Abstract:
The growing importance of social media and research interest in the field makes it imperative to consider the measures used to assess social networking site (SNS) use. The Facebook Intensity Scale has seen prolific use since its development; however, it has been criticized by some scholars. Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, and Johnson (2013) suggested another scale, the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS), which was developed to be suitable for use across different SNS platforms. They advised further research to confirm its psychometric properties, testing it on a more diverse sample than US college students and on social media other than Facebook. In this study, EFAs and a CFA were conducted to examine the validity of the SMUIS on Facebook and LinkedIn in the African context. The results provide preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the SMUIS for diverse age ranges. Further testing of the scale on LinkedIn is recommended.
