INVESTIGATION OF THE NETWORK CONSTRUCTION BEHAVIOR ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

By enabling connections between individuals, Social Networking Sites, such as Facebook, promise to create significant individual as well as social value. Encouraging connections between users is also crucial for service providers who increasingly rely on social advertising and viral marketing campaigns as important sources of their revenue. Consequently, understanding user’s network construction behavior becomes critical. However, previous studies offer only few scattered insights into this research question. In order to fill this gap, we employ Grounded Theory methodology to derive a comprehensive model of network construction behavior on social networking sites. In the following step we assess two Structural Equation Models to gain refined insights into the motivation to send and accept friendship requests – two network expansion strategies. Based on our findings, we offer recommendations for social network providers

Understanding online collaboration technology adoption by researchers – a model and empirical study

Collaboration in research continuously gains importance. Recent developments in online collaboration technology, namely social research network sites (SRNS), specifically aim to support research collaboration. SRNS allow researchers to present themselves, to network, to communicate, and to collaborate. Acceptance of this technology by researchers has received little academic attention, a void this research-in-progress addresses. Building on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and its recent extension for collaboration technology we present a study design and a theory-based research model to investigate acceptance of online collaboration technology by researchers. As technology adoption research is still dominated by quantitative studies, our study design combines qualitative and quantitative elements and thus makes a methodological contribution. Analyzing qualitative results of 11 focus group sessions, we extend the theory-based model to integrate User Resistance. Additionally, three constructs are identified as antecedents of Performance Expectancy (communication benefits and noise) and Effort Expectancy (privacy concerns)

Users\u27 Trust Building Processes During Their Initial Connecting Behavior in Social Networks: Behavioral and Neural Evidence

Social networking sites (SNSs) are a ubiquitous phenomenon in today’s society and their economic and social impact is high. However, despite the fact that many SNSs provide increasingly more system features to boost social networking, there is also an increasing concern about trust. Users’ trust is important for a long-term oriented and successful SNS, based on a lively connecting behavior in SNSs. Nevertheless, so far only a limited number of studies investigated users’ trust perceptions that are an important antecedent of connecting behavior in SNSs. We conducted a behavioral study, as well as a brain imaging experiment, to explore trustworthiness judgments in SNSs in order to better understand how pictures and textual information influence users’ initial connecting behavior. Preliminary results of this research-in-progress paper show that both pictures and textual information have strong influence on trustworthiness judgments, and these judgments are processed differently in the users’ brains

WHO IS KEY...? - CHARACTERIZING VALUE ADDING USERS IN ENTERPRISE SOCIAL NETWORKS

Whereas the use of Enterprise Social Networks (ESN) is a pervasive topic in research and practice, both parties are still struggling to come to a better understanding of the role and impact of ESN in and on knowledge-intensive corporate work. As a part of this phenomenon, employees who communicate their knowledge in ESN helping other users to do their daily work play a decisive role. We need to come to a better understanding of the role and behaviour of such valu adding users. This is a prerequisite, for example, for understanding knowledge support hubs or for enabling more effective internal information and knowledge sharing. Against this background, we investigate the structural characteristics of valu adding users in ESN using qualitative text analysis and Social Network Analysis. Based on a large scale dataset of a global consulting company using the ESN Yammer.com we analyse the social relationships of valu adding users. We confirm their significant position and draw conclusions for research and practice

The Impact of Formal Hierarchies on Enterprise Social Networking Behavior

With more and more companies using enterprise social networks (ESN) for employee communication and collaboration, the influence of ESN on organizational hierarchies has been subject of countless discussions in practice-oriented media and first academic studies. Conversely, the question whether and how formal organizational hierarchies influence ESN usage behavior has not yet been addressed. Drawing on a rich data set comprising 2.5 years of relationship building via direct messages, confirmed contact requests, and group messages, we are able to show that formal hierarchies have an important impact on social networking behavior. By applying means of social network analysis and supported by statements from interviews, we illustrate how deeply formal hierarchy impacts the three examined types of relationships. Our results motivate academics to further study the interrelation between hierarchy und ESN and hierarchy’s effects regarding the sociotechnical design and implementation of related systems

“Thanks for sharing”—Identifying users’ roles based on knowledge contribution in Enterprise Social Networks

