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INSTAGRAM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

APPROACH: SELCUK UNIVERSITY EXAMPLE

Conference Paper · May 2016

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Communication & Media Researches

 This book is the scholar work of International Association of Social Science
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Table of Contents

Christian Ruggiero, Giovanni Brancato, Melissa Stolfi

Populism in power? The 2016 Administrative Elections in Rome .......................................... 13

Dario Fanara, Lorenzo Ugolini

Journalism and Terrorism: The Cultural Challenge ................................................................. 13

Ali Murat Vural

Managing the Crisis Communication in Today’s World Replete With Crises ........................ 33

Nicola Ferrigni
Understanding Cyberbullying. From Traditional Bullies To Mediatization Of Bullying........ 43

Suna Tekel
Digital Social Research: Advantages And Disadvantages ....................................................... 53

Mihaela Gavrila
Managing Fear. Contrasting Real and Media Represented Terrorism: Toward A Training
Project To Prepare Police and Journalists ................................................................................ 61

Berna Berkman Koselerli

The Control of Networks: Internet Censorship in Turkey ....................................................... 69

Moira Colantoni
University as a brand and Social Media ................................................................................... 75

Bilgehan Ece Şakrak

Re-construction of Realms of Memory through Television Series Case Study: Muhteşem
Yüzyıl: Kösem.......................................................................................................................... 85

Mustafa Akdağ, Nilay Akgün Akan

Public Relations Practices In Terms Of Intercultural Communication: Example Of Yunus
Emre Institutes In Turkey – Bosnia And Herzegovina Relations ............................................ 95

Hacer Aker, Meral Serarslan

Language Games of the Cinema: “Ah Güzel İstanbul” Are You Real or Lie? ...................... 107

Şükrü Balcı, Emre Osman Olkun

Political Communication and Elections: The Analysis of 7 June and 1 November General
Elections in Turkey in terms of Political Communication ..................................................... 115

Emre Vadi Balcı

In Terms of News Value Factors of Traditional and Internet Media Comparison ............... 127

Goksel Basmaci
Ethics in Health News in the Scope of Internet Journalism ................................................... 139

Vedat Çakır, Vesile Çakır

Information Society Policies of European Union and Adaptation of Turkey ........................ 149
Selahattin Çavuş, Bünyamin Ayhan
Cyberbullying and Victimization Experiences of University Students ................................. 159

Ayşegül Çilingir
Turkish Cinema in the Light of Social Change: The Case of Lutfi Akad's "Migration Trilogy"
................................................................................................................................................ 169

Vera D’Antonio
Thank You for Oversharing! Re-thinking Privacy and Publicity in the Era of Big Data. ..... 177

Adem Demirsoy
A Forgotten Antagonist of Anatolian Press: Afif Evren (1908 -1977) .................................. 189

Özlem Duğan
Analysis of Violence In Health News: Hurriyet, Zaman and Posta Newspapers Case ........ 199

Aslı Ekici
The Construction of Femininity in Turkish Cinema in 1980s ............................................... 209

Aslı Elgün Oral, Ebru Belkıs Güzeloğlu

Zines As An Alternative Media: An Analysis on Female Zinsters in Turkey ....................... 219

Kamile Elmasoglu
Analysis of “Truman Show” Movie from the Perspective of Simulation Theory ................. 233

Birol Gülnar, Mete Kazaz

The Relationship Between Anxiety as Indicator of Psychological Well Being And Internet
Usage: A Survey Among Turkish University Students ........................................................ 241

Uğur Gündüz
The Role of Social Media and Virtual Communities on Identity Construction* ................... 251

Ugur Gunduz, Burcu Kaya-Erdem

The Concept of Virtual Nationalism in the Age of Information: A View to the Perspective of
Turkey .................................................................................................................................... 259

Nurettin Güz, Hayrullah Yanık, Ceren Yegen

Media Reliability and Effects of Ideological Trends to Press Preferences ............................ 267

Nurettin Güz, Aida Uslu

The First Turskish Press in Bosnia ......................................................................................... 277

Gülden Karakoc, Onur Taydas, Enderhan Karakoc

Digital Democracy and Social Media .................................................................................... 285

Burcu Kaya-Erdem
A Reading on the Relation Between Inorganic Modernization and Mass Media in the Context
of Agnotology and the Case of "İşte Benim Stilim: All Star" TV Show ............................... 293
Uğur Küçüközyiğit
The Use of News and Language in Turkish Press: Transformation of Last 50 Years ........... 301

