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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the type and implications of user-generated content posted by users of an open access institutional repository (DSpace) on Facebook. Design/methodology/approach – The identified user-generated content was organised into three categories: personal; professional; and social information. It encompassed all content from the members of the “DSpace” Facebook group, posted during the seven-year period (2007-2014). The posts were read and analysed to identify and categorise user-generated content posted by users to determine how Facebook is used by open access repository users. Findings – The results of analysis demonstrate the importance of social information posted by users over personal and professional information. Major types of user-generated content posted by users in the social information category were request, greetings, status-update, and announcement. Further, there has been a threefold increase in the number of user postings in the last two years (2013-2014), when posts were analysed over a seven-year period. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the theory on the implications eventuating from user-generated content posted by users of an open access institutional repository. An analysis of user-generated content identified in this study implies that users of DSpace open access repository are primarily using Facebook for information seeking, relationship building, and knowledge dissemination. Practical implications – By analysing the findings, administrators and policy makers of open access repositories could identify the extent of user support in the form of technical assistance, improved sustainability of supported projects, user community development, marketing and communications required to sustain open access scholarly communication. Originality/value – Previous studies examined how social networking sites have been used for a different purpose (interaction, collaboration, and discussion), but to date there has been very little research into the use of Facebook, a public social networking site, by open access repository users. Hence, this study addresses this gap in the literature by an interpretive analysis of user-generated content posted by users on the “DSpace” Facebook group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how users in an anonymous virtual environment react to an offer to trade in access to their social network profile. Design/methodology/approach – The experiment was conducted in Second Life (SL). Participants were offered varied sums of money in exchange for access to their Facebook profile, effectively undermining their anonymity. Findings – Even in an anonymous environment, money plays a role in users’ decisions to disclose their offline identity, but a closer look at the findings reveals that users also use deception to enjoy the benefits of the offer without paying the costs. The results illustrate three types of users according to the strategies they employ: abstainers, traders, and deceivers. Research limitations/implications – The implications to the field of online information disclosure lie at the ability to illustrate and distinguish between the different strategies users choose with regard to online information disclosure, as the study design simulates a common information disclosure trade offer in online environments. Originality/value – Unlike previous studies that focussed on trades with specific pieces of information, this study examines willingness to sell access to a user’s entire profile, by thus better simulating online services conduct. This is also the first privacy experiment conducted in the anonymous environment of SL, and the first to study deception as a privacy protection strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence users’ behavioral intention (BI) to adopt mobile social networking sites (mSNS) in facilitating formal/informal learning. Specifically, the study also investigates the association of mobility, reachability and convenience with performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE). Design/methodology/approach – Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was applied to test on 266 valid responses. Findings – The findings indicated that learning compatibility (LC), PE, EE and copyright clearance (CC) has a significant effect on BI. The results also revealed that EE is influenced by mobility, reachability and convenience. PE however was found to be influenced by convenience. Practical implications – The results of this study provides valuable insights and references for practitioners and mobile network providers in developing mSNS in facilitating learning. Originality/value – While mSNS have the potential to become a new research area with numerous benefits for the learning community, there is little research on the adoption factors on mSNS in facilitating learning. This study therefore attempts to close the research gap by contributing to the mobile literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – With the rapid expansion of social networking sites, researchers and practitioners are challenged to understand drivers of customer loyalty in fan pages. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main drivers of Facebook fan page loyalty in order to promote the creation of affective links and long-term relationships with users. Design/methodology/approach – The impact of trust, fan page content dependency, attitude and consumer beliefs on loyalty to fan pages was tested through structural equation modelling techniques. The sample consisted of 691 Spanish Facebook users. Findings – Data analysis shows that attitude appears as a key variable in increasing loyalty to fan pages. The empirical study also found a significant positive influence of perceived usefulness, attitude, trust and dependency on loyalty in fan pages, and an indirect influence of perceived ease of use mediated by perceived usefulness and attitude. Practical implications – This research enables managers to know what aspects to highlight in their communication strategies to increase fan page use and positive word-of-mouth. Research findings show managers that Facebook fan page content should provide valuable information, be fun and foster user interactions in order to improve user attitude and loyalty. Practical recommendations to reinforce consumer trust on Facebook fan pages are also provided. Originality/value – There are still too few studies that analyse the effects of trust and fan page dependency on fan page users’ loyalty. This work aims to combine the influence of dependency on fan pages, trust, attitude and Technology Acceptance Model beliefs in order to construct an improved model for fan page loyalty formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Most studies on tie strength have focused on its definition, calculation and applications, but have not paid much attention to how tie strength can help analyse online social networks. Because ties play different roles in a network depending on their strength, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between tie strength and network behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose a simple metric for tie strength