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Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 1
Examining the Ability of Extroversion, Need for Popularity, Smart Phone Usage, and Socializing
to Predict Social Media Use
Julia Chapman, Laura Liebers, Crystal Houston, Arlaina Harris, Astro Jiang
University of Rochester
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 2
Abstract
The current study examined the ability of extroversion, need for popularity, socializing,
and smart phone usage to predict frequency of Facebook and Instragram usage, as measured by
number of log-ins per week. Affiliation with Greek life, conscientiousness, and social network
size were added as control variables. The sample consisted of 384 undergraduate students, 76.6%
of which were female students. Our results showed that smart phone usage and Greek life
affiliation were significant predictors of Facebook use, and that extroversion, need for
popularity, socializing and smart phone usage were significant predictors of frequency of
Instagram use. We did not find a significant association between Facebook use and extroversion,
need for popularity, or socializing after controlling for other predictor variables. Implications of
these results will be discussed.
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 3
Examining the Ability of Extroversion, Need for Popularity, Smart Phone Usage, and
Socializing to Predict Social Media Use
In recent years, the growing popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram have changed the way we communicate with each other. Research on this topic
has attempted to look at factors that may correlate to different usage patterns, including levels of
extroversion, face-to-face social interaction, and importance of popularity. The increased use of
social media sites has important implications for college students’ academics and social life, as it
provides an easy way to stay in contact with family and friends but can also be a distraction to
many students. We therefore feel that examining the predictors of social media usage is not only
fascinating but very relevant to today’s college students.
A correlational study by Chistofides, Muise, and Desmarais (2009) examined the
relationship between the need for popularity and amount of Facebook usage. The authors used an
online survey to examine the Facebook habits of 343 university undergraduates in Ontario,
Canada. They specifically observed the amount of time participants spent on Facebook per day,
the kinds of information they typically disclosed on Facebook, and their use of particular privacy
settings on the site. Additionally, participants were asked questions about their personal need for
popularity, general tendency to disclose personal information, and the specific likelihood of their
disclosure of personal information over Facebook. Not surprisingly, researchers found that even
after controlling for general tendency for self-disclosure, higher levels of need for popularity
predicted higher levels of disclosure on Facebook. The authors believed that this correlation
could be due either to the Facebook environment increasing the saliency of popularity or due to
the idea that popularity on Facebook would require more disclosure of personal information such
as pictures and active discussions with friends. The present study sought to expand upon this
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research by finding the relationship between need for popularity and amount of time spent daily
on social media sites in general (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook).
In another study, Jacobsen and Forste (2011) also looked at the social media use of
university students, specifically looking for a correlational relationship between use of social
networking sites like Facebook and amount of face-to-face social interaction. The authors used
an Internet survey that included a questionnaire and a 3-day log to study a sample of 1,026 first-
year university students. The 3-day log was used as a diary in which students detailed up to three
activities they had participated in for each half hour period of the day for 3 days they had chosen
from a 3-week period. The activities were picked based on a list of 44 online and offline,
structured and unstructured activities and were placed into the categories of primary, secondary,
and other based on the amount of time each of the three activities took place during each half-
hour span. The results of this study showed a positive correlation between social media use and
face-to-face social interactions, specifically that for every hour increase in social media use there
was a 10 to 15 minute increase in face-to-face interaction. These results suggested that there was
no displacement effect between the two activities (i.e. one activity does not replace the other),
which was perhaps due to students’ ability to use social media during in-person interactions and
tendency to use social media as a means of planning face-to-face interactions. The current study
aimed to expand upon this research by switching the predictor and criterion variables to see if
amount of time spent socializing, particularly in extracurricular activities at the university level,
would independently predict levels of social media use, after controlling for other predictors of
Facebook usage.
Additionally, research has found a correlational relationship between Facebook usage and
levels of extroversion and conscientiousness (Ryan & Xenos, 2011). In a sample of 1,635
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 5
Australian Internet users as participants, the study used an online survey with 124 questions
assessing demographic information, scores for each of the Big Five personality factors, levels of
narcissism, shyness, and loneliness, and Facebook usage. The Facebook usage questions
attempted to find not only the time the participants spent on the site but also the kinds of
Facebook activities they engaged in. Types of activities were grouped into active social
contributions, passive engagement, news and information, and real-time social interaction (e.g.
the use of Facebook chat). Results showed that not only do Facebook users tended to be more
extroverted than nonusers but that higher levels of extroversion also tended to predict more
active social contributions and more real-time interaction on Facebook. Furthermore, higher
levels of conscientiousness tended to predict slightly lower levels of news and information
gathering on Facebook. The current study intended to expand this research to other forms of
social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, specifically looking at the ways extroversion and
conscientiousness predict the use of different social media forms.
In the Current Study
The aim of the current study was to find the factors that predict social media usage
through use of an online sample of 394 university undergraduates. As an expansion of previous
research, we looked at the ability of extroversion, social interaction, and the importance of
popularity to predict social media usage. We also examined participants’ access the smart
devices (i.e. portable devices with access to internet or data plans) as a predictor of frequency of
social media use, as we believed the two would likely be correlated.
One hypothesis of the current study was that higher levels of extroversion would predict
higher social media usage. This hypothesis was based on previous research findings that
Facebook users tend to be more extroverted than Facebook nonusers (Ryan & Xenos, 2011).
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 6
Secondly, we expected to find is that a higher perceived importance of popularity would predict
higher social media usage. Again, this expectation was based on previous research linking need
for popularity to higher levels of Facebook disclosure (Chistofides et al., 2009). Additionally, we
expected that more socializing behavior and participation in extracurricular activities amongst
university students would predict higher levels of social media usage. This hypothesis was in
line with previous research linking higher social media use to higher levels of face-to-face
interaction (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). Lastly, we predicted higher levels of smart phone usage
would predict an increase in social media use. While there is no current research to support this
prediction, it seemed reasonable to assume that with greater use of phones with Internet access
and social media applications, social media usage would increase.
The study also used conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life
as control variables. In line with previous research (Ryan & Xenos, 2011), we expected higher
levels of conscientiousness to predict lower levels of social media usage. We also believed that
larger social network sizes and affiliation with Greek life would predict higher levels of social
media use, as they would be likely to increase average amount of social interaction which was
shown to have a positive relationship with social media use (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011).
