Showing papers in "Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication in 2007"
TL;DR: This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright and which are likely to be copyrighted.
Abstract: Social network sites SNSs are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research
14,912 citations
TL;DR: Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one’s ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.
9,001 citations
TL;DR: The predictors of SNS usage are looked at, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster, suggesting that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users.
Abstract: Are there systematic differences between people who use social network sites and those who stay away, despite a familiarity with them? Based on data from a survey administered to a diverse group of young adults, this article looks at the predictors of SNS usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster. Findings suggest that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users. A person's gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background are all associated with use, but in most cases only when the aggregate concept of social network sites is disaggregated by service. Additionally, people with more experience and autonomy of use are more likely to be users of such sites. Unequal participation based on user background suggests that differential adoption of such services may be contributing to digital inequality.
1,303 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzes how YouTube participants developed and maintained social networks by manipulating physical and interpretive access to their videos, and reveals how circulating and sharing videos reflects different social relationships among youth.
Abstract: YouTube is a public video-sharing website where people can experience varying degrees of engagement with videos, ranging from casual viewing to sharing videos in order to maintain social relationships. Based on a one-year ethnographic project, this article analyzes how YouTube participants developed and maintained social networks by manipulating physical and interpretive access to their videos. The analysis reveals how circulating and sharing videos reflects different social relationships among youth. It also identifies varying degrees of "publicness" in video sharing. Some participants exhibited "publicly private" behavior, in which video makers' identities were revealed, but content was relatively private because it was not widely accessed. In contrast, "privately public" behavior involved sharing widely accessible content with many viewers, while limiting access to detailed information about video producers' identities.
798 citations
TL;DR: Signaling theory is presented as a conceptual framework with which to assess the transformative potential of SNSs and to guide their design to make them into more effective social tools.
Abstract: Social network sites SNSs provide a new way to organize and navigate an egocentric social network. Are they a fad, briefly popular but ultimately useless? Or are they the harbingers of a new and more powerful social world, where the ability to maintain an immense network-a social "supernet"-fundamentally changes the scale of human society? This article presents signaling theory as a conceptual framework with which to assess the transformative potential of SNSs and to guide their design to make them into more effective social tools. It shows how the costs associated with adding friends and evaluating profiles affect the reliability of users' self-presentation; examines strategies such as information fashion and risk-taking; and shows how these costs and strategies affect how the publicly-displayed social network aids the establishment of trust, identity, and cooperation-the essential foundations for an expanded social world.
665 citations
TL;DR: An eye tracking experiment revealed that college student users have substantial trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query, which has implications for the search engine’s tremendous potential influence on culture, society, and user traffic on the Web.
Abstract: An eye tracking experiment revealed that college student users have substantial trust in Google’s ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When the participants selected a link to follow from Google’s result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position even if the abstracts themselves were less relevant. While the participants reacted to artificially reduced retrieval quality by greater scrutiny, they failed to achieve the same success rate. This demonstrated trust in Google has implications for the search engine’s tremendous potential influence on culture, society, and user traffic on the Web.
613 citations
TL;DR: Support is found for the stimulation hypothesis but not for the displacement hypothesis, and a moderating effect of type of online communication on adolescents’ well-being is found: Instant messaging, which was mostly used to communicate with existing friends, positively predictedWell-being via the mediating variables.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to contrast the validity of two opposing explanatory hypotheses about the effect of online communication on adolescents’ well-being. The displacement hypothesis predicts that online communication reduces adolescents’ well-being because it displaces time spent with existing friends, thereby reducing the quality of these friendships. In contrast, the stimulation hypothesis states that online communication stimulates well-being via its positive effect on time spent with existing friends and the quality of these friendships. We conducted an online survey among 1,210 Dutch teenagers between 10 and 17 years of age. Using mediation analyses, we found support for the stimulation hypothesis but not for the displacement hypothesis. We also found a moderating effect of type of online communication on adolescents’ well-being: Instant messaging, which was mostly used to communicate with existing friends, positively predicted well-being via the mediating variables (a) time spent with existing friends and (b) the quality of these friendships. Chat in a public chatroom, which was relatively often used to talk with strangers, had no effect on adolescents’ well-being via the mediating variables.
