and functions of the media for individuals, groups and the society. At the core of uses and gratifications theory lies the assumption that audience often seek out the mass media in order to gratify their individual needs. (Uses and gratifications approach.) Audience plays their role differently in seeking out for the medium in order to gain their own satisfaction and needs. Furthermore, medium will be used more when the current motives to use the medium leads to more satisfaction and happiness.

Development Uses and Gratifications Theory first advanced in the 1940s by Lazarsfeld and Stanton (1944), attempts to describe the reason of people use on mass media, and also the different kinds of satisfaction they receive from mass media. Gratifications are happiness, satisfactions and rewards, as a result of you meet a specific goal or desire. The theory relies on the belief that the audience is not merely a group of passive media consumers, but that they play an active role in selecting different media to meet their needs.(Infante, Rancer& Womack, 1997; Lowery & De Fleur, 1983) An audience has freedom to choose what media they prefer. For instances, read for newspaper or browser a website in order to meet their desires and goals. In 1944, Herta Herzog researches on the media gratifications and found that there are three major type of gratification towards the radio soup opera which are merely for emotional release, enjoyment for wishful thinking and getting advice from the listening to daytime serial. (Baran, S.J.,
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Daris, D.K., 2006) In 1961, Wilbur Schramm along with his associates did studies on children and TV which proved that this particular audience was active. It is not the TV lead to an effect on the passive viewers but children selected and watched TV programming in order to satisfy their three needs. There were the need for entertainment, the need for information and the need for social utility. (DeFleur, M.L., 2010) During 1970s, some media researchers aware that the activeness people of using the media will determine the degree of the effect on that person. For example when a person think that the book have a particular effect on him/her, he/she will work to induce that effect rather than the book induce the learning effect on the person. (Baran, S.J., Daris, D.K., 2006) Furthermore, Rubin (1986) stated two underlying presumptions of the uses and gratifications model which explains how people are motivated by a desire to gratify certain needs and also how the audience uses media rather than how the media uses us. Besides, understanding audience consumption patterns will improve understanding of media effect impacts toward audiences. In two separate studies in 1979 & 1983, Rubin identified six major uses of television for children and adolescents are learning, passing time or habit, companionship, escape, arousal, and relaxation and for adult are passing time, information, entertainment, companionship, and escape.

Five basic assumptions of Uses and Gratification Theory

As Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch give explanation in the book Mass Communication Research, there are five basic assumptions in Uses and Gratifications Theory. (Spring, E. R., 2002)

The first assumption is the audience is conceived as active. This idea emphasizes the viewers are goal-oriented and tries to achieve their goals from the media source. This directly reflects the needs of the audience member in gaining the media source. Second basic assumption is
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in the mass communication process much initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the audience member. This assumption explains people use media for their own advantage rather than the media uses them. The receiver confirms what is going to absorb and does not allow the media to influence their mind because the individual opinion is more powerful than what media is portraying. The third basic assumption is the media competes with other sources of need satisfaction. This assumption emphasizes on each individual has different needs and desires. By fulfilling their needs and desires, they have to create a wide range of choices in order to meet these needs. The forth basic assumption which is many of the goals media use can be derived from data supplied by the individual audience members themselves. People are very responsive and alert about their motives, choices and able to explain their motives verbally as well. The final basic assumption which is value judgments about cultural significance of mass communication should be suspended while audience operations are explored on their own terms. The theorists believe the audience would able to find out the value from the media content. It is the individual audience members who make the decision to view the particular media. Therefore, they place the value on it by their individual decision to view it. (Katz, E., Blumber, J. G., Gurevitch, M., 1974)

These basic assumptions provide a framework for understanding the exact correlation between the media and the viewers. Lastly, it provides a distinction as to how the audience is more or less active and the consequences of their involvement in the media as a whole.

