Incivility and Political Identity on the Internet: Intergroup Factors as Predictors of Incivility in Discussions of News Online

Although incivility is an increasing concern among scholars and the public, explanations for this phenomenon sometimes overlook the role of computer‐mediated communication. Drawing from the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE), we consider incivility as a form of identity performance occurring in the visually anonymous contexts that are typical online. Specifically, we examine partisan political identities and intergroup factors as predictors of incivility in a newspaper discussion forum. Contrary to expectations, conservatives were less likely to be uncivil as the proportion of ingroup members (i.e., other conservatives) in the discussion increased and less sensitive to incivility directed at outgroup members (i.e., liberals) than were nonconservatives. Audience members had more extreme evaluations of uncivil comments made by partisans than nonpartisans.     

Virtually old: Embodied perspective taking and the reduction of ageism under threat

Intergroup threat harms attitudes toward the outgroup, leading to greater levels of prejudice and outgroup derogation (Rothgerber, 1997). Two experiments were conducted to examine (1) if perspective taking mitigates the negative influence of threat on explicit and implicit intergenerational attitudes and, if so, (2) whether this buffering effect would be stronger for participants who embodied an elderly person in an immersive virtual environment (IVE) compared to those who engaged in a traditional perspective taking exercise via mental simulation (MS). When intergroup threat was presented without intergroup contact (Study 1), the negative effect of threat on ageism dissipated when participants engaged in a perspective taking exercise. Differential effects were found depending on the perspective taking medium. However, when participants were exposed to a concrete and experiential intergroup threat (Study 2), neither modality of perspective taking (IVE and MS) buffered negative intergenerational attitudes.     

Let’s play together: Effects of video-game play on intergenerational perceptions among youth and elderly participants

In this paper, we report on a longitudinal study that investigates the effects of video-game play on intergenerational perceptions amongst youths and the elderly after participating in a program involving regular interaction sessions over two months. Each pair of participants, consisting of one youth and one elderly, was randomly assigned to either the video-game condition (n = 38, 19 from each age group) or the non-video-game condition (n = 36, 18 each). Attraction, intergroup anxiety, attitudes, and game enjoyment were measured through pre-test and post-test surveys to investigate changes in perceptions. Results showed that participants in the video-game condition reported more positive changes in intergroup anxiety and attitudes, compared to participants in the non-video-game condition. Mediation analyses showed that specific attraction towards their interaction partner mediated the effects of video-game play on attitudes and intergroup anxiety towards the general members of the other age group. In addition, the results showed that game enjoyment played an important role in developing positive intergenerational perceptions only for the elderly, but not for the youth participants in the video-game condition. We discuss implications with respect to options to enhance intergenerational perceptions and communication for youth and elderly cohorts in today’s hyper-ageing society.     

The antecedents and consequences of intergroup affective polarisation on social media

Social media platforms enable like-minded users to form online groups, interact and thereby contribute to ideological polarisation. However, online groups also polarise along a continuum of liking or affect for their group compared to other groups. We explore affective polarisation on social media and its implications for online intergroup interaction. Using social identity theory, we investigate the effects of group identification, passion, and affective polarisation on social media users' intergroup approach and avoidance tendencies. We test the research model in the context of political groups on social media. We find group identification contributes to affective polarisation by strengthening favouritism for the ingroup rather than hostility for the outgroup. Although those with greater group identification prefer to confront (approach) the opposition group on social media, the behaviour is a function of inflated feelings for the ingroup more so than animus for the outgroup. Interestingly, users with greater affective polarisation tend to shut out (avoid) the rival group on social media. Our findings imply affective polarisation contributes to group isolation that may exacerbate ideological polarisation.     

Flash mobs,Arab Spring and protest movements: Can we analyse group identities in online conversations?

The Internet has provided people with new ways of expressing not only their individuality but also their collectivity i.e., their group affiliations. These group identities are the shared sense of belonging to a group. Online contact with others who share the same group identity can lead to cooperation and, even, coordination of social action initiatives both online and offline. Such social actions may be for the purposes of positive change, e.g., the Arab Spring in 2010, or disruptive, e.g., the England Riots in 2011. Stylometry and authorship attribution research has shown that it is possible to distinguish individuals based on their online language. In contrast, this work proposes and evaluates a model to analyse group identities online based on textual conversations amongst groups. We argue that textual features make it possible to automatically distinguish between different group identities and detect whether group identities are salient (i.e., most prominent) in the context of a particular conversation. We show that the salience of group identities can be detected with 95% accuracy and group identities can be distinguished from others with 84% accuracy. We also identify the most relevant features that may enable mal-actors to manipulate the actions of online groups. This has major implications for tools and techniques to drive positive social actions online or safeguard society from disruptive initiatives. At the same time, it poses privacy challenges given the potential ability to persuade or dissuade large groups online to move from rhetoric to action.     

