Online social networks for health behaviour change: Designing to increase socialization

Positive health behaviour by eating nutritious foods and performing physical activity has been shown to have significant benefit. Furthermore, theoretical models show that social factors contribute to health behaviour. However, social technology for health behaviour has provided limited social interaction. This paper presents an online social network for health behaviour change called VivoSpace that was designed from a theoretical foundation. The results from a field study (n = 35) are presented that include participants from both clinical and non-clinical settings. The results show that there was a significant change in some of the individual determinants for health behaviour change; however, social determinants did not change. Furthermore, the social features such as commenting were under utilized. Two follow-up focus groups (n = 7 and 8) were conducted to determine how the design should be iterated to increase socialization on VivoSpace. The results suggest that the posts need to add interest through system intelligence and allowing the user to add photos and other information to the post.     

Sex role stereotyping is hard to kill: A field experiment measuring social responses to user characteristics and behavior in an online multiplayer first-person shooter game

Sex role stereotyping by players in first-person shooter games and other online gaming environments may encourage a social environment that marginalizes and alienates female players. Consistent with the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE), the anonymity of online games may engender endorsement of group-consistent attitudes and amplification of social stereotyping, such as the adherence to gender norms predicted by expectations states theory. A 2 × 3 × 2 virtual field experiment (N = 520) in an online first-person shooter video game examined effects of a confederate players’ sex, communication style, and skill on players’ compliance with subsequent online friend requests. We found support for the hypothesis that, in general, women would gain more compliance with friend requests than men. We also found support for the hypothesis that women making positive utterances would gain more compliance with friend requests than women making negative utterances, whereas men making negative utterances would gain more compliance with friend requests than men making positive utterances. The hypothesis that player skill (i.e., game scores) would predict compliance with friend requests was not supported. Implications for male and female game players and computer-mediated communication in online gaming environments are discussed.     

Risk factors associated with online game addiction: A hierarchical model

Online gaming addiction has been increasingly recognized as a mental disorder. However, the predictive factors that lead to online gaming addiction are not well established. The aim of this study was to identify factors that may influence the development of online gaming addiction. A total of 263 patients with problematic online gaming addiction (255 males (97%) and 8 females (3%), age: mean = 20.4 ± 5.8 years) and153 healthy comparison subjects (118 males (77%) and 35 females (23%), age: 21.2 ± 5.5 years, range) were recruited for participation in the current study. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses among each set of variables were conducted. Individual factors (sex and age), cognitive factors (IQ and perseverative errors), psychopathological conditions (ADHD, depression, anxiety, and impulsivity), and social interaction factors (family environment, social anxiety, and self-esteem) were evaluated in a stepwise fashion. All four factors were associated with online gaming addiction, with psychopathological conditions being the strongest risk factors for the addiction. Individual factors, psychological factors, and social interactions were associated with the development of pure online gaming addiction. As before, psychological factors (attention, mood, anxiety and impulsivity) were the strongest risk factors for online gaming addiction in patients with pure online gaming addiction. Psychopathologies, including ADHD and depression, were the strongest factors associated with the development of online gaming addiction in individuals.     

Investigating the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance cultural values on multidimensional online trust

Building online trust and understanding its relationship to online customer purchase decision making is important to e-commerce companies. We decided to investigate the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance on the relationship between subjective norms and online trust (integrity, ability, and benevolence) as well as purchase intention on a model we had developed. We generated a questionnaire and first pilot tested it (n = 116), and then modified it before performing the main test of our model (n = 209). Specifically, trust (cognition and affect based) was adapted to better understand social and cultural factors in online customer behavior. Uncertainty avoidance was found to moderate the relationships between subjective norms and two dimensions of cognition-based trust, (integrity and ability). Benevolence, however, was not found to have any relationship to cultural values or purchase intention. Normative influence on ability belief about the website was significant only when the online consumer had a high sense of uncertainty avoidance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Detecting malicious tweets in trending topics using a statistical analysis of language