544 citations
TL;DR: This study examines how a social network profile's lists of interests can function as an expressive arena for taste performance and an interpretation of the taste semantics underlying the MySpace community-its motifs, paradigms, and demographic structures.
Abstract: This study examines how a social network profile's lists of interests-music, books, movies, television shows, etc.-can function as an expressive arena for taste performance. By composing interest tokens around a theme, profile users craft their "taste statements." First, socioeconomic and aesthetic influences on taste are considered, and the expressivity of interest tokens is analyzed using a semiotic framework. Then, a grounded theory approach is taken to identify four types of taste statements-those that convey prestige, differentiation, authenticity, and theatrical persona. The semantics of taste and taste statements are further investigated through a statistical analysis of 127,477 profiles collected from the MySpace social network site between November 2006 and January 2007. The major findings of the analysis include statistical evidence for prestige and differentiation taste statements and an interpretation of the taste semantics underlying the MySpace community-its motifs, paradigms, and demographic structures.
376 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that increased visual anonymity is not associated with greater self-disclosure, and the findings about the role of discursive anonymity are mixed.
Abstract: Bloggers are typically cautious about engaging in self-disclosure because of concerns that what they post may have negative consequences. This article examines the relationship between anonymity (both visual and discursive) and self-disclosure on weblogs through an online survey. The results suggest that increased visual anonymity is not associated with greater self-disclosure, and the findings about the role of discursive anonymity are mixed. Bloggers whose target audience does not include people they know offline report a higher degree of anonymity than those whose audience does. Future studies need to explore the reasons why bloggers visually and discursively identify themselves in particular ways.
351 citations
TL;DR: This article proposes a general model to analyze and compare different uses of the blog format, arguing that individual usage episodes are framed by three structural dimensions of rules, relations, and code, which are constantly (re)produced in social action.
Abstract: This article proposes a general model to analyze and compare different uses of the blog format. Based on ideas from sociological structuration theory, as well as on existing blog research, it argues that individual usage episodes are framed by three structural dimensions of rules, relations, and code, which in turn are constantly (re)produced in social action. As a result, “communities of blogging practices” emerge-that is, groups of people who share certain routines and expectations about the use of blogs as a tool for information, identity, and relationship management. This analytical framework can be the basis for systematic comparative and longitudinal studies that will further understanding of similarities and differences in blogging practices.
336 citations
TL;DR: The article identifies three kinds of beeps callback, pre-negotiated instrumental, and relational and the norms governing their use, and assesses the significance of the practice using adaptive structuration theory.
Abstract: This article explores the practice of "beeping" or "missed calling" between mobile phone users, or calling a number and hanging up before the mobile's owner can pick up the call. Most beeps are requests to call back immediately, but they can also send a pre-negotiated instrumental message such as "pick me up now" or a relational sign, such as "I'm thinking of you." The practice itself is old, with roots in landline behaviors, but it has grown tremendously, particularly in the developing world. Based on interviews with small business owners and university students in Rwanda, the article identifies three kinds of beeps callback, pre-negotiated instrumental, and relational and the norms governing their use. It then assesses the significance of the practice using adaptive structuration theory. In concluding, the article contrasts beeping with SMS/text messaging, discusses its implications for increasing access to telecommunications services, and suggests paths for future research.
TL;DR: The findings of the study suggest that Dodgeball use can influence the way that informants experience public space and social relations therein, and exchanging messages through Dodgeball can lead to social molecularization, whereby active Dodgeball members experience and move through the city in a collective manner.
