SNS dependency and interpersonal storytelling: An extension of media system dependency theory

Abstract

The purposes of the current study are (1) to conceptualize and test a social networking service (SNS) dependency measure and (2) to propose and test a general model of the effect of SNS dependency on online and offline interpersonal storytelling. This study is theoretically guided by media system dependency theory and communication infrastructure theory. Computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) were conducted with 477 SNS users aged 19–59 in Seoul in October of 2012. Confirmatory factor analyses results showed that our SNS dependency measure was valid and reliable. The results also confirmed that SNS dependency had direct effects on individual users’ levels of engagement with interactive activities on SNSs and indirect effects on offline interpersonal storytelling.

Keywords

Communication infrastructure interpersonal storytelling Korea media system dependency SNS dependency

As social networking services (SNSs) become more integrated into our society, a number of researchers are becoming interested in whether and how SNS use affects individuals’ connections to their offline social ties. Their studies adopt measures of the “intensity” of SNS use as a predictor of social outcomes, such as community engagement or social capital in the local context (Ellison et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2012; Ross et al., 2009). Many of these studies demonstrate that the intensity of SNS use does not necessarily isolate individuals from their existing offline social relationships. Instead, the studies provide empirical evidence suggesting that intensity of SNS use may build and strengthen individual users’ (both strong and weak) ties in online and offline communities.

Although a number of previous studies propose multi-item measures to go beyond defining SNS “use” based solely on frequency or time, few studies have provided a clear theoretical foundation upon which to develop multi-item measures of SNS use. That is, the relationship between SNS use and social engagement has not been examined with a clear and systematic theoretical framework. The purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical foundation for research about the relationship between SNS use and social engagement based on media system dependency (MSD) theory and communication infrastructure theory (CIT). More specifically, we focus on developing and testing a theoretical concept and measure of SNS dependency as an extension of the “media system dependency relation” as conceptualized in MSD. By combining MSD’s general theoretical model (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984) and communication infrastructure theory’s proposition that interpersonal talk (or storytelling) is one of the critical building blocks of social engagement (Kim and Ball-Rokeach, 2006a, 2006b), we propose and test a general model of the effect of SNS dependency on online and offline interpersonal storytelling.

SNS use and social engagement

SNSs have been defined as interactive platforms that make it possible for individual users to present profiles and create social network ties (e.g. Facebook friends or Twitter followers) to share various types of content (e.g. text, pictures, videos, etc.) (Ellison and boyd, 2013). In this article, we define an SNS more generally as any online platform where individuals use and share content through their social ties (both strong and weak). A significant number of people, particularly younger people, have begun to rely on SNSs to gain information that used to come from the mass media. Recent reports from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that approximately 41% of the US population gets their news from Facebook (Barthel et al., 2015). Several commentators note that SNSs have become the ‘fifth estate’ (Newman et al, 2012), challenging the role of the traditional news media often called the ‘fourth estate.’ In particular, the power of SNSs in emergency situations, various political uprisings, or public health crises has been noted. In addition, SNSs have become one of the major sources of entertainment. Many people connect to SNSs multiple times a day to “fill” their spare time while commuting, waiting, eating, or even lying in bed. Many SNSs, such as Facebook or Twitter, have attempted to become a platform for multiple types of communication and information activities, including those related to interpersonal communication, group discussions, and the consumption of mass media content (Kim et al., 2015).

While SNSs are being integrated into our society as an essential communication channel for individuals to achieve their everyday goals, individual-level variance exists in how strongly (or weakly) a person is connected to SNSs in their daily life. For some people, SNSs have become their necessities, whereas for others, SNSs are suspect and a cause for concern.

There have been a few attempts to conceptualize and measure the degree to which individuals depend on SNSs. For example, Ellison et al. (2007) developed a Facebook intensity measure as an alternative to frequency or duration measures. They define Facebook intensity as the extent to which one is actively engaged in Facebook activities, emotionally connected to Facebook, and has integrated Facebook into their daily activities. This measure has been used, entirely or partially, in several other studies (e.g. Lee et al., 2012; Ross et al., 2009). For example, using a couple of items from the measure of Facebook intensity by Ellison et al., Lee et al. (2012) developed a measure of “Facebook dependency” defined as the extent to which users feel connected to Facebook. Tazghini and Siedlecki (2013) renamed the Facebook intensity measure of Ellison et al. as “connectedness to Facebook.” McQuiston (2013) introduces a measure of SNS intensity as an extension of Facebook intensity to consider both Facebook and Twitter use.

Most studies that use the concept of SNS intensity (or related terms) have focused on its impact on social or community connections (e.g. social capital, community engagement, or civic participation). Ellison et al. (2007) report that Facebook intensity is positively related to bridging and bonding social capital, with a stronger relationship to bridging social capital. Greenhow and Burton (2011) also find a similar result, showing positive relationships between two forms of social capital (bridging and bonding) and SNS intensity. A study by Lee et al. (2012) finds that Facebook dependency is positively related to Facebook-based social capital, which is operationalized as the number of Facebook friends. Utz and Beukeboom (2011) indicate that SNS intensity is positively related to happiness garnered from social relationships, SNS jealousy (feeling jealous on account of other people’s posts), and a need for popularity. Among male children aged 9–13 years, SNS intensity is positively related to a sense of belonging in their peer groups (Quinn and Oldmeadow, 2013). McQuiston (2013) also suggests that SNS intensity increases external political efficacy and social capital. Thus far, most previous studies in this area have demonstrated positive impacts of SNS intensity on social outcomes.