Twitter spam detection is a recent area of research in which most previous works had focused on the identification of malicious user accounts and honeypot-based approaches. However, in this paper we present a methodology based on two new aspects: the detection of spam tweets in isolation and without previous information of the user; and the application of a statistical analysis of language to detect spam in trending topics. Trending topics capture the emerging Internet trends and topics of discussion that are in everybody’s lips. This growing microblogging phenomenon therefore allows spammers to disseminate malicious tweets quickly and massively. In this paper we present the first work that tries to detect spam tweets in real time using language as the primary tool. We first collected and labeled a large dataset with 34 K trending topics and 20 million tweets. Then, we have proposed a reduced set of features hardly manipulated by spammers. In addition, we have developed a machine learning system with some orthogonal features that can be combined with other sets of features with the aim of analyzing emergent characteristics of spam in social networks. We have also conducted an extensive evaluation process that has allowed us to show how our system is able to obtain an F-measure at the same level as the best state-of-the-art systems based on the detection of spam accounts. Thus, our system can be applied to Twitter spam detection in trending topics in real time due mainly to the analysis of tweets instead of user accounts.     

Analysis of the structure and morphology of fenoxycarb crystals

In this paper, we have explored the relationship between surface structure and crystal growth and morphology of fenoxycarb (FC). Experimental vs. predicted morphologies/face indices of fenoxycarb crystals are presented. Atomic-scale surface structures of the crystalline particles, derived from experimentally indexed single crystals, are also modelled. Single crystals of fenoxycarb exhibit a platelet-like morphology which closely matches predicted morphologies. The solvent choice does not significantly influence either morphology or crystal habit. The crystal morphology is dominated by the {0 0 1} faces, featuring weakly interacting aliphatic or aromatic groups at their surfaces. Two distinct modes of interaction of a FC molecule in the crystal can be observed, which appear to be principal factors governing the microscopic shape of the crystal: the relatively strong collateral and the much weaker perpendicular bonding. Both forcefield-based and quantum-chemical calculations predict that the aromatic and aliphatic terminated {0 0 1} faces have comparably high stability as a consequence of weak intermolecular bonding. Thus we predict that the most developed {0 0 1} surfaces of fenoxycarb crystals should be terminated randomly, favouring neither aliphatic nor aromatic termination.     

Knowledge sharing and social media: Altruism,perceived online attachment motivation,and perceived online relationship commitment

Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become extremely popular. Facebook, for example, has more than a billion registered users and thousands of millions of units of information are shared every day, including short phrases, articles, photos, and audio and video clips. However, only a tiny proportion of these sharing units trigger any type of knowledge exchange that is ultimately beneficial to the users. This study draws on the theory of belonging and the intrinsic motivation of altruism to explore the factors contributing to knowledge sharing behavior. Using a survey of 299 high school students applying for university after the release of the public examination results, we find that perceived online attachment motivation (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and perceived online relationship commitment (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) have positive, direct, and significant effects on online knowledge sharing (R² 0.568). Moreover, when introduced into the model, altruism has a direct and significant effect on online knowledge sharing (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) and the total variance explained by the extended model increases to 64.9%. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Trust and distrust on the web: User experiences and website characteristics

The aim of this research is to study the content of trustful and distrustful user experiences on the web to identify website characteristics that enhance trust or cause distrust. We collected users’ reports about critical incidents and quantitative questionnaire data by means of an online survey. Results from N = 221 participants suggest that distrust is mostly an effect of graphical (e.g., complex layout) and structural (e.g., pop-ups) design issues of a website, whereas trust is based on social factors such as reviews or recommendations by friends. The content of a website affects both trust and distrust: privacy issues had an effect on distrust and security signs enhanced trust. Furthermore, we show how trustful and distrustful user experiences differ in terms of perceived honesty, competence, and benevolence. High honesty and competence characterize a trustful experience, whereas a distrustful experience is associated with missing honesty and missing benevolence. We discuss how different website characteristics help to enhance trust or to prevent distrust and how this impacts the allocation of design resources.     

The impact of rotating summarizing roles in online discussions: Effects on learners’ listening behaviors during and subsequent to role assignment

This study investigated whether assigning students summarizing roles in online discussions during specific weeks affects how they attend to the posts of others while playing the role, and in subsequent discussion weeks. Thirty-three students in a large undergraduate course on educational psychology were assigned one of two summarizing roles (Synthesizer, Wrapper) on a rotating basis during six week-long small-group online discussions; demographic and log-file data were collected (N = 198 student-weeks). Multilevel, cross-classification modeling revealed that assigning students summarizing roles increased the breadth of their listening during in-role weeks, but the effect was only weakly sustained after the role was completed. Students taking the Synthesizer role showed some increased depth of listening during in-role weeks but not post-role weeks. Other post-role behavior changes (a reduced number of sessions and review of posts) suggest unintended negative side effects of a role-rotation strategy, possibly due to post-role abdication of responsibility.     