While ever more companies use Enterprise Social Networks for knowledge management, there is still a lack of understanding of users' knowledge exchanging behavior. In this context, it is important to be able to identify and characterize users who contribute and communicate their knowledge in the network and help others to get their work done. In this paper, we propose a new methodological approach consisting of three steps, namely "message classification", "identification of users' roles" as well as "characterization of users' roles". We apply the approach to a dataset from a multinational consulting company, which allows us to identify three user roles based on their knowledge contribution in messages: givers, takers, and matchers. Going beyond this categorization, our data shows that whereas the majority of messages aims to share knowledge, matchers, that means people that give and take, are a central element of the network. In conclusion, the development and application of a new methodological approach allows us to contribute to a more refined understanding of users' knowledge exchanging behavior in Enterprise Social Networks which can ultimately help companies to take measures to improve their knowledge management. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Envy on Facebook: a hidden threat to users' life satisfaction?

The wealth of social information presented on Facebook is astounding. While these affordances allow users to keep up-to-date, they also produce a basis for social comparison and envy on an unprecedented scale. Even though envy may endanger users’ life satisfaction and lead to platform avoidance, no study exists uncovering this dynamics. To close this gap, we build on responses of 584 Facebook users collected as part of two independent studies. In study 1, we explore the scale, scope, and nature of envy incidents triggered by Facebook. In study 2, the role of envy feelings is examined as a mediator between intensity of passive following on Facebook and users’ life satisfaction. Confirming full mediation, we demonstrate that passive following exacerbates envy feelings, which decrease life satisfaction. From a provider’s perspective, our findings signal that users frequently perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may, in the long-run, endanger platform sustainability

A Review of Information Systems Research on Online Social Networks

Over the last decade, online social networks have evolved into a global mainstream medium with increasing social, organizational, and economic impact. This paper provides a structured overview of Information Systems research on this outstanding techno-social phenomenon of the 21st century via a structured literature review. Based on our search in information systems journals and conference proceedings that resulted in 510 papers, we carve out and assess the knowledge and the research fields that have been predominantly addressed and impacted by the information systems research community so far. Moreover, we identify research gaps that future research should address. We analyze how the academic discussion on online social networks developed in the information systems literature over time, which publication outlets are most receptive to research on online social networks, which research areas have already been covered by information systems research on online social networks, and what potential future research areas exist that have not been covered by information systems research yet. We hope that our results will stimulate and guide future research in this field

Enterprise Social Networks – Contributions to Research with respect to Actor Roles in Knowledge Management, the Role of Formal Hierarchies, and Network Evolution

