Why Is One Social Media Platform Not Enough? A Typology of Platform-Swinging Behavior and Associated Affordance Preferences
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | Shanghai Jiao Tong University |
ANO | 2024 |
TIPO | Artigo |
PERIÓDICO | Social Media + Society |
ISSN | 2056-3051 |
E-ISSN | 2056-3051 |
DOI | 10.1177/20563051241254373 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
This study seeks to advance the scholarship on the phenomenon of social media platform-swinging in the context of the polymedia environment in China. Specifically, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of uses and gratifications and channel complementarity theory, we propose that the platform-swinging behavior is driven by users' various complementary and supplementary needs. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews, we identify four distinct types of platform-swinging behavior: social connecting, impression managing, information seeking, and aimless swinging. We further reveal that, depending on various complementary and supplementary needs, each type of platform-swinging behavior has distinct media affordance preferences. By profiling the distinct platform-swinging behaviors and examining their preferred affordances, the study advances our theoretical understanding of the dynamics between the polymedia ecology and users' gratifications.