These studies offer interesting and encouraging findings that SNS use can be a positive factor in social outcomes in various contexts. However, few studies have provided a clear theoretical basis for their measures of SNS use (e.g. SNS intensity) or the association between SNS use and social engagement. In the following sections, we will attempt to conceptualize SNS dependency and its relationship to social engagement based on MSD theory.

MSD theory as a theoretical foundation for SNS dependency

MSD theory was proposed by Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur in 1976 to explain the contingent effects of the mass media on individuals (Ball-Rokeach, 1985, 1998; Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984). The term “dependency” in the theory refers to the mutual relationships among media, social systems, and individuals. In modern society, where individuals cannot rely solely on their interpersonal sources to obtain all the necessary information for everyday life, the mass media system has emerged as an essential information system (Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur, 1976).

In MSD, the power of the mass media as an information system is considered variable rather than constant. MSD proposes a contingent model of media power: the power of mass media increases only when individuals have reasons to increase their dependence on the mass media. Recent studies have found that the concentrated dependency on the mass media system is decreasing while not entirely denying the continued significance of the mass media in the current communication environment (Lyu, 2012; Tai and Sun, 2007). Individuals form dependency relationships with a broad range of new and old media in the current communication environment, in which the relative power of mass media has declined while that of newly emerging forms of media (such as social media) has increased. Therefore, applying the concept of dependency to the current communication environment is a meaningful endeavor.

Conceptualizing SNS dependency

In light of the increasing significance of SNSs in today’s communication environment, we propose the concept of SNS dependency, expanding the concept of “media system dependency” from MSD. SNS dependency is conceptualized as the degree of perceived helpfulness of an SNS for fulfilling a range of critical goals in everyday life. We understand that there exist various types of SNS platforms, and they are quite distinct to one another. For example, some of SNSs are based on relatively open platforms (such as Facebook or Twitter) where individuals could meet strangers as well as those whom they have already known; other SNS platforms are relatively closed since they are designed to be open only to friends and family members. SNS users bring different expectations and show different behaviors depending on which type of SNSs they use. However, there are also common characteristics among these various SNS platforms—such as providing opportunities for individual users to create, share, select, or curate various types of contents —which separate them as a whole from the traditional mass media. We believe that the common features of SNS platforms represent fundamental changes in the communication environment. In this article, study focusing on the general common features of social media platforms, we suggest SNS dependency rather than dependency of specific SNSs.

Ball-Rokeach et al. (1984) explain that individuals’ dependency relationships with the mass media are shaped by the strength of their motivation to obtain information that is anticipated to be useful for achieving personal goals in specific contexts (p. 6). MSD assumes that individuals are rational problem solvers who are likely to weigh the helpfulness of different types of resources, including the mass media, for fulfilling different goals. This theoretical postulation properly suits the current communication environment, in which individuals have become more active players who seek to fulfill various goals by monitoring, sharing, and expressing information from various sources, including SNSs. In an effort to conceptualize SNS dependency, we employ the typology of six goals proposed by the original MSD theory and add one more dimension, expression, a goal that has become pursuable on SNSs due to their interactive characteristics. These seven goals of SNS dependency are explained in detail below.

Understanding goals

First, SNSs have become important for fulfilling social understanding goals. Social understanding is a cognitive goal that is necessary for survival in the complex and ambiguous environments that we often face in contemporary society (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984). Until recently, the mass media were the major information source for people as they fulfill their social understanding goals. However, increasing numbers of people have now begun to use SNSs to monitor their surroundings. On SNSs, people can obtain information for social understanding from various sources, including global news networks (such as CNN, BBC, or Al Jazeera), national TV networks, national newspapers, local TV news, online or social news sites (such as Huffington Post), opinion leaders on SNSs (e.g. “power twitters”), and even friends and families who post their views and opinions on SNSs. In addition, many active SNS users serve as a mediator between various information sources and other people. These people, often called “social curators,” obtain their status by collecting useful information from various sources and providing it to others in their social networks (Jung and Kim, 2014). Not only social curators but also ordinary users share links to news or blog articles (i.e. reblogging) with or without associated opinions. Through diverse sources and routes, SNSs have become important platforms for individual users to seek and fulfill social understanding goals actively.

Self-understanding is the other sub-dimension of the understanding goal. Ball-Rokeach et al. (1984) describe self-understanding as follows:

[S]taying mentally and physically fit, learning to be assertive and self-confident, getting to know oneself as a sexual and social being, learning to overcome personal crises and failures, [….] and, more generally, learning to actualize oneself through work, hobbies, and personal relations. (p. 8)

SNSs, as cross-level platforms where both interpersonal talk and mass communication are possible (Kim et al., 2012, 2015), have become important reference sites for self-understanding. Individuals can develop or reconfirm their own social, political, cultural, or religious identities and actualize them in various discursive forms, such as information or commentaries circulating on SNSs, and through interactions and storytelling with others on SNSs. Compared to the mass media, SNSs provide an amalgam of information, experiences, and storytelling for various aspects of self-understanding.

