A Model of Social Media Engagement

A good measure of a user’s engagement on a social media site then consists of how elaborate their profile is, in terms of the kind and amount of information they have provided as well as the frequency of profile updates (action and participation). [...] This indicates that perhaps investments in one’s profile (presentation of self ) and frequency and range of posts (action and participation) can lead to higher levels of social capital in terms of network size (social context) and increased social motivation for social media use (uses and gratifications). [...] Social media engagement is in part stimulated by others’ presentation of self and action and participation: the provision of interesting tidbits of information, stories, and reports and the inclusion of popular culture that a user may otherwise 206 L. McCay-Peet and A. Quan-Haase have missed. [...] Social media sites enable user-specific information dissemination and facilitate discussion of relevant topics that further feed the information available to its user base and create the kind of social context—dynamic and information rich—that has the potential to attract and maintain user interest and a high degree of engagement. [...] Social media engagement has been shown to be linked to the emotionality of the content presented on these sites, including (1) the emotions associated with the presentation of self, and (2) the emotions that result from various levels of action and participation [34].