Literature Review on the Key Findings in the New Era The uses and gratifications theory has been widely used for the studies of Internet as well as Social networking system used. As cited by Hetzog, Katz. (1974), U&G suggested that people are consciously choosing the medium that can satisfy their needs and they can recognize their reasons
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for making that media choices. Maddox (1998) found that the main purpose of people using internet is to gather different type of information which is supported by Lin (2001) that people who need information reception are more likely to use the online services. According to Blumler & Katz, (1974), Lasswell suggested that media fulfilled the needs for surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission both for individuals and society. The reason for internet usage also associated with entertainment oriented gratification. (Lin, 1996). According to Urista, M. A., Dong Q., Day, K. D. (n.d.), the Wollfradt and Doll Internet Motivation Scale comprise three underlying motives for using the Internet: information, interpersonal communication, and entertainment (Matsuba, 2006, p. 278). A 1995 study of college students' Internet usage resulted in "six motivational categories: entertainment, social interaction, passing the time, escape, information, and Web site preference" (Kaye, 1998, p. 34). Stafford and Gonier (2004) have identified several gratifications from Internet use that motivate users behaviors. These include web searching, the acquisition of information, the ability to engage in interpersonal communication, and socialization. As cited by Soh, C.H.(2010), Jaafar and Sulaiman (2005) concluded that entertainment is the primary online activity of home computer users in Malaysia. As the Social network system is more and more popular, there are scholars who investigate it based on uses and gratification theory. As cited by Urista, M. A., Dong Q., Day, K. D. (n.d.), Starkman (2007) has demonstrated that motivations for using the Internet are primarily caused by desires for relaxation, fun, encouragement, and status (p. 211). Ray (2007) explored the multifunctional uses of SNS for simultaneously fulfilling entertainment, information, surveillance, diversion and social utility needs. According to Raacke, J., Bonds-Raacke, J. (2008), for those who have the Facebook account, many uses and gratifications are met such as keeping in touch with friends. For those who do not have Facebook account, the result indicated failed uses and gratifications for not having a friend-networking site. According to a comparative study between
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Australia and the Netherlands research, SNS are a very effective means for building and maintaining relationships. Many participants acknowledged that SNS make staying in touch with friends much more convenient, which in turn, increases their motivation for maintaining relationships through communication on SNS. It also showed that there is a link between internet addiction and eroticism Sex differences did occur when comparing uses and gratifications for users. However, sex differences were not found for the most popular uses and gratifications, indicating that in general men and women meet the same needs by using the sites. As cited by Wong, F. M., Lean, M. L., Fernandez, P. R. (2011), Hirst (2009) mentioned that SNS usage among females is more social relationship-oriented while the use of SNS among male respondents is outcome-oriented. Pros and its Criticism The Uses and Gratification theory is concerned that how people use media for gratification of their needs. Choices of the media for the media users are increasing, this approach is to direct the medias attention to the audience. The Uses and Gratification theory bring advantages and disadvantages to people in their daily life. Nowadays, media become more and more important in our daily life. Advantages of the Uses and gratifications theory is this theory is one of the communication model which is more positive views of the media. This is because this theory posits the users have complete control over what kind media that they want to use, how they use it and what the effects on them. The uses and gratification theory reminds the media that people are using media for many purposes. As media users become increasingly confronted with choices, this theory should direct medias attention to the audience. (Suresh, 2003) Based on the Lulls television research, found that families used television for communication facilitation, relationship building, intimacy and for

