Internet Use and Gratifications Among Moroccan Secondary School Students: A Mixed-methods Analysis

Abstract

Thanks to the continuous advancement of Web 2.0, which has triggered the emergence of new inclinations in the social media field, current media research has shifted its focus towards media users, their motives, traffic, and conduct in using the Internet. The present study investigated Internet use among adolescents in the province of El Jadida, Morocco. It specifically explored the motives behind Internet use among secondary school students. Deeply rooted within the Uses and Gratification Theory, the study analyzed the participants’ Internet use and traffic. Aged between 13 and 18, 395 students, including 199 males and 196 females, from El-Jadida province were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire written in Arabic through the convenience sample technique. Based on semi-structured interviews, 20 informants (male n=10, female n=10) were interviewed for triangulation purposes. Information was collected from schools located both in rural and urban areas in the province of El Jadida to make data as representative as possible. Results indicated that secondary school students used the Internet for socializing and entertainment more than for schoolwork or academic information seeking. The majority of the respondents were found to engage in online activities such as chatting, watching videos for fun, and playing online games. It was also found out that using the Net for school purposes and academic research was not a priority. In light of the results obtained, implications for theory, policy, and practice were made.