Tuba Livberber
Analysis of Hate Speech(es) Towards LGBTT Individuals Within the Context of Gender in
Turkey’s Media ...................................................................................................................... 311

Abdullah Mert
Investigation of the Private and Public Children's TV Channels in Turkey in Terms of Both
Content and Form ................................................................................................................... 321

Hülya Öztekin
Racist Discrimination and Xenophobia on Media: Presentation of Syrian Refugees in Turkish
Press ....................................................................................................................................... 329

Andrea Pranovi
Local information in Rome: media agenda in election campaign .......................................... 339

Ayhan Selcuk
A Study on Use of Religious and Traditional Components in German and Turkish Advertising
Texts ....................................................................................................................................... 349

Elif Sesen, K. Ozkan Erturk

Image of Public Relations in Popular Turkish Television Series........................................... 361

Bayram Sevinc
Religious Rivalry in the Network Society.............................................................................. 373

Ayşe Aslı Sezgin, Aykut Gül

From Social Cyber Living to Voluntary Simple Living ........................................................ 385

Suat Sungur
Effect of Advertisements on Facebook on University Students’ Product Sense and Buying
Attitute .................................................................................................................................... 393

Emel Tanyeri Mazıcı

Foreign Aids As An Alternative Method Of International Communication In Public
Diplomacy: A Research On The Sample Of Somalia ............................................................ 401

Havva Nur Tarakcı, Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı

Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach: Selcuk University
Example .................................................................................................................................. 411

Faruk Temel, Osman Utkan

News Follow In Periods Of Crisis.......................................................................................... 421

Salih Tiryaki
Political Advertising: Konya Example at 2011 Elections of “Justice and Development Party”
................................................................................................................................................ 431
Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı, Havva Nur Tarakcı
Examination Of Online Shopping Sites In Terms Of Public Relations ................................. 441

Korhan Mavnacıoğlu
Social Media Usage Towards Specific Target Groups: An Analysis Of The Social Media
Communication Activities Performed in The Participation Banking System........................ 449

Filiz Yildiz, Meltem Şahin

Reading the Daily Life in the 1980s through Newspapers..................................................... 457

Aysel Yildiz
From Reality to Dreams Through Online Games in the Postmodern World: Ben X............. 465

Güldane Zengin, A. Mücahid Zengin

Instagram Advertising: Ad Avoidance Behaviors of Youth .................................................. 473

Elvan Ender, Refiye Ender

Landscape Design for Children’s Development .................................................................... 481

Burcu Zeybek
A Study On The Political Communication Activities Of Political Parties In Turkey On
Websites ................................................................................................................................. 487

Nuran Bayram, Mine Aydemir

A Structural Equation Modeling About Life Satisfaction ..................................................... 497

Abdullah Kaldirim, Omer Faruk Tavsanli, Muhammet Rasit Memis

Going out of the Borders: Reading Habits, Interests and Tendencies of Students Living in
Villages................................................................................................................................... 503

Cem Kırlangıçoğlu
An Intelligent GIS Based Railway Route Design Methodology............................................ 515

Fehmi Volkan Akyön, Şule Aydın Tükeltürk, Gökçe Karakoç

The Relationship Between Tourism Education and Career Intensions in the Industry: A
Research Study on Undergraduate Students .......................................................................... 535

Ezgi Göl, Hasan Arslan

Higher Education Administrators’ Decision Making Styles .................................................. 543

Hasan Kaplan, Melike Nazlı Kaplan

Beliefs in Miraculous Healing and Religiosity among Medical Students and Physicians..... 551

Aslı Yurttaş, Gizem Hatipoğlu

A Critic on the Neoconservatism in Turkish Education System ............................................ 561

Durmuş Özbaşı, Ergül Demir

Adaptation of Research Self-efficacy Scale into Turkish: Reliability and Validity .............. 569
Saffet Ocak, Ömer Gider
Conceptual View on the Relationship Between Social Weel-Being and Health Status ........ 581

Ufuk Saridede, Malik Dogan

Evaluation of Candida English Teachers’ Perception of Professional Self Efficacy With
Respect to Variables ............................................................................................................... 587
 Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach: Selcuk University
Example

