Internet messaging: An examination of the impact of attitudinal,normative, and control belief systems

While instant messaging (IM) has been very popular among teenagers and college students for social and recreation communication, its use in corporate settings has been limited. We examined the factors that influence the intention to use and actual use of IM. A research model was developed based on diffusion of innovation and Socio-psychological theories. The model examined the influence of seven variables in three belief structures (the attitudinal, normative, and control). The model was empirically validated using a field survey of 349 respondents. The results indicated that five of the seven variables explained about 41% of the variance in the intention to use IM. The five significant variables were: utilitarian beliefs, hedonic beliefs, subjective norms, critical mass, and ease of use. Affiliation motivation was not significant and social belief had a negative impact on intention. As expected, intention to use had a significant influence on actual usage.     

Adopt,adapt, abandon: Understanding why some young adults start,and then stop,using instant messaging

Instant messaging (IM) has become a popular and important mode of staying in touch for teens and young adults. It allows for easy, frequent and lightweight interaction that contributes to building and sustaining friendships, as well as coordinating social activities. Despite the initial appeal of IM, however, some have found it too distracting and have changed their usage or abandoned it. I interviewed 21 former users of IM about their adoption, usage and eventual abandonment of the technology. Results show that participants were initially attracted to features of IM that enabled them to maximize their use of leisure time via easy and frequent interaction with their friends, but that, in a different usage context, these same features became distracting and annoying. Participants adapted their behavior to avoid these drawbacks, but IM did not support these adaptations effectively. In particular, IM did not allow for control over interruptions, which became more important as their contact lists grew and social time became scarce; and they ultimately abandoned the technology. These results point to a need for understanding use beyond adoption, and a theoretical and practical focus on understanding the adaptation and changing utility that accompany long-term usage of technologies.     

基于自注意力机制的中文标点符号预测模型

中文标点符号预测是自然语言处理的一项重要任务,能够帮助人们消除歧义,更准确地理解文本。为解决传统自注意力机制模型不能处理序列位置信息的问题,提出一种基于自注意力机制的中文标点符号预测模型。在自注意力机制的基础上堆叠多层Bi-LSTM网络,并结合词性与语法信息进行联合学习,完成标点符号预测。自注意力机制可以捕获任意两个词的关系而不依赖距离,同时词性和语法信息能够提升预测标点符号的正确率。在真实新闻数据集上的实验结果表明,该模型F1值达到85.63%,明显高于传统CRF、LSTM预测方法,可实现对中文标点符号的准确预测。     

引入标点处理的层次化汉语长句句法分析方法

在分析汉语标点符号用法和句法功能的基础上,本文提出了一种新的面向汉语长句的层次化句法分析方法。这种方法和传统的不考虑标点符号的一遍分析方法的主要区别在于两个方面:第一,利用部分标点符号的特殊功能将复杂长句分割成子句序列,从而把整句的句法分析分成两级来进行。这种“分而治之”的策略大大降低了在传统的一遍分析方法中同时识别子句或短语之间的句法关系以及子句和短语内部成分的句法关系的困难。第二,从大规模树库中提取包含所有标点符号的语法规则和相应概率分布信息,有利于句法分析和歧义消解。实验证明我们的方法与传统的一遍图表(chart)分析方法相比,能够大大减少时间消耗和歧义边的个数,并且提高了复杂长句分析的正确率和召回率约7%。     

The role of presence awareness in organizational communication: An exploratory field experiment

Millions of adults currently use instant messaging (IM) in the workplace, and yet there is very little research examining how use and perceptions of this new medium affect intra-organizational communication. While one of the characteristics of instant messaging is the ability to exchange real-time communication, what truly distinguishes instant messaging from other widely adopted forms of mediated communication is the integration of presence technology, which allows parties to detect if others are online and available to communicate. In this paper, we propose a theory of productivity benefits of presence-aware communication technology, building upon past research. Based on this model, we use a quasi-experimental longitudinal research design to test how providing instant messaging to selected workgroups at a Fortune 500 company impacts employees' attitudes and work behavior.

