USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA SITES: THE CASE OF PINTEREST

摘要

Nowadays people are using Social Media Sites (SMSs) as a new way of staying in touch with each other. SMSs are very popular, and it is common that one person have active accounts in many of them, for example: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Pinterest, Flicker, etc. Although the function of SMSs is being a platform that allows interchanging content and creating a social group, the specific characteristics of each SMSs bring different experiences to members. Some SMSs specialize in short messages other in professional contacts, etc. Pinterest is an online board that allows people sharing images they find on the Web. In the last year the number of members of Pinterest has grown considerably, being the number of female members bigger than the number of male members, maybe indicating a better identification with the female public. This study will use the Uses and Gratifications Theory as a framework to understand the members’ motivations for using Pinterest.