Social Network Content Research Articles

Analysis of cross‐cultural online collaborative learning with social software

PurposeThe rising popularity of social software poses challenges to the design and evaluation of pedagogically sound cross‐cultural online collaborative learning environments (OCLEs). In the literature of computer‐mediated communications, there exist only a limited number of related empirical studies, indicating that it is still an emergent research area. The purpose of this paper is to describe an OCLE – iCamp Space – which addresses the challenges by integrating three pedagogical concepts – cross‐cultural collaboration, self‐directed learning (SDL) and social networking – with the aim to advance participants' competencies and by mixed‐method approaches to evaluating the complex situations.Design/methodology/approachA validation field study involving four European countries was conducted. Groups of students co‐created a questionnaire, which was assessed to provide an indicator of task performance. Multi‐source (surveys, blogs, emails, diaries, chats, videoconference and interviews) and multi‐perspective data (facilitators, students and researchers) were studied with social network analysis, content analysis and conversation analysis.FindingsMotivation of learners as well as facilitators is the critical success factor for an OCLE; voluntary involvement is recommended. Participants should be provided with basic training on the use of selected social software tools. Other critical success factors include task selection that contributes to participants' sense of ownership and moderately structured setting that offers some guidance whilst leaving room for the development of SDL competence.Originality/valueThe paper enhances a limited, albeit increasing, number of empirical studies deploying social software for educational purposes. It thus contributes to a body of applied knowledge that enables a coherent understanding of this specific research topic to be drawn.

Too Many Facebook “Friends”? Content Sharing and Sociability Versus the Need for Privacy in Social Network Sites

Little research has been conducted on the two most important criteria for the success of social network sites (SNS), that is, content sharing and sociability, and how these affect privacy experiences and usage behavior among SNS users. This article explores these issues by employing in-depth interviews and explorative usability tests, comparing the experiences and usage of younger and older Facebook users. First, the interviews revealed that Facebook users in all age groups reported more contact with several different groups of people, which reflects different types of social capital (i.e., family, friends, and acquaintances), because of Facebook, but not without consequences for privacy. Having too many Facebook “friends” and access to different social capital disrupt the sharing process due to experiences of social surveillance and social control. This social control often forces younger people in particular to use conformity as a strategy when sharing content to maintain their privacy. Further, the interviews revealed different motivations and usage patterns when older and younger users are compared. Second, the usability test found a significant difference between younger and older adults in time completion and task completion related to Facebook settings. Younger users are more skilled in their Facebook usage, whereas adults over the age of 40 have difficulties in understanding the navigation logic and privacy settings. Younger and older adults display completely open public profiles without realizing it. Finally, the design and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Exploratory study on the patterns of online interaction and knowledge co-construction in project-based learning

This study aims to investigate the patterns and the quality of online interaction during project-based learning (PjBL) on both micro and macro levels. To achieve this purpose, PjBL was implemented with online group activities in an undergraduate course. Social network analysis (SNA) and content analysis were employed to analyze online interaction during project work. According to the SNA results generated from the online discussion boards, the group cohesiveness of seven teams, indicated by density indices, varied considerably, from as low as 9.81 to as high as 30.00. Regarding the content analysis of two teams with high project scores (Teams F and G), team members not only shared information (Phase I), but also identified the areas of disagreement and clarified the goals and strategies (Phase II). They also conducted some negotiations (Phase III). However, team members with low project scores (Teams C and E) shared information and stated their opinions in most cases (Phase I), with not much social construction in the higher level. Although both Team C and G showed high level of group cohesiveness among the seven teams, it is notable that the high-performing Team G dedicated nearly 39.3 percent of online discussion to negotiating and co-constructing knowledge, contrary to the 5.9 percent of low-performing Team C. Based upon the findings, some implications were proposed for further research.

Structure and Substance in Digital Communication

A growing trend in post-secondary education is the supplementing of classroom discourse with online discourse. This new discourse is often situated in social networking and course management applications. There are several reasons for the move toward online discourse. Wide availability of new hardware and software has played a role. Even more important is an emerging consensus that our societal, economic, and individual futures depend on our capacity to engage complex issues in a collaborative manner. However, this new technology and the techniques they make possible have introduced new problems. Many instructors are finding it more difficult to monitor, evaluate, and direct class discourse. Social network analysis and content analysis can provide the means to understand the structure of online, digital discourse and the content of digital documents.

