Research: Facebook and Greeks

The research “ Facebook and the Greeks” was conducted by Stelios Papathanasopoulos, Maria Xenophontos, Achilleas Karadimitriou, Ioulia Daga, and Ilias Athanasiadis. It was published by Medianalysis.net.

Summary

Social media offer their users the opportunity to present themselves and allow them to either join existing ones or create their own social networks. Of the various social networking sites and social media in general, Facebook is the one that is of particular interest to communication scholars, because it incorporates a variety of scientific findings related to the social utility of new technologies and mainly digital and online applications. The present study aims to record the basic characteristics and usage data of Greek Facebook users, as well as the relationship of users with traditional media, as well as the social capital they acquire from their participation in Facebook.

IMPORT*

Social media today shape the ways in which we understand sociability, active participation, passivity and in general the engagement of the public with new media. Their importance is significant, after all, if one only considers that, if Facebook users constituted a country, it would be the third largest in the world after China and India. Social networking sites reach 82% of the global online population and have attracted 1.2 billion users worldwide. Social networking adoption trends largely reflect the global internet adoption trends that developed accordingly. However, social media today ranks as the most popular content category globally (Economist, 2012).

Undoubtedly, social networking platforms are, on the one hand, oriented towards social activity and, on the other hand, provide the possibility of developing flexible and personalized ways of being sociable, as they allow users to develop social behaviors through different levels of participation, activity and multitasking (Rosen et al., 2010).

These strategies are developed in an environment of converging media and converging social, cultural, political practices and fields. In this new communication environment, research requires the development of theories and analytical tools that examine the uses, activity, participation and content of media. It is important, of course, that in this new environment, the use of media allows users to have a dual role: on the one hand to consume and on the other hand to produce content, and often this happens simultaneously.

Social media offer their users the opportunity to present themselves and their personalities, as well as allowing them to either join existing or create their own social networks, social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and GooglePlus, which are usually structured and developed around a potential initial audience with specific interests, characteristics and attitudes (niche audience), regardless of whether their appeal in practice usually extends beyond this specific “target audience”. The users of these websites, through participation or the creation of a network of friends and acquaintances, essentially mediate between the technological representation of reality and their own version of capturing a community, which is virtual or potential but for them real, since their own identity is also real.

Of the various social networking sites and social media in general, Facebook is the one that is of particular interest to communication scholars, because it incorporates a variety of scientific findings related to the social utility of new technologies and mainly digital and online applications (Rosen et al., 2010). At a first level, it makes possible the expression of those elements that form an individual's identity and at the same time the creation, the "building" of social bonds. In other words, it supports those two uses of the internet, which new media scholars have defined from the beginning as a single and integral characteristic of the modern, as well as the future internet as a means of communication.

On a second level, Facebook, in contrast to other social media that prioritize creation by users - whether connected or not to the networks - allows for real convergence between them. In this way, it reinforces the findings that new digital and online technologies function optimally as “functional alternatives”, sometimes replacing and sometimes complementing the social environment of the participating individual (Papacharissi and Mendelson, 2011).

Another important factor is the structure of Facebook itself, as according to several scholars the optimal exploitation of the Internet is achieved with its open architecture. On the other hand, Facebook is an efficient vehicle for advertising messages, as in the case of traditional media (Fuchs, 2012^. Carter, 2012).

This article, combining the approaches of "uses and gratifications" with that of the social network, aims to record the way in which motivations and socio-psychological characteristics influence Greek women and men on the type of use they make on Facebook.

THEORETICAL APPROACHES

The internet is at the center of the developments of new communication technologies, since its advent and diffusion have overturned the boundaries between traditional and new media. This convergence is reflected not only at the level of content production but also at that of reception, arousing the interest of scholars who attempt to record the new relationship of the public with this medium and the new services it brings.

Uses and Gratifications approaches examine how people use and consume media. In general, most of these approaches assume that audience members are active participants in media use and are not passive recipients. These approaches, to a significant extent, emphasize the individual and their interaction with media messages. McQuail, Blumler, and Brown, in their now classic study, pointed out that: “media use is more of an interactional process, linking media content, personal needs, perceptions, roles, values, and the social context in which an individual is embedded and operates” (McQuail, Blumler, and Brown, 1972, (Rosengren, Palmgreen, & Wenner, 1985).

