User Beware: Determining Vulnerability in Social Media Platforms for Users in Ghana

There is a limited academic scholarship that examines vulnerability in social media use for people who live in Ghana. This study examines 1) user motivation for social media use, 2) user vulnerabilities in the online environment and 3) user preparedness prior to entering the online environment. In Ghana, people rely on social media for communications to circumvent an expensive telecommunications system and interact with family and friends who have had to travel for education or business. This study uses qualitative methods to engage with Ghanaian citizens within social media platforms like WhatsApp, Viber and Imo to learn more about their reasons for using social media, as well as the concerns they have about using it. Findings indicate that participants rely on social media as a way of communicating with family and friends who have left home, as well as using it to create opportunities. However, participants are also concerned about being tricked online, and having their images or texts used inappropriately. They are also concerned about government tracking when using social media and worry about how all of these things could hurt them in the future, including embarrassment, regrets, and financial troubles. Most participants indicated that they have not had any training in using social media, but if they had they could have avoided many problems that they experienced online. Despite this, participants feel social media improves their quality of life and are encouraged to use social media because of the perceived advantages of the platforms. The paper recommends that continuous user training on appropriate use of social media could benefit and protect Ghanaian citizens

#unfollow on Instagram Factors that have an impact on the decision to unfollow public figures

The social media platform Instagram allows users to subscribe to various people from their immediate circle of acquaintances or to follow public figures. Recent research has identified reasons concerning the discontinuance of social media use and the unfollowing behaviour on certain social media platforms. However, little is known about the unfollowing behaviour on Instagram and what causes users to unfollow public figures in particular. This study was the first trying to find out what factors influence users between the ages of 20 and 29 years of age to unfollow public figures. To this end, a total of nine qualitative guideline interviews were conducted with users recruited via Instagram. The interviews were analysed by means of an summary qualitative content analysis. Thereby, a total of eleven factors could be identified. The first factor relates to the negative feelings that arise when the content is received. The second and third factors relate to the public figure: behaviour and communication. The fourth, fifth and sixth factors relate to the frequency of posts, stories and the same content. The seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh factors relate to content, but in different aspects: advertising, design, lack of identification, unfulfilled expectations and changes.The social media platform Instagram allows users to subscribe to various people from their immediate circle of acquaintances or to follow public figures. Recent research has identified reasons concerning the discontinuance of social media use and the unfollowing behaviour on certain social media platforms. However, little is known about the unfollowing behaviour on Instagram and what causes users to unfollow public figures in particular. This study was the first trying to find out what factors influence users between the ages of 20 and 29 years of age to unfollow public figures. To this end, a total of nine qualitative guideline interviews were conducted with users recruited via Instagram. The interviews were analysed by means of an summary qualitative content analysis. Thereby, a total of eleven factors could be identified. The first factor relates to the negative feelings that arise when the content is received. The second and third factors relate to the public figure: behaviour and communication. The fourth, fifth and sixth factors relate to the frequency of posts, stories and the same content. The seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh factors relate to content, but in different aspects: advertising, design, lack of identification, unfulfilled expectations and changes

When You Share, You Should Care: Examining the Role of Perspective-Taking on Social Networking Sites

Despite good intentions of users who share updates on SNSs, there is mounting evidence that recipients of SNS content frequently perceive shared information as inappropriate, annoying, envy-inducing, and excessive. To examine this apparent gap, we draw on the communication theory and the perceptual congruence model to analyze perceptual differences with the help of dyadic data analysis. Our findings based on 90 sender-recipient pairs show significant percep-tual differences between senders and corresponding recipients of content, with senders attach-ing greater value to their content and scoring both hedonic and utilitarian attributes higher. Additionally, we demonstrate the presence of “false consensus effect” in the SNS environment, meaning that senders anticipate perceptions of recipients to be more similar to their own, than they actually are. Our results provide evidence that sender’s accuracy in predicting recipient’s perceptions contributes to favorable outcomes for both parties, including recipient’s satisfaction with the SNS relationship and positive feedback, desirable for senders. This highlights the im-portance of perspective-taking ability among senders of content. Implications for stakeholders in research and practice are discussed