Havva Nur Tarakcı, Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı

1. Introduction

The emergence of social media tools has been provided by the developments in Internet
technology and consequently the widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies. Social media can be
defined as websites that allow a deeper social interaction, formation of community, and
collaboration, which are built on Web 2.0 technologies (Kocer and Cetinkaya, 2014).
Social media gives the opportunity for individuals to explain their thoughts and feelings
with different mediums. Thus, individuals keep their tendencies to make and continue a contact
by sharing with social media tools. Social media is a dynamic and living platform in different
from traditional media, and everyone has equally right to use and speak (Yamamoto &
Sekeroglu, 2014). By these features, social media add value to the satisfaction of individuals.
By the world’s first advanced touch screen mobile phone entered into the service of the
users in 2007, a new era has started in the field of mobile technology. In this new era, users
play an active role in the production of media contents thanks to smartphones that provide the
features of computer-phone-camera-video camera for users in one single vehicle.
Instagram, which offers photo sharing and filtering possibilities in mobile devices
(Hochman & Schwartz, 2012) and also is a social media application within the scope of web
2.0 applications, attracts attention in terms of providing the capability to deliver instant sharing
for such images as photographs or videos that users take. When asked what Instagram is,
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger make a statement as follows: “Instagram
is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo
with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep
around forever. We're building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your friends'
lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through photos.”
(Instagram, 2016).
There is an increase every day in the number of users of Instagram which makes it
possible to store and share multimedia contents, allows individuals contribute to not only
consume content but also actively produce content, and in another saying, which is “a content-
based application generated by user” (User Generated Content) (Kaplan & Haenlin, 2010).
When looked at the measurements made in this area to understand the dimensions of the social
media considered as a ‘revolution in communication’, Instagram, which can be defined as a
niche lifestyle, a social media application that has 400 million monthly active users. Averagely
70 million photos are daily uploaded, and they take 2.5 billion likes. Nearly 16 billion photos
have been shared since 2010. More than 75% of Instagram users live outside the United States.
Recently, more than half of 100 million users registered on Instagram live in Europe and Asia
(Facebook, 2015 and http://blogs.wsj.com, 04.05.2016). Also, it is reported that there are 37.7
million active Internet users in Turkey in 2015 and 40 million active social media accounts, and
it has a 12% share in the rates of social network usage (www.wearesocial.com, 2015).
Instagram, which came into our lives in 2010, has been purchased by Facebook in
exchange for $ 1 billion in 2012. While it was an application that could be used only on IOS
for free in the first years, it was harmonized with Android (2012) and the Windows (2013)
operating system in the next years. Instagram has such features like follow/followers, photos,
video uploading (15 sec.), liking the photos of people followed, leaving comments on photos,
labelling (hashtag #), sending direct message/photos, tagging location on a photo shared (@),
exploring sends, proposing similar users when starting to follow a user, searching for people-
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locations-labels, and following the comments and like of people who are followed. It offers
several use advantages like ability to set privacy preferences, to share a shared image
simultaneously on Facebook, Twitter, Swarm Flickr, and Tumblr, and 29 different language
options from English to Chinese.
Instagram, as well as other social media applications, has an important place in our lives
as a social media application that people use in order to satisfy their curiosity and motivation.
While people meet certain requirements using the media, they psychologically relax at the same
time by their satisfaction and began to reduce their psychological tensions. In this context, we
see Uses and Gratifications Approach (McQuail and Windahl, 1997: 168), which is based on
which people should focus on the contents offered by the mass media to fulfill their certain
needs and to satisfy and which stresses that people are active audiences in the consumption of
media. The question of “what do people make with media?” rather than the question of “what
do media make people?” is the basic starting point of approach. The assumptions of Uses and
Gratifications Approach has been guiding the study in terms of making an explanation about
which requirements college students try to fulfill by using Instagram and how a gratification
they get as a result.
The question is also the subject of the research why individuals want to become in this
environment because of the great number of users of social media sites and a popular medium
of communication in recent years. In spite of a popular social network today, it is possible to
say that fewer researches have focused on Instagram until now. In the study done by Zachary
McCune in 2011, who researched the cause of motivations that users use Instagram and make
sharing in this network, six types of user motivation were identified. These motivations are
stated as sharing, documentation, seeing, community, creativity, and therapy.
Despite a lot of studies in this area are carried out in terms of determining the motivations
of use of social media, this study makes sense because of the lack of studies based on Instagram,
and it is thought that the study contributes to the field

