Needs and Motives of Instagram Users that Predict Self-disclosure Use: A Case Study of Young Adults in Kuwait

Abstract

This study employed the media uses and gratifications model to examine the needs and motives of Instagram users that predict self-disclosure use. Students from the Gulf University of Science and Technology, Kuwait, were surveyed for this study. This study suggests that Instagram provides categories of needs and motives similar in nature to those of the other social media such as self-expression, social interaction, entertainment and opinion exchange. It also caters to the need for experimenting with photography that few available social media satisfy. Self-expression and social interaction needs were the strongest predictors of the use of Instagram for self-disclosure on all its dimensions, that is, honesty, amount, positive valence and depth. Other intersecting factors such as biological sex and frequency of use showed different patterns of use. The implications of Arab culture on Instagram use are discussed since Kuwaiti culture, as opposed to the Western cultures, is more collectivist in nature.

Keywords

Instagram social media self-disclosure uses and gratifications Kuwait

The focus of this study is on Instagram, a photo-sharing network. Available for Android and Apple operating systems, Instagram is a free photo-sharing social media application. Instagram enables limitless picture uploads and according to some statistics, more than one billion pictures have already been uploaded (Taylor, 2012). The photographs can be modified using filters like linear and radial tilt-shift, colour, focus and high exposure. Instagrammers can also utilize captions and titles to reflect specific moods and describe moments uniquely. Users can synchronize their photos with other social media like Facebook and Twitter and create hashtags to identify images with themes and subjects. The Instagram photo-mapping feature allows users to display photographs taken in specific geographic locations (Silva, Vaz de Melo, Almeida, Salles, & Loureiro, 2013). Instagrammers can edit their private or public accounts to personalize their profiles. Once followers become subscribers, they can view the photo feed and use the ‘like’ button, provide comments and express their feelings and opinions about the photographs.

The West has often been the geographical context for a majority of the studies on social media use. However, varied contexts matter because pictures underscore differences between cultures. Hochman and Schwartz (2012) adopted the Cultural Analytics paradigm to analyze the visual factors (brightness, saturation, colour, texture…and so on) in Instagram pictures to detect the different pattern contexts between pictures posted by individuals in New York City and Tokyo. They concluded that the ‘visual rhythm’, which included the dimensions of local colour, visual weight and day intensity, contribute to the manifestation of a collective visual production of a culture. Therefore, diverse social and cultural contexts matter since they may influence the varied uses of social media. However, a number of studies that have examined social media use (see Christofides, Muise, & Desmarais, 2009; Hinduja & Patchin, 2008; Joinson, 2001; Walther, 2002) have been media-centric. They have adopted the perspectives that ‘the medium is the message’ and ‘what media do to people’. They have focused on the characteristics of new media such as anonymity (as in Online Bulletin Boards) and the absence of non-verbal cues as amplifiers of self-disclosure use (e.g., Joinson, 2001; Tidwell & Walther, 2002). This study is user-centric; it offers the users’ reasons for self-disclosure by putting the focus on active users.

Conceptual Framework and Literature Review

Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch (1974) and Palmgreen (1984) and others provided the theoretical anchor for the uses and gratifications (U&G) perspective by showcasing an active user of the media rather than a passive receiver, as illustrated in the earlier media-centric models of communication. They posited that the process of uses and gratifications of and by media reside in active users who consciously engage with media to meet needs that reflect their social and psychological dispositions as well as other factors.

Using the conceptual framework of the U&G theoretical model (see Figure 1), this study will focus on exploring how a newer social medium such as Instagram is put to use in Kuwait, an area of the world where there is a paucity of research on uses and users of social media in general and Instagram in particular. This study is focused on the use of Instagram for self-disclosure, a concept that has been investigated in several U&G studies, as detailed in the next section. Self-disclosure refers to the ‘voluntary disclosure of personal information to the mainstream’ (Madden, Fox, Smith, & Vitak, 2007, p. 5). Self-disclosure constitutes an important use of online and social media, whether it is through e-mails or media such as MySpace, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat (Christofides et al., 2009; Urista, Dong, & Day, 2009; Van Dijck, 2008). It is important to understand more about users’ self-disclosure since it is a sine-qua-non of social media use. People indulge in social media primarily to disclose their views, opinions, and other aspects of their personalities through mechanisms such as blogs, mails, jokes, photographs and other audio–visual media. So, a study to understand further the needs and motives for self-disclosure use would be heuristic to U&G research. This study is important because it is one of a few that examines how people disclose themselves in pictures on a photo-sharing application such as the Instagram. Other studies have mainly focused on written and verbal self-disclosure of information.

Figure 1.

Source: Authors’ own.

