Uses and perceptions of Tuenti and Facebook among students ...revistalatinacs.org/11/art/925_upv/rlcs_art925en.pdf · especially the two leaders: Tuenti and Facebook. According to

Revista Latina de Comunicación Social # 66 - 2011

Research - DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-66-2011-925-079-100-EN / ISSN 1138 - 5820 / Pages 22

http://www.revistalatinacs.org/11/art/925_UPV/04_MongeEN.html Pages 79 to 96

Uses and perceptions of Tuenti and Facebook among

students from the University of the Basque Country

Sergio Monge-Benito, Ph.D. - Professor at the Department of Audiovisual

Communication and Advertising University of the Basque Country (Basque - Euskal

Herriko Unibertsitatea) [email protected]

María Elena Olabarri-Fernández, Ph.D. - Professor at the Department of Audiovisual

Communication and Advertising University of the Basque Country (Basque - Euskal

Herriko Unibertsitatea) [email protected]

Abstract: Previous studies about social networks have provided information about their

penetration, frequency of use, and importance across the different sectors of the population.

Nevertheless, these studies have ignored some more specific questions. This analysis

intends to fill the gap left by commercial research and focuses on a strategic public: the

university students who will become the future professionals. Based on several focus

groups and a survey applied to more than 650 university students, this article analyses

students’ perceptions of the two leading social networks in Spain (Tuenti and Facebook),

students’ knowledge about the legal conditions of use of these networks, and the activities

they do while connected to those sites. The results show that the two social networks have

very different brand images among students, that there is a great ignorance among students

about the legal conditions of use of the networks, and that students’ consumption habits are

based on multitasking and include activities related to television.

Keywords: social networks; Tuenti; Facebook; university students; uses; brand image.

Summary: 1. Introduction. 2. Methodology. 2.1. Sample. 3. Results. 3.1. The image of

Tuenti and Facebook. 3.2. Knowledge about the terms of use. 3.3. Multitasking, television

and the use of social networks. 3.4. Microsoft Messenger and instant communication. 4.

Conclusions. 5. Bibliographic reference.

Translation by Cruz Alberto Martínez-Arcos

1. Introduction

The results of this article are part of the research project entitled “University students and

social networks, new online relationships dynamics” funded by the University of the

Basque Country (reference number EHU10/17).

mailto:[email protected]




This project has already investigated how the media have already tried to use social

networks (Noguera, 2010), what new professional profiles and changes are they producing

(Flores-Vivar, 2009), how are their models being transformed (Campos, 2008), what media

representations they generate (Bacallao Pino, 2010) and the reasons why Facebook has a

greater growth than Tuenti (García, 2010). Although few years ago we wondered whether

the social networks would be a temporary phenomenon or a significant change in the way

people communicate (Fernández, 2008), today nobody doubts that these tools are here to

stay and are becoming increasingly important in the way we communicate. This is

especially true about the youngest segment of the population.

Social networks have experienced a considerable growth in Spain in the past two years,

especially the two leaders: Tuenti and Facebook. According to the Observatory of The

Cocktail Analysis (2008, 2010), between 2008 and 2009 the use of Tuenti increased from

12% to 33% and of Facebook from 13% to 64%, among Spanish Internet users.

In view of the data, it seems that Facebook has become the leading social network in Spain.

However, these numbers hide a more complex reality because according to the second of

these studies (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010:14) the penetration level of Tuenti in young

people aged 16 to 25 years is over 85%. Advertising professionals should be aware of this

figure.

The youngest population segment are the early adopters of the social networks but also the

first population group that is building relationships dynamics in coexistence with them. It is

predictable that during these early years we will witness the emergence of trends of use and

perceptions that will mark the development of the medium. Therefore, our analysis will

focus on the relationship between university students and the social networks. University

students are part of this group of early adopters (Facebook began as an exclusively

university network), show a high degree of Internet use, and are relatively accessible for

this type of research.