In recent years, a new class of information technologies, called social media, has soared in popularity, and increasingly becomes part of people’s daily lives. Although originally designed for private use, an increasing number of organisations have begun to adopt social media for organisational purposes (Kane 2015). ). However, social media in general and OSN in particular cannot only be used for marketing purposes. Indeed, they can be used by a company along the whole value chain (Chui et al. 2012). In addition, social media can help organisations to support communication and collaboration within the organisation and to “work more effectively across geographic and cultural boundaries” (Kane 2015, p. 1). Already in 2012, a study estimated the economic impact of social media, mostly gained from more efficient communication and collaboration between USD 900 billion and USD 1.3 trillion (Chui et al. 2012). However, publicly available social media services cannot support all needs of an organization. Thus, with enterprise social networks (ESN) a new class of social media services designed for internal use has emerged. In recent years, many organisations have started implementing ESN on the one hand to foster internal collaboration, communication, and knowledge-sharing (Aral et al. 2013; von Krogh 2012). Against this background, the two subject areas that this dissertation focuses on are of increasing interest to both research and practice: First, this dissertation addresses research on OSN (Subject A) as OSN are amongst the most popular and most widely used social media services. Thus, this leads to a steadily growing number of publications in most major outlets of the global information systems (IS) community (Richter et al. 2011). To assess the knowledge and the research fields that have been predominantly addressed by the IS community so far (Scandura and Williams 2000), this dissertation aims to provide a structured literature overview on the prior IS literature, including the recent developments in the field as well as fields that need to be addressed in further research. Here, five research fields that already have been addressed as well as ten research gaps are described and discussed. Second, this dissertation aims at adding to research on ESN (Subject B). As noted, the potential of ESN for knowledge management, has been noticed by organisations and led to an increasing demand to better understand their role in knowledge practices like information seeking, knowledge sharing or expert finding (Bharadwaj et al. 2013; Herzog et al. 2013; Richter et al. 2013In this line of argument, there is a need to investigate different actor roles in ESN usage (Trier and Richter 2015) to better understand the role and potential of ESN as well as their users’ behaviour (Koo et al. 2011). Next to identifying and characterising value adding users, two measures fort he classification of users based on their amount of sharing and seeking knowledge were proposed. Here, it could be shown that users who actively share their knowledge in the ESN have a central position in the network structure. Formal organisational hierarchy is an essential and pervasive organisational characteristic, which might influence the creation of social relations and communication in ESN. Practice-orientated contributions argue that ESN can lead to flatter organisational hierarchy in companies (McAfee 2009). However, it is still largely unanswered, whether and how formal organisational hierarchies influence users’ networking behaviour in ESN and if these effects inside the ESN differ from those in the work place outside the ESN. Within this dissertation the significant effects of formal hierarchies on interaction behaviour within the ESN could be shown. Nevertheless, they seem to be weaker inside the ESN and seem to decrease in time. Moreover, it has to be considered that the underlying networking structures are not static. Indeed, the structure of an ESN is highly dynamic as more and more users are participating and creating new relations to other users (Ghosh and Ganguly 2014). While the evolution of other social media networks already has been investigated (cf. e.g., Ghosh and Ganguly 2014; Kumar et al. 2010), scarce attention has been paid to the structure and evolution of ESN. Against this background this dissertation investigated how the structure of an ESN changes in time as well as what are drivers for the creation of new relationships between the users. Here, a significant correlation between network centrality and new social relationships was found