Orientation goals

The orientation goal concerns the acquisition of practical guidelines for undertaking appropriate actions and interactions in various situations (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984). First, the action orientation goal involves practical information about how to behave and make action decisions in various contexts (e.g. decisions regarding what to buy, who to vote for, where to eat, or which movie to watch). Communication scholars have noted for decades that one’s interpersonal sources have a stronger influence than the mass media when it comes to action and decision-making (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955; Rogers, 1962), and some recent studies have confirmed this belief (Hafstad and Aaro, 1997; Lee et al., 2011). It may be due to the fact that interpersonal sources are likely to have stronger normative influences on individuals’ actions than the mass media. On SNSs, however, individuals do not necessarily have to differentiate the influences of the mass media and interpersonal sources. SNS users can now try to find whatever information and advice are available on an SNS without seriously considering whether the content comes from the mass media or other people. The combination of the mass media, experts, and reference groups (e.g. friends and families) in one place (i.e. an SNS) is likely to serve as an effective platform for seeking guidelines for one’s actions. On such a platform, SNS users often seek political information, news, or expert commentaries for engaging in political participation, such as voting (Holt et al., 2013; Willnat et al., 2013), consumer reviews about products and services (Powers et al., 2012), or entertainment information and stories (about movies, sports events, concerts, etc.)

The second dimension of the orientation goal is interaction orientation. The interaction orientation goal is concerned with appropriate behavior when interacting with others in various social situations and understanding the thoughts and behaviors of others. With the increasing level of differentiation, heterogeneity, or diversity in society, people are more likely to face occasions in which they must engage in unfamiliar social interactions (e.g. meeting people from different cultures or having to make good impressions in ambiguous situations, such as job interviews or blind dates). SNS users can obtain information about interaction orientations through various types of content on SNSs. They can read or watch other people’s stories and indirectly learn how to talk to and behave with others in different contexts, as they have done with the mass media (Bandura, 2001). Unlike the mass media, however, SNS users can obtain live interaction orientations during actual interactions on SNSs. Rather than exclusively relying on indirect or vicarious learning for their interaction orientation, SNS users can engage in actual interactions and more actively seek and obtain information about social interactions. In addition, SNS users can actively solicit guidelines by asking people who were once in similar interaction situations to share their experiences.

Play goals

The third goal defined by MSD is the play goal. In MSD, the term play is preferred to entertainment because play includes not only active recreational activities (e.g. playing sports), but also activities (or a lack of activities) for relaxing and resting. MSD differentiates between two types of play: solitary play and social play. If the goal is primarily to engage in the mass media for pleasure and relaxation as a way to withdraw temporarily from one’s duties, responsibilities, or social norms, it refers to solitary play. On the other hand, when mass media content is used for social relationship-related motivations and mutually pleasurable experiences among friends, family members, or others, “wherein message content takes on secondary importance,” (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984: 10), individuals are trying to fulfill the goal of social play.

Both solitary and social play goals are commonly pursued on SNSs. It has become common for SNS users to browse timelines or others’ status updates when they have free time. Browsing others’ posts may often lead to enjoyable stories, pictures, or videos. Due to the ubiquitous accessibility of SNSs via various platforms such as smartphones and PCs, SNSs have become convenient ways for people to spend their free time and relax. SNSs are also playing an important role in fulfilling people’s social play goals. Fulfilling the social play goal via SNSs can take two different forms: consuming stories from SNSs with other people in face-to-face interaction situations (e.g. friends watching humorous YouTube videos together over a meal or coffee), and interacting with people on SNSs (e.g. chatting with Facebook friends or sharing content with others). In both cases, SNSs serve as helpful media for pursuing social play goals.

Expression goals

Finally, we add one new type of goal for SNS dependency: expression. We define expression as a goal for presenting one’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions through various forms of media. This expression goal cannot be fully pursued in the mass media system due to its one-way structure of communication. Based on its two-way communication affordances, however, SNSs have emerged as important channels for self-expression (Phillips, 2008) and self-promotion (Van Dijck, 2013). Unlike other goals discussed above, we do not divide this goal into personal and social dimensions because it is conceptually and operationally difficult to distinguish self- and social expressions on a form of interactive media such as an SNS. On SNSs, individuals post their thoughts and opinions with the assumption that they will be read by others. Even when individuals post personal thoughts or feelings on an SNS in the form of a monologue, they anticipate that their posts will be read by others. Therefore, expression itself is a social action on SNSs; this is why we propose a unidimensional expression goal. On SNSs that offer opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous two-way communication, individuals are not merely passive recipients but are also active participants in creating, recreating, distributing, and consuming various types of content. SNSs have become important platforms for individuals to achieve the goal of expression in various social contexts.

