Participation In Online Social Networks Research Articles

Participation in Online Social Networks

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.

Competition and Information Deception in Online Social Networks

ABSTRACTThis study empirically examines the role of competition in determining intentions toward personal information deception (PID) among users of online social network (OSN) sites. PID refers to OSN users intentionally misrepresenting or refusing to disclose online personal information. The research proposes that consumers’ intentions toward PID depend on their desire for online competition with other OSN users, which in turn depends on user appraisals of available status and hedonic benefits, as well as established social norms around competition. An analysis of data gathered from 499 OSN participants (students enrolled at a state university in the southeastern United States) shows that competitive desires represent an important antecedent of PID behavior in OSN contexts. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are also discussed.

A game theory-based trust measurement model for social networks.

BackgroundIn social networks, trust is a complex social network. Participants in online social networks want to share information and experiences with as many reliable users as possible. However, the modeling of trust is complicated and application dependent. Modeling trust needs to consider interaction history, recommendation, user behaviors and so on. Therefore, modeling trust is an important focus for online social networks.MethodsWe propose a game theory-based trust measurement model for social networks. The trust degree is calculated from three aspects, service reliability, feedback effectiveness, recommendation credibility, to get more accurate result. In addition, to alleviate the free-riding problem, we propose a game theory-based punishment mechanism for specific trust and global trust, respectively.Results and conclusionsWe prove that the proposed trust measurement model is effective. The free-riding problem can be resolved effectively through adding the proposed punishment mechanism.

Integrating functional, social, and psychological determinants to explain online social networking usage

People involved in business are increasingly aware of the online social phenomenon and its potential as a marketing tool. Building upon the marketing, social psychology, and information system literature, this study empirically examines a set of functional determinants derived from the technology acceptance model and socio-psychological determinants drawn from the theory of reasoned action and social cognitive theory that may be responsible for the motivations of participants in online social networks. We propose a model by integrating functional, social, and psychological factors in predicting attitude and online social network usage. The survey outcomes from a cross-sectional study among 387 Facebook users in Malaysia support the hypothesised model. This study contributes by extending the cognitive learning theories in predicting online social networking usage. Particularly, this research presents a different perspective on online social networking by exploring the mediating effect of attitude and the moderating role of individual characteristics. This study demonstrates that desirable changes in the perception of functional benefits, self-efficacy, and need for cognition as well as perceptions of social pressure from significant others might lead to corresponding changes in attitude towards online social networking. Results of the study support the model efficacy and predictive ability of the proposed integrative model which may serve as a theoretical foundation for future researchers interested in examining other virtual community engagements such as blogging, online advertising, and online public relations activities.

Response to advertising on online social networks: the role of social capital

The objective of this study is to analyse the marketing value obtained from developing and maintaining social relationships through online social networks (OSNs). We propose and test a structural model that considers a number of antecedents to response to advertising, namely social capital, social status and sociability. Data was gathered through the administration of a structured online questionnaire to a sample of 274 OSN users. Results show that social capital derived from participating in OSNs has a positive impact on social status and sociability; in turn this has a positive impact in response to advertising. This study advances theory by analysing the impact of bonding and bridging social capital on both social status and sociability. Additionally, it examines the impact of both of these constructs on response to advertising. The confirmation of the significance of social capital gained through participation in OSNs and its impact on response to ads provides support for the notion that the relationally oriented and marketing-oriented management of OSNs are compatible. These findings are of great relevance for the appropriate management of company presence on OSNs.

Population-based assessment of currently proposed ideals of nasal tip projection and rotation in young women.

