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Byline: Piotr Szarota (1) Keywords: Smiling; Cross-cultural differences; Internet research; Facial expression Abstract: The aim of the study was to analyze cross-cultural differences in preference for smiling among the users of one of the most popular instant messaging sites called Windows Live Messenger in terms of facial expression (smiling vs. non-smiling) on the photographs accompanying their profiles. 2,000 photos from 10 countries were rated by two independent judges. Despite the fact that 20 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Internet users from a former Soviet bloc appear to smile less often than those from Western Europe. Also, replicating past research, women irrespective of their nationality smiled more than men. Author Affiliation: (1) Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Chodakowska 19/31, 03-815, Warsaw, Poland Article History: Registration Date: 29/06/2010 Online Date: 11/07/2010 Article note: The author would like to thank Miles Patterson and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on previous version of this paper.

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.2010.00290.x Byline: Alan R. Dennis (1[dagger]), Julie A. Rennecker (2), Sean Hansen (3) Keywords: Collaborative Decision Making; Team Decision Making; Virtual Teams Abstract: ABSTRACT Organizational decision making is dominated by teams. When an important decision is required, a team is often formed to make it or to advise the individual decision maker, because a team has more resources, knowledge, and political insight than any one individual working alone. As teams have become geographically distributed, collaboration technology has come to play an important role in such collective decision making efforts. Instant messaging (IM) is an increasingly prevalent workplace collaboration technology that enables near-synchronous text exchanges on a variety of devices. We examined the use of IM during face-to-face, telephone, and computer-mediated team meetings, a practice we call 'invisible whispering.' We introduce Goffman's characterization of social interaction as dramatic performance, differentiable into 'front stage' and 'backstage' exchanges, to analyze how invisible whispering alters the socio-spatial and temporal boundaries of team decision making. Using IM, workers were able to influence front stage decision making through backstage conversations, often participating in multiple backstage conversations simultaneously. This type of interaction would be either physically impossible or socially constrained without the use of IM. We examine how invisible whispering changes the processes of collaborative decision making and how these new processes may affect the efficiency and effectiveness of collaborative decision making, as well as participation, satisfaction, relationships among team members, and individual attention. Author Affiliation: (1)Operations and Decision Technologies Department, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, e-mail:ardennis@indiana.edu (2)Panoramic Perspectives, P.O. Box 26263, Austin, TX 78755, e-mail:julie@panoramicperspectives.com (3)E. Philip Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, 105 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5608, e-mail:shansen@saunders.rit.edu Article History: [Received: February 2009. Accepted: May 2010.] Article note: ([dagger]) Corresponding author.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.021 Byline: C. Albert Bardi, Michael F. Brady Keywords: Shyness; Loneliness; Instant messaging; Computer-mediated communication Abstract: Existing research suggests shy people may satisfy their affiliation needs through computerized forms of communication such as instant messaging (IM). Fifty-five undergraduates completed an IM use index, the shyness scale and a motives for IM use scale developed for this study. It was found that the strongest motives for IM use were to increase personal contact as opposed to gain social ease or to decrease loneliness. While a direct association between shyness and IM use intensity was not found, shyness was associated with using IM to decrease loneliness in comparison to other motives. It was concluded that shyer people have multiple motives for using IM, but that decreasing loneliness is particularly important for them. Future research could examine how IM and other computerized communications compare to face-to-face interactions between shy and non-shy people. Author Affiliation: Psychology Sewanee-University of the South, 735 University Ave., Sewanee, TN 37383, United States