Self-disclosure and Other Uses of Media

Exploring the growing influence of social media is important as they intensify people’s involvement and activity with the media (Ancu & Raluca, 2009; Dunne, Lawlor, & Rowley, 2010; Hanson & Haridakis, 2008; Johnson & Yang, 2009; Park, Kee, & Valenzuela, 2009). Recent studies exploring various Internet applications establish that they fulfil the needs and functions of interpersonal utility and social recognition (Leung, 2007), self-status (Starkman, 2007), image building (Ho-Cho, 2006), gaining recognition (Matsuba, 2006) and exploring the self (Park et al., 2009). People use pagers to foster status and be ‘cool’ (Leung & Wei, 1998), Social Network Sites (SNS) to portray an ideal self (Dunne et al., 2010) and for self-disclosure as in MySpace and Facebook pages (Urista et al., 2009).

McKenna and Bargh (2004) argue that ‘de-individuation’ on the Internet produces a greater level of self-disclosure use, since at least in the earlier years, users had a certain level of anonymity, which influenced their communications on the Net, namely users could express their feelings and thoughts more frankly. Computer-mediated communications (CMC) increases disinhibition and lessens concerns about visual self-presentation and other people’s judgments (Joinson, 1999). The need for popularity predicts CMC self-disclosure use (Christofides et al., 2009). Joinson (2001) found that young adults disclose a lot of information about romantic confessions in emails to overcome the lack of presence and absence of non-verbal cues.

In connection with U&G theory, the need for self-expression through self-disclosure use of media predicts positive valence. Walther (1996) suggests that Internet communication encourages people to engage in a ‘selective self-presentation’ that ends up depicting a positive self-disclosure. Individuals display themselves positively because the Internet’s self-presentation is ‘selective, malleable, and subject to self-censorship…[more than]… face-to-face interaction’ (Walther, 1996, p. 20). Individuals try to edit their photographs in order to downgrade their negative aspects and upgrade the positives (Zhao, Grasmuck, & Martin, 2008). Van Dijck discusses the idea that people use photo-sharing software to ‘portray a better self’ (2008, p. 68). On the other hand, the relationship between visual self-expression need and honesty in self-disclosure use will probably be negative because Instagrammers want to reflect their ideal image and therefore they may be less honest in presenting the reality about themselves. Hum, Chamberlin, Hambright, Portwood, Schat and Bevan (2011) argue that the main motivation of social media use is to ‘create and enhance a self-image’ (p. 1829). People use them as mechanisms of ‘egocasting, the thoroughly personalized and extremely narrow pursuit of one’s personal taste’ (Hum, et al., 2011, p. 1829). Often, individuals in photo-sharing social media project an identity ‘as they view themselves’ rather than ‘who they really are’ (Winston, 2013, p. 7). In addition, visual self-expression need may positively predict depth of self-disclosure, where depth refers to the level of intimate and personal photographs Instagrammers display. Studies have found that people disclose more personal information about themselves in Internet applications (Leung, 2002). Rosson (1999, p. 8) concludes, ‘Users seem to be quite comfortable revealing personal, even quite intimate details about their lives in this very public forum.’

Zhao et al. (2008) found that individuals post photographs of having fun with friends on Facebook and thus construct their ‘group-oriented’ identities; they use photographs to associate themselves with others. They try to post pictures that show them doing socially preferable actions including playing sports and partying with friends. This indicates that the need for social interaction will probably predict positive valence and negatively predict honesty in self-disclosure use as people want to maintain bonds with others. Also, since the social interaction need for using Instagram is meant to maintain relationships between Instagrammers who often know each other in real life, people will embrace more positive valence and are less likely to be honest in their self-disclosure use.

Study Objectives

Which factors predict the use of Instagram for self-disclosure? This study seeks to identify needs and motives for using Instagram, which include social and psychological factors, and examine how needs and motive factors connect with the use the medium for self-disclosure. Besides, not all users engage with Instagram in the same way or with the same frequency due to intersections such as gender or social standing. Consequently, this study will also survey users about their frequency of use and type of accounts established and examine their intersection with gender, an important social division in Kuwait and other Arab nations.

Research Questions

The following research questions are posited in this study:

RQ1: What are the different needs and motives for using Instagram?

As we have explained and justified above, we are interested in exploring the needs and motives of our respondents for using Instagram in Kuwait.

RQ2: Which needs and motives predict the use of Instagram for self-disclosure?

Self-disclosure refers to the level of information about one’s self that an individual is willing to make known to others (Joinson & Paine, 2007; Sheldon, 2009). Like other social media, Instagram is a showcase for self-disclosure. Lack of social physical presence in CMC and the feeling of not being committed to CMC relationships encourage self-disclosure use (Mesch & Beker, 2010; Tidwell & Walther, 2002). Researchers have employed the dimensions of amount, depth, honesty and positivity to conceptualize and measure self-disclosure (Wheeless, 1978; Wheeless & Grotz, 1976). In the present study, ‘amount’ refers to the quantity of photographs people post of themselves (to show their life) on Instagram, ‘depth’ refers to the level of intimate and personal photographs Instagrammers display, ‘honesty’ refers to the likelihood of telling the truth about oneself in pictures, and ‘positive valence’ refers to showing others photographs reflecting positive approaches to life. People, who post many photographs about their life, reveal intimate photographs of themselves, show honest photographs reflective of their true personality and nature, and display positive elements of their life in pictures are considered to have higher levels of use of Instagram for self-disclosure.

