Abstract :

Emergence of social media has changed the communication among all the spheres of individual's life. The study examines the use of social media platforms, namely Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, what'sapp, wechat among the print and electronic media journalists working in Hyderabad city. It also finds out the 1% rule of thumb in comparison with the participation of print and electronic media journalists. A survey approach is used to understand why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. Why do Journalists use media and what do they use them for? Users and Gratification Theory (UGT) discusses how users deliberately choose media that will satisfy given needs and allow one to enhance knowledge, relaxation, social interactions/companionship, diversion, or escape. The social media audience members are not passive consumers of media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and assumes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. Unlike other theoretical perspectives, UGT holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their desires and needs to achieve gratification. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification. The study has utilized primary data from journalists of print and electronic through random sampling method.

Keywords :

Social media, 1% rule of thumb, Users and gratification, social interaction, print media and electronic media.

INTRODUCTION

New developments in the technological world have made the internet an innovative way for individuals and families to communicate. Social media networks have created a phenomenon on the internet that has gained popularity over the last decade People use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace to create and sustain relationships with others (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). These social media sites let those who use them to create personal profiles, while connecting with other users of the sites. Users can upload photographs, post what they are doing at any given time, and send personal or public messages to whomever they choose. In this “information age,” social media sites seem to be growing in popularity rapidly, especially among young adults (Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2008). For many connected users in India, access to the Internet is primarily for accessing social media networks. According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), 66% of the 180 million Internet users in urban India regularly access social media platforms. The most popular activities on social media include maintaining one's own virtual profile on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, posting and sharing an update as well as replying to something a friend has posted. While college students (33%) form the largest demographic of active social media users in India, working women and non-working women register just 7% and 11% respective share in that user base(Live mint, 2016). Many of these young adults use social media networks to communicate with family, friends, and even strangers. Social media sites have created new and nonpersonal ways for people to interact with others and young adults have taken advantage of this technological trend.

The role of social media as a tool of communication and has created new ways of mobilizing public opinion and encouraging participation in political and civic activities ranging from joining social groups, posting short messages on Twitter, expressing support for social movements (Anitha kaluvoya, 2015)

Here're the major India milestones in web, mobile, and social media usage.

• India now has 462 million active internet users (out of a global total of 3.63 billion)
• Internet usage is growing in India at a rate of 90 percent, while the global average is just 19 percent
• India's web users have 153 million active social media accounts (from a global tally of 2.43 billion)
• India has 1.01 billion mobile connections
• India has 153 million social media users, of which 130 million are on mobile.
• India's active social media users are up by 23 percent since March 2015, compared to 26 percent global rise.
• Mobile subscriptions in India grew only by 7 percent Arto, a social network site was divided into four overarching categories that cover different features on the site (Malene Charlotte Larsen):
• The personal and branding related features (such as the profile, the picture gallery, the blog, the notice board etc.).
• The social and contact enabling features (such as the guest book, the debate forum, the clubs etc.).
• Entertainment (such as games, videos, jokes etc.).
• Support and practical information (such as rules, safety guidelines and support section) (Larsen, 2005; Larsen, 2007a).

Components of Social Media

Frakes (2010) mention that social media can be said to have three components:

1. Concept (art, information, or meme);
2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal);
3. Social interface (intimate, direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print).

Telangana State The 29 state of the Indian subcontinent and has major metropolitan city i.e. Hyderabad. The state capital is the center for all international, national, and state media houses.

Significance of Study

This field of study is important because sociability is an underlying theme in using forms of social media. Since this social media phenomenon is continuing to grow at a fast pace, it is important to understand the usage pattern among journalists whose objective is to update the information seekers. Social media has become a convenient tool for the media personnel to get information for news coverage and also updating the news to the viewers or readers. Presently the print medium newspapers have not only gone online, but having exclusive mobile applications which will flash news alerts. It's the same case in television channels, the channels are also having mobile applications which are also providing news not only in video format but also in text. At this juncture it's a challenge for the journalist to be techno savvy and keep on updating the news by linking up information sources through social media.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Megan Sponcil and Priscilla Gitimu in the study on Use of social media by college students: Relationship to communication and self-concept has examined social media use among college students and how it affects communication with others, and college students' selfconcept. The findings provide implications for future research on why these social networking sites have gained popularity.

Thomas E. Ruggiero (2000) in the article Uses and st Gratifications Theory in the 21 Century has asserted that the emergence of computer-mediated communication has revived the significance of uses and gratifications. He also explained the necessary of inclusion of concepts like interactivity, demassification, hypertextuality, and asynchroneity in Contemporary and future models and researchers should also explore interpersonal and qualitative aspects of mediated communication in a more holistic methodology.

