Feeling Of Social Presence Research Articles

Social Media Natives Perceive Mediated-Communication as Optimal Communication: The Roles of Social Media Starting Age and Its Usage

Social media (SM) use is becoming prevalent among young people. While the research community has recently taken an interest in these evolving phenomena, it is still mostly unknown how early age use of SM affected perception of others (i.e., the feeling of social presence) in SNS and behavioral intention to follow the provided information. Also, how the SM interface and endorser types of effects on early usage of SM have not been investigated. To address this research gap, this study conducted the online experiment involving 534 participants, employing a between-subject design of 2 (channel: SNS vs. web) x 2 (endorser: peer vs. medical doctor). The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of accumulated SM technology usage and the age at which individuals begin using SM while they were exposed to identical health information. The findings revealed that individuals who initiated SNS usage at an age older than 18 experienced sense of social presence (SP) as a result of SNS' channel, rich modality (i.e., video), and source (i.e., peer endorser). Perceivers with an SNS beginning age of less than 18 years old, on the other hand, did not exhibit any relationship between SNS channel, and source endorser. Irrespective of whether the participants began using SNS at a younger or older age, both groups exhibited a stronger perception of face-to-face communication with the endorser with higher media usage behavior. This enhanced SP led to more positive attitude, a stronger subjective norm, and greater perceived behavioral control, resulting in higher intention to act on the endorsed information. The discussion section addresses potential explanations for these findings are addressed.

Feeling Connected: The Role of Haptic Feedback in VR Concerts and the Impact of Haptic Music Players on the Music Listening Experience

Today, some of the most widely attended concerts are in virtual reality (VR). For example, the videogame Fortnite recently attracted 12.3 million viewers sitting in homes all over the world to a VR Travis Scott rap concert. As such VR concerts become increasingly ubiquitous, we are presented with an opportunity to design more immersive virtual experiences by augmenting VR with other multisensory technologies. Given that sound is a multi-modal phenomenon that can be experienced sonically and vibrationally, we investigated the importance of haptic feedback to musical experiences using a combination of qualitative and empirical methodologies. Study 1 was a qualitative study demonstrating that, unlike their live counterparts, current VR concerts make it harder for audiences to form a connection with artists and their music. Furthermore, VR concerts lack multisensory feedback and are perceived as less authentic than live concert experiences. Participants also identified a variety of different kinds of touch that they receive at live concerts and suggested that ideal VR concerts would replicate physical touch and thermal feedback from the audience, emotional touch, and vibrations from the music. Specifically, users advocated for the use of haptic devices to increase the immersiveness of VR concert experiences. Study 2 isolated the role of touch in the music listening experience and empirically investigated the impact of haptic music players (HMPs) on the audio-only listening experience. An empirical, between-subjects study was run with participants either receiving vibrotactile feedback via an HMP (haptics condition) or no vibrotactile feedback (control) while listening to music. Results indicated that listening to music while receiving vibrotactile feedback increased participants’ sense of empathy, parasocial bond, and loyalty towards the artist, while also decreasing participants’ feelings of loneliness. The connection between haptics condition and these dependent variables was mediated by the feeling of social presence. Study 2 thus provides initial evidence that HMPs may be used to meet people’s need for connection, multisensory immersion, and complex forms of touch in VR concerts as identified in Study 1.

Social presence as a training resource: comparing VR and traditional training simulations

From immersive simulations to interactive tutorials, Virtual Reality (VR) is transforming the way we learn and practise new skills. Especially for social skills training, a growing number of simulations have been designed in which trainees learn to master difficult communicative situations. One of the factors to which the effectiveness of VR as a learning technology is attributed to is the users’ feeling of social presence during the simulated interaction. This paper presents the evaluation of (1) a role play training, (2) a learning app and (3) a VR training application in a workshop series. Social presence was perceived as equally convincing and engaging for the prototypical VR scene as for the traditional form of role play, although the course of the interaction in VR was highly determined compared to the interaction dynamics of a human role play. In our interpretation, this confirms social presence as a valuable resource for training social interaction, which spans across various learning settings and methods in increasingly blended or hybrid learning and working contexts.