Talking Politics on Facebook: Network Centrality and Political Discussion Practices in Social Media

This study examines the relationship between political discussion on Facebook and social network location. It uses a survey name generator to map friendship ties between students at a university and to calculate their centralities in that network. Social connectedness in the university network positively predicts more frequent political discussion on Facebook. But in political discussions, better connected individuals do not capitalize equally on the potential influence that stems from their more central network locations. Popular individuals who have more direct connections to other network members discuss politics more often but in politically safer interactions that minimize social risk, preferring more engaged discussion with like-minded others and editing their privacy settings to guard their political disclosures. Gatekeepers who facilitate connections between more pairs of otherwise disconnected network members also discuss politics more frequently, but are more likely to engage in risk-tolerant discussion practices such as posting political updates or attempting political persuasion. These novel findings on social connectedness extend research on offline political discussion into the social media sphere, and suggest that as social network research proliferates, analysts should consider how various types of network location shape political behavior

Intentions to hide and unfriend Facebook connections based on perceptions of sender attractiveness and status updates

We investigated how intentions to hide and unfriend Facebook contacts were linked to perceived sender attractiveness and face-threating messages (FTAs). Intention to hide was higher than intention to unfriend contacts, implying that unfriending is harsher. Low social attractiveness predicted hiding and unfriending intentions, but low physical attractiveness was only linked to hiding. Disrespectful messages were linked to hiding contacts, while updates that made the receiver look bad were linked to unfriending

Social media intention mining for sustainable information systems: categories, taxonomy, datasets and challenges

Intention mining is a promising research area of data mining that aims to determine end-users’ intentions from their past activities stored in the logs, which note users’ interaction with the system. Search engines are a major source to infer users’ past searching activities to predict their intention, facilitating the vendors and manufacturers to present their products to the user in a promising manner. This area has been consistently getting pertinence with an increasing trend for online purchasing. Noticeable research work has been accomplished in this area for the last two decades. There is no such systematic literature review available that provides a comprehensive review in intension mining domain to the best of our knowledge. This article presents a systematic literature review based on 109 high-quality research papers selected after rigorous screening. The analysis reveals that there exist eight prominent categories of intention. Furthermore, a taxonomy of the approaches and techniques used for intention mining have been discussed in this article. Similarly, six important types of data sets used for this purpose have also been discussed in this work. Lastly, future challenges and research gaps have also been presented for the researchers working in this domain

Building and Maintaining Relationships in the Digital Age: Using Social Penetration Theory to Explore Communication through Social Networking Sites

The purpose of this research is to extend Social Penetration Theory (SPT) beyond face-to-face (FtF) relational development by taking into account the unique nature of online interpersonal interactions and self-disclosure practices. More specifically, by applying SPT to social networking sites (SNSs) for relational development and maintenance, this research seeks to test the major assumptions of the theory regarding relational development and self-disclosure. Three studies were conducted to assess SPT in relation to communication online. The first study, discussed in Chapter Three, used a combination of survey and quantitative content analysis of Facebook profiles (N = 103) to look at the depth and breadth of communication across the various stages of relationships maintained online. The second and third studies, discussed in Chapter Four, considered how variables related to communication online (audience awareness, information seeking, and privacy concerns) affected relational maintenance and dissolution. The second study utilized focus groups (N = 26) to generate reasons for why users of SNSs would end relationships online (e.g., oversharing, conflict). The third and final study used this list to survey participants (N = 312) about their own social network of choice (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram). Participants were asked to consider how the reasons generated in the second study related to their own decisions to “unfriend” or “hide” specific members of their social network, reporting on up to 10 members for each participant for a total of 3,062 cases. Participants also discussed their own information seeking and audience awareness as it related to SNS use. Altogether, these three studies highlight important variables needed to consider relational maintenance and development in a multimodal world, supporting the primary claim of SPT that in weighing the costs and rewards of self-disclosure, relational closeness is the best predictor of satisfaction