2. Methodology

In this section, it is given a place to evaluations on the purpose, model, population, and sample
of research and to which methods are benefitted to collect data. This study examines Instagram
user behavior of college students and with which motivations they use Instagram by the
screening method.
The main objective of this study is to put forward Instagram use motivations of college
students in the context of Uses and Gratifications Approach. For this purpose, the study will
seek to answer the following questions:
1. What are the Instagram use behaviors of students?
2. With which motivations the students are using Instagram?
3. What is the relationship of the Instagram use motivations with genders, departments,
and classes of students?

While the universe of research is the students of Faculty of Communication of Selcuk

University, the sample of research is 270 students selected via quota sample. Quotas were
constituted according to numbers of students of departments while selecting the quota sample,
and a certain number of students from every department was included in the scope of research.
As a result of the evaluation of the questionnaires under research and the elimination of
inaccurate and incomplete surveys, 240 questionnaires were included in the analysis.
In the study, it was used data collection form that aims at assessing the participants'
behaviors and motivations of Instagram use. While forming the data collection form, it was
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Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

benefitted from the studies of (Oloo, 2013 and Çemrek et al., 2014). The questions on the data
collection form are consist of the questions to determine the participants' demographic
characteristics, Instagram use behaviors, and Instagram use motivations. The obtained data
were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 statistical software.

3. Findings

In this part of the study, there are the results of field study related to demographic characteristics
of college students and their Instagram use behaviors and motivations.

3.1. Characteristics of Subjects

While 47.5% of the students surveyed are women, 52.5% of them are men. 27.1% of
participants are the students of Public Relations and Publicity, 25% are Journalism, 24.6% are
Radio, Television and Cinema, and 23.3% are the Advertising Department. If we look at the
grades of students, 35.4% of them are 4th grade, 25% are 2nd grade, 20.4% are 3rd grade, and
19.2% are 1st grade. Because the research was done on college students, the ages of the
participants range from 18 to 22.
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Havva Nur Tarakcı, Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı

Table 1-Instagram Use Behaviors

Std.
Mean Deviation
I love to share photos on Instagram. 4,4051 3,39186
I love to look at the pictures on Instagram. 4,3249 ,75908
I love to watch videos on Instagram. 4,2051 ,78109
I think there is a fun world on Instagram. 4,0733 1,02724
I look through the photos of topics interesting to me on Instagram. 4,0219 ,95005
I think Instagram is a social media tool easy to use. 4,0169 ,99345
I follow topics/people/groups interesting to me on Instagram. 4,0129 2,19500
I share photos/videos, which I myself take, on Instagram because I want people to see. 3,9103 1,02148
I make sharing because I just love to share on Instagram. 3,7692 1,10313
I love to share my personal photos on Instagram. 3,7265 1,11273
I find it very entertaining to share photo or video on Instagram. 3,6962 1,10876
I love to take a photo by my smartphone and to share these photos in filtering. 3,6582 1,15222
I love and prefer more to share on Instagram than such other social media tools as Facebook 3,6059 1,19636
or Twitter.
I enjoy from seeing others’ photos on Instagram. 3,5949 1,11065
I follow the famous people’s profiles and activities on Instagram. 3,5000 5,00303
I make sharing because I want to share my special moments on Instagram. 3,4979 3,61098
I love to share my experiences on Instagram. 3,4851 1,19239
There is definitely a definition that states me on Instagram profile. 3,4565 1,30679
I enjoy my friends tag me in their photos on Instagram. 3,4553 1,15522
I love to share a video on Instagram. 3,4515 1,19443
I love to like others’ sharing and/or comment on their shares on Instagram. 3,3915 1,15096

I use Instagram to observe them because my social circle is on Instagram. 3,3319 1,20560

I share others’ photos/videos on Instagram that I like because I want people to see them. 3,2839 1,26824
I use Instagram because my family and friends use Instagram. 3,0684 1,38183
It is important to me that my friends, member of Instagram, are much in number. 3,0388 3,01271
The number of people, member of Instagram, is important to me. 2,8095 1,30820
I’m doing my sharing on Instagram to be appreciated. 2,7895 1,31393
I have more friends on Instagram that daily normal life. 2,6926 1,38811
I make sharing on Instagram to get a feedback. 2,5992 1,20190
I love to participate in the contests held on Instagram 2,5636 1,31771
Number of followers on Instagram is important to me. 2,5385 1,35240
I’m doing my sharing on Instagram to be commented. 2,3291 1,26613
I make sharing in order to become more popular on Instagram. 2,2161 1,27493
I make sharing on Instagram in order to number of my followers to increase. 2,1356 1,17358

