Motivations for using five SNSs 1 Running Head: Motivations for using five SNSs Motivation scale for using Social Network Sites: comparative study between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn. Alexandra Masciantonioa and David Bourguignona aUniversité de Lorraine, Metz, France This manuscript is not yet published. Corresponding author: Full postal address: Alexandra Masciantonio. Université de Lorraine, UFR Sciences Humaines et Sociales, Laboratoire PErSEUs. Ile du Saulcy, BP 60228, 57045 METZ, cedex 01, France. E-mail address:
[email protected] This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Motivations for using five SNSs 2 Abstract. The increasing number of social network sites (SNS) and their changing nature raise the question of why people use them. This research has a twofold objective: first, to develop a motivation scale for using SNSs; second, to compare the utilization of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn. Two studies on 364 university students, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, established six motivations: entertainment, social interaction, seeking information, instrumental use, self-documentation and self-enhancement. Contrary to previous studies, Facebook use was not related with social interaction or self-enhancement. Like LinkedIn, the use of the platform was rather associated with peer pressure. The results also revealed that new practices - such as social selling - affect the use of SNS: Instagram and Snapchat were driven by this kind of instrumental needs. As expected, Twitter use satisfied mainly informational needs. The results are discussed by applying a cross-media perspective to new motives behind SNSs use.