Weibo or Weixin? Gratifications for Using Different Social Media

Social media has experienced great changes in recent years. Various social media platforms emerge and develop significantly. Why users choose to use some particular social media becomes a major concern. Through adopting uses and gratifications theory, this study aims to explore gratifications sought from using two popular social media: Weibo and Weixin. Data was collected by eighteen in-depth interviews and content analysis was conducted for data analysis. Results show that, seven gratifications could be sought from using Weibo: information seeking, social interaction, entertainment, pass time, self-expression, information sharing and social networking, while five gratifications from Weixin usage: private social networking, social interaction, convenient communication, high-quality information provided and information sharing. In addition, three general gratifications for usage of both Weibo and Weixin were identified: information sharing, social networking and social interaction. Implications of this study are also discussed.