structuring the day. (Suresh, 2003) The researchers have found out four kinds of gratifications. The first information, people want to know about what is happening in the society and the world to satisfy their curiosity. The second is personal identity, people willing to look for models for their behaviors. This can help people to decide what is the feeling about themselves and if the media view the same behaviors, that mean the media is also agree with their behaviors so they will feel successful and feel better about themselves. Next is integration and social interaction. People use the media to find out more about the circumstances of other people, by watching a show may help the people to empathize the lives of others. The last is as entertainment, people sometimes use media for relaxing, enjoyment or sometimes just to fill time. Uses and gratification is useful for studying the motives and usage pattern of computer game players. (Hou, 2011.) This research framework assumes the majority of people choose the particular communications is to satisfy their needs and interests. Gamers that with different social backgrounds and demographic always had different expectations and uses of the same media. (Hou, 2011.) The uses and gratification theory is well fitted for studying the interactive of playing game. It provides principle for the gamers to gain insight on the impact of game experiences, the role of players choices and actions and their usage pattern when playing game. The uses and gratification theory have some limitations. There are three major criticisms of the users and gratification theory. (Littlejohn, 1989, P. 276) The first argument is due to the lack of coherence and it is non-theoretical. Although a more unified vision is emerging, some uses and gratification researchers are developing a theory that connects this work with another kindred program on dependency theory. Based on the researcher, Blmber said that The nature of the theory underlying uses and gratifications research is not totally clear. (Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch, 1974) There is confusion between gratification and satisfaction of people, whether people is only seek what they want or enjoy it. (Littlejohn, 2002)
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The second criticism is focusing on social and political objections. This problem is because the uses and gratification is so focuses on media functional role and ignores its dysfunctions in the society. People view media positively which can meet their needs, but they do not pay attention to the overall negative effects of media in the society. Many people criticised that the uses and gratification theory as they believed that the public actually do not control on the media and what it produces. Media do not need to take responsibility for what they produce because public is too kind to the media. Although there are many choices available for the users, they actually do not have the control over the media about what the media produces. The information that obtained by the users is solely prepared by gatekeepers and the information may already include the influences and perception of the gatekeepers. (Littlejohn, 2002) Last there is argument said that uses and gratification theory make media consumption behavioristic and individualistic. Uses and gratification theory has criticized as vulgar gratification which is highly individualistic nature. It only focused in the individual psychological gratification derived from individual media uses. Individuals are believed to control their media-consuming behavior according to conscious goals. (Littlejohn, 1989, P. 276) As mentioned above, people will not pay attention towards the ways to form media content and reflect the cultural values. Zillman, Denis McQuail showed one of the weaknesses of the uses and gratification theory is that the mood of people will affect their media choice. People choose what contexts to view or depend on their mood or feelings. For example, boredom encourages for choosing the exciting context, stress encourages the choice of relaxing context. Therefore, it is argue that the uses and gratification theory is often too individualistic, so it is too difficult to predict beyond the people. Some analysts have doubted the accuracy of self-reports on the uses and gratifications obtained from the media. They argue that such an approach is too simplistic, underestimate the complexity of human motivation. Self-reports are based on personal memory which can be
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problemat ic (Nagel et al., 2004). This is because the respondents might not recall exact ly how they behaved in media use which in turn distort accuracy of the study. Application in Malaysia Nowadays, Social Network System such as Facebook, Twitter and Friendster are very commonly used by millions of users. SNS are used for building relationships, communication, sharing information, social networking for personal and business used. In this part, we will examine the application of Uses and Gratification in SNS and specifically in Facebook. Two case studies in Malaysia will be discussed in this section. Case Study 1 A study conducted by UCSI University, Malaysia which is to study the main purpose of using SNS among Malaysian youth, they usage behaviour their attitude towards SNS, and their overall usage experience. The data is collected by distributing 700questionnaires to youth who study at selected universities and companies located in Klang Valley. Interviews were also conducted in the Klang Valley to ask about the interviewees opinions about SNS-related-issues. Findings of case study 1 Findings show that the main purpose of SNS use among the Klang valley youth is for personal use such as communication with friends by keeping updated within their social circle. The next main reason of using SNS is for entertainment purposes. The three main activities of using SNS were posting comments, sending instant messages (chat), and playing games. The findings also show there is a difference between the usage behavior of male and female. 56.68 % of female respondent were engaging more on posting comments by using SNS. On the other hand, 51.28% of male respondents were sending more instant messages and 43.07% on playing games. From the interviews