In general, the “uses and gratifications” approach has been used in various studies on the use of various communication media and their content (Papathanasopoulos, 2000). Recently, these approaches have been used to understand how people use the Internet based on their socio-psychological predispositions. More specifically, studies have examined the connection between online news and political participation, public opinion and political behavior, or how individuals choose or combine their online and offline sources of information. Studies have identified motivations for Internet use by linking them to distinct socio-psychological characteristics and types of Internet use. A common component of the research is that online media constitute alternatives to interpersonal and mediated communication, providing other options or functioning complementary to aspects of the individual environment that had not been "fulfilled" (Ellison et al., 2011).

While scholars continue to use traditional tools and methodologies to answer questions about media use, we should also expand existing approaches and models of uses and gratifications to include concepts such as interactivity, de-massification, hypertextuality, and asynchrony. Researchers should also explore the interpersonal and qualitative aspects of mediated communication, potentially emerging from a more unified methodology.

Social media research examines the design and maintenance of online media that support existing and new social ties. The unit of analysis is the interaction or relationship between individuals[1]. In other words, these studies attempt to capture the way in which individuals select and appropriate potential environments to satisfy existing communication needs. Other research, which focused on the use of the medium (e-mail, fax, phone and videoconference) in work or university networks, concluded that individuals who already maintained strong ties had a greater number of contacts and communicated more frequently (Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2011). In this context, researchers found that online interaction often replaced or functioned as an alternative to interpersonal communication, in a way that would bring positive results in social capital. Also, in most social media users do not seek new people or network but maintain existing relationships with groups, friends or acquaintances. Some researchers have identified a relationship between narcissism and the frequency of Facebook use (Buffardi & Campbell, 2008^. Ong et al., 2011). Others have pointed out that narcissism is linked to the number of participating friends they have on Facebook (Bergman et al., 2011). The fact is that social media is the medium that shows the greatest growth worldwide.

Social media can be understood as a group of new forms of online media that are shaped according to the following characteristics (Mayfield, 2008):

1)      Participation: Social media encourages the contribution and reaction of any interested party. In practice, they blur the boundaries between the medium and the audience.

2)      Openness: Most social media are open to feedback and participation. They encourage comments and participation in information. They present few barriers to access and content production and do not encourage password protection of content.

3)      Conversation: unlike traditional media, social media is considered to significantly encourage feedback and dialogue.

4)      Community: Social media allows communities of individuals to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue, or a favorite television show.

5)      Connectivity: most categories of social media promote connectivity, using links to other websites, sources and people.

There are currently six categories of social media. These are:

Social networks

These sites allow people to create their own web pages and then connect with friends, share content, and communicate. The largest social networks are MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo.

Blogs

Possibly the most well-known social networking media, blogs are online "prints" of a calendar nature, where the most recent texts are displayed.

Wikis

These are websites that are treated as shared documents or databases: they allow content to be added or existing information to be edited. The most well-known website is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, with more than 2 million texts.

Podcasts

Audio and video files that are available through subscription to companies, such as Apple with iTunes.

Forums

They are spaces for online discussion, often around specific topics and interests. Forums have been included in the category of social media and are a strong and popular element of online communities.

Content communities

They are communities that organize and share specific types of content. The most popular as a trend are those containing photos (Flickr), links (del.icio.us), and videos (YouTube).

Microblogging

Social networking that combines very small blogs that are updated whenever the interested user wants and is distributed via the internet or mobile phone. Twitter is the benchmark-leader in this category.

In other words, through social media, users can easily share and create content, including blogs, social networks, wikis, forums and virtual worlds. Social networks are the channels through which individuals can interact with each other. These networks allow individuals to structure a series of actions: 1) to form a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, 2) to structure a list of other users with whom they share a connection and 3) to view and cross-reference their list of connections with that created by others within the system (Hampton and Wellman, 2003, Boyd and Ellison, 2007). Furthermore, in most social networks users do not seek new people or to network, but rather seek to maintain contact with existing groups of friends and acquaintances, although with the Facebook software one can easily find mutual friends. By extension, we can say that social networks are areas of interconnection of individuals for potential social interaction (Haythornthwaite, 2000, 2005).

Several studies have found that the verbal and structural differences of different social networks (e.g., Facebook, Friendster, My Space) contribute to variations in the display of personal data listed in users' profiles (Liu, 2007). For example, research has shown that Facebook users share access to personal information without restriction and few modify the default privacy settings in order to enhance their protection (Gross & Acquisti, 2005). While the structure of YouTube was developed for “public-private” behaviors (individuals share videos anonymously) and “private-public” behaviors (individuals share videos without revealing their identity), different levels of relationships and mutual understanding, respect or inclusion were created between individuals (Lange, 2007).

