How the 'uses and gratifications' theory explains the usage of professional networking sites: comparison between individual members and companies members

Social media continues to gain enormous popularity. Therefore, it is not surprising that this attracts the interest of researchers to study this cyber-social phenomenon. Previous contributions focused hugely on Online Social Networks (ONS), but this paper uses the ‘Uses & Gratifications’ Theory to explain the member behaviour in the field of Professional Networking Sites (PNS) by considering the motivations usage for both individuals and companies. For this purpose, a qualitative research was conducted using the ‘Uses & Gratifications’ Theory to explain the user behaviour in the field of professional networking sites. To collect data, we conducted 8 face-to-face interviews with companies and 5 focus groups with individuals. The results permit to identify two types of motivations: contextual motivations and generic motivations in which a comparison with those previously found in the field of OSNs may be done. A discussion of the results is presented in the light of the rewards and gratifications gained from using professional networking sites.