Measuring personal and academic differences in students’ perceived social media credibility

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iqra Bashir ◽  
Amara Malik ◽  
Khalid Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
University Students ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Literacy Programs ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Media Credibility ◽  
Social Media Service ◽  
Programs Of Study

Purpose Social media is a popular source for information sharing in the contemporary world. Social media allow individuals to create, publish and diffuse contents directly. This openness has increased the risk of running into misinformation and raised questions about credibility of information shared. This study aims to examine the credibility of social media through the perceptions of university students. It also intends to see the difference in opinions based on their gender, academic disciplines and programs of study. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a cross-sectional survey; a structured questionnaire was developed by consulting the relevant literature. Students were selected on convenient basis from all the programs of four universities of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Four hundred students were selected randomly from each university. Findings The findings indicated that students considered social media partially credible. Currency, community wellness, understandability and completeness of information were the highly rated facets, while factual and unbiased information was the low rated aspects. The perceived credibility of social media among the university students was the same across genders, programs of study and academic disciplines. Research limitations/implications The study may be helpful for social media service providers to address the concerns that students had in their perception regarding its credibility. Originality/value This study may likely benefit faculty members, researchers, librarians/information professionals and digital libraries to understand the students’ concerns about social media credibility from a developing country’s perspective. Such understanding will enable them to better address, educate and train university students at how to evaluate the quality of information on social media by offering information literacy programs. It is direly needed that university libraries should train the students to be proficient in assessing the quality of information by offering information or digital literacy programs. Moreover, the study may be helpful for social media service providers to address the concerns that students had in their perception regarding its credibility.

How does Weibo keep users hooked? A Weibo addictive behavior study based on netnography

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-195
Author(s):  
Heping He ◽  
Yanni Liu ◽  
Zhimin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Addictive Behavior ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Marketing Ethics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Service

Purpose With the rapid development of social media in the past few years, some dark aspects of usage have appeared, e.g., Weibo addiction. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to address the question of how Weibo keeps users hooked. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes the netnography method to explore the symptoms of Weibo addiction and how it is formed. Findings First, some Weibo users have typical symptoms of addictive behavior, such as withdrawal, loss of control and general living problems; second, narcissism plays an important role in the process of Weibo addiction and has a stronger effect on content generation than content consumption; third, some users use Weibo as a means to alleviate anxiety, but they can then become more anxious owing to addiction; and fourth, the effect of comments has two sides – on the one hand, comments are one kind of feedback to posts, satisfying posters’ social needs, while on the other hand, a storytelling system consists of one post and its comments, upon which some Weibo users become more dependent. Research limitations/implications This research is only a preliminary, exploratory study. Therefore, care should be taken when interpreting these findings. Practical implications This study should help social media service providers and users to pay attention to the risk of social media addiction. Social media service providers should take social responsibility, design more user-oriented guidelines for marketing ethics and launch more responsible marketing activities. Users should enhance self-control and better balance social media use and offline real life. Originality/value Netnography has not been widely used as an addictive behavior research technique. This study is further bolstered because it has also noticed the difference of addiction mechanisms between addictive micro-bloggers and their followers.

Self-disclosure of social media users in Indonesia: the influence of personal and social media factors

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Natasha Siahaan ◽  
Putu Wuri Handayani ◽  
Fatimah Azzahro
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Group Data

PurposeIn the context of social media (SM) use, self-disclosure (SD) behaviour meets users' social and emotional needs, but it is also accompanied by risks that can harm users. This paper aims to identify the factors that influence users' SD behaviour on SM in Indonesia, using a comparative analysis based on age groups.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted on 2,210 respondents who were active SM users in Indonesia. Data were processed and analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling with AMOS 24.0 software.FindingsResults indicate that, in the overall age group data, factors such as use of information (UI), trust, privacy control (PC), interactivity, perceived benefits (PB) and perceived risks (PR) influence users' SD behaviour. This research also found differences in the characteristics of SD behaviour between age groups.Originality/valueFindings from this study can help SM service providers to evaluate the credibility and reliability of their platforms to encourage user retention.

