Organizational Perspective: Social Media

The third dimension of information systems considered in this dissertation is the organizational perspective. Many businesses use information systems to support their entrepreneurial activity, regardless of the underlying industry. For some businesses this is especially relevant, since they are fully dependent on information systems and technological infrastructure. Businesses can be thus seen as high-level users of information systems. However, this thesis considers a related set of stakeholders, that is, the individual users and their behavior in regard to applications built upon the Internet infrastructure. In particular, two different areas of application form the focus.

The first represents a special category of websites, i.e. social media platforms, while the second focuses on Internet access devices, and specifically how the usage of mobile devices in combination with ubiquitous mobile Internet access affects the everyday life of individuals in social and professional environments.

Social media can be defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and allow the creation and exchange of user generated content” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, p. 61). At the heart of this definition is user-generated content, which is the content published by individuals who contribute to the social media website by providing and engaging with the available content. Therefore, the term social media comprises a broad concept of different websites based upon the Internet infrastructure, serving varying purposes. One way to classify them is based on the purpose of usage which is done by the social media landscape, which is a classification approach updated yearly by Fred Cavazza since 2008. The most recent landscape published in 2017 distinguished between six different main purposes of social media: collaboration, discussion, messaging, networking, publishing and sharing (Cavazza, 2017), with platforms and services combining several interwoven main functionalities. In general, social media websites can be used for entertainment, interaction with and observation of others, and information spreading and seeking, thereby providing a platform for both individuals and businesses to present themselves (Whiting and Williams, 2013).

Several more classification approaches exist which aim to characterize the vast number of existing social media websites into specific categories. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) propose a two-dimensional classification approach. The first dimension these authors consider is the amount of self-presentation or self-disclosure prevalent on this website. Self-presentation or impression management involves the role a user plays in the online world by presenting their personal self with varying degrees of personal information (Trammell and Keshelashvili, 2005).

The degree ranges from low to high, ordered according to the necessary amount of personal

information with respect to whether the user or the content forms the focus. The second

dimension considers the social presence of a user. Social presence involves the two dimensions

of intimacy and immediacy (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The former refers to the degree of

personal contact between users, and the latter to whether the contact is delayed or takes place

immediately. Here, three different levels are taken into account: low, medium and high. These

two dimensions result in a 2x3 matrix consisting of six different categories of social media

platforms: collaborative projects, content communities, blogs, social networking platforms,

virtual games and virtual social worlds (see Table 1).

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High Blogs [11, 12, 15] Social networking sites [14]

Virtual social worlds [13]

Table 1. Classification approach adopted from Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) for social media. The numbers in brackets indicate the relevant articles of this

dissertation falling into each respective category (see Section 3).

The first category represents platforms with the lowest degree of self-presentation and social presence; these are typically seen as collaborative projects. Here the focus is not on the user but on mainly text-based content, produced in close collaboration with the community. Examples are wikis, where knowledge is gathered and presented in a structured way. Other categories where self-presentation is at a rather low level are content communities and virtual game worlds. Content communities are also centered around content distribution, but involve more personal content than collaborative projects. Examples of a virtual game worlds are massively multiplayer online role-playing games where an individual plays a fictional character unlike his or her real self; restrictions in terms of game play and settings available cause a low degree of self-presentation. However, recent games make it possible to create individual fictional characters, thereby causing a mixture of the different social media groups. Furthermore, media richness is very high, due to the complexity of game design (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).

Social media platforms where the user rather than the content is the focus are blogs, social networking sites and virtual social worlds. Blogs are a form of personal website where content is published in chronological order. In general, depending on the content published, two main types of blogs can be distinguished: personal and filter blogs. While personal blogs contain content with a high level of self-disclosure, filter blogs present and discuss external content (Trammell and Keshelashvili, 2005). Microblogs such as Twitter are a form of short, text-based blogs. Social networking sites are mainly used to connect with others, and the key aspect is the personal pages of individual users. Depending on the platform, varying types of media can be used. In the case of Facebook, which is the social networking site with the largest number of users worldwide (Statista, 2017d), both written and visual content in the form of photos and videos can be uploaded and shared within the user’s personal circle. The last category, virtual social worlds, are a special form of virtual game worlds where individuals can create their own character and interact in a virtual world with other fictitious characters living a virtual life. The papers described in this literature review can be categorized using the classification approach of Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) depending on focus of the social media platform (see Table 1).

Social media applications depend on a rich base of users who provide the content and form the

interactive environment. Operators of these websites therefore have an interest in providing

their (potential) users with a satisfying user experience. To do this, it is necessary to understand

who the users are and what they value most. Here, individualization is helpful, for example in

providing users with the content they are most interested in. However, in addition to targeting

individual users, the segmentation of users into specific groups is also possible. This

segmentation of user groups can be carried out based on various characteristics. Possible

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segmentation characteristics include the form and frequency of the user’s interaction with the social media website (Lorenzo-Romero and Constantinides, 2012).

