Students of Tehran University and Internet Use: Uses and Gratifications

The main concern of this article is to examine Internet use by Tehran University students from the uses and gratifications perspective. In other words, how students use the Internet, and what needs they try to gratify. To understand this, an online questionnaire was designed and introduced to Internet users. The data was then analyzed. In this article regression analysis models were utilized to predict Internet usage. Principle component factor analysis resulted in five motives for using the Internet among respondents. Those were: information seeking, surveillance, entertainment, personal utility, and social interaction. Several variables were investigated in relation to the five motives, including; gender, year in school, Internet exposure, Internet affinity, and Internet satisfaction. Gender was found to be an important and significant factor; males were more likely to use the Internet for social interaction, and females were more likely to use it for seeking information. Freshmen were more likely to use the Internet for personal utility than seniors and graduate students. Internet affinity was significantly correlated with all Internet use motives. There was also a significant positive correlation between Internet satisfaction and Internet use motives for entertainment, surveillance, and information. Internet exposure was positively correlated to personal utility, social interaction, and entertainment. Exposure and satisfaction were significantly related to affinity, but not to each other