The effects of social media usage on loneliness and well-being: analysing friendship connections of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoyu Ye ◽  
Kevin K.W. Ho ◽  
Andre Zerbe
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
University Students ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Access Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Purpose This study aims to clarify the effects of different patterns of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram usage on user loneliness and well-being in Japan. Design/methodology/approach Based on responses to a self-report questionnaire in Japan, 155 university students were separated into 4 groups: users of Twitter only, users of Twitter and Facebook, users of Twitter and Instagram and users of all three social media. The effects of social media usage on loneliness and well-being for each group were analysed. Findings No social media usage effects on loneliness or well-being were detected for those who used only Twitter or both Twitter and Instagram. For those using both Twitter and Facebook, loneliness was reduced when users accessed Twitter and Facebook more frequently but was increased when they posted more tweets. Users of all three social media were lonelier and had lower levels of well-being when they accessed Facebook via PC longer; whereas their their access time of Facebook via smartphones helped them decrease loneliness and improve their levels of well-being. Originality/value The findings reported here provide possible explanations for the conflicting results reported in previous research by exploring why users choose different social media platforms to communicate with different groups of friends or acquaintances and different usage patterns that affect their loneliness and well-being.

New Indian online rules risk state overreach and abuse

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Online News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Service ◽  
The Government

Significance The new rules follow a stand-off between Twitter and the central government last month over some posts and accounts. The government has used this stand-off as an opportunity not only to tighten rules governing social media, including Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and LinkedIn, but also those for other digital service providers including news publishers and entertainment streaming companies. Impacts Government moves against dominant social media platforms will boost the appeal of smaller platforms with light or no content moderation. Hate speech and harmful disinformation are especially hard to control and curb on smaller platforms. The new rules will have a chilling effect on online public discourse, increasing self-censorship (at the very least). Government action against online news media would undercut fundamental democratic freedoms and the right to dissent. Since US-based companies dominate key segments of the Indian digital market, India’s restrictive rules could mar India-US ties.

Factors affecting the development of e-government using a citizen-centric approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanda Sorn-in ◽  
Kulthida Tuamsuk ◽  
Wasu Chaopanon
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
The Government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the factors affecting the development of e-government by using a citizen-centric approach. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a mixed-methods study consisting of qualitative and quantitative research. Data were collected from government agencies using a structured interview and questionnaire about e-government services. The research was collected from the people responsible for the management of an e-government project in 75 government agencies. In addition, the researcher collected data from 1,400 citizens by using an e-Survey questionnaire that grouped participants by age. Findings – By using a citizen-centric approach, the paper identified the factors affecting the development of e-government. There were five factors from the viewpoint of government agencies and citizen groups: quality of e-government services, policy and governance, information technology infrastructure, organization and economy and society. Research limitations/implications – The research covered the development patterns of e-government for services from government to citizens only. Practical implications – Seeing the importance of environmental factors for both service providers and service users would facilitate continuous improvement of e-government service provision by government agencies. Social implications – The results reflect citizens’ need for e-government services; quality is their priority. Hence, government agencies must consider the quality of the delivery of information and e-government services as they relate to the lifestyles and needs of citizens. Originality/value – The creation of knowledge from merging e-government concepts with citizen-centric principles is a modern government sector management theory. This research stresses the need for the government sector to see the need for e-government and to recognize the factors for its successful development. This means the design and development of e-government services should respond to the increasing needs of the citizens.

Quality of Internet Service as Experienced by Tanzanians in 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-31
Author(s):  
Eliamani Sedoyeka
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Quality Of Experience ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Telecommunication Companies ◽  
Article Quality

In this article, Quality of Experience (QoE) is discussed as experienced by Tanzanian internet users for the second biannual of 2016. It presents findings of the research that aimed at among other things, finding out the QoE in internet services offered by telecommunication companies and other internet service providers in the country. A qualitative approach was used to establish practical quality of experience issues considered important by Tanzanians. Online questionnaires distributed over social media mainly WhatsApp and Facebook were used to ask users about their experiences of the services they had been receiving, in which over 2000 responses were collected from all districts of Tanzania. It was established that usability, quality of service, price and after sale support were the main issues found to influence quality of experience for many. The findings in this article are useful for academicians, QoS and QoE researchers, policy makers and ICT professionals.