SNS connectedness and interpersonal storytelling

Based on MSD’s conceptualization of MSD goals and our conceptualization of the goals for SNS, we propose that the goals of understanding, orientation, play, and the new dimension, expression, are likely to function as one construct that indicates SNS dependency (H1). We therefore apply the original hypothetical model of MSD (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1984) to examine multiple outcomes of SNS dependency. We propose that whether SNS will have an effect on an individual’s life (e.g. social engagement online and offline) varies depending on the power-dependency relationship between an SNS as a media system and individual SNS users. Ball-Rokeach et al. (1984) propose three outcomes of individuals’ media dependency relationships: selective exposure, exposure conditions (e.g. attention level and affect), and postexposure communication (Figure 1). Selective exposure involves the process of selecting media forms (e.g. TV or radio), or content (e.g. news, comedies, or sitcoms), and the extent of exposure to them (e.g. time or frequency). Exposure conditions are related to the degree of attention paid while being exposed to certain media content and affection toward the contents (and/or content senders). This has to do with the issue of how actively (or passively) media users are engaged with diverse contents or activities on the media. Postexposure communication refers to conversations with others about media content. MSD posits that if and only if the dependency relationship between an individual and the media increases will that person increase their exposure to mass media. Such increased exposure may lead to heightened attention paid to media content relevant to fulfilling certain goals, which will affect an individual’s willingness to talk to others about what they have obtained from the mass media.

Figure 1.

Media system dependency model.

The three outcomes of MSD relationships can be translated into the three aspects of SNS use: (1) intensity of SNS use, (2) engagement with SNS activities, and (3) offline interpersonal storytelling. In this article, we focus on developing a general SNS dependency model to test the relationship between SNS dependency and the three outcome variables. We define the three outcomes of SNS dependency in more detail below.

Intensity of SNS use

The intensity of use corresponds to the selective exposure decisions in MSD. It refers to how frequently people connect to SNSs and how much time they spend on them. MSD posits that there is a direct positive relationship between the degree of MSD and the level of media exposure. In our study, we operationally define intensity of SNS use as time spent on SNSs. Therefore, we hypothesize that SNS dependency is likely to be positively associated with the time spent on SNSs (H2).

Engagement with SNS activities

The second outcome of SNS dependency concerns the extent to which one is engaged with various activities on SNSs, which corresponds to the exposure condition and media attention in MSD. In the context of SNS use, one of the aspects of the exposure condition and attention is related to the individual’s active engagement with the interactive process in an SNS, that is, individuals’ activities of posting, sharing, commenting, or responding reflect how actively individuals are involved in an SNS. We define engagement with SNS activities as the degree to which individuals are engaged with various interactive SNS activities (i.e. posting, sharing, commenting, or responding) regarding a specific topic. Based on the theoretical framework of MSD, we hypothesize that SNS dependency is likely to be positively associated with the degree of active engagement with interactive activities on SNSs (H3).

Offline interpersonal storytelling

The third outcome of SNS dependency, offline interpersonal storytelling, corresponds to postexposure communication as proposed in the original MSD model. As Ball-Rokeach et al. (1984) explain, individuals who have exposed themselves to a message as a consequence of high-level media dependency are more likely to initiate or participate in postexposure communication about the message topics with friends or family (p. 14). Postexposure communication in the SNS dependency model refers to initiating and engaging in communication with friends or family about the topics individuals shared on SNSs.

The concept of postexposure communication is extended to the concept of interpersonal storytelling in CIT (Kim and Ball-Rokeach, 2006a, 2000b). CIT proposes a model explaining positive relationships between storytelling and action: When a group of people have an opportunity to tell stories about a specific issue together, they are more likely to have perceived collective efficacy and willingness to take actions about it. In other words, individuals who have opportunities to talk about a certain issue are more likely to take actions.

There are different ways to share stories about a certain issue: through using various types of media, participating in groups/organizations, or talking with others in person (i.e., interpersonal storytelling). According to CIT, when individuals are in a situation where the three ways of storytelling about a certain issue are positively integrated, the likelihood to engage with an action about the issue at hand increases. Two points should be noted from previous empirical studies based on CIT. First, it was often interpersonal storytelling that showed the strongest effects on actions. Second, if interpersonal storytelling is reinforced by other ways of storytelling (such as SNSs), it will have an even stronger effect on individuals’ participation in actions. Following this logic, we can state that when offline interpersonal storytelling is facilitated by one’s participation in SNSs, there is a type of integrated connectedness among storytelling agents (Kim and Ball-Rokeach, 2006a, 2000b; Kim et al., 2015). When the topics to which individuals are exposed on SNSs are carried on to offline interpersonal storytelling, the effects of SNS dependency and engagement on individuals and their social networks are likely to be stronger than when SNS engagement is not extended to offline interpersonal storytelling. Applying MSD’s concept of postexposure communication and CIT’s concept of interpersonal storytelling, this study hypothesizes that SNS dependency (H4), time spent on SNSs (H5), and engagement with SNS activities (H6) have positive influences on offline interpersonal storytelling.

Methods

Computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) were conducted with 1565 respondents aged 19–59 years in the greater Seoul area in October of 2012 as part of a larger study about new media use and community engagement among Seoul residents. All of the interviews were conducted in Korean. The respondents were sampled from 25 districts (ku) in Seoul and two adjacent cities using a quota sampling method considering the proportions of gender and age in each ku based on the most recent Korean census data. One of the most prestigious survey firms in Korea was hired to conduct the interviews, while all interview procedures were thoroughly monitored by the researchers. Because the current study focuses on SNS users, we selected 477 respondents (30.5%) who had used at least one SNS within the last month. According to a national sample collected in a similar period (Korea Information Society Development Institute [KISDI], 2013), 31.3% of Korean adults (23.4% Facebook and 13.1% Twitter) were found to be SNS users. Therefore, our Seoul sample is not very different from a national sample. The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Socio-demographic characteristics (n = 477).