Research focusing on Facebook has shown that individuals use the social media platform to gain more information about people they already have some contact with off-line, thus documenting the connection between on-line and off-line behaviors and tendencies. Other studies have shown a strong connection with the emergence of social capital (see Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe, 2007). These studies have shown correlations between user orientations and the subsequent creation of social capital.

In general, the technological architecture that supports the aforementioned online platforms for interaction is based on the principles of media convergence, as it empowers diverse and overlapping connections between a multitude of different spheres of sociality. Social media are supported by converging technologies that emphasize the contribution, flexibility, and reflection of media content (Jenkins, 2006). “Self-presentation” is also an exciting and complex aspect of social networking sites, since a profile user can present themselves through texts, related information (e.g., displaying demographic and contact information, updating status, writing on the other user’s “wall”), as well as through visual means of communication, such as exchanging photos and videos. Users of these networks have greater control over their self-presentation compared to interpersonal communication. On the other hand, it can be argued that users have control over the text and visual content they decide to share or disclose on their Facebook profile, for example. Furthermore, users can protect, to some extent, the content they disclose on Facebook by taking the necessary measures through the use of privacy settings, thus limiting the visibility of content to specific groups of people.

THE CASE OF FACEBOOK

Most people who have seen the movie “The Network” have noticed the way its founders envisioned Facebook. The most famous of them, Mark Zuckerberg, has also argued that when designing Facebook, he did not want to create an impressive social network, but a functional one (Cassidy, 2006). With this in mind, he emphasized the balance between access to information and control of information by the user (Cassidy, 2006). The history of this network is more or less well known. It began in 2004 as a social networking page only for Harvard University students. It gradually expanded to almost all universities, colleges, high schools and middle schools in the US, from there to professional associations and finally to the whole world.

Facebook is, as we know, the most popular social network in the world.[1] Its greatest success is probably due to the fact that it is free and easy to access for anyone who wants to open an account using just an email address. Once someone registers on the network, it is used to connect with friends, students or friends of friends through connections called friends. One of its most popular features is the ability it provides its registered users to share photos with their friends (Paradise, 2012), as well as texts, comments and widgets, all at no cost, confirming the basic principle of the “free culture” of the Internet (Cassidy, 2006). Studies on Facebook argue that users use the social network to be better informed about the people they are going to meet or are meeting offline. It is worth noting here that the ability provided by "smartphones" to connect to Facebook has given the network a new boost in terms of its use.

Also, a study has shown that there is a strong correlation between the use of Facebook and the formation and maintenance of social capital. The most significant correlation was that related to the accumulation of social capital, which expands social perspectives and encourages the “sharing” of information among previously weak relationships, and to individuals who reported low levels of satisfaction and self-esteem (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007). Often, individuals who participate in social media take the initiative to develop their own communication codes regarding the degree of liking, disliking, interest and relationship with other individuals who present themselves in the relevant network (Fono & Raynes-Goldie, 2006). The process of accepting or not accepting friends is a subject of negotiation and resolution by several social networking sites, which allow users to determine not only their public exposure, but also to create lists of close friends, acquaintances or work friends with corresponding access rights (boyd, 2006). In addition, social media users often try to decode other members/users through the profile they have created on Facebook or even through what they post on their “walls” or what their friends write respectively (Walther ET AL., 2008). In short, studies of social networks have demonstrated the ways in which individuals select and adapt their potential spaces to satisfy their perceived needs for communication. This adaptation seems to be linked to an individual’s expectation regarding a particular outcome. Such behavior not only aligns with the basic assumption of the “uses and gratifications” approach, but also indicates the formation of social capital among users.

THE RESEARCH

The impetus for this research was the corresponding research by Papacharissi and Mendelson (2011), as it is based on the theoretical framework that combines the "uses and gratifications" approach with the social network approach to study the way in which motivations and socio-psychological characteristics influence Greeks in the type of use they make on Facebook.

