Sociability and social interaction on social networking websites

Abstract

Purpose -Social websites have become a major medium for social interaction. From Facebook to MySpace to emergent sites like Twitter, social websites are increasing exponentially in user numbers and unique visits every day. How do these websites encourage sociability? What features or design practices enable users to socialize with other users? The purpose of this paper is to explore sociability on the social web and details how different social websites encourage their users to interact. Design/methodology/approach -Four social websites (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter) were examined from a user study perspective. After thoroughly participating on the websites, a series of observations were recorded from each experience. These experiences were then compared to understand the different approaches of each website. Findings -Social websites use a number of different approaches to encourage sociability amongst their users. Facebook promotes privacy and representing ''real world'' networks in web environment, while MySpace promotes publicity and representing both real world and virtual networks in a web environment. Niche websites like LinkedIn and Twitter focus on more specific aspects of community and technology, respectively. Originality/value -A comparison of different models of sociability does not yet exist. This study focuses specifically on what makes social websites ''social.''

Social Aspects of CSCL Environments: A Research Framework

“…Such sociability (which is promoted by social affordances in the CSCL environment) promotes greater and more socioemotional interaction. The study of Keenan and Shiri (2009) supported the relationship as they linked the sociability of four social media applications (Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and Twitter) with the high degree of social interaction that these applications facilitated. Charlton, Devlin, Marshall, and Drummond (2010) explored the influence of a status awareness tool called CommonGround on the degree of social interaction that is happening in a virtual team consisting of students collaborating with industrial clients.…”

“…Thus, the different affordances may lead to differences in perceived sociability. Indeed, Keenan and Shiri (2009) found that Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and Twitter differ in their sociability because of their particular affordances for social interaction. Oksanen and Hämäläinen (2012) found in a comparison between two different kinds of CSCL environments that "the level of perceived sociability was largely higher in serious game setting [i.e., 'Game Bridge'] than in the more traditional, asynchronous type of virtual environment" (p. 364).…”

Embracing the Instagram Waves –The New Business Episode to the Potential Entrepreneurs

“…It features on the spot editing of the photos to share and upgraded to share videos as well (Kuppuswamy and Narayan, 2010). YouTube is also part of it where people share thousands kind of videos and it is used together with other social applications for a longer length of videos (Keenan and Shiri, 2009). …”

“…It has transformed the way human interacts and expanded the boundary of communication in terms of contents and contexts. With the growth of social media, its influence is also expanded beyond personal communication, and its impact can be obviously seen in the way business operates (Keenan & Shiri, 2009). Since the advent of social media, many studies have explored its effects on the whole spectrum of human interaction and more are moving towards exploring its impact on business (e.g.…”

Improving Usability of Social Networking Systems: A Case Study of LinkedIn

“…LinkedIn is a business networking site that focuses on professional users creating and building a network of colleagues and other business connections (Keenan and Shiri, 2009). It has a clean and professional design, and is perhaps the site with the least (if any) potential for social interactions (OMurchu et al, 2004).…”