Social Media as a Source of Citizens\u27 Communicative Power: Relating Social Media Diffusion, E-participation, and Corruption

The utility of social media as an anti-corruption mechanism, although widely acknowledged, is less investigated, both empirically and theoretically. Accordingly, in this study, through a cross-country panel analysis and grounding our arguments on Habermas\u27s theory of democracy, we explore the relationships among social media diffusion, e-participation, and corruption, in addition to the evolution of these relationships over time. Our results indicate that social media diffusion has a positive relationship with e-participation, which, in turn, has a negative relationship with corruption. Further, results show that the strength of these relationships wanes over time. These findings can help policymakers make informed decisions regarding the strategies for controlling corruption by increasing social media diffusion and e-participation

Disinformation as a strategic weapon: Roles of societal polarization, government’s cybersecurity capability, and the rule of law

Disinformation through social media has emerged as a new form of cyberweapon for countries to advance their strategic interests. However, there is a conspicuous dearth of studies that looked into the possible impacts of foreign disinformation attacks in a country. Drawing on the media dependency theory, we seek to explore the relationships among the foreign disinformation through social media, societal polarization, government’s cybersecurity capability, and the rule of law in a country. A quantitative analysis based on publicly available archival data substantiates our research model. The key contributions of this research include (1) adapting the media dependency theory to the context of social media in investigating the phenomenon of disinformation; (2) establishing that foreign disinformation through social media increases societal polarization, and reduces the rule of law in a country; and (3) establishing the vital role of government in mitigating the information operations from hostile foreign entities

B2C E-business Use in a Country: The Roles of E-government Maturity, Corruption, and Virtual Social Networks Diffusion

Research exploring the link between e-government and e-business is still at a nascent stage. Motivated to advance this research area, using a quantitative study by employing publicly available data, we explore the relationships between e-government maturity, corruption, VSN diffusion, and B2C e-business use. We draw on the value framework for assessing egovernment impact, and ground our arguments on four theoretical perspectives, namely, (1) principal-client-agent theory, (2) institutional theory, (3) the strategic gap concept, and (4) Habermas\u27 public sphere concept. Our results confirm (1) the indirect association between e-government maturity and B2C e-business use through corruption, and (2) the moderation effect of VSN diffusion on these relationships. The key contributions of this study include extending (1) the understanding of ‘e-government–e-business’ relationship by empirically establishing the role of corruption as an intervening factor; and (2) the notion of VSN as a public sphere to the business context

Can E-government Maturity Increase B2C E-Business Use? The roles of corruption and virtual social networks diffusion

The world we live in is getting digitized rapidly, with governments relying on e-government and businesses depending on e-business to meet their objectives. However, the research exploring the link between e-government and e-business is still at a nascent stage. Acknowledging the need for inquiry in this area, we explore the relationships between e-government maturity, corruption, VSN diffusion, and B2C e-business use using publicly available archival data by drawing on the value framework for assessing e-government impact and Blumer’s theory of collective behavior. Our analyses substantiate (1) the direct association between e-government and B2C e-business use, (2) the indirect association between e-government maturity and B2C e-business use through corruption, and (3) the moderation effect of VSN diffusion on this relationship. Implications of our findings to research and practice are discussed

The Impact of Ambivalent Perception of Bureaucratic Structure on Cyberloafing

Cyberloafing, defined as the use of the Internet for personal use at the workplace, is emerging as a serious concern for organizations as it disrupts the attainment of organizational objectives. A systematic literature review, conducted as a part of this research, of antecedents of cyberloafing behaviour show that research exploring the relationship between the perception of organizational structure and cyberloafing is at a nascent stage. Acknowledging the underexplored state of research in this area, we investigated this relationship through a quantitative study using a sample of 201 employees, and the containment theory as the base. Our study results indicate that an ambivalent perception of the bureaucratic structure has a differential impact on the cyberloafing activities through serial mediation of two important attitudes, namely organizational identification and work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed

Social Media as an Amplifier or Attenuator: How Does Social Media Diffusion Shape the Influence of Culture on Subjective Well-Being?

The ubiquity of social media and the varying nature of subjective well-being (SWB) in a culturally heterogeneous world raises an essential question about how social media and culture jointly influence SWB. We argue that social media shapes the influence of cultural dimensions on SWB in nuanced ways, depending on the nature of the dimensions. Drawing on the affordance-based institutional logics perspective, we hypothesize that social media attenuates the adverse effects of power distance, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance and amplifies the positive effects of individualism, long-term orientation, and indulgence on SWB. Using a dynamic panel model, our analysis shows that a degree of high social media diffusion in a country reduces the negative effect of power distance on SWB and increases the positive effect of individualism on SWB. These findings can help policymakers make informed decisions regarding increasing social media penetration as a means of overcoming negative cultural characteristics to enhance SWB