One of the objectives of this study is to determine whether Facebook users build some form of social capital through the online relationships and contacts they develop. In social theory, different approaches to social capital have been developed, resulting in different views of social capital. For example, Bourdieu (1986) uses the concept of social capital to explain the reproduction of social inequalities. Here, relations between people refer to the knowledge of people from other social strata who may benefit from one’s social position (Swain, 2003, Sum, Mathews et al, 2008). In this sense, Bourdieu (1986) is mainly interested in vertical social relations between social classes. Putnam’s (1995, 2000) approach examines the horizontal integration of social capital, at the community level as well as at the individual level. His approach focuses on the formal dimension of social capital (e.g., membership and participation in organizations) and informal social capital (e.g., social interactions with friends and neighbors at home or elsewhere), which has shown a tendency to shrink in recent decades (Putnam, 2000). Wellman, Quan-Haase, Witte, and Hampton (2001) distinguish two forms of social capital: network capital and participatory capital. A third domain consists of behavioral concepts, such as interpersonal trust and sense of community (Shah, McLeod, & Yoon, 2001).

Despite the differences in approaches, there are some common points: All emphasize the relationships between people who use these relationships for certain purposes (e.g., social support, companionship, advancement). Some approaches refer to the formation and maintenance of actual relationships (e.g., socialization), others to potential relationships (i.e., members of a network). Still others (e.g., interpersonal trust) argue that social relationships are facilitated or encouraged.

The relationships developed on social networking sites are evaluated based on the social capital perspective. Social capital is embedded in the structure of social networks and the position of individuals within these structures. As social networking sites have the potential to reshape social networks and reduce the costs of communication within the network, their use can have an impact on the social capital of users. Research on social capital suggests three different forms of it: 1) unity social capital focuses on the resources that people have to strengthen their ties with each other within their closed groups, 2) bridging social capital focuses on reaching out to groups that are not similar to their own, 3) maintenance social capital focuses on maintaining ties with groups that come from past moments in their lives. It is unclear, however, whether there are particular uses of Facebook that are more likely to result in positive outcomes for social capital. In other cases, scholars have argued that while the internet makes vast amounts of information available and accessible, only those with the necessary skills to locate and evaluate the content can fully benefit from it. In light of the above findings, five statements were used for each form of social capital.

The attraction (affinity) with the media is associated with many motives such as habit, entertainment, companionship (see, A. Rubin, 1981^. A. Rubin, 1985^. Papacharissi and Rubin, 2000). In this context, the Television Affinity scale of A. Rubin (1981) was adapted for the case of Facebook. Thus, we arrived at a series of general questions, such as:

• What are the key characteristics of users?
• What are the key usage data, such as frequency of use, type of applications they use, etc.?
• What is the relationship of users to traditional media, such as television, radio, newspapers and cinema?
• What are the main motivations and affinity of Facebook for its Greek users?
• Whether users form some kind of social capital from their participation in Facebook.

METHODOLOGY

The survey was conducted via the internet, and more specifically through the freeonlinesurveys platform specialized in online surveys for the period from November 6, 2011 to April 28, 2012. The link for answering the questionnaires was distributed via Facebook by sending it to users and by posting it in open groups.

Motivations, as mentioned, refer to general dispositions that influence people's actions in order to fulfill some need or desire. Recent studies regarding internet use have added interpersonal utility, information seeking, convenience offered when consuming a service, entertainment, and a way to pass one's time (see Pornsakulvanich, Haridakis & Rubin, 2008). In this study, we followed, as mentioned, the model of Papacharissi and Mendelson (2011), and combined questions regarding interpersonal issues (integration/companionship) with means of communication (fun, habit, information, social interaction, escape and relaxation) and motivations for professional development, in order to structure eleven categories of possible motivations for using Facebook: Relaxation, fun, information exchange, professional development, companionship, social interaction, cool and new technology, means of expression, habit, escape. For each motivation, three categories of statements were used, which emerged from the aforementioned study by Papacharissi and Mendelson (2011).

The survey participants were asked to answer to what extent the questions we presented to them corresponded to their own cases based on the Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = strongly disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). Subsequently, the questions grouped by examined motive were ranked based on the average obtained for each group of questions.

Respondents indicated their level of agreement or disagreement with the logic of the Likert scale. The responses to the questions were added and the average was found. The mean (M.E.) for the scale is 3.5 and the SD (standard error) is 1.2 and the Cronbach alpha is 0.74.[2] Finally, participants had the opportunity to express their opinions about Facebook through three open-ended questions.

RESEARCH RESULTS

In this research, we attempted to examine the uses and satisfactions that arise for Greek users from the use of Facebook, correlating it with the structural factors of social networks (network size, density, type of ties), as well as with the social capital that is created.

