THE NEED TO FEEL CONNECTED: EXTENDING UTAUT TO EXPLAIN USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

The need for social interaction has led to the development of numerous online social networking sites, thus paving the way for virtual communities. Researchers have emphasized the need for belongingness and connectedness as a basic human need. The different social networking sites serve different purpose, but the basic purpose of building connections online remains the same. Many models are framed to explain the acceptance of different technologies and systems. Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is one of the models commonly used. This paper attempts to establish the effect of social connectedness towards the use of Facebook with the use of UTAUT. Using Chi-Square Difference Test in Structural Equation Modeling, the researchers establish the model incorporating Social connectedness with UTAUT to be better than the basic model in the case of explaining the use of Facebook.