MAThesis FinalDraftV5 110212...running&head:&pr&students’&and&pr&practitioners’&use&of&sns&under& the&utaut&model& & public relations students’ and public relations practitioners’

Running&Head:&PR&STUDENTS’&AND&PR&PRACTITIONERS’&USE&OF&SNS&UNDER&THE&UTAUT&MODEL&&

PUBLIC RELATIONS STUDENTS’ AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTITIONERS’ USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES UNDER THE UNIFIED THEORY OF

ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY.

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

COMMUNICATION

DECEMBER 2012

By

Kimberly Seko

Thesis Committee:

Thomas Kelleher Gary Fontaine Marc Moody

2&Running&Head:&PR&STUDENTS’&AND&PR&PRACTITIONERS’&USE&OF&SNS&UNDER&THE&UTAUT&MODEL&&

&

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to my thesis committee for being extremely patient with me. This three year

battle is finally coming to a close. Thank you to my family and friends for their ever

lasting support.


&

ABSTRACT

Public relations (PR) students and practitioners use social networking sites (SNSs) for

various reasons. However, research is limited as to the reasons why PR students and PR

practitioners use SNSs under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

(UTAUT)’s eight distinguished elements. This thesis presents a qualitative study to

investigate the eight elements of the UTAUT model, showcasing the opinions of PR

students and practitioners, thereby extending the work of Venkatesh, V.; Morris, M.G.;

Davis, G.B.; & Davis, F.D. (2003).


&

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………… 3

CHAPTER I: Introduction....................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: Literature Review………………………………………………… 7

CHAPTER III: Methodology……………………………………………………... 2

CHAPTER IV: Findings………………………………………………………….. 30

CHAPTER V: Discussion………………………………………………………… 46

CHAPTER VI: Conclusion……………………………………………………….. 55

REFERENCES… ……………………………………………………………… 58

APPENDIX A: Table of Participants …………………………............................... 61

APPENDIX B: Interview Questions……………………………………...……….. 62

APPENDIX C: Transcriptions of Interviews……………………………………… 63

APPENDIX D: Consent Form…………………………………………………….. 119


&

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

By examining how public relations (PR) students’ and public relations

practitioners’ perceive and use social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook, the depth

and scope of this global phenomenon becomes apparent. As of March 2009, the SNS

Facebook had over 175 million users, and has now grown to 845 million users

(www.Facebook.com, 2011). Understanding the relationship of PR students’ and PR

practitioners’ social media perceptions and usage is important, due the rising influence of

SNSs in our culture.

This study investigates PR students’ and PR practitioner’s use of social

networking sites under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

(UTAUT) model. UTAUT&is&derived&from&the&Technology&Acceptance&Model&(TAM).&&

The&eight&elements&of&UTAUT&are&examined&in&relation&to&the&opinions&and&

responses&of&&students&and&&practitioners&in&the&field&of&public&relations.&This&study&

also&evaluates&the&opinions&of&the&students&and&practitioners&to&determine&if&their&

responses&validate&or&refute&the&current&model,&as&forwarded&by&Venkatesh,&Morris,&

Davis&and&Davis&(2003).&&

Venkatesh et al. (2003) conducted a thorough quantitative study examining

standards and theories of the UTAUT model. By extending the work of Venkatesh et. al

(2003) into a qualitative study, this research expands perceptions and usage of SNS for

fellow researchers in public relations. It will also highlight pragmatic implications of

current research, since the interviewees are students in academic standing. Given that


&

research from a qualitative perspective is limited, this study compares pertinent theories

and models with a view to assist PR students and PR practitioners with and without SNS.


&

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, previous research and literature, which has informed this study

and its research design, will be examined and reviewed. By understanding the PR

practitioners’ and PR students’ perceptions and usage of social networking sites (SNS’s)

like Facebook, students,&professionals,&and&researchers&in&public&relations&will&gain&a&

better&understanding&of&the&impact&of&SNS,&whether&&beneficial&or&detrimental&to&the&

PR&industry.&&

Early research shows that “blogging and social media are now among the factors

practitioners and scholars must consider” (Kent, 2008). However, research regarding the

practitioners’ acceptance of and use of social networking sites still is not complete. This

research seeks to aid PR students and practitioners in finding the most common causes of

using SNS based on the UTAUT model’s eight elements.

This literature review will first examine eight previously established models, and

then discuss their combination to form one Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of

Technology. This comprehensive model is derived from the Technology Acceptance

Model (TAM). With the formulation of the UTAUT model, certain areas of focus will be

examined to see if the previous research given can cross over from an academic to a

pragmatic environment. Therefore, with the eight models that form the UTAUT, this

research will compare and contrast the use of SNS to bridge the academic and “real”

worlds. This review will also offer background information on SNS and provide

appropriate examples.

Eight Elements That Incorporate UTAUT


&

Technology Acceptance Model & Theory of Reasoned Action

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is based on Fishbein and Ajzen’s

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), which suggests that social media behavior is driven

by an individual’s attitude toward fulfilling that behavior. Attitude toward behavior can

be viewed as “an individual’s positive or negative feelings (evaluative affect) about

performing the target behavior” (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975, p. 216). TRA is one of the

most fundamental and influential theories of human behavior (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis

and Davis, 2003). Davis, Bagozzi and Warshaw (1989) conducted a study in which TRA

was applied to individual acceptance of technology. It found that the variance explained

was largely consistent with other studies that had incorporated TRA in the context of

behaviors.

TAM adopts TRA’s links, which explain an individual’s information technology

(IT) acceptance behaviors. TAM was “designed to predict information technology

acceptance and usage on the job” (Venkatesh et al. 2003, p. 428). It implies that the

perceived ease of usefulness of IT are major determinants of its usage. F.D. Davis Jr.

defined perceived usefulness as the “degree of which a person believes that using a

particular system would enhance his or her job performance” and perceived ease of use as

the “degree of which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of

effort” (Davis, 1989, p. 320).

Another application of TAM is that it “offers an approach to understanding

student adoption of communication technologies as a learning outcome in journalism and

mass communication education” (Kelleher & O’Malley, 2006, p. 402) from an academic

perspective. Self-efficacy is an important factor and goal in TAM. According to Bandura


&

(1986) self-efficacy involves a person’s belief that he or she has the “ability to carry out a

specific behavior to achieve a specific outcome” (Kelleher & O’Malley, 2006. p. 403).

Davis (1989) says that TAM involves the self-efficacy theory and the theory of reasoned

action (TRA) to describe how people are influenced by their decisions to accept IT by

their perceived usefulness and ease. Figure 1 depicts the TAM model:

Figure 1: The TAM Model

Motivational Model

The Motivational Model (MM) is one of eight essential elements of UTAUT. In

the Venkatesh et al. study the MM examined several other works on motivational theory

and adapted its findings in particular contexts. Davis et al. (1992) applied the

motivational theory to understand new technology adoption. This model identifies two

specific types as primary motivators for behavior (Vallerand, 1997). The core concepts of

MM that came into play were extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic

motivation is “the perception that the user will want to perform an activity because it is

perceived to be instrumental in achieving valued outcomes that are distinct from the

Perceived&&Usefulness&

Perceived&Ease&Of&Use&

Attitude& Intention&to&Use&


&

activity itself, such as improved job performance, pay or promotions” (Davis et al., 1992,

p. 1112). Intrinsic motivation according to Davis et al. (1992) is defined as the

“perception that users will want to perform an activity for no apparent reinforcement

other than the process of performing the activity per se” (Davis, et al., 1992, p. 1112).

The MM model has also been used in evaluating the use and adoptions of new

technology adoptions and use (Venkatesh & Speier, 1999)

Theory of Planned Behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is an extension of the TRA model with

additions to the concepts of perceived behavioral control. TPB was successfully

conducted and reviewed by Ajzen (1991) to “predict intention and behavior in a wide

variety of settings” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 429). The core constructs of this model are

attitude toward behavior, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Attitude

toward behavior and subjective norm are both adapted from TRA. Perceived behavioral

control is the “the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior” (Ajzen, 1991,

p. 188). According to TRA, a person’s performance of a specific behavior is determined

by his or her behavioral intention (BI) to perform the behavior, and BI is determined

jointly by one’s attitude and subjective norm. See Figure 2 below for a visual

enhancement of the TRA model.


&

Figure 2: Theory of Planned Behavior

C-TAM-TPB

After these elements were tested, TAM and TPB were combined to create C-

TAM-TPB. Figure 3 shows the C-TAM-TPB model. Taylor and Todd (1995) explained

how under the TAM usage behavior is a direct function of behavioral intention. In turn,

behavioral Intention in turn is a function of attitude towards usage, which then mirrors

feelings of favorableness/ unfavorableness towards the given technology and its

&

&

&

& &

Attitude

Subjective*Norm

Perceived(Behavioral*Control

Behavioral*Intention

Usage Behavior


&

perceived usefulness, which in turn, determines the belief that technology will affect

performance in either a positive or negative manner. Attitude is determined by both

perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Thus the ease of use is a direct

determinant of perceived usefulness. These variables are also key determinants of

behavior in the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, in Figure 3, the

perceived usefulness predictor of TAM combined with the TPB factors of attitude toward

behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control form the four factors that

predict the intentions of use (Taylor and Todd 1995).

Figure 3: C-TAM-TPB Model

Model of PC Utilization


&

The fifth element is called the Model of PC Utilization (MPCU). It is derived

from Triandis’ (1977) theory of human behavior. The nature of this model is different in

that it is designed to predict individual acceptance and use of a variety of information

technologies. Thompson, Higgins and Howell (1991) based their findings on Trandis’

model, but also used it to predict PC utilization. Thompson et. al (1991) sought to predict

behavior usage rather than intention by trying to gain a better understanding of the factors

that influence the use of PCs. Triandis’ model of behavior&influences&is&illustrated&in&

Figure&Four.&Except&for&the&CZTAMZTPB&model&all&other&models,&in&addition&to&

Figures&1Z3,&that&attempt&to&predict&intention,&do&not&necessarily&lead&solely&to&the&

behavioral&intention.&According&to&Venkatesh&et.$al&(2003),&the&core&determinants&of&

the&Model&of&PC&utilization&(MPCU)&identified&jobZfit,&complexity,&longZterm&

consequences,&affect&towards&use,&social&factors&and&facilitating&conditions.&&

Job-fit is a component that “relates to the capabilities of a PC to enhance an

individual’s job performance…this dimension is defined as perceived job fit and

measures the extent to which an individual believes that using a PC can enhance the

performance of his or her job” (Thompson et. al 1991, p. 129). According to Rogers and

Shoemaker (1971) complexity is defined as “the degree to which an innovation is

perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use” (p. 154). Long-term consequences

are defined as the “outcomes that have a pay-off in the future” (Thompson et. al 1991, p.

129) while the affect towards use is derived from Triandis. Triandis (1971) defined

attitude as “an idea with affect, that predisposes a class of actions to a particular class of

social situations (p. 2). However in Triandis’ later research, he uses the term affect, which


&

refers to “the feelings of joy, elation, or pleasure, depression, disgust, displeasure or hate

associated by an individual with a particular act” (Triandis, 1977, p. 211).

The&social&factors&of&MPCU&were&also&examined&by&Triandis.&Social&factors&

refer&to&“the&individuals’&internalization&of&the&reference&groups’&subjective&culture&

and&specific&interpersonal&agreements&that&the&individual&has&made&with&others&in&

specific&social&situations”&(Triandis,&1980,&p.&210).&The&last&component&of&MPCU&is&

facilitating&conditions.&The&terminology,&facilitating&conditions,&also&come&from&

Triandis.&&Defined&as&“‘objective&factors’,&‘out&there’&in&the&environment,&facilitating&

conditions&are&further&defined&as&conditions&that&several&judges&or&observers&can&

agree&make&an&act&easy&to&do”&(Triandis,&1980,&p.&205).&In&a&PC&context,&“the&

provision&of&support&for&users&of&PCs&may&be&one&type&of&facilitating&condition&that&

can&influence&system&utilization”&(Thompson&et.$al,&1991,&p.&129).&&


&

Figure 4: Factors Influencing Behavior (a subset of the model proposed by Triandis, 1980).

Innovation Diffusion Theory

The Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) is grounded in sociology and has been

used since the 1960s “to study a variety of innovations, ranging from agricultural tools to

organizational innovation” (Tornatzky & Klein, 1982). Moore and Benbasat (1991) relied

heavily on Rogers’ (1983) findings, but adapted some of the characteristics so that a

redefined set of constructs could be used to study individual technology acceptance.

Tornatzky and Klein (1982) conducted a separate analysis and identified 10

characteristics, which included the five given by Rogers plus five more. Moore and

Benbasat came up with seven components compared to Rogers’ five attributes. The core

Social&Factors &

Affect Perceived&Consequences

Intentions

Habit&Hierarchies

Facilitating&Conditions Behavior


&

constructs that Venkatesh et. al included for IDT were: relative advantage, ease of use,

image visibility, compatibility, results demonstrability, and voluntariness of use.

Relative advantage was included under image, but Rogers disputed that

“undoubtedly one of the most important motivations for almost any individual to adopt

an innovation is the desire to gain social status” (Rogers, 1983, p. 215). Moore and

Benbasat define relative advantage as “the degree to which an innovation is perceived as

being better than its precursor” (1991, p. 195). Ease of use, defined as “the degree to

which use of the innovation is perceived as being voluntary, or of free will…or difficult

to use” (Moore & Benbasat, 1991, p. 195). Moore and Benbasat (1991) provided the

definition for Image the same as Rogers, which is explained above about one’s image or

status in one’s social system. Visibility was adapted by Moore and Benbasat but defined

as “the degree to which one can see others using the system in the organization”

(Venkatesh et. al 2003). Compatibility is the state in which innovation is perceived as

being “consistent with existing values, needs and past experiences of potential adopters”

(Rogers, 1983). Results Demonstrability is the “tangibility of the results of using the

innovation including their observability and communicability ( Moore & Benbasat 1991,

p. 203) and the voluntariness of use is the “degree to which the use of the innovation is

perceived as being voluntary, or of free will” (Moore & Benbasat, 1991, p. 195).

Social Cognitive Theory

Social cognitive theory (SCT) is the last of the eight models that involve

individual acceptance. It is the final component in the combination and creation of the

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). SCT is one of the most

influential theories in human behavior. With SCT, Compeau and Higgins (1995b) applied


&

and extended SCT to the context of computer utilization. Compeau and Higgins’ (1995b)

was able to apply the theory to computer use. The actual nature of the model allowed

diversity because the underlying theory could be extended to acceptance and use of

information technology in general. In this study SCT had five core constructs, which

were: outcome expectations- performance, outcome expectations-personal, self- efficacy,

affect and anxiety.

Outcome expectations from a performance perspective are defined as the

performance-related consequences of the given behavior. Compeau and Higgins (1995b)

specifically defined performance expectations with job-related outcomes. The personal

outcome expectations are the “personal consequences of the behavior specifically

personal expectations that deal with the individual esteem ad sense of accomplishment”

(Compeau & Higgins, 1995b). Self-efficacy is one’s ability to use a technology to

accomplish a given assignment. The affect is “an individual’s liking for a particular

behavior (e.g. computer use)” and anxiety is “evoking anxious or emotional reactions

when it comes to performing a behavior (e.g. using a computer)” (Venkatesh, et al.,

2003).

Formulation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

Venkatesh et al. (2003) empirically compared each of the eight models using a

quantitative research method. Their research among the eight models evolved and

eventually created the UTAUT model. The UTAUT model was tested then cross-

validated by Venkatesh et. al in a quantitative method. UTAUT captured the essence of

eight models that were discussed in the previous headings. After the models were

empirically compared, the “conceptual and empirical similarities across the eight models


&

were used to formulated the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

(UTAUT)” (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Once the UTAUT model was cross-validated, the test found three direct

determinants of the intention to use: performance expectancy, effort expectancy and

social influence with two direct determinants of usage behavior: intention and facilitating

conditions. “UTAUT was able to account for 70 percent of the variance, which was a

substantial improvement over any of the original eight models and their extensions. From

a theoretical perspective, UTAUT provides a refined view of how the determinants of

intentions and behavior evolve over time” (Venkatesh et al. 2003, p. 467).

Elements of UTAUT

The determining factors of UTAUT are derived from its eight predecessor

models. Performance expectancy, comprised of five constructs from previous models

included “performance expectancy and perceived usefulness (TAM/TAM2 and C-TAM-

TPB), extrinsic motivation (MM), job-fit (MPCU), relative advantage (IDT), and

outcome expectations (SCT)” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 447). However, the constructs

that formulate the direct determinants of the UTAUT model have evolved in the literature

and some authors including Davis et al. (1989 & 1992) have acknowledged their

similarities, especially usefulness, extrinsic motivation, job-fit and relative advantage.

Effort Expectancy refers to “the degree of ease associated with the use of the

system” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 450). Three components from the existing models

captured the concept of effort expectancy, which were perceived ease of use

(TAM/TAM2), complexity (MPCU), and ease of use (IDT). Social influence, which is

under effort expectancy, is a direct determinant of behavioral intention and is


&

“represented as subjective norm in TRA, TAM2, TPB/DTPB, and C-TAM-TPB, social

factors in MPCU and image in IDT. Thompson et al. (1991) used the term social norms

in defining their construct and acknowledge its similarity to subjective norm in TRA”

(Venkatesh et al., 2003 p. 451).

Facilitating conditions are also a direct element of UTAUT. Facilitating

conditions are “defined as the degree to which an individual believes that an

organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system”

(Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 453). This definition of facilitating conditions incorporates

grabs the concepts embodied by three different constructs, which are “perceived

behavioral control (TPB/DEPB, C-TAM-TPB), facilitating conditions (MPCU) and

compatibility (IDT)” (Venkatesh et al., 2003 p. 453). Throughout the different theories

and multiple models that are the basis for UTAUT, there are many similarities. “UTAUT

is a definitive model hat synthesizes what is known and provides a foundation to guide

future research in this area….thus, while it is often assumed that usage will result in

positive outcomes, this remains to be tested” (Venkatesh et al., 2003 pp. 467 & 470).

UTAUT and Social Networking Sites (SNS)

While extensive research has been conducted on the UTAUT model in a

quantitative approach, it has yet to be studied with a qualitative research method

including the models and theories under the UTAUT model. As a result, the researcher

conducted a qualitative study that examined online social networking sites like Facebook

and linked students and public relations practitioners’ opinions about SNSs perceived

ease of use. According to Silverman (2007), a number of researchers have studied

methods, frequency and extent of connections between individuals’ thought analysis of


&

blogs, online social networks and how those connections might define and shape a

community such as Stutzman, Granovetter, Wellmand and Hampton. However, there

have been no studies involving the comparison and evaluation of the eight models under

UTAUT with social networking sites with a concentration on a demographic of PR

students and practitioners.

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become a phenomenon, reconstructing the

daily lives of many people since the launching in 1997 of SixDegrees.com. Social

network sites are defined as “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a

public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users

wit whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and

those made by others within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 2). Some of this

communication is set up by universities (e.g., Laulima & WebCT), while others are

voluntary SNS and not connected to the universities (e.g., Myspace and Facebook).

Since 1997, SNS have become a global trend with Facebook leading with the

highest number of users. Prior to Facebook, Myspace led the way and was created in

2003 “to compete with sites like Friendster, Xanga and AsianAvenue. According to co-

founder Tom Anderson, “Myspace differentiated itself by regularly adding features based

on user demand” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 7).

Facebook began in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS (Cassidy, 2006), but

beginning in September 2005, “Facebook expanded to include high school students,

professionals inside corporate networks, and eventually, everyone” (Boyd & Ellison,

2007, p. 8). As of 2007, Facebook was the most popular online social networking


&

community amongst college students; and it is the sixth most trafficked site on the web,

meaning that it gets the sixth highest number of visitors (www.Facebook.com, 2007). As

of December 2011, there were more than 845 million users (www.Facebook.com, 2011).

Prior to Facebook being open to college students and later to the general the

public, a valid college email address was a requirement for membership.

SNS’s have many options like messaging, friend requests, groups, privacy and

other functions. However, each person has his or her own specific reasons for belonging

to the site. SNSs like Myspace and Facebook have also become tools for professionals in

all fields as well as educators. Professionals are using SNSs as a means of surveillance

for potential staff. It is now a general assumption that future employers will be checking

prospective employees’ for SNS accounts.