Variables	Statistics
Gender	Male (53.7%), Female (46.3%)
Age	19–29 (51.8%), 30–39 (27.9%), 40–49 (15.1%), 50–59 (5.2%)
Education	High school graduate or less (20.5%) College students (23.7%) College graduates (55.6%)
Average monthly income	Less than 3 million won (6.1%) 3–3.9 million won (20.3%) 4–4.9 million won (31.0%) 5–5.9 million won (21.0%) 6–6.9 million won (9.4%) 7–7.9 million won (5.0%) 8 million won or more (4.2%)
Preferred SNS	Facebook (63.9%) Twitter (14.3%) Cyworld (17.6%) Metoday (2.5%) Kakao story (1.7%)

Measures

SNS dependency was measured with 21 items (3 items × 7 media dependency goals) (Table 2). These items were developed based on past studies (Grant et al., 1991; Kim and Shin, 2013) and were customized for SNS use. For each of these items, the respondents were asked to provide their answers with regard to the SNS service they used most frequently. The 21 items were given to the respondents in the following format: “How helpful is the SNS that you use the most frequently for fulfilling [each goal]?” The respondents were instructed to give their answers using a five-point scale ranging from “not helpful at all” to “very helpful” (Table 2).

Table 2.

SNS dependency items (the order was randomized in the actual survey).

Goals	Questions	Mean (standard deviation)
Self-understanding	To look back on my behaviors	3.41 (.74)
	To think about my future life plans	3.35 (.72)
	To know how others reacted when they were in situations similar to mine	3.59 (.73)
Social understanding	To know what is going on in the world	3.79 (.72)
	To know the major current issues in my country	3.58 (.73)
	To know what is going on in other countries	3.58 (.78)
Action orientation	To decide where to get particular services	3.42 (.78)
	To get information on purchasing goods	3.73 (.74)
	When I want to plan an evening or weekend of leisure time	3.50 (.77)
Interaction orientation	To know how to interact with other people	3.80 (.66)
	To know how to react to others	3.55 (.69)
	To learn how to interact with a counterpart at an important meeting	3.53 (.70)
Solitary play	To rest after a long day	3.29 (.84)
	To have quiet time on my own	3.17 (.85)
	To find things to do when I am alone	3.61 (.75)
Social play	To find things to do with my friends	3.77 (.66)
	To have fun with my family or friends	3.60 (.76)
	To enjoy an event without being there	3.55 (.75)
Expression	To share my thoughts or feelings with others	3.73 (.67)
	To share with others what I know	3.82 (.68)
	To express to others who I am	3.62 (.74)

Time spent on the SNS was measured by asking, “How many hours per day (or per week) do you spend on the SNS (that you use most frequently)?” Respondents had options to answer this question either in daily or weekly hours, and answers in daily hours were recalculated to those in weekly hours by multiplying by 7 (M = 21.32 hours/week, standard deviation [SD] = 14.33).

Engagement with SNS activities as a measure of media attention was assessed with regard to three story topics: politics, shopping, and sports. These three topics were selected because they have been listed among the most popular topics people seek and share on SNSs in Korea (Kim et al., 2012). To measure one’s engagement with political stories on SNSs, we asked whether the respondents had engaged in each of the following four activities on a SNS at least once within the last one year: seeking information about politics on a SNS, sharing stories about political issues or forwarding them to SNS friends or followers, posting one’s own stories about political issues on a SNS, and visiting the SNS pages of political parties or political organizations. We counted the number of activities in which the respondents had participated (range: 0–4). To measure engagement with stories about shopping and sports, we asked about three activities for each topic: whether they had experience seeking stories about shopping (or sports), whether they shared or forwarded stories about shopping (or sports), and whether they posted their own stories about shopping (or sports). As in the case of politics, we devised scope variables for shopping and sports by counting the number of activities in which they had participated (range: 0–3). We used these scope measures for addressing one’s engagement with SNS activities for specific topics since the breath of SNS activities represents the degree of engagement with and the centrality of the SNSs for the topics in one’s life. The use of scope measures to measure individuals’ media engagement was proposed and validated in a number of past studies (Jung et al., 2001; Loges, 1994).

Offline interpersonal storytelling was defined as the degree to which individuals are engaged with talking with others about a specific topic. It was measured by asking two questions for each of the three story topics: politics, shopping, and sports. First, we asked, “How often do you discuss politics (shopping, or sports) face-to-face with others in your everyday life?” Respondents were provided with a seven-point scale ranging from “do not talk at all (= 1)” to “talk all the time (= 7).” We also asked the question, “With whom do you talk about politics (shopping or sports)?” with multiple-choice categories of family/relatives, friends, and colleagues. Respondents’ answers were summed to form scope variables that ranged from 0 to 3. By measuring both the intensity (i.e. frequency) of talk and the discussion partner breath (i.e. scope) for each topic, we attempt to capture multi-dimensional aspects of offline interpersonal storytelling.

