Participation in Online Social Networks

Abstract

Why and how more and more people get involved and use social networking systems are critical topics in social network analysis (SNA). As a matter of fact, social networking systems bring online a growing number of acquaintances, for many different purposes. Both business interests and personal recreational goals are motivations for using online social networks (OSN) or other social networking systems. The participation in social networks is a phenomenon which has been studied with several theories, and SNA is useful for common business problems, e.g., launching distributed teams, retaining people with vital knowledge for the organization, improving access to knowledge and spreading ideas and innovation. Nevertheless, there are some difficulties, such as anti-social behaviors of participants, lack of incentives, organizational costs and risks. In this article, a survey of the basic features of SNA, participation theories and models are discussed, with emphasis on social capital, information spreading, motivations for participation, and anti-social behaviors of social network users.