How social network position relates to knowledge building in online learning communities

Social Network Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Content Analysis and other research methods were used to research online learning communities at Capital Normal University, Beijing. Analysis of the two online courses resulted in the following conclusions: (1) Social networks of the two online courses form typical core-periphery structures; (2) Social networks of the two online courses contain “structural holes,” where some actors position themselves to become potential opinion-leaders within their social networks; (3) Actors, variously positioned within a core-periphery structure, show quite significant differences in terms of knowledge building; (4) Taking “structural holes” into account, there exist considerable differences in knowledge building between opinion-leaders and non opinion-leaders; (5) Actors in the “core” and “structural hole” positions have very different characteristics in terms of knowledge building. These actors in particular play important roles in online learning communities, impacting on the level of the constructed knowledge.

Enterprise Web 2.0 fundamentals

An introduction to next-generation web technologies This is a comprehensive, candid introduction to Web 2.0 for every executive, strategist, technical professional, and marketer who needs to understand its implications. The authors illuminate the technologies that make Web 2.0 concepts accessible and systematically identify the business and technical best practices needed to make the most of it. Youll gain a clear understanding of whats really new about Web 2.0 and what isnt. Most important, youll learn how Web 2.0 can help you enhance collaboration, decision-making, productivity, innovation, and your key enterprise initiatives. The authors cut through the hype that surrounds Web 2.0 and help you identify the specific innovations most likely to deliver value in your organization. Along the way, they help you assess, plan for, and profit from user-generated content, Rich Internet Applications (RIA), social networking, semantic web, content aggregation, cloud computing, the Mobile Web, and much more. This is the only book on Web 2.0 that: Covers Web 2.0 from the perspective of every participant and stakeholder, from consumers to product managers to technical professionals Provides a view of both the underlying technologies and the potential applications to bring you up to speed and spark creative ideas about how to apply Web 2.0 Introduces Web 2.0 business applications that work, as demonstrated by actual Cisco case studies Offers detailed, expert insights into the technical infrastructure and development practices raised by Web 2.0 Previews tomorrows emerging innovationsincluding Web 3.0, the Semantic Web Provides up-to-date references, links, and pointers for exploring Web 2.0 first-hand Krishna Sankar, Distinguished Engineer in the Software Group at Cisco, currently focuses on highly scalable Web architectures and frameworks, social and knowledge graphs, collaborative social networks, and intelligent inferences. Susan A. Bouchard is a senior manager with US-Canada Sales Planning and Operations at Cisco. She focuses on Web 2.0 technology as part of the US-Canada collaboration initiative. Understand Web 2.0s foundational concepts and component technologies Discover todays best business and technical practices for profiting from Web 2.0 and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) Leverage cloud computing, social networking, and user-generated content Understand the infrastructure scalability and development practices that must be address-ed for Web 2.0 to work Gain insight into how Web 2.0 technologies are deployed inside Cisco and their business value to employees, partners, and customers This book is part of the Cisco Press Fundamentals Series. Books in this series introduce networking professionals to new networking technologies, covering network topologies, example deployment concepts, protocols, and management techniques. Category: General Networking Covers: Web 2.0 $40.00 USA / $48.00 CAN

A Dynamic Structural Model of User Learning on the Mobile Internet

Consumer adoption and usage of mobile Internet-based content services has been growing steadily over the past few years in many countries around the world. In this paper, we develop and estimate a dynamic structural model of user behavior and learning with regard to content generation and usage activities in mobile multimedia environments. Users learn about two different categories of web content – (i) content from regular social networking and community (SNC) sites and (ii) content from mobile portal sites. They can choose to engage in the creation (uploading) and consumption (downloading) of multimedia content from these two categories of websites. In our context, users have two sources of learning about how well the content matches their preferences – (i) direct experience through their own behavior and (ii) indirect experience such as the behavior of their social network neighbors. To incorporate these issues, we develop a dynamic structural model and estimate it using a unique dataset of consumers’ mobile Internet-based content creation and usage behavior over a 3-month time period. Our estimates suggest that, on an average, the content downloaded from mobile portal sites has the highest level of match value with user preferences. In contrast, the content downloaded from SNC sites has the lowest level of match value. Learning based on direct experience is more accurate (has less variability) than learning based on indirect experience. Our policy simulations suggest that mobile operators can dynamically tailor their content and incentivize users to generate content according to user characteristics and their preferences. Potential implications for mobile operators and mobile advertisers are discussed.

