In this paper, we introduce the notion of Online Presence, a concept related to user’s presence on online services. We identify interoperability issues in the field of exchange of the online presence data and propose a solution in building a common model for semantic representation of online presence data. We present the Online Presence Ontology (OPO) together with benefits such an ontology cou...

The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the evolution of social presence research in the field of distance education and identified problems in investigating this construct. The researchers took an integrative review on existing social presence studies to answer three questions: (a) How definitions of social presence evolved since its establishment (b) How research focus shifted...

While the concept of presence has been investigated for over 10 years, there have been few studies investigating presence and persuasion. Work in the area of consumer psychology has recently begun to explore the possible connections between aspects of presence and persuasion and have developed a new concept called – transportation imagery model. This paper attempts to demonstrate the similariti...

This paper presents the results of a six-year longitudinal survey of the web sites of S&P 500 companies. Using nine design and functional measures developed based on prior research, we find that S&P 500 companies have experienced significant transformation of their web presence, signified by the increasing levels of information and interactivity. We find a continuing trend toward increasing num...

Although many charities have a web presence, almost all of them have been designed to accept credit cards as the only means for making donations. The anonymity requirements of many donors, however, make the existing means of donation inappropriate for them. In this paper we investigate the business need for an internet charity donation scheme, identify the security requirements such a scheme sh...

This qualitative study investigates students’ affective domain in an online class. Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s Community of Inquiry Model (2000) and Rourke et al.’s Social Presence Templates (2001) were used to analyze transcripts, surveys, and interviews of all participants. The results of this study illustrate the nature of social interaction in an online environment confirming teaching, ...

Firms are constantly evolving their Web presence. The premise of this study is that monitoring the behaviour of Web sites gives insights into the actual evolving strategies and motivations behind Internet investments in organizations. A variety of models have been utilized to study the progression of adoption of Internet technologies from different perspectives (e.g. Stages of Growth models). H...

Relationships mediated by ICTs are present in many aspects of everyday life. As they are established at a distance, one can see the projection of the other through the communication channels that are opened by the new ICTs. The objective of this paper is to discuss how the means of communication affect social presence in virtual environments. Based on the theory of investigative communities and...

New three-dimensional videoconferencing systems are trying to overcome the artificial nature of two-dimensional desktop video conferencing. The phenomenon of Social Presence serves as a measure of how natural persons feel when they are connected with a distant other through a telecommunication interface. We present a study measuring the difference in Social Presence in three conditions: (1) des...

Two field studies investigate the importance of social presence (real and imagined) and famiiiarity whti the purchase act in producing embarrassment in the context ot an embarrassing product purchase. The results indicate tbat awareness of a social presence during purchase selection and commitment, whether real or imagined, is a motivating factor in creating embarrassmenl for the consumer. Furt...