Micro-blogging has emerged as a powerful social medium in spotlight since Twitter launched in the US in 2006, it has already changed the transmission mode of heterogeneous information, and even the interaction patterns both in human behavior and thoughts. More and more companies have launched micro-blogging marketing to communicate with customers, to achieve brand promotion and to form a gorgeo...

In this paper, we present a dynamic model to identify influential users of micro-blogging services. Micro-blogging services, such as Twitter, allow their users (twitterers) to publish tweets and choose to follow other users to receive tweets. Previous work on user influence on Twitter, concerns more on following link structure and the contents user published, seldom emphasizes the importance of...

Weblogs (blogs), together with podcasts and wikis are part of the larger body of next-generation communication applications dubbed "web 2.0." Within the specific area of health care, little attention has been devoted to understanding what applications are available to the lay public and how these are being used. In this study, a literature review on blogs and blogging practices was conducted, f...

Blogging is sometimes viewed as a new, grassroots form of journalism and a way to shape democracy outside the mass media. In this study, we present a model that addresses the relationships among bloggers’ motivations and their conduct, and report the empirical validation of the model. Expectancy theory is applied to construct a conceptual framework and identify key factors that motivate blogger...

In this paper, we aim to study virtual presence in blogging communities. We argue that though some conceptualization of virtual presence has been made, this only took account of one’s presence among a community of ‘known’ others. Increasingly, however, in blogging and other online communities, users do not necessarily know ‘the others’ but yet they interact with them and develop friendships and...

Research suggests gender and personality differences are predictive of general Internet use. Specifically, people high in openness and women high in neuroticism are more likely to keep a blog. Given the rapidity of change owing to technological advances, the authors sought to re-examine the validity of these findings in an era where other forms of online interaction are prevalent. Specifically,...

Weblogs are a popular form of easy-to-use personal publishing that has attracted millions of bloggers to share their personal thoughts, opinions, and knowledge on the web. The versatility of weblogs as a communication medium has attracted interests from educators. Educational applications of weblogs have so far included journals, e-portfolio, learning diaries, and logbooks. As in the case of ot...

We analyze the deployment of an online blogging environment designed to support reflective practices among university students learning video game theory and game design. Blogging offers possibilities for collaborative learning by allowing learners to share knowledge and experiences with one another. This aligns with the notion that people learn better through building personally meaningful art...