Percepció dels estereotips de gènere i la personalitat en usuaris de Facebook

Un dels motius principals que tenen els usuaris de les xarxes socials en línia (XSL) per mantenir un perfil en aquestes xarxes és la presentació de la seva identitat (Nadkami & Hofmann, 2012). A causa del control que possibiliten les XSL en la creació i el manteniment del perfil de presentació (Walther, 2007), alguns usuaris manipulen estratègicament la seva identitat i projecten aspectes idealitzats per tal d’obtenir una major acceptació social i augmentar el seu benestar psicològic (Michikyan, Dennis, & Subrahmanyam, 2014). Algunes d’aquestes característiques corresponen a estereotips de gènere tradicionals, per exemple l’expressivitat i l’atractiu en les dones i la instrumentalitat en els homes (Haferkamp, Eilmer, Papadakis, & Kruck, 2012; Manago Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). L’objectiu és conèixer si hi ha diferències entre la manera com els usuaris de Facebook perceben que es presenten en el l’entorn cara a cara (jo) i a Facebook (jo Facebook), i avaluar també el grau de relació que tenen les seves presentacions amb el seu jo ideal (com els agradaria ser) tant en termes d’estereotips masculins i femenins tradicionals com en termes de personalitat. També es vol avaluar quina és la relació d’una presentació d’acord amb els estereotips de gènere tradicionals amb el benestar psicològic. Un total de 254 joves (187 dones) van contestar un qüestionari de dades sociodemogràfiques bàsiques, una escala d’estereotips de gènere tradicionals creada ad hoc, la versió espanyola del Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) de Renau, Oberst, Gosling, Rusiñol, & Chamarro, 2013) i les escales de benestar psicològic de Ryff (Van Dierendonck et al., 2006). Els participants creuen que es presenten de manera similar, per la qual cosa no hi ha grans diferències en la manera com homes i dones es presenten en aquestes XSL. Així mateix, els participants no perceben grans diferències entre la manera com es presenten en l’entorn cara a cara i la manera com es presenten a Facebook, per tant, la seva presentació a Facebook no representa una idealització. Els trets corresponents a la masculinitat tradicional són els més desitjats i més vinculats al benestar psicològic. Les dades il·lustren que les XSL han esdevingut un entorn normalitzat on hi ha una extensió de les interaccions socials que tenen lloc en l’entorn cara a cara; a més, atès que homes i dones tenen cada dia un rol més igualitari, les diferències tradicionals entre tots dos han anat neutralitzant-se.Uno de los motivos principales que tienen los usuarios de las redes sociales en línea (RSL) para mantener un perfil en ellas es la presentación de su identidad (Nadkami & Hofmann, 2012). Debido al control que posibilitan las RSL en la creación y el mantenimiento del perfil de presentación (Walther, 2007), algunos usuarios manipulan estratégicamente su identidad y proyectan aspectos idealizados para obtener una mayor aceptación social y aumentar su bienestar psicológico (Michikyan, Dennis, & Subrahmanyam, 2014). Algunas de estas características corresponden a estereotipos de género tradicionales, por ejemplo la expresividad y el atractivo en las mujeres y la instrumentalidad en los hombres (Haferkamp, Eilmer, Papadakis, & Kruck, 2012; Manager Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). El objetivo es conocer si existen diferencias entre cómo los usuarios de Facebook perciben presentarse en el entorno cara a cara (yo) y en Facebook (yo Facebook), y evaluar también el grado de relación que tienen sus presentaciones con su yo ideal (como les gustaría ser) tanto en términos de estereotipos masculinos y femeninos tradicionales como en términos de personalidad. También se quiere evaluar cuál es la relación de una presentación de acuerdo con los estereotipos de género tradicionales con el bienestar psicológico. Un total de 254 jóvenes (187 mujeres) contestaron un cuestionario de datos sociodemográficos básicos, una escala de estereotipos de género tradicionales creada ad hoc, la versión española del Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) de Renau, Oberst, Gosling, Rusiñol y Chamarro (2013) y las escalas de bienestar psicológico de Ryff (Van Dierendonck et al., 2006). Los participantes creen presentarse de manera similar, por lo que no hay grandes diferencias entre cómo hombres y mujeres se presentan en estas RSL. Asimismo, los participantes no perciben grandes diferencias entre la forma en que se presentan en el entorno cara a cara y la forma en que la se presentan en Facebook, por lo tanto, su presentación en Facebook no representa una idealización. Los rasgos correspondientes a la masculinidad tradicional son los más deseados y los más vinculados al bienestar psicológico. Los datos muestran que las RSL se han convertido en un entorno normalizado en el que existe una extensión de las interacciones sociales que tienen lugar en el entorno cara a cara; además, dado que hombres y mujeres tienen cada día un rol más igualitario, las diferencias tradicionales entre los dos se han ido neutralizando.One of the main reasons for the users of online social networks (OSN) to maintain a profile on them is the presentation of their identity (Nadkami & Hofmann, 2012). Due to the control enabled by the OSN in the creation and maintenance of the presentation profile (Walther, 2007), members may strategically manipulate (strategically) their identity and project idealized aspects to perceive a greater social acceptance and increase their psychological well-being (Michikyan, Dennis, & Subrahmanyam, 2014). Some of these features correspond to traditional gender stereotypes, such expressiveness and attractiveness in women and instrumentality in men (Haferkamp, Eilmer, Papadakis, & Kruck, 2012; Graham Manager, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). The goal of this study is to determine whether there are differences between how Facebook users perceive their presentation in the face-to-face environment (self) and on Facebook (self-Facebook) and also assess the degree of relationship between their presentations with an ideal self (as they would like to be) both in terms of traditional male and female stereotypes and in terms of personality. In addition, the relationship of a presentation according to traditional gender stereotypes with psychological well-being is studied. A total of 254 young people (187 women) completed a questionnaire of basic demographic data, a scale of traditional gender stereotypes created ad hoc, the Spanish version of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) of Renau, Oberst, Gosling, Rusiñol and Chamarro ( 2013) and the Ryff scales of psychological well- being (Van Dierendonck et al., 2006). Participants believe they project a similar presentation, so there are no major differences between how men and women are presented in this OSN. In addition, participants do not perceive significant differences between the ways they present themselves in the face-to-face environment and how they appear on Facebook, therefore, its presentation in Facebook does not represent an idealization. The traits related to traditional masculinity are the most desirable and the most related to psychological well-being. The data show that the OSN have become a standardized environment in which there is an extension of social interactions that occur in the face-to-face context; moreover, since men and women roles are becoming more and more equal, the traditional differences between them have been neutralized