Exploring the Role of Gender on Bloggers\u27 Switching Behaviors

Blog has become an increasingly popular form of new information technology (IT) in recent years. Many world famous web sites (e.g., Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google) are providing blog services on the Internet. Bloggers, therefore, can easily establish and maintain their blogs through such services. However, research on blogs’ adoption and diffusion is rare. In this study, we attempt to study bloggers’ post-adoption behaviors. We examine bloggers’ intention to switch their blog services building upon the marketing and IS literature. Particularly, the role of gender is explored and an online survey is conducted to test the research model. Findings confirm that bloggers’ intention to switch their blog services is strongly associated with three factors: satisfaction, sunk costs, and attractive alternatives. Meanwhile, gender is found to moderate the relationship between satisfaction and intention to switch the blog service. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are provided

Social network analysis of the video bloggers\u27 community in YouTube

This research studied the structure of the social network of the video blogger community on YouTube. It analyzed the social network structure of friends and subscribers of the 187 video bloggers on YouTube and calculated the social network measures. This thesis compares the results to the structure described by Warmbrodt et al. in 2007 and explains the reasons for the distinctions. The number of video bloggers has increased enormously, and the form of their interactions has changed. As a result, the video blogger social network has evolved from a core/periphery structure to one that is centralized. This indicates that the video blogger community on YouTube presently revolves around few central people in the network--Abstract, page iii

Understanding Factors Affecting Users’ Information-Sharing Intention on Social Networking Sites: The Role of Gender Differences

This study draws upon the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and applies social role theory (SRT) to provide an investigation into whether there are significant differences between female and male users in terms of the determinants of information-sharing intention. An empirical survey was conducted, and 417 valid questionnaires were collected from Facebook (FB) users in Taiwan. The results showed that subjective norms, user attitudes, and social presence effectively influence information sharing intention and the influence of subjective norm and social presence on information-sharing intention are associated with gender differences. Specifically, subjective norm, social presence, and attitudes have stronger influences on information-sharing intention among male users. Finally, implications for research and practice are offered

Computational Sociolinguistics: A Survey

Language is a social phenomenon and variation is inherent to its social nature. Recently, there has been a surge of interest within the computational linguistics (CL) community in the social dimension of language. In this article we present a survey of the emerging field of "Computational Sociolinguistics" that reflects this increased interest. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of CL research on sociolinguistic themes, featuring topics such as the relation between language and social identity, language use in social interaction and multilingual communication. Moreover, we demonstrate the potential for synergy between the research communities involved, by showing how the large-scale data-driven methods that are widely used in CL can complement existing sociolinguistic studies, and how sociolinguistics can inform and challenge the methods and assumptions employed in CL studies. We hope to convey the possible benefits of a closer collaboration between the two communities and conclude with a discussion of open challenges.Comment: To appear in Computational Linguistics. Accepted for publication: 18th February, 201

Cultural Identity and Code-Switching in Arabic Food Blogs Written in English

Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli tarkastella koodinvaihtoa arabiaan sekä muita kulttuuri-identiteetin ilmentymiä englanniksi kirjoitetuissa, arabialaiseen ruokaan keskittyvissä blogeissa. Tutkielmaan valittiin kahdeksan eri reseptiblogia, joista yhteensä 40 julkaisua otettiin lähempään tarkasteluun. Blogit edustavat Levanttia (Libanon, Syyria, Jordania ja Palestiina), Pohjois-Afrikkaa ja Lähi-Itää ja niiden kirjoittajat puhuvat kaikki arabiaa äidinkielenään. Viisi kahdeksasta bloggaajasta asuu englanninkielisessä maassa (kaksi Yhdysvaltoihin, kaksi Iso-Britanniaan ja yksi Kanadaan), kaksi palestiinalaista bloggaria asuu Jordaniassa ja yksi irakilainen bloggari asuu todennäköisesti Irakissa. Tarkasteltavaksi valitut blogijulkaisut analysoitiin ensin koodinvaihdon osalta ja tulokset kirjattiin kahteen eri taulukkoon. Tämän jälkeen teksteille suoritettiin kvalitatiivinen analyysi muiden kulttuuri-identiteettiä ilmentävien tekijöiden kartoittamiseksi. Koodinvaihdon osalta analyysin tulokset osoittivat ensinnäkin, että koodinvaihtoa esiintyi huomattavasti oletettua vähemmän ja että sitä esiintyi odottamattomissa yhteyksissä tai ei esiintynyt sellaisissa yhteyksissä, joissa sitä oletettiin esiintyvän. Toisekseen tuloksissa ilmeni selvä ero arabimaissa ja englanninkielisissä maissa asuvien bloggarien kesken: oman kulttuuripiirinsä ulkopuolella asuvat bloggaajat käyttivät koodinvaihtoa huomattavasti enemmän kuin arabimaissa asuvat kollegansa, joiden teksteissä koodinvaihto oli hyvin vähäistä. Muut kulttuuri-identiteettiä ilmentävät tekijät voitiin aineiston perusteella jakaa kahteen selkeään pääkategoriaan: ruokaan ja (ruoka)kulttuuriin liittyviin sekä identiteettiin liittyviin. Ensimmäisen kategorian osalta bloggaajien kesken ei ilmennyt merkittäviä eroja, mutta identiteettiin liittyvien teemojen kohdalla selkeitä eroja alkoi näkyä. Suurin eroavaisuus oli kenties se, että ainoastaan arabialaisen kulttuuripiirin ulkopuolella asuvien bloggaajien teksteissä ilmeni ’koti-ikävää’ ja selkeää kaipuuta kotimaahan sekä eräänlaista tuskaa kaukana ’kotoa’ olemisesta, ja vain heidän julkaisuissaan oli viitteitä identiteettiin liittyvistä ristiriitaisuuksista ja vaikeuksista. Aineiston perusteella voidaan siis todeta, että arabimaiden ulkopuolella olevien bloggaajien keskuudessa koodinvaihto arabiaan näyttäisi olevan huomattavasti arabimaissa asuvia blogin pitäjiä yleisempää, ja että identiteettiin ja kotimaahan liittyvät teemat olisivat ei-arabiankilisissä maissa asuville arabibloggaajille paljon keskeisempiä ja arkaluontoisempia. Aineiston suppeuden vuoksi tulokset eivät kuitenkaan ole yleistettävissä, vaan tutkimus tulisi toistaa suuressa mittakaavassa tukevampien todisteiden saamiseksi