Seeing the Invisible: Understanding the Implications of Social Media Invisible Responses for Well-Being and Relational Development

Large swathes of current social media scholarship monolithically treats browsing behaviors as passive behaviors, per the passive versus active behaviors approach to social media activities. Such labeling fails to capture the numerous ways that people respond to social media sharing beyond visible clicks on the platform, such as relational distancing or switching channels to respond. Moreover, understanding what people do with information seen on social media platforms and how they respond to such information is integral to theorizing the implications of using these platforms. My dissertation tackles these challenges by first proposing the concept of invisible responses to unify the diverse approaches of responding possible to social media. Specifically, I define invisible responses as reactions to social media sharing by viewers that are invisible along any of the following dimensions: (1) to the original platform, (2) to the sharer, and (3) to the viewer’s imagined audience of third parties. The dissertation presents three empirical studies to investigate the different dimensions of invisible responses. Study 1 examines viewing time and visible clicks while browsing Facebook feeds. While viewing time—a proxy for visual attention—is largely invisible, public feedback of clicks are visible to everyone. Study 1 reveals that the combination of these two types of responses, along with the amount of social content in feeds, can predict important well-being outcome, namely self-esteem. Study 2 explores how people practice self-presentation and relational maintenance in an environment where responses are invisible to third parties. These findings suggest that, given responses that are invisible to third parties, sharers feel lower self-presentational pressure. However, what remains unchanged compared to public feedback is the emphasis on the amount of attention and effort as signaling investment in a relationship. Finally, Study 3 investigates when and why people would make their reception of a social media post invisible or not to the original sharer of the post. Once again, the findings underscore that sending signals of attention and effort is meaningful for relational maintenance. Together, the studies in this dissertation illustrate the importance of invisible responses in understanding well-being and relational outcomes of social media use, as well as opening up future avenues for research. Specifically, responding to the research agenda outlined by the communication visibility theory (Treem, Leonardi, & van den Hooff, 2020), I highlight questions around the management of visibility on social media.PHDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162891/1/dieptl_1.pd

«Tu n’es plus mon ami» : les amitiés Facebook affectées pendant les élections brésiliennes 2014