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.005 Byline: Yun-yin Huang, Chien Chou Keywords: Cyberbullying; Technology; Anonymity; Academic achievement; Peer support; Instant messenger Abstract: Cyberbullying, as a serious kind of repeated, intentional, and harmful aggressive behavior, cannot be ignored. In light of the limited studies and inconsistent findings on the matter, this study explores cyberbullying's frequency and other factors (gender, academic achievement, types of technologies used, and anonymity) relevant to both the issue itself and the East Asian context. The interrelationship of different roles (bullies, victims, and bystanders) in cyberbullying is also examined. A survey was conducted with 545 Taiwan junior high school students. The results indicate that male students were more likely to bully others in cyberspace and that cyberbullying was not affected by one's level of academic achievement. Regarding the various technologies and various country-specific cyberbullying forms pertinent to technology users, instant messenger (IM) users experienced significantly more cyberbullying than users of other technologies. The survey results also indicate that the anonymity of cyberbullying was not a pertinent factor. The study found that the dominant attitude toward cyberbullying was indifference, raising alarms about the lack of cyberbullying prevention. Peers, who were the people most teenagers would likely turn to when experiencing cyberbullying, usually took no action because of their tendency to avoid conflicts and to maintain group harmony. In its interpretation of the findings, this study emphasizes Taiwan's context, including Confucian philosophy. Author Affiliation: Institute of Education, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta-Hsueh Rd., Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, ROC

Problem statement: Open Source technologies are interesting in that they allow free experimentation and integration by anyone and anywhere. A Jabber user can control presence with very little effort. Another user, regardless of external platform, must subscribe to your presence. You have the choice of rejecting or accepting the subscription at the time it is submitted. Approach: Other applications of this system were yet to be discovered. Jabber is a work in progress; the community learns and creates applications of the protocol/platform on an almost daily basis. This study aimed to implement a security algorithm for developed instant messaging. Results: The objective was to make sure that flow of data from client application or computer is not tapped by a hacker and also to make it difficult for a network data sniffer to explore the situation. In this study there were many aspects must be understood such as: Jabber protocol, programming language and security aspect. For this reason it was proposed to develop a new secure connection and makes sure that the connection between clients and server is safe and secure when the instant massage had been transferred using jabber protocol. Conclusion/Recommendations: To develop a new secure connection for instance message using jabber protocol or other names, the Extensible messaging and presence protocol had been used. To make it secure the open secure socket layer will be used for general-purpose encryption. In this study the methodology used to solve security threats like: The ability to control access to IM applications, audit and archive IM conversation, the ability to lockout unauthorized IM and peer-to-peer file sharing connections and Encryption. Key word: Security aspect, XEP, XMPP, secure socket layer and PSI, INTRODUCTION This study is to secure a connection which is initialized by Instant Messaging based on Jabber protocol. When a user a sends some text to user B, the text [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.03.004 Byline: Emily Christofides (a), Towhidul Islam (b), Serge Desmarais (a) Keywords: Stereotyping; Gender; Communication; Computer-mediated communication Abstract: Researchers have observed that contrary to the high expectations for online communications, gender stereotyping has not disappeared in this medium, and is sometimes even accentuated. This study aimed to understand the effect of gender over instant messenger, a relatively new and unexplored medium. Instant messenger was chosen because it is a medium that is used most by youth who have grown up communicating online. Participants were interviewed over instant messenger about a potential online support service and were then asked to judge the effectiveness of their interviewer. The interviewer was identified only by a masculine or feminine name and was computer-simulated so as to remove any bias. The topic of discussion was stereotypically masculine or stereotypically feminine. Male participants were found to employ a male superiority heuristic, whereby they judged the male interviewer as more competent, regardless of the context. Female participants were hypothesized to judge the female interviewer as more competent in the feminine context, and the male interviewer as more competent in the masculine context (the context-gender match heuristic), but this hypothesis was not supported. The findings are discussed in the context of previous research on gender stereotyping in online communication. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada (b) Marketing and Consumer Studies, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01405.x Byline: Patti M. Valkenburg (1), Jochen Peter (1) Abstract: Recent studies suggest that instant messaging (IM) is positively related to the quality of adolescents' existing friendships. However, most of these studies were based on cross-sectional correlational data. In addition, most studies have focused on direct effects of IM on the quality of friendships without exploring mediating variables that may explain these effects. The aim of this study was to fill these two lacunae in the literature. We hypothesized that IM, which is mostly used to communicate with existing friends, stimulates the quality of friendships, via its potential to stimulate intimate online self-disclosure. A sample of 812 Dutch adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age were surveyed twice within a 6-month interval. IM had a positive longitudinal effect on the quality of adolescents' existing friendships. This direct positive effect could be explained entirely by adolescents' tendency to disclose intimate information online. Abstract (Spanish): Resumen Los Efectos de los Mensajes Instantaneos sobre La Calidad de las Amistades Existentes de los Adolescentes: Un Studio Longitudinal Estudios recientes sugieren que el envio de Mensajes Instantaneos (IM) esta positivamente relacionado con la calidad de las amistades existentes de los adolescentes. Sin embargo, muchos de estos estudios estan basados en los datos transversales correlacionados. Ademas muchos de estos estudios se han enfocado en los efectos directos de IM sobre la calidad de las amistades sin explorar las variables mediadoras que pueden explicar esos efectos. El objetivo de este estudio fue completar estos dos vacios en la literatura. Hipotetizamos que IM, que es mayormente usado para comunicar entre amigos existentes, estimula la calidad de la amistad, a traves de su potencial para estimular la revelacion personal intima online. Una muestra de 812 adolescentes Holandeses entre 10 y 17 anos de edad fue encuestada dos veces dentro de un intervalo de 6-meses. IM tuvo un efecto longitudinal positivo sobre la calidad de las amistades existentes de los adolescentes. Este efecto positivo directo puede ser explicado completamente por la tendencia de los adolescentes a revelar informacion intima online. Author Affiliation: (1)Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, 1012 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands Article note: Patti M. Valkenburg; e-mail: p.m.valkenburg@uva.nl

