Facebook versus Instagram: How perceived gratifications and technological attributes are related to the change in social media usage

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to explore which factors of users' perceived gratifications and technology attributes are associated with changes in the usage level of Facebook and Instagram during the past three months. We identified common gratifications (social interaction, entertainment, passing time, browsing, need for recognition) as well as technology attributes (visual element, recommendation algorithm, privacy setting, openness, simultaneousness) of Facebook and Instagram and surveyed respondents who have both Facebook and Instagram accounts (n = 613). Respondents who were more gratified with entertainment and need for recognition aspects and those who have positive attitudes toward Facebook's recommendation algorithm features were more likely to report that they have increased use of the platform during the past three months. Meanwhile, respondents who were gratified with the browsing aspect of gratifications and those who have positive attitudes toward levels of openness on Instagram tended to report that they have increasingly used the platform during the past three months. (C) 2018 Western Social Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.