One of the issues we are concerned about is that the two leading social networks, Tuenti

and Facebook, are quite similar in terms of functionality and general purpose. What

differences do young people find between them? Do students have different images of each

social network? And in what sense? This article aims to provide an outline of the main

characteristics that university students attribute to the two networks and tries to demonstrate

that each one has a very different brand image (Aaker, 1996).

A previous study analysing the brand associations of the different networks (Zed Digital,

2008: 48-52) among the Internet user population found that Facebook was perceived as

more international, more adult, more serious, more represented in the media, and with a

more promising future. In contrast, Tuenti’s image was perceived as more playful, less

original, more oriented to teens and more national. This previous study refers to the Internet

user population in general, while our research will focus on a specific segment: university

students, mainly between 18 to 23 years of age. The secondary sources suggest that young




people, in general, prefer Tuenti, while the most positive associations (International, with

promising future) correspond to its competitor. We believe that it may be interesting to

further explore the rest of the perceptions towards each of the networks

It would be quite bold to attempt to correlate directly certain brand associations with the

success of one or another social network, because the success of these networks depends on

many other elements that are difficult to isolate: alliances with other media, human

resources, the management of their user database, etc. Thus, this article aims to offer an

overview of the image of the two social networks among students, since differentiation is

one of the elements that give value to a brand and allow it to compete in the market (Aaker,

1996b).

On the other hand, we obtained certain information about the use of social networks from

various secondary sources. We know that the percentage of users that connects to them

daily is very high, between 61% (IAB, 2009: 8) and 55% (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010: 7).

Based on these figures we can conclude that the networks are very frequently used. The

main motivations for using social networks are (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010: 21): keeping

in touch with friends and acquaintances (61%), entertainment (51%), finding old friends or

acquaintances (36%), obtaining information about parties or events (28%), and making new

friends (20%).

However, there are more questions about the intensity and forms of use that are not

answered in recent studies, especially regarding the multitasking consumption of the

networks. Do young people do other activities while connected to their favourite social

networks? What activities? We are particularly interested on whether the networks share

their time with television and how this overlap occurs.

The fourth report of the study entitled Televidente 2.0 (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010b: 37-

39) offers some data on the social networks and television. For instance, this study

indicates that 35% of Internet users stated that they "frequently" or "occasionally" comment

on the social networks about what they are watching on television. Can the social networks

be fostering a new type of interactivity in television consumption? Will this interactivity be

more intense among university students, as early adopters, than in the rest of Internet users?

Another issue that generates some concern is the extent to what young people are aware of

the legal conditions of use of the social networks. The conditions governing the

reproduction rights of the contents (photos, comments, etc.) uploaded by users are

especially critical, since they regulate such popular activities as sharing photos. The terms

of use are similar in both networks although with subtle differences.

Facebook’s terms of use (2010) explain the following with regards to content:

“You grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide

license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP




License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account

unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it”.

On the other hand, Tuenti states the following in its terms of use (Tuenti, 2010):

“By publishing contents on your profile -photos, files, texts, videos, sounds,

drawings, logos or any other material- you retain all your rights over them and grant

TUENTI a limited license to reproduce and publicly announce them, to add

information and transform them, in order to adapt them to the technical

requirements of the service. This authorization is global, non-exclusive (meaning

you can grant another license over your content to any person or entity, in addition

to TUENTI), for as long as you keep your existing profile and for the sole and

exclusive purpose that TUENTI can provide the service in the terms explained in

these terms of use."

In both cases, the user retains the rights on all the material uploaded to the social networks

but gives non-exclusive reproduction rights to the companies. In the case of Facebook, the

user also gives the company the possibility of transferring such reproduction rights to third

parties. At Tuenti, that possibility is not specified but its terms of use make very clear in

other sections that the data provided by the user can be used to send advertisement as part

of the service. How aware are students about this norm and the rights they retained over

their content? Have students read the terms of use of the social networks they use? If they

have not done so, do they know what legal conditions regulate the services provided by the

networks?

Finally, the last aspect to be explored refers to a very specific function of the social

networks. We examine whether the recent implementation of chat functionalities on social

networks is replacing the traditional agents of IM, such as Microsoft Messenger (the market

leader). Are social networks replacing the Instant Messaging applications as the main

providers of permanent communication with friends?

