Search results

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become an essential part of our lives. The purpose of this paper is to explore how demographic variables, SNS importance, social and informational usage, and personality traits (extroversion/introversion, openness, neuroticism, internal and external locus of control) can explain participation frequency of the four biggest SNSs in Israel: Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter.

The research was conducted in Israel during the Fall semester of the 2017–2018 academic year and encompassed 244 students. Researchers used six questionnaires to gather data: a demographic questionnaire, a participation frequency questionnaire on four different SNSs, four SNSs importance questionnaire, social and informational usage on four different SNSs questionnaire, personality questionnaire (extroversion, openness and neuroticism) and the locus of control questionnaire.

The findings revealed that different social network sites play distinct roles for various individuals. WhatsApp, the most frequently used platform, is used more by women and people with internal locus of control. Facebook is more frequently used by open people and Instagram is more frequently used by women, younger adults and neurotic people. Twitter is more frequently used by men. In addition, for all SNSs, the higher the social and informational usage is, the more important the SNSs are to the users, which significantly explains participation frequency.

The differences between social networks can be evidence that each social network serves a different group and does not compete with other SNSs. This may well explain why many people make use of several social networks and have a tendency to move from one to another.

This study explores the motivations for sharing personal information and self-disclosure by mentally ill people in public and private Facebook groups. The purpose of the self-disclosure comparison between public and private groups is to understand how mentally ill people use different kinds of online communication channels in order to advance their goals and needs concerning their illness.

The study was carried out using questionnaires distributed in Facebook groups for people with mental illnesses. A total of 123 full and valid questionnaires were received. Statistical analysis was performed on the data.

Findings revealed that there are no significant differences between public and private groups concerning motivations for self-disclosure and that both types of groups create a safe and supportive place for mentally ill people. However, findings suggest that participants in public groups tend to display higher social involvement than those who participate in private groups.

This is a path breaking study on the entire subject of discourse of people with mental illnesses in private Facebook groups and its importance is derived from this. The study clarified and emphasized the importance of the sense of belonging to a community. Moreover, findings encourage people with mental illnesses to make use of social media channels to meet their social and personal needs.

Although the mobile phone is a popular gadget, only a few studies have examined the relationships between personality characteristics and mobile phone use. This study aims to integrate and extend the literature by focusing on various personality characteristics and motivations to fully understand the influence of these variables on mobile phone use.

The research was conducted in Israel during the first semester of the 2015 academic year and encompassed 181 library and information science students. Participants were asked to complete the following questionnaires: personal details, mobile usage, motivation, self-disclosure and personality characteristics (openness to experience and extroversion and loneliness).

The most common use of students’ mobile phones is for mobile voice communication. Further, results show that the major factors that influence individual mobile phone use are motivation and the time spent using the phone. In addition, results indicate that personality characteristics have a large impact on mobile phone use as well, and that the dominant ones are openness to experience and self-disclosure.

The current study expands the scope of research about mobile phone use by examining the different functions provided by mobile phones within the context of personality characteristics as well as motivation. Further, mobile phones now not only serve as a means of communication but also have become a central means in students’ lives to access their social network system of choice, search for information and enjoy online leisure activities.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the use of Facebook by Israeli party leaders during an election period by examining four elements: the type of Aristotelian language of persuasion; the level of online engagement measured by three different types of feedback: likes, comments and shares; the use of personalization elements as engagement strategies; and the vividness features used in the post (text, photographs and video).

All of the posts from the Facebook pages of ten Israeli party leaders were collected for 45 days prior to the 2015 general elections. The number of posts, likes, comments and shares in each post were captured and the data were analyzed looking for elements of Aristotelian persuasion and of online engagement with the users.

The dominance of pathos was a salient element in the data demonstrating the politicians’ need to create an affective alliance with the public and it was the element that resulted in a higher number of likes, shares and comments. Only a few relationships were found and these do not point to a clear relationship between multimedia use and social media engagement. The interactive, open and free nature of social networking sites contributes to their development as a new type of political podia that allow politicians to produce a different kind of political communication. Instead of using these sites as platforms to disseminate their ideas, plans and strategies, politicians focus their interactions with the audience on the creation and maintenance of affective alliances.

The study contributes to the existing literature on the subject by examining four characteristics of the politicians’ personal profiles on social networks simultaneously while most of the past studies have focused on only one or two of these characteristics.

To date, only a limited number of studies have considered WhatsApp groups. The purpose of this paper is to focus on single WhatsApp groups and explore their special characteristics and dynamics. The present study used the social support perspective, Big Five model and narcissism paradigm to predict the level of participation in WhatsApp groups with these variables.

The research was conducted in Israel during the Spring semester of the 2017 academic year and encompassed 127 students. Researchers used eight questionnaires to gather data: a demographic questionnaire; a perceived social support questionnaire; three characteristics from the BIG5 questionnaire: extroversion, openness to experience and neuroticism; a narcissistic questionnaire; questions about WhatsApp usage; questions about one meaningful WhatsApp group; participation level in the meaningful group; and group importance.

