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1 – 10 of over 65000Mina Serajian and Babak Akhgar
There exist large gaps in research about social networking services, for example in their development. Most of these networks lack any scientific or engineered base in their…
Abstract
Purpose
There exist large gaps in research about social networking services, for example in their development. Most of these networks lack any scientific or engineered base in their designing and developing processes. In this paper, a holistic model will be described for the development of social network sites and parts of a scientific social network (SSN) will be developed using it. Users of this site are faculties, students and R&D personnel of a university or an enterprise. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a SSN site is designed along with a brief description of a social network site development methodology. The structure of methodology is based on conceptual template for the construction of a methodology. Using this methodology, a group of 50 users (from all three types of end-users) have been chosen to be interviewed about their expectations from the mentioned site.
Findings
Based on the interview, it was discovered that their view about social networks is inflexible and they do not have any new visions about functionalities of these networks. Their emphasis was mostly on exchanging and sharing role of this site. Design and development of social network sites based on the proposed methodology is easily understandable because of using state machine notations.
Originality/value
The innovation of this study is to propose a soft model for social network sites design based on these site's special specifications and regarding differences of them with other regular ones. This can pave the way for investors of such sites for setting up distinct social sites with new functionalities in an innovative approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate those factors that are associated with the adoption of social networking sites from the perspective of Muslim users residing in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate those factors that are associated with the adoption of social networking sites from the perspective of Muslim users residing in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
A complete self-administered questionnaire was collected from 223 Muslim users of social networking sites in Malaysia. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to sort the significant items for the constructs and to check the validity. Structural equation modelling was applied in testing the hypotheses and the fitness of the proposed model.
Findings
The results of full structural model attest that technological and social factors are the most significant factors behind the adoption of social networking sites. However, this is followed by an educational factor. Among Muslim users in Malaysia, the study does not find significant influence of brand or product communication behind this adoption.
Originality/value
The paper investigates those factors that are considered inevitable in the adoption of social networking sites. Invaluable findings were offered in the form of a structural model for the stakeholders of social networking sties. These findings can be used in planning and making decisions that may benefit all parties associated with it.
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Rafael Currás‐Pérez, Carla Ruiz‐Mafé and Silvia Sanz‐Blas
The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of social networking site loyalty, paying special attention to the roles of user attitude, perceived risk and satisfaction.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of social networking site loyalty, paying special attention to the roles of user attitude, perceived risk and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of uses and gratifications of social networking sites, attitude, perceived risks and satisfaction on social networking site loyalty is tested through structural equation modelling techniques. The sample consisted of 811 Spanish social networking site users collected through a personal survey. Risk is measured as a formative construct.
Findings
Data analysis shows that attitude is a key variable in increasing satisfaction and loyalty towards social networking sites. Sociability and entertainment gratifications and perceived risks (psychological, time loss and social) are the main drivers of user attitude towards social networking sites.
Practical implications
This research enables managers to know what aspects to highlight in their communication strategies to increase social networking site use and positive word‐of‐mouth. The research findings show managers that social networking site content should provide fun and foster user interactions in order to improve user attitude. Practical recommendations to increase social networking site satisfaction and loyalty and guidelines to reduce perceived risk dimensions are also provided.
Originality/value
Despite the importance of social networking sites for companies, only limited work has been done to identify motivators and barriers of social networking site loyalty. This work aims to combine the influence of gratifications provided by social networking sites, perceived risks, attitude and satisfaction in order to construct an improved model for social networking site loyalty formation. Furthermore risk is measured as a formative construct because there is no reason to expect that risk dimensions in social networking site use are correlated.