Analysis

We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the reliability and validity of our measurement model of SNS dependency. Then, we tested a path model by employing a structural equation modeling technique. All statistical analyses were conducted using MPlus software. This study tests the effect of SNS dependency and use in general rather than that of specific SNS service. Therefore, individuals’ preferred SNSs were statistically controlled.

Results

The first hypothesis concerned the reliability of the SNS dependency measure. A CFA was conducted for SNS dependency as one factor model with 21 observed variables. The result derived a sufficient model fit (χ² = 349.112, df = 169, p < .001, comparative fit index [CFI] = .933, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] [90% confidence interval (CI)] = .047 [.040–.054], standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = .043) (Hu and Bentler, 1999), indicating that the conceptualization of SNS dependency as one construct is supported by our data after adding expression as a new dimension. Cronbach’s alpha for this new composite measure was .882.

The hypothetical model proposed that SNS dependency is significantly associated with time spent on an SNS (H2), engagement with SNS activities (H3), and offline interpersonal storytelling (H4). The model also hypothesized the paths from time spent on an SNS to offline interpersonal storytelling (H5) and from engagement in SNS activities to offline interpersonal storytelling (H6). All of the paths among the variables were included in the conceptual model based on MSD theory (Figure 1), and the model fit was tested using MPlus. Overall, the model fit test shows that the data fit the model well (χ² = 742.860, df = 392, p < .001, CFI = .909, RMSEA = .043 [.039−.048], SRMR = .051). SNS dependency has positive effects on all three types of engagement with SNS activities: politics (std. beta = .159, p < .01), shopping (std. beta = .200, p < .001), and sports (std. beta = .230, p < .001). SNS dependency has a significant direct effect on offline interpersonal storytelling only with regard to shopping (std. beta = .378, p < .001). Engagement with SNS activities significantly associated with offline interpersonal storytelling for each of the three story topics: politics (std. beta = .325, p < .001), shopping (std. beta = .342, p < .001), and sports (std. beta = .372, p < .001) (Table 3). These results indicate that SNS dependency has indirect effects on offline interpersonal storytelling through an individual’s engagement with interactive activities on the SNS. Time spent on an SNS is not significantly influenced by SNS dependency, nor does it have a significant effect on offline interpersonal storytelling. Significant paths are demonstrated in Figure 2.

Table 3.

Unstandardized and standardized estimates.

Path	Unstandardized estimates	Standardized estimates
SNS dependency → time spent on SNS	.066	.041
SNS dependency → SNS engagement (politics)	.463**	.159**
SNS dependency → SNS engagement (shopping)	.556***	.200***
SNS dependency → SNS engagement (sports)	.642***	.230***
SNS dependency → offline storytelling (politics)	.134	.055
SNS dependency → offline storytelling (shopping)	.520***	.378***
SNS dependency → offline storytelling (sports)	.312	.091
SNS engagement (politics) → offline storytelling (politics)	.273***	.325***
SNS engagement (shopping) → offline storytelling on shopping	.169***	.342***
SNS engagement (sports) → offline storytelling (sports)=	.456***	.372***
Time spent on SNS → offline storytelling (politics)	−.018	−.012
Time spent on SNS → offline storytelling (shopping)	−.014	−.016
Time spent on SNS → offline storytelling (sports)	.164	.077

SNS: social networking service.

**p < .01, ***p < .001.

Figure 2.

A path model of SNS dependency, SNS engagement, and offline interpersonal storytelling (significant paths).

Discussion

This study proposes SNS dependency as a new way to understand the media-individual relationship in the newly emerging communication environment based on the theoretical framework of MSD theory and CIT. The first specific aim of the current study was to develop a new seven-dimensional measure of SNS dependency and test its reliability by conducting a CFA test. The CFA results show that the seven-dimensional SNS dependency is a reliable measure that captures the degree to which individuals are connected to an SNS in their everyday lives. Particularly, the CFA test results suggest that the dimension of expression, as a new addition to the conventional six-dimensional mass MSD relation measure, is well integrated into the concept of SNS dependency.

The second specific aim of this study was to test the relationship between SNS dependency and MSD-specified behavioral outcomes. The results confirmed that individuals who are more dependent on an SNS are more likely to engage in interactive activities on SNS (e.g. posting, commenting, and sharing) related to the topics of politics, shopping, and sports. The engagements with interactive activities on SNSs regarding the three topics have significant influences on offline interpersonal storytelling about the same topics. That is, SNS dependency has direct effects on individual users’ levels of engagement with interactive activities on SNSs and indirect effects on offline interpersonal storytelling about politics, sports, and shopping issues via engagement with interactive activities on SNSs regarding the topics.

One interesting finding of this study is that a higher level of SNS dependency is associated with more active engagement in interactive activities on SNSs. While it was difficult for individuals to transform their attention and affection toward the mass media content to interactive engagement with it, it has become possible in SNSs for an individual to participate more actively in media content when they find its utility and feel affection and attention toward it. The process of media dependency influencing people’s media connectedness is similar between the mass media and SNSs, but the outcome is exhibited differently: individuals who have higher dependencies on SNSs can act as active storytellers beyond passive audience members.