Hypotheses

Previous studies have found that more the time people engage with social media, the more information they disclose about themselves to others (Jiang, Bazarova, & Hancock, 2011; Mesch & Beker, 2010). Mesch and Beker (2010) argue that, over time, people disclose more information when they become closer and more relaxed in their relationships. Spending more time with Instagram lessens concerns and worries about disclosing oneself, as people gradually feel comfortable about the technology, trust followers and expect the positive and negative consequences that result from communication with others via technology. Therefore, the study proposes the following hypothesis:

H1: Frequency of use of Instagram will be associated with higher levels of use of Instagram for self-disclosure.

Society conditions the uses of media (Fischer, 1992) and accordingly the cultural context of Kuwait could influence the way individuals use Instagram to disclose themselves. Even though Kuwait is culturally less conservative than other Arab Gulf nations, compared to Western standards it is still conservative. Unlike in the West and some other countries, females in Kuwait may find it a bit of a trouble to post personal photographs on Instagram. For many females, revealing such photos may damage their reputation and may bring shame to their family and clan (Patai, 2007). Patai (2007) describes the Arab culture as a ‘shame culture’. Any culturally provocative act, especially by females, hurts the image of the entire community. If Kuwaitis, especially females, have Instagram accounts, they could be selective about the level of depth of their self-disclosure due to cultural restrictions. Walrave, Vanwesenbeeck and Heirman (2012) found that females maintain higher privacy settings than males. In addition, having a private account is a good predictor of self-disclosure use for both genders. Previous studies have found that individuals who opt for heavy privacy settings are more likely to reveal more personal information (Stutzman, Capra, & Thompson, 2011). Therefore, the study proposes the following hypotheses:

H2: Males will show higher levels of use of Instagram for self-disclosure.

H3: Females will be more likely to create private accounts.

H4: Individuals who create private accounts are more likely to have higher levels of self-disclosure than those who create public accounts.

Method

Population and Sampling

A sample of 610 students from the total population of Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Kuwait and Kuwait University (KU) voluntarily responded to a self-administered questionnaire. The sampled students were enrolled in general introductory courses in social science such as anthropology, political science, history, psychology and basic sciences.

There were several strengths to using a sample of university students. First, the Kuwaiti government grants them a monthly stipend of $700 and therefore they easily obtain new media technologies such as laptop computers or smart phones. Second, unlike older people, they are well-versed with new information and communication technologies and up-to-date mobile phone applications (Al-Kandari & Hasanen, 2012). Also, in recent years, younger Arabs have played a major influential role in political actions such as the Arab Spring. They used Twitter and Facebook to get people to go out on the streets and demonstrate (Al-Kandari & Hasanen, 2012). Finally, younger Kuwaitis seem to be more liberal and accepting of new ideas and the Western lifestyle (Abdulrahim, Al-Kandari, & Hasanen, 2009), and are more likely to post pictures depicting their way of life. Photo-sharing media have become the ‘preferred idiom’ for the new generation of younger adults (van Dijck, 2008).

Questionnaire

To construct items describing the various needs and motives for using Instagram, an open-ended question, ‘Why do you use Instagram?’, was asked to a convenient sample of 60 students in an initial exploratory survey. The respondents were asked to provide five important needs and motives. The wording of the respondents’ statements and reasons were then refined. Each set of similar statements of needs and motives were grouped together. Then, these statements were presented to 55 students, who participated in a pilot study surveying their needs and motives for using Instagram. Five-point Likert measurements of options from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ were used to mark the responses to the set of needs and motives obtained from the earlier survey. The pilot study was employed to refine the wording and finalize the various needs and motives for using Instagram, which were then included in the final survey questionnaire and constitute the main independent variables in this study.

Other independent variables were the frequency of use of Instagram, gender-based use in terms of frequency of use and types of accounts maintained. For the frequency of use of Instagram, students had to choose from these options: ‘I often use it’, ‘I use it sometimes’ and ‘I rarely use it’. To indicate the type of account, respondents used a categorical measurement that included ‘Private’, ‘Public’, and ‘I do not know what type of account I have’.

To study the use of Instagram for self-disclosure, the dependent variable, the study utilized the self-disclosure scale (consisting of honesty, amount, positive valence, and depth factors) used in previous research (see Leung, 2002). The scale was modified to reflect pictures as the unit of communication. Initially, the scale was translated from English to Arabic and then pretested on 53 students to check that the Cronbach¹ alpha reliability scores of each of the four dimensions of self-disclosure (honesty, amount, positive valence, depth) was at least .70. This pilot study also made it possible to refine the wording of the scale items. The refined scale was included in the final version of questionnaire.