Abstract: A mobile social network system MSNS allows groups of friends to be accessed and engaged with from one's mobile phone. Dodgeball is a MSNS that seeks to facilitate social connection and coordination among friends in urban public spaces. Based on a year-long qualitative field study, this article reports on the social and behavioral norms of Dodgeball use. A comparison between social network sites and Dodgeball highlights some of the communicative differences of mobile technology and the Internet. The findings of the study suggest that Dodgeball use can influence the way that informants experience public space and social relations therein. At times Dodgeball can facilitate the creation of third spaces, which are dynamic and itinerant forms of "third places." Additionally, exchanging messages through Dodgeball can lead to social molecularization, whereby active Dodgeball members experience and move through the city in a collective manner.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine online gift giving in the form of opinion, information, and advice that individuals post on websites and argue that informational gift giving is also strongly driven by status and status seeking and that status sentiments are more likely to sustain virtual communities.
Abstract: This article examines online gift giving in the form of opinion, information, and advice that individuals post on websites. Research has highlighted altruism and reciprocity as the key motives behind such gift giving. We argue that informational gift giving is also strongly driven by status and status seeking, and that status sentiments are more likely to sustain virtual communities. Using theories of status seeking and self-presentation, we investigate the ways in which consumers construct status in online consumer communities. The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital status and the rise of online systems to promote celebrity status within online communities.
TL;DR: Results suggest that the quality of students’ postings was maintained through the use of peer feedback despiteStudents’ preferences for instructor feedback, and students noted that peer feedback can be valuable.
Abstract: This study investigates the impact of peer feedback used as an instructional strategy to increase the quality of students’ online postings. While peer feedback has been demonstrated to support students’ learning in traditional classrooms, little is known about its efficacy in online discussions. To address this gap, we examined students’ perceptions of the value of giving and receiving peer feedback, specifically related to the quality of discussion postings in an online course. In addition, we investigated the impact of that feedback by comparing the quality of students’ postings, based on Bloom’s taxonomy, from pre-course to post-course. Results suggest that the quality of students’ postings was maintained through the use of peer feedback despite students’ preferences for instructor feedback. Students noted that peer feedback can be valuable and, more importantly, described how giving peer feedback not only reinforced their learning but enabled them to achieve higher understanding.
TL;DR: Face-to-face (FtF) seems to be a universal medium without significant differences across respondents’ employment categories and configurations of relationships among social roles overall and across media.
Abstract: This study analyzes the configurations of communication relationships in Korea through face-to-face, email, instant messaging, mobile phone, and short message service media. Through a web survey, we asked respondents to identify (1) for each of the five media (2) up to five of their most frequent communication partners, (3) the partner’s social role (including colleagues, family, friends), and (4) their own employment category. Individual-level and network-level analyses were used to compare variations in communication relationships and configurations of relationships among social roles overall, within each medium, and for different employment categories, and to identify configurations of relationships across media. IM, SMS, and mobile phone are distinctive media for students, mobile phone for homeworkers, and email for organizational workers. Moreover, mobile phones tend to be used in reinforcing strong social ties, and text-based CMC media tend to be used in expanding relationships with weak ties. Finally, face-to-face (FtF) seems to be a universal medium without significant differences across respondents’ employment categories.
TL;DR: The study found that blogs were judged as moderately credible, but as more credible than any mainstream media or online source, and reliance and motivations predicted blog credibility after controlling for demographics and political variables.
Abstract: This study employs an online survey to examine U.S. politically-interested Internet users' perceptions of the credibility of blogs. The article focuses on the influence of blog reliance compared to motivations for visiting blogs in determining blog credibility. The study found that blogs were judged as moderately credible, but as more credible than any mainstream media or online source. Both reliance and motivations predicted blog credibility after controlling for demographics and political variables. Reliance proved a consistently stronger predictor than blog motivations. Also, information-seeking motives predicted credibility better than entertainment ones.
TL;DR: A seven-category taxonomy of collaboratory types is described, defined and illustrated with one example, and key technical and organizational issues are identified.