measurement and then apply it to an online social network extracted from a blog network. These networks are massive in size and have technology for efficient data collection, thereby presenting the possibility of measuring tie strength objectively. From the results several key social network properties are studied to see how tie strength may be used as a metric to explain certain characteristics in social networks. Findings – The online networks exhibit all the structural properties of an actual social network, not only in following the power law but also with regard to the distribution of tie strength. The authors noted a strong association between tie strength and reciprocity, and tie strength and transitivity in online social networks. Originality/value – This paper highlights the importance of analysing online social networks from a tie strength perspective. The results have important implications for the development of efficient search mechanisms and appropriate group leaders in virtual communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Based on social conformity and social value perspectives, the authors aim to empirically examine the critical role of social influences on Twitter user behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – An integrative structural model is developed to explain how social influences, which are divided into social conformity and social values, work with other salient factors such as the utilitarian and hedonic values to affect the use of Twitter. The partial least square method was used to verify the proposed model with usable data from 204 adult Korean Twitter users. Findings – Social conformity positively affects the frequent use of Twitter and it is mediated through perceived values such as the hedonic, utilitarian and social appearance values associated with Twitter use. While social appearance negatively affected the trustworthiness of information shared on Twitter, the social capital effect on Twitter use was insignificant. Research limitations/implications – This study has some limitations for general applicability of the results: the samples include only adult users in Korea, and it is a cross-sectional study for a specific social networking service. This study theoretically disentangles the complicated nature of social influences by proposing two distinct constructs (social conformity and social values) and empirically verifying their significant roles in Twitter use. Practical implications – Practitioners should recognise that the hedonic value of Twitter is the key factor that affects both the quantity and quality of information shared on Twitter. In addition user motivations for pursuing social appearance in SNSs might cause a user to distort the information that they produce. Originality/value – This study provides unique implications related to the role of social conformity, social values and user behaviour on Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how often university academic staff members use and create various forms of social media for their work and how that use influences their use of traditional scholarly information sources. Design/methodology/approach – This article is based on a 2011 academic reading study conducted at six higher learning institutions in the United Kingdom. Approximately 2,000 respondents completed the web-based survey. The study used the critical incident of last reading by academics to gather information on the purpose, outcomes, and values of scholarly readings and access to library collections. In addition, academics were asked about their use and creation of social media as part of their work activities. The authors looked at six categories of social media – blogs, videos/YouTube, RSS feeds, Twitter feeds, user comments in articles, podcasts, and other. This article focuses on the influence of social media on scholarly reading patterns. Findings – Most UK academics use one or more forms of social media for work-related purposes, but creation is less common. Frequency of use and creation is not as high as might be expected, with academics using or creating social media occasionally rather than regularly. There are some differences in use or creation based on demographic factors, including discipline and age. The use and creation of social media does not adversely affect the use of traditional scholarly material, and high frequency users or creators of social media read more scholarly material than others. Originality/value – This paper illustrates that academics who are engaged with traditional materials for their scholarly work are also embracing various forms of social media to a higher degree than their colleagues. This suggests that social media tools could be a good addition to traditional forms of scholarly content as a way to promote academic growth. Social media is not replacing traditional scholarly material, but rather is enhancing their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The present study aims to report the findings of a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the Facebook pages of the two presidential candidates. Design/methodology/approach – The sample contained 513 posts collected during the last three months of the 2012 US presidential election. The analysis of the candidates' pages consisted of three phases: the identification of the different elements of the Aristotelian language of persuasion, the identification of the subjects that appear on the posts, and the identification of additional roles that the Facebook pages play in the campaigns. Findings – Findings show that both candidates used an emotional and motivational appeal to create a social capital and to present a personal image that revealed very little of their personal lives. Statistical analysis shows the numbers of comments and likes given to the posts were influenced by the element of persuasion used on the posts. Results show that campaigns wanted to retain control of the message displayed on the pages by posting information on a small number of non-controversial subjects. Finally, the content analysis revealed that the Facebook pages were used for fund-raising purposes, and for the mobilization of supporters. The Facebook pages of both candidates present an alternative way to do politics called fandom politics that is based not on logic or reason but on the affective sensibility of the audiences, discouraging dissent and encouraging affective allegiances between the candidate and his supporters. Originality/value – This study presents an innovative way of analyzing the use of social media sites as a tool for the dissemination of political information and reveals utilization of these media for the creation of social and economic capital by politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which aims to investigate the users' underlying motivations for engaging in social networking through online social networking services (SNS) between the U.S. and South Korean users. The method used in the study was a survey of SNS users in the U.S. and Korea to determine the key differences between the two countries. The results of the study illustrate the significance of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of the surveyed users in providing useful implications for theory and practice.