Machiavellianism,self-monitoring,self-promotion and relational aggression on Facebook

Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by cynicism, emotional detachment and a willingness to manipulate others. Research investigating the behavior of Machiavellian men and women has focused on its influence in offline relationships. The popularity of social networking sites suggests that it is also important to consider the interactions of Machiavellian men and women in this context as well. Men (N = 54) and women (N = 189) completed questionnaires assessing Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, self-promotion and relational aggression. Analyses revealed that women who were high in Machiavellianism engaged in more dishonest self-promotion and relational aggression towards a close friend on Facebook whilst males with high levels of Machiavellianism engaged in more self-promoting behavior. In addition, both men and women high in Machiavellianism engaged in more self-monitoring. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering the influence of personality on online behavior and associated gender differences.     

Peri-Watchdog: Hunting for hidden botnets in the periphery of online social networks

In order to evade detection of ever-improving defense techniques, modern botnet masters are constantly looking for new communication platforms for delivering C&C (Command and Control) information. Attracting their attention is the emergence of online social networks such as Twitter, as the information dissemination mechanism provided by these networks can naturally be exploited for spreading botnet C&C information, and the enormous amount of normal communications co-existing in these networks makes it a daunting task to tease out botnet C&C messages.Against this backdrop, we explore graph-theoretic techniques that aid effective monitoring of potential botnet activities in large open online social networks. Our work is based on extensive analysis of a Twitter dataset that contains more than 40 million users and 1.4 billion following relationships, and mine patterns from the Twitter network structure that can be leveraged for improving efficiency of botnet monitoring. Our analysis reveals that the static Twitter topology contains a small-sized core sugraph, after removing which, the Twitter network breaks down into small connected components, each of which can be handily monitored for potential botnet activities. Based on this observation, we propose a method called Peri-Watchdog, which computes the core of a large online social network and derives the set of nodes that are likely to pass botnet C&C information in the periphery of online social network. We analyze the time complexity of Peri-Watchdog under its normal operations. We further apply Peri-Watchdog on the Twitter graph injected with synthetic botnet structures and investigate the effectiveness of Peri-Watchdog in detecting potential C&C information from these botnets.To verify whether patterns observed from the static Twitter graph are common to other online social networks, we analyze another online social network dataset, BrightKite, which contains evolution of social graphs formed by its users in half a year. We show not only that there exists a similarly relatively small core in the BrightKite network, but also this core remains stable over the course of BrightKite evolution. We also find that to accommodate the dynamic growth of BrightKite, the core has to be updated about every 18 days under a constrained monitoring capacity.     

Motivating and achievement-eliciting pop-ups in online environments: A user experience perspective

The aim of the present research was to develop pop-up windows that motivate users and evoke a positive user experience. Several variants of achievement eliciting pop-ups were designed and tested on a real business-website. A pre-test examined the effectiveness of 24 combinations of pictures and words in eliciting achievement motivation. The strongest effects on user experience were found for pop-ups containing a congruent achievement-related picture and word. The three pop-up variants with the most positive ratings were employed in a subsequent experiment.The main experiment tested the effects of a sequence of three pop-ups that were presented on a website. We had three conditions with different display times of the sequence of pop-ups. They were presented to 78 website-users for either 1, 2 or 3 s, and compared to a control group on subsequent motivation-related ratings. The results demonstrated that the website was stronger associated with achievement motivation if pop-ups were presented for only 1 or 2 s, compared with 3 s or the control group. This indicates that short presentations of pop-ups could activate achievement motivation in users of learning and business websites. It could be an important design guideline to flash shorter pop-ups that make online environments more appealing to users.     

