Online identities and social influence in social media gambling exposure: A four-country study on young people

Social media tends to gather users around social cliques consisting of similar-minded individuals and shared identities. These online group processes can have significant influence on user behavior, which is alarming when considering risky behaviors such as gambling. This study examined how online clique involvement predicts young people’s interest in gambling content and following observed group norms on social media. Survey respondents were 15–25-year-olds from Finland (n = 1200), the United States (n = 1212), South Korea (n = 1192) and Spain (n = 1212). A self-reported measure of online clique involvement and a gambling-related social media vignette experiment were utilized. The results show that online clique involvement was related to higher interest in gambling content. Content liked by a majority gathered more interest, indicating conformity to a group norm. This finding was especially true among participants with past involvement in online cliques, and the association was strongest in South Korea. The tendency to participate in online clique behavior creates a potentially risky setting when encountering online gambling content, because it may accentuate the effect of observed group norms. Interacting with gambling content increases the visibility of such content due to algorithmic filtering technologies, which can fuel gambling-related intentions and behaviors, and normalize gambling.     

The interplay between social media virality metrics and message framing in influence perception of pro-environmental messages and behavioral intentions

Present study explored how message framing (gain vs loss) and social media virality metrics (e.g. the number of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’; SMVM) affect pro-environmental message’s influence perception and behavioral intention. In a 2 (framing: gain vs loss) × 2 (SMVM: high vs low) between-subjects experiment (N = 404), participants were exposed to Facebook posts about mitigating climate change. Major findings indicate: (1) gain framing, compared to loss, resulted in increased social desirability perception of pro-environmental messages when they are accompanied by high numbers of likes and shares; (2) social desirability perception mediated the effect of message framing on third person perception (TPP) but not on second person perception (SPP); (3) numbers of likes and shares affected participants’ message influence perceptions (TPP and SPP), and this was mediated by social desirability perception; and (4) message influence perceptions were found to be significant predictors of participants’ intentions for climate change mitigation actions. Study results implicate that SMVM can signal media content popularity and this can further affect social desirability and influence perceptions of the content. Message framing appeared to have an effect on how one thinks media content influence other people, especially in the presence of high levels of endorsement by others. The potential role of SPP, the perception of shared media influence, in augmenting public awareness and engagement is discussed in detail.     

Decreasing social contagion effects in diffusion cascades: Modeling message spreading on social media

Modeling retweeting behaviors is important for understanding and predicting how information spreads on social media platforms. The present study contributes to the literature by examining the decreasing social contagion and increasing homophily effects with the depth of diffusion cascades. To test the hypotheses, the study proposes a matching-on-followers method by combining choice and cascade models. More specifically, the study examines the impacts of interaction frequency, multiple exposures, and interest similarity between parent users and potential retweeters on the likelihood of retweeting. The study also incorporates the depth of diffusion cascades and network structures into the model. By using a random sample of original tweets, their retweets, and potential retweeters (N = 87,139), the study found that cascade depth is negatively associated with social contagion effects (interaction and multiple exposures) and positively associated with the effect of interest similarity on message sharing. These results indicate that influence-based and homophily-driven diffusion operate differently in cascades with different diffusion structures.     

Gratifications of using Facebook,Twitter, Instagram,or Snapchat to follow brands: The moderating effect of social comparison,trust, tie strength,and network homophily on brand identification,brand engagement,brand commitment,and membership intention

Applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study examined consumers’ use of one of four social networking sites (SNSs): Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, for following brands, and their influence on brand community-related outcomes. Results (N = 297) indicated Snapchat users scored highest for passing time, sharing problems, and improving social knowledge, while Instagram users scored highest for showing affection, following fashion, and demonstrating sociability. Twitter users had highest brand community identification and membership intention, while Instagram users had highest brand community engagement and commitment. Attention to social comparison, SNS trust, tie strength, and homophily also significantly moderated the relationship between frequent use of each SNS to follow brands, and brand community-related outcomes. Implications for future research on SNS users’ goal-directed consumption behaviors are discussed.     

Thumbs up: A thematic analysis of image-based posting and liking behaviour on social media

This study aimed to investigate the thoughts that social media users have prior to posting or ‘liking’ images on social media; particularly exploring the presence of egoistic, self-presentation considerations. Responses to two open-ended questions regarding considerations prior to posting (n?=?203) and ‘liking’ (n?=?195) images on social media were analysed using thematic analysis. Egoistic motivations influenced both posting and ‘liking’ an image on social media; suggesting an awareness that self-presentation can be affected (and therefore manipulated) through image posting and ‘liking’. Users also considered who would see their content or behaviour, and the effect this might have on others. Finally, ‘liking’ actually represents liking, with enjoyment and image value considered prior to providing public, online appreciation.     