Cognitive impairments and Web 2.0

This paper illustrates how some of the human–computer interaction patterns associated with Web 2.0 can degrade the user experience of those with particular cognitive disabilities. It also shows how changes to computer technology often do not threaten accessibility directly and immediately, but, rather, indirectly, by spawning new user interaction patterns that compromise access. Web 2.0 interaction pattern technologies, such as mashups, dynamic page updates, social networking and user-created content demand specific perceptual abilities in addition to basic visual and auditory sensation. For example, computer users may have cognitive impairments that affect their abilities to group visual elements into patterns, recognize faces, build effective mental representations of perceptual or conceptual spaces, or retrieve linguistic representations during composition and comprehension. Because of these disabilities, they may find that certain forms of interaction associated with Web 2.0 diminish their access to this critical technology. Similarly, cognitive disabilities that disrupt social interactions may narrow users’ participation in the socially intensive environment of Web 2.0. For areas of cognition that involve perception, social interaction, and critical supporting processes such as attention, the impact of Web 2.0 interaction patterns is discussed, suggesting potential solutions, design guidelines and research needs. The identification and description of the ways particular cognitive disabilities limit access to technology, particularly within the context of new, recently invented patterns of user interaction, underscores the need to extend Web design and development guidelines beyond the domains of sensory and movement disabilities. Designers and developers should learn to recognize how the different ways people think, learn, perceive, or plan can jeopardize access to computers in the same fashion as do the different ways they see, hear, or move.

Obesity, Identity and Community: Leveraging Social Networks for Behavior Change in Public Health

Obesity is a public health problem influenced by behavioral patterns that span an ecological spectrum of individual-level factors, social network factors and environmental factors. Both individual and environmental approaches necessarily include significant influences from social networks, but how and under what conditions social networks influence behavior change is often not clearly mapped out either in the obesity literature or in many intervention designs. In this paper, we provide an analysis of recent empirical work in obesity research that explicates social network influences on eating behaviors. We argue that a relational rather than individualistic view of personhood should help us better understand the content and context of social network relations that inform health behavior choices. We introduce the concept of ‘identity-constitutive affiliations’ as the glue that binds these social relationships together. Finally, we outline the implications for public health ethics in the development of effective interventions to address overweight and obesity, leveraging the content and context of social network ties to reinforce healthy (or alter unhealthy) eating. More complex treatment of positive and negative behaviors stemming from social network connections should lead to more comprehensive theoretical models of health behavior change and more effective public health interventions.

The Role of Social Network and Support in Mental Health Service Use: Findings From the Baltimore ECA Study

The Role of Social Network and Support in Mental Health Service Use: Findings From the Baltimore ECA Study

The influence of position and gender on personal networks in a UK professional service

This paper presents empirical findings regarding the content and process of personal contact or social networks and networking of practitioners in a professional service. The focus of the study is public relations practitioners operating in seven consultancies across the UK, in Manchester, London, Yorkshire and Cheshire. Using qualitative methodologies including in-depth interviews and network mapping, the study reveals practitioners' network size and variety of contacts, and their role in client acquisition and retention. In particular, the study suggests that position and gender are two key influences on practitioners' personal networks. The study appears to identify that managers may have the smallest networks compared to their colleagues and especially lack weak tie contacts in the form of friends, and that female practitioners may have larger and more varied personal contact networks than men. The study thus offers an insight into personal network membership for public relations practitioners, hitherto unexplored, plus a deeper understanding of interactional dimensions of social networks and the gendered nature of networking in the UK public relations sector.

