Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study investigated the relationship between Chinese college students' use of social media and their social activism. Data collected from a goup-administered survey of 309 undergraduate students at a large university in eastern China was used to answer four research questions. The results indicated that Chinese college students who used social media for information seeking were likely to participate in individual social activism. Besides, students who used social media for self-status seeking and information seeking were likely to participate in collective social activism. No significant correlation between entertainment motivation and social activism were found. Neither can socializing motivation predict Chinese college students' social activism. In addition, gender had an impact on individual social activism and frequency of social media use could affect both individual and collective social activism.
","abstract_html":"<p>Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study investigated the relationship between Chinese college students' use of social media and their social activism. Data collected from a goup-administered survey of 309 undergraduate students at a large university in eastern China was used to answer four research questions. The results indicated that Chinese college students who used social media for information seeking were likely to participate in individual social activism. Besides, students who used social media for self-status seeking and information seeking were likely to participate in collective social activism. No significant correlation between entertainment motivation and social activism were found. Neither can socializing motivation predict Chinese college students' social activism. In addition, gender had an impact on individual social activism and frequency of social media use could affect both individual and collective social activism.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gu, Xiaoting"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Qingwen Dong"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:36:46Z","subjects":["University of the Pacific Thesis;Social media China;Chinese students;Internet Social aspects China;Internet and activism;Mass media and culture China","Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social Influence and Political Communication","Social Media"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/839","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Qingwen Dong"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gu, Xiaoting"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2012-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["University of the Pacific Thesis;Social media China;Chinese students;Internet Social aspects China;Internet and activism;Mass media and culture China","Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social Influence and Political Communication","Social Media"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/839"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study investigated the relationship between Chinese college students' use of social media and their social activism. Data collected from a goup-administered survey of 309 undergraduate students at a large university in eastern China was used to answer four research questions. The results indicated that Chinese college students who used social media for information seeking were likely to participate in individual social activism. Besides, students who used social media for self-status seeking and information seeking were likely to participate in collective social activism. No significant correlation between entertainment motivation and social activism were found. Neither can socializing motivation predict Chinese college students' social activism. In addition, gender had an impact on individual social activism and frequency of social media use could affect both individual and collective social activism.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["62"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The influence of social media on chinese college students' social activism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Qingwen Dong"],"dc:creator":["Gu, Xiaoting"],"dc:date.available":["2012-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory, this study investigated the relationship between Chinese college students' use of social media and their social activism. Data collected from a goup-administered survey of 309 undergraduate students at a large university in eastern China was used to answer four research questions. The results indicated that Chinese college students who used social media for information seeking were likely to participate in individual social activism. Besides, students who used social media for self-status seeking and information seeking were likely to participate in collective social activism. No significant correlation between entertainment motivation and social activism were found. Neither can socializing motivation predict Chinese college students' social activism. In addition, gender had an impact on individual social activism and frequency of social media use could affect both individual and collective social activism.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/839"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:source":["62"],"dc:subject":["University of the Pacific Thesis;Social media China;Chinese students;Internet Social aspects China;Internet and activism;Mass media and culture China","Communication","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social Influence and Political Communication","Social Media"],"dc:title":["The influence of social media on chinese college students' social activism"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:36:46Z"}