An exploratory investigation of online and offline social behaviour among digital natives

Abstract

In response to calls for IS researchers to investigate how digital natives are using information and communication technologies to shape their interpersonal interactions, an exploratory, survey-based study was conducted to investigate patterns of online social behaviour on two popular SNSs (Facebook and Instagram) and, on this basis, compare their online and offline social behaviour. To capture online social behaviour a novel typology involving three high-level interactions --- producing, consuming, and reacting--- was proposed. The investigation found that, among digital natives, Instagram is used more frequently than Facebook, with consumptive behaviour on Instagram occurring most frequently, and productive behaviour on Facebook occurring least frequently. While online social behaviour was found to positively relate to offline socialisation, personality traits were found to account for a larger proportion of the variance in offline social behaviour than online actions. The findings are of particular relevance to those seeking to understand associations between behaviour online and behaviour offline. Moreover, the typology introduced is likely to be useful in a variety of contexts.