Abstract
Taiwan is the most mobile country in the world with the highest smartphone user penetration of any country. College students grew up with smart phones, using mobile applications or social media apps, in Taiwan in particular, 84.2% of the population used Youtube as a major source of video platform, providing users to watch, create and share videos. With the vast array of contents, normal users became active Followers, keeping track of Youtubers and their content regularly. This is most evident among college students with continuous viewing with Youtube videos after videos. Uses and gratifications theory (UGT) provided the theoretical framework for the current study, UGT is an audience-centered approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. Research Questions: What are the uses and gratifications obtained and sought with Youtube among college students in Taiwan? Method: Web survey with stratified sampling of Taiwanese college students (n=7,717) were conducted, uses and gratifications measures were adapted to measure Youtube uses and gratifications obtained and sought. Results: it was found that over 60% of the respondents spent more than 2 hours watching Youtube daily , and regular use of Youtube provided entertainment gratifications to users. Specifically, cognitive needs, emotional needs, stress relieve, charisma of Youtubers, interactivity were five major gratifications sought and were positively correlated to continuous viewing motivation and behavior. For a minority of heavy users or continuous viewing of Youtube can be problematic in the long run. Research limitations and future research were addressed.
Author Information
Josephine Nio, Southern Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Anthony Huang, National University of Sport, Taiwan
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