scholarly journals Monitoring, Creeping, or Surveillance? A Synthesis of Online Social Information Seeking Concepts

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Jessica R. Frampton ◽  
Jesse Fox ◽  
◽  

Affordances of Internet sites and Internet-based applications make personal information about romantic partners, friends, family members, and strangers easy to obtain. People use various techniques to find information about others, capitalizing on online affordances by using search engines to find relevant websites and databases; scouring the target’s social media or social networking site presence; accessing information about the target via their links or network association with others on social media; or asking questions or crowdsourcing information through online channels. Researchers have coined an assortment of terms to describe online social information seeking behaviors, such as interpersonal electronic surveillance, social surveillance, monitoring, patient-targeted Googling, cybervetting, websleuthing, human flesh search, lateral surveillance, Facebook surveillance, and Facebook stalking. Although considerable research has examined these behaviors, there has been little effort to clarify the concepts themselves. As a result, the literature is currently full of inconsistent and overlapping conceptualizations. To synthesize these concepts for future research, this review examines 73 online social information seeking concepts extracted from 186 articles. Specifically, the concepts are reviewed in light of their scope; the information seeker or target of information seeking (e.g., romantic partners, parents, children, employees, criminals); motives for information seeking (e.g., uncertainty, threat, curiosity); and the intensity of the behavior. Recommendations are provided for future research, such as employing clear conceptualizations and incorporating affordances. Finally, we offer a decision tree that researchers can use to help select appropriate terms to use in their work moving forward.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Johnathan Yerby ◽  
Alex Koohang ◽  
Joanna Paliszkiewicz

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between users’ risk beliefs and social media privacy concerns (concerns users express regarding social media sites’ practices as to how they collect and use personal information). A Likert-type instrument with seven constructs, six of which described the social media privacy concerns and the seventh construct defined users’ risk beliefs, was used to collect data from students who were studying at a university in the southeastern United States. All students (N = 138) used Facebook as their major social networking site. Collected data were analyzed via multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that subjects’ risk beliefs are influenced by three social media privacy concerns (i.e., collection, error, and awareness). The Findings and their implications are discussed. Recommendations for future research are made.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hunter Slaton Boudreau ◽  
Nikhi Singh ◽  
Carter J. Boyd

UNSTRUCTURED Our team's article serves as a response to Neely and colleagues' recent paper: Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study, wherein we provide additional information, challenge certain viewpoints, and provide future insight on the topic of how social media is influencing COVID-19 vaccination rates. While the original article suggests that social media serves as a determinant to COVID-19 vaccination rates in some respects, we provide novel perspective that suggests that the opposite outcome may be occurring. Additionally, our team proposes that the question at hand needs to be addressed by an alternative methodology to more accurately capture the magnitude of social media and its members, rather than a survey type model. Our team congratulates Neely and associates' work and addition to the ever-growing topic of social media in medicine, and we seek to provide additional viewpoints and suggestions in an effort to better understand the current COVID-19 landscape.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Satchell ◽  
Dean Fido ◽  
Craig A. Harper ◽  
Heather Shaw ◽  
Brittany I Davidson ◽  
...  

A growing number of self-report measures aim to quantify interactions with social media in a pathological behaviour framework; often using terminology focused on identifying those who are ‘addicted’ to engaging with others online. The measures of social media addiction report focus on motivations for online social information seeking, many of which could be motivations for offline social information seeking. It could be the case that these measures could reveal a pattern of friend addiction in general. The current study develops the Offline-Friend Addiction Questionnaire (O-FAQ) by re-wording items from highly cited pathological social use scales to reflect “spending time with friends” instead of “using Facebook”. Our methodology for validation follows literature precedent in social networking site addiction scales. The O-FAQ had a three-factor solution in an exploratory sample of N=807 and these factors were stable in a four-week retest (r=.72 to .86). The measure was validated against Big Five traits, and risk-taking behaviour, in conceptually plausible directions. Using the same ‘polythetic classification techniques’ as pathological social media use studies, we were able to classify 69% of our sample as addicted to spending time with their friends. The discussion of our satirical research is a critical reflection on the role of measurement and human sociality in social media research. Readers should approach our measure with the skepticism appropriate to the current social addiction measures. We question the extent to which connecting with others can be considered an ‘addiction’ and issues with the validation of new ‘addiction’ measures without relevant medical constructs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Purvendu Sharma