When the table showing the descriptive statistics of Instagram use behaviors, it is
observed that the highest mean in terms of participation belongs to expressions related to
visually. The expression of “I love to share photos on Instagram” has been an expression with
a mean of 4.40 that the students attach importance at most. The expressions of “I love to look
at the pictures on Instagram” with a mean of 4.32, “I love to watch videos on Instagram” with
a mean of 4.20, “I think there is a fun world on Instagram” with a mean of 4.07, and “I look
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Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

through the photos of topics interesting to me on Instagram” with a mean of 4.02 are other
expressions that the participants attach importance.
The rise of the results about the visuals agree with primarily the use of photo on Instagram
and other social media applications as an expression of person’s expression. A photo on
Instagram is shared first of all as evidence of personal experiences and the living moment.
Individuals can make themselves visible through the photos to the social environment (Larsen
and Cruz, 2009: 215).
In addition, the expressions related to sharing and liking/enjoyment are listed with the
mean value of over 3. Some of these statements are as follows: The expressions of “I share
photos/videos, which I myself take, on Instagram because I want people to see” has a mean of
3.91; “I make sharing because I just love to share on Instagram”, 3.76; “I love to share my
personal photos on Instagram”, 3.72; “I love to take a photo by my smartphone and to share
these photos in filtering”, 3.66; and “I love and prefer more to share on Instagram than such
other social media tools as Facebook or Twitter”, 3.60.
The lowest mean among expressions related to Instagram use behavior belongs to “I make
sharing on Instagram in order to number of my followers to increase” with a mean of 2.13,
“I’m doing my sharing on Instagram to be commented” with a mean of 2.33, and “I make
sharing in order to become more popular on Instagram” with a mean of 2.22. This case shows
that students do not give too much importance to share in order to attract attention to the use of
Instagram.

3.2. Instagram Use Motivations

The factor analysis has been applied in accordance with the answers replied to 47 items held by
the Likert scale to determine the Instagram Use Motivations of subjects, and it has been seen
three groups of factor to be treated. In the classification and evaluation factor groups, the
varimax rotation table has been taken into account. The eigenvalue of items introduced into the
factor analysis is greater than 1, and its minimum load size has been used as 0.30 criterion. The
reliability coefficient of the items included in the factor analysis (Cronbach’s α= ,850) has been
higher generally. Three factors resulted in the analysis explain 48.80% of the total variance in
the Instagram Use Motivations. Table 2 shows the results of analyses in more detail.

Table 2-Factor Analysis Results on Instagram Use and Gratifications (Principal Component
Analysis, Varimax Rotation N = 240)
I use Instagram Because Mean Standart Load Eigen Variance α
Deviation Values

Sharing / Communication 6,22 17,69 ,813

With Instagram, I’m able to see photos and 3,87 ,947 ,712
video shares of my followers whenever I want.

With Instagram, I’m able to like shares done 3,66 1,202 ,676
and comment that I want.

I’m able to share my visuals with people who 3,36 1,251 ,672
cannot see photos and video that I take in the
daily life on Instagram.

With Instagram, people who have common 3,52 1,187 ,643

interests can follow me.

I’m able to share the visual that I want on 3,67 1,071 ,642
Instagram.
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Havva Nur Tarakcı, Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı

With Instagram, I’m able to follow people who 3,60 1,201 ,619
have common interests.

I'm having a fun time on Instagram 4,13 ,908 ,567

I’m able to be in constant communication with 3,37 1,176 ,525

Instagram.

I consider my leisure on Instagram. 3,93 ,902 ,400

Social Escape 2,55 17,06 ,836

Not to be on Instagram is defined as a lack by 2,63 1,340 ,793
my environment.

My confidence increases when my shares are 2,95 1,311 ,738

liked and commented on Instagram.

I’m able to make sharing with a different user 2,60 1,379 ,691
name on Instagram without using my own
identity.