Rewards and Consequences of SNSs

Popular press and media have reported substantial negative impacts of SNSs like

Myspace in society and pop culture. Cyber-stalking and Internet predators are both severe

drawbacks of online social networks. That may be the largest consequence of having so

much personal information listed online and it may have to do with the users age that can

account for such naiveté (Silverman, 2007) in addition to safety issues like identity theft.

There are benefits to SNS. Many users like students and professionals can keep in

touch with family and friends who are not in the same geographical location as well as

broadening their social and business contacts. Silverman (2007) notes: “Facebook,

Myspace and other online social networks serve to facilitate communication and

camaraderie while students may not be able to see each other” (Silverman, 2007, p. 57).

Thus, SNSs like Facebook can serve as a variety of conveniences with students like event


&

announcements and activist groups. Silverman (2007) also found that SNSs are known to

“help ease the transition for students from high school to college and prospective students

are encouraged to find those on Facebook that they meet at their orientation” (Silverman,

2007, p.58).

Students and Professionals

Previous research conducted on SNS is extensive, however, only a small

percentage includes interaction with PR students and practitioners. Since this study

examines PR students’ and practitioners’ use of SNS under the UTAUT model in a

qualitative manner, it is necessary to explain why more research is needed.

As stated previously, a study on the UTAUT model and TAM shows the statistics

in a quantitative study and give the percentages of people’s acceptance of technology. It

does not give, however, opinions of the participants behind the numbers. Therefore, by

conducting a qualitative study comparing, contrasting and evaluating the thoughts and

opinions of PR students and PR practitioners about the eight models that create UTAUT,

a better understanding of the SNSs use by students and professionals is possible. The core

elements-intention, perceived usefulness, behavior, job-fit, and attitude lie within each of

the eight models. By first examining the opinions of the PR community, then comparing

those opinions to the direct determinants of each theory or model, researcher can evaluate

the pragmatic value of these models and theories.

Conducting qualitative research, stronger evidence and framework to the UTAUT

model clarifies the practical use and benefits of SNS in a PR setting. The following

chapter will discuss the methods and means of data collection.


&

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

Selection of Participants

The selection of participants for this study was&expedited&since&the&researcher&

was&a&member&of&the&Public&Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Through

PRSSA, contact was made with the national organization of professionals, Public

Relations Society of America (PRSA), to gather names of candidates who met criteria for

the interview process. There were a total of 12 participants. The researcher divided six

people who belonged and did not belong to a SNS into two groups, each having three

professionals and three students. Within the three professionals, a range of individuals

was selected varying in age and area of professional expertise. For example, PR

professionals that specialized in agency, corporate, non-profit, government and healthcare

PR were contacted.

After careful review, age and area of practice appeared to play a significant role in

determining the usefulness of SNS under the UTAUT model. The&age&of&professionals&

ranged&from&late&20’s&to&early&50’s.&&Students&were&between&19&to&25&years&of&age.&In&

total,&there&were&three&men&and&nine&women.&&

Of&the&three&males,&two&were&students.&Of&the&students,&one&belonged&to&a&SNS&

and&one&did&not.&These&individuals&are&labeled&Participant&A&and&Participant&B.&

Participant A had both Facebook and Myspace accounts while Participant B had

neither. The last male was Participant C. Participant C is a public relations practitioner.

He has been in public relations for over 15 years and now currently works for the United

States Postal Service (USPS). His expertise is in corporate and governmental

communications.


&

Of the nine women, four were students and five were public relations

practitioners. The four students were labeled as Participant D, Participant E, Participant F

and Participant G.

Participants D, E and G all have accounts with social media networking sites and

participant F does not have a SNS account. The five public relations practitioners were

labeled as Participant H, Participant I, Participant J, Participant K and Participant L.

Participant H is a Public Information Officer for the University of Hawaii System.

She has over ten years of experience in the field of public relations and her area of focus

is non-profit. Participant I has more than three years of experience in public relations at a

public relations agency. She currently works for McNeil Wilson Communications and is

a Senior Account Executive for the Public Affairs sector. Participant J has more than 20

years of experience in public relations. She is employed by the Outrigger Hawaii

Enterprise and her concentration is corporate communications. Participant K is also a

public relations expert concentrating in the field of healthcare. Currently, she is the

Manager for Marketing and Public Relations for Kuakini Hospital and has over 20 years

of experience in this field. Participant L is an expert in the agency public relations field.

She has been in public relations for more than 15 years and is currently the Senior Vice

President for the public relations firm Stryker Weiner & Yokota Public Relations, Inc.

Please refer to Appendix A for the breakdown of participants.


&

TABLE OF PARTICIPANTS

GENDER STATUS NUMBER OF SNS

PARTICIPANT A Male Student Two

PARTICIPANT B Male Student Zero

PARTICIPANT C Male PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT D Female Student Four

PARTICIPANT E Female Student One

PARTICIPANT F Female Student Zero

PARTICIPANT G Female Student Three

PARTICIPANT H Female PR Practitioners Three

PARTICIPANT I Female PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT J Female PR Practitioners Four

PARTICIPANT K Female PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT L Female PR Practitioners Two

Location

This paper examines technology acceptance as determined under the UTAUT

model using students and public relations practitioners in Hawaii. The interaction among

the participants took place at many locations in Oahu, ranging from the private offices of

the PR practitioners to the graduate student lounge in Crawford Hall at University of

Hawaii at Manoa and also at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Campus Center. The

researcher wanted to provide a location where convenience and comfort were the two


&

most important factors in gathering data, but also allowed privacy between the researcher

and participants.

Developing Interview Questions

The interview questions were developed to research the PR students’ and use of

Facebook and other SNS. Questions pertained to their reasons for participating in SNS.

Interview questions included the length of time participants had been a member to SNS,

reason(s) why he or she chose to join, and any other influences. An alternative set of

questions were developed specifically for those who did not belong to a SNS. The

interview guide was based on the guidelines proposed by Baxter and Babbie’s (2004) The

Basic of Communication Research and McCracken (1988) The Long Interview. Research

questions covered PR students’ and PRs practitioners’ use of SNS, participant opinions,

influences, rewards and possible consequences.

One&of&the&researcher&goals&was&to&examine&the&effect&of&social&media&networking&

on&the&subject&groups.&&A&pattern&emerged&and&prompted&follow&up&interviews&with&

participants.&&They&were&asked&if&belonging&to&a&social&media&networking&assisted&in&

creating&a&bridge&between&students&and&public&relations&professionals.&The&

researcher’s&primary&goal&was&to&link&pieces&of&the&UTAUT&model&with&the&opinions&

of&the&participants,&in&order&to&determine&whether&these&models&had&practical&

applications.&Interview&questions&asked:&

1. Are you a student or public relations practitioner?

2. How long have you been in PR? / What major or field are you interested in?

3. Are you a member of any social networking site?

a. If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. Name all the sites you


&

belong to.

4. Do you remember when you first heard about these sites?

5. What influenced your decision(s) about using Facebook?

6. What are the major influences (if any) to why you use it?

7. Do you still use it?

a. if yes/no please explain why you do/don't.

8. How often do you use this site(s)? How many times a day do you sign in? Etc.

9. Are there any rewards or consequences, in your opinion, about using social

networking site(s)? Explain in great detail.

10. If you had to choose which site to belong to, which one and why?

11. Do you believe that belonging to social networking site(s) [SNS] helps you in any

way?

12. For those who are students: If you were a professional, would you belong to a

SNS? If yes/no please explain why.

Interview Procedures

The recruiting began during the last week of January 2009. After finding

participants to interview, they signed the consent forms so the researcher was able to

interview the participants one-on-one and face-to-face starting from the first week of

February 2009. The researcher wanted to ask questions that were pondered amongst

students, but only academically administered in a quantitative study. With a

communications background, it assisted the researcher in trying to interact with the

participants as much as possible. Utilizing techniques of McCracken, Baxter, and Babbie,

the researcher was able to conduct the interview in a professional setting.


&

For the most part, the interviews stayed on track, but there were times the interview did

go off topic, These were natural digressions wherein the participants veered into related

areas that were not necessarily germane to the research topic. The line between

professional and personal can at times be difficult. Having a set of guidelines prior to the

interview t helped the researcher, but also enabled the participant to include more

personal information.

(For full transcripts of participant responses, see Appendix C)

Prior to the interview, a consent form was given to the participant explaining in

detail his or her rights in detail. Two signed copies were required, one for the participant

and one for the researcher. The consent form was a crucial part in the data gathering

process because identities were asked not to be anonymous. Every participant agreed to

the consent form, and no extra interviews were needed for data collection.

(See Appendix D- Consent form)

Each interview was approximately 20 to 60 minutes in duration, depending on the

length of his or her responses. For example, one question was “What are the major

influences (if any) as to why you use Facebook?” This could be answered with a 10

minute response. These interviews were audio taped for the purpose of accuracy, and

were later transcribed. Once the transcriptions were completed, the audiotapes were

destroyed to guarantee privacy the participants.

Upon analyzing the interviewees’ responses, additional data was gathered.

Information obtained from later interviews prompted follow-up interviews from the first

group. These additional interviews were conducted from late February to the beginning

of March 2009.


&

Analysis

The researcher followed guidelines as proposed by McCracken (1988). During the

analysis, data was gathered and analyzed, one question at a time. Questions were

compared, then a cross-comparison was conducted between students who did not belong

to a SNS and those who did. After the first cross-comparison, a second cross-comparison

was conducted between students and PR professionals with SNS account(s) and those

without. The last step of the data analysis was to compare students who belonged to a

SNS with PR practitioners who did not belong, and finally for PR practitioners who

belonged to a SNS with students who did not.

Once&the&comparisons&were&conducted,&all&participants&were&evaluated,&

according&to&the&eight&models&under&UTAUT.&Based&on&the&participants’&answers,&the&

researcher&placed&each&person&in&an&appropriate&model&and&or&theory&to&find&

commonalities.&&Individual&opinions&determined&the&theory&and&or&model&best&suited&

to&each&participant.&The&findings&reflected&commonalities&of&each&group&with&the&

eight&elements&under&the&UTAUT&model,&specifically&in&regards&to&the&use&and&

perception&of&SNS&in&the&PR&industry.&

& &


&

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS

This chapter will give a detailed summary of the participants’ responses in

addition to comparing and contrasting each participant’s response to one another. Once

the similarities and differences are discussed, the researcher will show the comparison of

the participants’ answers to the UTAUT model, and the responses have been categorized

under a specific theory or model showing the detailed connections and modifications.

Part One compared the PR students’ answers to one another starting with students

who belong to SNS. It then moves on to a comparison of responses among students who

do not belong to SNS. Lastly, a cross-comparison is done between PR students in both

groups.

Part Two of the question-by-question summary was the public relations

practitioners’ responses. The first section demonstrates the responses of the PR

practitioners belonging to SNS(s), followed by PR practitioners not belonging to SNS(s)

and finally, the responses of both groups of PR practitioners are examined.

Part One: Student Responses

Student-to-student analysis, starting with: a) students belonging to SNS(s); b)

Students not belonging to SNS(s); and c) Both groups of student groups. The average

student in this study with a SNS account belonged to at least two different sites.

Participant’s A, D, E and G each belonged to at least one SNS. All students that

belonged to a SNS demonstrated similar results. Each individual started with having an

account with the SNS Myspace then evolved from there. Participant E was the only

student who chose not to sign up for another site because the student said:


&

“I figured that I have one online account with Myspace, why do I need two? I just don’t have the time to start new things and I’m not a techy person, so I don’t think I’ll understand or I might get frustrated with trying to learn the applications of all that.”

Participants A, D and G had similar answers as to joining more than one SNS.

Each mentioned, “keeping in touch with friends, networking and making and maintaining

connections” as their primary motives for joining a SNS. In addition to keeping in touch,

all students felt compelled to join at least one SNS due to “other friends, colleagues,

peers and PR professionals belonging to specific accounts”. However, participant G’s

response to joining an additional SNS differed from participant A & D. Participant G was

more concerned about not joining another SNS stating:

“I am worried about wasting time and it seems like another waste of time to join another site. I already spend too much time on Facebook and Myspace. Plus I don’t need to get addicted to another site…and I am not that familiar with other sites and don’t have a lot of friends that have joined them.”

The reasons for participants B and F not wanting to join any SNS were similar,

but also varied. For example, Participant B responded by saying “I don’t think it’s

necessary. The friendship I look for is more personal, instead of acquaintances and saying

they are my friends”. Participant F on the other hand was afraid of getting “addicted”

since she had heard from others how it could get to that point. Another factor she brought

up was:

“I just don’t want people going into my personal life more and seeing my personal information. I don’t want them to know my legal name of my friends and family. There are some things I would just rather keep to myself rather than having information like that online for everyone else to see or read about.”

Both participants B and F stated that they were afraid of ending up like their friends who

belong to a social networking site, which is why they choose to stay away from it.


&

Participant D was the first one to hear about SNS and join in. She started with

Friendster prior to 2003 then joined Myspace in late 2003. She felt “Friendster was dying

down and so I go onto the Myspace bandwagon and started using that. I didn’t start using

Facebook until fall 2007 because everyone in college had a Facebook page and we

needed it for PRSSA.”

All four students with SNS accounts had similar responses with each other and

parallel answers to what influenced their decision to join a SNS site. Networking,

keeping in contact with friends, and other benefits like using it for professional reasons

were the main decisions that influenced them in using SNS. However participant A was

using Facebook more often and deleted his Myspace. The reason he cited was;

“there’s a certain amount of effort that you have to put into setting it up but now that I log in and now that I use it, I already have a profile on there when I go on. Whereas before, when I had Myspace, and I don’t go on, it would take longer to load every page and it would take a while because I would always get customized pictures, desktops, music… it would take a long time to just get around anywhere, where as Facebook is really fast. I wouldn’t pick LinkedIn because it isn’t doing anything for me right now.”

Participant F said she would consider joining if it would “help my profession in

some way or the company and organization that I work for requires it”. Participant B

liked “to go against the trend and since everybody is on Facebook, you could say I’m

proud of not having a Facebook and that it didn’t get to me. I’m not being one of those

social savvy people just following the trends… it makes me feel like I’m in charge of my

decisions in a way.” However participant B did acknowledge that if SNS were not a

“trend” anymore in his opinion, he would “definitely consider joining since it is part of a


&

lifestyle. If that’s the times and it progresses in that way to where it’s much needed in

business, then yeah, I will adapt to that. I will have to if I want to keep up.”

Participant D had a different opinion about which SNS was easiest and how it

influenced her decisions about using SNS. It started with Facebook trumping Myspace

then joining Twitter and seeing the differences with the newest site she belonged to. She

said:

“coming onto Mypace then going to Facebook was really different.. but now I like it better than Myspace because it’s more fun and more easy to use. Facebook uses third party applications which Myspace never used to have…so it was kind of cool having that type of application and having your friends comment you, etc. But Twitter is the easiest way to get information fast from people, your friends, the people you’re following, whether it be reporters or the newspapers. Because it’s used as micro-blogging, it’s like text messaging so the up and coming news is posted really quick and you see it right then and there when you log onto Twitter.”

Each student with SNS accounts gave similar answers to what their major

influences were to using any of the SNS. Staying in contact and because most of their

friends are on them” were the major influences. Participant D stated that “most of those

sites are the more popular ones, there’s more people on it so there’s lots of people you

know who are on it so you’re going to want to join it.” Participant G felt that apart from

her similar addiction to SNSs like participant D, she used specific SNSs for different

reasons. She said:

“I use Facebook because almost all my friends are in Facebook now a days and I use it to keep up to date with my calendar for dates like birthdays, parties… since I have joined different groups, I am more up to date with what the group is up to… I don’t have to waste the time to call them or send an email because you don’t always know if they got your email or if they even check their email account. It’s kinda like my personal and professional address book and even my calendar.”


&

Participants D and G signed on to their SNS accounts daily and both felt they

were “addicted.” They both concurred that SNSs were “beneficial and they like to

continue to keep in contact and updated with friends and family.” On the other hand, with

new technologies, participant D’s addictions to her SNS accounts were easily accessible

by her cellular phone. Participant A added, “I barely go on LinkedIn because right now

I’m not really looking for jobs. I probably use Facebook at least five times a day because

I’m always on my computer and I check my email and it’s in my bookmark tabs so

sometimes I’m kinda bored so I click and check stuff.” Participant E only belongs to

Myspace and she signs on at least once a day to keep in contact with friends or when she

is “bored.”

When the students were asked if they felt there were any rewards or negative

consequences to SNS’s, each ones’ response was similar. Participant E said that the

rewards were “it’s a good way to communicate with people and help you stay connected”

Participant A had a similar view. However, a negative consequence participant E had

been concerned about was her privacy and having to think about what you share on

SNS’s. Participant G stated “you make connections with people you may only meet once

but then they can become a real good benefit to your possible career or an event you are

putting on,” but she was skeptical of “people who are not in my normal circle of friends

who can see my pictures. They can judge my character based on what they see.”

Participant D said that one of the many pros is the “easy access, getting to know

everyone and what they’re doing.” The negative consequences she was aware of had to

do with the lack of privacy: “with the Internet, whatever you put on the Internet, it’s open

for anyone else to see and once its public, you can’t take it back.” Another consequence


&

she mentioned was how “addicting” it is and “once you join one, you have to maintain it

as well.” Participant D stated the following:

“it’s addicting because you’re constantly looking at your friends and you see what they’re up to and you know with people putting information on the web for example, is she posted a picture of a ring, then you’re kind of like, is she married or if someone comments someone else, then you might take it out of context. So it’s just those little things that get you addicted, get you into people’s lives, even though it’s not your business, that’s they way social networking sites are, the information is just all out there.”

The next question the students were asked was if they had to pick one SNS, which

one they would chose and why. For those who did not belong to any SNS, they were

asked to pick a SNS they would belong to based on what their perceptions were of the

site. Of the six students, five of them chose Facebook as the SNS they would belong to if

they had to chose only one. Participant E chose Myspace because she said her close

friends had Myspace. She stated:

“My friends like co-workers or people on the mainland, they use Facebook. They say it’s more professional and that companies look at it and that Myspace is kind of childish. If I looked into it more and if I actually went and made a Facebook then maybe I’ll pick that instead of Myspace, but honestly, I never really looked into Facebook.”

Participants F and B chose Facebook even though they do not belong to that SNS

because according to participant B “it seems to be the most popular medium that

everybody goes to and MySpace is kind of dying out already.” Participant F chose

Facebook because a lot of her friends are on it. She said:

“My friends keep in touch on Facebook and post pictures and there’s a lot ore people I know that are on Facebook or are more active on Facebook than like MySpace and other social networking sites… probably because of all the features that Facebook offers like the causes and organizations that are part of a Facebook. You can create groups and have announcements sent out to all of your friends and


&

the people in your social network join a group you know or RSVPing to the announcements or events.” Participant A chose Facebook because he was not at the age where LinkedIn

could be of benefit to him. He was also skeptical of LinkedIn saying “I’m not sure if it

has a sturdy, credible reputation yet.” Participant D chose Facebook because “I have my

friends and I also have my professionals and so I tend to keep my Facebook more

professional or clean and again with all those third party applications, it’s more fun and

easy to use.” Participant G felt Facebook has been the most beneficial to her since

“it has the greatest variety of people on there. It ranges from professionals in the field to my family members. I have aunts and uncles that are 56 years old that are on Facebook and also my siblings who are in high school and high school buddies of mine. Facebook has wide array of people from all around the world. I currently have a pen pal in South Africa and we’ve been talking for over a year that I met through this site. So it has a world wide range of people so if I was ever to relocate to another area, I can get on Facebook and meet people in that area. Also, Facebook is very well organized and has a lot of privacy settings that you can put on and only certain people can see your pictures. That way it keeps up a good relationship with the people you don’t want seeing your pictures. It lets you monitor what other people are seeing about you.”

The students were then asked if they felt that belonging to a SNS benefitted them

in any way. All of the responses were ranged from having helped them maintain

relationships with their friends and staying connected to being able to network better and

more accurately. Participant B gave a deeper insight for his future compared to the others.