PurposeThe present research aims to introduce and understand the promising nature of destination evangelism in the context of social media-based tourism communities (SMTCs). Further, factors that influence evangelism and information-seeking behaviors on SMTCs are examined.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed that features an interplay of destination distinctiveness, destination evangelism, travel commitment and information-seeking engagement. Data were collected from 215 active users of SMTCs and analyzed using structural equation models.FindingsThe research findings indicate that destination distinctiveness and information-seeking positively lead to destination evangelism. Information-seeking is found to mediate the relationship between (1) destination evangelism and travel commitment and (2) destination evangelism and distinctiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research offers meaningful insights into exploring constituents of destination evangelism. The research also understands and highlights the critical role of information-seeking engagement about distinct destinations.Practical implicationsThis research highlights key areas to build, improve and inspire destination evangelism on SMTCs.Originality/valueThis study offers a fresh contribution to tourism literature by investigating destination evangelism and its drivers. This is explained by closely uniting vital research streams of evangelism, tourism and engagement. It further highlights the dual mediating role of information seeking, suggesting that these engagements are critical to evangelizing destinations.


2019 ◽  
pp. 643-660
Author(s):  
Barry Ardley ◽  
Jialin Hardwick ◽  
Lauriane Delarue ◽  
Nick Taylor

Focusing on the mobile phones sector, this study explores how the social networking site ‘Facebook' is used by consumers in their purchasing. Although there is extensive work on the influences on the buying decision process relevant to mobile phone purchasing, it is mainly set outside of a social media context. This paper assists in filling a gap in contemporary research, revealing the presence of different behavioural segments on Facebook. The authors analyse the consumer decision sequence in response to the notion of ‘brand presence', manifested through online advertising, fan and group pages. The approach is interpretative. The study is based on young professional user's experiences, collected through semi-structured individual and focus group interviews. The findings show that Facebook fan pages are shown to have a degree of influence, particularly in the early stages of buying behaviour. In this context, five novel behavioural segments of consumer interactions with Smartphone brands on Facebook have been identified by the research. These are the Avoider, the Suspicious, the Passive, the Receptive, and the Active. Future research of cross comparative studies could be taken on the issues the authors examine and consider them in relation to not only Facebook, but additionally, to other social network sites. Companies could utilise the findings in the future development of social media strategy. The research highlights the socially networked and collective nature of much activity on Facebook, which impacts on the consumer decision-making process for mobile phones.


Author(s):  
Manpreet Kaur ◽  
Rajesh Verma

Internet usage has shown drastic growth in the initial half of the year 2015 in India. The user base has increased over 354 million and with this India has become the top second country after China in terms of internet usage. Facebook is the prime social networking site which is used by 96% of urban users, followed by Google Plus (61%), Twitter (43%) and LinkedIn (24%). This extensive use of social media by the public had attracted the attention of the politicians to use it for election campaigns and has given researchers a reason to find out how politicians are engaging the public through this platform. Influence of Social media on the electorate has been proved from its successful use in the US presidential election in 2008 and by political parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India. This paper intends to explore the use of social media and its effectiveness in political elections through an extensive literature review. Social media has become an effective tool for political engagement and political participation as it is a low cost media as compared to traditional media. The low cost of this media has made it one of the main source to get information for advanced analysis and in-depth understanding of the electoral process. This paper will provide an insight to politicians, political analysts, journalists and electoral candidates regarding social media usage. The paper will also present a future research agenda to study how political parties can benefit from use of social media and change their strategies to engage workers and the voters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 155798832094936
Author(s):  
Ashley L. White ◽  
Rachel E. Davis ◽  
Deborah L. Billings ◽  
Emily S. Mann

Vasectomy is one of the few options men have to manage their reproductive capacity and take on a more equitable role in pregnancy prevention. While the method is underused throughout the United States, the southern states have a lower prevalence rate compared to the rest of the country. Existing survey research does not assess what men know or think about the procedure as a means of understanding why this is the case. We created and conducted an exploratory survey to assess men’s knowledge, attitudes, and information-seeking behaviors about vasectomy in the Southern United States. We used targeted Facebook advertising to recruit men ages 25–70 years living in 7 southern states to complete an online survey ( n = 397). Using regression analyses, we identify that participants who had a vasectomy knew more about the procedure than participants who had not. Participants who had not had a vasectomy had less positive attitudes about the procedure across all six attitude subscales compared to participants with vasectomies. We highlight potential avenues for future research to understand why this may be the case. Finally, the majority of participants knew someone who had had a vasectomy. This suggests that men disclose having a vasectomy to others. The interpersonal dynamics around vasectomy decision-making and disclosure remain unknown and a viable area for future research. Findings from this exploratory survey may be used by public health officials interested in implementing campaigns to increase knowledge about vasectomy and reduce stigma, which may encourage more positive attitudes about the procedure.


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Raymond Rui ◽  
Jessica M. Covert ◽  
Michael A. Stefanone ◽  
Tanuka Mukherjee

This study explores the mechanisms by which online social information seeking (i.e., monitoring Facebook friends) relates to social capital. Based on the extant literature, we propose a theoretical framework that includes communication activities across different channels operationalized as offline participation, network structure on social network site operationalized as the number of actual online friends and network diversity, and self-esteem. Results from an online survey ( N = 223) found a moderated mediation model in which participation in offline social activities mediated the relationship between social information seeking and self-reported bonding social capital, and self-esteem moderated this mediation. In addition, participation in offline social activities provided an additional channel to accessing bridging social capital. These results provide a theoretical framework for and suggest an approach of communication multiplexity to future research.


Author(s):  
JiWoon Yoo ◽  
Jinkook Tak

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among newcomers’ proactive personality, information seeking behavior and organizational socialization. Specifically, This study investigated not only the main effect of newcomers’ proactive personality on information seeking behaviors which related to job and relationship building, and organizational socialization but also the moderating roles of team climate and leader behaviors on the relationships between proactive personality and information seeking behaviors, and between information seeking behaviors and organizational socialization. Online survey was conducted to 151 korean employees working for at least 3 months to 6 months and 151data were obtained for statistical analysis. Three steps of analysis procedures were carried out. First, correlation analysis was conducted and the results showed that there were positive relationship among main variables such as proactive personality, information seeking behavior, organizational socialization and etc. Second, the results of structural equitation model analyses showed that newcomers’ information seeking behaviors fully mediate proactive personality and organizational socialization. Third the results of hierarchial regression analyses showed that while leader behaviors which were specified to feedback behavior and consideration behavior moderated the relationship between information seeking behaviors and organizational socialization, Team openness did not moderate the relationship between proactive personality and information seeking behaviors. The implications and limitations of this study and the directions for future research were discussed on the basis of the results.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Manpreet Kaur ◽  
Rajesh Verma

Internet usage has shown drastic growth in the initial half of the year 2015 in India. The user base has increased over 354 million and with this India has become the top second country after China in terms of internet usage. Facebook is the prime social networking site which is used by 96% of urban users, followed by Google Plus (61%), Twitter (43%) and LinkedIn (24%). This extensive use of social media by the public had attracted the attention of the politicians to use it for election campaigns and has given researchers a reason to find out how politicians are engaging the public through this platform. Influence of Social media on the electorate has been proved from its successful use in the US presidential election in 2008 and by political parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India. This paper intends to explore the use of social media and its effectiveness in political elections through an extensive literature review. Social media has become an effective tool for political engagement and political participation as it is a low cost media as compared to traditional media. The low cost of this media has made it one of the main source to get information for advanced analysis and in-depth understanding of the electoral process. This paper will provide an insight to politicians, political analysts, journalists and electoral candidates regarding social media usage. The paper will also present a future research agenda to study how political parties can benefit from use of social media and change their strategies to engage workers and the voters.


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