Both Facebook and Tuenti have chat applications that allow users to know when their

friends are connected and to talk with them in real time. The secondary sources indicate

that instant messaging and social networks have very similar frequencies of use (The

Cocktail Analysis, 2010: 7-8):




Daily Several

times per

week

At least once

per week

At least once

a month

Less

frequently

Instant

Messaging

56% 19% 9% 6% 8%

Social

networks

55% 16% 9% 4% 9%

The two systems have with a similar frequency of use, but the social networks offer all the

basic features of instant messaging (excluding, for example, file sharing) so it is reasonable

to think that they will end up cannibalizing those communication spaces. Our research

expects to confirm this.

Therefore, we could articulate the hypothesis of this research in the following way:

1. University students have different perceptions about the characteristics of Facebook

and Tuenti (e.g. about the age of their users, immediacy, professionalism, privacy,

etc.).

2. University students do not read the terms of use of the service of the networks

social.

a. University students are unaware of the legal boundaries applying to the

content they publish on the social networks.

3. University students connect to social networks while performing other activities.

b. Social networks promote the consumption of television by giving users a

channel of real-time interaction to compare or discuss with friends/contacts

what they are watching.

4. The chat in Facebook and Tuenti is replacing traditional Instant Messaging

applications (Microsoft Messenger) as providers of simultaneous communication

through the Internet.

2. Methodology

This study is based on a combined qualitative and quantitative methodology. Firstly, two

focus groups were conducted to ensure that the researchers shared the same terminology

and perspectives with the subjects of study. The focus groups also gave us the opportunity

to address the issues under study from a more open perspective. The results section

includes some quotes obtained in these focus groups.

The focus groups were conducted on 8 and 23 February of 2010 and each involved 5

students from the University of the Basque Country. The sample selection responded to an

equal distribution of males and females, and first-year and second-year students (which




influences age). Participants were coursing different bachelor’s communication degrees

(Journalism, Advertising and Audiovisual Communication).

There was no significant difference in the data obtained in both groups, and thus it was

decided to continue with the next phase.

Taking into account the qualitative information obtained from the two focus groups, a

questionnaire was prepared and emailed to students of three faculties of the University of

the Basque Country: the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication; the Faculty of

Science and Technology, and the School of Advanced Engineering (Escuela Técnica

Superior de Ingeniería). The data collection took place in June 2010. After eliminating

incomplete surveys, 652 valid surveys were examined through an electronic method.

2.1. Sample

Of the total of valid surveys, 403 (61.81%) were answered by females and 249 (38.19%) by

males. Compared to the average of female students in the University of the Basque Country

(56%), there is a slight over-representation of women in the sample in relation to the

proportions of the University.

In terms of age, the sample is distributed as follows:

Age Number Percentage

Under 18 1 0.15%

18 82 12.58%

19 109 16.72%

20 97 14.88%

21 90 13.80%

22 85 13.04%

23 66 10.12%

24 46 7.06%

25 28 4.29%

26 16 2.45%

27 7 1.07%

28 3 0.46%

29 4 0.61%

30 4 0.61%

31 3 0.46%

32 2 0.31%

33 2 0.31%

34 0 0.00%

35 3 0.46%

Over 35 4 0.61%




As we can see, 81.13% of the sample is aged between 18 to 23 years, the most common age

range among university students.

88.19% of the surveyed students stated having an account in Facebook and/or Tuenti, a

figure that is quite adjusted to Tuenti’s penetration rates according to the secondary sources

(The Cocktail Analysis, 2010: 14). All data presented below come from the 575

respondents, who claimed having accounts in these social networks.

Therefore, the sample has certain limitations. This is a sample of undergraduates from a

single university in a specific region of Spain. However, the sample has an appropriate size

to make generalisations about the students of the University of the Basque Country (margin

of error of 4.5%, confidence level of 95.5%, and on the hypothesis of maximum variability:

p=q= 50%), although it would be risky to think that the results could be applied to the

whole of the Spanish university students.