The effects of different instructor facilitation approaches on students’ interactions during asynchronous online discussions

This study compared the impact of three different facilitation approaches on elementary teacher candidates’ interactions in an asynchronous discussion board as well as their satisfaction with an online educational technology course. These participants were enrolled in three different sections of the same online course. In the first section (Group 1), the instructor responded to each student’s initial message regarding the discussion question and then required students to respond to at least two of their classmates’ postings. In the second section (Group 2), the instructor responded to each student’s initial message to the discussion question, but did not require students to respond to other classmates’ postings. Instead, it was the student’s voluntary choice. In the third group (Group 3), the instructor did not respond to each student’s initial message on the discussion question, but required students to respond to at least two classmates’ postings. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, by using ANOVA, social networking analysis (SNA) and content analysis. The results indicated that in Group 2, voluntary interactions among students rarely occurred, resulting in the instructor primarily providing feedback to the students, with a low number of cues for social presence. In comparing Groups 1 and 3, when students were required to respond to one another, too much instructor intervention did not lead to more interactions among the students. Rather, when the instructor’s intervention was minimal, students tended to more freely express their thoughts and opinions, with a large number of cues for social presence. However, more interactions among students, occurring in a required setting, may not have correlated with student satisfaction with the online course ratings and the instructors’ ratings.

Relationality and social interaction1

This paper explores Bourdieu's account of a relational social space, and his relative neglect of social interaction within this framework. Bourdieu includes social capital as one of the key relational elements of his social space, but says much less about it than economic or cultural capital, and levels of social capital are rarely measured in his work. Bourdieu is reluctant to focus on the content of social networks as part of his rejection of substantialist thinking. The neglect of substantive networks creates problems for Bourdieu's framework, because many of Bourdieu's core concepts rest upon assumptions about their interactional properties (in particular, the prevalence of homophilous differential association) which are left unexamined. It is argued here that Bourdieu's neglect of the substance of social networks is related to the criticisms that Bourdieu's framework often encounters, and that this neglect bears re-examination, since it is helpful to think of the ways in which differentiated social networks contribute to the development of habitus, help form fields, and so constitute the intersubjective social relations within which sociality, and practice more generally, occur.

Drama, digital pre-text and social media

This article presents a case study of Australian secondary school students as co-creators of a dramatic pre-text, using online and mobile media to develop an improvisation-based drama that introduces a textual study. Integrating recognised dramatic conventions within a digital environment provides the tension, and drives the educational exploration of the resulting drama scenario. The techniques used for the development of the digital pre-text for this project are based on facilitator-generated online social networking and mobile media content. This approach generates the students’ examination of mistaken identity as a platform for a classroom exploration of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The implications for using such digital technologies in drama teaching with young people are then discussed.

Gone viral? Heard the buzz? A guide for public health practitioners and researchers on how Web 2.0 can subvert advertising restrictions and spread health information

Many nations have banned or curtailed advertising of potentially harmful products to protect public health, particularly in the area of chronic disease control. The growth in Internet-based marketing techniques is...

Examining the Diffusion of User-Generated Content in Online Social Networks

This paper is motivated by the success of You Tube, which is attractive to content creators and media companies for the potential to rapidly disseminate digital content. The tremendous variation in the success of videos posted online and the networked structure of interactions on You Tube lend itself to an inquiry about the role of social influence on content diffusion. Using a unique data set of video information and user information collected from You Tube, we find that evidence for a number of mechanisms by which social influence is transmitted, such as a preference for conformity, social learning and the role of innovators or opinion-makers. Such mechanisms of social interactions can play a huge role not only in the success of user-generated content, but also on the magnitude of that impact. Our results are in sharp contrast to earlier models of diffusion such as the Bass model that do not distinguish between different social processes that are responsible for the process of diffusion of content. Econometrically, the problem in identifying social influence is that individuals’ choices depend in great part on the choices of other individuals, referred to as the ‘reflection problem’. Another problem in identification is to distinguish between social contagion and user heterogeneity in the diffusion process. Our results are robust to potential self-selection according to user tastes, temporal heterogeneity and the reflection problem. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed.