Data Analyses and Results

Sample Profile

The sample consisted of 354 females and 256 males. Regarding the frequency of use of Instagram, 57 (9per cent) individuals said they rarely used it, 163 (27 per cent) said they used it sometimes and 382 (63 per cent) used it very often. Also, 181 (30 per cent) respondents said they had public accounts, while 406 (67 per cent) had private accounts, and 18 (3 per cent) reported that they did not know the type of account they had.

Needs and Motives for Using Instagram

The first research question asked, ‘What are the needs and motives for using Instagram’? A factor analysis, utilizing the Principal Components procedure for extraction and the Varimax² method of rotation were used to find questionnaire items that grouped together to represent the needs and motives for using Instagram. The analysis extracted five sets of needs and motives, which together explained about 77 per cent of the total variance (see Table 1). They are visual self-expression (mean = 3.15; S = 0.89; Eigenvalue = 5.93), experiment with new medium and hobby (mean = 3.79; S = 0.96; Eigenvalue = 2.08), social interaction (mean = 4.07; S = 0.64; Eigenvalue = 1.88), entertainment (mean = 4.40; S = 0.63; Eigenvalue = 1.35), and, provide opinion (mean = 3.81; S = 0.81; Eigenvalue = 1.02). The mean score in each cluster represents the average score, while S is the standard deviation, which is the average error.

Table 1.

Summary of Factor Analysis of the Needs and Motives for Using Instagram

I use Instagram to...	Factors
Item	1	2	3	4	5
Factor 1: Visual self-expression (mean = 3.15; S = 0.89)
Enable others to view my life’s happenings in pictures.	0.873	0.097	0.125	0.112	0.090
Document the details of my daily life in pictures.	0.853	0.037	0.139	0.065	0.032
Let others know about my daily activities.	0.837	0.169	0.164	0.009	0.113
Share with people the things I am interested in.	0.757	0.130	0.203	0.135	0.100
Factor 2: Experiment with new medium and hobby (mean = 3.79; S = 0.96)
Polish my skills in photography.	0.098	0.903	0.143	0.080	0.116
Practice the hobby of photography.	0.115	00.874	0.124	0.161	0.069
Get others to observe my creative pictorial work	0.151	0.869	0.109	0.057	0.146
Factor 3: Social interaction (mean = 4.07; S = 0.64)
Communicate with friends and family.	0.116	0.127	0.844	0.163	0.114
Socially connect with others.	0.186	0.158	0.770	0.181	0.109
Share with others their life interests.	0.145	0.182	0.704	0.231	0.287
Follow the details of other people’s lives.	0.178	0.003	0.600	0.156	0.100
Factor 4: Entertainment (mean = 4.40; S = 0.63)
Be amused.	0.087	0.113	0.218	0.883	0.061
Pass the time.	0.052	0.106	0.203	0.858	0.068
Be entertained.	0.146	0.077	0.148	0.826	0.127
Factor 5: Provide opinion (mean = 3.81; S = 0.81)
Let others know my personal viewpoints on the pictures they display.	0.127	0.119	0.234	0.094	0.865
Provide opinions about displayed pictures.	0.130	0.178	0.169	0.131	0.864
Eigenvalue	5.93	2.08	1.88	1.35	1.02
Pct. of variance explained	37.0	13.0	11.7	8.46	6.38
Cronbach’s α reliability	0.88	0.89	0.79	0.87	0.81

Source: Authors’ own.

Note: Loadings over 0.60 appear in bold.

Under visual self-expression, users cited the following needs and motives: enable others to view my life’s happenings in pictures, document the details of my daily life in pictures, let others know about my daily activities and share with people the things I am interested in. Within ‘experiment with new medium and hobby,’ needs and motives included honing skills in photography, practicing photography as a hobby and sharing other creative pictorial work. For social interaction, users cited the following needs and motives: to communicate with friends and family, socially connect with others, share with others their life interests and follow the details of other people’s lives. For entertainment, users engaged with Instagram for the following needs and motives: amusement, passing time and other types of entertainment. Finally, for the purpose of presenting opinions, Instagram was used to provide a space for sharing personal viewpoints on the displayed pictures.

Self-disclosure Dimensions

Table 2 reports the descriptive statistics of items measuring the four dimensions of self-disclosure use from the final distributed version of the questionnaire. The reliability of this scale was measured again using all the responses to the final survey to ensure Cronbach α scores of at least 0.70, as shown in Table 2.

Predictors of Self-disclosure

The second research question stated: Which needs and motives predict the use of Instagram for self-disclosure? Four hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed, entering as the dependent variable, honesty, amount, positive valence and depth dimensions of self-disclosure respectively. The gender variable was entered in the first block, needs and motives for using Instagram were entered in the second block and frequency of Instagram use and type of account were entered in the last block of the predictor variables. Entering gender in the first block served as a control variable for needs and motives for using Instagram, the main interest of this study.

