Gratification opportunities, self-esteem, and loneliness in determining usage preference of BBS and blogs among teenagers in China

Abstract

Results from a convenient sample of 301 teenagers found three gratification opportunities for bulletin board systems (BBS; synchroneity, personalization, and circulation) and four gratification opportunities for web logs (blogs; multifunction, stability, circulation, and message management). Discriminant analysis showed that blog users placed more value on the ability of being able to personalize content and to be easily accessible by a group of known friends and interested visitors, whereas BBS users preferred the open, diverse, and larger audience size of BBS for debate and discussion. Data supported the idea that those who scored low in self-esteem tended to be heavy bloggers, whereas loneliness had no effect on preference and level of use. In short, this study further strengthens the notion that it is the attributes of media or the gratification opportunities, rather than the attributes of users, that help explain the level and preference of computer-mediated communication use.