Understanding the intentions of users to ‘stick’ to social networking sites: a case study in Taiwan

Social networking sites (SNSs) are the most popular social platforms for developing personal networks. They provide multiple interactive functions for users to create and use large social networks. To determine why people exhibit ‘stickiness’ to SNSs, this study uses the uses and gratifications theory as an underlying structure and builds the research model with factors of motivational needs and interactivity. Our results showed that social needs, information needs, human–message interaction, and human–human interaction are crucial factors that affect the ‘stickiness’ of users to SNSs. The implications of these findings are presented in this paper.     

College students and risk-taking behaviour on Twitter versus Facebook

The propensity of college students to post content that they know may be unacceptable to future employers or other authority figures has been well established. Yet research on this topic has tended to focus exclusively on Facebook, which is problematic for two reasons. First, many young social media users are shifting away from Facebook and towards Twitter and other services. Second, college students have changed their use of social media over time and may now be more cautious about what they post on Facebook. To address this issue, a survey-based field study was conducted to compare student comfort levels with authority figures viewing their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Specifically, undergraduate business students attending a large university in the midwest of the USA were surveyed about their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Findings indicate that college students are markedly less comfortable with authority figures viewing their Twitter accounts. Paradoxically, a great majority of the study respondents were found to have public Twitter accounts, while only a very small minority have public Facebook accounts. This finding suggests that students perceive less risk on Twitter versus Facebook or that they are writing to different imagined audiences on the two platforms. Implications include the need for further inquiry and an awareness of educators and human resources professionals about students’ current social media practices.     

Group identification as a mediator of the effect of players’ anonymity on cheating in online games

This study aims to add to the discussion about the applicability of the classical deindividuation theory and social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) in explaining online behaviours. It explores the effect of anonymity in facilitating social influence of group identity in online game cheating. A nationally representative survey was conducted face to face. Results from the survey administered in Singapore confirm predictions derived from the SIDE and challenge the classical deindividuation theory. Specifically, it was concluded that the frequency of gaming with online strangers (anonymous gaming) significantly predicted the frequency of cheating in online games. The effect of anonymity on game cheating was found to be significantly mediated by the group identification with online gaming communities/groups. Gender differences were found. Male gamers cheated more frequently than female gamers. Female gamers are more likely to cheat as a consequence of group identification than male gamers. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Adoption of travel information in user-generated content on social media: the moderating effect of social presence

Travel patterns have gradually changed from group travel to individual travel. An increasing number of people acquire travel information through various types of media. One of the alternative information sources is social media, which enables users to exchange information among members. However, one of the characteristics of social media is information sharing, not information search, which involves both giving (i.e. posting) and taking (i.e. selective reading, forwarding, replying, linking, and liking) information. Compared to the ‘giving’ side of information-sharing research, less effort has been spent on the ‘taking’ side of information research. Therefore, we investigate travel information adoption in social media as well as how individuals communicate with each other. We use the elaboration likelihood model, which measures the impact of central (e.g. argument quality) and peripheral (e.g. credibility) cues on traveller information-sharing behaviour corresponding with social presence on social media. The results of an empirical analysis of 527 respondents, who were experienced in travel information adoption via social media, were examined. Our findings revealed that argument quality had a positive effect on perceived usefulness and source credibility positively affected perceived usefulness and social relationships. Perceived usefulness had a significant positive effect on social relationships. Both perceived usefulness and social relationships affected travel information adoption. Lastly, the levels of argument quality and source credibility perceived by social media members were found to differ according to the level of social presence.     

Predicting teamwork results from social network analysis

Modelling students' behaviours has reached a status that can only be overcome by improving the ability of predicting the results on teamwork. Indeed, teamwork is an important piece on the learning process, but understanding their mechanisms and predicting the results achieved is far from being solved by traditional classifiers. In this paper, we address the problem of predicting teamwork results, and propose a recommender system that suggests new teams, in the context of a given curricular unit. Any student, who is looking for a team, may use the system; in particular, he may ask for the best team to join, either considering all available colleagues or just the set of his previous teammates. Our system makes use of social network analysis and classification methods as the algorithmic core of the decision‐making process. System evaluation is presented through a set of experimental results, which report the performance of social network analysis and classification algorithms over real datasets.     