Coping with information in social media: The effects of network structure and knowledge on perception of information value

The explosive growth of social media has intrigued many scholars to inquire into why people willingly share information with others. However, relatively little attention has been devoted to how people determine which information they share in the networked environment. In this study, a 2 (network density – dense vs. sparse) × 2 (knowledge – expert vs. novice) × 3 (information valence – negative vs. neutral vs. positive) online experiment was performed to examine how the three factors interact and cross over in shaping individuals’ perceptions of the value of information for themselves and for others in the network. Results show that individuals’ perceptions of information value are influenced not just by their level of knowledge, but also by how the network environment is structured. Implications for the findings are discussed.     

Solvent effect on the crystal morphology of 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyridine-1-oxide: A molecular dynamics simulation study

The attachment energy (AE) calculations were performed to predict the growth morphology of 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyridine-1-oxide (ANPyO) in vacuum. The molecular dynamics (MD) method was applied to simulate the interaction of trifluoroacetic acid solvent with the habit faces and the corrected AE model was adopted to predict the growth habit of ANPyO in the solvent. The results indicate that the growth morphology of ANPyO in vacuum is dominated by (1 1 0), (1 0 0), (1 0 −1) and (1 1 −2) faces. The corrected AE energies change in the order of (1 1 0) > (1 0 −1) > (1 1 −2) > (1 0 0), which causes the crystal morphology to become very close to a flake in trifluoroacetic acid solvent and accords well with the results obtained from experiments. The radial distribution function analysis shows that the solvent molecules adsorb on the ANPyO faces mainly via the solvent–crystal face interactions of hydrogen bonds, Coulomb and Van der Waals forces. In addition to the above results, the analysis of diffusion coefficient of trifluoroacetic acid molecules on the crystal growth faces shows that the growth habit is also affected by the diffusion capacity of trifluoroacetic acid molecules. These suggestions may be useful for the formulation design of ANPyO.     

Authenticity and well-being on social network sites: A two-wave longitudinal study on the effects of online authenticity and the positivity bias in SNS communication

In offline settings, authentic behavior has frequently been linked to increased well-being. Social network sites (SNSs) provide a new venue for authenticity, yet the effects of online authenticity are largely unknown. The present study investigated the reciprocal effects of authenticity on SNSs and the psychological well-being of SNS users in a two-wave longitudinal study (N = 374). The results demonstrate that online authenticity had a positive longitudinal effect on three indicators of subjective well-being. The data further illustrate that this beneficial effect of SNS use is not equally accessible to all users: participants with low levels of well-being were less likely to feel authentic on SNSs and to benefit from authenticity. We propose that the results can be explained in light of a “positivity bias in SNS communication” that favors positive forms of authenticity over negative ones.     

Expressive markets for donating to charities

When donating money to a (say, charitable) cause, it is possible to use the contemplated donation as a bargaining chip to induce other parties interested in the charity to donate more. Such negotiation is usually done in terms of matching offers, where one party promises to pay a certain amount if others pay a certain amount. However, in their current form, matching offers allow for only limited negotiation. For one, it is not immediately clear how multiple parties can make matching offers at the same time without creating circular dependencies. Also, it is not immediately clear how to make a donation conditional on other donations to multiple charities when the donor has different levels of appreciation for the different charities. In both these cases, the limited expressiveness of matching offers causes economic loss: it may happen that an arrangement that all parties (donors as well as charities) would have preferred cannot be expressed in terms of matching offers and will therefore not occur.In this paper, we introduce a bidding language for expressing very general types of matching offers over multiple charities. We formulate the corresponding clearing problem (deciding how much each bidder pays, and how much each charity receives), and show that it cannot be approximated to any ratio in polynomial time unless P = NP, even in very restricted settings. We give a mixed integer program formulation of the clearing problem, and show that for concave bids, the program reduces to a linear program. We then show that the clearing problem for a subclass of concave bids is at least as hard as the decision variant of linear programming. We also consider the case where each charity has a target amount, and bidders? willingness-to-pay functions are concave. Here, we show that the optimal surplus can be approximated to a ratio m, the number of charities, in polynomial time (and no significantly better approximation is possible in polynomial time unless P = NP); no polynomial-time approximation ratio is possible for maximizing the total donated, unless P = NP. Subsequently, we show that the clearing problem is much easier when bids are quasilinear—for maximizing surplus, the problem decomposes across charities, and for maximizing the total donated, a greedy approach is optimal if the bids are concave (although this latter problem is weakly NP-hard when the bids are not concave). For the quasilinear setting, we study the mechanism design question. We show that an ex-post efficient mechanism is impossible even with only one charity and a very restricted class of bids. We also show that there can be benefits to linking the charities from a mechanism design standpoint. Finally, we discuss an experiment in which we used this methodology to collect money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.     