There is no universally accepted quantitative metric that defines the ideal nasal tip rotation and projection. To identify the ideal nasal tip projection (NTP) and rotation by using 3 classic NTP methods (Crumley 1, Crumley 2, and Goode). Lateral facial portraits of normal-appearing white women aged 18 to 25 years were selected from a previously validated and attractiveness-scored database of images. Each image was digitally modified to fit the NTP ideals outlined by the Crumley 1, Crumley 2, and Goode methods with columellar facial angles (rotation metric) of 96°, 101°, 106°, 111°, and 116° (15 modified images per portrait). These variants were incorporated into electronic surveys that were distributed to traditional focus-group and online social-network participants. Analysis was performed using paired comparison analysis, a consumer preference research analytic. The traditional focus-group participants were undergraduate students at the University of California, Irvine, whose online social-network contacts were also used. Mean ranks. There were no significant differences in preference between the traditional focus-group (n = 106) and online participants (n = 3872) (P > .05). The most preferred rotation variant for all 3 NTP methods was 106° (Crumley 1: mean rank, 2.11 [95% CI, 2.07-2.16]; Crumley 2: mean rank, 2.07 [95% CI, 2.02-2.12]; and Goode: mean rank, 2.05 [95% CI, 1.99-2.11]; P < .001). Crumley 1 was considered to be the most attractive NTP method (mean rank, 1.84 [95% CI, 1.82-1.85]; P < .001) overall and was the most preferred NTP method for faces of above-average attractiveness (mean rank, 1.78 [95% CI, 1.76-1.80]; P < .001). No significantly preferred NTP method was found for faces of average attractiveness (P > .05). The most aesthetic combination of tip rotation and projection was a columellar facial angle of 106° with the Crumley 1 tip projection. To our knowledge, this is the first population-based study to attempt to simultaneously determine the ideal NTP and rotation. Each classic NTP method uses measurements dependent on both projection and rotation; thus, ideal rotation for each NTP method must be determined before comparison of the ideals. A rotation of 106° (columellar facial angle) was found to be the most aesthetic. The Crumley 1 method was determined to be the most attractive nasal tip variant overall. NA.

A Theoretic Extension and Empirical investigation of conducting Business Online Social Network: The Continuance Intention Phenomenon

Online Social Network (OSN) is a web 2.0 enabled technology that permits OSN participants to interact with both old and new friends initially. This model of OSN ventured into conducting business activities on platforms, which resulted in many springing up but not surviving, yet the explosion of business activities on these platforms continuous to grow. It is therefore important that OSN practitioners and researchers understand the key determinants of OSN business transaction and continuance intention propellants. The purpose of this paper is to establish the factors that determine OSN participant’s continuance intention to do business on OSN platform. The research framework is grounded in an extended expectation-confirmation model (ECM). An online survey model was used to collect 300 valid responses from OSN participants who have ever conducted business using OSN. A partial least square version 2.0.M3 (PLS) and Warp PLS 4.0 were deployed to perform CFA analyses and structural equation modelling, respectively. The emerging results provide significant evidence in support of the five out of nine factors tested against the hypotheses proposed, namely: Perceived Behavioural Control (0.01), Satisfaction (0.14), Expected Benefit (0.15), Social Norms (0.24), and Habit (0.31), as the main determinants of OSN continuance intention.

Facebook: public space, or private space?

Social networks have become a central feature of everyday life. Most young people are members of at least one online social network, and they naturally provide a great deal of personal information as a condition for participation in the rich online social lives these networks afford. Increasingly, this information is being used as evidence in criminal and even civil legal proceedings. These latter uses, by actors involved in the justice system, are typically justified on the grounds that social network information is essentially public in nature, and thus does not generate a subjective expectation of privacy necessary to support a civil rights-based privacy protection. This justification, however, is based on the perceptions of individuals who are outside the online social network community, rather than reflecting the norms and privacy practices of participants in online social networks. This project takes a user-centric approach to the question of whether online social spaces are public venues, examining of the information-related practices of social network participants, focusing on how they treat their own information and that of others posted in online social spaces. Our results reveal that online social spaces are indeed loci of public display rather than private revelation: online profiles are structured with the view that ‘everyone’ can see them, even if the explicitly intended audience is more limited. These social norms are inconsistent with the claim that social media are private spaces; instead, it appears that participants view and treat online social networks as public venues.

Professional Social Network Participation of Business School Graduates

Social networks are having a profound impact on how professionals communicate and connect with each other. Online professional social networks have become a significant resource for building and maintaining invaluable business connections. Recent university graduates are a particular population often in search of building social networks to further professional development. Participation in online social networks provides a valuable tool for recent university graduates to create and sustain their professional connections and business relationships. This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of the effect university (nationally ranked, large urban, and regional), gender and degree type (undergraduate and graduate) has on online professional social network participation. The authors' business school college graduate findings suggest that university, degree type, and gender were associated with the likelihood of joining the online professional social network LinkedIn. An analysis of the results and future research directions are presented.

