What drives successful social networking services? A comparative analysis of user acceptance of Facebook and Twitter

•Motivational factors for using social networking services (SNSs) are identified.•An extended the technology acceptance model is developed to predict Facebook and Twitter adoption.•User acceptance of Facebook and Twitter are found to be affected by different motivational factors.

This study identifies perceived mobility, security, connectedness, system and service quality, usefulness, attitude, and flow experience as key motivational factors for using social networking services (SNSs), and develops a theoretical model that explicates the process in which users adopt Facebook and Twitter by integrating these factors with the technology acceptance model (TAM). While results of structural equation modeling (SEM) on the collected data (N = 2,214) verified the validity and reliability of the research model, Facebook and Twitter users were found to emphasize different motivational factors when deciding to use SNSs. The implications of notable findings and directions for future studies are discussed.