903,366 research outputs found

    Measuring quality, reputation and trust in online communities

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    In the Internet era the information overload and the challenge to detect quality content has raised the issue of how to rank both resources and users in online communities. In this paper we develop a general ranking method that can simultaneously evaluate users' reputation and objects' quality in an iterative procedure, and that exploits the trust relationships and social acquaintances of users as an additional source of information. We test our method on two real online communities, the EconoPhysics forum and the Last.fm music catalogue, and determine how different variants of the algorithm influence the resultant ranking. We show the benefits of considering trust relationships, and define the form of the algorithm better apt to common situations

    Through the Screen: Examining Peer Relationships, Social Anxiety, Loneliness, and Social Media in Undergraduates

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    Interpersonal connections are a fundamental human need, and as technology becomes more ubiquitous, these connections have shifted to frequently occur online through social media platforms. Two factors that independently influence peer relations are loneliness and social anxiety. However, no study to date has concurrently examined the relation of these psychological factors, social media use, and peer relationships. As such, the aims of the current study were to 1) examine the associations between peer relationships, social media use, loneliness, and social anxiety; 2) investigate the moderating role of quality of peer relationships in the relation of social anxiety and loneliness; and 3) examine the contribution of social anxiety symptoms and loneliness in social media use. Participants were 442 undergraduate students (18.79 Mage; 58.3% female; 64.8% White) who completed self-report measures online. Preference for online social interaction was significantly associated with quality of peer, social anxiety, and loneliness in the expected directions, with social anxiety and loneliness accounting for significant variance in social media use. However, quality of peer relationships was not a significant moderator of social anxiety and loneliness. The results indicate that individuals who are socially anxious and/or lonely may use social media as a proxy for in-person peer relationships. As social interactions and communication continue to increase across myriad online platforms, future work may consider identifying and developing interventions for at-risk individuals who prefer interacting with peers online

    Seek or Provide: Comparative Effects of Online Information Sharing on Seniors’ Quality of Life

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    Seniors’ social activities are critical in assuring their quality of life, and seniors’ quality of life (QoL) declines with the deterioration of their social activity. Social support from online social relationships has been considered to be important determinants of QoL, and is an important goal of the design of online health communities to support patient-centered e-health initiatives. In this study, we find that, rather than attempting to improve seniors’ quality of life through interventions and online community platforms that are designed directly to increase social interactions and focus on social relationship formation, it is more effective for such online health communities to be designed to facilitate information sharing. Information sharing may be an easy way for seniors to become familiar with the online environment and pave the way for subsequent online social relationships. This study investigated seniors’ online information sharing behaviors and the impacts on their quality of life. Survey data from 130 seniors was used to test our research model. Seniors’ online information seeking and provision indirectly affect their quality of life, and the relative importance of information seeking and information provision varies depending on the seniors’ perceived subjective age, i.e., cognitive age

    The role of social effects and perceived risk in driving profitable online customer interactions

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    The emergence of online channels has been of special relevance, as it has promoted a more active participation of consumers in the value creation process. In this study, we draw from the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to provide a theoretical understanding of the role played by two critical factors that drive online customer initiated interactions (OnCICs): social effects and perceived risk. In addition, we also investigate their consequences by establishing a direct link between these interactions and customer profitability. Merging longitudinal objective data with subjective data for a sample of 1,990 customers in the financial services and applying Partial Least Squares (PLS), the results reveal that social effects influence perceived risk. Perceived risk consequently promotes the development of OnCICs, while social effects reduce the need for such interactions. In addition, OnCICs help promote high-quality relationships and leads to higher performance

    LiveRank: How to Refresh Old Datasets

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    This paper considers the problem of refreshing a dataset. More precisely , given a collection of nodes gathered at some time (Web pages, users from an online social network) along with some structure (hyperlinks, social relationships), we want to identify a significant fraction of the nodes that still exist at present time. The liveness of an old node can be tested through an online query at present time. We call LiveRank a ranking of the old pages so that active nodes are more likely to appear first. The quality of a LiveRank is measured by the number of queries necessary to identify a given fraction of the active nodes when using the LiveRank order. We study different scenarios from a static setting where the Liv-eRank is computed before any query is made, to dynamic settings where the LiveRank can be updated as queries are processed. Our results show that building on the PageRank can lead to efficient LiveRanks, for Web graphs as well as for online social networks

    Factors Impacting Student’s Behavioral Intention to Use Social Media Applications for Online Learning