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Murad Moqbel, Saggi Nevo and Ned Kock
There is considerable debate among academics and business practitioners on the value of the use of social networking by organizational members. Some, fearing presenteeism (i.e…
Abstract
Purpose
There is considerable debate among academics and business practitioners on the value of the use of social networking by organizational members. Some, fearing presenteeism (i.e. being at the workplace but working below peak capacity), claim that the use of social networking sites by organizational members is a waste of time, while others believe it leads to improvements in job performance, partly due to employees’ successful efforts to balance work‐life realms. This paper aims to inform this debate by examining the use of social networking sites by organizational members and its effect on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The exploratory study is based on a survey of 193 employees, focusing on the following constructs: social networking site use intensity, perceived job satisfaction, perceived organizational commitment, and job performance. The authors’ proposed model was evaluated using variance‐based structural equation modeling (SEM), a latent variable‐based multivariate technique enabling concurrent estimation of structural and measurement models under nonparametric assumptions. This study used WarpPLS 2.0 to assess both the measurement and the structural model.
Findings
The results show that social networking site use intensity has a significant positive effect on job performance through the mediation of job satisfaction, and that this mediating effect is itself mediated – in a nested way – via organizational commitment. The findings suggest that social networking site use, rather than causing presenteeism, may be a new way through which employees balance their work‐life realms, in turn benefitting their organizations.Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze, in an integrated way, the relationship between those theoretical constructs.
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Grace Saw, Wendy Abbott, Jessie Donaghey and Carolyn McDonald
The purpose of this paper is to discover which social networking sites international students prefer for information dissemination activities. As more libraries experiment with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discover which social networking sites international students prefer for information dissemination activities. As more libraries experiment with social networking to inform and connect with students, there is a need to determine the effectiveness of this strategy for reaching international students. The paper seeks to address three questions: what social networking sites do international students prefer and why? Which sites do they use to socialise and which do they use to gather and distribute information? How can libraries leverage this information to enhance the international student experience?
Design/methodology/approach
Information on social networking preferences and usage was gathered from 13 per cent of students at Bond University via an online survey.
Findings
The findings confirm that for some international student populations, social networking preferences differentiated between the domestic students' preferences. In addition to social activities, international and domestic students are using particular social networking sites for a wide range of educational purposes, including group work and sharing and gathering information. Although Facebook is still the predominant choice for the majority of students, the findings suggest particular sites such as Twitter and YouTube should be considered by libraries as a means to engage both international and domestic students. Institutions with large Chinese student populations should consider the use of Renren.
Originality/value
As of yet there have been no studies that have investigated and compared international students' social networking preferences to domestic students. The study connects the findings to practical implications for academic library use of social networking sites.
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Christy Cheung, Zach W. Y. Lee and Tommy K. H. Chan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative impacts of perceived cost, perceived benefits, and social influence on self-disclosure behaviors in social networking sites…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative impacts of perceived cost, perceived benefits, and social influence on self-disclosure behaviors in social networking sites under an integrated theoretical framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Building upon social exchange theory and privacy calculus theory, an integrated model was developed. The model was tested empirically using a sample of 405 social networking site’s users. Users were required to complete a survey regarding self-disclosure behaviors in Facebook.
Findings
The results indicate that social influence is the factor which exhibits the strongest effect on self-disclosure in social networking sites, followed by perceived benefits. Surprisingly, perceived privacy risk does not have any significant impact on self-disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The results inform researchers about the importance to incorporate social influence factors and cultural factors into future online self-disclosure study.
Practical implications
The results suggest that users focus on the benefits as well as social influence when they decide to reveal personal information in social networking sites, but pay less attention to the potential privacy risks. Educators are advised to launch educational programs to raise students’ awareness to the potential risks of self-disclosure in social networking sites. Service providers of social networking sites are encouraged to provide intuitive privacy indices showing users the levels of privacy protection.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to develop and empirically tests an integrated model of self-disclosure in social networking sites.
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The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the news is discussed in social network web sites.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the news is discussed in social network web sites.
Design/methodology/approach
This article reports a quantitative analysis of the text of 26,953 Windows Live Spaces from September 2006 to February 2007 using a heuristic designed to detect news discussions. In addition, a comparative link and page analysis of 20 popular general social network environments (e.g. MySpace and Facebook) and 11 popular blog environments (e.g. Typepad and Blogger) is presented.