When asked about joining a SNS, he stated that once he starts his own business and

wants to market it “the best way would be over social networking sites because it would

reach a lot of people at a low cost, so eventually, I would have to. That’s another reason

why I wouldn’t be surprised or scared because logically it is a good way to spread your

message.”


&

Public Relations Practitioners question-by-question summary

Participants H, J and L belong to at least two SNS. They each come from a

different background of public relations. Participant H is a Public Information Officer for

the University of Hawaii System, which is considered non-profit PR. Participant J’s

background includes twenty years in the corporate and hospitality PR. Currently, she is

the Director of Public Relations for the Outrigger Properties. Participant L has been a PR

practitioner for over 15 years and her expertise is in agency PR. Of three PR practitioners

who do not belong to any SNS, Participant I has an agency PR background and is the

Senior Vice President for one of Hawaii’s top five PR agencies. Participant C has

specialized in healthcare PR and government PR. He is the Corporate Communications

Specialist for the U.S. Postal Service. Participant K has been in healthcare PR for almost

30 years. The majority of her career has been the PR Director for Kuakini Hospital.

Of those participants who belonged to a SNS, they were asked to explain why

they chose to become a member. Participant H had different purposes:

“I’m a member of LinkedIn because it’s a website mainly for professionals. I have heard it’s a good professional site, especially if you’re looking to connect with other professionals in your field or looking for a job. I joined Facebook for both professional and personal reasons. A lot of my family members are on it so it’s a good way to keep in touch with all of them because they’re all over the country but also because I work at a university setting, a lot of college students are on it, so we’re looking at ways to incorporate it into our own PR and marketing efforts, so mainly just for research.”

Participant J joined because “everyone else was doing it. It just seems that

everything you read is all social media, social media, so you need to be on it. I got on it,

other folks were on it and just reading about it and thought, okay, let’s give it a try.”

Participant L joined for similar reasons as Participant J. “I had been reading so much


&

about it and a lot of my friends were getting on there and I thought, I better jump on the

bandwagon because it seems to be an important new movement in technology that

impacts my profession and just information and communications overall.”

The reasons participants C, I and K do not belong to SNS were parallel.

Participant I’s main concern was the time management of it all. She said:

“I think between working all the time then getting home and making dinner and doing all the stuff you need to do, I don’t have the time to go on and check all that stuff. All the people I want to be connected to, I already am. Whether it’s through email or phone calls or seeing them in person, IMing them, that’s the best and quickest way I am involved.”

Participant C chose not to belong to any SNS due to his personal life. He stated:

“I’m at the point in my life where I got married, had a daughter and so that is really the whole focus of my social life and everything from that point on so when you start getting to the point and start having kids and everything, as far as the socialization activities were really more focused on my family activities and when I had the opportunities to get on the computer to do stuff after taking care of stuff and family obligations, then I really wasn’t focused on getting socialization opportunities between the hectic pace of work and family life.” Participant K’s response for not belonging to a SNS was varied, but similar to

Participants C and I. She stated

“I personally have no interest in it. I don’t have the time. For me, I don’t see it helping me professionally and personally. One thing about Kuakini is that we do not have access to social networking. It’s restricted here and to have something like that, you have to have the time and the staff or somebody that has time to check it, update it, just like a blog.” Each of the six PR practitioners started learning about SNS around the same time.

The reasons that influenced their decision(s) to join or not join were diverse.

Participant J started using Twitter first, but started receiving invitations for other SNS.

Participant J said:


&

“Facebook is more professional and business oriented as opposed to personal because the people who have befriended me are those that I have worked with. I have some people who wanted Facebook to be just for their friends and they don’t want it to cross over. Where as for me it hasn’t. I don’t know if I am just old-school or if I am not used to it, but I am still pretty hesitant about putting a lot of personal information on the web just because anyone can look at it. It’s so accessible”

Participant H logged onto Facebook and Twitter equally, but once Facebook switched

over to their new format, the participant claimed there was a:

“significant difference in the amount of time I spent on Facebook. And then I got introduced to Twitter in July 200 and I spent a lot more time on it compared to Facebook. Twitter is the new Facebook… I guess because a lot of my professional contacts on are Twitter. Since it’s real time communication with everyone and fast and instant versus Facebook where you send people messages or write on their walls. And with Twitter there are so many different applications you can use, where you can have Twitter on your phones or sitting at your desk, you have these other applications that give you the updates while you’re sitting there working. Versus Facebook, you have to login, scroll down to see what people are doing so it takes up and requires more time than Twitter.”

Participant L stated “Twitter still scares me because it’s still relatively new to me.” The

influences on what made her decide to join SNS were that it is a “growing trend in the

media, so I think being in the profession I’m in, it was an absolute necessity to get a

Facebook page and see what was going on with Facebook.”

Participants C, I and K all agreed that a major influence for them not joining was

time. Participant C said that “it was really a matter of prioritizing my time or the priority

was family and maintaining the interpersonal relationships I had rather than trying to

build new networks.”

Participant I viewed SNS as “another thing that is going to take up my time, the

time that I don’t have. Also, because I don’t want to share my story or personal stuff with

people that I don’t know that well like acquaintances. There’s just things I want certain


&

people to know. I’m a very private person so I’d rather not share my business with too

many people. You know the people who need to know are the ones I’m in constant

contact with one way or another.”

When it came to choosing which SNS they would belong to if they could only

pick one or which one they prefer the most, the answers differed. Participant H chose

Facebook over MySpace because she felt MySpace was “more for the younger crowd and

a but more raunchier, so Facebook is a little more cleaner.” She felt that each SNS served

a different purpose for her. “Twitter is real time communication and with Facebook, you

can share pictures and when you have more time available, you can go on and look at

people’s photos, send messages and I think it’s more personal communication on

Facebook.”

Participant J had different views ranging from privacy issues to the inconvenience

of not having it easily accessible. Participant J said: “I am not one of those folks who

after a long day of work, goes on the computer and turns the computer on again and

neither on the weekends… it’s just a hassle sometimes to turn on the computer at home

sometimes. Twitter, I do see the potential and possibility for using it to announce

packages and programs but my problem is once things are happening, I don’t take the

time then to continue the conversations.”

Participant L logged on to both SNS she belonged to for both personal and

professional reasons. She said: “on a personal side of things, it’s reconnected me with a

lot of people and it’s a great way to get information and stay connected with people

because we get so busy that it’s a great way to stay in touch with your friends, colleagues

in a short amount of time.”


&

When asked how many times each of the PR practitioners sign on to their SNS

each day, it stayed consistent. On average, everyone signed in at least once a day, but

depending on their schedule they would sign in more or less. Participant H said she had

applications set up on her desktop that allowed her to see Tweets when her web browser

was open. Participant J said that if “I’m bored, or if I know something is happening like

the Super Bowl, I’ll turn it on during half time because I figure that we are all

commenting about it.”

Participant L logged into Twitter often on her phone because “it’s a really good

way to kill time when you’re waiting in line. I go on Twitter is because of all the news

announcements. It’s so instantaneous so in that sense, it gets addicting. I watch the news,

I read the news and that’s part of my job, so now Twitter being that all these new

organizations, papers and television news are providing Twitter updates, I like to go on

there first. It seems that you get the news first on Twitter.” Depending on her day she

would log in as much as every hour or less and on some days.

When all the PR Practitioners were asked about the rewards and consequences

surrounding SNS, each of their answers gave light to the stereotypes of those who do not

belong to SNS but also showed the similarity and diversity of their opinions.

Participant H connected with a lot of old friends, but has also connected with other

people in her industry, especially with being in Hawaii. The negative consequences she

had been concerned with were:

“the lines are kind of blurred between professional and personal so you have to remember things that you post since people still view you as representing your company where as you might be putting in something there personally that could


&

impact your company’s brand or reputation or your own reputation. Facebook to me is more personal and Twitter is more professional. Because with Twitter I am following the news people and PR people where as with Facebook, it’s mostly my friends.” Participant J has found that SNS are changing the way generations communicate.

“I can say that with social media, more and more people will start using it. It’s usually the

older folks who are more seeped into traditional means of marketing and communications

who say it’s not a big thing, we don’t need to be part of it, but I do see that you do.

Because that is how the kids are growing up now. It’s just given for them to be part of it

whereas for the older generation, it’s something we have to think about and pursue.” An

added consequence for participant J is that it is “a hassle. The saying old dogs learning

new tricks, well it can be difficult. If you don’t have that drive to learn technology or if

your mind is not into technology then it is a little bit burdensome because it is something

new that you can’t relate to.”

Participant L had a different outlook. Her fear of SNS is that “is it being used the

right way?” She mentioned that it could be abused and could get addictive: “monitoring

how much time you spend on it and using it for productive reasons” was a consequence

for her. However, the rewards and consequences she has experienced with SNS is that it

is “a great way to get information. It’s a great way to put out information to a large

audience as well. I think the younger demographic that does not really watch the news or

pick up a newspaper, they can be reached by using SNS. It’s a great way to reach a whole

new audience, but if you spend too much time on there you have to be very careful with

what you put on there because if you put some misinformation it could spread like

wildfire.”


&

Participants C and K had heard similar stereotypes of SNS. Participant K heard

that in MySpace things could be “used against you because anyone can post anything.

They tell you to be careful about what you post because they can tell your employer or a

potential employer.” It should be noted that participant C and K both work in locations

that have certain SNS restrictions on their computers, which is also an added

inconvenience for them. Participant I felt that the main concern still leads back to time

consumption about the rewards and consequences to SNS.

The six PR Practitioners were then asked if they had to pick one SNS, which one

would be it and why. Participant J picked Twitter. Participants H and L had the same

answers. They had difficulty choosing one since they use each SNS for a different reason.

Participant H said:

“Twitter, you’re limited in what you can say. Facebook is more effective than Twitter if you can find the right way to utilize them, but it’s all in the person and what they feel most comfortable with. Twitter is more professional because of your followers and who you follow. They are different boundaries for each site and the level of privacy you are willing to share is different, but because of the purposes they share, I would choose Facebook for more personal use. As far as comparing the two, they’re both easy to use, which is why I use them.”

Participant L chose Facebook for personal use and Twitter for professional use. “Twitter,

on the other hand has helped us get the word out more on behalf of our clients, but

Facebook is more for my personal use to reconnect and staying connected with friends

and family. It’s nice to see their photos and you can’t do that on Twitter so much.”

Participant J used Twitter and Facebook because to her “they are the easiest to

use” and those sites are easily available to her, but she chose Twitter first because out of


&

the two, they are the “easiest to use. It’s easier to participate and turn it on, where as

Facebook there are different things or steps you have to go through.”

Participant K felt that it “might depend on where you work professionally and

how you use to it” that would determine which one she would chose. She understood that

you can use it to your advantage to promote awareness and increase understanding. She

said: “it’s a way to get information out, another venue. I think it’s good for networking

but again it probably depends on where you work, if there are any restrictions and the

way the office is set up.”

Participant C showed that SNS are not something he could understand well

without research. He said:

“I could not venture an educated guess on and would have to do some research on it to find out as far as why. It would be based on recommendations I get from other people who are currently on sites and the people who I want to network with the most, which ones were more of what they considered user-friendly or what they considered more useful to them. So that would be the determining factor for me. People I know, people I want to network with and what they are using.”

Participant I would choose Facebook because based on her perceptions, she liked how

one can “log on whenever you want and seems the most unobtrusive out of them.”

The researcher then asked the PR practitioners if they would recommend students

wanting to go into PR to belong to SNS. Participant K felt that again, “it would depend

on where they are working.” Participant I was still undecided. She said that:

“it’s the new thing now. We’ve been trying to look into how we can incorporate social media into what we do. I think that as much as I don’t like it, I think that’s what you’re moving towards. I’m sure as we move forward, it’s going to come into play a lot. If students are thinking about PR, then they should become more knowledgeable about all these different sites and I think that would give them an added advantage if they were to go in and apply for a job. I think that even though


&

I don’t have one, but there come’s a point where I need to do it professionally, then I probably would.”

In the following chapter, the researcher will be discussing public relations

students’ and PR practitioners’ responses to one another. The researcher will also be

discussing any found similarities and differences.


&

CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researcher discussed the responses of the public relations

students and PR practitioners and compared their responses to one another. The

researcher evaluated if the PR students and PR practitioners’ answers showed any

evidence of assimilation to one another. Then the researcher did the same for the PR

students and PR practitioners without SNS accounts.

The second part of the discussion will consist of the participants’ answers being

analyzed to find similarities and differences to the UTAUT models and theories to

determine if the participants’ answers exist pragmatically.

The last section of this chapter will discuss the findings of major themes in the

participants’ responses. For the reader’s reference, please refer to the table of participants

that is listed as Appendix A.

Students and PR Practitioners Responses

In this section, the students’ and PR practitioners’ answers’ will be examined with

each other. Here, the researcher will discuss the similarities and differences between the

two group’s answers.

Each of the students and PR practitioners who belong to SNS stated the following

reasons for why SNS are beneficial: networking, reconnecting and connecting with past

and current friends, colleagues and family members. Participants A, D and G each felt

that as students, having a SNS is an advantage, especially when meeting new people and

wanting to maintain that relationship. Participants H, J, L each had their specific purposes

for why SNS are a great tool for networking and connecting with past and current people.


&

Each of them gave examples of how they each use SNS for different purposes and which

one is more personal and professional for them. For example, participants D and H

commented that they liked how Twitter is “fast and instant communication” and

Facebook was more personal for participants G and L since their friends are allowed to

share photos and post on walls without character limits.

Participants A, D, G, H, L each mentioned the convenience of third-party

applications for using SNS on their phones and on their desktops such as TwitterFox and

Twitterific. However due to their specific locations and specializations in PR, participants

C, J and K each experienced the inconvenience of SNS. Participant J explained it as

being a “hassle” since some SNS are blocked from her work computer. Due to

participants C and K’s professions in the healthcare and government PR industries their

computers do not allow logons to SNS, which was an added inconvenience and

contributing factor as to why they choose not to belong to any SNS.

The next similarity with all the students and PR practitioners were that they all

had concerns about how much of their time was required on SNS. Participants D, G and

L each mentioned how SNS can become addicting, but participants A and L both said

that SNS were positive ways to take up your time if you were bored. However, most of

the participants including those who did not have SNS accounts all expressed their

apprehension for how much time SNS could demand. Time was the major factor for why

participants C, F, I, K choose not to belong to SNS. Participant F stated that she was

afraid she would get addicted, which was why she stayed away from it. Another added

similarity that is related to time consumption and the fact that if you belong to SNS, you

have to maintain it. Participants D and J both expressed this as a downside to SNS.


&

Participant K voiced her worries since her team at Kuakini is small. She mentioned

“because her staff is limited, it’s important that if you have one, you want to take

responses from people, if they have any comments. You have to have the time and the

staff or somebody that has time to check it, update it, just like a blog… Who’s going to

take care of it, who’s going to post information. The way our office is set up, we don’t

have time.”

Privacy was another factor for the participants. Participants C, F, I all felt that

they keep in contact with those they need or want to and do not necessarily need SNS to

maintain that contact. However, those who do belong to SNS were skeptical of how it

might affect their privacy. Participants D, J and L each expressed that once anything is

posted over the Internet, it is out there forever. Participant B’s driving issue for not

belonging to SNS was that if he joined, it would create unnecessary “drama” for his

personal life. Although, those that belong to SNS still chose to sign up but they became

more educated about the SNS they were signing into. Based on the participants’

responses to the rewards and consequences, those that belong to SNS felt that the rewards

outweighed the consequences and that being aware of the consequences and educated

about how to control them was enough to continue to use SNS.

Another similarity that was mentioned between four of the participants were that

age was a factor in how these SNS were examined. Participant A specifically mentioned

that because he was not at the age where he would be looking for job, he didn’t find the

need to belong to more than one SNS. Participant J mentioned her age was a determinant

of why she was hesitant to joining SNS because “it can be difficult if you don’t have that

drive to learn technology.” Participants D and H both chose their Facebook accounts over


&

MySpace because they felt MySpace was for a “younger crowd and not as clean” when

comparing the two from one another.

PR Students and PR Practitioners Use of UTAUT

The researcher compared the twelve participants’ answers regarding SNS to the

Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model for a better

understanding of how to bridge the gap between students and public relations

practitioners. The UTAUT model is comprised of eight core determinants. The

researcher examined the participants’ answers according to the eight core determinants.

The UTAUT model outlines the major determinants that are parallel to the participants’

opinions of SNS. For example, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Technology

Acceptance Model (TAM) were stronger for those who belong to SNS. The perceived

ease of use and perceived usefulness were direct determinants of why participants C and

K do not belong to SNS. However due to the ease of use being higher on Twitter versus

Facebook caused those that do have SNS to use Twitter more often in some cases.

The Motivational Model (MM) was one of the biggest factors in the participants’

answers. The researcher found that extrinsic motivation was significantly higher because

the researcher interviewed PR practitioners and PR students wanting to enter the PR

industry after graduation versus the researcher interviewing students not majoring in PR.

Each of the PR practitioners expressed the motivation to join SNS if it improved their job

performance. Participant H was “looking at ways to incorporate SNS into our own PR

and marketing efforts”. Participants H and L showed intrinsic motivation as well since

they would login to SNS for no apparent reinforcement. Participants A, D and G showed


&

high intrinsic motivation by saying there were “addicted” and would logon if they were

bored.

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) three-core constructs agreed with those

who belong to more than one SNS. The PR practitioners and PR students who have SNS

accounts showed their perceived behavioral control, attitude and subject norm were all in

agreement. Combined Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior

(C-TAM-TPB) were more noticeable in participants D, G, H and L due to their attitude

and usage on SNS. Participants D was logging on daily and said “it’s constantly addicting

because you’re looking at your friends and you see what they’re up to”. The usage of

SNS’s for participants D, G, H and L were higher due to their attitude of wanting to log

on and check what is occurring at that moment with their friends and followers. Those

that did not belong to SNS’s answers were not measured due to their attitude subjective

norm, perceived behavioral control and perceived usefulness not agreeing with one

another.

The Model of PC Utilization (MPCU) six core constructs applied to each of the

participants. Job-fit was the biggest majority with the seven participants expressing their

belief that SNS would enhance his/her performance of his/her job. The complexity of the

MPCU evolved into a factor for participants C, H, J, K and L, all of whom are PR

practitioners. The long-term consequences were noticed by all participants, which is why

those who did not have SNS chose to be extra cautious when sharing specific

information. The affect towards use was both negative and positive. It was mainly

negative in those participants who did not belong to SNS. They felt displeasure in what

SNS had to offer as well as rebellion. Participant B stated “he liked to go against the


&

norm” and by doing so he felt that SNS did not “get to him.” Positive affects towards use

were found in all of those who have SNS because it was directly related to job-fit. The

participants who felt joy or pleasure using SNS also had more reasons to enhance their

job. A few social factors arose from the beginning since the background of each

participant was PR. The main commonality being that the students wanted to enter the PR

industry post college and the PR practitioners were all practicing professionals who

shared similar backgrounds, clients and goals. The facilitating conditions already

influenced their opinions since it was related to the social factors of why they were

entering this specific industry.

The Innovation of Diffusion Theory was found in all seven participants who

belong to at least one SNS. The seven core constructs matched the responses of those

participants having Facebook, Twitter and MySpace accounts. Visibility, Image and

Voluntariness of Use were the core constructs found in the participants due to the nature

of the PR industry in Hawaii and the need to have social media experience prior to

entering the work field. The image one has of belonging to SNS holds heavily more on

students since they are trying to find ways to give them advantages on entering the PR

industry after college. Noticing the visibility of PR practitioners using SNS voluntarily

added to the students feelings of relative advantage starting from when they first joined to

now. As a result, students and PR practitioners with and without SNS saw how fast SNS

are growing and how it is not a trend anyone. It is indeed interlaced into today’s culture.

