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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees use anonymous social media to cope with organizational change, which may affect various engagement outcomes. Specifically, this study focuses on change communication from management (i.e. top–down communication) and workplace freedom of speech (i.e. bottom–up communication) as potential antecedents of anonymous communication. In turn, commitment, turnover intention and job satisfaction are examined as engagement outcomes.

An online survey was conducted at Microsoft through Blind, a mobile platform for anonymous communication at work. A series of regression models were used to test hypotheses.

Results demonstrate that: the quality of change communication was related to anonymous social media use for information and support seeking; workplace freedom of speech was related to anonymous social media use for expressing ideas; perceived usefulness and trustworthiness of anonymous social media positively affected the usage of them; and the quality of change communication and workplace freedom of speech were linked to affective commitment and job satisfaction.

Despite the growing popularity of anonymous social media at work, their use and influences have received scarce empirical attention. This study advances the authors’ knowledge of the antecedents, characteristics and outcomes of anonymous social media use in a work environment characterized by frequent organizational changes. The findings also highlight the significance of communication qualities and freedom of speech at work.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of two-way, computer-mediated communication on investigator perceptions of whistleblower credibility.

Investigators were recruited to participate in an online experiment that tasked subjects with evaluating simulated two-way, computer-mediated communication between an investigator and whistleblower. Several rival explanations were also examined to account for potential confounds.

While anonymous whistleblowers were perceived to be less credible than identified whistleblowers when reporting via one-way communication, perceived whistleblower credibility was not statistically different when using two-way communication. Further, investigators allocated statistically similar amounts to investigate anonymous and identified reports.

Based upon the results of this study, several new research directions can be explored with respect to maintaining anonymity, assessing credibility and designing reporting systems.

The results support the use of anonymous, two-way communication in whistleblowing reporting systems. Anonymous whistleblowers would benefit from the ability to maintain an active dialogue with investigators without jeopardizing their safety or the investigation.

This study provides empirical support for strengthening whistleblowing reporting channels through the adoption of anonymous, two-way, computer-mediated communication. Doing so can better preserve the anonymity of those willing to report wrongdoing and better protect them from potential retaliation.

This study is among the first to empirically test the longstanding theory that anonymous reports are perceived by investigators as less credible than those from identified individuals. This study is also among the first to consider and incorporate anonymous, two-way communication in whistleblowing reporting.

With the worldwide growth of open telecommunication networks and in particular the Internet, the privacy and security concerns of people using these networks have increased. On the one hand, users are concerned about their privacy, and desire to anonymously access the network. On the other hand, some organizations are concerned about how this anonymous access might be abused. This paper intends to bridge these conflicting interests, and proposes a solution for revocable anonymous access to the Internet. Moreover, the paper presents some legal background and motivation for such a solution. However, the paper also indicates some difficulties and disadvantages of the proposed solution, and suggests the need for further debate on the issue of online anonymity.

The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of how hidden organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) manages the dialectical tension between concealment and revelation. Despite research on AA’s successes and failures across disciplines, scholars have not thoroughly uncovered how AA communicates internally and externally to maintain the desired level of the organizational visibility. AA’s visibility management is critical in terms of achieving the organizational goals of AA.

To capture how AA communicatively manages the visibility of the organization, the author attended and observed the World Meeting of AA. As a participant-observer, the author did ethnographic fieldwork at the World Meeting.

During the convention, various types of communication strategies AA used to maintain the dialectical tension of concealment/revelation as well as celebrate its international convention became apparent. In particular, AA responded the tension strategically by choosing segmentation, denial and education at the World Meeting.

The author’s observation was suitable to describe AA’s anonymous communication practices. Its empirical finding was valuable for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to extend a traditional communication theory, spiral of silence, to explore the effects of user anonymity and member familiarity on opinion expression behaviour in a virtual environment.

A laboratory experiment method was used to manipulate user anonymity, member familiarity, and opinion congruity to measure the willingness to express opinions concerning controversial topics.

A total of 147 participants were recruited in the experiment. The results revealed that anonymous users in virtual communities and users in groups comprising familiar members are more willing to express inconsistent opinions than non-anonymous users and users in groups containing unfamiliar members, respectively. In addition, anonymous and non-anonymous users as well as users in groups comprising familiar members and those in groups containing unfamiliar members are equally willing to express consistent opinions.

