Understanding Twitter Usage: What Drive People Continue to Tweet

Ivy L.B. Liu, City University of Hong Kong
Christy M.K. Cheung, Hong Kong Baptist University
Matthew K.O. Lee, City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

In this study, we proposed a research model to investigate the factors influencing users’ continuance intention to use Twitter. Building on the uses and gratification framework, we have proposed four types of gratifications for Twitter usage, including content gratification, technology gratification, process gratification, and social gratification. We conducted an online survey and collected 124 responses. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares. Our results showed that content gratifications and new technology gratification are the two key types of gratifications affecting the continuance intention to use Twitter. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications. We believe that this study will provide important insights for future research on Twitter.