The public introduction of social media such as Facebook and exponential growth of social media as a medium in the last twenty years has been unprecedented, revolutionizing interpersonal interactions between people and driving up internet growth rates. In Africa, mobile phones rapidly grew in popularity as the easiest and most affordable means for people to become connected online to be able to access it; with South African high-cost internet connectivity rates ten years ago being at about 25 – 30%, and present internet penetration rates at 74%. As recently as ten years ago, the top three mainstream social media networking sites (SNS) that were used in South Africa, were Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (now X), but are currently WhatsApp, Facebook, and TikTok. The ongoing changes in preferences of SNS need to be examined concerning the motivations behind people’s use and fulfilment of their use, supported by the uses and gratification theory. As part of a study evaluating interpersonal communication, 23 in-depth interviews were conducted to evaluate experiences on how participants keep in touch with their social circles. Participants reported how the ongoing rise of new SNSs has fragmented their attention and interests, making people feel less connected to each other leading to reduced content shared publicly. Seemingly the fewer participants SNS users post the lower their sense of connectedness, and the higher the likelihood of SNS use diminishing. Understanding how to SNS users’ online behavior changes as they seek to maintain personal connections and privacy is critical to communication practice.

Authors:
Karabo Sitto-Kaunda, University of Pretoria, South Africa

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Karabo Sitto-Kaunda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Business Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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