An Effects of Network Externalities for Knowledge Sharing Intention in Social Networking Sites: Social Capital and Online Identity Perspective

With the increased use of Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) in Saudi Arabia, it is important to consider the impact of this on the social lives of tertiary students, who are heavy users of such technology. A mixed methods study exploring the effect of SNSAs use on the social capital of Saudi postgraduate students was conducted using a multidimensional construct of social capital, which included the components of life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation, and political engagement. Data were collected through surveys and interviews involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students from Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings show that male and female participants perceived SNSAs use impacting all components of social capital at a moderate and mainly positive level. Correlational analysis demonstrated medium to large positive correlations among components of social capital. Gender differences were not evident in the life satisfaction and social trust components; however, females reported more involvement with SNSAs for the purposes of political engagement while males reported more use for civic participation, which is an interesting finding, in light of the norms and traditional culture of Saudi society.

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Connecting and being connected: investigating friending practices across multiple social networking sites

Information Technology and People ◽

10.1108/itp-07-2020-0486 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Chien Wen Yuan ◽

Yu-Hao Lee

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Online Survey ◽

Social Ties ◽

Relationship Maintenance ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Content Type ◽

Bonding Social Capital ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk

PurposeSocial networking sites (SNSs) offer people the possibility of maintaining larger networks of social ties, which also entails more complex relationship maintenance across multiple platforms. Whom to “friend” and via which platform can involve complex deliberations. This study investigates the relationships between users' perceived friending affordances of five popular SNSs (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn) and their friending behaviors concerning strong ties, weak ties (existing and latent ties) and parasocial ties.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey using Qualtrics was provided to participants (N = 626) through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The survey asked their SNS use and their friending behaviors with different ties on each of the sites.FindingsUsers' friending decisions are dependent on an interplay of socio-technical affordances of each SNS and specific needs for the ties. The authors found that the affordances of bridging social capital and enjoyment are aligned with friending weak and parasocial ties, respectively. The affordances of bonding social capital were not valued to friend strong ties.Originality/valueThe study extends the affordance and social capital literature by assessing users' perceived, contextualized SNS affordances in relation to actual communication behaviors in friending different social ties. This approach provides contextualized insights to friending decisions and practices on SNSs.

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An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Social Networking Sites and Students’ Engagement in Higher Education

Journal of Educational Computing Research ◽

10.1177/0735633118787528 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 1131-1159 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Felix N. Koranteng ◽

Isaac Wiafe ◽

Eric Kuada

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Social Networking ◽

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Social Capital Theory ◽

Social Networking Site ◽

Partial Least Square ◽

Least Square ◽

Equation Modeling

This article investigates how students’ online social networking relationships affect knowledge sharing and how the intensity of knowledge sharing enhances students’ engagement. It adopts the social capital theory as the basis for investigation, and the partial least square structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized model. Responses from 586 students in higher education were analyzed. The findings provided empirical evidence which contradicts the argument that students perceive social networking sites as an effective tool for learning. Also, contrary to previous studies which posit that knowledge sharing impacts engagement, it was observed that there is no relationship between the two. However, as social networking sites differ in terms of member behavior norms, it is envisaged that if a similar study is conducted and limited to a specific academically inclined social networking site such as Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Mendeley, and so on, different findings may be observed.

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Social Networking, Cyber Bullying, and the Role of Community Education

Technology Use and Research Approaches for Community Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2955-4.ch008 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 117-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michelle Sofo ◽

Francesco Sofo

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Networking ◽

Case Studies ◽

Education Program ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Community Education ◽

Cyber Bullying ◽

Australian Government ◽

The Social

This chapter explores the link between social capital, the bullying that can occur via social networking sites, and community education. It becomes evident that social networking sites are influential sources of informal learning despite the published literature being somewhat divided on the sociological, psychological, and emotional benefits of social networking. Through the presentation of Australian statistics and case studies, the chapter demonstrates how social capital can be eroded through the misuse of social networking sites particularly in the form of cyber bullying. The Australian government has responded to the social impacts of cyber bullying by funding an extensive community education program. Through examining this program, it is possible to see how important it is to have effective and accessible community education regarding safe and responsible social networking.

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Online Social Capital Among Social Networking Sites' Users

Advances in Social Networking and Online Communities - Modern Perspectives on Virtual Communications and Social Networking ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5715-9.ch004 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 90-119

Author(s):

Azza Abdel-Azim Mohamed Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Social Networking Site ◽

Abu Dhabi ◽

Bonding Social Capital ◽

Bridging Social Capital ◽

Exchange Of Information

This research aimed to explore types of online social capital (bridging and bonding) that the Emiratis perceive in the context of social networking site (SNS) usage. A sample of 230 Emiratis from two Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, was used to investigate the hypothesis. The results showed that WhatsApp was the most frequent SNS used by the respondents. Also, a significant correlation of the intensity of social networking usage and bridging social capital was found, while there was no significant association between SNS usage and bonding social capital. The factors determined the SNSs usage motivations among the respondents were exchange of information, sociability, accessibility, and connections with overseas friends and families. Males were more likely than females to connect with Arab (non-Emiratis) and online bonding social capital. Both genders were the same in their SNSs motivations and online bridging social capital.

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Online Sisterhood

Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology - Gender Considerations in Online Consumption Behavior and Internet Use ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-0010-0.ch013 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 208-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ariane J. Utomo

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Networks ◽

Social Media ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Middle Class ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Personal Income

Across developing countries, the role of social networks and social capital in facilitating women's access to income is well documented. However, less is known about how networks facilitated by social networking sites (SNS) may transform women's economic opportunities in these regions. In this chapter, I draw upon a relatively recent phenomenon of the use of SNS as a medium of trade in urban Indonesia. In 2010, I conducted preliminary interviews to examine the dynamics of Facebook-facilitated trade among urban middle-class married women residing in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The interviews highlighted beneficial links between social media, social capital, and productivity – by means of increased personal income. However, this effective link between SNS and income-generating social capital is likely to be a rather distinctive example, as it depends largely on the class, gender, and cultural specificities that shape the nature of online and offline social interactions among my target group.

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