This is very clear in the case of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. For some unknown and

surprising reason, the study “Generación 2.0” detected that Spanish teenagers (11-20 years

old) consistently preferred Tuenti over Facebook (as it is the case of our University sample)

in all the autonomous communities with the exception of Catalonia, where 75.2% preferred

the American social network while only 5.1% preferred the local version (Sánchez Burón,

Fernández Martín, 2010: 11). There were also significant but much smaller differences in

the Balearic Islands (24.1% and 67.3%). Apart from the issue of representativeness of the

sample, these regional changes in preferences make us think that the networks may have

completely different brand images in these autonomous regions, for example.

3. Results

3.1. The image of Tuenti and Facebook




In this age range (81.13% of the sample is aged 18 to 23 years), the preference of Tuenti

over Facebook is clear. 64.31% of the sample stated that Tuenti is their favourite network,

while only 20.85% prefers Facebook, and 14.84% has no preference. Undergraduates’

preference for Tuenti is less marked, but still significant, than the preference of teenagers:

88,5% of teens prefers this network, while only 7.4% prefers Facebook (Sánchez Burón,

Fernández Martín, 2010: 11). Preferences are distributed primarily according to age, i.e. as

age increases, the preference for Tuenti decreases and the preference for Facebook

increases. The data of our sample is quite similar to the results of the “Generación 2.0”

study regarding young people: at age 18, for example, the preference for Tuenti increases

up to 82.93%.

This relationship between the preferences and age may explain why Tuenti is clearly

perceived as aimed to younger people (84.57% believed so, while 3.19% though so about

Facebook). Part of Tuenti’s appeal for the younger audience may reside on its image.

Tuenti is identified by younger people as the best tool to interact with close friends (71.63%

believed so, while 7.09% though so about Facebook) and, to a lesser extent, as the best way

to interact with acquaintances (51.50% vs. 13.27%).

Let’s not forget that access to Tuenti is by invitation only while registration in Facebook is

voluntary and straightforward. This has probably led to the construction of a closer

relationship environment, composed of friends of similar age. In the focus groups there

were several statements that suggested this situation by pointing out that Facebook lacked




privacy: “In my group of female friends their mothers have Facebook and so we have to be

careful about what we say there”, and “Even my mother is on Facebook”.

However, the idea of privacy is not as strong as we might think. 43.89% considered Tuenti

to be a more intimate environment, while only 21.95% thought so about Facebook. There is

a considerable share of people that are unsure about this issue (34.16%), and considered

that both networks offer similar levels of intimacy, and for this reason we cannot draw a

clear conclusion.

Although Tuenti is used by younger people, who has gained accessed through invitation,

and is considered to be the best network for keeping in touch with close friends, the social

networks in general are far from being perceived as a really private space, in spite of what

is proposed in one of the secondary sources (Zed Digital, 2008: 24). While in 2008 users

believed Facebook and Tuenti were shared but restricted spaces, 92.87% of respondents in

our survey said they had never uploaded private information to any of these networks

(because this type of information was to be shared only with few trusted friends).

Moreover, 45% has removed tags of their names in pictures, 62% has asked a friend to

remove photos in which they appear, and 90% has changed their profile privacy settings.

Based on the previous findings, we can conclude that university students do keep an eye on

the contents that are uploaded to the networks and worry about their privacy.

Therefore, Tuenti is considered to be the most private network within a generic space

(social networks) that is not considered private at all by the sample of respondents.

Another strength of Tuenti’s brand is that it is seen as a simpler and more intuitive tool

(84.45%) than Facebook (7.42%). The focus groups mentioned several times that this

quality (being “simpler/more “intuitive”) was the main reason they preferred the Spanish

social network over the American one. Despite this perception, the last developments in

Tuenti seem to go in the opposite direction: it has added the possibility of creating pages,

using games or displaying advertising in new ways. All these new developments mimic the

strategy and functionality of Facebook, and also make Tuenti more complex to manage.

Tuenti could be throwing stones on its own roof by imitating the leader of the market, since

by doing so endangers one of its strongest brand associations: simplicity and intuitive

operation.

