Analysis of Knowledge Sharing Activities on a Social Network Incorporated Discussion Forum: A Case Study of DISboards

Abstract

DISboards is a discussion forum that provides a platform for knowledge sharing on planning and resources for Disney-related travel (Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, etc.). Since no previous work has been devoted to studying the online social networks (SNs) in the forums, we examine the SN and knowledge sharing activities in DISboards as a case study of discussion forums. Based on a large amount of data collected, we provide an in-depth study of DISboards. In particular, we analyzed SN structure, effect of SN in the forum, category characteristics and so on. We found that users with more friends are generally more active in the forum; teens are more active and constitute a significant part of the SN. We clustered the selected categories (e.g., resorts, dining, and hotels) into three groups: report, fact, discussion, and characterized their properties. Most users focus narrowly on only a few categories, while very few users participate in many categories. The development of SN should be able to attract more users to involve in the forum. We believe that the results presented in this paper are crucial in understanding SN and knowledge sharing in the forums. The paper also gives an instruction for the enhancement of SNs to incentivize users’ activeness in the forums.