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conducted with the three participants, it was found that the primary motivation for youth to engage in SNS included connecting or networking with peers, gratifying their need for information and entertainment. Discussion This research shows that the main reason of SNS usage for youth in Klang Valley is peer-topeer communication. Similarly, Foong (personal communication, 2010) agreed that peer communication or networking among peers is the main reason of SNS use among youth. This result shows that youth is more focus on interaction by using SNS. Therefore, the finding reinforces the results from previous studies (Boyd & Ellison 2007) on SNS and its usage where it is shown that peer-to-peer communication is the central reason for its rapid growth. The findings also revealed that entertainment is rapidly grown for the usage of SNS. Entertainment is the important factor for SNS usage as the youth today are audiences who actively seeking satisfaction and instant gratification through media. This is proven in the Uses and Gratifications theoretical framework which stated that users play an active role in choosing media which can gratify their satisfactions. The interviews revealed that entertaining features of SNS are also the contributors of SNS use. Basically the respondents attitude towards advertising on SNS was not favourable. 48.75% of them had neutral attitude and 43.42% viewed the advertisement negatively. The research shows that the respondents were nonetheless sceptical as they perceived such advertisements as an invasion of privacy. They will not click on the advertisement on SNS. This might be due to two reasons, one is they distrust the online media as there are many hacking, virus transfer, scams and frauds cases before. The second reason might be due to the lack of gratification. Based on the past research, the purpose of using SNS is more on looking for friendship and social interactions. Therefore, people are not interested in commercial on the SNS.
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Mini Survey Many researches on the motives of using Facebook mentioned in the literature review part are mainly conducted in oversea. Therefore, we would like to replicate the study to test the theory whether applicable in context of Malaysian youths Facebook usage. The research objective is to analyze the motives of Facebook usage among youths in Malaysia and differentiate the differences between male and females motives of Facebook usage in Malaysia. The questionnaire adopted and modified according to the Malaysia context. 50 sets of questionnaires are randomly sent out to Malaysian youth. Their age ranges is between 14 to 25 years old and have internet access. The questionnaire is attached in Appendix I. The data collected was tabulated, analysed and discussed in the following section. Our own findings Findings revealed that all of the respondents are Facebook users and the average time for male and female spent on Facebook was 15 and 20 hours per week respectively. Most of them use the Facebook 5 to 7 days per week. 54% of male respondents and 26% of female respondents are using Facebook everyday as part of their life by login every day. (Refer to the graph 1 in appendix) The main usage purpose on Facebook included update friends status, chatting and get information from Facebook. (Refer to the graph 2 in appendix) For the motivation of using Facebook, in the category of social interaction, there are 98% of respondents agreed that Facebook helps them to keep in touch with family and friends and 96% of them viewed that Facebook helps them chat with friends. For the category of Surveillance, 82% of respondents think that Facebook gives detailed information about current issues and events. 76% of them viewed that Facebook gives them something to occupy their time which fall under the escape category. 66% of them thinks that Facebook offers entertainment and 62% agreed that Facebook is fun. For the category of eroticism,
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88% of them disagreed that Facebook helps them to understand about sex and 76% disagreed that Facebook lets them to see sex pictures. (Refer to table 1 in appendix) Analysis and discussion The findings of this study support many conclusions that have been mentioned in reviewed literature. The finding revealed that the motivations of Facebook usage are driven by Social interaction, Entertainment, Surveillance, Escape, Product Information and Eroticism motivations respectively. According to Blumler & Katz, (1974), Lasswell suggested that media fulfilled the needs for surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission both for individuals and society. Facebook shows a similar function as suggested by McQuail, Blumler, and Brown (1972) that media serve important functions at the level of the individual, namely Emotional release through escapism and diversion from routine or problems and self enrichment through information surveillance. However, as Facebook is a new media with the ability of interactivity, the motive of using it is more towards interaction. Therefore, it is still unsure that whether is the ease of use and the interaction of Facebook motivate Malaysian youth to engage in Facebook activities or the audience actively find Facebook to gratify their need. Our finding shows that the major gratification for Malaysian youth in Facebook usage behavior is social interaction and entertainment. This is aligning with the result of past research in Malaysia where the main purpose of Malaysian in use internet is social interaction and entertainment. This also shows a similar result with the case study 1 as in the motives of SNS usage where youth are more focus on peer-to- peer communication. As cited by Soh, C.H.(2010), Jaafar and Sulaiman (2005) concluded that entertainment is the primary online activity of home computer users in Malaysia. Our findings further support research of Ray (2007) which concluded that the uses of SNS for simultaneously fulfilling entertainment and social utility needs. This indicated that Malaysian