The study results also indicate that SNS dependency not only influences individual behaviors on SNSs, but it also influences their offline behaviors. The indirect effects of SNS dependency on offline interpersonal storytelling via engagement with interactive activities on SNS correspond to the postexposure communication proposed in MSD: the more dependent individuals are on an SNS, the more often they talk with others offline about the topics to which they were exposed and pay attention to on an SNS. CIT has explained that storytelling with others about specific topics (especially topics related to their local community) is one of the most critical factors in community engagement (Kim and Ball-Rokeach, 2006a). Similarly, the link between SNS interactive engagement and offline storytelling confirmed in the current study provides a potential explanatory mechanism for linking the relationship between SNS dependency and offline community engagement (Gil de Zúñiga, 2012; Kim and Shin, 2013). As predicted by CIT (Kim and Ball-Rokeach, 2006a), this type of offline discussion will function as part of the infrastructure for community engagement.

There was a direct relationship between SNS dependency and offline interpersonal conversation only in the case of shopping-related issues while there were only indirect relationships between the two variables regarding political and sports-related issues. Shopping-related issues are relatively easy to talk about with friends and family members, and shopping is an activity people often do with other people. Therefore, high SNS dependency for shopping-related goals is likely to lead to interpersonal conversation offline about shopping. On the other hand, politics is still one of the topics people avoid discussing with others offline (Wojcieszak & Mutz, 2009). Our results can be related to the ongoing debate on whether online political engagement is likely to increase offline political participation (Stromer-Galley & Wichowski, 2010). It may become easier for individuals to find similar others to talk about political issues online, but what we found here suggest that the online political talks (and other related interactive activities) may not necessarily translate to offline political conversation. We believe this is the case for sports as well. Various SNSs have made it easier for their users to find others with whom they can talk about sports. However, online sports conversation may not necessarily be carried over to offline conversation about them with family and friends.

With regard to the structural model tested in the present study, it is reasonable to consider reciprocal relationships between the variables: people who often talk about particular topics offline are more likely to pay more attention to stories posted in SNSs about those topics. In addition, more active engagement with interactive activities on an SNS could increase SNS dependency. In an effort to address this issue of directionality partially, we tested an alternative model that has reverse paths among the variables. The results indicate that the overall model fit of the alternative model is lower than that of the hypothesized model tested in the current study. Moreover, none of the reversed paths from engagement with interactive activities on SNS to SNS dependency in the alternative model were significant, suggesting the superiority of our hypothesized model. To address the issue of directionality and causality fully in a future study, longitudinal data are needed.

Lastly, the result showing that time spent on an SNS, as a measure of intensity of SNS uses, does not have a significant association with any of the variables in the model indicates that the duration of exposure (or time spent on an SNS) does not mediate the relationship between SNS dependency and active engagement in SNS activities. The result is consistent with several past studies that found time spent on the Internet to be an insufficient indicator of people’s Internet use (Jung et al., 2001; Litt, 2013; Moy et al., 2005). Moreover, the findings may reflect changes in media consumption patterns, especially with regard to SNS use through mobile media, which makes it more difficult to distinguish use and non-use. Based on this result, we may consider excluding any variable of exposure frequency or time in the SNS dependency model.

The current study has several limitations. This study is based on cross-sectional data: therefore, all of the statistical results were only correlational. Any statements with causal implications should be read with caution. Future studies with randomized controlled research designs will increase confidence in suggested causal relationships among the key variables of this study. The current study focuses on the common features of various SNS platforms and developed and tested a general concept of SNS dependency. Future studies may pay attention to unique features of a particular SNS platform and test a model with dependency on it. The current study used a sample from Seoul, Korea. Future studies should be conducted in different social contexts to test the reliability of the SNS dependency measure proposed in the current study.

This study was our first attempt to develop a theoretical foundation for the SNS dependency concept, develop a new measure, and conduct analyses to test the validity and reliability of the measure and the outcomes. We believe that the introduction of the SNS dependency concept and measure makes a significant contribution to extending the existing MSD theory to the changing communication environment and to developing a better understanding of individuals’ relationships with SNSs.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author biographies

Yong-Chan Kim (PhD, University of Southern California) is a professor at the School of Communication at Yonsei University, Korea. His research area covers new communication technology, urban community, and health and risk communication.

Joo-Young Jung (PhD, University of Southern California) is a senior associate professor in the Department of Media, Communication, and Culture at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research areas include implications of new media in different social contexts, with a particular focus on community contexts and disaster situations.

References

Ball-Rokeach

(1985) The origins of individual media system dependency: a sociological framework. Communication Research 12(4): 485–510.

Ball-Rokeach

(1998) A theory of media power and a theory of media use: different stories, questions, and ways of thinking. Mass Communication & Society 1(1–2): 5–40.

Ball-Rokeach

DeFleur

(1976) A dependency model of mass media effects. Communication Research 3(1): 3–21.

Ball-Rokeach

Rokeach

Grube

(1984) Great American Values Test: Influencing Behavior and Belief through Television. New York: The Free Press.

Bandura

(2001) Social cognitive theory of mass communication. Media Psychology 3(3): 265–299.

Barthel

Shearer

Gottfried

. (2015) The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

Ellison

boyd

(2013) Sociality through social network sites. In: Dutton

(ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, pp. 151–172.

Ellison

Steinfield

Lampe

(2007) The benefits of Facebook “Friends:” social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12: 1143–1168.

Gil de Zúñiga

(2012) Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 17(3): 319–336.