Anitha kaluvoya (2015) in the paper Social Media Use by Political Parties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has contended the use of social media by political parties in the newly formed states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana's general elections, 2014. The study found that the reach and influence of social media at national level is more when compared with regional level. The study concluded Social networking sites have been given lesser importance in both the states.

Malene Charlotte Larsen in the study Online Social networking: from local experience to Global Discourses has explored use of social network sites and different experiences of Danish teenagers in the use of social networking technologies. The author has demonstrated how young people relate not only to a local context, but also a broader societal level when addressing the issues of online behaviour.

Lauren Campbell and et al (2016) in the study Social media use by physicians: a qualitative study of the new frontier of medicine has examined that Participants identified multiple perceived benefits and barriers to social media use by physicians; further, four major themes were identified. First, participants often saw themselves as rugged individualists who set their own rules for social media health communications. Second, participants expressed uncertainty about boundaries or strategies for social media use. Third, participants described using social media much like traditional media, as a one-way communication platform, rather than as an interactive forum. Finally, participants expressed disparate views regarding the time involved in participating in social media; some felt that time spent on social media was unproblematic to fit into their day while others felt that it was an impediment to patient care.

Ioannis Leftheriotis and Michail N. Giannakos (2014) in the study Using social media for work: Losing your time or improving your work has contended that in the case of social media for work, employees make extended use of them no matter their age, also that both utilitarian and hedonic values influence employees to use more social media for their work, at least in the insurance sector. The study confirms that there is an important relation between the use of social media and the work performance.

Charles O. Omekwu and et al (2014) in the study The Use of Social Networking Sites among the Undergraduate Students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka has examined that mostly all the student were using the social networking sites in interaction with friends, connecting to their class mates for online study and for discussing serious national issues and watching movies etc. the study recommended that university Authorities should organize seminars to enlighten students on the not-so good aspects of social networking sites etc.

Sue Burzynski Bullard (2015) in the study of Editors Use Social Media Mostly to Post Story Links has examined that editors use social media, they primarily use it to post links to stories on Facebook and Twitter. Far fewer use social media to interact with audiences by posing questions and responding to comments.

S.M. Al-Jubayer (2013) in the study The Use of Social Networking Sites among Teenagers: A Study of Facebook Use in Dhaka City has identified two distinctive categories of teen engagement with digital media: friendship-driven and interest -dr iven. Whi le f r iendship-dr iven participation centered on “hanging out” with existing friends, interest-driven participation involved accessing online information and communities that may not be present in the local peer group.

Zizi Papacharissi () in the paper Uses and gratifications presents that the strength of the perspective lies in its ability to describe, explain and expect media uses and consequences. The flexibility of the theoretical model proposes progresses from the motives and individual dispositions to patterns use and possible cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral effects.

Shannon Greenwood and et al (2016) in the Social media Update by Pew Research Center has presented the research update of social media usage over the past decade. Also the usage and demographics of media platforms.

ACE Professional Development Grant (2013) conducted 53 surveys to study how reporters use social media about the use of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and blogs, allowing us to gain some insight in how general and agricultural reporters use social media. And the study found that younger journalists were more apt to be using social media for news gathering and disseminating, while the older reporters were more likely to use it only when forced to by their employer. there was an exception to this rule. One editor who might be defined as “older” is considered an innovative leader in the use of social media, for both information gathering and story dissemination.

Marcus White (2014) in the study Twitter And Television: A Uses & Gratifications Study Of Twitter Usage And Television Viewing results identified the motivations of relaxation and escape, companionship and social interaction, and entertainment and enjoyment as similar for television and Twitter. The motivations for insight and information and collecting knowledge or learning were not similar for television and Twitter.

Jacques Richard Ludovic Froget and et al (2013) in the study on Uses and Gratification Perspective on Social Media Usage and Online Marketing explores the use of Facebook in Mauritius under the lens of the famous Uses and Gratifications theory. The study also looks into the socio-demographic characteristics of Facebook users in Mauritius and how the differences might effect on its usage. It is discovered that there is a difference in Facebook use between groups of different monthly income level.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study is exploratory in nature and used survey method with a structured questionnaire to collect the data.

Research Questions

The following questions are explored in the study :

1. To study the social media usage patterns of journalists working in print and electronic mediums in Hyderabad.
2. To understand the social media usage in comparison with Print and Electronic media Journalists

Sample

The sample for this study is categorized into individuals working in Print and Electronic medium in Hyderabad, Telangana State, India. The sample was selected on Random basis. The analysis in this paper utilizes surveybased data collected from over 60 media personnel in total (Print medium-30 and Electronic-30). Considering the literacy of the respondents, the self-administered survey questionnaire was in the English language. The respondents are working in major newspaper dailies and electronic channels in Hyderabad. Most of them are from secretariat beat.