I’m getting rid of the feeling of loneliness on 2,79 1,244 ,675

Instagram.

While sharing on Instagram, I feel myself 2,98 1,317 ,668

more comfortable according to the daily life.

As long as I’m followed on Instagram, I feel 2,87 1,364 ,574

myself special and important. I like to be
visible.

Information 1,46 14,04 ,754

I'm interested in popular things on Instagram. 3,52 1,200 ,675

I’m able to have instantly updated information 3,34 1,218 ,672

about the famous people’s activities who I
follow with Instagram.

I’m able to look at the hashtags of matters 3,45 1,279 ,667

about which I’m curious.

I’m able to follow trends with Instagram. 3,35 1,193 ,633

Total Variance Explained: 48.80

Cronbach's α = ,850
KMO Measure of Sampling Adequacy: ,848
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity x 2 = 1805.53 p = ,000

The first motivation was called “Share/Communication”. As a result of analysis, it was

determined 9 items that explain the first factor and of which loads are over 0.40. The items in
this factor have the mean values and higher standard deviation values higher than 3. The value
of reliability of the factor of “Share/Communication” is (Cronbach's α = ,813), and the eigen
value is in such satisfactory level as 6,22. The first factor explains the 17.69% of the total
variance by alone. Some of the expressions under this factor that contain about sharing as
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Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

follows: “With Instagram, I’m able to like shares done and comment that I want”, “I’m able to
share the visual that I want on Instagram”, and “With Instagram, I’m able to see photos and
video shares of my followers whenever I want”. Some of expressions related to
“Communication” are follows: “I’m able to be in constant communication with Instagram”,
“With Instagram, I’m able to follow people who have common interests”, and “With Instagram,
people who have common interests can follow me”.
The second factor obtained from the analysis are called “Social Escape”. The items
showing the factor of “Social Escape” are listed as follows, “Not to be on Instagram is defined
as a lack by my environment”, “My confidence increases when my shares are liked and
commented on Instagram”, “I’m able to make sharing with a different user name on Instagram
without using my own identity”, “I’m getting rid of the feeling of loneliness on Instagram”,
“While sharing on Instagram, I feel myself more comfortable according to the daily life”, and
“As long as I’m followed on Instagram, I feel myself special and important. I like to be visible”.
The means of the expressions in this factor range from 2.6 to 2.98, and their standard
deviations vary between 1.24 and 1.37. This situation shows that the participants paid less
attention towards participation to the expressions under this factor. The reliability coefficient
of the factor of “Social Escape” that explains 17,06% of the total variance is (Cronbach's α =
,836), and its eigen value is 2.55.
The last factor called “Information” brought together the items that tend to see Instagram
as a information tool. The means of expressions under this factor vary between 3.35 and 3.52.
The factor of information which is constituted by 4 items having minimum 0,633 and maximum
0,675 in terms of load values explains the 14.04% of the total variance. The reliability
coefficient of “Information Factor” is (Cronbach’s α=,754), and its eigen value is 1.46.

3.3. Relations Between Factors and Variables

The scores of these factors were registered as one each variable by the aim of revealing the
relationship between the factors of “Share/Communication”, “Social Escape”, and
“Information” and various variables. Then, it was evaluated the significance of differences
among averages over the scores of the factors in mention via students’ gender, one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA), and Independent Samples T-Test.

Table 3: Differences Between Gender and Factors

Share/Communication Gender Mean Standart T-Test
Deviation
Female 48,44 10,370 t p
Male 51,41 9,129 -2,36 ,019
Social Escape Gender Mean SD T-Test
Female 47,65 9,434 t p
Male 52,12 9,732 -3,61 ,000
Information Gender Mean SD T-Test
Female 51,61 11,037 t p
Male 48,54 8,374 2,44 ,015

Like outlined in Table 3, the factors were classified in terms of the students’ gender.
According to the results of Independent Samples T-Test Analysis, there is a statistically
significant difference between the motivations of Gender and Share/Communication. While the
mean of males is 51.44, the mean of females is 48.44. This conclusion shows that males attach
more importance than females in terms of sharing or communicating on Instagram. There is a
significant correlation between the motivations of Gender and Social Escape. This negative
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Havva Nur Tarakcı, Nagihan Tufan Yeniçıktı

correlation (t = -3.61 p <0.05) has an inverse relationship. As the mean of females is 47,65, the
mean of males is 52.12. Males attach more importance to Instagram use as a motivation of
Social Escape. There is a statistically significant correlation between the motivations of Gender
and Information. Females see Instagram as a tool of information. The mean of females in this
motivation is 51,61 and their standard deviations are 11.04. The mean of males is 48,54 and
their standard deviations are 8,37.