Method
Participants
Three hundred eighty-four undergraduate students were recruited for the study, 76.6% of
the participants were female, 55% were Caucasian, and the average age of the participants was
20 years old. Because this was a minimal risk study, there was no informed consent process.
Instead, participants read an information page describing the risks and benefits of the study prior
to completing the online survey. Participants were recruited through the psychology
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 7
undergraduate research pool at a medium-sized university in western New York and were given
0.5 credit toward one undergraduate psychology course of their choosing in which they were
currently enrolled.
Measures
The measure of social media usage was divided into two outcome variables, frequency of
Facebook use and frequency of Instagram use. We found that these two variables correlated
weakly enough to be measured separately. Each of the two variables was defined as the number
of times a participant logged in to the respective site per week. Frequency of Facebook use was
measured using a 1-item scale that asked “Thinking of your use of various forms of social media
on a typical week, on average, how often do you use Facebook each week?” Participants
responded using an 8-point scale that ranged from “Never/Don’t use” to “11+ times per day.”
For responses that included a daily value, which ranged from “Daily” to “11+ times per day” the
numerical value associated with the response was multiplied by 7 to determine an approximate
number of weekly logins, such that the resulting number was somewhere between 1 and 77+.
Frequency of Instagram use was measured using the same process, with the only difference
being that the item wording was “Thinking of your use of various forms of social media on a
typical week, on average, how often do you use Instagram each week?” Participants responded
using the same 8-point scale that ranged from “Never/Don’t use” to “11+ times per day.”
The trait of extroversion was defined as being fun-loving, outgoing, and affectionate.
Extroversion levels were measured through use of 8 items from the Big Five Inventory scale
(BFI) (John, Naumann & Soto, 2008). Participants were asked to respond to items using a 5-
point scale ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly.” Some typical items included “I
am talkative,” “I am full of energy,” and “I generate a lot of enthusiasm.” Responses to the items
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were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of extraversion and the scale
demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .872) in the current sample.
The need for popularity was defined as the extent to which the participants wanted
recognition or approval by peers. We measured the need for popularity with a 12-item scale
adapted from a self-report scale designed by Santor, Messervey, and Kusumakar (1999).
Participants responded to the items using a 5-point scale ranging from “strongly agree” to
“strongly disagree.” Typical items included “I have done things to make me more popular, even
when it meant doing something I would not usually do,” “I’ve bought things because they were
the ‘in’ things to have,” and “I’ve gone to parties just to be part of the crowd.” Responses to the
items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of need for popularity and the
scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .929) in the current sample.
Level of socializing and participation in extracurricular activities was defined as amount
of time, on average, spent each day interacting with friends in a non-academic setting. We
measured this variable using a 5-point scale adapted from the Social Activity Measure (Cooper,
Okamura & Gurka, 1992). Participants responded using a 7-point scale ranging from “Never” to
“All the time.” Typical items included “Considering your social life, how often do you get to just
hang out with friends?” “Considering your social life, how often do you do fun things with your
friends on campus?” and “Considering your social life, how often do you go on dates?”
Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of
socialization and participation in extracurricular activities and the scale demonstrated high levels
on internal consistency (α = .791) in the current sample.
Smart phone usage was defined as how often participants used a smart phone on a daily
basis. We created a 2-item self-report scale to measure this. Participants responded using a 7-
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 9
point scale ranging from “Never/Don’t own” to “Always.” The two items included in the scale
were “On a daily basis, how often do you have with you or are you near a smartphone?” and “On
a daily basis, how often do you use a smartphone?” Responses to the items were summed so that
higher scores indicated higher levels of access to smart devices and the scale demonstrated high
levels on internal consistency (α = .847) in the current sample.
Conscientiousness was used as a control variable and was defined as the tendency to
show self-discipline, complete tasks on timely manners, and aim for achievement. This was also
measured using the BFI, specifically the 9 items from the 44-item scale dealing with
conscientiousness. Participants were asked to rate statements using a 1-5 scale that ranged from
“disagree strongly” to “agree strongly.” Typical sample items included “I do a thorough job,” “I
am a reliable worker,” and “I persevere until a task is finished” (John, Naumann & Soto, 2008).
Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of
conscientiousness and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .818) in
the current sample.
Additionally, social network size and affiliation with Greek life were used as control
variables. We defined social network size as number of friends participants were regularly in
contact with. We used a single item to asses social network size, participants first answered the
question “How many close friends do you have?” using a 7-point response scale ranging from
“None” to “12 or more.” Affiliation with Greek life was assessed using a single nominal-scale
item that asked, “Are you involved in a fraternity or sorority?” with responses being either “yes”
or “no.”
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 10
Procedure
Our measures were embedded in a larger questionnaire that was used for 2 class projects.
The questionnaire took approximately 30 minutes to complete. No debriefing was needed
because we did not use any deception or manipulation.
Results
Table 1 shows the bivariate correlations of the variables in the study. Frequency of
Facebook use showed significant correlations with smart phone use and socializing in the
expected directions. This indicates that higher levels of socializing and smart phone usage were
associated with a higher frequency of Facebook use. Frequency of Instagram use demonstrated
significant correlations with all predictor variables in the expected direction, indicating that
higher levels of extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone usage, and socializing all predict
higher frequency of Instagram use. Additionally, extraversion was significantly correlated with
smart phone use and socializing such that higher levels of extraversion predicted higher levels of
smart phone use and socializing. Levels of need for popularity were significantly correlated with
socializing in a positive direction, so that higher levels of need for popularity predicted higher
levels of socializing. Furthermore, higher levels of smart phone use were correlated with higher
levels of socializing. Finally, it is important to note that higher frequency of Facebook use was
associated with a higher frequency of Instagram use, but the correlation was weak enough for
them to be treated as two separate variables. Taken as a set these correlations suggest an
interesting pattern of associations among the predictor variables and Facebook and Instagram use
meriting further analysis in a multiple regression framework.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to explore the ability of extraversion,
need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing levels to predict frequency of Facebook
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 11
use, as measured by the amount of times logged in to Facebook per week. Conscientiousness,
social network size, and affiliation with Greek life were entered in the first step of the analysis as
controls. As can be seen in Table 2, the controls accounted for 4.2% of the variance in frequency
of Facebook use. Specifically, affiliation with Greek life was the only significant predictor of
frequency of Facebook use, on average, participants who were affiliated with Greek life logged
in to Facebook about 10.75 more times per week compared to the sample mean (B = 10.754, t =
3.825, p = .000). Neither social network size (B = 0.47, t = .925, p =.355) nor conscientiousness
(B = -.133, t = -.586, p = .559), were significantly related with frequency of Facebook use.
When extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing were added after
controlling for conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life, they
accounted for an additional 3.6% of the variance. Only one of the predictors, smart phone use (B
= 1.847, t = 3.434, p = .001) were significantly associated with frequency of Facebook use. Thus
higher levels of smart phone use predicted higher frequency of Facebook use.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to explore the ability of extraversion,
need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing levels to predict frequency of Instagram
use, as measured by the amount of times logged in to Instagram per week. Conscientiousness,
social network size, and affiliation with Greek life were entered in the first step of the analysis as
controls. As can be seen in Table 3, the controls accounted for 1.7% of the variance in frequency
of Instagram use. Specifically affiliation with Greek was the only significant predictor of
frequency of Instagram use, on average, participants who were affiliated with Greek life logged
in to Instagram about 6.31 more times per week compared to the sample mean (B = 6.313, t =
2.492, p = .013). Neither social network size (B = -.063, t = -.435, p =.664) nor
conscientiousness (B = .036, t = .176, p = .860), were significantly related with frequency of
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 12
Instagram use. After controlling for conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with
Greek life , extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing accounted for an
additional 9.1% of the variance. Once these predictors were added in step two, need for
popularity (B = .270, t = 2.620, p = .009), smart phone use (B = 1.622, t = .173, p = .001), and
levels of socializing (B = .471, t = 2.087, p = 0.38) were all significantly associated with
frequency of Instagram use. These associations signify that higher levels of need for popularity,
smart phone use, and socializing all predict more log-ins to Instagram per week. Levels of
extraversion were found to be only marginally associated with frequency of Instagram use (B =
.323, t = 1.666, p = .097) thus providing a small amount of predictive information on how
frequently participants logged in to Instagram over a week.
Discussion
Summary of Results
Frequency of Facebook Use. Only one of our predictor variables, smart phone usage,
was significantly associated with frequency of Facebook use. This might be because the baseline
use of Facebook in a university setting being unusually high to begin with. That is, because
Facebook is used as a main form of communication between organizations and individuals
within a campus setting, most students who are involved in any sort of club may be logging in
many times per week regardless of levels of other variables. This is an experience that is
somewhat unique to undergraduate university students, and may explain the incongruence of our
results on Facebook usage with previous research. However, all of our predictor variables were
significantly associated with Instagram use, and possible explanations for this are further
explored in our discussion of our main hypotheses
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Hypothesis 1. Our results partially supported the hypothesis that increased levels of
extroversion would be associated with higher Facebook and Instagram use. After running a
hierarchical regression of our data, our results suggest that higher levels of extroversion do
indeed predict higher levels of Instagram use, but not Facebook use. This would suggest that
people who are talkative, full of energy, have assertive personalities, and consider themselves
outgoing tend to log in to Instagram more often than others. These findings partially fall in line
with Ryan & Xenos’s (2011) research, as they found that higher levels of extroversion predicted
higher levels of social media usage. These researchers, however, specifically found these results
using Facebook as their outcome variable. The current study expanded on previous research by
including another form of social media as an outcome variable, and found the same pattern of
results. Therefore we feel that our results suggest that findings from previous research on the
predicting factors of Facebook use may be able to be generalized to other forms of social media.
Hypothesis 2. Our results partially supported our hypothesis that a higher need for
popularity would be associated with higher levels of Facebook and Instagram. After running a
hierarchical regression analysis on our data, we found that higher levels of need for popularity
predicted higher frequency of Instagram use, but not Facebook use. This suggests that people
who do things only to fit with a trend, spend time with others because they consider those people
to be popular, or do things to avoid seeming like a “loser” spend more time posting to and
looking at their Instagram feeds. These results add to a growing body of research that suggests
social media may increase the saliency of popularity to those who use it (Christofides et al.,
2009). In the current study, we expanded upon previous research by including Instagram use as
an additional outcome measure, and found similar results. We believe that this may suggest that
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 14
those who have a higher need for popularity find it more important to post to Instagram in order
to gain likes on pictures, which may make them feel validated in their day to day activities.
Hypothesis 3. Our results partially supported the hypothesis that higher levels of
socializing behavior would predict higher levels of Facebook and Instagram use. While higher
levels of socializing were initially correlated with higher frequency of Facebook use, once we
controlled for other variables in a hierarchical regression model, socializing did not predict
frequency of Facebook use beyond what other significant predictor variables could. Higher
levels of socializing did, however, predict higher frequency of Instagram use even after
controlling for other significant predictor variables. These results suggest that people who get to
just hang out with friends, do fun things on or off campus with friends, or go to parties or on
dates more often also use Instagram more often than others who do not participate in these social
activities. These results are congruent with previous findings that more face-to-face interaction is
associated with higher levels of social media use (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). The current study
expanded upon previous research by adding in a relatively new form of social media, Instagram,
as a dependent variable and found similar results. We believe that increased socializing may
predict increased use specifically for Instagram because it is a form of social media exclusively
used for sharing pictures, and more pictures may tend to be taken in social settings rather than in
solitary settings. Additionally, increased socializing may lead to a larger number of friends on
social media sites and therefore an increased motivation to check in and keep up with these
communication forums.
Hypothesis 4. Our results supported the hypothesis that increased smart phone usage
would be associated with higher levels of Facebook and Instagram use. This would suggest that
the people who have smart phones with them often, and who use them often, also log in to
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Instagram and Facebook more often. While there is no previous research to support this finding,
we believe that because smart phones have access to the Internet and applications for many
social media sites at nearly all times, they make logging in to these sites easy and quick.
Therefore, since it is not a hassle to log in to Facebook or Instagram at any given point during the
day, people tend to use the sites more often per week when they have a smart phone.
Greek Life. Interestingly, our results suggest that affiliation with Greek life, which was
used as a control variable, is significantly associated with higher levels of both Facebook and
Instagram use, even after controlling for other significant predictor variables. These results
suggest that undergraduate students that are part of a Greek fraternity or sorority on campus log
in to both Facebook and Instagram more times in a week than students who are not affiliated
with a Greek organization. While there is no previous research on this relationship specifically,
we feel that these results may be understood as a function of increased social interaction. That is,
in being a part of a fraternity or sorority participants may interact with a larger number of people
on a regular basis, whether through Greek housing or through chapter events, and this in turn
increases their number of friends on social media outlets and their motivation to check in and
keep up to date with these forums. Additionally, as has been previously discussed, Facebook
may be used uniquely on college campuses as a means of communication between and within
campus organizations, suggesting that Greek organizations may use Facebook to communicate
with each other on a regular basis, and therefore may have a higher need or motivation to log in
to Facebook numerous times per day to keep up to date with chapter information.