The survey included 450 Greek Facebook users, of whom 72% were women (324) and 28% were men (126). Of these, approximately 86.9% of respondents were in the 18-40 age group (45.3% in the 18-25 age group and 41.6% in the 26-40 age group). 92.9% of respondents had a university education, with 26.5% holding a postgraduate degree. The Greek Facebook users participating in the survey were online for an average of 219 minutes per day and had been using the internet for an average of 8 years.^[1] More specifically, 74.9% of participants check their Facebook page daily, an average of 5 times (4.9) per day, and approximately 30% of them are connected to the medium for more than 3 hours per day. 25.1% of Facebook users do not log in on a daily basis and estimate that they spend an average of about 13 hours per week on Facebook. However, 66.2% of the participants in the Facebook user survey have not created a group on the network, although 51.1% state that they participate in 1 to 10 groups. Also, 92% have more than 51 friends (33% state that they have between 300 and 600 friends) and 36.7% have uploaded more than 51 photos, while fewer (38.4%) have posted add-ons (apps) to their page. Few users maintain more than one Facebook account (8.2%), while according to their responses, a large percentage choose to use their real name (78.4%).

 

They more often send messages (66% Often/every time they connect) and write on their friends' walls (44%), while they rarely update their profile, play games on Facebook or upload or tag photos they upload to Facebook (Table 1). At the same time, as emerges from their answers (Table 2), they are not or do not feel addicted to Facebook, as the majority of them state that they would not feel lost without Facebook (86.4% Strongly Disagree/Disagree), they could easily leave it for weeks (66.9% Strongly Agree/Agree) and they do not evaluate it as an important factor in their lives (75.6% Strongly Disagree/Disagree). At the same time, only a very small percentage of users state that they would really miss Facebook if for some reason they could not access it (3.8%). On the other hand, there are many users who "log in" to Facebook whenever they have their computer open, regardless of what task they are doing (59.3%, Strongly Agree/Agree). Furthermore, a significant percentage states that when they open their computer the first thing they do is "log in" to Facebook (37.8%, Strongly Agree/Agree) or when they have access to the internet regardless of the device (PC, iPad, smartphone), they "log in" to Facebook (32.4%).

A) The relationship of Facebook with traditional media

21.6% of the respondents in the survey are connected to their Facebook page for more than 3 hours and 24.5% from 2 to 3 hours, while 25.1% do not connect to Facebook on a daily basis. On the other hand, 37.6% of them state that they do not watch television daily and only 6.4% state that they watch television more than 3 hours a day. Around 27.1% state that they watch television daily from 2 to 3 hours. Also, 28.9% of the Facebook users surveyed state that they do not listen to the radio on a daily basis and 56.7% that they do not buy newspapers. At best, 19.6% state that they listen to the radio 2 to 3 hours a day and 31.8% that they read newspapers 1-2 times during the week. They often go to the cinema (62.4%), less often to the theatre (34%) and very often "download" films from the internet (47.6%).

B) The reasons for using Facebook

The use of free time (M.O.=3.2, SD=1.2) emerges as the most important motivation for using Facebook. As expected, the ability to communicate (M.O.=3.1 SD=1.2) and exchange information (M.O.=2.9 SD=1.3) that Facebook provides to users are important motivations for using the medium, and the possibilities are what differentiate it from the motivations and uses found in traditional media. In the same context, entertainment is prioritized among the main motivations for using Facebook (M.O.=3 SD=1.0). Furthermore, the survey recorded motivations similar to those of traditional media use, such as habit (M.O.=2.5 SD=1.3) and relaxation (M.O.=2.5 SD=1.1), which highlights the convergent nature of the services provided by Facebook and at the same time suggests that there are implicit motivations. Contrary to what one would expect, the motivation of personal expression/formulation of personal opinions has a very low average (M.O.=2.2 SD=1.2), which is linked to the distinction that respondents make between general and individual information. At the same time, the motivations of escape (M.O.=1.7 SD=0.9) or companionship (M.O.=1.9 SD=1.1) associated with television were less evident. Perhaps the success of social media is that it is based on the model of use and satisfaction that traditional media offers to the public.

Graph 1: Motivations for using Facebook

 ( M . O . Likert scale  1=No and 5=Exactly/very much)[1]   

Although communication emerges as an important motivation for users, it is nevertheless limited to the existing close family and friendly environment, which suggests that although social capital on Facebook is perceived through the bridging of social relationships, as we will see below, users' motivations are limited to maintaining past relationships. More specifically, only 9.7% (Quite/Exactly) state that they use the medium to make new acquaintances, while 76.7% (Quite/Exactly) of respondents state that they use it to communicate with friends who are far away.

