Understanding civic engagement behaviour on Facebook from a social capital theory perspective

This paper applies the social capital theory to construct a model for investigating the factors that influence online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. While there is promising evidence that people are making concerted efforts to adopt Facebook to address social issues, research on their civic behaviour from a social capital viewpoint in the social media context remains limited. This study introduces new insights into how Facebook is shaping the landscape of civic engagement by examining three dimensions of social capital – social interaction ties (structural), trust (relational), and shared languages and vision (cognitive). The study contends that these dimensions will influence individuals’ online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. We also argue that social interaction ties can engender trust, and shared languages and vision among its members, and that shared languages and vision can increase trust among Facebook members. Empirical data collected from 1233 Facebook users provide support for the proposed model. The results help in identifying the motivation underlying the online civic engagement behaviour of individuals in a public virtual community. The implications for theory and practice and future research directions are discussed.     

The Effects of Social Networking Sites on Consumer–Brand Relationships

In the era of a vastly changing marketing communications environment, social media and social networking sites (SNS) have become an attractive outlet for brand promotions and advertising. As traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers prove ineffective in establishing a valuable rapport with consumers, it is social networks which are expected to build bonds and engage online users into an amusing dialog, play, and intercourse with brands. This study applies an experimental design to assess the effects of SNS on the relationship between brands and consumers. Customer-based brand equity is adopted in this study as a reflective measure of consumer–brand connection. In order to evaluate hypothesized interactions, the linear mixed effects models are used. The results show very little (if any) impact of SNS on brand equity. Relevant explanations are discussed and further research directions are indicated.     

基于JSP的社交网站设计

由于有关网络的科技发展,用户对于网络有了越来越多的需求,这时和社交有关的网站就成了热点,本系统是从学习、交流、分享,还有大范围的社交需求中产生的,用到B/S（Browser/Server）结构,使获取数据在浏览器中显示,而处理却在服务器中运行,用户只要一个浏览器就够了。现今社交网站的界面设计非常漂亮,主要是因为用到了jquery、ext等流行的JavaScript框架。开发中选择了SSH三大框架,dao层＋service层＋action层＋jsp显示层的mvc分层这样的开发模式,适用于简单的用户需求。     

Egypt's Ongoing Uprising and the Role of Social Media: Is there Development?

In an age, where social media is seen to be a new driving force and a vehicle with a significant impact on political transformation and change, this paper highlights some of the paradoxes and challenges it poses. It has become an important platform for the mobilization, organization and implementation of social movements around the world. However, Egypt's uprising was a function of people, passion and not of any particular communication technology, social media tool or application. It was definitely not the Facebook, Twitter or social media revolution, it was the people uprising that capitalized on state-of-the-art technology to realize a dream of a nation in availing “bread, freedom and social justice.” Having said that, there is no doubt that social media boosted the people's desire for a better future, democracy and socioeconomic development that was for many decades put on hold by the consecutive regimes that ruled Egypt since 1952. The role of social media was more of a catalyst, a driver, a communication tool that helped as a platform for societal change. Yet, the country is still in a state of flux driven by the force unleased through social media manifested in speeding-up the process and in the dissemination of information across different segments of the society irrespective of their social or economic background, location or age. Expectations are high and aspirations reflect the desire of a nation to level up to its full potential; it is going to take some time but undoubtedly Egypt is on the right track. This paper demonstrates the clash of generations between older state power and younger citizens and the role social media played in the political transformation in the build-up to Egypt's uprising in January 2011 and beyond.     

Topology-Based Recommendation of Users in Micro-Blogging Communities

Nowadays,more and more users share real-time news and information in micro-blogging communities such as Twitter,Tumblr or Plurk.In these sites,information is shared via a followers/followees social network structure in which a follower will receive all the micro-blogs from the users he/she follows,named followees.With the increasing number of registered users in this kind of sites,finding relevant and reliable sources of information becomes essential.The reduced number of characters present in micro-posts along with the informal language commonly used in these sites make it difficult to apply standard content-based approaches to the problem of user recommendation.To address this problem,we propose an algorithm for recommending relevant users that explores the topology of the network considering different factors that allow us to identify users that can be considered good information sources.Experimental evaluation conducted with a group of users is reported,demonstrating the potential of the approach.     

On social Web sites

Today hundreds of millions of Internet users are using thousands of social Web sites to stay connected with their friends, discover new “friends,” and to share user-created contents, such as photos, videos, social bookmarks, and blogs. There are so many social Web sites, and their features are evolving rapidly. There is controversy about the benefits of these sites, and there are social issues these sites have given rise to. There are lots of press articles, Wikipedia articles, and blogs—in varying degrees of authoritativeness, clarity and accuracy—about some of the social Web sites, uses of the sites, and some social problems, and business challenges faced by the sites. In this paper, we attempt to organize the status, uses, and issues of social Web sites into a comprehensive framework for discussing, understanding, using, building, and forecasting the future of social Web sites.     

社交网络相关机制应用于搜索引擎的研究综述

首先对社交网络相关机制应用于搜索引擎的研究背景做简单陈述,然后对现有社交化搜索算法按照应用环境的不同进行分类综述与分析,总结其优势、不足以及影响因素。进而提出限制社交化搜索研究发展的主要原因,展望未来开展社交化搜索的相关研究时应当重点关注的方向,着重讨论利用个性化推荐系统连结社交网络与搜索引擎的思想,以及搜索引擎合法获取社交数据的可行的模式。     

基于蓝牙技术的近距离移动SNS设计与实现

由于手机中GPS系统定位精度低和室内环境中卫星信号弱,造成移动SNS在室内和近距离环境中社交网络扩展性能差。针对这种情况,提出了基于蓝牙技术的近距离社交网络扩展算法。算法首先在服务器端保存SNS用户手机蓝牙地址与用户的对应信息,然后按照同一区域内"一台蓝牙手机搜索到另一台蓝牙手机"的蔓延模式找到直接相邻的周边用户列表,再在服务器端对周边用户列表按照深度优先算法进行社交网络的深度搜索,找到尽可能多的周边用户并建立社交网络。实验结果表明,移动SNS系统采用该算法比采用现有技术能更加有效、快速地扩展近距离范围内的社交网络。     

Students and social networking sites: the posting paradox

This article reports the results of a field study in which undergraduate students were questioned about their use of social networking sites and the appropriateness of the content that they post. The responses indicate that students routinely post content that they realise is not appropriate for all audiences, especially potential employers. Considering how extensively the press has covered the negative impacts of inappropriate posting, the fact that students are knowingly continuing the practice is surprising. The article discusses the implications of these results and proposes areas for future research.