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youth utilise the function of Facebook such as chatbox, posting comments, and group page to maintain relationship and interact with their friends and family. Although the past research in Malaysia shows that the erotic motivation is a major online motivation of youths in Malaysia, it is not applicable in our study. The erotic motivation is not the motives for Malaysian youth to login to Facebook. Many studies done in Western country shows that there is a relationship between Internet addiction and eroticism. (Douglas et al., 2008; Griffiths, 2001; K. S. Young, 2008) However, it is not applicable when comes to the cases of Facebook usage. Based on our findings, there are more than 80% of respondents disagree that their Facebook activities are to see sex pictures and only 2% respondents viewed that Facebook let them understand about sex. (Refer to table 1 in appendix) This might be due to people are self-regulated while using Facebook. Facebook has a function which allows the user to report unpleasant photo or information. Therefore, people are selfregulated by reporting the sex photos which appear on Facebook and the Facebook administration will block the particular photo or even the user. This indirectly reduces the chances for people to engage in pornography via Facebook. Our result shows that when respondents have a need of entertainment or social interaction, Facebook is the media for Malaysian youth as platform to conduct peer-to-peer communication. On the other hand, there are around 50% of respondents neither agree nor disagree that Facebook is a convenient way to shop or helps them to save time when buy things. This shows that Facebook cannot satisfy their need of product information and they will rather choose other media to gratify their need. This research also found that male and female Facebook users have different purpose. Based on the findings (Refer to Graph 1 in appendix), the main purpose of both male and female are to update friends status and chat with friends. However, result also shows that male is heavier user
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compare to female and they also spend times in playing games on Facebook whereas female will spend their time to do business and sharing videos. Similarly, according to Wong, F.M., Lean, M.L. & Fernandez, P.R. (2011), SNS usage among females is more social relationship-oriented (Hirst et al. 2009). Our findings also revealed the different motivation of using Facebook between male and female. The main motivation for both gender are Social interaction and Entertainment but Product Information is also one of the motivation for female when compare to male. (Refer to table 2 in appendix) This finding is similar to a study conducted by Wolin and Kargaonkar (2003) which conclude that males are likely to browse the Internet for functional and entertainment purpose while females are more into shopping reasons. This can be explained by using the uses and gratification theory. This theory implies that people actively use the media to fulfil certain needs. The results of this research show that the level of agreement among the respondents of both genders may differ. Based on this research the female are more motivated to use Facebook to fulfil their needs for product information. Conclusion Past researches on uses and gratifications show that people use the media motivated to fulfil their needs. (Jansz, J., 2010) This is also confirmed with this research. By comparing the result of the both studies in Malaysia, it can be conducted shows that the major gratification for Malaysian youth in Facebook usage behaviour is social interaction and entertainment. As there are research shows that most of Malaysian primary online activities are entertainment, but Facebook user will just mainly focus of the sharing status and chatting on Facebook. When comes to search video and also playing games, they will more prefer to choose online games rather than Facebook games and using other SNS such as Youtube to share video and post their video. They will search information by using other internet pages instead of relying on Facebook product information.

