摘要
While participation in Social Network Sites （SNSs） has grown rapidly in recent years and is a highly popular and global phenomenon, only few research examined how the different cultural values and attitudes impact the way people adopt and use this new media platform. Employing qualitative approach, this study attempts to uncover the cross-cultural differences in motivations and behavioral patterns for using SNSs among the Korean and American users. The finding of this study shows the explicit differences in the motivations and strategies for using SNSs between Korean and American users, which is supported by the independent and interdependent self-construals theory proposed by Markus and Kitayama （1991）. The motivational themes and usage patterns emerged from Korean participants are more other- or relationship-focused, pursuing social/emotional support, while those of Americans are more ego- or self-focused, pertaining to entertainment or information seeking.
