Beyond the FAQ: Explicit and implicit norms in Usenet newsgroups

Burnett, Gary; Bonnici, Laurie J.

doi:10.1016/s0740-8188(03)00033-1

Cited by 62 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Both explicit norms (which are codified) and implicit norms (that emerge through the day-to-day interactions) define the acceptable social behaviors in a specific virtual community (Burnett & Bonnici, 2003). These norms help socialize "newbies" into the community and help the community handle deviant behaviors (Burnett & Bonnici, 2003;Burnett & Buerkle, 2004). "Participants [in Answerbag] translate their knowledge, experience and opinions into content that both adheres to and continuously redefines the standards of the community."…”

Section: Qanda Sites As Virtual Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both in library reference services as well as on Q&A sites, the availability of information resources and their ability to be used to find answers for a wide variety of questions will affect the ability of responders to identify accurate and verifiable answers. Likewise, policies and standards of information access and use, available guidelines, and training will all affect service quality, as much as the explicit and implicit Q&A site's norms (Burnett & Bonnici, 2003). In addition, (intrinsic and extrinsic) reward systems were added to these input factors; a reward system that addresses a wide variety of users needs (for example, need for affiliation, achievement, recognition, self fulfillment) would influence users' motivation to provide better answers and to continue participation.…”

Section: Task: Question Type Difficulty Clarity and Topicmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social reference: Toward a unifying theory

Shachaf

2010

Library & Information Science Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article addresses the need for a theoretical approach to reference research and specifically concentrates on a lacuna in conceptual research on social reference. Social reference refers to online question answering services that are provided by communities of volunteers on question and answer (Q&A) sites. Social reference is similar to library reference, but at the same time, it differs significantly from the traditional (and digital) dyadic reference encounter; it involves a collaborative group effort and uses wikis and other Web 2.0 infrastructure. This article proposes a sociotechnical framework to analyze, evaluate, and understand social reference that relies on a systems approach to the reference encounter, combined with an input-process-output (IPO) approach to virtual group work. The framework also accounts for the collaborative process of question answering and the interplay between technology and users, in their contexts.

show abstract

Section: Qanda Sites As Virtual Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Task: Question Type Difficulty Clarity and Topicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social reference: Toward a unifying theory

Shachaf

2010

Library & Information Science Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Access to a clear statement of what these policies are is one of the key usability issues she proposes for designing groupware. But Burnett and Bonnici correctly identify that online groups have explicit and implicit norms (Burnett and Bonnici, 2003). The problem with implicit norms, as the authors point out, is that they often contradict explicit norms, and may even be contradictory with each other.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compulsory institutionalization: investigating the paradox of computer-supported informal social processes

Souza

Nicolaci-da-Costa

Silva

et al. 2004

Interacting with Computers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The nature and depth of technological interference on social activities online are not fully understood. We discuss one such type of interference-compulsory institutionalization, the process by which noninstitutionalized face-to-face informal groups, who typically adopt implicit norms tacitly accepted by members, must create a set of explicit group structuring rules with very specific computer-encoded meanings and abide by them when they migrate to online group environments. In societies where rules can be bypassed in view of more highly valued social norms, like the Brazilian society, compulsory institutionalization may undermine experiences that are highly valued to face-to-face groups. In this article, we contrast the findings of our study with a Brazilian group of potential groupware users and those of our semiotic inspection of YahooGroups, SmartGroups and MSN Groups. We show how the systems may frustrate the group's expectations and limit their interaction online. Reflecting on the causes and consequences of compulsory institutionalization, we conclude that the social-technical gap in group technologies may not be possible to bridge completely, and that the fulcrum of scientific research in this area may include some new aspects. q

show abstract

“…Social media users acquire explicit social norms by reading community policies (online etiquettes) (Preece et al, 2004) and implicit social norms through observing other members' online behaviors (Martey & Stromer-Galley, 2007;Preece et al, 2004). Implicit norms refer to social norms that are not written down as part of the community policy or etiquette, but are generally understood by the group (Burnett & Bonnici, 2003). For example, when users of Facebook observe friends contributing content, they will contribute more content as well (Burke, Marlow, & Lento, 2009).…”

Section: Constructing Social Norms By Sharing Personal Experiences Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proactive Engagement of Opinion Leaders and Organization Advocates on Social Networking Sites

Wang

2016

International Journal of Strategic Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this study is to examine opinion leaders' and organization advocates' proactive engagement with advocacy campaigns on social networking sites (SNSs). By examining the Empty Plate Movement, a campaign advocating food saving in China, this study compared proactive engagement activities by traditional and virtual opinion leaders, organization advocates, and other participants. Specifically, this study focused on three proactive engagement activities: publishing descriptive and injunctive normative messages and messages showing supportive/adoptive behaviors. The findings reveal organization advocates are the most likely source of descriptive and injunctive normative messages, and the least likely source of messages showing adoptive/supportive behaviors. Virtual opinion leaders are the most likely to publish messages showing adoptive and/or supportive behaviors. Both message features and message sources influence users responses. The findings suggest that organizations practice strategic communication in advocacy. Because of their motivations for self-involvement and online interaction, virtual opinion leaders frequently publish messages about their supportive/adoptive behaviors. The strategic value of SNSs lies in the mimicking process. Practically, this study suggests that virtual opinion leaders and organization advocates are useful to advocacy campaigns on SNSs.

show abstract

Beyond the FAQ: Explicit and implicit norms in Usenet newsgroups

Cited by 62 publications

References 10 publications

Social reference: Toward a unifying theory

Social reference: Toward a unifying theory

Compulsory institutionalization: investigating the paradox of computer-supported informal social processes

Proactive Engagement of Opinion Leaders and Organization Advocates on Social Networking Sites

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About