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics of Items Measuring the Four Dimensions of Self-disclosure Use (N = 610)

Questionnaire Item	Mean	S
Honesty (Cronbach’s α reliability = 0.80; mean = 3.50; S = 1.04)
The pictures I show in Instagram honestly express my true feelings and emotions.	3.54	1.05
I always inform others of my true feelings and opinions about the pictures they exhibit in Instagram.	3.41	0.99
The pictures I reveal about myself in Instagram are always accurate reflections of who I really am.	3.40	1.08
I am always honest in my self-disclosures to those I meet in Instagram.	3.66	1.02
Amount (Cronbach’s α reliability = 0.81; mean = 3.16; S = 1.02)
I often show pictures so others know about my daily activities.	2.98	1.04
I reveal many pictures that show my interests in life.	3.19	1.08
I usually have extended communications with others through the comments I provide in Instagram.	3.52	0.94
I display a lot of pictures describing the different daily details of my life.	2.93	1.05
Positive valence (Cronbach’s α reliability = 0.81; mean = 3.67; S = 0.91)
I usually only disclose the pictures that reflect the positive things about myself to those in Instagram. (Reversed)	3.60	0.93
On the whole, my disclosures about myself to Instagram followers are more positive than negative. (Reversed)	3.76	0.92
My self-disclosure in Instagram reveals the positive things in my life. (Reversed)	3.67	0.89
Depth (Cronbach’s α reliability = 0.70; mean = 3.20; S = 1.14)
I often disclose personal pictures that reflect the minor details of my personality and interests without any consideration of social taboos.	2.70	1.15
I have no problem in showing pictures that reveal my face or body in Instagram.	3.46	1.26
I do not hesitate much in revealing personal pictures showing my daily life activities to other Instagrammers.	3.53	1.03
I feel that I sometimes do not control my self-disclosure of showing personal or intimate pictures about myself in Instagram.	3.10	1.10

Source: Authors’ own.

Table 3.

Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses of Predictors of the Dimensions of Self-disclosure Use

Predictors	Honesty β	Amount β	Positive Valence β	Depth β
Visual self-expression	0.316***	0.533***	0.177***	0.374***
Experiment with new medium and hobby	0.095*	0.088**	0.065	0.056
Provide opinion	0.169***	0.190***	0.066	–0.004
Entertainment	–0.082*	–0.036	0.047	0.041
Social interaction	0.145***	0.120**	0.230***	0.113*
Frequency of Instagram use	0.177***	0.006	0.081	0.044
Account type	0.074*	0.108***	0.012	0.117***
Gender	0.102**	–0.069*	–0.018	–0.342***
R²	0.369	0.507	0.223	0.328
Adjusted R²	0.360	0.501	0.213	0.319

Source: Authors’ own.

Notes: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

The first hierarchical regression analysis was run to find the needs and motives factors that best predict honesty in self-disclosure. The analysis in Table 3 showed that after entering gender in the first block as a control, Visual self-expression (β = 0.32, p = 0.001), Experiment with new medium and hobby (β = 0.10, p = 0.05), Provide Opinion (β = 0.17, p = 0.001), Social interaction (β = 0.15, p = 0.001), Frequency of use (β = 0.18, p = 0.001), and Account type (β = 0.07, p = 0.031) positively and significantly predicted honesty (R²= 0.37). All the variables, except Entertainment (β = –0.08, p = 0.032) were positively associated with honesty.

The second hierarchical regression test was conducted to discover the needs and motive factors that predicted the amount of disclosure. As shown in Table 3, the analysis indicated that after entering gender in the first block as a control, Visual self-expression (β = 0.53, p = 0.001), Experiment with new medium and hobby (β = 0.09, p = 0.007), Provide opinion (β = 0.19, p = 0.001), Social interaction (β = 0.12, p = 0.002), and Account type (β = 0.11, p = 0.001) positively and significantly predicted amount of disclosure (R²= 0.51). Entertainment (β = –0.04, p = 0.285) and Frequency of use (β = 0.01, p = 0.847) were non-significant and exceptions to this pattern.

The third regression test was conducted to find the needs and motives factors that predicted positive valence in self-disclosure (see Table 3). The analysis indicated that after entering gender in the first block as a control, Visual self-expression (β = 0.18, p = 0.001) and Social interaction (β = 0.23, p = 0.001) positively and significantly predicted amount of disclosure (R²= 0.22).

The last regression test was run to find the needs and motive factors that predicted depth of disclosure. As shown in Table 3, the analysis indicated that after entering gender in the first block as a control, Visual self-expression (β = 0.37, p = 0.001), Social interaction (β = 0.11, p = 0.014), and Account type (β = 0.12, p = 0.001) positively and significantly predicted depth of disclosure (R²= 0.33).