Social comparison as a double-edged sword on social media: The role of envy type and online social identity

Several studies have explored the psychological consequences of social comparison in SNS usage. This paper aims to explore the behavioral outcomes of social comparison through the underlying mechanisms of benign and malicious envy on Facebook. The paper also examines the role of online social identity in predicting benign and malicious envy. Based on multi-wave data collected from 469 Facebook users in Pakistan, we found that Facebook user's social comparison provoked benign and malicious envy; benign envy, in turn, triggered self-improvement intention, and malicious envy triggered negative gossiping. Moreover, user's online social identity moderated the social comparison-envy relationship such that the positive relationship of social comparison and benign envy was stronger, and the positive relationship of social comparison and malicious envy was weaker when the user's online social identity was high. The study contributes to social media literature by examining the behavioral outcomes of social comparison on social media and discusses empirical implications for policymakers, advertisers, SNS providers, SNS designers, educators, and users.     

Social participation of the elderly in China: The roles of conventional media,digital access and social media engagement

China is the most rapidly aging country and has the largest aging population in the world. However, social participation is an important intervention to boost the active and healthy aging. The present study investigated the effects of media usage, together with social-demographics and health variables, on Chinese older adults. Drawing upon a national research project with a representative sample (N = 1,399) of older adults (55+) from 58 cities in China, the research findings revealed that conventional media, digital access and social media usage had positive effects on older adults’ informal social participation, while age moderated the relationship between informal social participation and digital access, particularly regarding access to tablet PCs and smartphones. Moreover, conventional media, digital access and social media engagement largely explained seniors’ formal social participation regardless of their social-demographic backgrounds. Finally, the roles of conventional media and digital media in older adults’ social participation are discussed.     

Do social media matter? The effects of information seeking on COVID-19 psychological and behavioral processes

With the evolution of media technologies, social media have developed as a means to purposive and incidental use and subsequent benefits and detriments. This study investigates how individuals’ use of information via social media helps them achieve psychological and behavioral advances in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study’s novelty lies in its positioning of social media information seeking (SMIS) as a precursor to the staged behavioral processes of the Theory of Planned Behavior. This novel extension entails the testing of a conceptual model of the influence of SMIS on three psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control), which, in turn, predict behavioral intention. It implements cross-sectional data from a survey of adults in New York City in 2020 (N = 1,021). The structural equation models were well-fitting and generally validated by the data, including the posited two steps from SMIS to psychological factors to behavioral intention. Structural equation modeling underscores the role of SMIS as a core driver of wearing a facemask, with positive effects on attitudes and perceived behavioral control and subsequent mediated positive effects on behavioral intention. In terms of sheltering in place, there was evidence of positive effects of SMIS on perceived behavioral control and, in turn, from the three psychological factors to behavioral intention, but the mediation role of the psychological factors was weaker in this model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Social cues and implications for designing expert and competent artificial agents: A systematic review

Artificial agents such as embodied virtual agents, chatbots, voice user interface agents, and robots simulate human roles for dispensing information to people. According to the computers-are-social-actors paradigm, people respond to these technological artifacts with the same social rules originated from human-to-human social routines despite recognizing the artificiality of the entities’ intents, motivations, or emotions. Among the various applications of social rules in human-agent interactions, this study focuses on the social cues signaling expertise or competence (i.e., expertise cues) that can evoke social, affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses toward the artificial agents through activation of social stereotypes or heuristics. Based on a systematic review of experimental studies featuring artificial agents with expertise cues published between 2005 and July 2021 (n = 63), this study proposed a classification model categorizing expertise cues into Demographics, Appearance, Social prestige, Specialization, Communication style, and Information quality (DASSCI). The DASSCI model can guide designers to logically devise and infuse relevant expertise cues into the designs of artificial agents. As per the computers-are-social-actors paradigm, this study also outlined the social and communication theories underpinning the implementations and effects of artificial agents’ expertise cues. The implications and recommendations for future directions regarding artificial agents with expertise cues across diverse application domains are discussed in this paper.     

