Contingencies of Self-Worth and Social-Networking-Site Behavior

Social-networking sites like Facebook enable people to share a range of personal information with expansive groups of "friends." With the growing popularity of media sharing online, many questions remain regarding antecedent conditions for this behavior. Contingencies of self-worth afford a more nuanced approach to variable traits that affect self-esteem, and may help explain online behavior. A total of 311 participants completed an online survey measuring such contingencies and typical behaviors on Facebook. First, exploratory factor analyses revealed an underlying structure to the seven dimensions of self-worth. Public-based contingencies explained online photo sharing (beta = 0.158, p < 0.01), while private-based contingencies demonstrated a negative relationship with time online (beta = -0.186, p < 0.001). Finally, the appearance contingency for self-worth had the strongest relationship with the intensity of online photo sharing (beta = 0.242), although no relationship was evident for time spent managing profiles.Radio-Television-Fil

Escaping the Middleman Paradox: Better Reykjavik and Open Policy Innovation

Better Reykjavik is a unique municipal ePetition website that is developed and maintained by a grassroots nonprofit organization, has significant deliberative mechanisms, and has been normalized as an ongoing channel for citizen-government interaction across multiple elected administrations. The primary contribution of this study is an analysis of the novel “interface” that was established between the grassroots-developed technical system and the existing political and administrative institutions of policymaking. I begin with a brief overview of the challenges that citizens and governments face in the implementation of ePetition processes. I then suggest that Landemore’s (2012) “democratic reason” and Coleman’s (2008) “autonomous citizenship” constructs provide useful insights into why and how the Better Reykjavik has made a continuing impact on city governance. Next, I present an analysis of the socio-technical process of the initiative’s software development and political integration, showing how this project moved from the fringes of the grassroots towards the center of public and governmental awareness. I conclude by examining Reykjavik’s “new normal” political culture, which illustrates how a bottom-up, fast-moving technical initiative can productively support the slower-moving processes of democratic governance

Online and Offline Social Networks: Investigating Culturally-Specific Behavior and Satisfaction

Research shows that people from different cultural backgrounds and gender roles behave and communicate in systematically different ways. The current research utilized a survey (N=452) of young adults to examine the occurrence of culturally- and gender-influenced differences in online behavior, offline networks, and satisfaction. Results show that participants who identify with more individualistic cultural backgrounds have larger networks of friends on social network sites (SNSs), have a greater proportion of these friends not actually met face-to-face, and share more photos online opposed to participants who identify with less individualistic cultural backgrounds. Social support network size was a significant predictor of satisfaction with life, while SNS network size was not. Findings suggest that participants who identify with more individualistic cultural backgrounds tend to self-promote and are better connected and more satisfied with their social lives. It seems offline networks are more important than mediated networks in terms of psychological well-being

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication Exploring the relationship between perceptions of social capital and enacted support online

Online social networking sites enable users to connect with large, heterogeneous groups of people. While extant research suggests individuals benefit psychologically from the perception that they are well connected, little is known about the nature of tangible resources embedded in these online networks. In this study 49 participants sent 588 requests for instrumental help to their Facebook friends to determine the accessibility of networked resources and online social capital. Almost 80 % of these modest requests went unanswered, and perceived bridging and bonding capital did not explain enacted support. However, people who occupied socially prestigious positions were the most likely to benefit from their friend’s help. These results suggest that expansive mediated networks may yield limited instrumental benefits. Key words: online social capital, social networks, enacted support, perceptions, behavior doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01585.x Humans always find themselves involved in social groups. Today, these groups are routinely mediated by communication technology. Web 2.0 – the social web—is characterized best as the set of tools that facilitate production and distribution of content produced by everyday people. In particular, there is currently pervasive interest in the relationship between this content, (online) social networks, th

The value of online friends: Networked resources via social network sites

This study investigated the instrumental value of resources embedded in online social networks. 49 primary participants solicited a total of 588 secondary participants who were asked to complete a modest task. Approximately 16 per cent of all secondary participants responded (N = 98) to the request. 8.5 per cent of weak ties responded and strong ties were about three times more likely to respond. Perceived reciprocity, contact frequency and a composite measure of tie strength were all positively related to enacted support