Abstract: Promoting affiliation between scientists is relatively easy, but creating larger organizational structures is much more difficult, due to traditions of scientific independence, difficulties of sharing implicit knowledge, and formal organizational barriers. The Science of Collaboratories (SOC) project conducted a broad five-year review to take stock of the diverse ecosystem of projects that fit our definition of a collaboratory and to distill lessons learned in the process. This article describes one of the main products of that review, a seven-category taxonomy of collaboratory types. The types are: Distributed Research Centers, Shared Instruments, Community Data Systems, Open Community Contribution Systems, Virtual Communities of Practice, Virtual Learning Communities, and Community Infrastructure Projects. Each of the types is defined and illustrated with one example, and key technical and organizational issues are identified.
TL;DR: The results suggest that both online and face-to-face deliberation can increase participants’ issue knowledge, political efficacy, and willingness to participate in politics.
Abstract: Deliberation is considered to produce positive effects on public opinion, in that it exposes participants to alternative perspectives and rational arguments. However, whereas benefits of face-to-face deliberation have been supported by many empirical studies, the effects of online deliberation remain unclear to date. This research compares the effects of online and face-to-face deliberation in experimental settings. A theoretical review of computer-mediated communication and deliberative democracy suggests that online deliberation is not necessarily inferior to face-to-face deliberation. An experiment was conducted to compare the relative outcomes of a deliberation performed in face-to-face and computer-mediated settings. The results suggest that both online and face-to-face deliberation can increase participants’ issue knowledge, political efficacy, and willingness to participate in politics.
TL;DR: Knowledge about privacy in online commercial transactions is provided, serves as a basis for more directed theory construction in this arena, and has important practical and policy implications.
Abstract: This study applies Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management theory (CPM) to understand the tension between information disclosure and privacy within e-commerce relationships. It proposes that consumers manage their privacy concerns through decisions to reveal or conceal information about themselves in interactions with online retailers. The study investigates the degree to which privacy management strategies identified by CPM theory to regulate privacy and disclosure within interpersonal relationships, including withholding and falsifying information, as well as seeking information seeking from a relational partner, operate in the computer-mediated context of e-commerce relational transactions. Findings suggest that online consumers do erect boundaries around personal information and form rules to decide when to reveal information that are consistent with CPM theory. Overall, this study provides knowledge about privacy in online commercial transactions, serves as a basis for more directed theory construction in this arena, and has important practical and policy implications.
TL;DR: Results contribute to the continuing discussion about the impact that the Internet and its tools are having on relationships by suggesting that, rather than promoting isolation, computer-mediated communication tools such as blogs often function to enhance existing relationships.
Abstract: This research explores variables related to the use of personal-journal style blogs for interpersonal goals. A random sample of bloggers completed surveys exploring how the combination of extraversion and self-disclosure affect strong tie network size, which in turn serves as motivation to use blogs as an alternative communication channel. Bloggers who exhibit both extraversion and self-disclosure traits tend to maintain larger strong-tie social networks and are more likely to appropriate blogs to support those relationships. Age, gender, and education have no relationship to network size, blog content, or the use of blogs as a relationship maintenance tool. These results contribute to the continuing discussion about the impact that the Internet and its tools are having on relationships by suggesting that, rather than promoting isolation, computer-mediated communication tools such as blogs often function to enhance existing relationships.
TL;DR: It is suggested that integration of the TAM and the uses and gratification approach can be fruitful for future research on the diffusion of Internet-based technological systems.
Abstract: This study examines the factors that influence instructors' adoption and use of an Internet-based course management system and tests the applicability of the Technology Acceptance Model TAM, introduced by Davis 1986, in the context of e-learning practices in higher education. Using data from an online survey of a university's instructors N= 191, a path analysis revealed that perceived ease of use of the system had a significant impact on perceived usefulness as the TAM suggested. In addition, a direct effect of perceived usefulness on behavioral intention to use and an indirect effect of the variable on actual system use, both of which were proposed in the TAM, were also found. Further, motivation to use the system played a significant role in affecting perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, evaluation of functions, current system use, and behavioral intention to keep using the system. This study suggests that integration of the TAM and the uses and gratification approach can be fruitful for future research on the diffusion of Internet-based technological systems.