Results suggest that IM use had a positive effect on improving productivity with participants citing reductions in voice mail and phone tag, improvements to how easy it was to see if colleagues were online and available to communicate as well as increased productivity served by back-channel communications conducted via IM. Results and future research directions are discussed.     

农业古籍断句标点模式研究

农业古籍的整理已经引起了众多学者和专家的注意,但是,对于农业古籍的自动断句、标点模式的研究仍付之阙如。本研究探索并总结出部分农业古籍断句、标点识别模式。首先采用句法特征词断句法、同义语标志词法进行初步断句;进而利用反义复合词、引书标志、时序、数量词、重叠字词、动名结构及比较句法进一步对子句进行断句、标点;最后使用农业用语和禁用模式表进一步提高断句、标点后农业古籍的可读性和准确性。经测试表明,断句、标点的平均准确率分别达到48%和35%,证明本方法具有一定的正确性和可行性。     

CDCPP:跨领域中文标点符号预测

在中文文本特别是在社交媒体及问答领域文本中,存在非常多的标点符号错误或缺失的情况,这严重影响对文本进行语义分析及机器翻译等各项自然语言处理的效果.当前对标点符号进行预测的相关研究多集中于英文对话的语音转写文本,缺少对社交媒体及问答领域文本进行标点符号预测的相关研究,也没有这些领域公开的数据集.该文首次提出跨领域中文标点...     

Students' perceptions of Facebook for academic purposes

Facebook is the most popular Social Network Site (SNS) among college students. Despite the popularity and extensive use of Facebook by students, its use has not made significant inroads into classroom usage.In this study, we seek to examine why this is the case and whether it would be worthwhile for faculty to invest the time to integrate Facebook into their teaching. To this end, we decided to undertake a study with a sample of 214 undergraduate students at the University of Huelva (Spain). We applied the structural equation model specifically designed by Mazman and Usluel (2010) to identify the factors that may motivate these students to adopt and use social network tools, specifically Facebook, for educational purposes.According to our results, Social Influence is the most important factor in predicting the adoption of Facebook; students are influenced to adopt it to establish or maintain contact with other people with whom they share interests. Regarding the purposes of Facebook usage, Social Relations is perceived as the most important factor among all of the purposes collected. Our findings also revealed that the educational use of Facebook is explained directly by its purposes of usage and indirectly by its adoption.     

Exploring Chinese users’ acceptance of instant messaging using the theory of planned behavior,the technology acceptance model,and the flow theory

Instant messaging (IM) is a popular Internet application around the world. In China, the competition in the IM market is very intense and there are over 10 IM products available. We examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that affect Chinese users’ acceptance of IM based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the flow theory. Results demonstrate that users’ perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment significantly influence their attitude towards using IM, which in turn impacts their behavioral intention. Furthermore, perceived usefulness, users’ concentration, and two components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, also have significant impact on the behavioral intention. Users’ intention determines their actual usage behavior.     

The impact of media on how positive,negative, and neutral communicated affect influence unilateral concessions during negotiations

In the online environment, audio and instant messaging (IM) media are quite commonly used by people to communicate with each other and make offers as they negotiate. While we know much about how IM and audio differ, we know very little about how offers that are favorable to the recipient (termed unilateral concessions) are affected by what and how people communicate over these media. The purpose of this study is twofold – (1) to examine how such concessions are influenced by communication that is either neutral, or positive, or negative in affect; and (2) to determine how the use of IM, relative to the use of audio, influences the effects of these types of communication on unilateral concessions. We develop a research model based on prosocial theory, which suggests that negotiators using audio are predisposed to interpret their partners’ motivations and behaviors in a positive (prosocial) light while negotiators using IM are predisposed to interpret their partners’ motivations and behaviors in a negative (competitive) light. We manipulate the use of IM and audio in anexperiment designed to test predictions based on this theory. Our work provides theoretical and empirical support for the idea that communications other than concessions (such as positive, neutral, and negative affect) can lead to more or less self-sacrifice depending on the medium employed, and thereby motivate negotiators to make greater or fewer unilateral concessions. Specifically, we found that (1) positive affect comments can increase unilateral concession independent of the medium used by negotiators; (2) neutral affect comments can increase unilateral concession when negotiators use audio, but have little impact when they use IM; and (3) negative affect comments can decrease unilateral concession when negotiators use audio, but can increase unilateral concession when they use IM. These results provide insights to researchers and practical guidance for negotiators.     