Perhaps related to this last aspect, Tuenti is also perceived as a “faster tool to share ideas”

(52.74%) than Facebook (10.27%). Several contributions offered by the focus groups

suggest that this factor could be related to university students’ frequency of use of the

social networks (e.g., “I connect to Tuenti several times a day but to Facebook only once a

week”). It could also be suggested that Tuenti is able to generate higher levels of

engagement than Facebook, but we do not have the data to prove such hypotheses. Whether

it is related to the simpler or more intuitive operation, the frequency of use, or the

engagement that this tool generates, the truth is that the Spanish network is clearly

perceived to be “faster to share ideas” than its American competitor is.




On the opposite side, Facebook is perceived as a more complete tool (77.33%) than Tuenti

(10.25%). Several factors can contribute to this image. First, Facebook offers external

software developers the possibility of adding applications to the platform. On the other

hand, Facebook has traditionally had more features than Tuenti (groups, pages, tabs in the

profiles, etc.). This image of a more complete network does not always have positive

consequences, as some interviewees expressed during the focus group: “I get confused with

so many little games [...] they send me some game invitations, but I only use the network to

send messages and look at the photos…”

Facebook is also perceived as a more formal/professional network (69.20% vs. 6.73%). The

positive impact that this brand association may have is limited since, as we have seen, the

professional uses of the networks are quite low in users’ list of motivations for using them

(The Cocktail Analysis, 2010: 7).

Regarding other aspects, we have seen that Tuenti was considered the best network to keep

in touch with close friends and acquaintances. In contrast, Facebook is considered as a

social network to be used to get in touch with “foreign people” (82.62% against 4.79%).

This coincides with the statements of the focus groups: “I have Facebook because I lived in

England for some time”.

The American social network has an international reach that the Spanish networks lacks, as

well as a huge user base outside Spain (more than 400 million active users worldwide).

European university students frequently establish relations with other university students

from different countries through various exchange programmes, of which the best-known

example is the Erasmus programme. Facebook “is more universal” and is often used to

maintain relationships with people in other countries: “my sister, for example, is living

abroad [...] and we used to email each other but now we do everything directly through

Facebook”.

The international image of Facebook has been reinforced by another element of the

questionnaire. When the sample was asked about what social network “had more users”,

65.25% of respondents thought it was Facebook, while only 21.28% thought it was Tuenti.

This combination of ideas (a more complete, professional, and appropriate tool for

maintaining international relations) might make us think that Facebook has a more serious

image that Tuenti. However, the fact that Facebook allows external developers to design

applications and games is not entirely consistent with that image. Respondents clearly

identify Facebook as a social network that has more games (90.43% vs. 2.30%). Tuenti has

recently begun to offer games on its platform, but its competitor offers them since long time

ago and has a much stronger image in this regard.

Perhaps, games are the reason why Facebook is considered more entertaining (60.82 vs.

17.73%), although this is a much less marked preference than the one obtained when

respondents were asked directly about games.




Data from the focus groups could also shed some light on this issue: some of the

interviewees stated that their preference for Tuenti was very marked and that they

connected to Facebook from time to time “only for the games” provided by the platform.

We can therefore say that the university students differentiate perfectly between both

networks, which have very different brand associations. Tuenti is simpler, more intuitive,

faster to tell share ideas, best suited to interact with friends and acquaintances, and to some

extent, a more intimate space. Tuenti is undoubtedly the favourite of university students.

On the other hand, Facebook is perceived as much more universal, more professional, more

complete, more suitable for relations with “foreign people”, and moreover has an

entertaining side, which is most likely driven by the games offered in the platform.

3.2. Knowledge about the terms of use

79.82% of respondents accepted that they have not read the terms of use of the social

networks they use, which is not difficult to understand, given the average age of the sample

and the complexity of the terms of use of most of the software we use today. But what is

perhaps more surprising is that 20.18% (one in five) of students did read the terms of use

when the most common idea in these cases is that “nobody reads the terms of use”.