Supporting controversial CSCL discussions with augmented group awareness tools

This paper describes the development of augmented group awareness tools that take mutual user ratings of their online discussion contributions as input, aggregate these data, and visually feed these data back to the members in real time, thereby informing participants about how the group as a whole perceives their contributions. A specific group awareness tool was experimentally tested in a CSCL scenario using online controversies about a physics domain. The learning material was distributed across group members to create a situation where an individual minority member with a scientifically correct viewpoint faces a majority favoring a plausible, but incorrect viewpoint. It was hypothesized that in unsupported CSCL groups an incorrect majority would dominate a correct minority, whereas in groups that were supported by an augmented group awareness tool minority influence could be strengthened by making minority contributions salient. The paper reports results in support of this hypothesis, and discusses the mechanisms leading to the benefits of group awareness tools for collaborative learning.     

Arab Americans' Motives for Using the Internet as a Functional Media Alternative and Their Perceptions of U.S. Public Opinion

This exploratory study employed uses and gratifications theory to understand Arab Americans' salient motives for using the internet and whether the internet served as a functional alternative to other media to satisfy Arab Americans' information-seeking and interpersonal needs. Spiral of silence theory also was used to investigate the relationship between Arab Americans' perceptions of U.S. public opinion and their motives for using the internet. Results from an online questionnaire survey ( N = 124) indicated that information seeking was the most salient motive for using the internet and that the internet did serve as a functional alternative, with a significant percentage of the internet sources used being foreign based. There was, however, no relationship between Arab Americans' perceptions of U.S. public opinion and their motives for using the internet. The findings are discussed with respect to the use of the internet by members of this marginalized cultural group.     

Examining knowledge contribution from the perspective of an online identity in blogging communities

Knowledge contribution is one of the essential factors behind the success of blogging communities (BCs). This research studies knowledge contribution behavior in a BC from the perspective of knowledge contributors and their characteristics using the lens of social identity theory. Social identity theory asserts that individuals are fundamentally motivated to present or communicate their identities in everyday social life through behavior. A similar line of reasoning can be used to argue that members of a BC would also be motivated to communicate their online identities through their behavior, that is, through knowledge contribution in the BC. Specifically, this study conceptualized the online identity and examined the effects of its personal (online kindness, online social skills, and online creativity) and social aspects (BC involvement) on knowledge contribution. The data was collected using an online survey from the members of Cyworld, a popular BC in South Korea and a few other countries (members from South Korea were included in this study). The results indicate that both the personal and social aspects of online identity and their interactions significantly influenced knowledge contribution. Based on the findings, this study offers suggestions to organizers of BCs to enhance the knowledge contribution from their members.     

Social gaming is inSIDE: Impact of anonymity and group identity on performance in a team game-based learning environment

The present experiment aimed to determine how quiz performance in a team game-based learning environment can be predicted from the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE). According to this model, anonymity influences social behavior by accentuating the salience of group identity and reducing interpersonal differences, leading to greater group identification and motivation to work for one's own group. As these effects could lead to higher cognitive performance, the goal of the present research was to extend predictions based on the SIDE model on performance in online game-based learning environments. After measuring their prior computing knowledge, 343 Master Degree students were placed in virtual teams on a trivial criterion to perform a series of online quizzes about computing and the Internet. An anonymous (or individuated) username was attributed to each team member to connect to the online learning environment, and information about comparison between teams was used to manipulate the degree of salience of group identity (high versus low). As predicted by the SIDE model, anonymity boosted performance when group identity was salient, but only for students with low prior knowledge. Unexpectedly, it was also found that anonymity boosted the performance of students with high prior knowledge when group identity was not salient. A similar pattern was found for perceived mastery of computing and the Internet. Theoretical and practical implications of the SIDE model are discussed, and specifically its application to social gaming to optimize online learning.     