Additionally, user segmentation and individualization is not only of interest for social media operators who want to offer the user a satisfying experience, but also for businesses who can use these types of platforms as a medium for marketing activities to increase visibility and enable user interaction (Kietzman et al., 2011). Social media marketing is a specialization of online marketing, which also includes newsletter and online advertising campaigns and can be seen as “the use of social media channels to promote a company and its products” (Akar and Topçu, 2011, p.36). The use of social media as an online marketing tool constitutes both an opportunity and a risk for a company. Content created in form of posts and comments might create a positive or a negative reaction from users, and has the ability to be spread widely and rapidly through the social network through the sharing of content. Content on social media platforms produced by companies can be widely distributed by users sharing the content among their personal circle, and can therefore reach users that could not otherwise have been reached by the company alone. Furthermore, due to the possibility of direct and conjoint communication with users through social media profiles, there is the potential that the contact may be perceived as more personal, and the customer service of the business rated as more satisfactory (Gu and Ye, 2014). At the same time, reaction to content perceived as negative can also be amplified through the distribution of content throughout the network, causing a stronger visibility.

Depending on the direction of this user-driven marketing, these have been referred to as either candy- or fire-storms. Marketing campaigns and communication with users through social media therefore needs to be carried out carefully. Here, a perfect fit between marketing campaigns and a specific user segment with certain behaviors and characteristics is valuable.

Since social media websites incorporate personal profiles, a segmentation based on demographics such as age, ethnicity and gender is easily applicable. In this regard, the main focus of this dissertation lies on the demographic variable of gender. Gender constitutes a social construct regarding how an individual perceives him- or herself and is one of the main characteristics by which individuals can be segmented into groups (Putrevu, 2001), since it is relatively simple to identify and generally comes in two different forms (Darley and Smith, 1995). Research has shown that gender has a strong influence on many areas of life such as how technology is used (Venkatesh and Morris, 2000). In the commercial context, gender has shown consistent differences in how and which products are bought, how information is processed and how users react to advertising (Cleveland et al., 2003).

As stated by Trauth (2013), research into gender in information systems is mainly separated into two areas. The first of these investigates the gender distribution among specific branches, and particularly analyzes the underrepresentation of females in certain industries. The second provides insights into how gender influences the adoption and usage of information technology.

Research focusing on different social media platforms has reported different behaviors of males and females with regard to different aspects of usage. Gender theories aim to explain these differences and similarities from an evolutionary point of view.

This dissertation aims to offer insights into several aspects of social media research and user

behavior. Firstly, research into gender differences in several social media categories is

systematically reviewed in order to highlight differences between males and females regarding

19 usage and perceptions of social media applications in the areas of microblogs, blogs, online dating and online gaming platforms (articles [11-14]), to place existing research into a specific framework and to reveal potential research gaps. Furthermore, rather than a segmentation of users based upon gender, this dissertation also examines the special user group of German politicians and how they incorporate the microblogging platform Twitter as a tool during times of low political activity (article [15]). Here, methods of social network analytics (see Section 2.2) are applied to create a social graph representing the linkage structure among German politicians in order to understand how they interact with each other in terms of following and referring to colleagues.

Secondly, since social media platforms often make use of the personal information of users through the creation of profiles, the protection of highly sensitive user data is crucial. While platforms such as Facebook give users the possibility of restricting access to their personal profiles via specific privacy settings, content communities often refrain from personal profiles.

Often, access to the available content on such communities is not restricted for users who are not registered but the interaction with other users or with the content (e.g. likes, comments) often requires an account. This is the policy used by the social media platform Reddit. The website claims that users can remain anonymous, since account creation requires a minimal amount of information in the form of a username and password. However, the privacy of users may still be in jeopardy through the content created by individual users. The possibility of de-anonymization of users through content is investigated in article [16].

Thirdly, handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones make mobile Internet access possible irrespective of time and location. In this regard, the propagation of smartphones around the world has enabled an all-time reachability of individuals and accessibility of information through the mobile Internet. Currently, 2.1 billion users around the world own a smartphone (Statista, 2017e). These devices are used regardless of location, situation and time, such as in the personal or professional environment, when alone or in the company of others (Do et al., 2011). The use of mobile phones as a side activity represents a form of multitasking, which is defined as engaging in more than one activity at the same time (Pashler, 1994). However, human beings are generally not able to parallelize, since they are prone to a cognitive bottleneck (Welford, 1967). The parallelization of several tasks leads to a decision-making process where fast switching between the different tasks simulates a form of multi-tasking, leading to a decrease in cognitive performance (Pashler et al., 2008). The ubiquitous nature of smartphones therefore leads to several situations where so-called multi-tasking is used. This influences the behavior of individuals regarding other activities and their environment. Research has shown that the mere presence of smartphones influences the perception of personal encounters in a negative way (Misra et al., 2014; Przybylski and Weinstein, 2012) and reduces task performance significantly (Thornton et al., 2014).

This dissertation focuses specifically on two different settings. In the personal environment, the

influence of smartphone usage on romantic relationships is investigated from the perspective

of jealousy (article [18]). In the professional environment, the effect of smartphone use during

university lectures on the learning performance of students is analyzed, where performance is

measured using the auditory and visual dimensions (article [17]).

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Im Dokument Network Science – Applications in Technology, Business and Social Media (Seite 32-36)