Exploring factors influencing students’ intention to use intelligent personal assistants for learning

ABSTRACT Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) are becoming more prevalent in daily and educational contexts, increasing the possibility of using them as learning partners that can provide more personalized and learner-centric learning opportunities. However, research has primarily focused on educational advantages that IPAs may provide, overlooking investigation on students’ acceptance of IPAs. To address this gap, this study empirically explored factors influencing students’ intention to use IPAs for learning. A conceptual research model was designed based on the technology acceptance model. Data were collected from 1044 South Korean students, who were experienced in using IPAs. Results were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that the proposed model sufficiently explains students’ IPAs acceptance for their learning. In addition, students’ computer self-efficacy and self-management of learning ability were prominent factors influencing their intention. Moreover, their trust toward IPA and feeling of social presence on IPAs were found to be significant factors to be considered as well. Based on these findings, future recommendations for fostering students’ active use of IPAs for learning are discussed. Additionally, both theoretical and practical implications are highlighted.

Comparing instructional strategies to support student teachers' learning to prepare an open-minded citizenship education lesson.

Open-mindedness is defined as one's willingness and ability to consider opposing beliefs and perspectives and give them a serious, impartial consideration by setting aside one's commitment towards one's own beliefs and perspectives. Learning to prepare and teach open-minded lessons is a crucial skill for student teachers because it fosters an atmosphere in which pupils feel free to express their own views and to learn about the views of others. The aim of this experiment was to examine which instructional strategy best supports student teachers' learning to prepare an open-minded citizenship education lesson. Therefore, participants (n = 176) processed an instruction on how to prepare an open-minded citizenship education lesson through learning by teaching on video, preparing to teach, or re-study (control condition), and as a post-test designed a lesson plan. We examined the completeness and accuracy of the explanations of the instructional content, feelings of social presence and arousal, open-mindedness levels, the completeness and accuracy of the lesson plans, and the conceptual knowledge of the instructional content. In addition, the lesson plans were graded on overall quality. Results showed that all participants scored higher on open-mindedness as measured with the Actively Open-minded Thinking scale after the experiment than before the experiment. Participants in the control condition prepared significantly more accurate and complete open-minded lessons than participants in the other two conditions, suggesting they have gained better understanding of the instructional content. There were no significant differences between the conditions on the other outcome measures.

Students' feelings of social presence when creating learning-by-teaching educational videos for a potential audience

Audience is emphasized in learning by teaching. This article focuses on 44 sixth-grade students who cooperatively created video-tutorials in pairs. It analyzes: 1) self-reported perception of the audience; 2) personal references in the video-tutorials; 3) audience-based verbal actions throughout the creation process. First, self-reported perception is high, especially in video production. Second, 2.23% of words are personal references, with differences between explanation (1.73%) and questions (2.91%). Third, script elaboration and video production gather most audience-based verbal actions (108 utterances): 76 come from the question part; 58 were task-based and 50 were content-based; 13 indicate knowledge building. Two contributions are underlined: attention to the audience can fluctuate; inducing social presence can trigger elaboration, but it is often not materialized.

Application of chat bots for personalized financial advice

Chat bots are web-based systems that have recently received a lot of attention due to their ability to provide professional financial advice at a lower cost than a human advisor. We considered anthropomorphic design of chat bot as a positive impact on human perception, which is an important factor in human-computer interaction, because increasing the level of anthropomorphism of the system can potentially compensate for the lack of contact with a person. The influenceof the anthropomorphism effect and anthropomorphic design of the bot on the feeling of social presence, trust, and the desire to follow recommendations are investigated.High cost of financial advice, the volatility of markets and problems with finding professional financial advisors have created favourable conditions for the use of robo-advisors. Due to the growing popularity ofrobo-advisors andchat bots, new opportunities appeared for banks for attracting new customers. There are a large number of chat bots that can provide financial advice, butusually, these are complex solutions and they require quite a lot of time to work with them, so if the user's goal is to get a quick and specific answer, such solutions are not the best option.The goal of our research is to develop a Telegram chat bot for personalized financial advice. To meet this goal we need consider examples of chat bots advisors for potential investorsto analyse available software solutions for financial advisors and create our own software product for personalized financial advice.Research methods includeanalytical mathematical methods and technologies, such as Python, Telegram Bot API, Aiogram, Docker, Amazon Web Services, EC2, and UbuntuServer. We created our own software product, a telegram bot for automated financial consultations to achieve the goals of private investors by calculating constant level of consumption during determined periodunder expected inflation rate to decide whether invest or not. Our telegram bot provides option for receiving financial advice and helping potential investors with capital distribution.