On the other hand, when students were asked whether they believed they knew the legal

conditions governing the use of Facebook or Tuenti, 30.71% considered themselves to be

knowledgeable, which is a considerable higher share than the 20.18% of students that reads

the terms of use. However, only 62.83% of those who originally stated they had read the




conditions of use are part of this 30.71% who consider themselves well-informed. This

means that, among those surveyed, 2 of 5 people who read the terms of use of Tuenti or

Facebook do not seem to understand the terms or at least does not believe they understand

them.

69.29% of respondents stated without any embarrassment that they do not know the legal

conditions governing the services of the social networks. Despite this, they continue to use

them.

When students were asked about the things they believed Tuenti or Facebook could do with

the user-generated content, there was a lot of confusion and inconsistency in the responses.

A generalised idea emerged in the focus groups: “You lose the rights over your pictures and

the pictures become property of the company”. 51.16% believed Facebook and Tuenti can

do anything they want with user-generated contents because users give them all the rights

over that content. More than half (56.98%) of those who considered they were aware of the

legal conditions governing the services of the networks marked this option as answer,

which is false because users only transfer very specific rights, as we saw in the

introduction.

What is clear is that most of the respondents (66.67%) agreed that some rights are

transferred to Facebook and Tuenti when users upload content to them (66.67% considered

it is false that users do not transfer any right to the networks, 10.39% consider the statement

to be true, and 22,94% do not know whether it is true or false). Thus, the most common

belief is that uploading content to the social networks implies transferring rights over that

content, so all control is lost: “what you upload to the network stays on the network”.

It is interesting that although 5 of every 10 (51.16%) respondents considered that by

uploading contents to the social networks the users transfer all rights over the content to the

social networks, 2.5 billion photos were uploaded monthly to Facebook in 2009 (Royal

Pingdom, 2010). This figure contrasts with the fact that 54.92% of respondents completely

or strongly agreed that they are concerned about what people can do with their personal

information on the networks. University students are concerned about their privacy, but are

also completely ignorant of the legal consequences of what they do.

University students show certain fatalism regarding the content they published on the web.

This is reflected in expressions like “About the photos over which I do not have control?

Such is life!” and “If you have uploaded a picture, it will stay there and there is no way

back”. It is not surprising that the stronger idea is that the networks keep the rights over the

uploaded content even after users cancel their accounts (43.19% believe this is true, 22.58%

believe it is false, and 34.23% do not know whether it is true or false).

On the other hand, university students are not sure whether the networks have the right to

reproduce their content through any other medium (33.15% said this idea was true, 33.87%




said it was false, and 32.97% did not know whether it was true or false), so we can assume

that they are not very aware of the places where their contents can be published.

Students are neither sure whether the social networks can allow third parties or companies

to reproduce their contents (27.60% of students thinks networks can do so, while 36.02%

thinks the opposite, and 36.38% does not unknown). This is an issue that does not seem to

worry students too much and when asked about the uses that future employers (companies)

can make of the contents they upload to social networks they expressed ideas such as the

following: “I think I can trust the company as much as trust my friends” or “I think this is

just rambling”. Even when one suggests to them that the networks could be using their

personal data to send them segmented advertising, students respond that “it is better to

receive advertising fitting their preferences”.

The most common ideas among the students of the University of the Basque Country had

some ambivalence. On the one hand, all of them consider that using the networks involves

some loss of rights. However, most of them do not have a clear idea of the limits of that

loss, which they consider to be acceptable in general. University students define this loss of

rights with the following terms: “It has given me more than it has taken away from me”,

“we should assess the risk and the service” or “you take a risk, but it rewards you”.

We can only conclude that young people have a significant lack of knowledge regarding the

terms of use of the social networks they use and especially concerning the rights of the

content the published on them. Not even those who claim to know the terms of the

networks have a clearer idea: the percentage of the times they answer “I don’t know” is

lower but then their answers are almost equally distributed between the right and wrong

choices.

In general, respondents believe that Tuenti and Facebook can do anything with the content

they upload, but still they keep on using them inspired by certain fatalism: “I am

responsible for my actions and whether I show it or not on the Internet does not change

anything”.