The findings confirmed that psychological factors such as social support, extroversion and narcissism significantly predict the level of participation in WhatsApp groups. It was also found that age, the level of group importance, being the group’s manager, WhatsApp usage and group’s subject play an important role in the participation level.

These results affirmed the importance of psychological factors when exploring new technological platforms, as the paper proposes that individuals may behave differently in various technological environments due to their psychological characteristics. The study expanded current research about a popular communication tool, WhatsApp, by examining it within the special context of WhatsApp groups. This focus enables researchers to follow the special dynamics that take place in a new technological platform.

The purpose of this paper is to examine participation in online social platforms consisting of information exchange, social network interactions, and political deliberation. Despite the proven benefits of online participation, the majority of internet users read social media data but do not directly contribute, a phenomenon called lurking.

A survey was administered electronically to 507 participants and consisted of ten sections in a questionnaire to gather data on the relationship between online participation and the following variables: anonymity, social value orientation, motivations, and participation in offline activities, as well as the internet’s political influence and personality traits.

Findings show that users with high levels of participation also identify themselves, report higher levels of extroversion, openness, and activity outside the internet, the motivations being an intermediary variable in the relationship between the variables value.

The study shows that participation in online social platforms is not only related to personality traits, but they are impacted by the nature of the motivations that drive them to participate in the particular social platform, as well as by the interest toward the specific topic, or the type or nature of the social group with whom they are communicating.

People with pre-existing mental health conditions are more likely to be affected by global crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented them with unique challenges, including reduced contact with the psychiatric rehabilitation and support systems. Thus, understanding the emotional experience of this population may assist mental health organizations in future global crises.

In this paper, researchers analyzed the discourse of the mentally ill during the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected in Israeli Facebook groups: three private groups and one public group. Researchers explored the language, reactions, emotions and sentiments used in these groups during the year before the pandemic, outbreak periods and remission periods, as well as the period before the vaccine’s introduction and after its appearance.

Analyzing groups’ discourse using the collective emotion theory suggests that the group that expressed the most significant difficulty was the Depression group, while individuals who suffer from social phobia/anxiety and PTSD were less affected during the lockdowns and restrictions forced by the outbreak.

Findings may serve as a tool for service providers during crises to monitor patients’ conditions, and assist individuals who need support and help.

The current study seeks to present and examine the strategies, management and dissemination of information on social media platforms by Israeli government organizations and agencies.

The article uses the “Case Study” approach, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with directors in charge of the use of social media in government departments.

The findings indicate that government agencies tend to favor Facebook over other social network platforms, in order to reach the widest possible audience. They do this by adhering to the platform's limitations, such as regularly using sponsored advertising to increase reach and visibility, and also by publishing visual content, such as videos and images, at the expense of text. In addition, the impact of respondents to adopt social media outweighs the use and importance awarded to traditional government websites. A clear preference is evident toward cultivating and strengthening existing information on social media at the expense of further developing official websites.

Findings and conclusions from this type of research can help digital media directors and content editors in government agencies, to improve the quality of their content and improve the accessibility of the information they share online. In addition, the findings of the study strengthen the growing body of knowledge focused on the relationship between government ministries and social media.

This study explores faculty members' outputs and citations by gender and academic rank in Israeli academia. The study focuses on the connection between research productivity and underrepresentation of women in academia. To this end, four fields were chosen, each representing a different discipline: Psychology (social sciences), Public Health (health sciences), Linguistics (humanities), and Chemistry (Exact sciences).

The name, the rank and the gender of the researchers were collected from the researchers' websites and those of their departments. The number of publications and citations were retrieved from Scopus.

Findings revealed that there is a significant difference between the median number of men and women in Chemistry concerning publications and citations and in Psychology concerning citations. Moreover, in all four disciplines, females' average number of publications was lower than that of males', and that in three out of the four disciplines (Psychology, Public Health and Chemistry), men published more in top journals (the top 5%) than females, while the reverse was true of Linguistics. Furthermore, in three disciplines (Public Health, Linguistics and Chemistry), there is an increase in the average citations per female researchers between 2015 and 2019. Further, in all disciplines, women collaborated more than men.

As only a few studies in Israel have explored faculty members' outputs and citations, this study contributes and enlarges the Israeli research concerning this topic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how computer self-efficacy (CSE), perceived information overload (IO) and the digital native perspective predict students’ information literacy (IL) self-efficacy.

The research was conducted in Israel and comprised 117 students from the Information Science Department at Bar-Ilan University. Researchers used five questionnaires to gather personal details: a demographic questionnaire, the IL self-efficacy questionnaire, the CSE questionnaire, technology usage (TU) questionnaire and the perceived IO questionnaire.

The findings confirm that these variables significantly predict students’ IL self-efficacy.

Instructors and librarians should be familiar with the issue of individual differences, as well with the issue of students’ age. These factors may help them choose the most appropriate way when instructing IL skills to their students.