Feelings of presence and perceived social support in social virtual reality platforms

Social virtual reality (social VR) platforms are gaining popularity among users. Previous qualitative research suggests that feelings of presence can make these platforms an attractive environment to obtain social support from others. Building on these exploratory insights, we carried out a quantitative study to illuminate how different types of presence in social VR platforms facilitate social support. The results of a large survey conducted among users (N = 1231) show that feelings of social presence and self-presence are predictors of perceived social support and that this perception of social support is positively associated with users' subjective well-being. Perceived social support is greater for women than for men, and it differs across platforms, although with small effect sizes. These results underline the role of presence in the perception of computer-mediated social support, suggesting that the affordances of social VR make it a particularly well-suited medium for facilitating beneficial interactions among users.

Adopting Voice Assistants in Online Shopping: Examining the Role of Social Presence, Performance Risk, and Machine Heuristic

Although voice commerce using voice assistants (VA) in shopping is burgeoning, little is known about the effect of the manner of interaction with VAs in shopping. To fill this gap, this study applied the concept of message interactivity by investigating the key factors that influence intention to use VAs embedded in smart speakers for online shopping. Specifically, we analyzed consumers’ responses to the adoption of VAs with the mediating variable, such as social presence and performance risk as well as the moderating variable, machine heuristic using a lab experiment (N = 62). Our results showed that individuals who experienced contingent conversations with Alexa reported greater feelings of social presence, and less perceptions of performance risk. Moreover, these social presence and performance risk mediated the effect of message interactivity on perceived usefulness, which in turn, predicted the intention to use a VA for an online commerce platform. These results also suggested that voice commerce platforms can increase the positive impact of message interactivity by amplifying machine heuristic.

Understanding social influence in Facebook fundraising: Relationship strength, immediacy of needs, and number of donations

AbstractCrowdfunding through social media has presented challenges and opportunities for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations. To better understand how organizations can harness the power of social media in fundraising, the current research examined the effects of different types of Facebook fundraising posts on donor engagement. Based on Social Impact Theory, three factors of social influence were investigated, including relationship strength with the fundraiser creator, immediacy or urgency of the fundraising need, and number of donations. An online experiment was conducted using samples recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A repeated measures test was performed to explore the effects of three social influence factors on perceived source credibility, feeling of social presence, attitude toward the post, and intention to click, share, and donate. Strongest main effects were found for immediacy of needs. Facebook fundraising posts for an urgent need generated much more positive responses than posts for a nonurgent need. Interaction effects were also found among three variables in perceived credibility and intention to click. Personal relevance and perceived risk moderated the effects of number of donations on intention to donate. Implications for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations were discussed.

Effects of Instagram User-Generated Content on Travel Inspiration and Planning: An Extended Model of Technology Acceptance

Focusing on four types of user-generated content (UGC) on Instagram for travel planning, this study examined the impacts of UGC format, distribution channel, and engagement on travelers’ feelings of social presence, trustworthiness, and perceived enjoyment. These factors were then used to test an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) on trip planning. Results showed response-to-marketer-action UGC hosted on official Instagram channel was an effective way to increase perceived enjoyment of travel-related UGC in a low engagement situation. Social presence, perceived trustworthiness, and perceived enjoyment were included as three external variables in an extended TAM for UGC-based travel planning. Compared to previous TAM studies, perceived ease of use and enjoyment, instead of perceived usefulness, were strong predictors of attitude and intention for UGC-based travel planning. Seeking fun with less effort is a main reason to process UGC information on Instagram for travel planning.

