Abstract

This research focuses on the use of social network sites (SNS) among young Chinese users. There are two
objectives of this study. First, the paper examines the characteristics and current situations of SNS in China. The
second is to examine the relationship between the types of involvement and the intensity of SNS use. This study
uses data from 200 samples, mostly young Chinese users in Beijing, China. Factor analysis suggests four factors:
personal involvement in usefulness and usage, physical involvement in trust, and situational involvement in
relationships. The total variance explained by all four factors is 67.82 percent. Personal involvement on
usefulness accounts for most (33.12%) of the explained variance, followed by physical involvement in trust
(13.47%). In general, correlation results show that there are significant relationships between the intensity to use
SNS and all types of involvement. Personal involvement in usefulness shows a very strong relationship with the
intensity of SNS use(cor=.93).Through regression, the result suggests that only personal involvement in
usefulness and physical involvement in trust are in the model, with a value of 88.5 percent for R2, which
significantly explains the intensity of SNS use. The results from this study provide insightful information on how
different types of involvement can influence users’ intensity of SNS use. The mostly frequently used social
network sites among participants for this study are Renren, QQ(Qzone) and Sina Space.

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