Crystal morphology prediction of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine in ethanol solvent by molecular dynamics simulation

In order to understand the mechanism of the effect of solvent on the crystal morphology of explosives, and be convenient for the choice of crystallization solvent, the attachment energy (AE) model was performed to predict the growth morphology and the main crystal faces of 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ) in vacuum. The molecular dynamics simulation was applied to investigate the interactions of TNAZ crystal faces and ethanol solvent, and the growth habit of TNAZ in ethanol solvent was predicted using the modified AE model. The results indicate that the morphology of TNAZ crystal in vacuum is dominated by the six faces of [0 2 1], [1 1 2], [0 0 2], [1 0 2], [1 1 1] and [0 2 0], and the crystal shape is similar to polyhedron. In ethanol solvent, The binding strength of ethanol with TNAZ faces changes in the order of [0 2 1] > [1 1 2] > [0 0 2] > [1 0 2] > [1 1 1] > [0 2 0], which causes that [1 1 1] and [0 2 0] faces disappear and the crystal morphology becomes more regular. The radial distribution function analysis shows that the interactions between solvent and crystal faces mainly consist of coulomb interaction, van der Waals force and hydrogen bonds.     

The social sharing of emotion (SSE) in online social networks: A case study in Live Journal

Social Sharing of Emotion (SSE) occurs when one person shares an emotional experience with another and is considered potentially beneficial. Though social sharing has been shown prevalent in interpersonal communication, research on its occurrence and communication structure in online social networks is lacking. Based on a content analysis of blog posts (n = 540) in a blog social network site (Live Journal), we assess the occurrence of social sharing in blog posts, characterize different types of online SSE, and present a theoretical model of online SSE. A large proportion of initiation expressions were found to conform to full SSE, with negative emotion posts outnumbering bivalent and positive posts. Full emotional SSE posts were found to prevail, compared to partial feelings or situation posts. Furthermore, affective feedback predominated to cognitive and provided emotional support, empathy and admiration. The study found evidence that the process of social sharing occurs in Live Journal, replicating some features of face to face SSE. Instead of a superficial view of online social sharing, our results support a prosocial and beneficial character to online SSE.     

Effects of visual and linguistic anthropomorphic cues on social perception,self-awareness,and information disclosure in a health website

Acknowledging the lack of studies examining both visual and linguistic anthropomorphic cues and the underlying mechanisms of their effects, we investigated how the different modalities of anthropomorphic cues in a health website influenced information disclosure. In a 2 (visual cues: human vs. non-human image) × 2 (linguistic cues: conversational vs. impersonal language) × 2 (question type: less vs. more sensitive questions) between-subjects experiment (N = 254), participants registered with a mock-up health website. We assessed a behavioral outcome of not disclosing personal information and psychological outcomes of social perception and self-awareness as potential mediators. Results revealed distinctive effects of the two modalities of the anthropomorphic cues. Anthropomorphic images, on one hand, increased public and private self-awareness, and public self-awareness in turn led to less information disclosure. Anthropomorphic language, on the other hand, heightened social perception and promoted information disclosure, but social perception did not predict the disclosure. These results indicate unique underlying mechanisms of the effects of anthropomorphism: priming effect of visual cues, and communicative effects of linguistic cues.     

Benefits of a Negative Post: Effects of Computer-Mediated Venting on Relationship Maintenance

Despite abundant literature on the benefits of using social networking sites to map user behavior patterns, limited research exists regarding the effects of negative expression via these sites. Responding to this need, the purpose of this study is to address gaps, in both the relationship maintenance and the catharsis theory literature, by examining the connections among Facebook use, disclosure of negative feelings on Facebook (venting), and relationship maintenance behaviors. A survey study with college students from a university located in southeast United States (N = 341) was conducted, and the results from logistic regression analyses indicate that Facebook usage and level of perceived stress are significant predictors for individual’s venting behaviors. Further, the results indicated that venting negative feelings on Facebook mediates the effect of an individual’s perceived stress on his/her online relationship maintenance behaviors.