Measures

To measure the variables, a standard questionnaire was used in the literature. Respondents were requested to rate the items on a five-point Likert scale which ranged from Never (1) to Very Often (5), and also very uncomfortable (1) to very comfortable (4). The questionnaire consisted of both open ended and close ended questions to understand the usage pattern of the journalists.

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Users & Gratifications theory was earlier used in the traditional media settings such as newspaper and television. Later with the advancements in technology researchers applied the same theory on new media. A key characterizing feature of new media is interactivity, which enables the users to provide content in response to a source or communication partner.

According to theorists, human need gratification can be categorized into five groups.

• Cognitive needs - information sharing, acquiring knowledge from the surrounding, exploring and
• curiosity to know. The study reveals that electronic media journalists share more information than print media journalists. the feature of exploring things is more in electronic journalists.
• Affective needs - Pleasure, emotional experiences. In the usage analysis the electronic media journalists are more expressive and share emotional experience through various posts, updating information on the social media. They are most of the time connected to social network sharing their emotions with the friends/ family/ co-workers. Journalists working in both the mediums experience the pleasure of watching information on the social network, chatting, sharing information but electronic media journalists experience more compared to print.
• Personal identity - develops social status, improve selfconfidence, need for self-respect. The print and electronic media journalists provide their identity on social network by providing information such as mail id, mobile number, posting photos and views. The electronic media journalists apart from information share their pictures, videos and also location. And electronic media journalists are very comfortable in sharing such information. They also actively participate in commenting the posts, videos.
• Integration and social Interaction - build family and friends, connect with the outside world. Social media is the major platform to improve social interaction. It also connects the individual with the outside world with bulks of information. The media personnel are majorly attracted towards social media due to its feature of ins tant acces s to informat ion, communicating with friends, providing platform to participate in discussion boards and present one's views.
• Escapism - the need to escape from unpleasant activities to pleasant. The integration of media i.e. use of mobile phone with smart features have enabled the user to divert himself from the ambience he/she at. The escapism in this context is the individual is more informative about worldly happenings and incidents and busy in updating the information. Literally escaping from the activities and ambience happening around the individual. The media personnel are busy in social media to know events information and also competing with one another in providing breaking news details to the concerned office as early as

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

USAGE PATTERN

CONCLUSION

The study brings out an understanding that usage of social media is extensive in journalists working in electronic media compared to print medium. All the respondents working in both print and electronic medium think that social media does not give authentic information. Some respondents have disliking features in social media like containing embarrassing pictures and material, an excess of information, false information, gossips and unnecessary greetings, applications clutter, the unwanted appearance of porno content, unnecessary links and advertisement material, duplicate WhatsApp posts. The respondents like the feature of LIVE on social media and suggested to have an application which can magnify the farthest objects. The electronic medium journalists spend more hours on social media, frequently upload information, comment, react. In Internet culture, the 1% rule is rules of thumb pertaining to participation in an internet community, stating that only 1% of the users of a website actively create new content, while other 99% of the participants only lurk. Accordingly, electronic media journalists are active participants in using social media compared to journalists working in print media.

REFERENCES

• Megan Sponcil and Priscilla Gitimu in the study on Use of social media by college students : Relationship to communication and self-concept, Journal of Technology Research.
• Ruggiero E Thomas (2000). Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century. Mass Communication and society.
• Anitha kaluvoya(2015).Social Media Use by Political Parties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• Malene Charlotte Larsen.Online Social networking: from local experience to Global Discourses”.
• Lauren Campbell, Yolanda Evans, Megan Pumper and Megan A. Moreno (2016), Social media use by physicians: a qualitative study of the new frontier of medicine, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making .
• Charles O. Omekwu, Helen N. Eke, Nneka Jennifer Odoh (2014). The Use of Social Networking Sites among the Undergraduate Students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
• Sue Burzynski Bullard (2015). Use Social Media Mostly to Post Story Links.Newspaper Research Journal, 36(2).
• S.M. Al-Jubayer(2013).The Use of Social Networking Sites Among Teenagers: A Study of Facebook Use in Dhaka City. Journal of International Social issues, 2.
• Shannon Greenwood (2016) .Social media Update by Pew Research Center.
• ACE Professional Development Grant (2013) study on how reporters use social media.
• Marcus White (2014).Twitter And Television: A Uses & Gratifications Study Of Twitter Usage And Television Viewing.
• Jacques Richard Ludovic Froget and et al (2013) in the study on Uses and Gratification Perspective on Social Media Usage and Online Marketing, Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research.