Interactive or interruptive? Instant messaging at work

The use of instant messaging (IM) technology at work is controversial, due to the interruptions it may cause and the difficulties associated with quantifying its benefits for individuals, teams and organizations. In this study, we investigate the use and impact of IM tools in the workplace. Based on theories of communication performance and social networks, we propose that while the use of IM will cause work interruption, it will also lead to improved communication quality and the establishment of trust between colleagues. These mediating variables will in turn influence group outcomes. We validate our research model with data collected through a survey of 253 working professionals. The data suggests IM can significantly contribute to communication performance in the workplace, where the benefits overwhelm the negative effects associated with work interruption. The theoretical and practical contribution and implications of the research are discussed.     

It is not for fun: An examination of social network site usage

Social networking sites (SNS) have become a significant component of people's daily lives and have revolutionized the ways that business is conducted, from product development and marketing to operation and human resource management. However, there have been few systematic studies that ask why people use such systems. To try to determine why, we proposed a model based on uses and gratifications theory. Hypotheses were tested using PLS on data collected from 148 SNS users. We found that user utilitarian (rational and goal-oriented) gratifications of immediate access and coordination, hedonic (pleasure-oriented) gratifications of affection and leisure, and website social presence were positive predictors of SNS usage. While prior research focused on the hedonic use of SNS, we explored the predictive value of utilitarian factors in SNS. Based on these findings, we suggest a need to focus on the SNS functionalities to provide users with both utilitarian and hedonic gratifications, and suggest incorporating appropriate website features to help users evoke a sense of human contact in the SNS context.     

Saving face on Facebook: privacy concerns,social benefits,and impression management

The nearly ubiquitous use of online social networks generally entails substantial personal disclosure and elicits significant privacy concerns. This research uses Social Exchange Theory and the impression management (IM) literature to examine how privacy concerns can be counterbalanced by the perceived social benefits afforded by a social network’s ability to support IM. We frame social network use as an attempt to engage in IM, and we highlight the importance of a social network’s IM affordances in predicting social benefits from, and disclosure through, a social network. We test our model with a sample of 244 Facebook users, finding support for the proposed relationships and yielding the following contributions. First, this research provides a novel positioning of perceived IM affordances as a primary driver of both perceived social benefits and IM disclosure propensity. Second, this research illuminates that trust in both the social network provider and social network peers influences privacy concerns, social benefits, and perceived IM affordances. Our theory has important implications for researchers and practitioners interested in privacy issues within social networks.     

互联网即时消息(Instant Messaging,IM)的研究现状与展望

即时消息（Instant Messaging，IM）是一种新兴的互联网交流方式，它具有实时性、在线性等一些很好的特性.目前IM已经成为继Email、Web之后的第三大互联网应用，基于IM的技术仍然在发展中，也出现了一些和IM相关的研究问题.本文总结了IM的特征，将IM和其他交流方式进行了比较，介绍了IM的服务模型和相关协议，讨论了IM的现有研究方向并对IM的未来发展方向进行了展望．     

一个适用于手持设备的多层汉字输入法模型

随着以PDA和智能手机为代表的手持设备快速发展,汉字输入法选择余地小的缺点已经成为影响其普及的障碍之一。究其原因是手持设备中的操作系统和物理设备类型多,而开发的汉字输入法在不同手持设备中不通用,造成开发效率低。本文介绍了一个适用于手持设备的多层的通用汉字输入法模型,详细描述了模型中每一层的功能和特点,讲解了如何基于该模型实现一个输入法,并概要论述了本模型的优点。     