What to say on social media and how

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 691-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jintao Wu ◽  
Junsong Chen ◽  
Honghui Chen ◽  
Wenyu Dou ◽  
Dan Shao
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Message Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
Building Community

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how nonprofit service providers can better engage their customers through online communication. It identifies two communication styles and three communication functions, and examines their impact on customer commenting, customer liking and customer sharing. Design/methodology/approach Similar to Python for Facebook, a software package for the automatic retrieval of web page content was developed specifically for this study to extract data from the microblog Sina Weibo. Following the successful retrieval of 1,500 randomly selected messages from 34 universities in China, a two-level regression was performed using Mplus 7 to examine the association between the proposed relationships. Findings The findings reveal that messages with a friendly communication style increase both the number of comments and their positive tone; an authoritative style has no effect on customer engagement. The functions associated with message content (spreading information, building community or promoting action) influence customer liking and sharing. Building community tends to engage more customers than spreading information; promoting action often generates the least customer engagement in social media settings. Originality/value The study fills an important research gap in the service marketing literature as it pertains to nonprofit service organizations (i.e. universities) by identifying two types of online identities based on the communication style and the messages posted on social media. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between identity type and audience engagement, and to analyze the moderating factors of this relationship.

scholarly journals The determinants of customer loyalty in the Indonesian ride-sharing services: offline vs online

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Kuswanto ◽  
Sundari Sundari Sundari Sundari ◽  
Ashur Harmadi ◽  
Dwi Asih Hariyanti Dwi Asih Hariyanti
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ride Sharing ◽  
Fit Index

Purpose This study aims to analyze the effect of service quality on trust, satisfaction and loyalty by adopting two models, namely, conventional service quality model from Parasuraman and information systems (IS) success model from Delone and McLean. Design/methodology/approach Respondents of this study were users of shared-motorcycle services who filled out a complete questionnaire totaling 507. This research used a second-order structural equation model. All question items had quite high reliability and validity based on the result of confirmatory factor analysis with a value of average variance extracted and composite reliability which was higher than 0.70. The goodness of fit was quite good with the values x2/df = 2.493, incremental fit index = 0.921, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.917, comparative fit index = 0.921 and root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.054. Findings Online and offline ride-sharing services reveal a strong and positive influence on trust and satisfaction. Trust reveals a strong and positive influence on satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, satisfaction reveals a strong and positive influence on loyalty. The research in general shows that the quality of offline service is more influential than the quality of online service in the case of ride-sharing service provided by two companies in Indonesia. Research limitations/implications The sampling frame of the research was diverse, including students of various collages and junior high schools, various private company workers and government employees. So, the results cannot be generalized to all populations especially to all Indonesian customers. It is recommended to increase the number of samples by focusing on the community groups of customers of public motorbikes, so that these groups can be compared. Next, the research finds that both service quality based on IS and service quality models reveal a strong and positive influence on loyalty both directly and indirectly. Originality/value The research uses respondents who use motorcycle services both online and offline. The findings of the research are important for online and offline ride-sharing motorbike service providers. They have to maintain their excellent services to the customers.

Digital transparency and public accountability in Spanish universities in online media

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Ramírez ◽  
Ángel Tejada
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Relational Capital ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Universities ◽  
Spanish Public Universities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and quality of online intellectual capital (IC) disclosure released via websites and social media in relation to university stakeholders’ information needs in Spanish public universities. In addition, this paper examines whether there are differences in the online IC disclosure according to the type of university. Design/methodology/approach The study applies content analysis and a survey. The content analysis was used to analyse the websites and social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram) of all Spanish public universities in the year 2019, whereas the survey was submitted to all members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities. Findings The findings indicate that university stakeholders attach great importance to online disclosure of specific information about IC. However, the findings emphasise that Spanish universities’ website and social media content are still in their infancy. Specifically, this study found that the quality of disclosed information on IC in public universities’ websites is of low level, particularly with regard to the disclosure of relational capital. The study found that the information provided by Spanish public universities via social media mainly concerns the structural and relational capital. Likewise, the results of this paper evidence that the larger and more internationally focused universities reveal more online information on IC. Practical implications The results of the research may be beneficial for managers of higher education institutions as a basis for developing adequate strategies addressing IC disclosure through the websites. In order to satisfy the information needs of university stakeholders, Spanish universities can be recommended to focus on reporting higher-quality information on financial relations, students’ satisfaction, quality standard, work-related knowledge/know-how and collaboration between universities and other organisations such as firms, local government and society as a whole. Originality/value This study explores two innovative tools to provide IC disclosure in the higher education institutions context, namely, websites and social media, whereas previous studies focused on traditional tools as annual report. Likewise, this study considers the quality of this information.

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