Limitations and Future Directions
Although the current study offered results shedding light on the on the predictors of
social media use, the interpretation of these results is qualified by a number of limitations. First,
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 16
the study was conducted entirely in college students and as a result we cannot be sure that these
results can generalize to other populations. Within a university setting, Facebook may be used
more than average as a means of communication between campus groups or individual students.
Additionally, college students may use Facebook as a form of entertainment or distraction from
work more than other populations, especially if they constantly have access to the site and are
not penalized for using it in classes or other academic settings the way younger students might
be. Future research should seek to expand the population by targeting social media users of all
age ranges. As pervious researchers have shown, this can be done by advertising studies via the
social media sites intended to be used as outcome variables (Ryan & Xenos, 201). Secondly, the
study was completely cross-sectional, meaning that we only took data from each subject once.
Therefore, we could not infer causal effects of the predictors on our outcome variables. Future
research should attempt to design a longitudinal study examining how particular predictor factors
may change over time, leading to changes in frequency in social media usage. This would be
particularly useful in examining the predictive value of Greek life affiliation on social media
usage. While our results suggest a relationship between the two, it is impossible to determine
whether being a part of Greek life causes increased frequency in social media usage, or if people
who use social media more often tend to also join Greek life. A longitudinal study could track
the change in social media use in participants before and after they join a Greek organization,
and therefore may be able to find a causal relationship. Third, the data collected was entirely
self-reported, and therefore is limited by the amount of insight each subject has into their own
life and how well each participant was paying attention to and was invested in our survey. Future
studies may seek to use more diverse forms of data collection such as interviews, self-reported
data from friends, time-diary entries, or internet usage tracking. Finally, the sample was largely
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 17
female and Caucasian, limiting the ability to generalize our results to a more diverse and
representative demographic. Future researchers should seek to collect data from a sample that is
representative, at least of their population, by targeting both men and women of all races.
Conclusions
By adding frequency of Instagram use to our outcome variables, we have been able to
show that the factors that have previously predicted increased use of other forms of social media
may also be useful in predicting Instagram use. Since Instagram is a relatively new form of
social media, these results suggest that people who tend to use Facebook and other forms of
social media more often, may also be more likely to create accounts for new types of social
media as they arise. Secondly, given there is no previous research regarding the relationship
between smart phone use and social media use, our results suggest a new and exciting finding.
We have learned that there is indeed a strong relationship between smart phone use and social
media use, and in fact it was the only variable that predicted increased frequency of Facebook
use when controlling for all other variables.
This study can greatly contribute to the field of marketing. Our results suggest that the
same types of variables that have been able to predict Facebook use in previous research were
able to predict the frequency of use of a newer form of social media, Instagram. Therefore, when
advertising new social media forms, marketing professionals should place their ads on well-
established social media sites, as people who use these more often may be more likely to use
newer forms of social media more often as well. Additionally, it may be useful to target college
students affiliated with Greek organizations when advertising up-and-coming forms of social
media, based on our results that affiliation with Greek life is significantly correlated with
increased Facebook and Instagram use. Our results suggest that there is very little variance in
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 18
Facebook use frequency in a college population, which may imply that most college students are
using Facebook very frequently. Therefore this study also implies that one of the best ways to
reach a large group of university undergraduates is to use Facebook. This information could be
used in marketing, study recruitment, or even prevention tactics where college students are the
main focus.
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References
Christofides, E., Muise, A., & Desmarais, S. (2009). Information disclosure and control on
Facebook: are they two sides of the same coin or two different processes?.
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Jacobsen, W. C., & Forste, R. (2011). The wired generation: Academic and social outcomes of
electronic media use among university students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking, 14(5), 275-280.
John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative big five trait
taxonomy. Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 3, 114-158.
Ryan, T., & Xenos, S. (2011). Who uses Facebook? An investigation into the relationship
between the Big Five, shyness, narcissism, loneliness, and Facebook usage. Computers in
Human Behavior, 27(5), 1658-1664.
Santor, D. A., Messervey, D., & Kusumakar, V. (2000). Measuring peer pressure, popularity,
and conformity in adolescent boys and girls: Predicting school performance, sexual
attitudes, and substance abuse. Journal of youth and adolescence, 29(2), 163-182.
Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 20
Table 1. Correlations among variables
1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Frequency of Facebook Use ---
2. Frequency of Instagram Use .303* ---
3. Extraversion .061 .166* ---
4. Need for Popularity .084 .175* .033 ---
5. Smart Phone Use .189* .205* .147* .015 ---
6. Socializing .119* .205* .384* .220* .112* ---
Note. Extraversion = BFI – Extraversion subscale, Socializing = SAM
* p < .05
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Table 2. Regressions predicting Frequency of Facebook Use
Source Unstandardized
Coeff (B)
Standardized
Coeff ()
t p 2
Step 1 – Controls .042
Constant 26.697 --- 4.433 .000
Conscientiousness -.133 -.30 -.586 .559
Social Network Size .149 0.47 .925 .355
Affiliation with Greek
Life
10.754 .194 3.825 .000
Step 2 – Adding Predictors .036
Constant 5.343 --- .620 .536
Conscientiousness -.118 -.026 -.506 .613
Social Network Size .128 .040 .772 .440
Affiliation with Greek
Life
9.331 .168 3.255 .001
Extraversion -.074 -.018 -.334 .738
Need for Popularity .110 .050 .935 .351
Smart Phone Use 1.847 .174 3.434 .001
Socializing .210 .046 .815 .416
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Table 3. Regressions predicting Frequency of Instagram Use
Source Unstandardized
Coeff (B)
Standardized
Coeff ()
t p 2
Step 1 – Controls .017
Constant 13.154 --- 2.424 .016
Conscientiousness .036 .009 .176 .860
Social Network Size -.063 -.022 -.435 .664
Affiliation with Greek
Life
6.313 .129 2.492 .013
Step 2 – Adding Predictors .091
Constant -19.157 --- -2.541 .011
Conscientiousness .124 .031 .610 .542
Social Network Size -.159 -.057 -1.099 .272
Affiliation with Greek
Life
2.968 0.61 1.183 .273
Extraversion .323 .091 1.666 .097
Need for Popularity .270 .139 2.620 .009
Smart Phone Use 1.622 .173 3.446 .001.
