Knowledge Sharing through Social Networking Sites (SNSs): A Study of Pakistani Research Students

Abstract

The present study investigated the knowledge-sharing behavior of library and information management researchers, using the lens of the theory of planned behavior. The study is quantitative and adopted a survey questionnaire as a data collection technique. The snowball sampling technique was considered suitable to recruit respondents to the study. Data were analyzed with the help of SPSS (20.0) and the ADANCO (2.0.1). The research findings confirm that subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have a significant impact on intentions to share knowledge, whereas knowledge sharing intentions have a statistically significant positive impact on knowledge sharing behavior through SNS among postgraduate students. Attitude towards knowledge sharing directly triggers knowledge sharing practices through social media networking sites. Intentions to share knowledge do not mediate the relationship of attitude and knowledge sharing behavior. The theory of planned behavior has widely been used to measure knowledge-sharing behavior in different sectors. However, the relationship between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, intentions to share knowledge within the domain of social media is explored first time in this study, particularly in the context of the library and information science post-graduate students.

Social Q&A communities: A multi-factor study of the influence of users’ knowledge sharing behaviors

“…The results of the validation analysis in this study demonstrated that perceived behavioral control and perceived security had a positive and significant influence on browsing information in social Q&A communities, with path coefficients of 0.50 and 0.24 for perceived behavioral control, perceived security, and browsing information, it can be concluded that perceived behavioral control is the predominant consideration for users when browsing information in social Q&A communities. Perceived behavioral control is the perception of the difficulty of performing the behavior, indicating that for the user, browsing information meets their abilities and expectations, which is consistent with the findings of Nader, Hashmi (Safa and Von Solms, 2016;Hashmi et al, 2021). Browsing as a basic way for users to participate in social Q&A communities, and intent to use when users feel safe with online communities (Ha and Pan, 2018), more users are inclined to visit online platforms that pay attention to the protection of their personal information, such as their ID, account information, and phone number, Zhihu, for instance, offers a browsing-only mode in which no personal information is collected, allowing users to get an initial experience of the platform, and thus perceived security influences users' willingness to browse, a finding similar to some other researchers (Klobas et al, 2019;Maqableh et al, 2021).…”

Integrating social media-based community of inquiry with theory of planned behavior to promote equitable educational intentions among pre-service teachers in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

“…Another research indicated that social media activities influence purchase intention, while subjective norms and perceived behavioral control play a mediating role ( Sun and Xing, 2022 ). Meanwhile, research conducted in the Pakistani context showed that social media use enhanced pre-service teachers’ subjective norms for their professional development ( Hashmi et al, 2021 ). Therefore, the finding of our study confirms that the social media-based community of inquiry is useful for linking subjective norms such as peers, class fellows, and colleagues of pre-service teachers to enhance their intentions toward social justice and equity in education.…”