The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and its five core constructs can be associated

with all of the participants. The outcome expectations for performance are correlated with

PR practitioners and students, specifically with the PR practitioners who do not belong to


&

any SNS. The personal outcome expectations are more related to the PR practitioners

who have SNS due to their personal expectations and esteem of belong to at least one

SNS and utilizing that SNS to the best of their knowledge. Self-efficacy is present in each

participant due to each of them using this technology to his or her advantage. For those

who do have SNS, the job-motivation was increased for both PR practitioners and

students. If the participants felt there was an increased chance for job-motivation then

their self-efficacy would also increase. This would then lead to the affect construct to

increase as well. Anxiety was indicated to be the last core construct. Participants A, B, C,

J, K and L had all been linked to showing anxiety towards SNS. Participant J felt SNS

“can be difficult. If you don’t have that drive to learn technology or if you mind is not

into technology then it is a little bit burdensome because it is something new that you

can’t relate to.” Participant L expressed that “Twitter still kind of scares me because it’s

still relatively new to me”. It seems that although the participants’ motivations were

different, each felt a sense of anxiety upon trying a new technology. Based on answers

from participants D, G and H, all of them revealed their desire to find better ways to enter

the PR industry and the SCT had been a major influence on them.

Major themes

The researcher found various themes after analyzing each of the participants’ responses

to SNS.

Theme 1: Reconnecting and connecting with new people

The first major theme and obvious similarity with all of the participants as shown

in the previous paragraphs was that SNS were mainly viewed as a means of connecting

and networking first prior to any other alternative reasons.


&

Theme 2: Age

Age was the second theme that was evident. The researcher heard several

interviews stating how age was a factor in determining the usage of SNS. Participant A

brought up the perspective that if the SNS had no use for him, he would not use it. He

used LinkedIn as an example since it is a SNS that is used for employers and he is a

student. Participant J also mentioned the “old dogs learning new tricks” saying regarding

the way technology is moving so quickly, which is related the IDT.

Theme 3: Location

The researcher noted that the PR industry in Hawaii concentrates heavily on

networking with people because of its location and it being in the middle of the Pacific

Ocean. Finding more ways to communicate over different mediums was essential, and the

participants acknowledged that having more options to communicate, connect and

network was important to them, may be why the average participant with a SNS account

belonged to at least two sites. The researcher noticed that the PR students with SNS

accounts felt more inclined to join additional SNS because their ultimate goal was to find

a job and broaden their networks. Living on an island where the proximity of knowing

more people is higher than living on the mainland, PR students and PR practitioners

showed more incentive to have a SNS for personal and professional reasons. Personal use

of SNS was higher in those who are not originally from Hawaii and professional use of

SNS was higher in the PR practitioners who have to travel outside of Hawaii for their

jobs.

Theme 4: Motive


&

Job motivation was the highest determinant for wanting to use SNS among both

PR students and PR practitioners. PR practitioners who already have SNS felt that

students should be signed up for at least one SNS in order to assist them in the job hunt

post college. Having to maintain various SNS seemed to have lead to a higher technology

acceptance and use of technology in a positive way for those who belonged to SNS. For

students belonging to SNS, the researcher noticed that it provided a smaller gap when

entering the PR industry versus those students who do not have a SNS.

In the following chapter, the researcher summarized the final conclusions of PR

practitioners’ and students’ use of SNS under the UTAUT model and further researcher

that could add to this study.


&

CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the researcher discusses the summary of PR students’ and PR

practitioners’ use of SNS under the UTAUT model in addition to limitations of the

present study and directions for future research.

Since the interviews were conducted, the fields of SNS and public relations have

changed. More research has occurred over the last three years specializing in models and

theories of SNS, especially in regards to the public relations industry. It has provided

more additional support to SNS and opened up more theories to be validated in different

environments. Participant L made it very clear that due to her profession, it was necessary

for her to know what is occurring within SNS, which is why she is on them. Participant J

also expressed her feelings toward SNS and had seen first hand how SNS are changing

the way we communicate. “The kids are growing up now and it’s a given for them to be a

part of it where as for the older generation, it is something we have to think about and

pursue” stated participant J. Based on the researchers’ findings under the UTAUT model,

performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and job-fit were the major

constructs of usage intention and behavior.

The framework of UTAUT showcased more results in certain theories and models

than others. The MM, MPCU, IDT and SCT offered the highest variety of evidence that

involved the participants’ answers. Extrinsic motivation was higher due to the

participants being involved in the public relations industry. The participants wanted to

achieve activities such as improved job performance. An example of this would be

participant H’s motive to incorporate SNS into her marketing and PR strategies at her


&

current job. MPCU is still current due to the core constructs involving job-fit and social

factors. As stated in the previous chapter, MPCU was validated in each of the participants

with job-fit being the biggest majority. Participants C, H, J, K, L all of whom are PR

practitioners provided evidence for complexity being a strong factor in using SNS. The

affects towards use were positive in those belonging to SNS and negative in those who do

not belong to SNS. IDT was found in the seven participants who have accounts on SNS.

The image of one having a SNS seems to weigh more heavily on PR students since they

were trying to find better ways to infiltrate the PR industry. SCT was associated with all

of the participants. SCT’s five core constructs show to be as valid today due to PR

students’ and PR practitioners’ use of SNS. The outcome for performance and personal

expectations along with self-efficacy assisted in those who felt there would be an

increased chance for job-motivation. According to Diga & Kelleher, 2009, “public

relations practitioners are aware that SNS are important tools.” Participants D, G and H

each expressed their desires to find better ways to communicate in the PR industry. SCT

has been a major factor in their decisions to use SNS. As a result, PR students with SNS

have a clear advantage when trying to enter the PR industry than those students who do

not have SNS.

Limitations of present study

Due to each of the interviews taking place for approximately one hour, certain

constructs of the UTAUT model fell short. The researcher was not able to explore in

more depth the determinants of the UTAUT model. Time was a major factor of why this

study lacked in certain areas. The history of SNS is ever-growing, but still relatively new.

Having only 12 interviewees to represent the UTAUT model showed in-depth responses,


&

but lacked added details in specific core constructs that a larger group could have

provided. The nature of qualitative research did not match certain theories well since the

researcher was measuring responses and not numbers. Therefore precise data like

percentage analysis were not acquired during this study. This research method also

showed that certain theories and models were not as evident as others due to only having

12 responses from the participants within the given time frame.

Directions for future research

The original study by Venkatesh et. al, 2003, provided over 900 variables to be

accounted for whereas this study elaborated on a few. By adding more participants, one

could elaborate on the responses of each and have more substantial evidence of how

specific determinants of UTAUT relate or do not relate to SNS.

In addition to adding more interviewees in another study of the UTAUT to

expand the eight models relevance, an updated literature review would allow for more

concrete support. The original literature review in this study was conducted more than

three years ago and since then, much more research has been conducted on SNS outside

of this study. Even though the field is constantly changing, SNS have grown and evolved

at such a fast pace, they have penetrated into our culture. Therefore, a long term and more

inclusive study under the UTAUT models may also yield more solid evidence.


&

REFERENCES

Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 50(2). 179-211.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive

Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Baxter, L.A. & Babbie, E.R. (2004). The Basics of Communication Research. Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Boyd. D.M. & Ellison, E.B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history and

scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 13(1). Compeau, D.R., & Higgins, C.A. (1995a). Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a

Measure and Initial Test. MIS Quarterly, (19:2), 118-143.

Compeau, D.R., & Higgins, C.A. (1995b). Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test. MIS Quarterly, (19:2), 189-211.

Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly (13:3). 319-339.

Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., and Warshaw, P.R. (1992). Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

to Use Computers in the Workplace. Journal of Applied Social Psychology (22:14). 1111-1132.

Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., and Warshaw, P.R. (1989). User Acceptance of Computer

Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models. Management Science (35:8). 982-1002.

Diga, M. & Kelleher T. (2009). Social media use, perceptions of decision-making power

and public relations roles. Public Relations Review, 35(4), 440-442. Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C. & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:”

Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

www.Facebook.com, December 2011. Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior. An Introduction

to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Kent, M.L., & Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships throughout the World

Wide Web. Public Relations Review, 24, 321-334.


&

Maddux, J. E., & Rogers, R. W. (1983). Protection motivation and self-efficacy: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 19(5), 469-479.

McCracken, G. (1988). The Long Interview. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Moore, G.C. & Benbasat, I. (1991). Development of an Instrument to Measure the

Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. Information Systems Research. 2(3), 192-222.

Moore, G.C. & Benbasat, I. (1996). Integrating Diffusions of Innovations and Theory of

diffusions of innovation Reasoned Action Models to Predict Utilization of Information Technology by End-Users in Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology, K. Kautz and J.Pries-Hege (eds), Chapman and Hall, London, 132-146.

O’Malley, M. & Kelleher, T. (2006). Applying the Technology Acceptance Model to

Assess Outcomes in a Globally Linked Strategic Communication Project. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. Winter 2006. 400-415.

Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5th ed.) New York, NY: Free Press. Rogers, E. M. & Shoemaker, F. F. (1971). Communications of Innovations: A Cross-

Cultural Approach. New York, NY: Free Press. Silverman, S.C. (2007). Creating Community Online: The Effects of Online Social

Networking Communities on College Students’ Experiences. How Can Student Affairs Professionals Best Respond to This Emergent Phenomenon. ProQuest

Stutzman, F. (2006, April 25). Transience in social networks, or how to bear MySpace and Facebook. Retrieved May 14, 2006, from Stutzman's Blog Web Site: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com

Stutzman, F. (2006, January 23). How university administrators should approach the Facebook: ten rules. Retrieved May 8, 2006, from Stutzman's Blog Web Site: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com

Stutzman, F. (2006, January 8). Student life on the Facebook. Retrieved May 14, 2006, from Stutzman's Blog Web Site: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com

Stutzman, F. (2006, May 6). Google tech talk. Retrieved May 7, 2006, from Stutzman's blog Web Site: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com

Taylor, S. & Todd, P.A. (1995a). Assessing IT Usage: The Role of Prior Experience. MIS Quarterly. 19(2), 561-570.


&

Triandis, H.C. (1977). Interpersonal Behavior, Brookel Cole, Monterey, CA. Triandis, H.C.(1979, 1980). Values, Attitudes, and Interpersonal Behavior, Nebraska Symposiumon Motivation: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 1980, 195-259.

Thompson, R.L., Higgins, C.A., & Howell, J.M. (1991). Personal Computing: Toward a Conceptual Model of Utilization. MIS Quarterly. 15(1). 124-143.

Tornatzky, L.G. & Klein, K.J. (1982). Innovation Characteristics and Innovation

Adoption-Implementation: A Meta-Analysis of Finding. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. (29:1), 28-45.

Vallerand, R.J. (1997). Toward a Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic

Motivation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (29). M Zanna (ed.) Academic Press, New York, 271-360.

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, G.B., & Davis, F.D. (2003). User Acceptance of

Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly. 27(3), 425-478. Venkatesh, V. & Speier, C. (1999). Computer Technology Training in the Workplace: A

Longitudinal Investigation on the Effect of the Mood. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (79:1), 1-28.


&

APPENDIX A Table of Participants GENDER STATUS NUMBER OF SNS

PARTICIPANT A Male Student Two

PARTICIPANT B Male Student Zero

PARTICIPANT C Male PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT D Female Student Four

PARTICIPANT E Female Student One

PARTICIPANT F Female Student Zero

PARTICIPANT G Female Student Three

PARTICIPANT H Female PR Practitioners Three

PARTICIPANT I Female PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT J Female PR Practitioners Four

PARTICIPANT K Female PR Practitioners Zero

PARTICIPANT L Female PR Practitioners Two


&

APPENDIX B INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Are you a student or public relations practitioner?

2. How long have you been in PR? / What major or field are you interested in?

3. Are you a member of any social networking site?

a. If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. Name all the sites you

belong to.

4. Do you remember when you first heard about these sites?

5. What influenced your decision(s) about using Facebook?

6. What are the major influences (if any) to why you use it?

7. Do you still use it?

a. if yes/no please explain why you do/don't.

8. How often do you use this site(s)? How many times a day do you sign in? Etc.

9. Are there any rewards or consequences, in your opinion, about using social

networking site(s)? Explain in great detail.

10. If you had to choose which site to belong to, which one and why?

11. Do you believe that belonging to social networking site(s) [SNS] helps you in any

way?

12. If you were a professional, would you belong to a SNS? If yes/no please explain

why.


&

APPENDIX C PARTICIPANT TRANSCRIPTIONS

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT A Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or public relations practitioner? Interviewee (AM): Student. KS: What is your major? AM: I am getting my BA in Communications and my field of interest is in public relations. KS: Why public relations? AM: Because I’m interested in human decision-making and what kind of motivates people to go one way or another and what kinds of small things kinda nudge people towards one decision. Public relations has kind of a big impact, so that’s why I’m in this field. KS: K, are you currently a member of a social networking site known as Facebook? If yes, please explain why, if no, please explain why. AM: Yes I am. I am a member of Facebook because there are lots of my friends that are on there, not just friends who are here, but friends from past places I’ve lived and friends that moved away. And so, it’s a way of keeping in touch and, so yeah, I generally don’t meet people I haven’t met before on Facebook. If someone tries to contact me if I don’t already know, then I don’t interact with them. KS: Why is that? AM: Because it’s kind of weird. KS: Yeah? I’m just kind of curious. AM: Yeah, but it rarely ever happens. I used to have MySpace back, sometime ago, couple of years ago, and occasionally people would contact me on there, people who weren’t spam bots or whatever, and back then, even then, I thought it was kind of weird and odd. I don’t know if it’s just cause it’s me or in general, people are starting to get the idea that you don’t like, try to add people you don’t know. Cuz it seems to be happening, lots of times. KS: Why do you think it’s happening often?


&

AM: Well, I just noticed the other day for instance, in my COM class, there’s a couple people that are talking and one of them was saying, “I’m on Facebook, and this girl was like, oh yeah, I’ll add you”. Something like that, I don’t know exactly, the guy was kinda like, “oh yeah, Facebook, Facebook stalker. Creepers.” And they both kinda chuckled about it. And I realized it’s becoming more and more common, sort of commonly accepted that there are with Facebook, that people take it a little too far, kinda stalk people. Yeah. KS: Yeah, chuckles. So what influenced your decision about using Facebook? Like I’m gonna ask you later if there are any major influences, you can answer that now if you want, as to why you use Facebook. AM: I use Facebook because it’s easy and… KS: What do you mean by easy? AM: Well, of course there’s a certain amount of effort that you have to put into setting it up, but now that I log in and now that I use it, and I already have a profile on there, when I go on, whereas before, when I had a MySpace, and I don’t go on, it would take longer to load every page, it would take a while, cuz I would always get customized pictures, desktops, music and stuff, it would take a long time to just get around anywhere. Whereas Facebook, it’s really fast. There’s lots of pictures, lots of graphics, it loads faster, lots of advertisements, and yup, that’s pretty much, I mean, there are, I don’t know if it’s technically less advertisements, lots of big picture advertisements, those little tiny text box, and you can kinda just ignore those, so, plus it seems to be arranged, kinda quite well, you know you got your little mailbox, there’s notifications, like people can like poke you, like, oh you just poked me. Poke back. Yeah, so. KS: Okay, so the major influences was because you said it was easy. AM: Oh yeah, cause it’s easy. The other huge one, almost everyone I knew that was on Facebook, almost everyone that I knew that used to be on MySpace, then was on Facebook. At some point, there were all also on Facebook. So I realized that not only was MySpace now redundant, but there was now more people that I knew was on Facebook. So now since there’s more people on there, I think everyone kinda realized that it wasn’t as immature in a way, it was kinda like older college students that I kinda like switched over back. This is kind of like mild perceptio of it, but if I was like 17 or 18, I might be like Facebook’s boring, MySpace is more cool, you can do more stuff. But yeah. KS: Yeah definitely. Are you a member of any other social networking sites, I know you mentioned Facebook, I mean, MySpace, I’m sorry, but… AM: No longer, I deleted my MySpace. KS: Oh okay. So is Facebook the only networking site that you go on to?


&

AM: No, I got one called, LinkedIn. KS: LinkedIn? Why did you join that one? AM: Well, because Michael Ni, and this other guy from McNeil Wilson, did this kind of PRSSA, talk topic, and they talked about how that one is for professionals, so it’s not about the pictures and stuff, but you get little tiny pictures, but it’s mostly about your CV, your resume and talking about what you’re doing and what your ambitions are and stuff like for professionals and so there lots of adults on there, so it’s not like the college kids one. KS: What would you consider Facebook? AM: Facebook is more college age, like in your 20s. KS: Okay. Well, obviously you said you use both of them, right, Facebook and LinkedIn. AM: Technically, but I barely log into LinkedIn because right now I’m not really looking for jobs, so I just kinda set it up, so that over time, I can kinda accumulate contacts, but I barely use it. I definitely don’t go on there. KS: How often do you use Facebook? Be honest. AM: I use Facebook, probably at least, 5 times a day, Just because I’m always on my computer and I check my e-mail, it’s in my little tabs. KS: Like your favorites or something? AM: Yeah, like my little bookmark tabs, so sometimes I’m kinda like bored and clicking and checking stuff. KS: So do you think that you were to go out into the working world and not a student anymore, do you think you would log on as much just like you said you were bored or when you’re working, you’re more busy? AM: I think I would definitely not use it as much as if I was working and. KS: Okay, well, what are your major reasons for using this site? AM: I don’t want to sound like I have a Facebook compulsion or something, but the only time, the only reason I go on there is to see if anyone messaged me and usually I go on there if I got like a message, like my inbox, my regular e-mail, it says like somebody wrote on your wall, or like comment on the pictures.


&

KS: What are, if there any, stereotypes that you agree with in regards to social networking sites? Do you agree with any whatever stereotypes that you heard someone would (have rewards??), what are the consequences? AM: Umm… KS: Like if you think it’s a good thing to be on it, not like you think so, but whatever you heard from other people, personally have experienced. You know what I mean like you said connecting with friends was a good thing, so that’s a reward for you. AM: I think that’s like a common stereotype, it’s a common known thing about it, but seems to hold truth. But I still keep in contact that I knew for 5 years, like 3 or 4 years ago, I haven’t seen em in couple years, but every now and then, you know how they have like that feed thing to see what they’re doing, “Oh, Enrique’s in a relationship” or that kinda thing, I guess you can call that a benefit. Stereotypes? I think that a lot of people, like I mentioned earlier, people say like, “oh yeah, creepy”, I kinda get the impression, that people kinda say that just to kinda say that, just to be kinda like as a. Well, there’s a perception that using Facebook kinda too much means that you’re not as actually socialable, cuz in the real world, you’re always online, you’re kind of a dork. People kinda distance it and distance themselves from Facebook sometimes and um, while I’m in, from time to time, very occasionally, like something random will happen on Facebook, like, “oh that’s kinda weird, I don’t know this person.” By by and large, I don’t think it’s creepy, they seem to be doing a pretty good job about keeping it about work. KS: So do you think you’ll still be a member on Facebook once you graduate and find a job in public relations? AM: Well, I applied for grad school next school year. KS: Well, not even in grad school and post grad school. AM: I see myself continuing to use it for the next couple of years. I guess cuz these things kind of evolved, so you know maybe as this whole Facebook generation starts getting older, Facebook will kind of expand to kind of appeal to, cuz as of right now, cuz if I was like 32, I wouldn’t be using Facebook, cuz it’s kinda like, I don’t know. Cuz it’s kind of the common, common, whatever, common feeling. Maybe after I do get a job, 32 is years away. KS: It is, but it isn’t. AM: Yeah it’s like 8 years away for me, but who knows, by the time I’m there, it’ll be different, it’ll be like a big thing.


