The Role of Social Media in the Diffusion of E-Government and E-Commerce

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Osman Adam ◽  
Muftawu Dzang Alhassan

This study attempts to empirically examine the role of social media use on the diffusion of e-government and e-commerce. This study departs from previous studies that have investigated social media effects on e-government and e-commerce as silo phenomena without examining the mediating role of other national-level factors. Using data drawn from archival sources for 135 countries for 2016, the study, through a model built on the technology-organization-environment framework, examines the mediating role of other national-level factors by employing partial least squares structural equation modelling. The findings provide evidence that social media use significantly influences the development of e-government and the diffusion of e-commerce globally. However, the mediating role of the political and regulatory environment was found not to be influential. Some implications of the study for research and practice are provided.

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Yan Huang ◽  
Jie Zhang

Social media is becoming a platform for student entrepreneurship; however, little is known about the influence of social media use on students' entrepreneurial intention. This study investigated social media use as a predictor of students' entrepreneurial intention, with consideration given to the mediating role of self-efficacy. Questionnaires were given to undergraduate students at three Chinese public universities, and 524 effective responses were received. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. The results show that social media use was indirectly related to students' entrepreneurial intention via self-efficacy. Our findings extend the literature on the social media use–entrepreneurial intention link, and highlight the importance of self-efficacy in this link. Thus, educators could endorse social media tools and encourage students to incorporate these into their entrepreneurial activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Qingjiang Han ◽  
Lei Xia

We examined employee voice as the mediator in the social media use–employee innovative behavior relationship in the current Web 2.0 age. We used structural equation modeling to test this mediating role with 178 employees of a large enterprise in China. The results showed a significant positive relationship between social media use and employee voice, and between employee voice and innovative behavior, and a positive but not significant relationship between social media use and employee innovative behavior. Results also supported a full mediating role for employee voice in the social media use–employee innovative behavior relationship. Our findings extend prior research and suggest some mechanisms of social media use. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Xiaomeng Sun

Fostering student creativity is widely accepted as an important goal in Chinese higher education, and social media is now integrated into students' everyday lives. I investigated how social media use in study contexts is related to students' engagement and creativity. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from 652 undergraduate students at 3 Chinese public universities. Structural equation modeling results show that social media use in study contexts was related to student engagement and creativity, and that student engagement partially mediated the relationship between social media use and student creativity. This provides insight into how to promote student creativity. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are presented, and future directions for research are discussed.


Healthcare ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Tian Xie ◽  
Meihui Tang ◽  
Robert Jiqi Zhang ◽  
James H. Liu

During the COVID-19 pandemic, does more internet and social media use lead to taking more- or less-effective preventive measures against the disease? A two-wave longitudinal survey with the general population in mainland China in mid-2020 found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, internet and social media use intensity promoted the adoption of nonpharmaceutical and pharmaceutical antipandemic measures. The first wave of data (n = 1014) showed that the more intensively people used the internet/social media, the more they perceived the threat of the pandemic, and took more nonpharmaceutical preventive measures (e.g., wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands) as a result. The second wave (n = 220) showed firstly the predicted relationship between internet/social media use intensity and the perceived threat of the pandemic and the adoption of nonpharmaceutical preventive measures by cross-lagged analysis; secondly, the predictive effect of internet/social media use on the adoption of pharmacological measures (i.e., willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19) and the mediating role of perceived pandemic threat were verified. The article concludes with a discussion of the role of the internet and social media use in the fight against COVID-19 in specific macrosocial contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Zhao ◽  
Guangyu Zhou

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is likely to enhance the risk of addictive social media use (SMU) as people spend more time online maintaining connectivity when face-to-face communication is limited. Stress is assumed to be a critical predictor of addictive SMU. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between stress and addictive SMU in crises like the current COVID-19 situation remain unclear. The present study aimed to understand the relationship between COVID-19 stress and addictive SMU by examining the mediating role of active use and social media flow (i.e., an intensive, enjoyable experience generated by SMU that perpetuates media use behaviors). A sample of 512 Chinese college students (Mage = 22.12 years, SD = 2.47; 62.5% women) provided self-report data on COVID-19 stress and SMU variables (i.e., time, active use, flow, addictive behavior) via an online survey from March 24 to April 1, 2020. The results showed that COVID-19 stress was positively associated with tendencies toward addictive SMU. Path analyses revealed that this relationship was significantly serially mediated by active use and social media flow, with SMU time being controlled. Our findings suggest that individuals who experience more COVID-19 stress are at increased risk of addictive SMU that may be fostered by active use and flow experience. Specific attention should be paid to these high-risk populations and future interventions to reduce addictive SMU could consider targeting factors of both active use and social media flow.


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