En 2014 ont eu lieu les élections les plus disputées au poste de président de la république du Brésil depuis 1989, année du premier vote direct après le retour à la démocratie au pays, suite à une dictature militaire de 21 ans. Le climat électoral a envahi les réseaux sociaux numériques, ce qui a fait des présidentielles brésiliennes le sujet le plus commenté sur Facebook dans le monde cette année-là (Facebook, s.d.). Les recherches à l’égard des interactions politiques sur les réseaux sociaux, notamment Facebook, se consacrent rarement aux conséquences qu’elles peuvent avoir sur les amitiés. Compte tenu du constat, la question qui a émergé a été la suivante : les conversations autour des présidentielles brésiliennes sur Facebook ont-elles affecté les amitiés ? La recherche présentée dans ce mémoire cherche à explorer cette question, et à mieux comprendre le rôle des conversations politiques sur les amitiés Facebook, ainsi que ses conséquences sur les rapports interpersonnels en face à face. Cette recherche s’est élaborée sur les fondements de la théorie ancrée, une théorie qui se comprend comme une méthode empirique de collecte et d’analyse de données. La théorie ancrée présuppose que des analyses qualitatives sur des données peuvent permettre aux chercheurs de produire une « théorie », c’est-à-dire, une explication concernant des phénomènes situés, capable de mettre en lumière des contextes particuliers (Guillemette, 2006). Pour m’aider à m’aligner sur cette théorie, j’ai interviewé par Skype ou FaceTime dix brésiliens. Les entrevues ont ainsi porté sur les comportements qu’ils ont pu adopter envers ces « amis » sur Facebook et en face à face. Les résultats suggèrent que les publications concernant la politique pendant la période électorale de 2014 au Brésil ont, en général, été considérées comme une prise de risque pouvant mener les « amis » d’un utilisateur à le supprimer, à arrêter de le suivre ou changer son statut. Les différents types d’amitié ont d’ailleurs joué, d’un point de vue qualitatif, un rôle central dans la gestion des « amis » sur la plateforme. Les résultats indiquent que les participants ont été plus tolérants avec les amis proches et ceux avec qui ils avaient des rapports en face à face. Les suppressions ont surtout ciblé les « connaissances ». Finalement, bien qu’aucun des participants de la recherche n’ait rompu de rapports interpersonnels en face à face, ils se sont ii néanmoins sentis influencés et, quelques fois, « déçus » par les publications de leurs « amis ». Certains participants ont reconnu que quelques rapports interpersonnels ont pu se refroidir ; d’autres ont affirmé avoir moins d’intérêt pour certaines personnes ; d’autres ont déclaré éviter de rencontrer des personnes dont les points de vue politiques, révélés sur Facebook, ont pu décevoir.In 2014, it took place the most contested elections for the position of President of the republic of Brazil since 1989, year of the first direct vote after the return to democracy in the country, following a 21-year military dictatorship. The electoral climate invaded the social network sites, which made the Brazilian presidential election the most commented subject on Facebook in the world that year (Facebook, s.d.). Researches concerning political interactions on social networks, including Facebook, rarely devote to the consequences that they may have on friendships. Given the findings, the question that emerged was this: did the conversations about the Brazilian presidential election on Facebook affect friendships? The research presented in this paper seeks to explore this issue, to better understand the role of political conversations on Facebook friendships, as well as its impact on the face-to-face interpersonal relationships. This research was developed on the foundation of the Grounded Theory, a theory that understands itself as an empirical method of data collection and analysis. Grounded Theory assumes that qualitative analyses of data may allow researchers to produce a “theory”, an explanation of located phenomena, able to highlight specific contexts (Guillemette, 2006). To help me align myself with this theory, I interviewed by Skype or FaceTime ten Brazilians. The interviews were focused on the behaviors they adopted towards these "friends" on Facebook and face-to-face. The results suggest that posts about politics during the election period in 2014, in Brazil, have generally been considered as a risk-taking and could lead the user’s "friends" to unfriend or unfollow him, or change his status. The different types of friendship have also played, in a qualitative point of view, a central role in the management of "friends" on the platform. The results indicate that participants were more tolerant with close friends and those with whom they had a face-to-face relationship. The exclusions have mostly targeted the "acquaintances". Finally, although none of the research participants has broken down an interpersonal relationship on face-to-face, they nonetheless felt influenced and, sometimes, "disappointed" by their friend’s posts. Some participants recognized that some interpersonal relationships have cooled down; others affirmed that they had less interest in some people; and others declared avoid meeting people whose political views, revealed on Facebook, could disappoint them

Coping with romantic relationship dissolution: the role of social media

Individuals utilise social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to communicate and stay in touch with romantic partners and to maintain relationships. SNSs also play a role in connecting individuals to each other – it enables users to gain a better understanding of the self and to develop meaningful relationships with others. It is used to share personal experiences and is frequently used as a means of social support. Making use of social media can therefore also play a role in coping with relationship dissolution, both at the time of the dissolution and during the post-dissolution stages of the romantic relationship. Lazarus’ Stress and Coping Theory, as well as aspects of Social Interactionist Theory, were utilised as a theoretical framework to conceptualise coping strategies and online behaviour. The aim of the study was to create a detailed description of the role of social media in coping with relationship dissolution. The study was a qualitative, phenomenological study and participants were obtained using purposive and snowball sampling. Unstructured, in-depth interviews were used to collect the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Based on the findings of the researcher, social media can be both advantageous and disadvantageous in coping with relationships dissolution. Moreover, using social media in order to cope during and after relationship dissolution indicated adaptive coping in the short-term, and maladaptive coping in the long-term. This study has therefore generated an understanding of the role of social media in coping with relationship dissolution