Graph 2: Percentage distribution (%) of responses to questions regarding the motivation for communication ( Likert 5=Exactly and 1=No)

At the same time, although the exchange of information emerges as an important factor in the use of the medium, this is limited to the general interests of users and less to the provision of information about themselves on an individual level. More specifically, 49.1% (Quite/Exactly) answer that they use Facebook to share material-information related to their interests, while 84% (No/Not Exactly) state that do not use the medium to display personal information.

Graph 3: Percentage distribution of responses to questions regarding information exchange (% Likert 5=Exactly and 1=No) 

From the responses to the open-ended questions posed in the survey, the issue of privacy and the exposure of personal information seems to be of significant concern to Greek users who are bothered by the "ability of others to see them", being monitored ("Big Brother", "espionage", "keyhole", "panopticon", according to their comments), by the publication and "freedom of exposure", the "overexposure" of personal data ("in plain sight"), "that strangers manage to "monitor" their lives" and have the right to make their personal data (photos) public without their prior approval. At the same time, users are bothered by the fact that there is no possibility of permanently deleting any personal data from Facebook, which, as they report, is kept in the platform's database ("filing") and is "exploitable" or may be controlled. The reservation towards the medium is significantly linked to the suspicion with which they face the terms of privacy, the "gaps" in the security of personal data and the low level of protection. Users declare ignorance about how they are used and which of their personal data is disclosed to third parties. These reservations are perhaps also linked to the various publications concerning problems that are presented in the form of a leak of personal data from Facebook.

However, an interesting element that emerges from the correlation between the use of the medium and the questions regarding motivations is that although users deny using the medium to display personal information, 78% of users who have uploaded more than 51 photos to their profile state that they do not use the medium to display personal information.

Table 3: Approximately how many photos (absolute number) have you uploaded to your page* I use Facebook to provide personal information about myself

In the same context, few use the medium because it allows them to express themselves freely (13.5%). Furthermore, contrary to what one might assume, respondents to the survey state that they do not particularly use Facebook for political reasons (complaints, protests). Moreover, few respondents agree (27.3%) with the statement that their participation in Facebook “makes their voice heard more”.

Graph 4: Percentage distribution of responses to questions regarding personal expression (% Likert 5=Exactly and 1=No) 

Habit also seems to play a role in the use of Facebook, which is also true for television but to a lesser extent. 29.6% (Quite/Exactly) of users state that they use Facebook because it is a habit and 17.1% (Quite/Exactly) state that they use it only because it exists. The factor of using the medium for professional development appears less important, as few use the medium to network professionally (21.8%) or because they consider it to be useful for their professional future (19.8%).

Other motivations such as relaxation or escape do not seem to be as strong for using the medium. However, although some users (18.9%) state that they use the medium because “it’s fun to try new things”, 79.6% (No/Not very much) state that they do not use Facebook because it is trendy. The factor of inclusion/companionship seems to have an even smaller impact, as only a small percentage state in the relevant questions that they use Facebook because in this way they feel less lonely (14.2%, Quite/Exactly) or because in this way they feel that they are not alone (12.4%, Quite/Exactly).

At the same time, the open-ended questions of the survey also revealed motivations that were not included in its closed questions, such as the immediacy of communication ("ease" of contact, exchange of messages) and information ("at any time"). The constant availability of communication is also highlighted by users, as, as they state, "you always find company to spend your time with pleasantly.".

The ability to selectively update and gather information is also important for users – given that they feel they are sharing information with people with whom they have common interests – therefore, as they state, updating on Facebook in a way replaces searching in different sources (“I can see the most important news on the homepage instead of searching on each newspaper’s website separately”). Some even state that they are informed about current developments through Facebook, without however being clear about the extent to which they feel covered by the information provided by Facebook.

Some users admit that Facebook allows them to create an ideal profile, different from the “real” one, where they can be “what they would like” to be. Typical are the answers regarding the fact that Facebook provides the possibility of “reinventing yourself, as you want, to have a digital entity”, to create a “strong identity”. These formulations often imply a critical attitude and at the same time an awareness that this is also a virtual reality. Typical is the user’s answer to the question of what makes Facebook attractive: “The illusion of “personal” networking (while we are talking about mediated and potential), as well as the “temptation” of public exposure”. The convergent nature of the services (audiovisual material – photos, video – text, communication, games) provided by Facebook and their provision on a platform was, in addition, often mentioned by users as an element that makes the medium attractive. Other motivations that arise from qualitative analysis are curiosity, gossip ("one can observe the daily lives of many people with whom one does not have much personal contact").