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This indicated that for Malaysian youth, Facebook is just a platform of interact with friend and family. Although Facebook provide games and has the function of sharing video, it is not specific. It only can gratify their social interaction need and they will choose other media which provide specific function to gratify their need. As we had found that user and gratification theory is applicable in current youth society in Malaysia with the usage of Facebook in their life. As what had being shown by Littlejohn, (1989, P. 274), the audiences of mass communication is active and goal-directed. Both gender used Facebook for different usage such as games and communication purposes. In our survey, the significant difference between both genders is male more towards games and female more toward other peoples sharing video and notes. This shows different gender will have different purpose of using SNS in their daily life and it also states that media doesnt make the choice of the user but apparently is the user choose the media according to their own preference. On the other hand, users do have limited choices because the user also will depend on the media company or the media controller to adjust and create the media according to their own ways. User sometimes may need to adapt to what the media provided because the medias owner have the power to choose what being reported or being shown. As argued by Tan (2010), one of the pulling factors for the youth to use SNS for entertainment is its ability of interactivity. Besides that, Tan (2010) also highlighted that the initial primary motivation was peer pressure, which later transformed into gratification for entertainment. Therefore, we should not underestimate the influence of social institution as well as the media function.

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Reference

1. Uses and gratifications approach. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2011 from http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Uses_ and_Gratifications_Approach.doc/ 2. Uses and gratifications theory. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2011 from http://ellenmedia.tumblr.com/post/345790496/uses-and-gratifications-theory 3. Papacharissi, Z. (n.d.). Uses and gratifications. Retrieved June 25, 2011 from http://tigger.uic.edu/~zizi/Site/Research_files/PapacharissiU%26G.pdf 4. Review of available literature. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2011 from http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/00B2/LitReview.htm 5. Spring, E. R. (2002). Uses & gratifications/Dependency theory. Retrieved June 25, 2011 from http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/spch100/7-4-uses.htm 6. Littlejohn, S. W. (1989). Theories of human communication. United States of America: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. 7. Suresh, K. (2003). Journalism and mass communication - Chapter 2 Theories of communication. Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/mass/mass2.html 8. Katz, E., Blumber, J. G., Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and gratification research. The Public Opinion Quarterly. Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://www.monitooring.ee/andres/Katz_Uses_and_gratifications_research.pdf 9. Uses & gratification of mass media consumers. (2011). Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5519873_uses-gratifications-mass-media-consumers.html

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10. Niihumphrey. (2010). Weaknesses of the uses and gratification theory. Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://niihumphrey.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/weaknesses-of-the-uses-andgratification-theory/ 11. Hou, J. H. (2011). First Monday, volume 16, number 17. Retrieved July 20, 2011 from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3517/3020 12. Manohor, U. (2011). What are the effects of media. Retrieved July 20 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-are-the-effects-of-media.html 13. Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and gratification theory in the 21st century. Mass Communication & Society, 2000.Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/~amgutsch/Ruggiero.pdf 14. Chandler, D. (1995). Why do people watch television? Retrieved July 16, 2011 from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html 15. Munusamy, K., Ismail, M. (2009). Influence of gender role on internet usage pattern at home among academicians. The Journal of International Social Research. Retrieved July 11, 2011 from http://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/cilt2/sayi9pdf/munusamy_ismail.pdf 16. Hetzog, Katz. (1974). 5 Uses and gratifications. Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/51386228/5/USES-AND-GRATIFICATIONS 17. Raacke, J., Raacke, J. B. (2008). MySpace and facebook: Applying the uses and gratification theory to exploring friend-networking sites. Cyber Psychology and Behavior. Retrieved July 22, from ftp://124.42.15.59/ck/201101/165/025/576/307/MySpace%20and%20Facebook%20Applying%20the%20Uses%20and%20Gratifications%20Theory%20to%20Explorin g%20Friend-Networking%20Sites.pdf