In summary, the results indicate that Visual self-expression is the strongest positive predictor of all the dimensions of self-disclosure use, followed by Social interaction, Provide opinion and finally by Experiment with new medium and hobby. Entertainment use not only failed to predict the amount, positive valence and depth dimensions of self-disclosure, but in the case with honesty of self-disclosure it negatively predicted it.

Frequency of use of Instagram and Self-disclosure

The first hypothesis stated that frequency of use of Instagram will be associated with higher levels of use of Instagram for self-disclosure. An ANOVA test was conducted comparing the mean scores on each dimension of self-disclosure use across the three categories of frequency of Instagram use (‘I often use it,’ ‘I use it sometimes’ and ‘I rarely use it’). The mean scores for the honesty of self-disclosure were significantly different for the three levels of use (F (592, 2) = 45.51, p = 0.001). To further examine the difference in mean scores across the three categories of frequency of use, the Tukey post-hoc³ procedure was carried out:

Individuals who often used Instagram (mean = 3.68, S = 0.79) had a significantly higher mean score on honest self-disclosure than those who sometimes (mean = 3.38, S = 0.67) or rarely used (mean = 2.67, S = 0.84) it. Also, there was a significant difference between those who sometimes used Instagram and those who rarely used it on honest self-disclosure.

The mean scores for the amount of self-disclosure were significantly different for the three levels of frequency of use (F (591, 2) = 19.75, p = 0.001). The post-hoc Tukey test showed that individuals

who often used Instagram (mean = 3.26, S = 0.81) had a significantly higher mean score on amount of self-disclosure than those who rarely used it (mean = 2.54, S = 0.91). Also, those who sometimes used Instagram (mean = 3.14, S = 0.71) had a significantly higher mean score on amount of self-disclosure than those who rarely used it.

The mean scores for the positive valence of self-disclosure were significantly different for the three levels of frequency of use (F (590, 2) = 22.50, p = 0.001). To further examine the difference in mean scores across the three categories of frequency of use, the Tukey post-hoc procedure was carried out:

individuals who often used Instagram (mean = 3.79, S = 0.77) had a significantly higher mean score on positive valence of self-disclosure than those who rarely used it (mean = 3.09, S = 0.88). Also, those who sometimes used Instagram (mean = 3.60, S = 0.66) had a significantly higher mean score than those who rarely used it.

The mean scores for the depth of self-disclosure were significantly different for the three levels of frequency of use (F (588, 2) = 7.22, p = 0.001). The post-hoc Tukey test showed that individuals

who often used Instagram (mean = 3.29, S = 0.83) had a significantly higher mean score on depth of self-disclosure than those who rarely used it (mean = 2.93, S = 0.94). Also, those who sometimes used Instagram (mean = 3.10, S = 0.70) had a significantly higher mean score than those who rarely used it.

These outcomes support the first hypothesis that frequency of use of Instagram will be associated with higher levels of use of Instagram for self-disclosure. Higher frequency of use of Instagram had increased levels of self-disclosure on all its four dimensions.

Gender and Levels of Self-disclosure

The second hypothesis stated that males will show higher levels of self-disclosure use. The t-test measure supported significantly higher levels of disclosure (p < 0.001) for males only on the depth of self-disclosure. Males (mean = 3.48, S = 0.78) had higher level of depth of disclosed information than females (mean = 2.94, S = 0.78).

Gender and Type of Account

The third hypothesis stated that females would be more likely to create private accounts. The chi-square test showed that the difference between males [public accounts = 114 (48 per cent), private accounts = 125 (52 per cent)] and females [(public accounts = 67 (19 per cent), private accounts = 281 (81 per cent)] was significant (chi-square value = 0.63, p = .001). The result confirmed that biological sex was related to the type of account held with females more likely to own private accounts.

Type of Account and Levels of Self-disclosure

The fourth hypothesis stated that individuals with private accounts are more likely to have higher levels of self-disclosure use than those with public accounts. Independent t-tests confirmed significant results for ‘honesty’ and ‘amount’ dimensions of self-disclosure use. Private account holders displayed more honest pictures (mean = 3.58, S = 0.78) than those who held public accounts (mean = 3.42, S = 0.82) [(t = –2.30, p < 0.05)]; while those who created private accounts posted a greater amount of pictures (mean = 3.22, S = 0.79) reflecting self-disclosure than those who held public accounts (mean = 3.10, S = 0.83) [(t = –2.01, p < 0.05)].

Summary and Conclusion

This study employed the uses and gratifications (U&G) perspective to examine why people use Instagram. The U&G perspective has demonstrated its utility, especially at the introductory stage of a new medium’s diffusion when scholars want to identify the reasons why people use it (Ruggiero, 2000). People are active and goal-oriented and they deliberately utilize media channels and contents to attain specific needs and purposes. They seek media that fulfil their psychological and social needs and these in turn shape the effects of media (Rosengren, 1974), as also found in this study.