When groups decide to use asynchronous online discussions: collaborative learning and social presence under a voluntary participation structure

The purpose of this study is to explore how groups decide to use asynchronous online discussion forums in a non-mandatory setting, and, after the group decision is made, how group members use online discussion forums to complete a collaborative learning project requiring complex data gathering and research processes. While a large body of research on computer-mediated communication (CMC) has documented successful intervention strategies to promote and sustain online discussion forums, little of the research has examined the use of online discussion forums in voluntarily contexts, wherein the decision to use online discussion forums is a personal decision and participation is not a graded component. This study approaches the research questions using a naturalistic case study of one graduate-level blended learning course with 55 students. Employing both student interviews and content analysis methods, this study revealed that the factors affecting the group decision to use online discussion forums are (1) successful or unsuccessful experiences during the first trial, (2) perceived affordances of CMC tools, and (3) the interplay between the nature of collaborative tasks and perceived efficiency. The content analysis of online postings in two voluntary groups revealed that when groups decided to use online discussion forums, participation levels were almost equal among individual group members, and discussion threads were sustained until the final completion of the collaborative project.     

The effect of computer-assisted cooperative learning methods and group size on the EFL learners’ achievement in communication skills

This study explored the effect of cooperative learning small group size and two different instructional modes (positive interdependence vs. individual accountability) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduate learners’ communication skills (speaking and writing) achievement in computer-based environments. The study also examined the effects of disclosing/blinding the participants’ identities while interacting around computers on their post-test. The findings of the study revealed that the computer-based environment enabled the participants to blind their identities and reduce their anxiety from face-to-face debate, and so was very helpful in developing their communication skills. The use of the individual accountability mode was quite useful compared with the positive interdependence mode as it enabled all group members to perform their roles significantly. The 5-student group also significantly outperformed other groups of 2-7 members on the post-test communication skills. In conclusion, the findings of this study bring us a step closer to understanding the technique of cooperative language learning and group size.     

Face-to-face contact at the midpoint of an online collaboration: Its impact on the patterns of participation, interaction, affect, and behavior over time

This paper describes some of the consequences of introducing a face-to-face contact during an online collaborative learning session. Previous research on the development of online groups has suggested a critical transition period at the midpoint of a collaborative task in which group members redefine their behavior. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether face-to-face contact between participants during this period influences the patterns of participation, interaction, affect and behavior over time. Results show that a face-to-face contact introduced at the midpoint of a collaborative task has a positive influence on participation. However, a time sequence analysis of interactions revealed a further transition which appears between the face-to-face contact and the deadline. This transition is characterized by a decline of participation and task-focused interactions. At the same time, the analyses revealed an increase of interactions oriented towards emotional regulation and coordination, as well as a greater need of face-to-face contact, desire to drop out, and use of synchronous communications. These findings are based on an in-depth and longitudinal examination of a small sample, which limits their generalizability, but they may have a number of implications for the design of blended learning programs and the facilitation of collaborative tasks in distributed learning environments.     

Dating deception: Gender,online dating,and exaggerated self-presentation

This study examined how differences in expectations about meeting impacted the degree of deceptive self-presentation individuals displayed within the context of dating. Participants filled out personality measures in one of four anticipated meeting conditions: face-to-face, email, no meeting, and a control condition with no pretense of dating. Results indicated that, compared to baseline measures, male participants increased the amount they self-presented when anticipating a future interaction with a prospective date. Specifically, male participants emphasized their positive characteristics more if the potential date was less salient (e.g., email meeting) compared to a more salient condition (e.g., face-to-face meeting) or the control conditions. Implications for self-presentation theory, online social interaction, and online dating research will be discussed.     

What to Tell About Me? Self‐Presentation in Online Communities

This paper investigates how the type of community and personal goals affect self‐presentation. In 3 online studies, we simulated the registration process in online communities, presenting either a common‐bond or a common‐identity community. Study 1 confirmed that members of the common‐bond community presented themselves in an individualizing manner, while members of the common‐identity community focused on characteristics shared among members of the community. Study 2 investigated underlying processes, showing that the goal to get in contact with other members was less salient in the common‐identity than in the common‐bond community. Study 3 demonstrated that community members actively manage their self‐presentation in accordance with personal goals. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for research and profile design.     

The effect of email invitation elements on response rate in a web survey within an online community

In the research of online communities and web survey methodology little is known about how elements in email invitations to list-based web surveys can be used to obtain higher response rates. In the present work, we investigated whether making authority, plea for help, and sense of community salient in email invitations determines the response of survey participants. Drawing from both survey methodology and recent research on online communities, this study also tested a hypothesis on the relationship between activity in an online community and survey response. Using a full-factorial experiment based on a simple random sample of 2500 members from the largest online health community in Slovenia, the results support only the hypothesis that plea for help is an effective response-inducing element in email invitations. Furthermore, the results support the hypotheses that online community activity, related to the frequency of visits and number of posts to an online community, are positively associated with response in list-based web survey. Since this study also shows that combining more than one element in email invitations does not necessary improve response rates, web survey research and practice may benefit from future research on this topic.     

