Uses and gratifications of social networking use: Associations with social capital and subjective well-being

BACKGROUND: In recent years, social media has surged in popularity and affected every facet of people’s lives from the office environment to leisure time by transforming their lifestyles and influencing well-being. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social networking usage on the subjective well-being of users by first determining the key gratifications that motivate them to use social networking sites by applying the uses and gratification theory, and then focusing on psychological outcomes such as social capital that affect their subjective well-being. METHOD: The data were collected from 400 students of reputed universities in North India by adopting a judgemental sampling technique. RESULTS: Results indicated that key gratifications such as entertainment, tension release, personal integration, information seeking, emotional connection and socialization played a significant role in social networking usage. Moreover, social networking usage had a significant impact on bonding social capital, bridging social capital and subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, results showed that bonding social capital, and bridging social capital could significantly mediate the relationship between social networking usage and subjective well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Social networking usage has the potential to promote social capital and subjective well-being by addressing the fundamental needs of users in life.