&

KS: Right right. So you could be, like are you friends with professors that are on there? I mean, cause they probably have different reasons why they use it. Because right now you use it for, AM: Keeping in touch with friends, and I actually, come to think of it, it’s a possibility that I might only find work somewhere else, or I might have to move out of state when I graduate, that I have so many friends that are here, that I might use it to keep in touch with all of my friends here, cause people like to keep their phone numbers and stuff and yeah. KS: Okay, so if you have to pick a social networking site to belong to, which one would you choose and why? AM: I’m already on… KS: You’re on two, Facebook and LinkedIn. AM: If I had to pick another one besides those? KS: You can pick any of them, which one would you pick and why? AM: If I could only pick one, okay. I would pick Facebook because LinkedIn isn’t doing anything for me right now. It’s kind of, it’s kind of like, it seems to be redundant because, no it’s not redundant, it has its place, but I mean like, I’m not there yet, like, I don’t need it. And plus like, when I do am going to apply for a job, I kind of have some skepticism about this LinkedIn thing. KS: What kind of skepticism? AM: Well because you know, you’re not really going to be adding people as friends if you don’t know yet. And the main reason that I did that was because some employer tries to contact me, but with the whole economy or whatever the recession, it’s seems unlikely that would be happening anytime soon, you know people trying to seek out, these passive users of LinkedIn, my impression is that employers want you to go to them first, and to be more personable and be on the phone and say “Hi, I’m interested in a job for instance and sending your physical resume, not just playing around on this LinkedIn thing I’m not sure if it has this sturdy, credible reputation yet. KS: Okay, that’s it. AM: Oh okay. KS: Thank you.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT B Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or a public relation practitioner? Interviewee (KG): I am a student. KS: What is your major? KG: Marketing and Management. KS: Why did you decide to go into that? KG: Because I’m interested in the fields of marketing and management is for the reason why I want to open my own business, but marketing, so I know how to market a product and once I get there, market my business and it deals more with creativity instead of like accounting or finance. KS: So how did you hear about PRSSA? KG: I was taking a COM class and tried to raise my GPA to get into the college of Business and COM I guess it relates to the creative side of marketing too. KS: Like why you decided to do public relations? KG: Like it’s a branch out of marketing, like PR and advertising go together and that’s the field I wanted to go into. KS: Okay, are you currently a member of a social networking site? If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. Like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or MySpace. KG: No, because I think it’s not really necessary. It’s not really, well, the friendship that I look for is more personal, instead of like acquaintances and saying they’re my friends. If they’re not my friends or say acquaintances, then I don’t wanna say they’re close friends. The friendship I wanna maintain is a little closer than just acquaintances that I would find on Facebook or MySpace. KS: You would or you wouldn’t. KG: I wouldn’t find, right. Sorry. KS: So what influenced your decision about not using Facebook? Is that the major reason? What other factors are there if any? KG: Other factors I heard is that there’s a lot of drama that goes along with Facebook. And I’ve heard that and I’ve experienced that recently.


&

KS: How did you experience it? KG: My girlfriend, she has a Facebook account and I notice that all of these guys writing explicit stuff and I wouldn’t like that and I was wondering who they are, what they were. And she was saying that it was people I know. Not really close friends. It also, sparked up, I don’t know about jealousy, but anger, that drama I guess, I found out first hand, what it meant by how Facebook/MySpace causes dramas. I guess that’s the way. KS: Like Facebook relationships have you heard? KG: Or friendships. Like what to they call that, “internet bashing.” Stuff like that. I haven’t see that and I heard of that and it makes sense, but heard how it could hinder a relationship. KS: What are any other major influences on why you chose not to join any other social networking sites besides Facebook? KG: Well, for the same reasons pretty much. I just don’t want to, I don’t want to take a preemptive attack or I want to take precautionary measures, like not to get into conflicts on that level and with my significant other. KS: If you had to pick a social networking site, which one would you choose and why? KG: If I had to? KS: Like out of all the ones out there? KG: Under what circumstances? KS: If you just had to have one, which one would you choose? KG: Like forced to for work? KS: Well, not even forced to, like say, if you had to pick one. There’s no strings attached that you have to be on social networking sites, which one would you choose and why would you choose it? KG: If I had to choose one, it would have to be Facebook. KS: Why? KG: Right now, it seems to be the most popular medium that everybody goes to and MySpace is kinda dying out already and Twitter, not too many people heard of Twitter,


&

but I heard from PRSSA that it’s a good networking site, but Facebook seems to be the most popular right now. KS: What are the stereotypes if you heard any, that you agree or disagree, in regards to social networking sites, like the rewards or consequences? KG: The rewards that I’ve heard is that you get to connect with people that you haven’t seen in 10, 20 years and you know, especially when they live in another state or even country, I mean, you can still keep close ties with them, it’s a, they say it’s rewarding to them, to connect with people they met in elementary and never again till they seen them on Facebook. That’s one of them. KS: What other ones, rewards or consequences besides your personal experience. If you heard anything? KG: Not too sure if it’s true, was there a girl that killed herself on MySpace because she was getting Internet bashing? There was a case, right? KS: I’m sure there are plenty of cases. KG: I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but that’s what I’ve heard. KS: What are your personal reasons for you not to join the site, you wanting to keep your close ties with your friends outside of technology? KG: Personal reasons, I’m sorry? KS: There’s more reasons on why you choose not to have one, right besides that? Do you think that it would cause more problems between you and your girlfriend, if you both had one? KG: Yeah, I wanted to take that precautionary measure. So we don’t get into a conflict on that level KS: If you guys never had that argument, altercation, would you have one still, no? KG: I would say no. I don’t know why, but I always like to go against the trend and since everybody is on Facebook, you could say I’m a little bit proud of not having a Facebook and that it didn’t get to me and I’m not being one of those social savvy people just following trends. KS: What do you mean it got to you? How? What do you mean that it got to you? KG: It got to me? Like I mean that it didn’t take over, like I don’t know how it didn’t. But it didn’t influence me enough, like it makes me feel like I’m in charge of my


&

decisions in way I guess it that’s makes sense. I guess so that I take a stand and it doesn’t change my stand, my position. KS: So what happens if Facebook or any other social networking site doesn’t become a trend anymore, but starts becoming part of people’s lifestyle? KG: Then definitely. Then if part of a lifestyle, say for work, or like it becomes like Skype, a lot of businesses are using them, professors use that too, so I mean of course, then if that’s the times and it progresses in that way to where it’s much needed in businesses, then, yeah I will adapt to that. I will have to if I wanna keep up. KS: Does that scare you? KG: Does it scare me? No, not really. I don’t know why. I’ve kinda accepted that. Even though I wanna keep away from Myspace or Facebook, like I’ve accepted that everybody is using that and it’s becoming the norm and it’s not going to scare me. I guess in that case, I will have to adapt to that. KS: So what your plans after you graduate? KG: I plan to work for a PR/Advertising firm. And hopefully, find my niche and start a business of my own. KS: That’s good. KG: Still undecided yet. There’s always room for ideas. KS: Is that why you wanna go into advertising and PR? KG: Pretty much. That’s what I’ve heard. That it’s the most important step in learning how to market your business. You can have a great restaurant, but if you don’t know how to reach people, or get the people in the know about your restaurant, then your not going to get customers. Like marketing is the most important factor in that. KS: And so you don’t think by not having a social networking site, will that add anything or not? KG: Yeah, I thought about that and I think that may definitely help. KS: So is that when you may do it? KG: I’ve thought about that and if I plan on starting my own business, the best way would be over social networking sites, because it would reach a lot of people at a low cost. So I thought I would have to. That’s another reason why I wouldn’t be surprised or scared because logically it is a good way to spread your message.


&

KS: But right now, you just don’t want to? KG: I suppose so. There’s another personal reason that I left out. Some people that you don’t want to interact with and won’t, they could find you, only with a click of the button. Which would lead to Internet bashing or other things that you don’t want to associate with. KS: How so though because you can choose for them to be your friend right? KG: Yeah, I’m not sure of how that would work. But as long as you’re listed, anyone can find you. So there are some people that I don’t want, to find me. KS: Okay, interesting. That’s it.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT C Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or public relations practitioner? Interviewer (DG): I am a public relations practitioner. KS: How long have you been in public relations? DG: I basically majored in Journalism emphasis in Public Relations back in May of 85 and from that point have been in public relations in one way or the other. Talking about 23, 24 years. KS: Did you start here at the post office? DG: Nope, only been here for four and half years. KS: Okay. DG: Do you want the whole run down? KS: Sure. DG: OK, so I worked for the Hawaii Islanders initially out of school, there were a minor league professional baseball team. They were before your time and that was only for a year or so and then I worked for the Waikiki Aquarium for three years and then the University of Hawaii for a year then I was at Shriners Hospital for 11 years and then here for four and a half, five years now I guess. KS: Okay, so mostly involved with corporate or nonprofit? DG: Well I would say that nonprofit for the most part. Waikiki Aquarium and Shriners Hospital and the University of Hawaii, but it was just that brief experience with the Hawaii Islanders, which was for profit and then now it’s government public relations which is kind of a unique subset in itself. KS: Yeah. Are you currently a member of a social networking site? DG: No KS: And why not? DG: Well I’m at the point where I got married about five years ago and have a three year old daughter so that was really the whole focus of my social life and everything so from that point so when you start getting to that point and start having kids and everything uh, and as far as the socialization activities were really as I say, were really more focused on


&

family activities and when I had had opportunities to get on the computer to do stuff after taking care of stuff and family obligations then I really wasn’t focused on getting socialization opportunities between the hectic pace of work and family life. KS: I see. DG: And then the interpersonal face-to-face relationships, wasn’t really seeking to expand that network beyond what I already had. KS: So would you say those were your only major influences on why you chose not to have an account with sties like Facebook or Myspace or any other social networking site? DG: Yeah. KS: Because, oh sorry. DG: No, sorry go ahead. KS: Well because I was just wondering if you have restrictions on your work computer. DG: Well I think within the postal service, yes, there are some restrictions as to which websites we can go to and do they include those social networking sites, I’m pretty sure, but you know, I don’t even know to be honest. Uh, I think there are some restrictions. You know I don’t think that this is my primary reason, but that would be an additional barrier for me here if I was interested in maintaining a network and being active on it. There are a lot of restrictions as to what we can’t access on our Internet accounts here. KS: So would you say that being with your family, that was your main reason why you didn’t want to maintain? DG: Yeah, it was really a matter of prioritizing my time and the time or the priority was family, work, you know maintaining the interpersonal relationships that I had, rather than trying to build new networks or even to, uh, I have friends and family on the mainland too, so I would communicate with them from time to time, but it wasn’t really something like a daily basis either kind of a thing. KS: So you’re not a member of any social networking sites? DG: No. KS: If you had to pick a social networking site to belong to, which one would you pick and why? DG: You know that’s something I couldn’t even venture an educated guess on and I would do some research on that to find out and as far as why, it would be determined, it


&

would be based on recommendations I get from other people who currently are on sites, and the people who I want to network with the most, which ones were more or what they consider more user friendly or what they considered more useful to them. So that would be the determining factor for me. People I know, people I want to network with, you know, what are they using. KS: Okay, what are some of the stereotypes, if any, that you’ve heard about from users or any personal stories that have happened to you that deal with social networking sites that you can agree or disagree with and is it something that you think about? DG: You know, I suppose it’s a minor factor that sits in the back of my mind, I kind to tend to think of it KS: Thank you


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT D Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or pubic relations practitioner? Interviewee (MD): I am a student KS: What is your major, when do you plan on graduating and why did you choose to go into this field? MD: I am a graduate student and getting my MA in Communications. I decided to get into communications because I got my undergrad in communications as well and I also wanted to further my education and learn more about public relations and communications and what not. KS: Are you a member of any social networking sites? If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. MD: Yes, I am a member of social networking sites. I use Myspace, Facebook, LinedIn and Twitter. Are you using Twitter? KS: Yes, If you want to ask your reasons why after some other questions you can. MD: Okay, I’ll answer them after. KS: Okay, when did you first hear or learn about these social networking sites? MD: For Myspace, I remember joining it in late 03, after Friendster was dying down and I got onto the Myspace band wagon and started using that. I didn’t start using Facebook until Fall 07 because everyone in college had a Facebook page and we needed it for PRSSA so me, being the chapter president, I needed to have a Facebook page. So I started that. LinkedIn, I started that last year in 08, I think maybe summer, I can’t remember exactly when, but I use that for business purposes to post your resume, where you worked at and what not. With Twitter I also started that in 08 and then I use it to keep in touch, well basically they’re all used to keep in touch with friends, but Twitter is the easiest way to get information fast from people, your friends, the people that you’re following, whether it be reporters or the newspapers… KS: How come Twitter is easier for you? MD: Because it’s used as I guess kinda like a mirco-blogging, it’s kinda like text messaging. So the up and coming news is posted really quick and you see it right then and there when you log onto Twitter so that’s why I like using Twitter for that. KS: So are these the reasons that influenced your decisions about more, specifically Facebook, that you gave?


&

MD: Besides needing it to um, PRSSA? KS: Yeah, besides PRSSA, were there other reasons that influenced your decisions on joining a social networking site like Facebook? MD: Yeah, I probably would have started Facebook just to see how it was. Coming onto Myspace then going to Facebook, it was really different. There were totally different sites, so it was kinda hard getting into Facebook, but now I like it better than Myspace because it’s more fun and more easy to use. KS: How is it easier to use and more fun? MD: Well I mean with Facebook, they use the third party applications which that Myspace never used to have. Facebook also has the status updates and you can comment on and Myspace never used to have as well. So it was kind of cool having that type of application and having your friends comment you on how your mood was so um, I think when Facebook changed their layout, it was kind of hard to get used to, but now I like it because they separate it into tabs and I think it’s easier to use. KS: Because of the tabs or.. MD: With the tabs because you can kind of see instead of, when I think of how it used to be before where Facebook was all laid out on one page and it had a lot of information, I remember when I first started it, it was pretty confusing. So now with Facebook, it gives your notifications on the bottom, when you know that someone has written on y our walk or given you a comment on your pictures. It also has Facebook chats, which is easier to use than Myspace chat I think. KS: What is Facebook chat? MD: Facebook chat is when you have your friends who are online and you can see them and you can instant message them. KS: So it’s like AIM? MD: Yeah, exactly. It’s right next to the notification button, so it says online and it has the amount of friends online and can see who is online and all you have to do is click on it, I mean click on their name. KS: What are the major influences on why you belong to the given sites? MD: Well with our day in age it’s easier to contact people, network…


&

KS: So how did you come to choosing which social networking sites you wanted to belong to? MD: I guess because all those sites are the more popular ones, there’s more people on it so if there’s lots of people you know who are on it, you’re going to want to join it and have your friends or followers. I mean, that’s one of the major reasons when Myspace came out, it was different because you could easily meet people, contact people, and post up pictures rather than just emailing. KS: Do you still use them? If yes, please explain why. MD: Yes, I still use all of them. I mean similar to the other reasons, it’s easier to keep in contact with people. I mean you don’t necessarily have to be on the phone to know what’s going on with them and you know, or you can see how they’re doing, you can look at their photos, know what they’re up to, pretty much that’s it. KS: How often do you use these sites? Or log onto them I should say? MD: Um, I would say Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, I go on it everyday. LinkedIn, it’s probably once a week or maybe once every two weeks. I hardly checked LinkedIn, even though I know I should just because it’s more professional. And I do have my Twitter on, when I’m on the computer. So.. KS: You’re constantly on Twitter? MD: Yes. KS: And what about Facebook or Myspace? I mean do you go on once a day or do you go on more to check it. MD: Okay. God, I feel like an addict. Haha. Well when I check my email, I check my Myspace, Facebook or Twitter and then if I don’t have any comments on Myspace or Facebook, I close it. But I tend to leave my Facebook on, just because and then Twitter, I leave it on all day. Also with technology now days, like with the phone, I can also access Twitter, Twitterberry from my Blackberry and access Facebook as well as Myspace, but Facebook is much more easier to access on the phone. KS: Oh, how come? MD: I mean it’s just their layout and it’s just easier I guess. It shows your everyone else’s status updates, your wall, um, for Facebook. But Myspace has the new application for Blackberry. KS: Oh, they do?


&

MD: Yeah, but it’s the same thing as Facebook. KS: In your opinion are there any rewards or consequences that you personally agree or disagree with when it comes to social networking sites. I know you mentioned a couple earlier about staying connected, but are there any other reasons that you’ve heard of, or personal stories? MD: Yeah. Again, it’s just easier access, getting to know everyone, um, like everyone and what they’re doing in their life. Consequence, there are plenty, but it depends on what you put out there. Like again, with the Internet, whatever you put on the internet, it’s open for anyone to see, it’s public and you can’t take it back. So you kind of have to be careful of the photos you post, or the written text that you write because sometimes it can be taken out of context and you can’t, you know you can kind of defend yourself, but not really. So I would definitely say that is one of the consequences of being on a social networking site, you just have to be careful of what you say or what you do. I know if you could count if you’re becoming an addict. Haha. Like you’re always on it. It’s addicting going on, I guess that would be a consequence because I guess once you join one, you have to maintain it as well. KS: What makes you think by logging on it all the time, you are personally addicted though? MD: Well what makes me addicted is like once you go on it, and see what you’re friends are doing and you wanna know, so you look at their photos and oh my god, I can’t believe I’m saying this because it’s going to be in here. Haha. KS: Haha. No, it’s good because it’s honest, real information and that’s what I’m obviously looking for. MD: yeah I know, but yeah, it’s addicting because you’re constantly looking at your friends and you see what they’re up to and you know, you kinda like, with people putting information on the web, you kind of like take it like, for example, if she posted up a picture of the ring, then you’re kind of like, is she married or if someone comments somebody something then you might take it out of context as well. So just all those little things that I mean, you get addicted, you get into people’s lives, even though it’s not your business and like I mean, that’s they way social networking sites, the information is just all out there. KS: You get into people’s business? So do you feel like you’re invading? MD: Oh, no. It’s not, I don’t think it’s like invading, but more like you’re being nosy and you want to know what’s going on with them. I think that’s just one of causes of social networking sites. You’re being addicted to what everyone else’s lives so…um, so for Facebook well Myspace, I kind of like to keep that more personal and with just friends.


&

KS: Why just Myspace? MD: Well because it’s, there’s not a lot of professionals that are on Myspace or that I know of and I kind of like to separate it and rather just keep it with friends. I don’t like to have a lot of friends on Myspace but so that’s why I use Myspace. For Facebook, I kind of use that more as a networking tool, but I don’t add people if I haven’t met them in real life. So I know people do, but I just don’t do that. If I’ve at least met them once or twice before, or met them at a conference then I add them. I do add PR practitioners because it gives me a way to I guess contact them easier or easily. Um, also on Facebook, you can also have groups so with PRSSA, we have Facebook groups with also PRSA so it’s good to know what is going on with them and see what is happening with them. I also think that, I don’t know if it’s professional but, if I can’t get to the practitioner through email, I sometimes Facebook them as well, depending on what it is I mean, if it’s somebody I know fairly well then I’ll Facebook them, rather than email. Facebook is also another great outlet, similar to what I just mentioned earlier about how I can message practitioners and you can also get closer with them and get to know them on a personal level, rather than a professional level. So it kind of gives us a bond or friendship. KS: How do you get to know them on a personal level, rather than a professional level on Facebook? MD: You get to view their pictures, KS: Oh. MD: You get to see what their hobbies are and find things in common with them. KS: If you had to choose just one social networking site to belong to, which one would you pick and why? MD: If I had to choose, I’d probably choose Facebook. I mean it gives me, I mean I have my friends and I also have professionals and also I tend to keep my Facebook more professional, or clean. Not really professional, professional, but I tend to keep it clean, not that my Myspace is dirty like with scandalous pictures, but my Facebook is more cleaner and again with all those third party applications, it’s more fun and easy to use. KS: This concludes our interview. MD: Okay. KS: Thank you. INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT E


&

Interviewer (KS): Obviously you’re a student, what is your major and what year are you? And why did you choose that major? Interviewee (KL): My major is Nursing and I’m in my 2nd semester as a nursing student. I chose it, kinda took me a while and figure out what I wanted to do, but I chose it because I took an A&P class at KCC for the first time and I realized that I really enjoyed it. KS: What’s A&P? KL: Anatomy and Physiology. KS: Are you currently a member of any social networking sites? KL: I’m part of MySpace. KS: Okay, are you part of Facebook? KL: No. KS: Why do you have a MySpace and not a Facebook? KL: I think I had a MySpace back when, right out of high school and I never heard of Facebook before, so I made a MySpace. KS: Do you still use it? KL: I go on it every now and then and I do keep in touch with my friends and upload pictures, kinda something to do when you don’t have anything to do. KS: What about Facebook? Have you ever considered having a Facebook account? KL: I was thinking about it cuz I heard a lot of good things about it, saying how it’s more private, more people use it and I guess, some more good things. I just don’t have time. KS: What influenced your decision about not using Facebook and not having an account? KL: Well, basically I figured that I have one online account with MySpace, why do I need two? So I just chose to keep one. KS: Was that your major? Are there any other influences besides that one that makes you not wanna have Facebook?