Can technologies make a difference for hospitalized youth: Findings from research

Children and youth who are hospitalized for a short or long term become socially isolated from their family, school and classmates. As their isolation increases, so does their vulnerability as a result of disrupted schooling. Research studies suggest different ways of using technologies to overcome this isolation and support children during this critical time of their lives. With technology for children in hospitals becoming increasingly commonplace, evaluating how it is used and its impact on children's learning and well‐being is necessary. In this paper, we systematically evaluated existing research on use of technologies for communication, support and educational purposes and its contribution to the well‐being of hospitalized children. A rigorous selection process yielded 14 research articles meeting the following criteria: empirical studies, using technologies for network of support, targeting hospitalized children and adolescents and targeting learning or social and emotional well‐being in the last decade. This review indicates that the use of technologies with children and youth in hospitals generally increased their potential for learning and improved connectivity with school. Our findings revealed that implementing digital pedagogies and creating online communities were helpful but underutilized features in the research.     

基于支持向量机的炒作微博识别方法

微博是舆论传播的中心和渠道,同时参与舆论的形成、发展与引导过程,其自媒体发布、意见领袖参与等因素在一定程度上造成了微博谣言、虚假炒作、社会动员等现象。针对炒作微博的传播特点,分析其群体的隐蔽策划现象,挖掘出普通微博和炒作微博在传播网络结构、转发增量统计等方面的差异。通过社交网站的应用程序接口对目标微博的所有评论、转发和点赞用户进行信息获取,构建该微博的传播网络,利用社团模块度、平均最短路径和网络直径这3个属性度量该网络的紧密程度,基于支持向量机对所抽取的微博进行分类,进而识别出炒作微博。实验结果表明,该方法对微博传播用户的属性信息依赖小以及传播网络结构特征敏感,并且具有较高的炒作微博识别准确率。     

基于模块度的社交网络分形维度计算方法

社交网络是由个体或组织以及它们之间的关系所组成的社会结构。利用社交网络的分形结构来解释和预测社交网络的行为是目前的一个研究热点。分形维度是对社交网络中分形结构的度量,为了更准确地对社交网络分形结构进行度量,提出了一种基于模块度的盒子覆盖算法来计算分形维度。该算法利用分形维度和模块度互斥的性质,基于模块度最小的原则来构建盒子,再对盒子进行计数来计算社交网络的分形维度。仿真实验表明：基于模块度的盒子覆盖法比传统的盒覆盖算法得到更为精确的分形维度。     

基于机会网络中社交关系的转发机制

由于现有的机会网络转发机制不能完全适应社会网络中基于社交关系的判断与分析,为此通过建立社交关系的分类,构建机会网络中的社会关系树结构模型,提出了一种新的转发机制。该机制设置了节点权重值,由节点所处的层次和社会关系的可利用性及可靠性决定。通过路径权重值,选择最有价值的路径进行消息的传递。通过仿真实验,所提出的转发机制有效地降低了网络中的消息副本数和降低了路由开销。     

基于随机游走的大规模图中节点对采样算法

社会网络中的节点对采样可用于大规模社会网络的好友预测和用户兴趣识别.当整个网络的拓扑结构不完全或者随机选择用户的代价很高时,传统的均匀顶点采样方法的性能迅速下降.为此,提出了一种基于随机游走的大规模图中节点对采样算法.首先对社会网络的节点对采样进行了系统分析,对不同跳数下的节点对进行了定义;然后将社会网络转换成等价的网络图.新图中的顶点是原图中的边,新图中边的两个顶点是原图中含有相同顶点的两条边.最后,在新图上应用随机游走模型对节点对进行采样.实验结果表明,提出的方法统计误差小、执行效率高,性能明显优于均匀节点采样的相关算法.