Introduction
College students have been shown to be the heaviest users of the internet (Morahan-Martin, & Schumacher, 2000). Jones (2008) noted that college students spend three times as much time on the internet compared to non-college attending adults. College students have used the internet for many reasons such as social networks maintenance, academic use and a gateway for entertainment (Anderson, 2001). College students have fulfilled various uses and gratifications from using the World Wide Web (Jones, 2008). The literature on how Saudi students have been using the internet is limited. More importantly, the literature seems to be silent on why Saudi college students use the internet. Do they use it to satisfy their personal desires? …show more content…
The theory has emerged as a reaction against passive mass communications theories that concluded that consumers of media are passive and media can be used to alter and manipulate audiences. The U&G approach on the other hand believes that audiences are active participants who choose certain media outlets because they fulfill certain needs and gratifications. The theory has been widely applied to study why users or media consumers select certain media channels rather than others. Research on the needs, uses and gratification obtained from television, radio, the internet and more recently social media I is …show more content…
These scholars argue that the U&G approach suggests three broad domains of needs and gratifications: content based, process based and social based. Content gratifications refer to the motivation for users to learn, interact and exchange content. Process-based needs refer to the desires of individuals to experience new ways of communications and whatever such experiences entail. Finally, the rise of Social Networking Sites made scholars believe that the social gratification gained through interacting with other users and consumers of media outlets presents an important gratification. All in all, the U&G approach still matters in mass media communication (Ruggiero,
College students have been shown to be the heaviest users of the internet (Morahan-Martin, & Schumacher, 2000). Jones (2008) noted that college students spend three times as much time on the internet compared to non-college attending adults. College students have used the internet for many reasons such as social networks maintenance, academic use and a gateway for entertainment (Anderson, 2001). College students have fulfilled various uses and gratifications from using the World Wide Web (Jones, 2008). The literature on how Saudi students have been using the internet is limited. More importantly, the literature seems to be silent on why Saudi college students use the internet. Do they use it to satisfy their personal desires? …show more content…
The theory has emerged as a reaction against passive mass communications theories that concluded that consumers of media are passive and media can be used to alter and manipulate audiences. The U&G approach on the other hand believes that audiences are active participants who choose certain media outlets because they fulfill certain needs and gratifications. The theory has been widely applied to study why users or media consumers select certain media channels rather than others. Research on the needs, uses and gratification obtained from television, radio, the internet and more recently social media I is …show more content…
These scholars argue that the U&G approach suggests three broad domains of needs and gratifications: content based, process based and social based. Content gratifications refer to the motivation for users to learn, interact and exchange content. Process-based needs refer to the desires of individuals to experience new ways of communications and whatever such experiences entail. Finally, the rise of Social Networking Sites made scholars believe that the social gratification gained through interacting with other users and consumers of media outlets presents an important gratification. All in all, the U&G approach still matters in mass media communication (Ruggiero,