It is also important that Facebook is a relatively inexpensive means of communication (“cheap communication”, “replacement for the mobile phone”) with unlimited communication capabilities. In this case, the comparison extends to other social networks with restrictions on the characters posted (Twitter). In addition, for parent-users it is also a means of control over “what their children write”. Of course, the use of the medium for free promotion/advertising of products and services or informational websites is for some the only motivation for its use.

However, the respondents' answers show that, unlike television, they use Facebook and by extension the internet mainly to communicate with other people, and less to display information about themselves on an individual level: to express their personal opinions or to network professionally. An important motivation for users is also the ability to gather information, exchange information and selective information. Finally, what appears to make Facebook attractive is also the one-stop shop services it offers with parallel entertainment, communication and information possibilities.

C) Social capital

In contrast to other studies that have highlighted the paradox of social networks isolating users in their private sphere and in contrast to the stereotype of the antisocial internet user, the results of the study showed that people who have a social activity and have an active social life reap the social benefits of Facebook and use it to increase the forms of bridging and maintaining social capital. These networks maintain the social networking of members, who are already quite active and motivated. It is also important to note that although the strengthening of close social relationships is a motivation for the use of Facebook, the unity forms of social capital appear to have the lowest average compared to the other forms.

Quite interesting is the fact that for these individuals, the use of Facebook implicitly results in a sense of acquiring social capital, as on the one hand they feel that they can mobilize other people/groups who have common views with them, but on the other hand they are not sure that the people they interact with on Facebook would risk their reputation for them or that their participation in this social media makes their voice heard.

Graph 5: Percentage distribution of responses to questions regarding bridging social capital (% Likert 5= Strongly agree and 1=Strongly disagree) 

64.2% (Agree/Strongly Agree) of respondents state that “interacting with others on Facebook reminds them that everyone in the world is interconnected”, that “it would be easy to find people on Facebook” (62.7%), that interacting with others on Facebook makes them interested in things that people different from them think about (53.8%) and that interacting with others on Facebook helps them learn about new opinions that they would not otherwise know about (56.2%). The bridging of social relationships is also evident in the answers given by users to open-ended questions, where they state that what they like most about Facebook is “the fact that people from all over the world have the opportunity to communicate their opinions”, “the reminder that we are all constantly connected, the feeling of security that this uninterrupted communication with others provides”, “the fact that you can participate with other people in something in common”, “the sense of online community”. However, few believe that Facebook helps to make their voice heard (27.6%), while an equally small number of users believe that socializing gives them the opportunity to make new acquaintances and express themselves (30.4%).

Graph 6: Percentage distribution of responses to questions regarding the maintenance of social capital (% Likert 5= Strongly agree and 1=Strongly disagree)

The maintenance of social relationships was also evident in the responses of users, who at a rate of 67.6% (Agree/Strongly Agree) state that through Facebook “I could be informed about events in my hometown from someone I know from school, who lives there”. The connection of different time periods or phases of individuals’ lives seems to be an important element in the socialization of Facebook users. As can be seen from the open questions, Facebook offers them the opportunity to reconnect with people/friends who “have been lost in the past”, “old friends and classmates”, to restore their relationships. As is characteristically highlighted, “that you can have even a rudimentary contact with other people, who do not move in your daily circle”. They feel that in some way they can follow the developments in the lives of their friends ("The ability to "see" the lives of my friends/relatives who are in another city or abroad and communicate with them more often than if we communicated only via Skype/MSN") or even that they participate ("you live a part of your friends' lives in parallel with your life", "you follow the changes in a friend's life"). The answers also reveal a kind of nostalgia and contact with the personal past. The connection of different time periods or phases seems to make the new medium attractive. As one respondent characteristically states: "I can see the lives of some people who for some reason have disappeared from my life (people from school) and I smile when I find them on Facebook!".

It is also important that although users state that they do not use Facebook for professional reasons (motivations), 73% (Agree/Strongly Agree) state that they could benefit from the ability that Facebook provides them, through maintaining their social relationships, to find information about a job or internship from an acquaintance from school/university. Users also state that “if necessary, I could ask a small favor from someone I know from school.”.