Findings
The text analysis suggests that news plays little role in most Windows Live Spaces, but the link and page analysis suggests that the key difference is less between social network environments and blog environments than between free standardised environments (e.g. MySpace and Blogger) and professional or semi‐professional blogs, with the former tending to carry relatively little news‐related content.
Research limitations/implications
The methods used are exploratory rather than giving definitive conclusions.
Practical implications
Those interested in public reactions to the news should focus on blogs and blog‐like social network sites rather than general social network sites, and should expect only a tiny proportion of the discussions to be news‐related.
Originality/value
Although the role of blogs in reporting, discussing and making the news has been analysed frequently, this is the first study about the extent to which general social networking sites engage with (mass media) news.
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Marco Neumann, Ina O'Murchu, John Breslin, Stefan Decker, Deirdre Hogan and Ciaran MacDonaill
The motivation for this investigation is to apply social networking features to a semantic network portal, which supports the efforts in enterprise training units to up‐skill the…
Abstract
Purpose
The motivation for this investigation is to apply social networking features to a semantic network portal, which supports the efforts in enterprise training units to up‐skill the employee in the company, and facilitates the creation and reuse of knowledge in online communities.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an overview of an emerging area for work‐related research in the field of knowledge management and collaborative online communities.
Findings
The growing number of social network online communities requires a systematic assessment of the application and design of social network technologies, which makes this study relevant and timely.
Practical implications
This paper gives guidance in an emerging research area with major implications for online communities and human resources management.
Originality/value
Fulfils a need, since a lack of literature in the field is apparent.
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Nancy Richmond, Beth Rochefort and Leslie Hitch
This chapter describes how higher education professionals and college students can use social networking sites and technology to manage their careers. Individuals can expect to…
Abstract
This chapter describes how higher education professionals and college students can use social networking sites and technology to manage their careers. Individuals can expect to change careers several times in a lifetime making the importance and role of social networks past and present central to the career management process. The way individuals communicate and interact through the use of social networking sites for the purpose of career development is discussed. The role of social networking sites in exploring career options, learning, making connections, searching for jobs, developing professionally, making decisions, and maintaining a professional image online is examined. A model is presented on using social networking sites to gather information and feedback during the career management process. Scenarios and examples are provided from higher educational professionals, hiring managers, college students, job seekers, and career changers. The chapter envisions the future of career management specific to higher education and addresses how higher education career advisors can respond to social networking sites and technology.
Li Xin Teo, Ho Keat Leng and Yi Xian Philip Phua
Social network sites are becoming more visual-centric. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of visual social network sites as a marketing platform.
Abstract
Purpose
Social network sites are becoming more visual-centric. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of visual social network sites as a marketing platform.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper comprises two experiments. The first experiment sought to examine the effect of social influence; while the second experiment examined the effect of image quality on the perception of quality and purchase intention.
Findings
The first experiment showed that social influence did not affect perceived quality or purchase intention. In the second experiment, a one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) adjusting for sport involvement showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Respondents in the experimental group reported higher levels of perceived quality (adjusted M=3.68) and purchase intention (adjusted M=3.23) when compared to the control group’s perceived quality (adjusted M=3.12) and purchase intention (adjusted M=2.17).
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this study is that it only examined the effects through a single social network site, i.e. Instagram. As there are other visual-centric social network sites, such as Tumblr and Pinterest, which operate slightly different from Instagram, it remains to be established how such effects vary across these social network sites.
Practical implications
The results suggest that social influence on Instagram is limited and marketers should invest in images of high quality when marketing on visual social network sites.
Originality/value
While there are many studies examining the effectiveness of marketing on social network sites, these studies have primarily focussed on earlier social network sites, such as Facebook. Newer social network sites that are more visual-centric, such as Instagram, are different from earlier social network sites and studied to a lesser extent. This study adds insights on the marketing effectiveness of visual-centric social network sites and deepens the understanding on marketing in general on social media.
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