This study examines individuals’ intentions and behaviour on Social Networking Sites (SNSs). The study proposed model asserts that “Co-presence”, “Intimacy”, “Immediacy”, “Perceived Enjoyment”, and “Perceived ease of use” formed individuals' “Attitude” towards “behavioral intention” to use SNSs. The results support all formulated hypotheses. The proposed model in this study explains 69% of indi...

The study aims at investigating the effects of feedback intervention on group presence, and to measure these effects with both behavioral and self-reported data. Participants played 4 sessions of an online treasure hunting in one of three different conditions: in the first two conditions they received a visual feedback about their activity in the prior game session (‘centrality’ or ‘reciprocity...

Social networking sites (SNS) have become a significant component of people’s daily lives and have revolutionized the ways that business is conducted, from product development and marketing to operation and human resource management. However, there have been few systematic studies that ask why people use such systems. To try to determine why, we proposed a model based on uses and gratifications...

Previous research has shown that providing family engagement and social support play important roles in weight management success, helping to achieve long-term lifestyle changes. Traditionally, the support provided by online health communities is primarily targeted at individuals and does not involve their families. We are proposing SOFA (SOcial FAmilies), a novel approach for engaging, motivat...

It is widely accepted that the social capital of students – developed through their participation in learning communities – has a significant impact on many aspects of the students’ learning outcomes, such as academic performance, persistence, retention, program satisfaction and sense of community. However, the underlying social processes that contribute to the development of social capital are...

This study examines how social network integration (i.e., integration of online platforms with other social media services, for example, with Facebook or Twitter) can affect the characteristics of user-generated content (volume and linguistic features) in the context of online reviews. Building on the social presence theory, we propose a number of hypotheses on how social network integration af...

CMC has been considered a “democratizing” technology; however, research indicates that CMC does not automatically result in social equality, and points to the importance of social and cultural factors surrounding the adoption of technology. Research suggests that CMC may impose a disadvantage to females, demonstrating lower levels of social presence. This study assesses the predictive relations...

Several studies have investigated a variety of factors affecting use of social networking sites (SNSs), but the investigation of these factors is still under development. In this study,we aim to contribute to the literature by extending and testing an existent conceptual model in a new context, including Life Satisfaction as an independent variable to explain the intention (We-Intention) to use...

This paper discusses the design and evaluation of an online social network used within twenty-two established after school programs across three major urban areas in the Northeastern United States. The overall goal of this initiative is to empower students in grades K-8 to prevent obesity through healthy eating and exercise. The online social network was designed to support communication betwee...

We model virtue as an asset on the marriage market: since men value virginity in prospective mates, preserving their virtue increases girls’ chances of getting a "good" husband, and therefore allows for upward social mobility. Consistent with some historical and anthropological evidence, we find that the diffusion (and the social value) of virginity, across societies and over time, can be deter...