&

KL: Nothing in particular, honestly, I don’t have a lot of time to start anything to start new things and I’m not a techy person, so I don’t think I’ll understand, or I might frustrated with trying to learn the applications and all of that. KS: So if you heard from other people that Facebook is easier that MySpace, would you consider it then? KL: I think I would have considered it. I think I would have put some time and effort into it. KS: Oh okay. So if you had to pick a social networking site, which one would you choose and why besides Facebook, since you’re already on Facebook. KL: You mean MySpace? KS: Sorry, I mean MySpace. If you had to pick one besides MySpace, which one would you pick and why? KL: If I had to choose, a lot of my close friends have MySpace and they don’t have Facebook, like my friends that I see regularly. My friends like co-workers or people on the mainland, they use Facebook. They say it’s more professional and that companies look at it and stuff like that, and MySpace is kinda like childish kind of thing and that’s what they say. If I looked into it more and if I actually went and made a Facebook and then maybe I’ll pick that instead of MySpace, but honestly I never really looked at Facebook. KS: Have you looked at any other social networking sites like Twitter or LinkedIn? KL: I’ve heard of them, if anything, I’ve heard a lot about them especially from my brother’s girlfriend. I heard about Twitter and I forgot what she told me. KS: There’s so many out there. KL: Twitter sounds cool. I’m thinking about doing that, maybe before Facebook. KS: Really why? KL: It’s seems to be more easier in that you can just type anything, like “Oh, I’m here eating a sandwich, like she was telling me stories like that. People can update you and follow you. KS: Whereas you think Facebook is more complicated? KL: Yeah, I feel like it’s more complicated. Too much going on. Like my brother, he has one, and he gets really frustrated and he thinks that it’s too confusing. I saw him on it and


&

I asked “What is that?” and he said “Facebook” and I looked at it and he was showing me some stuff and he was getting mad because he didn’t know how to do certain things. KS: Like what, what kind of certain things? KL: I think like he says that when you comment people, everyone can see it and that there’s these little updates that people have and even though it’s a private thing, in a way people still know who you commented and they know you added this. KS: So are those the comments you heard from other people? I know not necessarily stereotypes, but do you agree or disagree with them? Like with the rewards or consequences of them? What have you heard if any, like the rewards or consequences? Mainly Facebook. I know you said earlier that you think it’s more professional, but what else. And you said about privacy, but what other things are there. KL: I mean, to help you stay connected, I think, it’s easy access to connect with your friends, family and anybody in the world and I think it’s a good way to communicate with people and if I didn’t have that, then maybe people that I met couple years ago, I still wouldn’t know them or can keep in contact with them. I don’t hear much about any rewards I guess, then other than what I’ve told you. KS: Just professional? KL: Yeah, that’s basically it. KS: What are the rewards for MySpace then for you? KL: I think it’s a better way to stay connected and it’s something to do, say I’m supposed to be studying, but then I’ll just click on it and look at it for couple minutes, but end up staying for 15 minutes. In a way I think it’s kind of bad, cuz it’s a big time waster. KS: But at the same time you like it though right? KL: Yeah. It’s kind of contradictory, you like it, but it wastes your time. KS: So what are your plans after your graduate? KL: After I graduate, I want to be a Pediatric Nurse or travel to different countries for like 3 weeks and work with health care over there. KS: So do you think that if you belonged to a social networking site then, do you think you would use it? KL: I would use it just because again, it’s easy access, like the Internet, you can click on one thing and see what’s going on in this part of the world, you can talk to somebody


&

across the world you know and if I’m going to be a travel nurse it’ll be a good way to keep in contact with my family and friends and news and current events and stuff. KS: So you use it for other reasons like you said, news and current events? KL: Current events and music. Like I use MySpace for music. KS: Ok. End.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT F Interviewer-Are you a student or public relations practitioner LDL- I am a student Interviewer- Great LDL- My major my major in communications and I’m a senior Interviewer- Why did you major in communications LDL- I interviewed in communications because I was interested in public relations and also because communications is that a broad major Interviewer- OK, are you a member of any social media networking site if yes or no please explain your reasons why? LDL- No, I just think that sometimes it can get addicting or get into people’s personal lives so I just choose not to be a part of that Interviewer what a major reasons behind why you choose not to be part of a social media networking site? mainly the site known as Facebook? LDL- Well it goes back to is that things that I’ve heard life on the news about social media networking sites like something’s on fraud like when people that hacked into other people’s account. The person that was the hacker Then asked his friends for money and then got one of his friends to wire about $2,000.00 to this guy. Interviewer- OK, so what are your stories about why you choose not to have a Facebook account? LDL- I guess I just don’t want other people going into my life more like no way and personal information that I don’t want them to know of our legal name of my friends and family to know this type of information you know some things that I would just rather keep to myself rather than having that information online for everyone to see or read about. Interviewer- Say you’re not a member of any other social and media networking site now Interviewer- OK so what are the other major influences as to why you choose not to have a Facebook look account today? LDL- I guess just that people around me and to share the same views and perspectives around me but I also have friends who are part of the social networking sites by a life can


&

I do have friends that share the same views as me but for the ones that are part of the social networking sites they are kind of, almost addicted. They are always on it and like I’m kind of afraid that I and maybe like that or end up like that which is also why I kind of almost stay away from it. I also have other friends and relatives who think that it gets into people’s personal lives to much. Like other people you don’t know that may find out that you, yeah so. Interviewer- Right, okay. So do think that once you graduate from college you’ll have a Facebook account or joined Facebook once you get into the public relations world or whenever field you decide to go into? LDL- Umm, if it’s like required or ill help my profession in some way or the company an organization that I work for requires it, probably might the most likely it will have to be like mandatory and I would only use it for that particular reason. Interviewer- By a particular reason do you mean professional reasons like because you join it in, in the field that you were in? LDL- Right, yeah. Interviewer- I know that you mentioned some other stereotypes earlier by what other ones have you heard if any that you agree or disagree with? LDL-Umm, it’s good in a way that it lets you keep in touch with friends that are like far away that you haven’t connected with in a while. You get a search for them online and see if have accounts and whatnot. But there’s also a bad side in like people you don’t know about can find you, searching for you, guys that can find out information about you, and I mean like there’s some minors that lie about their age and there are some people who lie and try to hook up with other people they don’t even know each other and it can get dangerous. Interviewer- OK so if you had to pick one social networking site to belong to which one would you pick and why? LDL - I guess if I had to choose I would probably belong to face book because of a lot of my friends are on Facebook and like, and they kind of keep in touch on Facebook and like, post pictures and there’s a lot more people I know that are on Facebook or are more active on Facebook than like Myspace and other social networking sites. Interviewer- Any other reasons why? LDL- I guess probably because of all the other features that Facebook offers like the causes and organizations that are part of Facebook. You can create groups and have announcements sent out to all of your friends and the people in your social network so


&

you have these people joining a group you know or RSVPing to the announcements or events and what not. Interviewer- OK that’s it. Those are all the questions I have. Do you have anything you would like to add? Any other personal experiences or stories? LDL- No. Interviewer- So again, you are not a member of any other social networking site? LDL- Oh yeah. I was a member of Twitter. Well I still am, but I never go onto it or log on to it. I actually only signed up for it because it was required for a class that I took and never deleted the account. Interviewer- So again, you would never choose to join a site like that if it were not mandatory? LDL- Well I guess it just depends. Interviewer- Depends on what? LDL- I guess it just depends on if I had to or if it was required for a class or a job. Interviewer- Right. So you would only do it if it was again, mandatory? LDL- Yeah. Interviewer- So never by choice? LDL- Yeah. Interviewer- OK, thank you for your participation. That’s it. LDL- OK. Welcome.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT G Interviewer KS: Are you a student or public relations practitioner? Interviewee SR: I’m a student at UH getting my master’s degree in Communication. KS: How long have you been in PR? / What major or field are you interested in? SR: I am getting my degree in Communication but the field I am interested is in advertising or advertising research. KS: Are you a member of any social networking site?

a) If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. Name all the sites you belong to SR: Currently, I am a member of two different networking sites. The first one is MySpace… um and I joined MySpace a quite a few years ago when I was still in high school because my friends had joined it so it was a place for us to um make connections, look at pictures, keep up to date on each other’s lives. It was the “cool” thing to do…what everyone was doing at the time. It was like you didn’t call or email your friends anymore; instead, you sent them a comment…or message on MySpace. Originally I was against joining Facebook cause I figured most of my friends had MySpace and MySpace was already eating up a lot of my time…I didn’t need another thing wasting more of my time. Also the whole process of joining…it was annoying. I had already spent hours setting up a cool MySpace account and Facebook seem so boring compared to it. On MySpace, it was like designing a webpage almost. You got to pick the colors and patterns, pictures and videos. You could have music playing… Facebook had pictures and videos but um… didn’t have cool designs. You couldn’t just view people’s pages…um… profiles. But anyway, I joined Facebook when I was still going to college because um I had friends that had joined and it was more of the friends who are in my degree program and um working…like coworkers… so it was kind of friends the who are in Facebook so I wanted to make connections with them. I also decided Facebook um however the main reason I joined Facebook it was more a professional decision on my part because I figured that as I was nearing graduation or in the master’s field as I was going to be finishing that I needed to have a more professional site. Myspace was kind of my you know have fun with my friends there were pictures of going out. But in my Facebook I was planning on having it more you know the professional side of things have more of like school events pictures of that and like the different groups that I was part of like PRSSA um and it was more like a way um it was a way for a professional person would look at it as a good indication of the better aspects of my life. KS: Why didn’t you want to join other SNS sites? SR: Um…I thought about joining Twitter cause all my friends had joined it. But I don’t know, I am so worried about wasting time and it seems like another waste of time. I already spend too much time of Facebook and Myspace…so I figured the effort to make


&

another account was useless. Um…plus…I don’t need to get addicted to another site. Some of my friends are on Twitter and they are updating the thing every hour or so… and with sometime useless information…like I am in the library or going to bed…and they messages pop up on Facebook so um I already get there updates. It might...well, it would be helpful to join Twitter for news update about traffic and whatever…but I guess I ride a moped so does it really matter if the freeway’s backed up? I am sure I will join eventually. I’m just resist to change so once everyone else has one…I probably will change my mind and get addicted like everyone else. But one I really do want to join… I want to join LinkedIn. I have just been busy with school…thesis…but I think it is really beneficial because it is like the professional…business side of you. KS: Why not any other sites? SR: Honestly cause I am not really familiar with other sites and don’t have a lot of friends that have joined them. I am kinda the slow one out of the crowd. I let…lets everyone else try it out first. Then they learn it and can teach me! Makes it way easy to learn new things. I just got a new iPhone. Its been out forever and I know plenty of people who have it so…I can ask them questions...or check online…or whatever, but there’s someone who has the answer and I don’t have to read the manual. KS: Do you remember when you first heard about these sites? SR: I heard about MySpace from my friends while I was still in high school so I had it for a really long time. All my friends seemed to have it. But Facebook I felt that I didn’t need too but I liked MySpace at the time. But when I started going to the university here it was more geared for college students and so I heard it from some of my friends here at the University of Hawaii I had been on it so I kind of just checked it out so I only have my Facebook for only two years. It was aimed for college students was the reason that I joined Facebook and how I heard about it. KS: What influenced your decision(s) about using Facebook? SR: Some of my fellow students are in Facebook and that is the reason why I joined it. At first I felt like I didn’t need too because it didn’t seemed that it was much different than MySpace it seemed that it was more of a hassle to look at two sites but the more I look on it a lot more people that was friends in school and a lot of professional in the field that I am trying to get into had Facebook and don’t have MySpace. So it seemed like it was a good idea to start using it. I also been in a presentation with the club I am a part of PRSSA and one of our social media workshop we heard all the beneficial benefits to join a social media website and one of the big reason for having one because if one of our future careers might want us to be familiar with social media websites therefore if we are practicing on them we would not be in the blue when we decide to use them later on in our possible careers.


&

KS: What are the major influences (if any) to why you use it? SR: Um... I am kind of addicted to it. So I use it for different reasons. I use Facebook because almost all my friends are in Facebook now a days and I use it to keep up to date. It keeps my calendar for dates, like birthdays, parties, and so forth. It also gives me a look into my friends and family lives...um…like with pictures or blogs they write. Another reason…I use it for connections with other people in the field and I use it to find out when events are happening and so forth. So when I meet someone, I friend them on Facebook so I keep these connections…kinda starts a relationship with people from many different areas. Cause I will be…well you never know when that person knows someone else that might help you find a job or plan and event. Yeah so on that topic…since I have joined different groups, I am more up to date on what the group is up to. When I was on the “E” board for PRSSA, we would use Facebook to invite all the members and there’s the option for them to accept like the RSVP. So I don’t have to waste the time to call them or send an email…cause you don’t always know if they got your email…or even if they check their email account. Anyway, so you know on Facebook who has responded and who is attending and not. Also I don’t need people’s contact information. Facebook records numbers, email addresses…and if they change any of it…they can update it and you always have Facebook to contact them. So it’s kinda like my personal and professional address book and even my calendar. KS: Do you still use it?

a) if yes/no please explain why you do/don't SR: Yes I do. I still use it because I find it very beneficial um I continue to keep updated with my friends and family. I want to stay up to date with all kinds of things such as groups and events. It makes it convenient…cause I don’t have to sit and call all my friends. I can go on Facebook and get an update of 15 friends in 10 minutes. Also anything that happens to me…I can get the on there and make a status update. Like I was just in moped accident and in the ER…instead of calling all my friends…I just made an update and then everyone knew. Kinda backfired cause then everyone started calling me and I was still in hospital. And also it useful too, like I said earlier it has my calendar and address book. KS: How often do you use this site(s)? How many times a day do you sign in? Etc. SR: I usually sign in at least once a day for both Facebook and Myspace. More often than not, I sign in…in the morning and again at nighttime before I go to bed. Um… I kind of update myself, check my mail and see if any responses and see any exciting things happening. So it was kind of like my daily routine to check it twice a day. KS: Are there any rewards or consequences, in your opinion, about using social networking site(s)? Explain in great detail.


&

SR: I think there are both rewards and consequences. Um also with consequences because a lot of your friends are on it and pictures and events comes up and you know… twenty fifth birthday party... getting drunk. I’ve got many pictures of being at bars and clubs and people can see those that are not my normal cycle of friends who already know who I am. And they can judge my character based on the pictures that are posted and the comments by other people say that you do not have control. You have no control what people say on your wall. So those are all consequences. On the other hand, because it is a way to connect with people it keeps in touch with people and you are in touch with a larger group of people. You are also able to maintain relationships with people who normally it is difficult to keep in touch with people. For example, I moved away from Chicago a long time ago and because of Facebook I can keep up to date with a lot my friends there. I hear a lot about their personal lives, new jobs, what groups they’ve joined. So when I go back to Chicago I can ask them questions and they are always sending me different advertising groups that are in Chicago that I can join to make better connections. The rewards part you not only keep up with personal stuff you also keep in touch with people that you would normally let go. Also, I’ve also made friends with different professional in the field and as I am getting ready to graduate I am able to... you know even though we’ve only met once through Facebook and sending messages... we are able to keep up with each other and became acquaintances so I am comfortable asking you know hey is there positions available in your company or any positions opening in the field. Because we created connections and relationships through Facebook they are likely to help you out… they know who you are and they know what you like. They know what you are into. Facebook shows so much stuff about your life from pictures and groups you belong to. So therefore, you make connections with people that you may only meet once but then they can become a real good benefit to you possible your career or an event you are pulling off or what not. Some more rewards. You can join groups that you know would probably wouldn’t get involve with. Normally, like I am in a different groups ranging from my church, meeting new people that I’ve never met before, to joining an advertising age group that is young professionals in the advertising field. Through this group I hear about different events that are happening in Honolulu and other areas around the country that I can attend and network with other people. Um also with public relations, PRSSA has their own website so I hear about all the public relations events happening in Honolulu and also in the nation for like national conference and pictures and I can meet people that way, I can hear about new things happening um all of this comes back to the amount of people you network with and connect with. KS: If you had to choose which site to belong to, which one and why? SR: If I can only belong to one site I would belong to Facebook. So far Facebook has been most the most beneficial because it has the greatest variety of people on there. It ranges from professional in the field to family members. I have aunts and uncles that are 56 years old that are in there and siblings who are in high school and high school buddies


&

and people who are younger than me. Facebook has a wide variety of people it has people from all around the world. You can make connections with people in different country. I currently have a pen pal in South Africa that we’ve been talking for over a year that I met through this site. So its got a world wide range of people so if I was ever to relocate to another area I can get on to Facebook and meet people in that area and talk to them about where to go and the best place to live get all that information that are valuable and make friends with people before I arrive in that new area. Also, Facebook is very well organized. The site you can check on people and it’s a little a bit more safe because you can’t go on to people’s site unless you know them or you have certain amount of friends with them and it’s very private so less likely to get crazy stalkers. (Ha ha ha). I think it is also beneficial because it is organized and a lot of privacy settings that you can put on and only a certain people that can see your pictures that way it keeps up a good relationship with the people you don’t want on your seeing pictures that are inappropriate. It lets you monitor what other people are seeing about you… If your friends you can be real open but if you are professional in the field, co-workers, you can have a very private Facebook but yet they can see a lot about and learn about you and you can learn about them too. KS: Do you believe that belonging to social networking site(s) [SNS] helps you in any way? SR: I believe that being in a social networking site that I am able to network. Especially, in Hawaii it’s extremely important in the field of advertising or PR to network its all about who you know and through this site you can meet people and you can find them in MySpace or Facebook… specifically, Facebook. You make connections and you can join groups they join and become friends with people they are friends with. So by belonging to networking sites I am able to meet new professionals that possible working along side someday or possibly even helping me finding my next job or my next career step. It also helps you because these professionals are often advertising or promoting different events that are happening in Honolulu area that I would otherwise known about so by belonging to these sites I would hear about different networking events that I could attend. KS: If you were a professional, would you belong to a SNS? If yes/no please explain why. SR: If I am I would use it because I think it is a great way to reach people and make connections with other people in your people and also to reach your target market. For example, some of the professional when they want to promote an event I get emails about you know there this event that is happening and if you know it gives you all this details. If there is a networking event you can send it all to your friends and a lot of times these messages would get forwarded on from one professional to another professional and so maybe your group was ten at the beginning you can have 100 people there if people keep passing it along. So it is a great way to reach out and gain a larger audience. Also it’s all about the networking you meet knew people and you are able to continue with


&

relationship that you might not normally consider potential acquaintance I guess. But you get to learn about them so you build this relationship so if you ever want to do business with them you know what their likes are, it’s easier to make conversation, it’s easier to appeal to their senses. So as a professional especially in the field of advertising it is important to stay friends with people and this is a great way to maintain with friendship. Because you don’t have to constantly calling them on the phone and saying what’s up or hanging out. You kind of know about them by just by what they are doing by making comments here and there and over time that builds relationship. In the field of advertising, a lot of your clients and so forth... it is extremely important to build relationship before and maintain that relationship when they do become your client. Also, because a lot of your friends are in the same field they can advertise new position and new prospect. If you are looking for a new job you can contact people in that field.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT H Interviewer KS: Are you a student or a public relations practitioner? Interviewee KB: I am a public relations practitioner. KS: How long have you been in public relations? KB: Lets see. I graduated in ’97, so I’ve been in PR for about 10 years. I’ve worked in both healthcare PR and nonprofit PR. KS: Are you a member of any social networking sites? If so, why did you choose to become a member? KB: I am a member of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’m a member of LinkedIn because it is a website mainly for professionals. Although I don’t really keep up with it that much, I have heard that it is a good professional site, especially if you’re looking to connect with other professionals in your field or uh, especially if you’re looking for a job, it’s a good way to connect with these people who might have leads. Facebook. I joined for both professional and personal reasons. Um, a lot of my family members are on it so it’s a good way to keep in touch with all of them because they’re all over the country but also because I work in the university setting, a lot of college students are on it, so we’re looking at ways to incorporate it into our own pr and marketing efforts so mainly just for research. KS: So are these the main reasons that influence your decision(s) to use Facebook or other social networking sites? Like you said earlier for both personal and professional reasons? KB: Yes KS: When did you first hear about these sites such as Facebook? KB: Oh… I first heard about Facebook I think at least a couple years ago. I think it was two or three years ago. It was actually one of my co-workers who told me about it because she was on it. KS: Are you or do you go onto Facebook the most or are there any other social networking sites that you go on to just as much? KB: Probably equal. I think I go onto Facebook and Twitter equally between the two and LinkedIn the least. KS: Is it because you like Facebook and Twitter the most? Or are there other reasons or factors why you choose to log onto those sites more than the others you belong to?