Socializing .471 .118 2.087 038

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Examining the Ability of Extroversion

  • 1. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 1 Examining the Ability of Extroversion, Need for Popularity, Smart Phone Usage, and Socializing to Predict Social Media Use Julia Chapman, Laura Liebers, Crystal Houston, Arlaina Harris, Astro Jiang University of Rochester
  • 2. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 2 Abstract The current study examined the ability of extroversion, need for popularity, socializing, and smart phone usage to predict frequency of Facebook and Instragram usage, as measured by number of log-ins per week. Affiliation with Greek life, conscientiousness, and social network size were added as control variables. The sample consisted of 384 undergraduate students, 76.6% of which were female students. Our results showed that smart phone usage and Greek life affiliation were significant predictors of Facebook use, and that extroversion, need for popularity, socializing and smart phone usage were significant predictors of frequency of Instagram use. We did not find a significant association between Facebook use and extroversion, need for popularity, or socializing after controlling for other predictor variables. Implications of these results will be discussed.
  • 3. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 3 Examining the Ability of Extroversion, Need for Popularity, Smart Phone Usage, and Socializing to Predict Social Media Use In recent years, the growing popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have changed the way we communicate with each other. Research on this topic has attempted to look at factors that may correlate to different usage patterns, including levels of extroversion, face-to-face social interaction, and importance of popularity. The increased use of social media sites has important implications for college students’ academics and social life, as it provides an easy way to stay in contact with family and friends but can also be a distraction to many students. We therefore feel that examining the predictors of social media usage is not only fascinating but very relevant to today’s college students. A correlational study by Chistofides, Muise, and Desmarais (2009) examined the relationship between the need for popularity and amount of Facebook usage. The authors used an online survey to examine the Facebook habits of 343 university undergraduates in Ontario, Canada. They specifically observed the amount of time participants spent on Facebook per day, the kinds of information they typically disclosed on Facebook, and their use of particular privacy settings on the site. Additionally, participants were asked questions about their personal need for popularity, general tendency to disclose personal information, and the specific likelihood of their disclosure of personal information over Facebook. Not surprisingly, researchers found that even after controlling for general tendency for self-disclosure, higher levels of need for popularity predicted higher levels of disclosure on Facebook. The authors believed that this correlation could be due either to the Facebook environment increasing the saliency of popularity or due to the idea that popularity on Facebook would require more disclosure of personal information such as pictures and active discussions with friends. The present study sought to expand upon this
  • 4. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 4 research by finding the relationship between need for popularity and amount of time spent daily on social media sites in general (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). In another study, Jacobsen and Forste (2011) also looked at the social media use of university students, specifically looking for a correlational relationship between use of social networking sites like Facebook and amount of face-to-face social interaction. The authors used an Internet survey that included a questionnaire and a 3-day log to study a sample of 1,026 first- year university students. The 3-day log was used as a diary in which students detailed up to three activities they had participated in for each half hour period of the day for 3 days they had chosen from a 3-week period. The activities were picked based on a list of 44 online and offline, structured and unstructured activities and were placed into the categories of primary, secondary, and other based on the amount of time each of the three activities took place during each half- hour span. The results of this study showed a positive correlation between social media use and face-to-face social interactions, specifically that for every hour increase in social media use there was a 10 to 15 minute increase in face-to-face interaction. These results suggested that there was no displacement effect between the two activities (i.e. one activity does not replace the other), which was perhaps due to students’ ability to use social media during in-person interactions and tendency to use social media as a means of planning face-to-face interactions. The current study aimed to expand upon this research by switching the predictor and criterion variables to see if amount of time spent socializing, particularly in extracurricular activities at the university level, would independently predict levels of social media use, after controlling for other predictors of Facebook usage. Additionally, research has found a correlational relationship between Facebook usage and levels of extroversion and conscientiousness (Ryan & Xenos, 2011). In a sample of 1,635
  • 5. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 5 Australian Internet users as participants, the study used an online survey with 124 questions assessing demographic information, scores for each of the Big Five personality factors, levels of narcissism, shyness, and loneliness, and Facebook usage. The Facebook usage questions attempted to find not only the time the participants spent on the site but also the kinds of Facebook activities they engaged in. Types of activities were grouped into active social contributions, passive engagement, news and information, and real-time social interaction (e.g. the use of Facebook chat). Results showed that not only do Facebook users tended to be more extroverted than nonusers but that higher levels of extroversion also tended to predict more active social contributions and more real-time interaction on Facebook. Furthermore, higher levels of conscientiousness tended to predict slightly lower levels of news and information gathering on Facebook. The current study intended to expand this research to other forms of social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, specifically looking at the ways extroversion and conscientiousness predict the use of different social media forms. In the Current Study The aim of the current study was to find the factors that predict social media usage through use of an online sample of 394 university undergraduates. As an expansion of previous research, we looked at the ability of extroversion, social interaction, and the importance of popularity to predict social media usage. We also examined participants’ access the smart devices (i.e. portable devices with access to internet or data plans) as a predictor of frequency of social media use, as we believed the two would likely be correlated. One hypothesis of the current study was that higher levels of extroversion would predict higher social media usage. This hypothesis was based on previous research findings that Facebook users tend to be more extroverted than Facebook nonusers (Ryan & Xenos, 2011).