3.3. Multitasking, television and the use of social networks




95.61% of respondents stated they do other activities while connected to Tuenti or

Facebook, which is not surprising given that according to various authors (Combes, 2006;

Skiba, 2003; Dorman, 2000; Oblinger, 2005) multi-tasking is the preferred learning style of

today’s young people.

When we asked students about what they do while connected to their social networks, the

favourite activities to synchronise with the use of networks were: other computer activities

(89.67%), listening to music (82.03%), watching TV (46.85%), studying (35.61%), reading

books or magazines (21.22%), and others (11.47%). The activities frequently identified as

“others” include doing homework with low involvement (12), watching online series or

movies while the networks’ windows are minimized (5) and house work (4).

The computer is maintained in the background as a continuous connection with their

friends and as a window to the activities occurring in their social environment. The two

activities that are most frequently synchronised with the use of networks are easy to

explain. When students are working on the computer (checking mails or browsing, for

example) it is easy to maintain the connection to the social networks and give them

attention at specific times to respond to a chat message or to consult the new publications.

Listening to music, on the other hand, is highly compatible with the use of social networks,

since their audio content is practically limited to the occasional videos and chat alerts. Most

of the interaction in social networks has a visual, not audible, component.




The third activity that is synchronised with the networks use requires a more detailed

analysis. A significant percentage (46.85%) of respondents stated that they watch TV while

connected to Facebook or Tuenti. To some extent, the popularisation of Wi-Fi connections

and laptops has enabled this phenomenon, which we should analyse in more details as it

also appeared in the focus groups.

Initially, the idea of being connected to the networks while watching television suggested

additional possibilities of interaction: “you can be watching TV and commenting on how

bad the series is”. The act of watching TV could be increased by the real-time interactivity

allowed by the social networks.

However, when respondents were asked about what do they use Facebook or Tuenti for

while watching television, 71.84% stated that they use it to do activities (see profiles,

photos, etc.) that have nothing to do with what they watching and 42.45% use it to talk with

friends about matters that not related to what they are watching. Social networks are

configured mainly as a distracting element that steals the attention of the viewer.

Some previous studies (Zed Digital, 2008: 31) already pointed out that the television

consumption level of active consumer of social networks was slightly lower than the

consumption level of people who did not use the networks. However, on the other hand, the

percentage of respondents who stated they connect to the networks while watching

television at night was very small (9.43%) as to be considered a major source of distraction.

Today, nearly half of surveyed users simultaneously use social networks and watch

television, so that the number of people involved in the trend is larger. The answers seem to

indicate that, in general, television and social networks collide head-on and compete for the

attention of the user-viewer.

In any case, not everything is negative. Cases of complementarity can also occur in the

combination of media. For instance, 30.20% of respondents stated that they use social

networks to talk with friends about topics directly related to what they are watching on

television. This result is close to the 35% of people who in the “Televidente 2.0” study

stated that they “occasionally” or “often” commented about the things they watch on

television (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010b: 39). Therefore, it seems that university students

are not more inclined to make this “interactive consumption” than the Internet user

population in general. Here is important to investigate what advantages does this interactive

consumption offer to the medium television: greater involvement? A more social

consumption? Greater capacity to attract audiences in real-time with moments of maximum

interest? However, the answers to these questions is outside the objective and capacity of

the present study.

There is a small percentage (7.35%) of respondents who even accepted using the social

networks to verify the information on television, which perhaps may be increasing the

critical consumption of the media. However, the percentage demonstrates that at the

moment this is a residual group.




Therefore, we must conclude that the complementarity between television and social

networks is not the dominant trend in university students. The dominant trend is that both

media steal each other’s attention at the moments of simultaneous consumption and it is

expected that due to its ephemeral (audiovisual) content and passive reception TV will take

be the most negatively affected. It is not difficult to imagine viewers completely engaged

with the content in their laptops and only looking at the television at the particular moment

in which something on the TV calls their attention, only to go back to what they were doing

in the social networks just minutes (or seconds) later.

Recent participant observation exercises conducted with B.A. students (taking the subject

of “Advertising persuasion”) have shown evidence that this situation is quite common

among university students (families, shared flats for students), but we do not have stronger

evidence based on a structured study with a representative sample to confidently affirm

this.