This is the first study to verify the effect of user anonymity and member familiarity on the willingness to express opinions in online social communities. The findings have crucial implications regarding how governments and businesses can stimulate creativity and feedback through virtual communities.

As a peer‐to‐peer scalable anonymous communication system, WonGoo is a tradeoff between anonymity and efficiency. Usually, the longer the path, the stronger the anonymity, but at the same time the heavier the overhead. WonGoo lengthens the anonymity path and reduces the overhead, providing strong anonymity and high efficiency with layered encryption and random forwarding. The purpose of this paper is to analyze its performance in detail.

The paper focuses on measure the performance of WonGoo system with probability theory. First, it gives a brief description of the system and evaluate its payload. Then it presents a detailed security analysis of the system.

It is shown that WonGoo can protect against (n − 1) attack and provide variable anonymity, as well as how confident the collaborators can be that their immediate predecessor is in fact the path initiator. The paper measures the anonymity degree provided by WonGoo system based on information entropy and compare it with other anonymity systems.

The paper is helpful for the further development of WonGoo system. In addition, the results presented in this paper will be useful for users to design other anonymity system.

WonGoo is a peer‐to‐peer anonymity system that provides strong anonymity and high efficiency with layered encryption and random forwarding. The paper presents a detailed analysis of its performance with probability theory and measures its anonymity degree with information theory.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how community attachment to an OHC reduces the OHC users' emotional distress and therefore improves their emotional well-being.

A survey study was conducted in one of the largest online health communities (OHC) for people with diabetes.

OHC participants are likely to experience reduced emotional distress when they have developed an attachment to the community. This attachment is, in turn, positively associated with the normative expectations of reciprocity and the affective feeling of gratitude. However, some commonly used behavioral measures of community participation, such as visit frequency and membership tenure, have little to do with either community attachment or reduced emotional distress.

The research highlights the pivotal role of community attachment in appraising the much-debated benefits of OHCs. However, the cross-sectional survey study has its limitations in terms of establishing causality.

OHC managers need to look beyond some of the commonly used metrics, such as monthly visits and number of new postings, and focus on fostering a sense of attachment among existing users in order to fulfill the OHC's potential of emotional support. Our study implies that design features facilitating reciprocation and gratitude expression among users can lead to a strong emotional bond.

This is one of the first studies on the antecedents of community attachment and the relationship between community attachment and emotional distress in the context of OHC.

This paper has two purposes. First, it aims to propose an alternative conceptualization for interactivity that distinguishes between four interactivity modes: human, medium, message, and product. Second, it seeks to develop a framework of channel preferences that integrates the four‐mode concept of channel interactivity.

A synthesis of interactivity literature streaming from several disciplines (social psychology, computer science, communication, object interaction, and marketing) was used to develop the four‐mode concept. A framework is proposed to illustrate how consumers' perceptions of, and preferences for, the four interactivity modes impact channel preferences.

The propositions developed suggest: channels are perceived as offering different modes of interactivity; preferences for interactivity modes are shaped by personal and situational characteristics; and a match/mismatch between consumers' perceptions of and preferences for the interactivity modes determine channel preferences.

The approach allows an evaluation of particular interactive technologies, an assessment of multi‐channel strategies, and an examination of consumers' satisfaction with their shopping experiences.

The authors propose a broader approach than existing ones. It is not restricted to an online channel; it integrates consumers' interaction with products; and it enables a comparison of online and offline channels. In addition, most research has focused on perceptions of interactivity whereas the framework presented in the paper addresses perceptions of, and preferences for, interactivity modes that impact channel choices.

The purpose of the paper is to present the common use of the Delphi method, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps for the development of a future scenario in correlation with climate warming.

A combination of the Delphi method, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps was employed to construct a future scenario as a learning device.

Based on the data, the future is not going to be so bad but also not very attractive even if it is assumed that human consciousness about global warming issues will remain high. After a few years or so it will be possible to stop negative climate processes but not possible to fix the problem in the sense that the situation we have now can be substantially improved.

This paper is of interest for foresight practitioners and policy makers who want to employ a hybrid approach to scenario development.

The paper is the first to try to use a combination of different methods for scenario development related to climate change.