  • 6. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 6 Secondly, we expected to find is that a higher perceived importance of popularity would predict higher social media usage. Again, this expectation was based on previous research linking need for popularity to higher levels of Facebook disclosure (Chistofides et al., 2009). Additionally, we expected that more socializing behavior and participation in extracurricular activities amongst university students would predict higher levels of social media usage. This hypothesis was in line with previous research linking higher social media use to higher levels of face-to-face interaction (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). Lastly, we predicted higher levels of smart phone usage would predict an increase in social media use. While there is no current research to support this prediction, it seemed reasonable to assume that with greater use of phones with Internet access and social media applications, social media usage would increase. The study also used conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life as control variables. In line with previous research (Ryan & Xenos, 2011), we expected higher levels of conscientiousness to predict lower levels of social media usage. We also believed that larger social network sizes and affiliation with Greek life would predict higher levels of social media use, as they would be likely to increase average amount of social interaction which was shown to have a positive relationship with social media use (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). Method Participants Three hundred eighty-four undergraduate students were recruited for the study, 76.6% of the participants were female, 55% were Caucasian, and the average age of the participants was 20 years old. Because this was a minimal risk study, there was no informed consent process. Instead, participants read an information page describing the risks and benefits of the study prior to completing the online survey. Participants were recruited through the psychology
  • 7. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 7 undergraduate research pool at a medium-sized university in western New York and were given 0.5 credit toward one undergraduate psychology course of their choosing in which they were currently enrolled. Measures The measure of social media usage was divided into two outcome variables, frequency of Facebook use and frequency of Instagram use. We found that these two variables correlated weakly enough to be measured separately. Each of the two variables was defined as the number of times a participant logged in to the respective site per week. Frequency of Facebook use was measured using a 1-item scale that asked “Thinking of your use of various forms of social media on a typical week, on average, how often do you use Facebook each week?” Participants responded using an 8-point scale that ranged from “Never/Don’t use” to “11+ times per day.” For responses that included a daily value, which ranged from “Daily” to “11+ times per day” the numerical value associated with the response was multiplied by 7 to determine an approximate number of weekly logins, such that the resulting number was somewhere between 1 and 77+. Frequency of Instagram use was measured using the same process, with the only difference being that the item wording was “Thinking of your use of various forms of social media on a typical week, on average, how often do you use Instagram each week?” Participants responded using the same 8-point scale that ranged from “Never/Don’t use” to “11+ times per day.” The trait of extroversion was defined as being fun-loving, outgoing, and affectionate. Extroversion levels were measured through use of 8 items from the Big Five Inventory scale (BFI) (John, Naumann & Soto, 2008). Participants were asked to respond to items using a 5- point scale ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly.” Some typical items included “I am talkative,” “I am full of energy,” and “I generate a lot of enthusiasm.” Responses to the items
  • 8. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 8 were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of extraversion and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .872) in the current sample. The need for popularity was defined as the extent to which the participants wanted recognition or approval by peers. We measured the need for popularity with a 12-item scale adapted from a self-report scale designed by Santor, Messervey, and Kusumakar (1999). Participants responded to the items using a 5-point scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” Typical items included “I have done things to make me more popular, even when it meant doing something I would not usually do,” “I’ve bought things because they were the ‘in’ things to have,” and “I’ve gone to parties just to be part of the crowd.” Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of need for popularity and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .929) in the current sample. Level of socializing and participation in extracurricular activities was defined as amount of time, on average, spent each day interacting with friends in a non-academic setting. We measured this variable using a 5-point scale adapted from the Social Activity Measure (Cooper, Okamura & Gurka, 1992). Participants responded using a 7-point scale ranging from “Never” to “All the time.” Typical items included “Considering your social life, how often do you get to just hang out with friends?” “Considering your social life, how often do you do fun things with your friends on campus?” and “Considering your social life, how often do you go on dates?” Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of socialization and participation in extracurricular activities and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .791) in the current sample. Smart phone usage was defined as how often participants used a smart phone on a daily basis. We created a 2-item self-report scale to measure this. Participants responded using a 7-
  • 9. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 9 point scale ranging from “Never/Don’t own” to “Always.” The two items included in the scale were “On a daily basis, how often do you have with you or are you near a smartphone?” and “On a daily basis, how often do you use a smartphone?” Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of access to smart devices and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .847) in the current sample. Conscientiousness was used as a control variable and was defined as the tendency to show self-discipline, complete tasks on timely manners, and aim for achievement. This was also measured using the BFI, specifically the 9 items from the 44-item scale dealing with conscientiousness. Participants were asked to rate statements using a 1-5 scale that ranged from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly.” Typical sample items included “I do a thorough job,” “I am a reliable worker,” and “I persevere until a task is finished” (John, Naumann & Soto, 2008). Responses to the items were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of conscientiousness and the scale demonstrated high levels on internal consistency (α = .818) in the current sample. Additionally, social network size and affiliation with Greek life were used as control variables. We defined social network size as number of friends participants were regularly in contact with. We used a single item to asses social network size, participants first answered the question “How many close friends do you have?” using a 7-point response scale ranging from “None” to “12 or more.” Affiliation with Greek life was assessed using a single nominal-scale item that asked, “Are you involved in a fraternity or sorority?” with responses being either “yes” or “no.”
  • 10. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 10 Procedure Our measures were embedded in a larger questionnaire that was used for 2 class projects. The questionnaire took approximately 30 minutes to complete. No debriefing was needed because we did not use any deception or manipulation. Results Table 1 shows the bivariate correlations of the variables in the study. Frequency of Facebook use showed significant correlations with smart phone use and socializing in the expected directions. This indicates that higher levels of socializing and smart phone usage were associated with a higher frequency of Facebook use. Frequency of Instagram use demonstrated significant correlations with all predictor variables in the expected direction, indicating that higher levels of extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone usage, and socializing all predict higher frequency of Instagram use. Additionally, extraversion was significantly correlated with smart phone use and socializing such that higher levels of extraversion predicted higher levels of smart phone use and socializing. Levels of need for popularity were significantly correlated with socializing in a positive direction, so that higher levels of need for popularity predicted higher levels of socializing. Furthermore, higher levels of smart phone use were correlated with higher levels of socializing. Finally, it is important to note that higher frequency of Facebook use was associated with a higher frequency of Instagram use, but the correlation was weak enough for them to be treated as two separate variables. Taken as a set these correlations suggest an interesting pattern of associations among the predictor variables and Facebook and Instagram use meriting further analysis in a multiple regression framework. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to explore the ability of extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing levels to predict frequency of Facebook