Figure 7: Percentage distribution of responses to questions regarding the unity of social capital (% Likert 5= Strongly agree and 1=Strongly disagree) 

The relatively low average displayed by the forms of unity of social capital indicates that for Greek users, Facebook functions as a complement to strengthening their close interpersonal relationships (friends – family). For some users, it is a way of strengthening social relationships, as an alternative to the lack of free time or many obligations. As one user characteristically points out in the open-ended questions posed in the survey, “you can communicate with many people that you would not have the time to do in your everyday life, even just by looking at some of their statuses”. In no case do users feel that the communication they have with friends and family on Facebook substitutes for the strengthening of these relationships that takes place offline. 55.1% (Strongly Agree/Agree) of users state that “there is no one on Facebook that I feel comfortable talking to about my very personal problems”, while 58% (Strongly Agree/Agree) state “I don’t know people well enough to include them in/associate them with something important”. Higher percentages are collected by questions related to the mobilization of individuals with whom users share common/similar beliefs (69.1%, Strongly Agree/Agree) and who could help them fight an injustice or inequality (63.6%, Strongly Agree/Agree).

CONCLUSIONS

The most important use of social networks that emerges from this research is that related to spending one's free time on Facebook and possibly because it is enjoyable and entertaining. Both of these motives are found in the cases of the use of traditional media, especially television. This certainly does not mean that the services provided by Facebook converge with those of traditional media, but it suggests that the most important elements of its use tend to acquire a kind of ritual and instrumental use. Uses such as those of information search and job search were not important, at least in our research sample. At the same time, the tendencies of escape and companionship that are important motives of use, especially for television viewing, were not particularly evident in our research respondents. This may indicate that Facebook seems to have the ability to converge the needs of traditional and new media use.

On the other hand, Greek users may not consider themselves addicted to Facebook, but in practice they seem to oscillate between social activity and passive participation. Through a comfortable state that combines passivity and sociability, social media users traverse the spheres of social interaction, in order to learn to communicate with the users they connect with. The contrasts reflect our everyday lives, in which work and play, friends and colleagues, public and private life are not completely distinct concepts.

At the same time, equipped with a tool that enables social networking, individuals simultaneously meet their traditional mediated and interpersonal needs and at the same time strengthen their social relationships. The casual entertainment offered by Facebook strengthens the form of unity of social capital to the extent that it functions as a confirmation of contacts and relationships with friends and family (closed sphere).

In short, the research revealed that the prominent motives reveal a user who has the characteristics of a socially rather active person, who does not seek social activity only through social media, but also in his real life. We could say that social media is currently used by Greeks as a complement, they do not consider its daily access as the most important act of the day and are not afraid to use their real name. On the other hand, the results of the research demonstrate that those who present a mobility and a social activity can reap the social benefits of Facebook, but also exploit it to create social capital and strengthen social ties.

However, one emerging issue that will be the subject of new research is the contradiction between the private and public spheres through social networking sites. As it appears, Greek users seem to be concerned about the protection of their privacy, but prefer to focus their efforts on knowing others rather than exposing themselves.

This study was published in the journal COMMUNICATION ISSUES | ISSUE 16-17

[1] 1=no, 2=not very much, 3=quite a lot, 4=about, 5=exactly/very much.

^[1] In a recent nationwide survey conducted by the Electronic Commerce Laboratory (ELTRUN) of the Athens University of Economics and Business on the “attitude, use and trust of Greeks in social media” – the survey was conducted at the end of 2011 with 1,050 experienced internet users who are active in electronic transactions and shopping – it was recorded that Greek users can be characterized as “experienced” because 50% state that they have been using social media for over 3 years. 68% of Greeks visit social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) and 60%, blogs and forums. Imerisias, “68% “stuck” with social media”, 24 January 2012. Available at https://www.imerisia.gr/general2. asp?catid=12319&subid=20110&pub [last accessed 12/7/2012].

[1] Facebook has 1.2 billion active users, who collectively spend 700 billion minutes per month viewing its pages on the network (Facebook, 2010, 2011). The average user shares 90 pieces of content (e.g., links, photo albums, status updates) which equates to 30 billion pieces of content posted on Facebook per month (Facebook, 2010). In 2001, it had gross revenues of $4–4.5 billion (Economist, 2012).

[2] Cronbach alpha is a reliability coefficient of internal consistency of questions and was used to assess the homogeneity of the questions corresponding to each motivation. Homogeneity refers to the agreement between the questions that make up the measurement tool.