In this study, individuals use Instagram for visual self-expression, social interaction, provide opinion, experiment with photography and entertainment. In terms of social interaction, social media assemble people of similar interests together as indicated by Boyd and Ellison (2008), and so does Instagram. It gathers those who adopt visual modes of self-representation, mainly through sharing of photographs. In terms of visual self-expression, people want to post pictures probably to satisfy psychological and social needs like in the other social media as explained by Dunne et al., 2010. Individuals also use Instagram for opinion exchange regarding posted pictures, and for entertainment.

As this study suggests, Instagram can provide categories of use similar in nature to those of the other social media such as social interaction, entertainment and opinion exchange as evidenced by Park et al., 2009; Hanson and Haridakis, 2008; Dunne et al., 2010; Ancu and Raluca, 2009 and Johnson and Yang, 2009. It also fosters an interest in photography and pictorial representation that few available social media satisfy. Like other social media that gather people who share similar interests and become ‘public displays of connection’ (Boyd & Ellison, 2008, p. 213) that supply mutual support and understanding (Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell, & Walther, 2008; Liu, 2008), Instagram assembles individuals who are interested in visual self-expression to share photos and receive comments that encourage artistic and creative visual work as found by Livingston (2012). In the case of Instagram, they create, edit and post pictures that best convey their feelings, attitudes and thoughts. Identity production through visual rather than verbal representations is the main advantage of photo-sharing social media. With the new social media, there is a shift in the functions photographs perform, from being objects of ‘memory and commemoration’ to being a ‘form of identity formation’ as explained by van Dijck (2008, p. 60). Van Dijck (2008) states that people nowadays utilize cameras in the ‘affirmation of personhood and personal bonds’ (p. 60). However, the image is an ‘area of resistance to meaning’ (Barthes, 1981, p. 32). Photography could create more opportunities for conflicting interpretations due to different conceptions and understandings by people of a photograph. As a result, photographs show but do not explain clearly as words in a text would. In addition, photographs are non-discursive and provide “symbolic analogues of our sensory and emotional experiences, in contrast with the discursive forms of language based on syntax, which can offer ‘propositions’ or statements” (Lee, 2010, pp. 269–270).

Uses of Instagram are connected to self-disclosure, the ‘voluntary disclosure of personal information to the mainstream’ (Madden et al., 2007, p. 5). It is important to explore the nature of contribution of social media to self-disclosure as these media are neither objective nor neutral as people subjectively use them to present themselves (Callahan, 2005). The regression analyses indicated that Instagram use for visual self-expression and social interaction are strong factors that predict all the dimensions of self-disclosure use, that is, honesty, positive valence, depth, and amount of self-disclosure. These are followed by provide opinion and experiment with photography. The nature of each use may explain its level of self-disclosure. Visual self-expression is the strongest predictor among the five categories of user needs. Visual self-expression, which in essence is revealing the self, and self-disclosure refer to a very similar notion. However, it must be noted that visual self-expression includes revealing the self through visuals while self-disclosure includes other dimensions. Social interaction refers to communication with others. To have an acceptable connection, individuals need to reveal some information to others to maintain a cordial relationship that acknowledges the people involved in the communication process as shown by Berg and Derlega (1987). As for providing opinion, it does not predict all the dimensions of self-disclosure, because self-disclosure connects with the act of revealing oneself, and not with just providing opinions of others’ pictures. Finally, experimenting with photography reflects posting pictures of nature and the surrounding environment rather than just the self or daily life. Entertainment, which reflects a playful and less committed use (Rubin, 2002), is the only use that does not predict any dimension other than honesty, and this use negatively predicts it.

Individuals who use Instagram very often, and in some cases, those who use it sometimes, are more likely to have a greater self-disclosure than those who rarely use it. This finding is in accordance with previous studies that report higher self-disclosure by those who spend more time with new media (Jiang et al. 2011; Mesch & Beker, 2010). In everyday relationships, and over time, people develop more confidence and trust in others to disclose more personal information. As they gradually become more relaxed with a new medium’s technology, people are more comfortable to disclose more information about themselves.

Implications of Self-disclosure for Visual Self-expression

As mentioned earlier, the need for visual self-expression is the strongest predictor of the dimensions of self-disclosure use. The most salient implication of these results is that social media such as Instagram are important agents for fostering visually intensive forms of communication. Scholars have compared camera-phone and analogue photography and some (e.g., Warburton, 1997) believe analogue pictures reflect reality more accurately. Buse (2013) argues that the Polaroid camera produces authentic shots that people cannot disfigure. Critics think Instagram is the “antithesis of creativity” that lowers the artistic standards of photography and creates shallower and artificial images (Bevan, 2012). However, as other observers point out, Instagram is not necessarily a vehicle for viewing and sharing professional-looking photography, though many users may want to pursue that objective. It is a vehicle to foster social interactions through visually rich media.

