Social network service use on mobile devices: An examination of gratifications, civic attitudes and civic engagement in China

As mobile social network services have been integrated in many people’s daily lives, this study investigated the relationships between gratifications-sought, social network service use on mobile devices, civic attitudes and civic engagement in Mainland China. Data were gathered in a survey of 760 university students. Results showed that gratifications for technological convenience (accessibility), information exchange (cognition needs), and social interaction (recognition needs) significantly predicted civic engagement. The results also demonstrated that civic attitudes and social network service use on mobile devices are positively related to civic engagement. These findings well demonstrated the important role of mobile-based communication in connecting citizens to civil society.

[1]  A. Rubin.  The uses-and-gratifications perspective of media effects. , 2002 .

[2]  Meira L. Levinson,et al.  The Civic Empowerment Gap: Defining the Problem and Locating Solutions , 2010 .

[3]  Jeannette Taylor,et al.  PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION, CIVIC ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS OF PUBLIC, NONPROFIT AND PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES , 2010 .

[4]  Keith N. Hampton,et al.  Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? , 2001 .

[5]  Margaret Beale Spencer,et al.  American Identity: Impact of Youths' Differential Experiences in Society on Their Attachment to American Ideals , 2011 .

[6]  Scott W. Campbell,et al.  Mobile Communication and Civic Life: Linking Patterns of Use to Civic and Political Engagement , 2010 .

[7]  Yongli Liu,et al.  A Tentative Research on Education of Sense of Identity of Citizenship in Singapore , 2010 .

[8]  E. Katz,et al.  The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on Gratifications Research. Sage Annual Reviews of Communication Research Volume III. , 1975 .

[9]  Ran Wei,et al.  Staying connected while on the move , 2006, New Media Soc..

[10]  Daniel Hart,et al.  Civic participation and development among urban adolescents , 2009 .

[11]  Thomas F. Stafford,et al.  Determining Uses and Gratifications for the Internet , 2004, Decis. Sci..

[12]  Louis Leung,et al.  More Than Just Talk on the Move: Uses and Gratifications of the Cellular Phone , 2000 .

[13]  Lilach Nir,et al.  Motivated Reasoning and Public Opinion Perception , 2011 .

[14]  William P. Eveland,et al.  Information and Expression in a Digital Age , 2005, Commun. Res..

[15]  Richard Ling.  New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication Is Reshaping Social Cohesion , 2008 .

[16]  Michael A. Xenos,et al.  Of Attitudes and Engagement: Clarifying the Reciprocal Relationship Between Civic Attitudes and Political Participation , 2010 .

[17]  Louis Leung,et al.  Unwillingness-to-communicate and college students' motives in SMS mobile messaging , 2007, Telematics Informatics.

[18]  M. Kent Jennings,et al.  Pathways to Participation , 1982, American Political Science Review.

[19]  John Gastil,et al.  From Group Member to Democratic Citizen: How Deliberating with Fellow Jurors Reshapes Civic Attitudes , 2008 .

[20]  Elizabeth J. Perry.  10. Permanent Rebellion? Continuities and Discontinuities in Chinese Protest , 2008 .

[21]  Charles Pattie,et al.  Citizenship and civic engagement: attitudes and behaviour , 2002 .

[22]  Malcolm R. Parks,et al.  Cues Filtered Out, Cues Filtered In: Computer-Mediated Communication and Relationships , 2002 .

[23]  Charles Pattie,et al.  Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Attitudes and Behaviour in Britain , 2003 .

[24]  C. Hawes.  The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online , 2010 .

[25]  Louis Leung,et al.  Stressful Life Events, Motives for Internet Use, and Social Support Among Digital Kids , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[26]  Louis Leung,et al.  User-generated content on the internet: an examination of gratifications, civic engagement and psychological empowerment , 2009, New Media Soc..

[27]  Yong Hu.  The Internet and Social Mobilization in China , 2013 .

[28]  A. Rubin,et al.  Predictors of Internet Use , 2000 .

[29]  Adam N. Joinson,et al.  Looking at, looking up or keeping up with people?: motives and use of facebook , 2008, CHI.

[30]  Dhavan V. Shah,et al.  "Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital , 2001 .

[31]  Gerard Delanty.  The Foundations of Social Theory , 2009 .

[32]  James E. Katz,et al.  Mobile phones as fashion statements: evidence from student surveys in the US and Japan , 2006, New Media Soc..

[33]  John R. Hibbing,et al.  CITIZENSHIP AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT , 2005 .

[34]  Rebecca MacKinnon.  Blogs and China correspondence: lessons about global information flows , 2008 .

[35]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. , 1977, Psychology Review.