3.4. Differences Between Department and Factors

When examined the one-way analysis results of variance (ANOVA) that are related to whether
the importance attached to the motivations of students’ departments and Instagram use by
students becomes different or not, it could not be found a significant difference between the
motivations of students’ Department and Share/Communication (F = 1.557 p =, 201), Social
Scape (F = 1.017 p =, 386), and Information (F = 0.693 p =, 557). The departments of students
do not affect their Instagram use motivations (p> 0.05).

3.5. Differences Between Class/Grade and Factors

When examined the one-way analysis results of variance (ANOVA) that are related to whether
the importance attached to the motivations of students’ grades and Instagram use by students
becomes different or not, there is a significant difference between the motivation of
Share/Communication and Students’ Grades (F = 2.715 p =, 046). As a result of analysis of
variance carried out, it was found 2,715 F Value. The resulting variance reveals a significant
difference. In order to test the source of difference, Tukey Test was applied. According to the
analysis scores, the average difference between 3rd grade and 4th grade is a significant
difference. The average of third class students is 52.78. The third class students attach more
importance to the motivation of Share/Communication than the students in another grade for
the use of Instagram.
There is not a significant difference between Social Escape Motivation (F = 1.600 p =,
190) and Information Motivation (F = 504 p =, 680) with students’ grades. The 1,600 F Value,
which was found for Social Escape, and 0.504 F Value, which was found for the Information
Motivation, as a result of analysis are not a significant difference in the significance level of
0.05.

4. Conclusion

This study has aimed to determine the Instagram use behaviors and motivations of college
students moving from the perspective of Uses and Gratifications. It is thought while students
meet certain requirements by the use of Instagram, they relax with gratification that they get,
and seek to reduce their psychological stress at the same time.
According to the results of our research, it emerges that students use Instagram more for
photo / video sharing but they do not attach too much importance to the subjects of collecting
likes, increasing the number of follower, and being popular in the network.
It has determined that students use Instagram with three different motivations, and these
motivations have been called “Sharing/Communication”, “Social Escape”, and “Information”.
It is quite natural that human being becomes in a social network by the aim of
Sharing/Communication as a social being and uses this network in the most effective way. As
for Social Escape explains that students who overwhelmed by the tedious and overwhelming
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Instagram in the Context of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

pace of the day take place on Instagram in dressing up with different identities, contact with
their followers and make sharing. Students aim to psychologically satisfy themselves in this
way getting rid of the feeling of loneliness. Information Motivation expresses that students are
able to exchange information via Instagram and do research/ analysis.
Among these factors, students attach importance to the factor of “Share/Communication”
at most. When the Instagram use motivations of students are evaluated on the basis of gender,
department, and class/grade, it has been found a significant difference between gender and the
factors (share/communication, social escape, and information). While males attach more
importance to the motivations of share/communication and social escape, females attach more
importance to the motivation of information. As it can be understood from this result, while
males use Instagram more weightily to share, female use it as a tool of information / research
/ analysis. It could not be found a significant difference between the departments in which
students study and the factors. It has reached a significant difference between students’ classes
and the factor of share/communication. The students in the upper-class give more importance
to share.
As a result, the majority of students intensively use social media, and Instagram use
increases every day. While students use Instagram as a socialization and communication tool,
they can have a chance to express themselves not only in the word but also photographs thanks
to Instagram. As Instagram enriches communications with these advantages, it offers significant
contributions to the communication activities of students. Students in this way get away from
daily problems for a moment and shift to the charm of virtual world. Students use the visual
communication in the most effective way and gain different gratifications as active users of this
new communication era that we live in.
In this study, it was conducted a general review about Instagram use behaviors and
motivations of the students. In the further studies to be carried out after this study, it can be
researched the use motivations of individuals from different age groups. Furthermore, this study
conducted on the students of Selcuk University can be done on the students in another
universities and the results of two studies can be compared with each other. It should be noted
that, taking the findings of previous studies into consideration and making comparisons are
extremely important in terms of contributing to the development of the field.

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