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18. Urista, M. A., Dong Q., Day, K. D. (n.d.). Explaining why young adults use mayspace and facebook through uses and gratification theory. A Publication of the Pacific and Asian Communication Association. Retrieved July 22, 2011 from http://www.uab.edu/Communicationstudies/humancommunication/07_Urista_final.pdf 19. Smeele, M. (2010). Motivation for content creation, a comparative study between Australia and the Netherlands. Participation on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Retrieved July 22, 2011 from http://oaithesis.eur.nl/ir/repub/asset/9024/MAThesisSmeele.pdf 20. Young, A. L., Hasse, A. Q. (2011). Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society. Retrieved July 22, 2011 from http://umbc.academia.edu/AlysonYoung/Papers/425922/Uses_and_Gratifications_of_So cial_Media_A_Comparison_of_Facebook_and_Instant_Messaging 21. Wong, F. M., Lean, M. L., Fernandez, P. R. (2011). Social life connects the world: Malaysian youths usage behavior of social network sites. International Journal of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 22, 2011 from http://openaccesslibrary.org/images/GRY155_Wong_Fei_Mun.pdf 22. Baran, S. J., Davis, D. K. (2006). Mass communication theory. United Sate of America: Thomson Wadsworth. 23. DeFleur, M. L. (2010). Mass communication theories Explaining origins, processes, and effects. United State of America: Pearson Education, Inc. 24. Soh, C. H. (2010). Influence of parents and peers on internet usage and addiction amongst school-going youths in Malaysia, Doctor of Philosophy by Research. 238, 3449674. Retrieved July 15, 2011 from Utar Library database.
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We are Year 2 Semester 1 students of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) currently pursuing a degree in Corporate Communication. We would like to conduct a research on the purpose of using Facebook and Facebook usage of Malaysian for the course Mass Communication Theory. We hope that you could kindly participate to facilitate the findings of our research. Please be assured that all information collected is strictly confidential and is for academic purposes only. Thank you. Lim Siow Ying(0904051) Please answer carefully and honestly. 1. Age: 15 and below 16-20 21-25 2. Gender: Male 3. Your Race: Malay Bumiputera Chinese 4. Your Occupation: Professional(skip to Q6) Non-professional(skip to Q6) 5. Your Stream: Art Technical Science Commerce/Accounting IT Others(Please Specify):
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26-30 31-39 40 and above

Female

India Others (Please specify):__________

Student Retired(skip to Q6)

6. Is there a computer/laptop at your home? Yes 7. Is there Internet connection at your home? Yes 8. Where do you use the Internet most often? (Please tick only 1 box) Your Home School Cybercaf Science 9. Have you ever used the facebook account? Yes If yes, please continue with Q10 If no, please skip to all questions 10. How long have you been using the facebook? Less than 1 month 1 to 3years 1 to 6 month 7 to 11 month 4 to 6 years More than 6 years Others(Please Specify): 11. How many days in a week do you usually use the facebook? Less than 1 day 4 days 1 day 2 days 3 days 5 days 6 days Everyday No Friends or Relatives House Others(Please Specify): No No (please skip to Q8)

12. How many hours per week do you usually use the facebook? ___ Hours per week 13. What is the main purpose of using facebook?(choose only one) Play games Chatting Do Business Sharing video and note Buy things Update friends status Get Information Others(Please Specify): __________
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14. These questions ask about your reasons for using the facebook (Please tick the most suitable box for each reason) I used the facebook because Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Disagree Agree or Agree Disagree a. it is fun b. it helps me to keep in touch with family and friends c. it provides information about products d. it helps me to forget school and other things e. it makes me less lonely f. it helps me to understand about sex g. it helps me talk to people of the same hobbies h. it helps me chat with friends i. it gives detailed information about current issues and events j. It helps me to know more about friends k. It is a convenient way to shop l. it gives me excitement to read sexual stories m. it helps me to keep in touch about news in Malaysia n. it helps me to relieve stress o. it is an enjoyable habit that I like doing p. it offers entertainment q. I am bored r. it gives me something to occupy my time s. it helps me to keep updated on what is happening in my area t. it provides sex information u. it helps me to understand issues and events v. it offers a pleasant way to fill time w. it helps me to compare prices x. it lets me to see sex pictures y. it gives me something else to think about other than my own problems z. it helps me to save time aa. it is exciting to flirt online bb. it helps me to make new friends cc. it helps me to do schoolwork dd. it helps me to find things to buy
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Appendixes Findings

