Compulsive YouTube usage: A comparison of use motivation and personality effects
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
This paper explores compulsive use of YouTube by university students and investigates how the uses and gratifications perspective and the personality perspective work together to explain compulsive use of the social medium. It compares the effects of motivation to use YouTube for information with motivation to use the platform for entertainment, and examines how the different motivational effects compare with those of personality. It also explores the influence of compulsive use of YouTube on academic motivation. Data from 807 students at a Malaysian university were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression. Stronger motivation to use YouTube for information and learning is associated with lower compulsive use, while stronger motivation to use YouTube for entertainment is associated with higher compulsive use. Entertainment motivation has a stronger effect than information motivation. Although tendency to compulsive use differs with personality traits, the motivation effects are independent of personality. Compulsive YouTube use negatively influences academic motivation. While educators can take risks of compulsive use into account when they propose YouTube resources to their students, information literacy education and training can play an additional role in risk reduction by alerting social media users to the risks of compulsive use and helping them to develop self-management strategies.
Keywords
Social media, Compulsive use, YouTube use, Use motivation, Self-regulation, Information literacy
Divisions
Faculty_of_Business_and_Accountancy
Publication Title
Computers in Human Behavior
Volume
87
Publisher
Elsevier