Social support in ordinary life and laboratory measures of cardiovascular reactivity: gender differences in habituation-sensitization

Gender differences in coronary heart disease are mirrored by gender differences both in cardiovascular reactivity to stress and in the nature and content of social support networks. However, little research has examined the association between cardiovascular reactivity in the laboratory and social support outside; and none has established whether gender differences in such associations can elucidate relevant psychosomatic mechanisms. In addition, in general, studies of cardiovascular reactivity fail to take adequate account of cardiovascular response habituation. The present study sought to examine gender differences in associations between psychometrically assessed social support and cardiovascular reactivity and, in particular, response habituation patterns. Ninety-two undergraduate men and women underwent two consecutive cardiovascular reactivity assessments, after having provided psychometric assessments of quantity and quality of social support in ordinary life. Inverse associations between social support and cardiovascular reactivity during the second assessment suggested that highly-supported women exhibited cardiovascular response habituation. For men, the opposite trend-that of support-related cardiovascular sensitization-was found. Results were unaffected by performance of the task used to elicit reactivity or by participant ratings of task dimensions. These findings suggest that men and women differ in the degree to which social support in ordinary life moderates cardiovascular stress responses in laboratories. This difference is highlighted when looking at how cardiovascular responses fluctuate over repeated testing. Habituation-sensitization patterns suggest that, when dealing with difficult tasks, women may derive benefit from background social relationships whereas men may find that such background relationships bring additional pressures.

Designed and user-generated activity in the mobile age

The paper addresses the question of how to design for learning taking place on mobile and wireless devices. The authors argue that learning activity designers need to consider the characteristics of mobile learning; at the same time, it is vital to realise that learners are already creating mobile learning experiences for themselves. Profound changes in computer usage brought about by social networking and user-generated content are challenging the idea that educators are in charge of designing learning. The authors make a distinction between designed activity, carefully crafted in advance, and user-generated activity arising from learners' own spontaneous requirements. The paper illustrates what each approach has to offer and it draws out what they have in common, the opportunities and constraints they represent. The paper concludes that user-generated mobile activity will not replace designed activity but it will influence the ways in which designed activity develops.

The Italian Extreme Right On-line Network: An Exploratory Study Using an Integrated Social Network Analysis and Content Analysis Approach

All over the world, extreme right activists and neo-nazis are using the Internet as a tool for communication and recruitment in order to avoid national laws and police investigations. The last 10 years have seen both the diffusion of CMC environments and the rise of extreme right movements in several European countries. This study investigates the structure of the Italian extreme right network, taking into account the latest trends in the social psychology of CMC to describe the nature of ties among Italian extreme right websites.

Goal specific social capital and job satisfaction

This paper addresses the question “To what extent can job satisfaction be explained as the revenue of social capital?” By conceiving someone’s social network as social capital we specify conditions under which social ties do lead to job satisfaction. We inquire into the idea of goal specificity of social capital, which implies that a network with a given structure and content will have different impacts on various aspects of job satisfaction. If the content of the ties and the structure of the network at the job engender material well-being or produce social approval, satisfaction with the corresponding job aspects increases. Data were collected in 1993 using written questionnaires in two Dutch governmental agencies, one with 32 and the other with 44 employees. These workers’ networks were charted using nine name-generating questions. Social capital, it turns out, is not an all-purpose good but one that is goal specific, even within a single domain of life such as work. Three effects stand out: First, the structure of the network and the content of the ties do matter. Networks of strategic, work-related ties promote an employee’s satisfaction with instrumental aspects of the job, like income, security, and career opportunities. Second, closed networks of identity-based solidarity ties improve an employee’s satisfaction with social aspects of the job, like the general social climate at work and cooperation with management and colleagues. Third, a network with a bow–tie structure (i.e., where a focal actor is the link between two or more mutually exclusive cliques) generally has strong negative effects on satisfaction with the social side of the job; although a bow–tie type network of trusting ties does increase satisfaction with the social side. This implies that Krackhardt’s hypothesis on the unpleasant feelings produced by bow–tie type networks has to be specified for the content of the ties that constitute such a network. The most important conclusion of our analysis is that goal specificity of social capital has implications for both structure and content of social networks. Achievement of a particular goal, such as satisfaction at work, requires not only networks of a certain structure or ties with a particular content, but specifically structured networks of ties with a particular content.