Absorbability,applicability and availability in nursing and care robots: A thematic analysis of Twitter postings

Nursing and care robots (NCR) have become an important technological innovation in various areas in the medical discipline. Previous studies have found that implementation of robots in healthcare is both associated with positive and negative attitudes. This study aims to improve the understanding of the general public’s communication about nursing and care robots through analyzing the content of posts in social media. An advanced social intelligence platform was used to mine Twitter content. From the platform, data were collected historically. An archival and cross-sectional observational study was conducted online. The data set comprising of 5954 tweets were thematically analyzed. Tweets under the theme of absorbability show that nursing and care robots are considered to be a part of users’ lives, either now or sometime in the future for Twitter users, and the topic is tackled as a fact but with humor, skepticism and enthusiasm. Tweets falling under applicability show that potential nursing and care robots usage covers a range of arenas in everyday life. Results thematized as availability show sincere concern about how the accessibility of nursing and care robots in everyday life will affect costs and other economic aspects, both on a global and an individual level as well as on micro and macro levels of economies. Twitter offers a window into attitudes and ideas as well as fundamental beliefs and practices. Thus, monitoring Twitter discussions on social media can provide valuable insights into current attitudes as well as forecasting coming trends. The data includes information about Twitter users’ anxious relationships with nursing and care robots. We raise important questions about the nature of nursing and care robots and their implementations, both in health care but also in everyday living.     

Predicting the acceptance of MOOCs in a developing country: Application of task-technology fit model,social motivation,and self-determination theory

Online learning courses have expanded the educational landscape to distant and disadvantaged areas. Although such courses have generated extensive interest, there is as yet sparse literature evaluating the determinants of online course acceptance, especially in developing countries. Seeking to close this gap, this study examines the factors influencing students’ adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in a developing country by applying an integrated framework incorporating the task-technology fit model, social motivation, and self-determination theory. In addition, the study investigates the moderating effect of perceived reputation on students’ adoption behavior. A self-administered survey was employed for data collection and valid responses from 414 participants were used for testing the proposed model. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling through Smart-PLS. The results establish the significant contribution of task characteristics and technology characteristics in facilitating task-technology fit, and that the fit positively influences behavioral intentions. Moreover, social recognition, perceived competence, and perceived relatedness have positive and significant effects on the behavioral intentions of the students. This research also reveals that perceived reputation has an important moderating effect on the students’ usage behavior. The study results provide both practical and theoretical insights to enrich the understanding of the paradigm shift due to MOOCs and online education.     

Social by definition: How users define social platforms and why it matters

Social media platforms are characterized by diverse features and functions, and these facets remain in constant flux over time. This research examines how users define the central purpose of four major platforms in the United States (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat), and how such lay definitions relate to key outcomes previously associated with social media use. In Study 1, we validated self-report measures using a comparative scaling approach to capture what users view as the most defining categories of the four platforms. In Study 2, we investigated whether lay definitions of platforms relate to perceptions of social affordances and social resources. Overall, results provided evidence that defining platforms as social interaction (vs. other categories) is associated with amplified social affordances and resources. Together, the studies contribute to our understanding of how users navigate a dynamic online ecosystem, as well as how lay definitions may anchor the experiences and effects of social media.     

How does time spent on WeChat bolster subjective well-being through social integration and social capital?

Although WeChat has recently spawned significant resolutions in technology-mediated social contact and interpersonal communication, the research regarding the social and psychological impacts of the newly emerging technology is relatively few. The primary purpose of the current empirical research is to unearth whether and how WeChat interaction could enhance overseas students’ sense of subjective well-being by concentrating on social integration, bridging relationships, and bonding relationships. Using web-based data of 228 Chinese subjects, the obtained results reveal that the time spent on WeChat significantly and directly impacts users’ subjective well-being. Additionally, the findings demonstrate that social integration, bridging relationships, bonding relationships are all significant predictors to subjective well-being. Furthermore, the perceptions of social integration and social capital could play the crucial mediating roles in the connection between WeChat use and the dependent variable of subjective well-being. Therefore, these outcomes may shed light on a more nuanced comprehending of the influence of the new social media interaction on sojourner’s social adaption and overall life quality in the digital age.     

Fake news and COVID-19: modelling the predictors of fake news sharing among social media users

Fake news dissemination on COVID-19 has increased in recent months, and the factors that lead to the sharing of this misinformation is less well studied. Therefore, this paper describes the result of a Nigerian sample (n = 385) regarding the proliferation of fake news on COVID-19. The fake news phenomenon was studied using the Uses and Gratification framework, which was extended by an “altruism” motivation. The data were analysed with Partial Least Squares (PLS) to determine the effects of six variables on the outcome of fake news sharing. Our results showed that altruism was the most significant factor that predicted fake news sharing of COVID-19. We also found that social media users’ motivations for information sharing, socialisation, information seeking and pass time predicted the sharing of false information about COVID-19. In contrast, no significant association was found for entertainment motivation. We concluded with some theoretical and practical implications.     

