Effects of social capital of social networking site on social identity and continuous participant behavior

Enhancing students' online collaborative PBL learning performance in the context of coauthoring-based technologies: A case of wiki technologies

Understandability and completeness are essential in modern collaborative digital platforms and their learning systems. These platforms have shaken up the traditional education setting, particularly in leveraging the coauthoring approach in problem-solving and streamlining the learning behavior of cowriting or corevising. Such a learning context has attracted considerable interest from various stakeholders; however, it needs to be explored further as an independent topic. Based on social capital and social identity theories, we explore how online collaborative problem-based learning (PBL) effectiveness, relational quality, and social identity influence students' perceived PBL performance during learning activities. Based on the core elements of online coauthoring processes (i.e., platform, cocreation, and problem-solving), this study employs a holistic view of the coauthor to discuss the effects of understandability and completeness. This study also highlights the mediating impact of trust on students' social identity. Based on the responses of 240 students, the results support the proposed hypotheses using partial least squares analysis. The study's implications suggest guidelines to educators on how to enhance students' perceived PBL performance by using wiki technologies.

Formation mechanism of contributors' self-identity based on social identity in online knowledge communities

Introduction

Contributors' self-identity is a critical element in the sustainable development of online knowledge communities (OKCs). However, research concerning the formation mechanism of contributors' self-identity remains scarce. This research posits information support, novel posting and sense of self-worth as mediating variables between social identity and self-identity to construct a path model, aiming to explore the way in which self-identity is formed on the basis of social identity in OKCs.

Methods

To examine this mode, an online survey was administered to many different OKCs, and 515 usable questionnaire responses were collected. Structural equation modeling was then employed to examine the model.

Results

The R2 value of self-identity was 0.627, thus indicating that the model was able to explain 62.7% of the variance in self-identity. We find that self-identity emerges through the mediating effects of information support, novel posting and sense of self-worth. In addition, social identity can elicit novel posting and information support, which are all beneficial for enhancing the dynamics of OKCs and further generate sense of self-worth. We also observe that although social identity and individualized behavior (novel posting) are generally incompatible, they can be compatible in the context of OKCs.

Discussion

Self-identity as a contributor can be formed on the basis of social identity via the social path and the psychological path in OKCs, while the two paths for fostering self-identity are not independent of each other, and there is also a very strong link between behavioral and psychological mechanisms.

Motivational Influences Affecting Middle-Aged and Elderly Users' Participation Intention in Health-Related Social Media

Social media provide users with multi-directional dialogue for creating and sharing health information that can effectively promote the self-management of health. In regard to the 'greying' trend in social media, most researchers have studied the health-related social media (HRSM) acceptance status and use behavior of middle-aged and elderly people, and have explored the role of HRSM in this group. However, the continuous participation of users is the key to the successful operation of HRSM, and is an essential prerequisite for the subsequent HRSM behavior habits of middle-aged and elderly people. Therefore, we aimed to explore what motivations drive the first use of HRSM among middle-aged and older adults, and the impact of their perception of HRSM, after personal use, on their intention to use it continually. In the study, we used the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to analyze data collected from online questionnaires. The results showed that a self-protection motivation and a social motivation promoted the initial participation of middle-aged and elderly individuals. In addition, these people experienced deeper levels of perceived usefulness and perceived entertainment after their initial participation. The results also revealed that these two perceptions could positively influence middle-aged and elderly individuals' intention to continue with their participation. Our findings should help service platforms to better understand the needs of middle-aged and elderly users. This would help researchers and practitioners to gain a more complete understanding of the motivation of middle-aged and elderly people for participating in HRSM, and the related impacts this may have.