&

KB: I have to say I was on Facebook a lot until they switched to their new format. And when they switched over, there was a significant difference in the amount of time I spent on Facebook. And then once I got introduced with Twitter, I got on it July 2008, I spent a lot more time on it compared to Facebook. KS: Oh, and why is that? KB: Twitter is the new Facebook. Ha ha. I guess because Facebook is so last year. Haha. No, I guess because a lot of my professional contacts are on Twitter, so it was a good way for me to uh, it’s more, what’s the word, real-time communication with everyone. Like fast, instant communication versus Facebook , where um, you know you can send people messages or write on their walls, but Twitter is instant communication with people. And with Twitter, there is so many different applications you can use, where you can have Twitter on your phones or sitting at your desk, you have these other applications that can give you the updates while you’re sitting there working on work. And you get little pop ups that show what people are tweeting about. Versus Facebook where you have to login, go scroll down to see what people are doing. So it takes up and requires more time than Twitter. KS: Yes, I see. Um, how did you come to choosing which social networking sites you wanted to belong to? KB: I chose Facebook over Myspace because I feel like Myspace is more for the younger crowd, like more high school students are on it and it’s a bit more raunchier. I mean people put up anything and everything on Myspace, so Facebook is a little more cleaner. People keep things cleaner on Facebook it seems like. Ha Ha. So that’s why I chose to do Facebook over Myspace. KS: Is there one you prefer the most? Or one you spend the most time on? KB: As far as much time I spend on these sites, I spend the most on Twitter. But I think that they have different purposes. Twitter is that instant communication. Real-time communication and with Facebook, you can share pictures, and when you have more time available, you can go on and look at people’s photos, send messages, and I think it’s more personal communication on Facebook. As far as all the different applications, you can play games, build your family tree, super poke people and all that other stuff and you can’t do all of that sharing on Twitter. KS: So how often do you go onto these sites? KB: Like how often do I log in? KS: Yes and how often or how much time do you spend on these sites per day or per week?


&

KB: At least once a day I go on Twitter, but I have an application for Firefox called Twitterfox set up on my computer so when I have my web browser open, I can see all the tweets people are posting and I usually have it open all day. I’m not on it all day, but my browser is open so I’m constantly seeing the pop ups being updated and such. And with Facebook when I go in, I login and when I’m done, I logout. And then maybe later in the day I’ll go on it again. But I have it set up where if someone writes on my wall or any other type of message, I’ll get an email notification so I’ll login to see what they said or wrote. I usually always check it first thing in the morning though. KS: Okay. So in your opinion, are there any consequences or rewards about using social networking sites that you’ve personally experienced or heard about? If so, was it in a personal or professional way? KB: Personally I’ve experience rewards. Facebook has helped me connect with a lot of old friends that I haven’t seen or heard from in a long time. Like just yesterday, a friend of mine from high school just found me on Facebook and I just since found out that she just had triplets so you know, it’s just little things like that, it’s like wow, if it weren’t for Facebook, I would’ve never known that she had triplets and she actually lives not too far away from me and I haven’t seen her since my wedding so, personally Facebook I think has a lot of rewards. Professionally, there’s definitely rewards as far as connecting with other people in the industry, especially in public relations and more so especially in Hawaii because a lot of them are getting into these social networking sites and it helps keep you connected and helps keep you on top of what’s happening in the industry and a lot of people share articles or links to useful information that I may have not found myself. But I also think there’s definitely consequences professionally because um, the lines are kind of blurred between professional and personal so you have to remember things that you post in your status updates, people still view you as representing your company where as you might be putting in something there personally that could impact your company’s brand or reputation or your own personal reputation so if you’re not careful about what you say or if people come offended or if they take something the wrong way and it can totally blow up in your face so it’s a fine line. So I would say Facebook for me is more personal than professional and Twitter is more professional. Because with Twitter I’m following news people and PR people where as with Facebook, it’s mostly my friends. So you post your family photos and um, but there’s also work stuff on there too. Like we’re trying to do, like we have a group set up for the UH Communications Council where we are trying to post links and share useful information for people and we’re trying to look into more ways to use it, but for our office it’s hard because we represent the system. So the questions is, do we look more into what to do for Facebook or do we kind of just leave that up to the campuses to do their own thing. KS: So if you could only belong to one social networking site, which one would you pick and why?


&

KB: Oh, that’s a hard one because I use each of them for different reasons. For personal and professional reasons. I guess Facebook. Twitter can be dangerous because it can suck up all of your time, but Facebook can do that too. Um, I think there’s a lot more you can do with Facebook than Twitter. With Twitter, you’re limited in what you can say. You only can type in 140 characters or less. I guess in my profession or industry I work in, I think Facebook is more effective than Twitter if you can find the right way to utilize them and not just do it for the sake of doing it. That’s the other part. Finding the best way to use it. The most effective way to use it versus just doing it for the sake of doing it. I think it’s all in the person and what they feel most comfortable with and it also depends on your audience. For me, Facebook is about connecting with old friends and new friends and I personally know my audience. For Twitter, it is more professional because of your followers and who you’re following. There are different boundaries for each site and the level of privacy you are willing to share is different. So again, it’s difficult to pick just one because of the purposes they serve but I would choose Facebook for more personal use and for professional, it depends on the issue. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, and both require maintenance so it again it depends on who you’re trying to reach. I’ve noticed a lot more applications for Twitter have been appearing and more people have been on the Twitter bandwagon but it seems like it’s more for professional reasons. With Facebook I am connecting more with my personal friends and using it more for personal reasons. As far as comparing which one is easier to use is difficult since Twitter is a micro-blogging site and Facebook is more of a social networking site with less restrictions. They’re both easy to use, which is why I use them, but sometimes micro-blogging can be difficult when trying to get out a specific message. 140 characters is not a lot of space when wanting to say something more personal, but Facebook has a lot of applications as well, but with more variety. People are having eco-friendly garden applications, and all these other games are emerging so it offers more of a diverse following than Twitter. Um, I think that’s pretty much it as far as comparing the two and trying to pick one over the other. KS: I see. Well that concludes our interview. Thank you for your opinions and your time. KB: Wow, I guess it goes by so fast when speaking about things you use everyday. Ha ha. KS: Yes, it does. KB: Thanks to you too. You really made me think about my practices and put me on the spot about social networking sites. I hope it helps. INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT I Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or public relation practitioner?


&

Interviewee (LB): I am a public relations practitioner. KS: And how long have you been in public relations? LB: Since July 06. KS: And you’ve only been at an agency? LB: Yes. KS: Are you a member of any social networking sites? LB: No. Well does IM (instant messenger) count? Like AOL. KS: Um, no. LB: Okay, then yeah, I am not a member. KS: Why not? LB: Honestly, I just don’t have time for it. You know I think between working all the time then getting home and making dinner and doing all the stuff you need to do, you don’t have time to go on and check all that stuff. And I think for me, I mean I know people have said really good things about it like Oh, I’ve connected with people that I haven’t talk to in years like in high school or whatever, but for me all the people that I want to be connected to, I already am, whether through email or phone calls or seeing them in person or IMing them, that’s the best, that’s the quickest way I am involved. That’s how I communicate with m family back home. KS: OK. What influenced your decision about not using or being a part of social networking sites like Facebook? LB: Um, I think, it’s just that I really don’t have time. I really don’t. I can’t even tell you how it looks like. People send me links all the time to sign up but I look at it and say I just can’t. I look at it as another thing that is going to take up my time, the time that I don’t have. I just say I don’t need this. KS: Are there any other major influences that make you not want to join? LB: That’s the biggest reason because it’s just very time consuming and like I know people Twitter all the time, it’s the big thing right now, but I just can’t. Like if something happens to me, you know if I go pick up my phone, the first thing I’m going to do is call my husband or something. I’m not going to go and Twitter about it and like have everyone else know and I don’t want to follow other people. I hear people saying all the


&

time, oh I’m at the mall and you know. I don’t need to know that, which why I don’t really care for Twitter. Haha. KS: I can see that. Haha. And what about Facebook? LB: I think that with Facebook it’s time, but it’s also because I don’t want to share my story or my personal stuff with people that I don’t, like acquaintances. There’s just things I just want certain people to know. Like I’m very private you know, so I’d rather not have too many people know my business, you know the people who need to know, are already, they already know or they’re going to know because I’m in contact with them one way or another so if I post something on Facebook and they’re on my list right, they’re going to hear about it or read about it, but do I really want other people to know about it? Probably not so. KS: It’s not restricted to go onto social networking sites on your computer right? LB: My work computer or my home computer? KS: Oh, I apologize, I meant your work computer. LB: I don’t think so. I’ve never tried here so I don’t know. KS: Okay, I was just curious because I do know that some companies have certain sites blocked. LB: You know for me, not that I’ve tried it here, I don’t think it’s locked. KS: What are some of the stereotypes that you’ve heard about with social networking sites because I know you mentioned earlier how you had heard good things about it, Are there any other things you’ve heard? Good or bad? And if you agree or disagree with it. LB: Really not much. I don’t really hear that much about it from people. I mean, I know that they use it, but they don’t really talk about it with me. But you know, same thing. When I hear people talk about Facebook, I just kind of go away. I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t care. I honestly don’t care. KS: If you had to pick one social networking site to belong to, which one would you pick and why? LB: So like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn? KS: Yeah. LB: Probably Facebook because you can just log on whenever you want.


&

KS: Right. LB: Post your information and read other people’s stuff during your free time. Like Twitter, you know I think if you get a Twitter alert or something, you’re going to want to read it, and I don’t have time for that. I think if anything, Facebook seems the most unobtrusive of all of them and like you know like you said, you can just go and read it whenever you want to, after work or over the weekend. KS: Yeah, so would you recommend students who are wanting to go into public relations to have an account or belong to a social networking site? LB: I think that’s the new thing now. I mean, for us, we’ve been trying to look into how we can incorporate social media more into what we do, you know when we make any kind of announcement or any, just any kind of, the way we handle press releases now because we know that people are so connected through all these social medias that it might be, it is a good medium for us to be in. I don’t know how people are doing it on the mainland exactly, but I’m sure that they are probably more advanced with it than we are here. So that’s something that I know that some folks here are really looking into because people over on the travel side like Nathan. He’s really into social media. He’s you know… KS: Yeah. We all know how Nathan is. LB: Right. We know what he does. So he’s really getting into it and trying to look into it and find ways for us to incorporate it into our everyday use here. I think that as much as I don’t like it, I think that’s what you’re moving towards. It’s not just your standard blasting your email out to reporters. It’s just plus if I think that with social media, you can get your message across so much faster. You don’t need to be as formal as your would in like a normal press release kind of thing. And I think people now days appreciate that, they just want you to give them the most important information in like one to two sentences and take it from there. Versus all the other things we’ve been doing. So I’m sure that, I mean that most of us haven’t been using it, but I’m sure as we move forward, it’s going to come into play a lot. So if students are thinking about public relations, then I think they should become more knowledgeable about all these different sites and I think that would give them an added advantage if they were to go in and apply for a job or something so that’s something I would definitely recommend. KS: Even though you don’t have one? LB: Right. Even though I don’t have one, but I do know that’s where we are heading. KS: So do you think you would sign up for one then if the market is heading this way?


&

LB: Yeah. I think if there’s come a point where I need to do it professionally, then I probably would, but I don’t know if I would ever do it for personal reasons. Just so I can monitor stuff for clients. And because I think it’s going to be important. KS: Okay. That’s it. LB: Really? KS: Yeah, it wasn’t that long. Thank you so much. LB: Yeah, no problem.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT J Interviewer (KS): Are you a student or public relations practitioner? Interviewee (ND): I am a public relations practitioner. KS: How long have you been in public relations? ND: I've been in public relations for about 20, not quite 20 years. 14 years here at Outrigger, wait not 14, 13 years at the Outrigger and 6 years at the former Kahala Hilton. KS: Have you always been in corporate PR or did you do agency? ND: No, never been in an agency. I worked at Kahala, obviously that was properties specific, so that was property PR and here at Outrigger, it's more corporate PR. Well, a little bit of everything because my position is the only PR position within the company so, so I do the corporate positioning, crisis communication, it involves all the travel PR for the various brands and then I assist and liaise with our overseas PR partners. KS: Ok, next question. Are you currently a member of any social media networking site(s)? If yes or no, please explain your reasons why. ND: Um, I am on Facebook. I also have a twitter account, uh, I have a Plaxco, LinkedIn, and I think those are the only ones and I say think because the difficulty here is that I work through a company network and a lot of these sites are actually blocked. Facebook's not blocked, Twitter's not blocked, Plaxco and LinkedIn are blocked. Anytime there's anything that has streaming video... KS: Oh ND: You know, with more opportunity for viruses to come through, the company blocks those. KS: Oh, okay. ND: Facebook, I don't know why Twitter isn't because you can put links in there and click on links, but for some reason they have not blocked Twitter yet. Facebook is not blocked because I know that we're still family owned and company and I know that the family members communicate with each other, so I think, so I've been told that that's one of the reasons why Facebook is still available. KS: What influenced your decisions about using Facebook? ND: I was a sheep. Hahaha. Everyone else was doing it.


&

KS: Haha. ND: And uh, it just seems that everything that you read is all social media, social media so you need to be on it so pretty much that is the reason why. I got on it, other folks were on it so and just reading about it and thought ok, let’s give it a try. Same reason for that one. I blame Nathan Kam for that one. KS: Haha. ND: He is the piper for everyone getting on or into social media around town right now. He got me in. It started with Twitter then I got the Facebook. KS: Oh, so you had the Twitter account first? ND: Yes, I had Twitter first and then I started receiving invitations for LinkedIn and Plaxco. So it was like, OK fine, i know you but I can't necessarily do anything unless i bring out my laptop and use it remotely. KS: So what were your reasons for using Facebook? ND: Really, Facebook is more professional and although I've got the friends the have befriended me or however you call it, um are, I've got travel writers who have found me, I've got business associates who have found me, my husband's co-workers, some students have found me and I don't have a, although I went to school here, I don't have a real ongoing long-term friendly relationships with my school chumps. I didn't go to a four year university, I went to business college, so you were just in and out and I didn't really develop the close knit relationships that you sometimes find at a university so it's turned out to be very much more business oriented as opposed to personal because those are the folks who have friended me. Although I do know some people who go gaga over the fact that these writers have found me. KS: Right. ND: You know, they wanted it to be just for their friends and they don't want it cross over. Where as for me it hasn't. I am, I don't know if I am just "old school" or I am just not used to it, but I am still pretty hesitant about putting a lot of personal information on the web just because anyone can look at it, It's so accessible. That's why I also don't do a lot of purchasing online because I'm still of that "age" where or thought process where it still makes me nervous. Especially now days when identity theft is just so simple. KS: Right. So if there was some way where they could make it very strict with the privacy options? ND: And I know Facebook does have options as far as security and privacy, but I just don’t know it well enough to actually get into it and utilize it and I am not one of those


&

folks who after a long day at work, goes onto the computer and turns the computer on again and neither on the weekends. I rarely turn the computer on over the weekend when I’m at home. I have a PDA phone, a smart phone so I will you know, check emails on the phone and look at something online, and I might do it on the phone, but it’s just a hassle sometimes to turn on the computer at home sometimes. KS: Yeah. OK. You did cover some of this previously, but what are the major influences, if any, to why you use the given sites like Facebook and Twitter? ND: Twitter, I mean part of it was social, with colleagues and friends. I do see the potential and possibility for using it for you know, to announce packages and programs when we have um, like when we had the Boys Choir singing at the end of December for our Christmas or our Holiday concert you know, and I twittered about that. We just had with the Pro Bowl, you know we had Larry Fitzgerald over at the Reef on Friday and I twittered about that…. KS: Oh, I did see that tweet. ND: Oh you did, and I twittered that oh, we are waiting for him, but my problem is once things are happening, I don’t take the time then to continue the conversation. Like today, I haven’t event turned on Twitter. It’s just one of those things when I’m busy, I don’t even think about it. KS: So how often would you say you use sites or sign on to them? ND: Twitter I would say, most of the time maybe once a day during the week. On the weekend, if I’m bored or, uh, you know if I know if something is happening like during the super bowl. I turned it on during half time because I knew that there would be people talking about it, about the half time show. I just figured that one and sure enough we were all commenting about how the boss and how he was. Ummm…but there have been times, you know I was at a party the other night and there was you know BJ Penn fight was on against um.. KS: Right, St. Pierre. ND: Right, St. Pierre and some guy at the table said oh I wish I was there and don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know what’s happening because I’m taping it or whatever. And so I just turned on my phone and went onto twitter and sure enough they were talking about it and I knew what had happened and of course didn’t tell him but I knew what had happened. December when the lights went out, we were at a dinner and all of sudden the lights went out and I went okay, this is unusual and I turned twitter on and everyone was twittering about it… KS: About the blackout.


&

ND: Yeah, so it is interesting that um, you do almost get some instant news that is happening to you. You know, I wouldn’t necessarily turn it on if something is happening in California but, you know, I don’t know how many friends or twitter friends I have elsewhere but if I do know something that is happening here in the islands I can turn it on and oh, more than likely someone is commenting about it. KS: Yeah. What are, if you’ve heard of any, some of the stereotypes you agree or disagree with in regards to social media networking sites? Maybe stories that you could personally relate to or have heard other stories of some friends or colleagues. ND: I can say that with social media, more and more people will start using it. I mean there are some people who are, it’s usually the older folks who are more, uh, seeped into traditional means of marketing and communications who say it’s no big thing, we don’t need to be a part of it, but I do see that uh, yeah you do. Because that’s how the kids are growing up now. It’s just given for them to be a part of it whereas for the older generation, it’s something we have to think about and pursue. I mean you still have to be careful as well. You know for students whether it’s YouTube, Facebook or whatever, it is, what is out there, is out there. You have human resources people now, searching and googling people while they are candidates for school and uh, something that you posted or that stupid photo of you in high school is still there and it reflects on you so um and yeah, it’s, that’s another reason. You just gotta watch out what you put on those things. KS: So do you think of this as a reward or consequence for you? ND: To be honest, it’s kind of a hassle because it’s something like you know they saying “old dogs learning new tricks”? well it can be difficult. Um and if you don’t really have that drive to learn technology or if your mind is not into technology then it is a little bit burdensome because um, it is something new that you can’t relate to. Um, but especially communication wise, it is a new means of communicating and people are utilizing it. More and more people are utilizing it. So it’s definitely something you need to be aware of, but does everyone have to jump on it on this very moment? I don’t know. Probably not, but I do think that you at least need to be aware of it and understand that it is something that is going to be growing. The difficulty is though is that things change so quickly now. Who’s to say that Twitter being 140 characters is going to be enough I mean to communicate? Next year there is probably going to be a bigger and better site for people to utilize. Or you know Facebook. That has change drastically, or I guess myspace. I’m not on myspace, but I know the kids that used to be the thing, then the parents got involved and then with Facebook. Different generations so and now it’s like geez, that used to be ours and now we want something else because everyone is getting onto it so I think it’s going to evolve and um and perhaps the basic concepts will remain the same, but you’re going to see new sites, new ways of doing it. On the other hand, I mean I know Dary Young at the Hilton uh, she’s on it and she strictly wants to keep it amongst friends and she’s and there was a friend from high school who she hadn’t seen in like 15 years, found her, and they met up in San Francisco, and you know they had a grand old time and it was all because of Facebook. So there are opportunities to


&

reconnect, but there’s still you know I can see where you still have to be careful. Even meeting face to face or going out to a bar, you still have to careful. But you know it’s a comfort level and what is happening today is going to obsolete in another ten years. You know and the problem with technology in that it is not necessarily having to do with social media is that, well I guess part of it does have to do with social media, I remember everyone talking about emails and technology and this other kind of stuff and it was going to make our lives so much easier, you know paper was going to go away… KS: Right. ND: And we could go down to four day work weeks because we’d have all this time, because it was going to be that much more efficient. I mean, I spend so much time on email when I go on business, you’re constantly on email and um, checking your Facebook, Twittering away, staying in contact. Even when I’m on vacation, I don’t feel like I can just go away and leave everything behind. On the one hand, it’s not because I think I’m so bloody important that everyone is going to fall apart, but part of it is also because when I come back, I don’t want to have a thousand emails waiting for me, that I have to deal with. But still, I don’t know, I think it’s harder now days to just turn it all off and to vedge out. KS: Yeah. ND: I mean look at Obama. He had to get a super duper secret Blackberry because he couldn’t give it up once he became President. Because that’s just the crackberry thing. KS: Exactly. I can relate to that since I have a blackberry. ND: Oh yeah? You sit in meetings and everyone’s got their phones out and say, ok this is boring, so they check this and that. Every time there’s a break somewhere, people looking around, looking at their smart phones, or whatever they are and it’s just, nobody seems to have time just to kick back and do absolutely nothing. So it definitely takes your mind away from things. KS: So do you think that if you weren’t in the profession you are in now, would you be part of or a member of any social media networking site? ND: It would depend on the friends that I have and I happen to be in communications so I am involved with it, so I guess it would be yeah, if you know if your family was on it, or if your friends were on it, they would be the ones to get me into. Although, I don’t know if I weren’t in career field whether I would be as involved. KS: Would you advise students to sign up for it? ND: I would advise students to be, definitely be aware of it. But um, I don’t know if I need to because you’re already, they’re already a part of that.