基于循环卷积神经网络的藏文句类识别

句子是语言的最小使用单位,句类识别是为了进一步细化句法和句义研究。由于藏文句尾通常没有特殊的标点符号来识别不同句类,因此这一藏文语言特性就变成了一大难题。该文提出了基于语境和功能特征为一体的句子用途分类方案。首先,该文介绍了文法中藏文句子分类及其特征。其次,收集了大量藏文句子并对其进行了人工标注。最后,采用循环卷积神经网络对藏文句类进行了自动识别。实验表明,该模型对藏文句类识别有较为显著的效果。     

Developing an open‐source,rule‐based proofreading tool

In this paper, we show how an open‐source, language‐independent proofreading tool has been built. Many languages lack contextual proofreading tools; for many others, only partial solutions are available. Using existing, largely language‐independent tools and collaborative processes it is possible to develop a practical style and grammar checker and to fight the digital divide in countries where commercial linguistic application software is unavailable or too expensive for average users. The described solution depends on relatively easily available language resources and does not require a fully formalized grammar nor a deep parser, yet it can detect many frequent context‐dependent spelling mistakes, as well as grammatical, punctuation, usage, and stylistic errors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A general internal model approach for motion learning

In this paper, we present a general internal model (GIM) approach for motion skill learning at elementary and coordination levels. A unified internal model (IM) is developed for describing discrete and rhythmic movements. Through analysis, we show that the GIM possesses temporal and spatial scalabilities which are defined as the ability to generate similar movement patterns directly by means of tuning some parameters of the IM. With scalability, the learning or training process can be avoided when dealing with similar tasks. The coordination is implemented in the GIM with appropriate phase shifts among multiple IMs under an overall architecture. To facilitate the establishment of the GIM, in this paper, we further explored algorithms for detecting periodicity of and phase difference between rhythmic movements, and neural network structures suitable for learning motion patterns. Through three illustrative examples, we show that the human behavior patterns with single or multiple limbs can be easily learned and established by the GIM at the elementary and coordination levels.     

Privacy in instant messaging: an impression management model

Instant messaging (IM) has evolved into an important tool for collaborative work. It supports informal near-synchronous communication and fosters awareness of the online presence of one's communication partners. Like all awareness systems, IM runs into concerns regarding privacy. Drawing upon prior literature and exploratory interviews, we postulate a model that posits impression management as an underlying cause for privacy desires of IM users. We verify our hypotheses using linear structural modelling on data from a large online survey of IM users across the US. The model establishes that the desire for privacy in IM arises due to the desire for impression management (both directly, as well as indirectly through the desire for visibility of one's impression to oneself). Based on this model, we suggest that IM systems could support privacy needs of users better by providing them with more knowledge and control over aspects that affect their IM-conveyed impression on others (i.e. by making impression management functionality available). Specifically, to help convey and sustain appropriate impressions on IM contacts, IM systems should allow for increased visibility of one's actions to oneself, facilitate easy comparison of one's practices with those of others, and allow one to view oneself from the perspective of others and to make finer-grained adjustments to IM settings than is possible today.     

Sentence alignment using P-NNT and GMM

Parallel corpora have become an essential resource for work in multilingual natural language processing. However, sentence aligned parallel corpora are more efficient than non-aligned parallel corpora for cross-language information retrieval and machine translation applications. In this paper, we present two new approaches to align English–Arabic sentences in bilingual parallel corpora based on probabilistic neural network (P-NNT) and Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classifiers. A feature vector is extracted from the text pair under consideration. This vector contains text features such as length, punctuation score, and cognate score values. A set of manually prepared training data was assigned to train the probabilistic neural network and Gaussian mixture model. Another set of data was used for testing. Using the probabilistic neural network and Gaussian mixture model approaches, we could achieve error reduction of 27% and 50%, respectively, over the length based approach when applied on a set of parallel English–Arabic documents. In addition, the results of (P-NNT) and (GMM) outperform the results of the combined model which exploits length, punctuation and cognates in a dynamic framework. The GMM approach outperforms Melamed and Moore’s approaches too. Moreover these new approaches are valid for any languages pair and are quite flexible since the feature vector may contain more, less or different features, such as a lexical matching feature and Hanzi characters in Japanese–Chinese texts, than the ones used in the current research.