3.4. Microsoft Messenger and instant communication

The results of a previous study (The Cocktail Analysis, 2010:8, 10) suggested that, in spite

of the emergence of social networks, Microsoft Messenger continued to be the tool for

immediate communication with more penetration among Internet users. According to the

study, Messenger was considered to be “a better solution in terms of product” and with a

“very strong emotional connection”. However, this trend seems to have come to an end.

73.67% of our sample strongly or completely agreed that Tuenti and Facebook are

replacing Messenger as the preferred tool to communicate with their friends online. This is

a very clear trend.

In addition, it is expected that this trend will be more accentuated as the penetration of the

networks continues to grow and all the friends that users could previously access only

through the traditional instant messaging software are also available on social networks.




4. Conclusions

Although the data are not applicable to all Spanish university students, they do give us a

quite solid indication (of 652 surveyed people, 88.19% used Tuenti and/or Facebook) to

affirm that the social networks are a consolidated trend with a great influence on the

relationship channels of this group.

The surveyed students show a clear preference for Tuenti, which they regard as simpler,

more intuitive, younger, more agile, and more suitable for communicating with close

friends. In spite of its games and entertainment offer, Facebook is perceived as a more

formal, as a more complete product, and as having a wider and more international audience.

Therefore, the hypothesis that young people have different perceptions (hypothesis 1) is

confirmed by the marked differences in the “brand associations” of both networks. These

brand associations are quite compatible with the descriptions provided by the secondary

sources that were consulted for this study.

It is worrying for the continuity of Tuenti that its recent strategic moves tend to imitate

Facebook’s features and development. If these new developments and features are not

implemented carefully, Tuenti could be damaging one of its clearest brand associations

(“simpler and more intuitive”). The loss of this association could threaten the Spanish

network’s widespread preference among young people.

There is a clear ignorance about the legal conditions that govern the use of the social

networks. Very few respondents have read the terms of use of the networks they use, and

those who have done so, generally, do not have a clearer idea of the rights that are kept or

transferred over the uploaded contents, for example. Yet, those who claimed to know their

rights have stronger opinions about the terms of use of the networks, but often they are

wrong.

As an example, we have found that there are many wrong conceptions about the rights that

are given to the social networks over the content published by users. The most widespread

idea is that Facebook and Tuenti can do virtually anything with these contents, but still they

continue to be the most used social networks. Therefore, the study confirmed that young

people do not read the terms of use of the networks they use (hypothesis 2) and that they

are unaware of the legal boundaries involved when uploading contents (hypothesis 2a).

On the other hand, the social networks are commonly used while doing other activities, like

computer work or listening to music. Young people demonstrate once again their

predilection for multitasking and attention fragmentation. Moreover, the percentage of

those who watch television while using the social networks is also significant.

The study confirms that young people use networks while doing other activities (hypothesis

3) but it is not true that this will serve to improve the experience when the main activity is

watching television (hypothesis 3a). Based on the collected responses, the use of social

networks does not strengthen the medium of television but disrupts its use. Most of the time




the networks are used for tasks that have nothing to do with what users are watching on

television (chatting with friends, browsing profiles, see photos, etc.), although in some

cases they are also used to talk about what is shown on television. This trend has enormous

implications, especially for advertising planners. In an environment in which television

audiences are increasingly more fragmented and it is more expensive to reach them, the

social networks are subtracting attention from television. Even when the viewers are in

front of the TV they may be distracted viewing their friends’ profiles or sending messages.

Finally, it was confirmed that young people are letting Tuenti and Facebook to replace

Messenger as the preferred tool for instant communication with friends (hypothesis 4). The

answers to other parts of our survey allow us to predict that Tuenti is occupying this space

more than Facebook is, because apart from being the preferred network for the sample

(64.31%), it is considered to be faster to share opinions (52.74%).

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Uses and perceptions of Tuenti and Facebook among students ...revistalatinacs.org/11/art/925_upv/rlcs_art925en.pdf · especially the two leaders: Tuenti and Facebook. According to