TL;DR: People who utilize IM at work report being interrupted less frequently, and they engage in more frequent computer-mediated communication than non-users, including both work-related and personal communication, consistent with claims that employees use IM in ways that help them to manage interruption.
Abstract: Some scholars worry that Instant Messaging IM, by virtue of the ease with which users can initiate and participate in online conversations, contributes to an increase in task interruption. Others argue that workers use IM strategically, employing it in ways that reduce interruption. This article examines the relationship between IM and interruption, using data collected via a U.S. national telephone survey of full-time workers who regularly use computers N = 912. Analysis of these data indicates that IM use has no influence on overall levels of work communication. However, people who utilize IM at work report being interrupted less frequently than non-users, and they engage in more frequent computer-mediated communication than non-users, including both work-related and personal communication. These results are consistent with claims that employees use IM in ways that help them to manage interruption, such as quickly obtaining task-relevant information and negotiating conversational availability.
TL;DR: It was confirmed that being satisfied with benefits to self, relationships with others, and skill in handling information had significant positive effects on the intention to continue blog writing, and communication with readers who gave positive feedback strongly encouraged blog authors to continue writing.
Abstract: We conducted a questionnaire survey of personal blog authors (N = 1,434) and examined two hypothesized models using structural equation modeling to clarify the psychological and social process associated with why authors continue to write their blogs. Two final models with good fit were obtained. It was confirmed that being satisfied with benefits to self, relationships with others, and skill in handling information had significant positive effects on the intention to continue blog writing. The psychological traits of private self-consciousness, reassurance-seeking, and information need were hypothesized to be effective in establishing consciousness of the benefits; these also had significant positive effects. In contrast, only positive feedback had a significant influence on satisfaction related to information handling skill, whereas both negative and positive feedback had significant influences on satisfaction related to information handling skill. This suggests that communication with readers who gave positive feedback strongly encouraged blog authors to continue writing. Similarities and differences between the two models and recommendations for further theoretical development are discussed.
TL;DR: This study examines print and online daily newspaper journalists’ perceptions of the credibility of Internet news information, as well as the influence of several factors—most notably, professional role conceptions—on those perceptions.
Abstract: This study examines print and online daily newspaper journalists’ perceptions of the credibility of Internet news information, as well as the influence of several factors—most notably, professional role conceptions—on those perceptions. Credibility was measured as a multidimensional construct. The results of a survey of U.S. journalists (N = 655) show that Internet news information was viewed as moderately credible overall and that online newspaper journalists rated Internet news information as significantly more credible than did print newspaper journalists. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that Internet reliance was a strong positive predictor of credibility. Two professional role conceptions also emerged as significant predictors. The populist mobilizer role conception was a significant positive predictor of online news credibility, while the adversarial role conception was a significant negative predictor. Demographic characteristics of print and online daily newspaper journalists did not influence their perceptions of online news credibility.
TL;DR: Qualitative analysis of in-depth interview data from 49 users suggests that Cyworld users routinely negotiate multiple dialectical tensions that are created within the online world, transferred from face-to-face contexts, or imposed by interpersonal principles that relate to Korea's collectivistic culture.
Abstract: This study employs a relational dialectics approach to gain insights into the nature of relational communication via Cyworld, a Korean social network site. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interview data from 49 users suggests that Cyworld users routinely negotiate multiple dialectical tensions that are created within the online world, transferred from face-to-face contexts, or imposed by interpersonal principles that relate to Korea's collectivistic culture. The interviewees experienced a new relational dialectic of interpersonal relations versus self-relation, analogous to Baxter and Montgomery's 1996 connection-autonomy contradiction. Their responses suggest that Cyworld's design features and functions encourage users to transcend the high-context communication of Korean culture by offering an alternative channel for elaborate and emotional communication, which fosters the reframing of relational issues offline. Cy-Ilchons online buddies virtually extend the Korean cultural concept of blood ties, called yons, in ways that intensify the openness-closedness contradiction at early stages of relationship formation.