&

KS: Right. ND: They already know what Twitter is. They already know what Facebook is you know, Myspace and you tube and all that. KS: So if you had to pick only one social networking site to pick, which one would you pick and why? ND: Well right now it’s Twitter and Facebook. Those are the two that I’m most familiar with and you know and the familiarity is really minuscule at the moment, but those are two I know a little bit more about um, and are easily available to me. Um, you know YouTube, I don’t know if I’ve ever gone onto YouTube or even looked at anything. My problem is, I sign up for some of these then it’s like, oh shoot, what was my password, I can’t remember. KS: Oh, haha. ND: Haha. Then you have to create the same password for everything because you can’t remember. I know I’ve got accounts, but I don’t know how to get back into them. KS: So do you find Facebook and Twitter the easiest to use? ND: For me, they seem to be the easiest. But again, you know the difficulty is, just recently there was talk about uh, you have to be careful on Facebook now, because there are people scamming that and trying to get personal information by using your friends information. KS: Yeah, there was that story that was in the news recently. ND: Yeah, yeah. So um you know on Facebook I have my resume, and even that I’m still a little uncomfortable putting up because yes, it’s technically I guess its suppose to be public knowledge but you know it’s my own personal information. You know, do I want every single person out there to know where I went to school and what jobs I’ve had and that’s just makes things easier for somebody who does want to steal an identity, to begin or to get information. KS: So between Facebook and Twitter, which one would you pick out of those two and why? ND: Oh, oh, I guess Twitter because it’s that much easier to use. You know I can, well I do know people who go on their Facebook all the time either on their smart phones but it just seems simple enough to do it by your PDA phones. I guess it’s just easier to turn it on and participate, where as with Facebook there are different things or steps. You have to go to wall or post photos or you know, there are different things that you can do. There


&

are different tabs that you have to click in order to get there I guess because it’s easier. You basically turn it on and you type and that’s it. If you want to take a photo, you just Twitpic it and you know it takes an additional step, but just in general, the process of using Twitter is easy. KS: Well that’s basically it. ND: Oh really, well I look forward to seeing your finished results. KS: I hope so, it’s due pretty soon, so I’m trying to get it done as soon as possible.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT K

Interviewer (KS): So 26 years you’ve been here? Interviewee (DS): Approximately. KS: Have you worked in an agency? DS: I did PR work for City & County, Parks and Recs and I was a PR secretary at the Heart Association. Secretary isn’t an accurate word, but they used me to write. That’s the experience you need, you need writing. KS: How long have you been in public relations? DS: I guess you can say 26 years, but not in this position. Actually more than 26 years if you count the parks and rec and heart association. KS: And you are not currently a member of Facebook, right? DS: I am not. KS: Okay, and why? DS: Obviously these are all personal comments. I guess I personally have no interest in it. I don’t have time, I don’t even know if my kids have. But for me, I don’t see it helping me professionally and personally. One thing about Kuakini, working here, we do not have access to social networking, you know like Facebook, MySpace, that type of thing. We don’t do blogs here. There might be people that blog about it, but we don’t do that. KS: Because it’s restricted? DS: It’s restricted here. But I think to have these types of, I'm not against it. To have something like that, you have to have the time and the staff or somebody that has time to check it, update it, just like a blog. There are pros and cons to having it. Who’s going to take care of it, who’s going to post information that type of thing. The way this office is set up, you don’t have time. KS: Those are the major influences you say, are they more personal or professional? DS: It’s both. Personal and professional. KS: So you would say it’s 50/50. DS: Yeah. I don’t have time personally for it and I don’t have time professionally for it.


&

KS: Okay. I was going to say if you have a home computer, but you don’t have the time at home. DS: I do have a home computer, but I don’t have the time. KS: Because I was kinda curious about if it is restricted, if you do it at home and if you had no interest in it. Well, I’m kinda curious about why you have no interest in it. Not due to time constraints, if you had to choose one, which one would you choose. DS: Actually my kids, one or three of em, have MySpace pages. If I’m curious, I would ask Jason, what’s on his MySpace page. To me, the younger kids use it is for socialization, dissing each other. It’s a fun type of thing at that age. My two youngers ones are teenagers and it’s not for professional use, but for fun. And if I'm gonna go on the computer, I’m gonna do work at home, look at news sites, or shopping. KS: But you would pick MySpace though if you had to pick one of the social networking sites? DS: Good question. I don’t know. I’ve heard things about MySpace, the things that were on it and the things that people post on it. It can be used against you because they can post anything. They tell you to be careful what you can post on it because they can tell your employer, or a potential employer is looking and checking on your page and that kinda stuff. As to which one I would choose if I had to, I don’t know. Sorry. KS: Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re being honest. What specific examples, stereotypes or the rewards and consequences of social networking sites? DS: I think of what I heard from my colleagues and other workplaces, to me, it might depend on where you work professionally and how you use it. If you’re going to use Facebook for professional purposes, you’re going have to have someone to have the time and post information, have time to track the information. Again it’s kind of a blog. Do you respond? How do you respond? You know, you might get all kinds of different responses. Some people playing around, some people not serious. You could use it to your advantage, to promote awareness and increase understanding about either profession or about your company. Again, who has the time to do that? KS: So you have more cons than pros? DS: Maybe for professional purposes. I do know people that use those sites and there are ways to use it professionally, like if you want more information about this, go to Facebook. It’s a way to get information out. Another venue. I’ve heard people say, my Facebook page, I put this, I put that. I went to your page and I read this. So it’s an educational tool. But again, how accurate and how timely is the information. I guess depending on the organization, you might want to depend on the website. And actual corporate website to do your public relations and marketing and promotions. We are in


&

the process of revamping our website. We want to change it. Right now for us, we don’t use our website as a marketing tool. We’re looking at the possibility and considering to use it as a marketing tool. For us, it’s more informational. One thing about it is that for health care, you want to know about heart disease, we can put information about that, but go straight to the source, American Heart Association, American Lung Association. You have the bonafide agency that has al the information you need. But for us, right now, who we are, little bit of historic stuff, jobs, career opportunities. Just letting the people know what we do kind of thing. And it’s good to have Twitter or whatever. I hear my colleagues talk about, or I was sitting here, I got bored, so I started Twittering. It gives them an outlet. It may be not directly work related but you could be using it like text messaging. Another way to communicate. KS: So have you thought about using Twitter? DS: No. Not a chance. KS: So if you found it easy to use, would you try it? DS: I would consider it. I don’t have the time to do it or to learn about it. I have read things where, I guess there’s different ways to use Twitter. You can answer one person or answer everybody. It’s like a personal diary. Not everybody wants to know what I’m doing. They could care less. KS: Well, I think that’s basically it. DS: Do you find that it’s more of an attraction for younger age people? KS: Yes and no. I think like for me, being on Facebook, well, when we had Facebook, you originally had to have a college address. So it was more professional rather than MySpace because for MySpace, anyone could do it. And then, now Facebook is open to everyone. I do it to keep in touch with my old high school friends. It’s a lot easier instead of calling them. Cuz you know sometimes, you want to do that, you want to have that contact, sometimes you just can’t. So it’s easier to say, hey how are you comment. After interviewing people, I think there’s a lot more professional people on Facebook than on MySpace. DS: I would tend to agree too. KS: But Twitter is really picking up fast. KHON, KGMB, Honolulu Advertiser, they all have it on their main page. Like what is Twitter and you can have it in the Twitter Feed. So they’re really getting on that. And I think what really started it was Election time, McCain and Obama, both had Twitter accounts. So they were keeping their publics constantly updated. And so because of that, I think it got that ball moving. That’s what I noticed. Once I started following Obama on Twitter. Like everyone just picked up on it really fast. And it’s kinda nice for me personally, but it’s just short. You can only say.


&

DS: That’s right, there’s a limit. KS: Rather like Facebook, it is more time consuming. Twitter’s just really nice. They made all these applications now to put on your phone rather than Facebook, you have to log on to your computer. But with Twitter, you can just Twitter onto your phone. It’s kinda overwhelming, but more and more people, are starting to get on it. And it’s not an age thing anymore. But it matters where you work and your work environment. Like I said, with you, your work environment is completely different. So those agency guys, there are all on it. DS: I think it’s good for networking. But again, it probably depends where you work. And if there are any restrictions and the way the office is set up. Because in my office, everyone has certain responsibilities. Not like there are 5 writers, 3 graphic designers, 2 marketing people. It’s just one one one. If you have the staff, you have enough people, maybe we could have somebody to be the website administrator. There are companies that do have specific website administrators, so for us, it’s me, the graphics person, each of us have different responsibilities. Different reasons for accessing our website. Difference of corporate culture and how things are set up. DS: I think that’s the main thing for me, who’s going to do it and what is the purpose. If you have a website, do you need to have that cause you can have some sort of a blog on the site. Of course we don’t, but it’s just the purpose of having it. KS: Do you think you guys will consider it when you guys revamp it? DS: Because of our limited staffing, probably not. It’s important, because if you have one, you want to take responses from people, if they have any comments. But I believe you’re going to have off the wall people where they’re going to say weird things. It’s monitoring people and if you can use it to your advantage, and being able to have the time. KS: So time is your biggest thing? DS: Oh yeah. I don’t see, I don’t want to talk about other health care institutions. KS: How is Kuakini different from Queens or Straub? DS: I know their PR department is set up differently. Queens has a whole creative services department, they take care of their publications, video, media. Then they have a separate department that does communications, not newsletters, media relations. KS: Yeah, theirs is huge because we did our Career Day tour there. They took us to a separate building and it was huge. Okay that’s it.


&

DS: Hopefully that was enough information.


&

INTERVIEW WITH PARTICIPANT L Interviewer (KS): Ok, the first question, are you a student or public relations practitioner? Interviewee (SS): Yes, I am a public relations practitioner. KS: How long have you been in public relations? SS: I have been in public relations now since 94, so that is almost 15 years. Fourteen, going on 15 years. KS: Have you always worked in an agency? SS: No, I started off in an agency in 94, and I left the agency in 98, to become the PR Manager for Hilton Resorts Hawaii. I was there for two years and came back to the agency in 2000. KS: How come you came back? Did you just miss it? SS: No, I actually did not want to come back at first, I vowed to myself that I would never come back to an agency at the time. Neal Yokota recruited me and convinced me to come back. He was… he needed someone to head up the travel division because the person that did, who had done it had moved away. So, he needed someone to come in, so he convinced me to come back. KS: So, did you liked being at the Hilton? SS: I loved it, but it’s different in the sense that you are on-site so there is a lot of running around, being at events, you have to be physically present in a lot more things, and you also get pulled in many other things that are technically PR related. So, there were some things at the agency that I did miss. The only thing I didn’t miss at the agency was juggling some many different clients. Whereas at the Hilton, I could focus on one client. But the more I thought about it, if I really wanted to continue to grow in PR, the change would be good for me and that has turned out to be the case. KS: Yeah, are you a member of any social networking sites? If yes or no, please explain. SS: Facebook and Twitter now I guess, I don’t know, I am not an active member of Twitter, but I am on there now so see what’s going on. KS: Yeah, what made you decide to get a Facebook or a Twitter? SS: Because I had been reading so much about it and a lot of my friends were getting on there and I thought I better jump on the bandwagon because it seems to be an important


&

new movement in technology that impacts my profession and just information and communications overall. KS: Were you scared to join it at first? SS: No, in fact, because I always go on my husband’s computer and his launch page was Facebook, I got really, kinda, familiar with it…and that’s when I got really curious, and said maybe I should have one of these. KS: Ok, ok. SS: Twitter still kinda scares me because it’s still relatively new to me. KS: Right, ok, were there any other influences that you had about your decision to join Facebook besides what you said, friends? SS: Just basically that it was such a big, its such a big, continues to be a growing trend in the media. So, I think being in the profession that I’m in, it was an absolute necessity to get a Facebook page, and see what was on going with Facebook. KS: Do you regret it? SS: No, I don’t. I actually, what I really, really like about it on a personal side of things, its reconnected me with a lot of people and it’s a great way to get information and stay connected with people because we get so busy that it’s a great way to stay in touch with your friends, colleagues in a short amount of time. KS: Right, so Facebook and Twitter are the only social networking sites that you belong to? SS: Yeah, I need to explore. I’m very curious about the… I’ve gotten invitations to join the LinkedIn, but I haven’t done that. Recently, I got another one…I am sorry Kimberly, I can not remember the name of it. It starts with a P, I can’t remember the name of it, but there was another one. No, those are the only two, I don’t have a Myspace. KS: How often do… obviously, I’m assuming, you still use, you still go and login on, but how often do you go on? SS: Well, it depends on how busy I am, but I’d said average maybe once a day…and it’s usually at night, before I go to… but in the evening time when I am just kinda winding down. KS: Do you go on from your home computer or do use…? SS: Yeah, my home computer.


&

KS: And do you use any other applications to go on to it? SS: Oh yeah, I do have it on my phone. Although, I don’t really go on Facebook to much on my phone but I go on Twitter very often on my phone because it is a really good way to kill time…when your waiting in line or your at a stop light. KS: So, those applications, do you think that you sign on more on your phone than you do on your home computer? SS: For Twitter, definitely yes. KS: How about Facebook? SS: Yeah, Facebook, no… Facebook seems to be more…well, the reason with Twitter is because of all the news, tweeks that you get. So, it seems now I seem to be getting a lot of the news announcements first on Twitter, before anything… because it is so instantaneous. So, in that sense, it does get addicting. So, I…it actually serves. I am always, I watch the news, I read the news, and that’s part of my job to do that. So, now with Twitter, being that all these news organizations, papers and television news, are providing Twitter updates. I like to go on their first, because it seems that you get their news first on Twitter, so… now I cant remember what the question was… but that’s why I go on there constantly, quite a bit. KS: It was about the phones? SS: Oh yeah, so the average, oh God, it depends on the day. If I have a day where I am doing a lot of sitting around and waiting, I’ll go, I can go on there as much as, gosh, every hour or less maybe. And then there are some days… like honestly, this week has been really crazy, I really haven’t had time to go on it during the day. Maybe when I go home, I might just quickly skim through it really quick but I know I am missing a lot. KS: Ok, in your opinion, do you think there are any rewards or consequences for using social networking sites? And if you do, what are your professional or personal reasons? SS: I think, probably the challenge, and I have seen this come up in some of the articles that… is it being used the right way, I think it could, can definitely be abused as we’ve seen. It can get addicting, so I think it can eat up a lot of your time if you are not using it for productive reasons. So, I think monitoring that is hard, among… again, how do you monitor how much time? Could you repeat the question again? KS: Do you think there are any rewards or consequences by using it? And if you have heard any stereotypes?


&

SS: Right, right, the rewards I think again, it’s a great way to get information. I think, it’s a great way to put out information to a large audience as well too. Like we saw with the Obama campaign, he really utilized Twitter and Facebook and probably some others, reaching a whole new audience, I think especially the younger demographic that those doesn’t really watch the news or pick up the newspaper, a lot of them. So, he was very smart in doing that. I think, all of us, you know as a business, or on behalf of our clients, we have to be on top of that because if you want to reach the… and its not completely yet… and older people go on this too, but to really reach a whole new audience. I think, it’s a great way of doing that… and but yeah, the flip side of that, I think again, is if you spend too much time on there and you have to be very careful with what you put on there because it could…if you put some misinformation it feels like it could really spread like wildfire. So, just being careful what goes on there and I think also the scary thing is it’s a third party putting out information that might not be accurate. How do control that, I think, another challenge. KS: If you had to pick one social networking site to belong to, which one would you pick and why? SS: That’s a hard question because, I think, Facebook and Twitter are so different. KS: So you can say your reasons why? SS: For my personal, I would pick Facebook. But for my professional, I would say Twitter. If I could give that answer. Just for personal reasons, I feel like Facebook is more of a personal, for myself. Although, I can see how organizations use Facebook as their business, of course, to get the name of their organization out or their company… or that kind of thing too. But I personally don’t really use it for that, for me, I use Facebook more for personal reasons. Twitter, on the other hand, I think, has helped us get the word out more about some, on behalf of some of our clients. So, from a business standpoint, from a professional standpoint, I would say Twitter. KS: Just because of the way that it is carrying out the news? SS: Yes. KS: What are the personal reasons, like you said, reconnecting with friends? SS: Reconnecting with some…staying connected with friends and family, relatives. It’s nice to see their photos… its nice to… KS: Yeah, and you can’t really do that on Twitter? SS: Yeah, at least, I have figure out how to do it. KS: Yeah, exactly.


&

SS: Oh really, ok, that wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. KS: I just wanted to see why you use those social networking sites, especially being in this, the field that your in, public relations. SS: And…yeah definitely…and were still learning more about it and definitely want to continue learning cause, I think, that this is just kinda the beginning. Yeah, definitely…it’s been very interesting and it’s changing so quickly. KS: Right.


&

APPENDIX D COPY OF CONSENT FORM

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Research Participant Information and Consent Form

Title of the Study: Analyzing why public relations practitioners and students use social media networking sites under the technology acceptance model. Researcher: Kimberly Seko 2550 Campus Road, Crawford Hall 310 Honolulu, HI 96822-2217 808-223-2231 Overview: You are invited to participate in a qualitative research study that will examine public relations practitioners and students responses under the user and technology acceptance models. This research is being conducted to fulfill the requirements for the M.A. in Communication. What Will Participation Involve? If you decide to participate in this research you will be asked to answer specific questions to the best of your knowledge about the topic. Your participation will take approximately 45 minutes to one hour. Are They Any Risks or Benefits? There are no known risks associated with participation in this study. Benefits of participation will be to assist in my research to better understand the factors of why PR practitioners and students use Facebook. How Will My Confidentiality Be Protected? This study is not anonymous unless wanted. Your name and possibly the company/ association you represent will be the identifiable information recorded. With your consent, the conversation will be recorded for the purposes of accurate reporting. Once the interview is completed and has been transcribed, all evidence of the interview will be destroyed. Whom Should I Contact If I have Questions? You may ask the student researcher questions about the research at any time. You may also contact the faculty supervisor, Dr. Tom Kelleher, at (808) 956-9944. If you cannot obtain satisfactory answers to your questions or have comments/complaints about your treatment in this study, you may also contact: Committee on Human Studies, University of Hawaii, 2540 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822. Phone: (808)956-5007. Your participation is completely voluntary. If you begin participation and change your mind you may end your participation at any time without penalty.


&

APPENDIX D CONTINUED

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Research Participant Information and Consent Form

Please check one of the following: [ ] I allow the researcher to use my identity in this research study [ ] I do not allow the researcher to use my identity in this research study Your signature indicates that you have read this consent form, had an opportunity to ask any questions about your participation in this research and voluntarily consent to participate. Name of Participant (please print):_______________________________ Signature:_______________________________________ Date:_____________

Documents

MAThesis FinalDraftV5 110212...running&head:&pr&students’&and&pr&practitioners’&use&of&sns&under& the&utaut&model& & public relations students’ and public relations practitioners’