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    Purpose: Social media applications are powerful learning tools for a new norm of online learning in this era. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the impacting factors of students’ behavioral intention to use social media applications for online learning. The conceptual framework proposes the causal relationships between attitude, information quality, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, service quality, social influence, and behavioral intention. Research design, data, and methodology: A quantitative method was used to distribute questionnaires to 500 students. Nonprobability sampling was adopted by using judgmental sampling, stratified random sampling, and convenience sampling. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze model fit, reliability, validity and hypotheses testing. Results: Social influence and attitude significantly impact behavioral intention. Furthermore, there are support relationships between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and between service quality and perceived ease of use. Nevertheless, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have no significant impact on behavioral intention, and information quality has no significant impact on perceived ease of use. Conclusions: Social media apps developers and education managers should consider the importance of students’ behavioral intention to use social media applications for their effective online learning

    Does Online-Formed Peer Relationship Affect Academic Motivation During Online Learning?

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    The Covid-19 pandemic has caused most schools and universities in Indonesia to face a new learning situation called Pembelajaran Jarak Jauh (PJJ) or online learning. Furthermore, this situation also has an impact on first-year students who are about to enter higher education. As the pandemic gets worse, they are not able to get to know their social and academic environment face-to-face. Thus, this study aimed to find the role of online-formed peer relationships on students' academic motivation during the online learning period. Based on a sample of 118 first-year students from a university, this study found that participants had a high quality of peer relationships and academic motivation. Moreover, peer relationships significantly predict students' academic motivation. However, participants who had interacted entirely online with their friends had a significantly lower quality of peer relationships. This result suggests the importance of building good peer relationships to support students' academic motivation, especially in the pandemic

    Effects of Learner-to-Learner Interactions on Social Presence, Achievement and Satisfaction

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    The relationships between learner-to-learner interactions, achievement, social presence, and satisfaction in online learning have varying degrees of strength according to the research. More evidence is needed to identify clarify relationships among these variables and to identify best practices for designing learner-to-learner interactions to increase achievement, level of social presence, and learner satisfaction. This non-experimental, comparative study investigated the strategies used for learner-to-learner interactions effects on achievement, social presence, and satisfaction. Surveys measuring social presence and interaction quality were administered to instructors and students enrolled in 17 undergraduate asynchronous online courses. The surveys for instructors and students were the same, except for slight modifications to address the appropriate audience. A survey measuring learning satisfaction was only administered to the students. Achievement measures were collected via three performance ratings from the instructors. Designed interactions that have a cooperative intent increased learner’s achievement and level of satisfaction. Designed interactions should include (a) positive interdependence; (b) individual accountability; (c) promotive interactions, and (d) elaborate explanations. The effect social presence had on achievement, satisfaction, and interaction quality were mixed. A higher level of instructor social presence increases learner’s achievement, level of learner social presence, and level of learner satisfaction. A higher level of learner social presence increases level of interactive quality and level of learner satisfaction. The findings suggest that higher levels of interaction quality increased levels of instructor social presence, learner social presence, and learner satisfaction. The quality of interaction may be a stronger predictor for level of social presence and learner satisfaction. More research in this area is needed to validate this conclusion. Further research is also recommended to identify and validate the relationships between these variables and best practices in designing interactive experiences in online asynchronous undergraduate courses

    Social Media Usage and Romantic Development: Testing Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance as Moderators

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    Social media use is linked with the development and maintenance of romantic relationships, exhibiting both positive and negative effects on relationship quality depending on the social media behavior. However, many of these studies focus on a singular social media platform rather than multiple social media platforms. Also, studies on Facebook have linked anxious attachment to more surveillance and Facebook-induced jealousy (Marshall, Benjanyan, Di Castro, & Lee, 2013). Thus, the impact of social media behaviors for relationship quality may depend on attachment behaviors. Therefore, the goal of the current study is to examine how attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety predict relationship quality for established and developing relationships. Data comes from 183 college students (86.9% female, 87.4% heterosexual) who completed an online survey for ten consecutive days regarding their social media use and quality of their relationship with a romantic partner or crush. Results of linear regression analyses illustrated that avoidance was negatively associated with relationship quality for established relationships, whereas minutes spent private messaging a crush was positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Additionally, anxiety moderated the relationship between commenting and posting photos of partners for relationship satisfaction for established relationships. Avoidance moderated the relationship between commenting and relationship satisfaction for established relationships. No interactions were found between attachment behaviors and social media behaviors for quality of relationships between single participants and crushes. Attachment anxiety and avoidance may explain how social media promotes and hinders the quality of established relationships. Implications regarding attachment security and social media use will be discussed
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