The bandwagon effect on participation in and use of a social networking site

This study examined the bandwagon effect on participation in and use of one particular SNS — Facebook — using a Singapore–based sample of active Internet users. Building on theories addressing the social mechanisms of interactive or communicative technologies, we tested the postulation that the decision of individuals to participate in Facebook would be linked to their perceptions of how widely Facebook had been diffused either at large or among their off–line contacts. Regression analyses confirm this bandwagon tendency in Facebook participation. Moreover, multiple SNS users tended to use Facebook more than all other SNSs if they perceived that it penetrated their off–line contacts more widely. The results suggest that Internet users engage in SNSs to forge personal online networks in ways complying with real–world group proximity and their perception of the prevalence of adoption rather than making random or amorphous choices