Examining the links between active Facebook use,received likes,self-esteem and happiness: A study using objective social media data

For social media users, profile updating and receiving Likes may feel like a reward, and elicit positive emotions, reinforcing use of the platform. Could this mechanism have consequences for users’ self-esteem and happiness? Previous findings on the topic are mixed, and typically limited by use of self-reports of online activity. In the present study, we used objective behavioral data to examine the hypotheses that receiving Likes on Facebook would relate to 1) users’ level of perceived self-esteem, and 2) increased happiness via the mediating role of self-esteem. We recruited 2,349 adult Facebook users (589 men, 1,760 women; 67% aged 18–25, 26% aged 26–35, 7% aged > 35 years). Participants answered an online survey and provided access to their objective Facebook data (i.e., profile updates and received Likes). We found that frequency of users updating their profile and sharing personal content (e.g., self-generated texts, images, friends and location tags) had a direct effect on the frequency and intensity of the feedback (i.e., Likes) they received from other users in their online social network. Additionally, analyses supported a positive link between the frequency and intensity of positive feedback received by users and perceived happiness that was mediated in part by an increase in self-esteem. Overall, findings demonstrate a process linking positive online social feedback and perceived well-being.     

When retweets persuade: The persuasive effects of dialogic retweeting and the role of social presence in organizations’ Twitter-based communication

Research has shown that organizations tend to use Twitter primarily in a one-way, monologic manner and fall short of using the platform’s technological affordances to engage the public in dialogue. At the same time, relatively little research has addressed the specific persuasive outcomes that organizations could accrue by using Twitter to communicate with the public in a more dialogic way. We investigated the persuasive effect of an organization’s dialogic retweeting (conceptualized as retweeting of user mentions addressed to the organization) by drawing on the concept of social presence and the theory of reasoned action. In an online experiment conducted with an adult sample of U.S. Twitter users, participants were randomly assigned to view either a fictitious organization’s dialogic retweets or the same organization’s monologic tweets of identical content. We found that the dialogic retweets, when compared to the monologic tweets from the organization, induced a higher level of social presence, which, in turn, led to a higher level of subjective norms, more favorable attitudes toward the behavior advocated by the organization in the messages, and greater intention to adopt the behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Leadership going social: How U.S. nonprofit executives engage publics on Twitter

This study explored how nonprofit executives in the U.S. engaged with online publics through various communication strategies. We investigated the extent to which nonprofit executives leveraged 1) digital dialogic principles, 2) social presence strategies, and 3) message tactics. In addition, this study attempted to explore how different communication strategies influenced publics’ digital engagement with nonprofit leaders. We conducted a content analysis on 700 Twitter posts from 35 nonprofit executive leaders who possess an active Twitter presence and 195 public comments. These executives led America’s largest nonprofits across a wide range of religious, educational, scientific, sports, and social welfare organizations. The results showed that nonprofit executives employed some degree of the four dialogic principles and capitalized on each of the three types of social presence strategies evenly. Regarding message function, nonprofit executives were most active in disseminating information and creating an online community. Findings regarding the associations between communication strategies and public engagement remain mixed.     

Saving lives using social media: Analysis of the role of twitter for personal blood donation requests and dissemination

Social media has an impact on many aspects of human life ranging from sharing personal information to revolutionizing political systems of entire countries. One not so well studied aspect of social media is analyzing its usage and efficacy in healthcare, particularly in developing countries which lack state-of-the-art healthcare systems and processes. In such countries, social media may be used to facilitate patient-centric healthcare by involving the patient for fulfilling personal healthcare needs. This article provides an in-depth analysis of one such need, that is, how people use social media to request for blood donations. We study the request and dissemination behavior of people using social media to fulfill blood donation requests. We focus on twitter, and blood donation accounts in India. Our study reveals that each of the seven twitter accounts we studied have a large followership of more than 35,000 users on an average and receive a substantial number (more than 900) of donation requests in a day on an average. We analyze the requests in various ways to present an outlook for healthcare providers to make their systems more patient-centric through a better understanding of the needs of people requesting for blood donations. Our study also identifies areas where future social media enabled automated healthcare systems can focus on the needs of individual patients. These systems can provide support for saving more lives by reducing the gap between blood donors and the people in need.     

The use of social media in travel information search

When faced with new technology for tourism purposes, travelers often use information searches in the Internet and, in addition, gain valuable travel information from various sources. This paper examines the travel information searches using social media as a new search behavior from a value perspective. By adopting the value-based adoption model (VAM) based on the prospect theory and mental accounting theory from the perspectives of value maximization of benefits versus sacrifices for a new technology, our findings revealed that the traveler’s perception of the value of social media is a primary determinant of the traveler’s social media usage. We test our research model using empirical data collected (n = 695) in a survey and run a structural equation modeling. These results are mediated by perceived value. Thus, the users of new social media, especially for travel information searches, are influenced by both benefits (information reliability, enjoyment) and sacrifices (complexity, perceived effort). However, only enjoyment makes an impact directly on social media usage. Thus, this paper discusses both the theoretical and practical implications of VAM in the context of social media on the subject of tourism.