Kicking out the trolls – Antecedents of social exclusion intentions in Facebook groups

When contributing to groups on social networking sites (SNS), not all group members necessarily adhere to the group's norms (i.e., its explicit or implicit rules); in other words, they show norm-deviant behavior. Despite the popularity of groups on SNS and the frequency of norm-deviant behavior within them, research has to date rarely investigated how members of online groups react to those behaviors. This article introduces a model based on the social identity approach regarding the responses to norm-deviations in Facebook groups and reports an experiment testing this model. In this experiment, deviant members were perceived as questioning what the group stands for (i.e., as subverting the group's identity). Perceptions of identity subversion, in turn, motivated group members to derogate and exclude the deviate. Furthermore, participants were found to ignore the deviate's contributions (i.e., not to recall them after reading the group's timeline). Taken together, the results suggest that group members perceive a deviate's behavior as questioning their group's image. This, however, does not seem to lead to a group's decay, but rather promotes a “natural purification” within the group through elimination of negative influences.     

Group awareness and self-presentation in computer-supported information exchange

A common challenge in many situations of computer-supported collaborative learning is increasing the willingness of those involved to share their knowledge with other group members. As a prototypical situation of computer-supported information exchange, a shared-database setting was chosen for the current study. This information-exchange situation represented a social dilemma: while the contribution of information to a shared database induced costs and provided no benefit for the individual, the entire group suffered when all members decided to withhold information. In order to alleviate the information-exchange dilemma, a group-awareness tool was employed. It was hypothesized that participants would use group awareness for self-presentational purposes. For the examination of this assumption, the personality variable ‘protective self-presentation’ (PSP) was measured. An interaction effect of group awareness and PSP was found: when an awareness tool provided information concerning the contribution behavior of each individual, this tool was used as a self-presentation opportunity. In order to understand this effect in more detail, single items of the PSP-scale were analyzed.     

Should I e-collaborate with this group? A multilevel model of usage intentions

The use of online collaboration tools for virtual teamwork has been studied extensively, but mainly at the individual-level. We decided to examine the effect of macro-level factors (i.e., team attributes) and applied hierarchical linear modeling analysis to a sample of data collected from 96 individuals nested in 34 virtual teams. Our results suggested that the development of behavioral e-collaboration intentions by individual virtual team members was affected by their perceptions about the system, as described by individual-level IT use theories, and macro-level factors pertaining to the team. The collaboration technology was perceived to be less useful when employed to communicate with social loafers; and collective social loafing negatively influenced the teams’ potency assessments. After controlling for individual-level perceptions of system usefulness, team potency augmented team members’ intentions to use the online collaboration technology with similar teams. It also improved team performance.     

Influence of group member familiarity on online collaborative learning

This study investigated the effects of group member familiarity during computer-supported collaborative learning. Familiarity may have an impact on online collaboration, because it may help group members to progress more quickly through the stages of group development, and may lead to higher group cohesion. It was therefore hypothesized that increased familiarity would lead to (a) more critical and exploratory group norms, (b) more positive perceptions of online communication and collaboration, (c) more efficient and positive collaboration, and (d) better group performance. To investigate these hypotheses, 105 secondary education students collaborated in groups of three. The results of this study indicate that higher familiarity led to more critical and exploratory group norm perceptions, and more positive perceptions of online communication and collaboration. Furthermore, in familiar groups students needed to devote less time to regulating their task-related activities. The expectation that familiarity would lead to better group performance was not confirmed. These findings imply that online educators pay attention to the effects group member familiarity has on online collaborative learning.     

The role of self-construal in consumers’ electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites: A social cognitive approach

The current study reconceptualized self-construal as a social cognitive indicator of self-observation that individuals employ for developing and maintaining social relationship with others. From the social cognitive perspective, this study investigated how consumers’ self-construal can affect consumers’ electronic word of mouth (eWOM) behavior through two cognitive factors (online community engagement self-efficacy and social outcome expectations) in the context of a social networking site. This study conducted an online experiment that directed 160 participants to visit a newly created online community. The results demonstrated that consumers’ relational view became salient when the consumers’ self-construal was primed to be interdependent rather than independent. Further, the results showed that such interdependent self-construal positively influenced consumers’ eWOM behavioral intentions through their community engagement self-efficacy and their social outcome expectations.