TL;DR: Differences among types of users were primarily associated with two motivations—arousal and surveillance—while entertainment, escape, and social interaction motivations were judged to be less important.
Abstract: Over 15 million people participate in online fantasy sports. Applying a uses and gratifications framework, we use Q-methodology, a quantitative means for developing typologies of people, to examine types of online fantasy sports users and their motivations. Five types of players emerged, with casual players, skilled players, and isolationist thrill-seekers being the three most common types. Differences among types of users were primarily associated with two motivations—arousal and surveillance—while entertainment, escape, and social interaction motivations were judged to be less important. The minimal importance of social interaction to fantasy sports users in this study was unexpected, based on previous research, and implies that not all online communities build or maintain relationships.
TL;DR: The results support several reasons advanced in previous research for the lower public profile of women bloggers, and men and women find the same range of satisfactions in blogging.
Abstract: This article asks whether blogging in the United Kingdom, which started later than in the United States, reproduces the gender differences in blogging behavior and the gender inequalities in recognition that have been observed in studies based largely on U.S. bloggers. A sample of 48 female and male British bloggers answered a questionnaire about their blogging practices and attitudes; data were also collected from their blogs and by means of online tools. For both sexes, blogging is mainly a leisure activity, and men and women find the same range of satisfactions in blogging. However, more women use blogging as an outlet for creative work, whether as a hobby or as a livelihood. The results support several reasons advanced in previous research for the lower public profile of women bloggers.
TL;DR: It is suggested that workplace culture is a more important factor accounting for the frequency and form of greetings and closings than are relative status, social distance, and gender.
Abstract: This article reports on a study of the use and form of greetings and closings in the emails of two New Zealand workplaces: an educational organization and a manufacturing plant. Using discourse analytic techniques, 515 emails were analyzed and a number of differences were identified. In the educational organization, where restructuring has resulted in low staff morale and a mistrust of management, indirect and socially distant styles of communication prevailed and greetings and closings were not widely used. In the manufacturing plant, the more extensive use of greetings and closings reflected and constructed the open and positive relationships between staff and management and the direct, friendly, and familial workplace culture. The findings suggest that workplace culture is a more important factor accounting for the frequency and form of greetings and closings than are relative status, social distance, and gender.
TL;DR: Through a qualitative analysis of three sets of interviews with Christians, Jews, and Muslims about the Internet, how authority is discussed and contextualized differently in each religious tradition in terms of these four layers of authority is seen.
Abstract: While many themes have been explored in relation to religion online—ritual, identity construction, community—what happens to religious authority and power relationships within online environments is an area in need of more detailed investigation. In order to move discussions of authority from the broad or vague to the specific, this article argues for a more refined identification of the attributes of authority at play in the online context. This involves distinguishing between different layers of authority in terms of hierarchy, structure, ideology, and text. The article also explores how different religious traditions approach questions of authority in relation to the Internet. Through a qualitative analysis of three sets of interviews with Christians, Jews, and Muslims about the Internet, we see how authority is discussed and contextualized differently in each religious tradition in terms of these four layers of authority.
TL;DR: The findings show that participants are deeply committed to ongoing discussions about black community issues, but none of these discussions moved beyond a discursive level of civic engagement, suggesting that the potential for mobilization through social networking online has not yet been realized.
Abstract: This study explores community life on a black social network site, BlackPlanet, to see whether and how participants engage in public discussions; if these discussions center on issues considered to be critical to the black community; and if so, the extent to which participants' online networks are used to foster some level of civic engagement. Participation analysis, content analysis, and a thematic analysis were used to analyze public discussions on the site's community forums. The findings show that participants are deeply committed to ongoing discussions about black community issues. However, none of these discussions moved beyond a discursive level of civic engagement, suggesting that the potential for mobilization through social networking online has not yet been realized, despite the traditional orientation to community service among blacks in America.