10.

Grant

Guthrie

Ball-Rokeach

(1991) Television shopping: media system dependency perspective. Communication Research 18(6): 773–798.

11.

Greenhow

Burton

(2011) Help from my “friends”: social capital in the social network sites of low income students. Journal of Educational Computing Research 45: 223–245.

12.

Hafstad

Aaro

(1997) Activating interpersonal influence through provocative appeals: evaluation of a mass media-based antismoking campaign targeting adolescents. Health Communication 9(3): 253.

13.

Holt

Shehata

Strömbäck

. (2013) Age and the effects of news media attention and social media use on political interest and participation: do social media function as leveller? European Journal of Communication 28(1): 19–34.

14.

Bentler

(1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6(1): 1–55.

15.

Jung

Kim

(2014) The influence of opinion leadership, followership, and curatorship on mass media connections and political participation. Paper presented at conference for e-democracy and open government, Hong Kong, December.

16.

Jung

Qiu

Kim

(2001) Internet connectedness and inequality: beyond the digital divide. Communication Research 28(4): 507–535.

17.

Katz

Lazarsfeld

(1955) Personal Influence. New York: The Free Press.

18.

Kim

Ball-Rokeach

(2006a) Civic engagement from a communication infrastructure Perspective. Communication Theory 16: 173–197.

19.

Kim

Ball-Rokeach

(2006b) Community storytelling network, neighborhood context, and neighborhood engagement: a multilevel approach. Human Communication Research 32(3): 411–439.

20.

Kim

Shin

(2013) Effects of smartphone use on perceived environmental controllability: was there any change between 2010 and 2011? Journal of Cyber Communication 30(1): 5–45.

21.

Kim

Shin

Cho

. (2015) SNS dependency and community engagement in urban neighborhoods: the moderating role of integrated connectedness to a community storytelling network. Communication Research. Epub ahead of print 29 July. DOI: 10.1177/0093650215588786.

22.

Kim

Shon

Shim

. (2012) New media uses and perceived environmental controllability: cases of smartphone and social network services uses. Journal of Cyber Communication 29(2): 45–94.

23.

Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) (2013) Social network service (SNS) use, KISDI STAT Report, December 26, 2013.

24.

Lee

Kim

Ham

(2011) Do you want to watch this ad? The effects of social influences on online video ad watching. In: American academy of advertising conference, Mesa, Arizona, 7–10 April 2011, p. 155.

25.

Lee

Moore

Park

. (2012) Who wants to be “friend-rich”? Social compensatory friending on Facebook and the moderating role of public self-consciousness. Computers in Human Behavior 28: 1036–1043.

26.

Litt

(2013) Measuring users’ internet skills: a review of past assessments and a look toward the future. New Media & Society 15(4): 612–630.

27.

Loges

(1994) Canaries in the coal mine: perceptions of threat and media system dependency relations. Communication Research 21(1): 5–23.

28.

Lyu

(2012) How young Chinese depend on the media during public health crises? A comparative perspective. Public Relations Review 38(5): 799–806.

29.

McQuiston

(2013) Social capital in the production gap: social networking services and their transformative role in civic engagement. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Kent State University, Kent, OH.

30.

Moy

Manosevitch

Stamm

. (2005) Linking dimensions of Internet us and civic engagement. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82(3): 571–586.

31.

Newman

Dutton

Blank

(2012) Social media in the changing ecology of news: the fourth and fifth estates in Britain. International Journal of Internet Science 7(1): 6–22.

32.

Phillips

(2008) The psychology of social media. Journal of New Communications Research 3(1): 79–85.

33.

Powers

Advincula

Austin

. (2012) Digital and social media in the purchase decision process: a special report from the advertising research foundation. Journal of Advertising Research 52(4): 479–489.

34.

Quinn

Oldmeadow

(2013) Is the igeneration a ‘we’ generation? Social networking use among 9- to 13-year-olds and belonging. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 31: 136–142.

35.

Rogers

(1962) Diffusion of Innovations. Glencoe: Free Press.

36.

Ross

Orr

Sisic

. (2009) Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use. Computers in Human Behavior 25(2): 578–586.

37.

Stromer-Galley

Wichowski

(2010) Political discussion online. In: Burnett

Consalvo

Ess

(eds) The Handbook of Internet Studies. New York: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 168–187.

38.

Tai

Sun

(2007) Media dependencies in a changing media environment: the case of the 2003 SARS epidemic in China. New Media & Society 9(6): 987–1009.

39.

Tazghini

Siedlecki

(2013) A mixed method approach to examining Facebook use and its relationship to self-esteem. Computers in Human Behavior 29(3): 827–832. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.11.010

40.

Utz

Beukeboom

(2011) The role of social network sites in Romantic relationships: effects on jealousy and relationship happiness. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 16: 511–527.

41.

Van Dijck

(2013) ‘You have one identity’: performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn. Media, Culture & Society 35(2): 199–215.

42.

Willnat

Wong

Tamam

. (2013) Online media and political participation: the case of Malaysia. Mass Communication & Society 16(4): 557–585.

43.

Wojcieszak

Mutz

(2009) Online groups and political discourse: do online discussion spaces facilitate exposure to political disagreement? Journal of Communication 59(1): 40–56. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01403.x