Instructor presence in online teaching: challenges and opportunities

The coronavirus pandemic has affected higher education on a global scale. During the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, university professors experienced deficiencies to convert their current full-time disciplines into a remote format ensuring learning outcomes. Technology-based communication, which was prevalent in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated the issues associated with social presence. Social presence represents a crucial component of interactions that take place between instructors and students online remotely. This study reviews the social presence, with a focus on the research regarding the online teaching practices that demonstrate their effectiveness and relevance before and during COVID-19. The article begins by exploring the concept of social presence, distinguishing its correlations and interdependencies with other related concepts (empathy, student emotional, cognitive and behavioral engagement, learning outcomes, and motivation). The article offers a review of separate findings that investigate the teaching practices ensuring instructor presence and establishing stable contacts with learners. The data analysis reveals the main features vital for feelings of social presence from the online instructor. They include connectedness as the state of having timely communication with students, instructor responsiveness as the quality of having a quick or positive reaction from the instructor, online learning techniques, ensuring community building and empathy facilitation. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of social presence and the recommendations are given through three engagement strategies: management, connectedness and choice.

Activity awareness, social presence, and motivation in distributed virtual teams

Distributed virtual team members are unable to directly observe each other, making it difficult to evaluate each other’s efforts. The results of an experiment are reported in which activity awareness and feelings of social presence had a significant impact on willingness to work, which in turn were associated with higher feelings of loyalty. This suggests that in many working contexts, awareness practices can increase motivation and performance, in contrast with prior virtual team research that found decreased trust and effort. Designers and users of collaboration technology are therefore advised to consider social motivation effects that might occur in virtual teams.

Is the Social Desirability Effect in Human\u2013Robot Interaction overestimated? A Conceptual Replication Study Indicates Less Robust Effects

The “Computers are social actors” (CASA) assumption (Nass and Moon in J Soc Issues 56:81–103, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00153) states that humans apply social norms and expectations to technical devices. One such norm is to distort one’s own response in a socially desirable direction during interviews. However, findings for such an effect are mixed in the literature. Therefore, a new study on the effect of social desirability bias in human–robot evaluation was conducted, aiming for a conceptual replication of previous findings. In a between-subject laboratory experiment, N = 107 participants had to evaluate the robot and the interaction quality after a short conversation in three different groups: In one group, the evaluation was conducted using (1) the same robot of the former interaction, (2) a different robot, (3) a tablet computer. According to the CASA assumption, it was expected, that evaluations on likability and quality of interaction, are higher in the condition with the same robot conducting the evaluation, compared to a different robot or a tablet computer because robots are treated as social actors and hence humans distort ratings in a socially desirable direction. Based on previous findings, we expected robots to evoke higher anthropomorphism and feelings of social presence compared to the tablet computer as potential explanation. However, the data did not support the hypotheses. Low sample size, low statistical power, lack of measurement validation and other problems that could lead to an overestimation of effect sizes—in this study and the literature in general—are discussed in light of the replicability crisis.

I Know My Professor: Teacher Self-Disclosure in Online Education and a Mediating Role of Social Presence

ABSTRACTAcknowledging the importance of teacher–student relationship for effective learning experiences, the present study examined the role of teacher self-disclosure and social presence in online education. An online survey was conducted from a sample of 262 undergraduate students with online class experiences. The findings suggest that students’ perception toward teacher self-disclosure increased students’ feeling of social presence about their teacher. Then, social presence in turn led to teacher–student relationship satisfaction, which ultimately increased perceived knowledge gain. Importantly, the association between teacher self-disclosure and teacher–student relationship satisfaction was mediated by social presence.