  • 11. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 11 use, as measured by the amount of times logged in to Facebook per week. Conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life were entered in the first step of the analysis as controls. As can be seen in Table 2, the controls accounted for 4.2% of the variance in frequency of Facebook use. Specifically, affiliation with Greek life was the only significant predictor of frequency of Facebook use, on average, participants who were affiliated with Greek life logged in to Facebook about 10.75 more times per week compared to the sample mean (B = 10.754, t = 3.825, p = .000). Neither social network size (B = 0.47, t = .925, p =.355) nor conscientiousness (B = -.133, t = -.586, p = .559), were significantly related with frequency of Facebook use. When extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing were added after controlling for conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life, they accounted for an additional 3.6% of the variance. Only one of the predictors, smart phone use (B = 1.847, t = 3.434, p = .001) were significantly associated with frequency of Facebook use. Thus higher levels of smart phone use predicted higher frequency of Facebook use. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to explore the ability of extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing levels to predict frequency of Instagram use, as measured by the amount of times logged in to Instagram per week. Conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life were entered in the first step of the analysis as controls. As can be seen in Table 3, the controls accounted for 1.7% of the variance in frequency of Instagram use. Specifically affiliation with Greek was the only significant predictor of frequency of Instagram use, on average, participants who were affiliated with Greek life logged in to Instagram about 6.31 more times per week compared to the sample mean (B = 6.313, t = 2.492, p = .013). Neither social network size (B = -.063, t = -.435, p =.664) nor conscientiousness (B = .036, t = .176, p = .860), were significantly related with frequency of
  • 12. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 12 Instagram use. After controlling for conscientiousness, social network size, and affiliation with Greek life , extraversion, need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing accounted for an additional 9.1% of the variance. Once these predictors were added in step two, need for popularity (B = .270, t = 2.620, p = .009), smart phone use (B = 1.622, t = .173, p = .001), and levels of socializing (B = .471, t = 2.087, p = 0.38) were all significantly associated with frequency of Instagram use. These associations signify that higher levels of need for popularity, smart phone use, and socializing all predict more log-ins to Instagram per week. Levels of extraversion were found to be only marginally associated with frequency of Instagram use (B = .323, t = 1.666, p = .097) thus providing a small amount of predictive information on how frequently participants logged in to Instagram over a week. Discussion Summary of Results Frequency of Facebook Use. Only one of our predictor variables, smart phone usage, was significantly associated with frequency of Facebook use. This might be because the baseline use of Facebook in a university setting being unusually high to begin with. That is, because Facebook is used as a main form of communication between organizations and individuals within a campus setting, most students who are involved in any sort of club may be logging in many times per week regardless of levels of other variables. This is an experience that is somewhat unique to undergraduate university students, and may explain the incongruence of our results on Facebook usage with previous research. However, all of our predictor variables were significantly associated with Instagram use, and possible explanations for this are further explored in our discussion of our main hypotheses
  • 13. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 13 Hypothesis 1. Our results partially supported the hypothesis that increased levels of extroversion would be associated with higher Facebook and Instagram use. After running a hierarchical regression of our data, our results suggest that higher levels of extroversion do indeed predict higher levels of Instagram use, but not Facebook use. This would suggest that people who are talkative, full of energy, have assertive personalities, and consider themselves outgoing tend to log in to Instagram more often than others. These findings partially fall in line with Ryan & Xenos’s (2011) research, as they found that higher levels of extroversion predicted higher levels of social media usage. These researchers, however, specifically found these results using Facebook as their outcome variable. The current study expanded on previous research by including another form of social media as an outcome variable, and found the same pattern of results. Therefore we feel that our results suggest that findings from previous research on the predicting factors of Facebook use may be able to be generalized to other forms of social media. Hypothesis 2. Our results partially supported our hypothesis that a higher need for popularity would be associated with higher levels of Facebook and Instagram. After running a hierarchical regression analysis on our data, we found that higher levels of need for popularity predicted higher frequency of Instagram use, but not Facebook use. This suggests that people who do things only to fit with a trend, spend time with others because they consider those people to be popular, or do things to avoid seeming like a “loser” spend more time posting to and looking at their Instagram feeds. These results add to a growing body of research that suggests social media may increase the saliency of popularity to those who use it (Christofides et al., 2009). In the current study, we expanded upon previous research by including Instagram use as an additional outcome measure, and found similar results. We believe that this may suggest that
  • 14. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 14 those who have a higher need for popularity find it more important to post to Instagram in order to gain likes on pictures, which may make them feel validated in their day to day activities. Hypothesis 3. Our results partially supported the hypothesis that higher levels of socializing behavior would predict higher levels of Facebook and Instagram use. While higher levels of socializing were initially correlated with higher frequency of Facebook use, once we controlled for other variables in a hierarchical regression model, socializing did not predict frequency of Facebook use beyond what other significant predictor variables could. Higher levels of socializing did, however, predict higher frequency of Instagram use even after controlling for other significant predictor variables. These results suggest that people who get to just hang out with friends, do fun things on or off campus with friends, or go to parties or on dates more often also use Instagram more often than others who do not participate in these social activities. These results are congruent with previous findings that more face-to-face interaction is associated with higher levels of social media use (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). The current study expanded upon previous research by adding in a relatively new form of social media, Instagram, as a dependent variable and found similar results. We believe that increased socializing may predict increased use specifically for Instagram because it is a form of social media exclusively used for sharing pictures, and more pictures may tend to be taken in social settings rather than in solitary settings. Additionally, increased socializing may lead to a larger number of friends on social media sites and therefore an increased motivation to check in and keep up with these communication forums. Hypothesis 4. Our results supported the hypothesis that increased smart phone usage would be associated with higher levels of Facebook and Instagram use. This would suggest that the people who have smart phones with them often, and who use them often, also log in to
