Twitter Users vs. Quitters: A Uses and Gratifications and Diffusion of Innovations Approach in Understanding the Role of Mobility in Microblogging

Abstract

Twitter, the most popular microblogging service by the end of 2009, has gained much interest among Computer-Mediated Communication scholars and practitioners. As a new social medium, Twitter shows distinguished characteristics such as text-based posts of up to 140 characters delivered in real-time, and via multiple access modes including the Web, SMS, and mobile device applications. Interestingly, and in spite of an explosive growth in 2009, Twitter is also experiencing higher dropout rates compared to other social networking sites giving rise to the term Twitter Quitter. This study will examine which factors influence Twitter Quitters in their decision to discontinue Twitter’s use through the use of perceived motivations and innovation related constructs. Uses and Gratifications (UG) and Diffusion of Innovation theory (IDT) are employed to frame the theoretical background. Also, this study will offer support for the effects of mobile device usage to access Twitter on self-reported motivations and perceived outcomes of using Twitter. An online survey will be used to collect data from 300 undergraduate students at a large U.S. mid-western university. A Partial Least Squares (PLS)-based data analysis will be used to provide support for which constructs explain differences between Twitter users and Twitter quitters. Also, the influence of mobile device use on the continuance or discontinuance of Twitter will be examined. Implications for both theory and practice, as well as suggestions for further research will also be presented.