Celebrity's self-disclosure on Twitter and parasocial relationships: A mediating role of social presence

This study investigated how celebrities' self-disclosure on personal social media accounts, particularly Twitter, affects fans' perceptions. An online survey was utilized among a sample of 429 celebrity followers on Twitter. Results demonstrated that celebrities' professional self-disclosure (e.g., sharing their work-related life), personal self-disclosure (e.g., sharing their personal life such as friends and family), and fans' retweeting behavior, enhanced fans’ feeling of social presence, thereby positively affecting parasocial interaction with celebrities. Further, the study found that the effects of self-disclosure and retweeting on parasocial interaction were mediated by social presence. Implications and future research directions are provided.

Celebrityys Self-Disclosure on Twitter and Parasocial Relationships: A Mediating Role of Social Presence

This study investigated how celebrities’ self-disclosure on their personal social media, particularly Twitter, affects fans’ perceptions toward those celebrities. An online survey method was utilized among a sample of 429 Twitter users who follow celebrities on Twitter. Results found that celebrities’ professional self-disclosure (e.g., sharing their work-related life) and personal self-disclosure (e.g., sharing their personal life such as friends, family, likes and dislikes) enhanced fans’ feeling of social presence. Further, retweeting celebrities’ tweets also increased the degree of social presence. Finally, data found that social presence positively influenced parasocial interaction with celebrities. This study ends with implications and future research directions.

The impact of engagement motives for social TV on social presence and sports channel commitment

Grounded in the uses and gratifications framework and the existing body of research on mediated sports consumption, we examined young television viewers’ motives for communicating with others while watching the televised Olympics and their feelings of social presence and sports channel commitment. To fulfill the goal, we conducted a survey of Korean college students who engaged in social TV experiences during the 2012 London Olympic Games. Employing structural equation modeling, each motivational factor of backchannel communication was used to predict respondents’ social presence and sports channel commitment. The results showed that information and excitement motives of social TV positively related to social presence, while convenience and information motives positively predicted sports channel commitment.

The role of feedback and social presence in an online peer coaching program for student teachers

<p>Feedback is essential in any kind of learning. This study focused on feedback in online learning and conceptualized feedback as a social interaction process. Online learning rests on social interaction, which is affected by feelings of social presence. Therefore, we investigated received and perceived online feedback, and the coherence between them. In addition, we studied the influence of social presence on feedback processes. Sixteen Dutch student teachers, who followed a 1 year customized postgraduate teacher education course, engaged in an online peer coaching program using Skype. Data could be collected from 8 different participants and 966 feedback utterances were analysed. In order to determine the quality of this received feedback, an observational instrument was used. In addition, questionnaires were filled in that addressed student teachers’ feedback perceptions and feelings of social presence. Findings showed that participants with higher feedback perceptions received more effective observed feedback than participants with lower perceptions. Feelings of social presence affected perceived and observed feedback, however the social presence items need further validation. This study has practical implications for providing effective online feedback as well as providing a more holistic view on the processes of feedback among teachers.</p><p> </p>

Exploring users’ social responses to computer counseling interviewers’ behavior

We explore the effect of behavioral realism and reciprocal self-disclosure from computer interviewers on the social responses of human users in simulated psychotherapeutic counseling interactions. To investigate this subject, we designed a 3×3 factorial between-subjects experiment involving three conditions of behavioral realism: high realism, low realism, and audio-only (displaying no behavior at all) and three conditions of reciprocal self-disclosure: high disclosure, low disclosure, and no disclosure. We measured users’ feelings of social presence (Copresence, Social Attraction, and Emotional Credibility), rapport, perception of the quality of users’ own responses (Embarrassment and Self-Performance), emotional state (PANAS), perception of an interaction partner (Person Perception), self-reported self-disclosure, speech fluency (Pause Fillers and Incomplete Words), and Verbal Self-Disclosure. We observed some contradictory outcomes in users’ subjective reports. However, the results of objective data analysis demonstrated that users disclosed greater Verbal Self-Disclosure (medium level of intimacy) when interacting with computer interviewers that displayed high behavioral realism and high self-disclosure. Users also delivered more fluent speech when interacting with computer interviewers that displayed high behavioral realism.