A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA STUDIES

Social media such as social networking sites, blogs, micro-blogs, Wikis, are increasingly and widely used in our daily lives. In the information system (IS) discipline, social media have become a hot research area and draw the attention of many scholars. The paper systematically reviewed social media studies published in Association for Information Systems (AIS) listed top 20 journals from 2009 to 2013. The publication time, journal preferences, research objects and research topics are discussed. Generally, the current social media studies including four areas, namely user, management, technology and information. Each area has distinct focuses and topics. By thoroughly analyzing the research topics, the authors formulate our projections and recommendations for future social media studies

Come, let's wrestle : language and the struggle for authority in online Persian social networking sites

This dissertation builds on prior scholarship in linguistic anthropological studies of performance to examine transnational spaces in online social networks where members of the Iranian diaspora use emerging technologies to interact with one another in ways that highlight the tensions between them. The focal point of this project will be the Facebook page Iranian Vines, which features short (5-15 second long) comedic videos that address issues unique to the experiences of Iranians living in diaspora. While many second-generation Iranians use online spaces to linguistically construct a hybridized identity, first-generation Iranians use these same spaces to evaluate the authenticity of these constructed identities by policing the language used by performers and deciding on the linguistic legitimacy of their performances. I argue that the performative nature of the Iranian Vines page creates a space for first-generation Iranians to respond to global sociolinguistic hierarchies that value English over Persian by acting as gatekeepers of Iranian authenticity through linguistic prescriptivism. Second-generation Iranians, on the other hand, use performance to decontextualize (and thus make visible) the moments of difference that define their particular vantage point and to acquire sociolinguistic capital through humor. These performers use “identity-switching,” a practice in which they juxtapose performances of non-Iranian and Iranian identity for comedic effect to challenge sociolinguistic hierarchies within the Iranian community that value monolingualism or parallel bilingualism. A core focus of this dissertation will be the ways that emerging technologies shape power relations between members of this community by making visible the processes by which members of ethnolinguistic communities negotiate the relationship between identity and language.Middle Eastern Studie

A Study on the Factors Influencing the Intention of Blog Usage: A Case of UUM Postgraduate Students

Nowadays, there has been a dramatic proliferation in the number of blogs and several social networks; however, little is published about what factor (s) motivates universities students to participate in blog activities. The remarkable growth and use of a social networking website such as "Facebook", "Hi5", and "Friendster" among UUM international postgraduate students is more challenging for a researcher to investigate the extent to which a new media channel affects people’s lives, relationships, and wellbeing, how and why it is used, and who is using it. Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), a model was developed relating technology acceptance (TAM) and social influences. a combination of convenience and purposive sampling was used to collect the data from UUM Postgraduate students that used different blogs and Facebook regularly. A survey of 112 of UUM postgraduate students found strong support for the model. One of the major finding of this research illustrated that perceived usefulness, ease of use and social norms were positively related to attitude toward blogging and accounted for a higher variance. On the other hand, perceived enjoyment and attitude toward blogging did not significantly influence UUM postgraduate students’ intention to continue to use Facebook as their favorite blogging site

Information Sharing on Social Networking Sites: the role of perceived control of information and gender

IS researchers have reported users’ concerns about their privacy and security on social networking sites. SNS users are in great need of better protection of their information shared. This paper investigates the influences of perceived control of information on SNS users’ information sharing behavior. Using an empirical study, this paper confirms the important role of perceived control in SNS users’ information sharing behavior. Specially, perceived control of information has been found to significantly influence SNS users’ perceived privacy risk and attitude towards information sharing, which in terms impact their information sharing behavior. In addition, gender has been found a significant factor that moderates the influences of perceived control of information and perceived privacy risk on SNS users’ attitude towards information sharing. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed