Social Learning Sites?

Author(s):  
Mathias Decuypere ◽  
Steven Bruneel

Social networking sites are extremely popular nowadays – especially amongst students – and are increasingly the subjects of educational research. But there is a sparse research base on students’ willingness to adopt social networking sites in their education. In this chapter we investigate to what extent Facebook is used as an educational tool. By means of semi-structured interviews, we asked students why they use Facebook and whether they allow faculty members into their personal sites, or not. During the period of one academic year 2009-2010, 15 students of different bachelor programs in a Flemish University were interviewed several times. The results demonstrate that students draw a sharp distinction between the ways they use Facebook, and why they do so. Furthermore, they barely use the social networking site for educational purposes. Consequently, students are not inclined to allow faculty members presence (as ‘friends’ on Facebook). These results are interpreted in terms of privacy concerns, and we conclude this chapter with some critical reflections concerning the current research about the effectiveness and the educational possibilities of social networking sites.

Author(s):  
Nimer Baya'a ◽  
Wajeeh Daher

In this chapter, the authors describe four successful experiments in using social networking sites (Facebook and Edmodo) in mathematics teaching and learning, where this use depended on populating the sites with historical mathematicians and/or mathematical phenomena. They describe two models of using social networking sites in mathematics education, as well as the phases of working mathematically with students when implementing each model. The authors emphasize the use of social talk as the first step to involve students with the learning of mathematics, as well as moving to cultural talk as a bridge between the social talk and the mathematical discourse. The experience in the four experiments indicates that social networking sites invite student collaboration, as well as encourage their learning actions and interactions. Teacher's or moderator's sensitivity is a very important factor for the success of the experiment, especially when young students are involved. Other factors which influenced the success of students' learning in social networking sites were the features of the social networking site, the properties of the inter-disciplinary phenomenon or the mathematics produced by the historical mathematicians, the background of the learners, and the activities of the moderator.


Author(s):  
Clare Doherty ◽  
Michael Lang ◽  
James Deane ◽  
Regina Connor

This chapter explores how six constructs—control, trust, perceived risk, risk propensity, perceived legal protection, and privacy disposition—affect information disclosure on the Social Networking Site (SNS) Facebook. Building upon previous related work, an extended causal model of disclosure behaviour is proposed. The hypothesised relationships in this model were tested using survey data collected from 278 social networking site users in Ireland. The results of the analysis provide strong support for the proposed model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-228
Author(s):  
Scott Goldstein

A Review of: Jordan, K. (2019). Separating and merging professional and personal selves online: The structure and processes that shape academics’ ego-networks on academic social networking sites and Twitter. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 70(8), 830-842. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24170 Abstract Objective – To examine the structure of academics’ online social networks and how academics understand and interpret them. Design – Mixed methods consisting of network analysis and semi-structured interviews. Setting – Academics based in the United Kingdom. Subjects – 55 U.K.-based academics who use an academic social networking site and Twitter, of whom 18 were interviewed. Methods – For each subject, ego-networks were collected from Twitter and either ResearchGate or Academia.edu. Twitter data were collected primarily via the Twitter API, and the social networking site data were collected either manually or using a commercial web scraping program. Edge tables were created in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and imported into Gephi for analysis and visualization. A purposive subsample of subjects was interviewed via Skype using a semi-structured format intended to illuminate further the network analysis findings. Transcripts were deductively coded using a grounded theory-based approach. Main Results – Network analysis replicated earlier findings in the literature. A large number of academics have relatively few connections to others in the network, while a small number have relatively many connections. In terms of reciprocity (the proportion of mutual ties or pairings out of all possible pairings that could exist in the network), arts and humanities disciplines were significantly more reciprocal. Communities (measured using the modularity algorithm, which looks at the density of links within and between different subnetworks) are more frequently defined by institutions and research interests on academic social networking sites and by research interests and personal interests on Twitter. The overall picture was reinforced by the qualitative analysis. According to interview participants, academic social networking sites reflect pre-existing professional relationships and do not foreground social interaction, serving instead as a kind of virtual CV. By contrast, Twitter is analogized to a conference coffee break, where users can form new connections. Conclusion – Academic social networking sites exhibit networks that are smaller, denser, more clustered around discrete modularity classes, and more reciprocal. Twitter networks are larger and more diffuse, which is more conducive to fostering novel connections. The author makes suggestions for how academic social networking sites could encourage network building and rethink how academic reputation is measured.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahy Ramadan

Purpose Brands have been progressively using social networking sites, namely, Facebook, as part of their strategy to engage their consumers and ultimately build long-term relationships with them. Nonetheless, with the overuse of “engagement ads” by brands, saturation related to information overload is expected to be reached leading to the dilution of the consumer–brand relationship. The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature which has predominantly focused on the positive side of social networking sites, and hence still lacks a thorough understanding of the potential risks brands face when using Facebook. Accordingly, this research examines the different risks brands would be facing from saturated consumers on social networking sites such as Facebook. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted, with a total of 40 respondents using face-to-face semi-structured interviews over two stages. While the first stage of the study focused on examining the saturation risk and its potential negative effects, the second one explored these risks specifically on the consumer–brand relationship on Facebook. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then coded for analysis using NVivo 8. Findings Brands are overloading their followers with passively endorsed brand messages, which are negatively affecting consumers’ experience on Facebook, as well as the relationship with these brands. This overall dilution of the consumer–brand relationship on Facebook was hence found to be affecting interaction, similarity with friends, the system quality of the social networking site, as well as information quality. Furthermore, this dilution was found to be affecting brand likability, brand trust and brand association. Originality/value The negative implications are still scarcely examined in the literature where social media engagement is predominantly discussed through a positive lens. Hence, this study has the peculiarity of discussing the risks that companies would face with Facebook’s engagement model along with their implications on the consumer-brand relationship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaustav Mukherjee ◽  
Neelotpaul Banerjee

Purpose The study aims to demonstrate the impact of social media users’ positive attitude towards the social networking sites (SNS) on the generation of a positive attitude towards social networking advertisements (SNA). A favourable attitude towards the SNA thus generated can positively influence brand attitude and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted to collect relevant data using a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was conducted using the statistical software AMOS 18. Findings Empirical analysis revealed the importance of brand advertisements on the social networks in inciting a positive attitude as well as a purchase intention for the brand in the SNS users’ minds. Research limitations/implications The study has been conducted in the Indian context using Facebook as a model social networking site. Practical implications Social media being one of the most popular and user-friendly platforms for regular communications, marketers are suggested to allocate a sizeable share of the advertising budget for social media advertisements and customer engagement so as to help build a positive attitude towards the advertised brand in the SNS users’ minds. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the impact of users’ positive evaluation of SNS as an effective communication medium, on the generation of a positive attitude towards the SNA, has been dealt for the first time here.


2015 ◽  
pp. 143-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimer Baya'a ◽  
Wajeeh Daher

In this chapter, the authors describe four successful experiments in using social networking sites (Facebook and Edmodo) in mathematics teaching and learning, where this use depended on populating the sites with historical mathematicians and/or mathematical phenomena. They describe two models of using social networking sites in mathematics education, as well as the phases of working mathematically with students when implementing each model. The authors emphasize the use of social talk as the first step to involve students with the learning of mathematics, as well as moving to cultural talk as a bridge between the social talk and the mathematical discourse. The experience in the four experiments indicates that social networking sites invite student collaboration, as well as encourage their learning actions and interactions. Teacher's or moderator's sensitivity is a very important factor for the success of the experiment, especially when young students are involved. Other factors which influenced the success of students' learning in social networking sites were the features of the social networking site, the properties of the inter-disciplinary phenomenon or the mathematics produced by the historical mathematicians, the background of the learners, and the activities of the moderator.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 4553-4570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Alice Baker ◽  
Michael James Walsh

Social networking sites are important platforms for visual self-presentation online. This article investigates how content producers present their gender identities on the social networking site, Instagram. We draw upon and develop Goffman’s analytic framework to understand the self-presentation techniques and styles users employ online. Conducting a visual content analysis of clean eating–related top posts, we examine how users deploy clean eating hashtags and how the architecture of Instagram constrains and enables certain identities around shared lifestyles and commercial interests. Our findings reveal the symbolic significance of hashtags for group membership and the degree to which gender identities on Instagram are configured around platform interfaces.


Author(s):  
Ianis Bucholtz ◽  
Laura Sūna

Abstract This chapter analyses how ethnic transnational identities are manifested and negotiated on the social networking sites used by Latvian migrants. Although migrants as well as other people use various personal media, including Skype, chat apps such as WhatsApp and telephones, social networking sites stand out with the diversity of functions in migrant communication. This includes one-to-one exchanges, group communication and the ability to locate and connect with users who may or may not be familiar offline. We argue that social networking sites and particularly thematic groups on these sites that migrants create and join serve as forums or bulletin boards where they exchange practical information and are able to communicate with other Latvians who live nearby – and that these uses have implications for the communication of identity. The empirical data in the chapter comes from 20 semi-structured interviews with Latvian migrants who live in a variety of countries and were recruited for the study on social networking sites, as well as survey data, all of which were collected within the research project The Emigrant Communities of Latvia: National Identity, Transnational Relations and Diaspora Politics. The results demonstrate that migrant interactions on social networking sites do not necessarily lead to the homogenisation of migrants’ conception of what ‘being a Latvian’ means. The increased ability to maintain associations with diverse online and offline social circles provides a migrant with a variety of identity elements to associate with. As a result, hybrid identities may emerge. A migrant can identify with the host society yet still reject some of its characteristics – and choose Latvian alternatives instead.


2015 ◽  
pp. 406-425
Author(s):  
Nimer Baya'a ◽  
Wajeeh Daher

In this chapter, the authors describe four successful experiments in using social networking sites (Facebook and Edmodo) in mathematics teaching and learning, where this use depended on populating the sites with historical mathematicians and/or mathematical phenomena. They describe two models of using social networking sites in mathematics education, as well as the phases of working mathematically with students when implementing each model. The authors emphasize the use of social talk as the first step to involve students with the learning of mathematics, as well as moving to cultural talk as a bridge between the social talk and the mathematical discourse. The experience in the four experiments indicates that social networking sites invite student collaboration, as well as encourage their learning actions and interactions. Teacher's or moderator's sensitivity is a very important factor for the success of the experiment, especially when young students are involved. Other factors which influenced the success of students' learning in social networking sites were the features of the social networking site, the properties of the inter-disciplinary phenomenon or the mathematics produced by the historical mathematicians, the background of the learners, and the activities of the moderator.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 1597-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kexin Wang ◽  
Yuxiang Lv ◽  
Zheng Zhang

We investigated a comprehensive model to integrate the negative linear association as well as the positive linear association between extroversion and the social use of social-networking-site behaviors. We examined the possibility of a curvilinear relationship between social use of networking sites and extroversion, revealing U-shaped curvilinear relationships between extroversion and total number of friends, browsing, and leaving comments after controlling for the linear relationship. These findings underscore the importance of considering a possible curvilinear relationship between extroversion (individual differences) and related behaviors in relation to social use of social networking sites.


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