The social and organizational dimensions of telework -- What we know about telework -- iLAN systems: a distributed work environment -- XYZ systems: remote management's commitment to telework -- Impact of telework on the organization: changing patterns of management, work, and socialization -- Impact of telework in the home: changing access to work -- Moving forward in telework research and practice
In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 15, Heft 2, S. 243-259
Research has established a positive relationship between Facebook use and perceptions of social capital, a construct that describes the total resources − both potential and actual − available in one's social network. However, the process through which social capital conversions occur is unclear. This study presents results from semi-structured interviews with 18 adult Facebook users (ages 25 to 55) about their Facebook use, focusing on how participants use the site to request and provide social support (associated with bonding social capital) and information (associated with bridging social capital). Findings describe how Facebook use facilitates interactions related to social capital and users' beliefs about the potential negative outcomes of these interactions, providing insight into how users negotiate potential benefits and risks when making decisions about site use.
In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 24, Heft 12, S. 2614-2634
Building on prior studies suggesting that social media can facilitate offline political participation, this study seeks to clarify the mechanism behind this link. Social media may encourage social learning of political engagement due to their unique affordances such as visibility (i.e. once-invisible political activities by others are now visible on social media feeds). By analyzing a two-wave survey conducted before the 2016 presidential election in the United States, this study tests a theoretical model in which observation of others' political activities on social media inspires users themselves to model similar political behaviors, which foster offline political participation. Autoregressive models show that the link between political observation and activities on social media is stronger among users surrounded with similar others and politically homogeneous networks. The results highlight the need to cultivate engaged citizenship norms for individuals' political activities on social media to be carried over to participation beyond the realm of social media.
In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 13, Heft 6, S. 873-892
This study assesses whether Facebook users have different 'connection strategies,' a term which describes a suite of Facebook-related relational communication activities, and explores the relationship between these connection strategies and social capital. Survey data ( N = 450) from a random sample of undergraduate students reveal that only social information-seeking behaviors contribute to perceptions of social capital; connection strategies that focus on strangers or close friends do not. We also find that reporting more 'actual' friends on the site is predictive of social capital, but only to a point. We believe the explanation for these findings may be that the identity information in Facebook serves as a social lubricant, encouraging individuals to convert latent to weak ties and enabling them to broadcast requests for support or information.
Enterprise social network sites (ESNSs) are increasingly being introduced into large multinational organizations. In this article, we consider their potential for supporting knowledge-sharing practices within the organization. First, we build on prior work on affordances by applying notions of collective affordances and affordances for organizing to the study of social media, and we theorize how ESNSs may provide organizational affordances for knowledge sharing in distributed multinational organizations in particular. Second, we articulate ways in which ESNS affordances may shape knowledge sharing through consideration of social capital dynamics, support for relationships and interactions, context collapse, and network interactions. Finally, and building on these ideas, we propose a research agenda and suggestions for future research on this topic.
In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 45-62
This research explores how users conceptualize misrepresentation (their own and others') in a specific genre of online self-presentation: the online dating profile. Using qualitative data collected from 37 online dating participants, we explore user understandings of self-presentational practices, specifically how discrepancies between one's online profile and offline presentation are constructed, assessed, and justified. Based on our analysis, we propose the profile as promise framework as an analytic lens that captures user understandings about profile-based representation through a qualitative analysis of their retrospective reflections.
This study investigates relationships between privacy concerns, uncertainty reduction behaviors, and self-disclosure among online dating participants, drawing on uncertainty reduction theory and the warranting principle. The authors propose a conceptual model integrating privacy concerns, self-efficacy, and Internet experience with uncertainty reduction strategies and amount of self-disclosure and then test this model on a nationwide sample of online dating participants ( N = 562). The study findings confirm that the frequency of use of uncertainty reduction strategies is predicted by three sets of online dating concerns—personal security, misrepresentation, and recognition—as well as self-efficacy in online dating. Furthermore, the frequency of uncertainty reduction strategies mediates the relationship between these variables and amount of self-disclosure with potential online dating partners. The authors explore the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of uncertainty reduction, warranting, and self-disclosure processes in online contexts.
This study investigates self-disclosure in the novel context of online dating relationships. Using a national random sample of Match.com members ( N = 349), the authors tested a model of relational goals, self-disclosure, and perceived success in online dating. The authors' findings provide support for social penetration theory and the social information processing and hyperpersonal perspectives as well as highlight the positive effect of anticipated future face-to-face interaction on online self-disclosure. The authors find that perceived online dating success is predicted by four dimensions of self-disclosure (honesty, amount, intent, and valence), although honesty has a negative effect. Furthermore, online dating experience is a strong predictor of perceived success in online dating. Additionally, the authors identify predictors of strategic success versus self-presentation success. This research extends existing theory on computer-mediated communication, self-disclosure, and relational success to the increasingly important arena of mixed-mode relationships, in which participants move from mediated to face-to-face communication.
In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 16, Heft 7, S. 1104-1121
Facebook-enabled resource mobilization attempts—broadcasted status updates in which people ask questions or request information, favors, or other forms of assistance from one's network—can provide insight into social capital dynamics as they unfold on Facebook. Specifically, these requests and the responses they receive can serve as a window into how, why, and with what results individuals turn to their Friends network for help. In this study, we synthesize the existing research on resource mobilization requests via Facebook and present new analyses of survey data collected from a random sample of Facebook users who have made any post in the past 28 days ( n = 573) and a sample of those who have posted a mobilization request in the past 28 days ( n = 1074). To identify mobilization requests, an automated classifier trained on a hand-labeled sample of public status updates was used. Using participants' self-reported survey data and server-level behavioral data, we examine how mobilization request behaviors relate to perceptions of bridging and bonding social capital, participants' perceptions of Facebook's utility regarding these requests, and related variables such as engagement in Facebook Relational Maintenance Behaviors. We find that those who post mobilization requests on Facebook report higher social capital, are more likely to try to respond to Friends' expressed needs, and tend to see the site as a better source of information, coordination, and networked communication.