  • 15. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 15 Instagram and Facebook more often. While there is no previous research to support this finding, we believe that because smart phones have access to the Internet and applications for many social media sites at nearly all times, they make logging in to these sites easy and quick. Therefore, since it is not a hassle to log in to Facebook or Instagram at any given point during the day, people tend to use the sites more often per week when they have a smart phone. Greek Life. Interestingly, our results suggest that affiliation with Greek life, which was used as a control variable, is significantly associated with higher levels of both Facebook and Instagram use, even after controlling for other significant predictor variables. These results suggest that undergraduate students that are part of a Greek fraternity or sorority on campus log in to both Facebook and Instagram more times in a week than students who are not affiliated with a Greek organization. While there is no previous research on this relationship specifically, we feel that these results may be understood as a function of increased social interaction. That is, in being a part of a fraternity or sorority participants may interact with a larger number of people on a regular basis, whether through Greek housing or through chapter events, and this in turn increases their number of friends on social media outlets and their motivation to check in and keep up to date with these forums. Additionally, as has been previously discussed, Facebook may be used uniquely on college campuses as a means of communication between and within campus organizations, suggesting that Greek organizations may use Facebook to communicate with each other on a regular basis, and therefore may have a higher need or motivation to log in to Facebook numerous times per day to keep up to date with chapter information. Limitations and Future Directions Although the current study offered results shedding light on the on the predictors of social media use, the interpretation of these results is qualified by a number of limitations. First,
  • 16. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 16 the study was conducted entirely in college students and as a result we cannot be sure that these results can generalize to other populations. Within a university setting, Facebook may be used more than average as a means of communication between campus groups or individual students. Additionally, college students may use Facebook as a form of entertainment or distraction from work more than other populations, especially if they constantly have access to the site and are not penalized for using it in classes or other academic settings the way younger students might be. Future research should seek to expand the population by targeting social media users of all age ranges. As pervious researchers have shown, this can be done by advertising studies via the social media sites intended to be used as outcome variables (Ryan & Xenos, 201). Secondly, the study was completely cross-sectional, meaning that we only took data from each subject once. Therefore, we could not infer causal effects of the predictors on our outcome variables. Future research should attempt to design a longitudinal study examining how particular predictor factors may change over time, leading to changes in frequency in social media usage. This would be particularly useful in examining the predictive value of Greek life affiliation on social media usage. While our results suggest a relationship between the two, it is impossible to determine whether being a part of Greek life causes increased frequency in social media usage, or if people who use social media more often tend to also join Greek life. A longitudinal study could track the change in social media use in participants before and after they join a Greek organization, and therefore may be able to find a causal relationship. Third, the data collected was entirely self-reported, and therefore is limited by the amount of insight each subject has into their own life and how well each participant was paying attention to and was invested in our survey. Future studies may seek to use more diverse forms of data collection such as interviews, self-reported data from friends, time-diary entries, or internet usage tracking. Finally, the sample was largely
  • 17. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 17 female and Caucasian, limiting the ability to generalize our results to a more diverse and representative demographic. Future researchers should seek to collect data from a sample that is representative, at least of their population, by targeting both men and women of all races. Conclusions By adding frequency of Instagram use to our outcome variables, we have been able to show that the factors that have previously predicted increased use of other forms of social media may also be useful in predicting Instagram use. Since Instagram is a relatively new form of social media, these results suggest that people who tend to use Facebook and other forms of social media more often, may also be more likely to create accounts for new types of social media as they arise. Secondly, given there is no previous research regarding the relationship between smart phone use and social media use, our results suggest a new and exciting finding. We have learned that there is indeed a strong relationship between smart phone use and social media use, and in fact it was the only variable that predicted increased frequency of Facebook use when controlling for all other variables. This study can greatly contribute to the field of marketing. Our results suggest that the same types of variables that have been able to predict Facebook use in previous research were able to predict the frequency of use of a newer form of social media, Instagram. Therefore, when advertising new social media forms, marketing professionals should place their ads on well- established social media sites, as people who use these more often may be more likely to use newer forms of social media more often as well. Additionally, it may be useful to target college students affiliated with Greek organizations when advertising up-and-coming forms of social media, based on our results that affiliation with Greek life is significantly correlated with increased Facebook and Instagram use. Our results suggest that there is very little variance in
  • 18. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 18 Facebook use frequency in a college population, which may imply that most college students are using Facebook very frequently. Therefore this study also implies that one of the best ways to reach a large group of university undergraduates is to use Facebook. This information could be used in marketing, study recruitment, or even prevention tactics where college students are the main focus.
  • 19. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 19 References Christofides, E., Muise, A., & Desmarais, S. (2009). Information disclosure and control on Facebook: are they two sides of the same coin or two different processes?. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(3), 341-345. Cooper, H., Okamura, L., & Gurka, V. (1992). Social activity and subjective well-being. Personality and individual differences, 13(5), 573-583. Jacobsen, W. C., & Forste, R. (2011). The wired generation: Academic and social outcomes of electronic media use among university students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(5), 275-280. John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative big five trait taxonomy. Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 3, 114-158. Ryan, T., & Xenos, S. (2011). Who uses Facebook? An investigation into the relationship between the Big Five, shyness, narcissism, loneliness, and Facebook usage. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1658-1664. Santor, D. A., Messervey, D., & Kusumakar, V. (2000). Measuring peer pressure, popularity, and conformity in adolescent boys and girls: Predicting school performance, sexual attitudes, and substance abuse. Journal of youth and adolescence, 29(2), 163-182.
  • 20. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 20 Table 1. Correlations among variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. Frequency of Facebook Use --- 2. Frequency of Instagram Use .303* --- 3. Extraversion .061 .166* --- 4. Need for Popularity .084 .175* .033 --- 5. Smart Phone Use .189* .205* .147* .015 --- 6. Socializing .119* .205* .384* .220* .112* --- Note. Extraversion = BFI – Extraversion subscale, Socializing = SAM * p < .05
  • 21. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 21 Table 2. Regressions predicting Frequency of Facebook Use Source Unstandardized Coeff (B) Standardized Coeff () t p 2 Step 1 – Controls .042 Constant 26.697 --- 4.433 .000 Conscientiousness -.133 -.30 -.586 .559 Social Network Size .149 0.47 .925 .355 Affiliation with Greek Life 10.754 .194 3.825 .000 Step 2 – Adding Predictors .036 Constant 5.343 --- .620 .536 Conscientiousness -.118 -.026 -.506 .613 Social Network Size .128 .040 .772 .440 Affiliation with Greek Life 9.331 .168 3.255 .001 Extraversion -.074 -.018 -.334 .738 Need for Popularity .110 .050 .935 .351 Smart Phone Use 1.847 .174 3.434 .001 Socializing .210 .046 .815 .416
  • 22. Running Head: PREDICTING SOCIAL MEDIA USE 22 Table 3. Regressions predicting Frequency of Instagram Use Source Unstandardized Coeff (B) Standardized Coeff () t p 2 Step 1 – Controls .017 Constant 13.154 --- 2.424 .016 Conscientiousness .036 .009 .176 .860 Social Network Size -.063 -.022 -.435 .664 Affiliation with Greek Life 6.313 .129 2.492 .013 Step 2 – Adding Predictors .091 Constant -19.157 --- -2.541 .011 Conscientiousness .124 .031 .610 .542 Social Network Size -.159 -.057 -1.099 .272 Affiliation with Greek Life 2.968 0.61 1.183 .273 Extraversion .323 .091 1.666 .097 Need for Popularity .270 .139 2.620 .009 Smart Phone Use 1.622 .173 3.446 .001. Socializing .471 .118 2.087 038