Total days use in Facebook in a week

30 25 Number of people 20 15 Male 10 5 0 1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days Days 5 days 6 days Everyday Female

Graph 1

Main purpose using Facebook

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Number of poeple

Male Female

Purpose

Graph 2
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Table 1 I used the facebook because dd. it helps me to find things to buy(Product Information) z. it helps me to save time(Product Information) w. it helps me to compare prices(Product Information) k. It is a convenient way to shop(Product Information) dd. it helps me to find things to buy(Product Information) z. it helps me to save time(Product Information) w. it helps me to compare prices(Product Information) k. It is a convenient way to shop(Product Information) a.it is fun(entertain) n. it helps me to relieve stress(entertain) p. it offers entertainment(entertain) v. it offers a pleasant way to fill time(entertain) b. it helps me to keep in touch with family and friends (Social-Interaction) g. it helps me talk to people of the same hobbies(Social-Interaction) h. it helps me chat with friends(SocialInteraction) bb. it helps me to make new friends(Social-Interaction) c. it provides information about products (Surveillance/Information) s. it helps me to keep updated on what is happening in my area (Surveillance/ Information) Agree 14% 12% 20% 14% 14% 12% 20% 14% Disagree 46% 56% 44% 54% 46% 56% 44% 54% Agree / Disagree 40% 32% 36% 32% 40% 32% 36% 32%

62% 50% 66% 46%

34% 34% 30% 46%

4% 16% 4% 8%

98%

2%

0%

50%

36%

14%

96% 60%

4% 22%

0% 18%

38% 76%

42% 34%

20% 0%

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m. it helps me to keep in touch about news in Malaysia(Surveillance/Information) i. it gives detailed information about current issues and events(Surveillance/Information) cc. it helps me to do schoolwork(Surveillance/Information) d. it helps me to forget school and other things(Escape/ Pass-Time) e. it makes me less lonely(Escape/ Pass-Time) q. I am bored(Escape/ Pass-Time) r. it gives me something to occupy my time(Escape/ Pass-Time) o. it is an enjoyable habit that I like doing(Escape/ Pass-Time) y. it gives me something else to think about other than my own problems(Escape/ Pass-Time) aa. it is exciting to flirt online(Eroticism) x. it lets me to see sex pictures (Eroticism) t. it provides sex information(Eroticism) l. it gives me excitement to read sexual stories f. it helps me to understand about sex(Eroticism) j. It helps me to know more about friends u. it helps me to understand issues and events

50%

30%

20%

82%

18%

0%

34%

38%

28%

20% 30% 40% 76% 52% 26%

18% 46% 48% 22% 36% 42%

62% 24% 12% 2% 12% 32%

24% 0% 0% 2% 2%

36% 12% 34% 22% 26%

40% 88% 66% 76% 72%

86% 62%

10% 30%

4% 8%

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Table 2 I used the facebook because How many girl agree 6 3 6 5 6 6 How many males agree 1 3 4 2 1 4

dd. it helps me to find things to buy(Product Information) z. it helps me to save time(Product Information) w. it helps me to compare prices(Product Information) k. It is a convenient way to shop(Product Information) dd. it helps me to find things to buy(Product Information) w. it helps me to compare prices(Product Information)

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