Gender differences in collaborative learning over online social networks: Epistemological beliefs and behaviors

Online social networks are popular venues for computer-supported collaborative work and computer-supported collaborative learning. Professionals within the same discipline, such as software developers, often interact over various social network sites for knowledge updates and collective understandings. The current study aims at gathering empirical evidences concerning gender differences in online social network beliefs and behaviors. A total of 53 engineering postgraduate students were engaged in a blogging community for collaborative learning. Participants’ beliefs about collaboration and nature of knowledge and knowing (i.e. epistemological beliefs) are investigated. More specifically, social network analysis metrics including in-degree, out-degree, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality are obtained from an 8-interval longitudinal SNA. Methodologically speaking, the current work puts forward mixed methods of longitudinal SNA and quantitative beliefs survey to explore online social network participants’ beliefs and behaviors. The study’s findings demonstrate significant gender differences in collaborative learning through online social networks, including (1) female engineering postgraduate students engage significantly more actively in online communications, (2) male engineering postgraduate students are more likely to be the potential controllers of information flows, and (3) gender differences exist in belief gains related to social aspects, but not individual's epistemic aspects. Overall, participants in both genders demonstrated enhanced beliefs in collaboration as well as the nature of knowledge and knowing.

Death and mourning as sources of community participation in online social networks: R.I.P. pages in Facebook

Facebook is a place for people to connect and share; a place to form online communities and engage in discussion. Kern, et al. (2013) found that Facebook is also a place to commune with, and about, the dead in a public forum. Although most often mourning of a death is done privately within tight knit communities, online social networking sites and particularly Facebook R.I.P. pages are creating public participation in the memorialization of those who have passed. The present study examines Facebook R.I.P. pages as a catalyst for participation and creation of online communities. Gallant, et al. (2007) provided the framework for determining the depth of online community created by those who participate in the creation, maintenance, and involvement with Facebook R.I.P. pages. This study examines the Facebook R.I.P. pages using a content analysis to determine if indeed these pages represent online community as defined by Gallant, et al. The model created by Gallant, et al. includes the following heuristics used to define online community: interactive creativity, selective hierarchy, identity construction, rewards and costs, and artistic forms.

Networked Participatory Scholarship: Emergent techno-cultural pressures toward open and digital scholarship in online networks

We examine the relationship between scholarly practice and participatory technologies and explore how such technologies invite and reflect the emergence of a new form of scholarship that we call Networked Participatory Scholarship: scholars’ participation in online social networks to share, reflect upon, critique, improve, validate, and otherwise develop their scholarship. We discuss emergent techno-cultural pressures that may influence higher education scholars to reconsider some of the foundational principles upon which scholarship has been established due to the limitations of a pre-digital world, and delineate how scholarship itself is changing with the emergence of certain tools, social behaviors, and cultural expectations associated with participatory technologies.

An integrative research framework for the online social network service

Drawn upon appreciative inquiry (AI) and actor-network theory (ANT), this study proposes a new qualitative research framework for the study of the online social network (OSN) service. Integrating and applying AI and ANT will inspire OSN participants’ imagination and creation to a greater extent and thus the maximum benefits of OSN can be explored, and as a consequence OSN itself can further be improved in the service business context. This study gives a detailed discussion on the proposed framework in terms of its advantages and disadvantages, the suggestions for overcoming the disadvantages and the future research agenda in the area of OSN.

The Cultural Economy Moment?

Abstract This paper explores the rise of cultural economy as a key organising concept over the 2000s. While it has intellectual precursors in political economy, sociology and postmodernism, it has been work undertaken in the fields of cultural economic geography, creative industries, the culture of service industries and cultural policy where it has come to the forefront, particularly around whether we are now in a ‘creative economy’. While work undertaken in cultural studies has contributed to these developments, the development of neo-liberalism as a meta-concept in critical theory constitutes a substantive barrier to more sustained engagement between cultural studies and economics, as it rests upon a caricature of economic discourse. The paper draws upon Michel Foucault’s lectures on neo-liberalism to indicate that there are significant problems with the neo-Marxist account hat became hegemonic over the 2000s. The paper concludes by identifying areas such as the value of information, the value of networks, motivations for participation in online social networks, and the impact of business cycles on cultural sectors as areas of potentially fruitful inter-disciplinary engagement around the nature of cultural economy.

Physicians and Patients Who "Friend" or "Tweet": Constructing a Legal Framework for Social Networking in a Highly Regulated Domain

Social networks connect intimates, friends, and acquaintances that share history, strangers who share interests, or businesses and the customers they serve. This article explores how participation in online social networks blurs the boundaries between personal and professional relationships or commentary, while making available “private” information in what only appears to be a secluded area. These issues are explored within the framework of the highly regulated health domain, casting doubts on the appropriateness of some professional activities and identifying considerable risks for patients and their health-related information.