Blogging as a journalisticpractice: A model linkingperception, motivation,and behavior
Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Seth C. Lewis,Amber Willard, Sebastian Valenzuela, Jae Kook Lee and Brian Baresch
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Why bloggers blog: understanding motivation:
Motivation is not a concept with a singular definition, but instead is a system of inter-connected parts that function together – a foundation of factors that ‘energize, direct, and sustain human behavior’ (Steers and Porter, 1991). Motivation often arises from un fulfilled needs or wants. The drive to resolve those deficiencies results in the forma-tion of individual goals that lead to action – hence the cognition-motivation-behavior pattern found in most studies of human psychology.
In essence, one recognizes some-thing he or she desires, obtaining it becomes a goal, and that motivation guides behavior to fulfill the goal. Committing oneself to particular goals helps define self-identity, and maintaining that identity influences behavior (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982). Each act that reinforces self-identity contributes to an individual’s overall sense of purpose and meaning, and this meaning represents the combined outcome of one’s perception of the self and the motivations to achieve a goal (Klinger, 1977). Such ‘meaning-making’ is evidenced in various aspects of life. For bloggers, it drives their online experience by allowing them to create ‘a virtual space where they strategically construct their desired identities’ (Jung et al., 2007).
How bloggers see themselves and the purpose of their blogs may be related then to what motivates them to produce content. Although the topic of that content can vary widely, studies suggest that most blogs focus on relating personal experiences and thoughts (e.g. Herring et al., 2007;Huang et al., 2007; Papa charissi, 2007). Huang et al. (2007) categorized five motives for blogging: to seek information, to provide commentary, to participate in...