Scholars have tried to differentiate between the verbally intensive social media including the email, Instant Messaging, blogs and Twitter and those that are visually intensive such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. While verbally intensive social media are primarily employed for the exchange of opinions, sending and receiving information, and engagement in intense personal communication (Leung, 2001; Quan-Haase & Young, 2010; Sharif & Al-Kandari, 2010), visually intensive social media such as Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat are personality-oriented (Van Dijck, 2013). They are vehicles for identity construction and the presentation of the self to others (Van House, 2011). Facebook, MySpace, and Instagram are used to establish social networks and connection. Such connections are open and public, involving a larger number of people than more personal vehicles such as the email (Raacke & Bonds-Raacke, 2008). Just as in the case of Instagram as evidenced in this study, research confirms that Facebook is also used for socialization and self-status seeking by younger people who increasingly prefer to present themselves using pictures besides words. They use visually intensive social media to form identity and construct an ideal image they want others to view as well as social uses that include the creation and maintenance of social bonds. This is enhanced by photo editing applications meant to manipulate and create a positive image lacking imperfection. ‘The function of personal photography… is increasingly giving way to its formative, communicative and experiential uses’ (Van Dijck, 2008, p. 73). Instagram, therefore, should be seen as an outlet for the visual intensification of social media interactions rather than as a vehicle for showcasing ability to take professional-looking photos.

Implications of Arab Culture on Instagram Use

The Arab culture, as opposed to the Western cultures, is more collectivist in nature. As such this study revealed that social interaction is an important motivation for using Instagram. Within social interaction an important motive was to stay in close touch with family and friends. Other studies have showed that other Asian groups such as the Chinese (Qiu, Lu, Yang, Qu, & Zhu, 2015), and the Koreans (Kim, Sohn, & Choi, 2011) also have used social media for social communication and maintenance of cultural norms. In this sense, Kuwaiti culture is similar to other Asian cultures since it is also a collectivistic culture (Barakat, 1993). Social bonds, cohesion and conformity are valued over individual aspirations and objectives. Relationship maintenance and sincerity are important values to Kuwaiti individuals

This study finds that males have a significantly higher level of depth of disclosed information than females. Depth of self-disclosure in Instagram reflects revealing personal pictures. The questionnaire statements on the depth dimension for example reflect disclosing ‘personal pictures’, ‘face or body’ and ‘intimate pictures’ (see Table 1). Such disclosure may be problematic for females in Kuwait (Patai, 2007). While the anonymity of online bulletin boards (OBBs) allows more frank disclosure by females to use them to voice their opinions and attitudes and discuss socially and culturally taboo issues and opinions (Sharif & Al-Kandari, 2010), the disclosure of personal images by Arab females is culturally a sensitive issue. Societal values dictate that females who post their personal pictures and information in an online forum ruin their reputation and may bring shame to their family and tribe. Therefore, females may feel the need to be more reserved in their self-disclosure that involve sharing photos and disclosing intimate personal information. On the other hand, females are more honest in their self-disclosures; as private account holders, they displayed larger number of honest pictures than males, who mostly held public accounts. Also, females, more than males, prefer private Instagram accounts. This is in line with previous studies which discovered that females maintain stronger privacy settings (Walrave et al., 2012). In addition, society and culture shape people’s use of the media (Fischer, 1992). The Kuwaiti cultural context probably has a defining role in this outcome; it is traditional and conservative, and therefore females may prefer to be private in their self-disclosure.

In the end, the impact of social media may be double-edged. They may foster cultural conformity in some areas, but bring about social and cultural change as well in other areas. They may introduce change when individuals challenge cultural prohibitions and rules by adopting new behaviours from social media. This is especially important when considering the Arab patriarchal familial system which is based on compliance to elderly and male family members (Patai, 2007). In such a system, youngsters and females need to be deferential to elders and become less democratically expressive of their true opinions and beliefs. Likewise, social media can bring conformity when individuals who adopt conservative cultural practices and outlooks introduce their traditional ideas to others or use social media to view materials for the reinforcement of their already existing beliefs. Accordingly, some Kuwaiti Instagram users may find in this social medium a conduit for opinion exchange and self-expression about the self while others will be less prone to be open or frank about providing honest opinions of what they see in order to avoid challenging the dominant social and cultural realities.

Limitations of the Study

This study has its limitations. First, the 610-person sample includes only university students and therefore is not representative of the entire Kuwaiti society. Even though this study’s findings are in accordance with previous studies, a representative sample of Kuwaiti society could provide for a better generalization of outcomes. University students are young and willing to try new things. They are less conservative than older people. Examining the self-disclosure of older individuals in Instagram may indicate that their uses of Instagram differ from those of younger people; the results may show that their self-disclosure in Instagram is lower than younger individuals, and they may care more about how they present themselves to others. However, this study does not claim to be representative of the entire Kuwaiti society. Studies of younger people and social media indicate that they are the chief users of the newer media.

Footnotes

Notes

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