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2008.06.002 Byline: Yaobin Lu (a), Tao Zhou (b), Bin Wang (c) Keywords: TPB; TAM; Instant messaging; Flow theory; Perceived enjoyment; Concentration Abstract: Instant messaging (IM) is a popular Internet application around the world. In China, the competition in the IM market is very intense and there are over 10 IM products available. We examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that affect Chinese users' acceptance of IM based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the flow theory. Results demonstrate that users' perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment significantly influence their attitude towards using IM, which in turn impacts their behavioral intention. Furthermore, perceived usefulness, users' concentration, and two components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, also have significant impact on the behavioral intention. Users' intention determines their actual usage behavior. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China (b) Management School, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, PR China (c) College of Business Administration, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA

The impact of demographics, media experience, media richness perception, and national culture on media preferences are examined to assess the users' preferences for instant messaging (IM) compared to other traditional and new communication media, face-to-face, telephone, email, and short messaging service (SMS) in two distinct cultures, Australia and China. Email is clustered with face-to-face and telephone as the most preferred media for any communication activity, while IM and SMS are clustered together and are the least preferred media for communication.

Byline: Kam-Fai Wong (1), Yunqing Xia (2) Keywords: Chinese chat language; Phonetic mapping; Chat language Modelling; Chat term normalization; Natural language processing Abstract: Real-time communication platforms such as ICQ, MSN and online chat rooms are getting more popular than ever on the Internet. There are, however, real risks where criminals and terrorists can perpetrate illegal and criminal abuses. This highlights the security significance of accurate detection and translation of the chat language to its stand language counterpart. The language used on these platforms differs significantly from the standard language. This language, referred to as chat language, is comparatively informal, anomalous and dynamic. Such features render conventional language resources such as dictionaries, and processing tools such as parsers ineffective. In this paper, we present the NIL corpus, a chat language text collection annotated to facilitate training and testing of chat language processing algorithms. We analyse the NIL corpus to study the linguistic characteristics and contextual behaviour of a chat language. First we observe that majority of the chat terms, i.e. informal words in a chat text, is formed by phonetic mapping. We then propose the eXtended Source Channel Model (XSCM) for the normalization of the chat language, which is a process to convert messages expressed in a chat language to its standard language counterpart. Experimental results indicate that the performance of XSCM in terms of chat term recognition and normalization accuracy is superior to its Source Channel Model (SCM) counterparts, and is also more consistent over time. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong (2) Centre for Speech and Language Technologies, RIIT, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China Article History: Registration Date: 10/04/2008 Received Date: 25/08/2006 Accepted Date: 09/04/2008 Online Date: 29/04/2008 Article note: This is an extension of the paper presented at COLING/ACL 2006 (Xia et al. 2006b).

The study examines the different factors that influence the choice of language and script in the computer instant messaging (IM) from an analysis of chat texts and interviews. The results indicate that text making is influenced by the resources available to people such as languages and writing systems.