Theoretical Approaches to Studying
Online Behavior on Social
Networking Sites
Early Responses to Online
Communication
• Social Presence Theory
• Media Richness Theory
• Lack of Social Context Cues
All saw cyberspace as a relational wasteland
Theories About Behavioral Motivations
• According to uses and gratifications
theory, which has emerged out of the
psychological communication
perspective, individuals use media to
fulfill their needs and wants (Rubin,
2002).
Researchers have divided media
gratifications into two types : Process
and Content
Uses and Gratifications
• Process gratifications arise from the performance
of an activity such as random web browsing or
creating content on one’s profile
• Content gratification occurs from acquiring
information (Kayahara& Wellman, 2007)
• Can one use the uses and gratifications approach
to analyze young adults use of Facebook ?
• According to Ray (2007), social networking
sites simultaneously fulfill several needs in
one location.
• These include:
• Need for interpersonal communication
• Information
• Entertainment and Diversion
Themes of Why People Use Facebook
To Meet Needs
• Efficient and convenient
communication
• Fulfill curiosity about others
• Popularity
• Relationship formation and
reinforcement
• Passing time
Theories about Who Benefits from
Online Relationships
• Social Compensation Theory or Poor Get
Richer Hypothesis
• Social Enhancement Theory or Rich-GetRicher Hypothesis
Theories about the nature of online
relationships
• Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT)
focuses on how people develop and maintain
relationships in computer-mediated
environments.
• According to this theory developed by Joseph
Walther in 1992, people can develop similar to
or even better than face to face interactions.
Social Information Processing
Perspective
• Interpersonal information
• Impression management
• Relationship development
Social Information Perspective
• Argues that while there is a lack of social
context or nonverbal cues that signal
relational affinity, these are replaced by other
cues.
• Possible cues in the context of social network
sites like Facebook ?
• Core principal of SIP perspective is that people
employ similar strategies in communication,
whether online or offline and that the mode
of communication made no difference to the
emotional tone.
• Crucial variable is time and the rate at which
social information mounts up.
• Other factors are anticipated future
interaction and chronemics
Social Information Processing
• Walther also argues that online relationships
are often “hyperpersonal,” or more intimate
than those developed when partners or
friends are physically in the same space.
• Identifies four factors that contribute to this:
Selective self-presentation, over-attribution of
similarity, asynchronous communication and
feedback.
Theories of Online Behavior and
Society
• Most existing research has focused on identity
and privacy
• Recent studies have begin to examine online
behavior in relation to issues of social capital
• What is social capital ?Concept comes from
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu
Impact on Society
• He defined it as “the sum of resources,
actual or virtual, that accrue to an
individual or group by virtue of possessing a
durable network of more or less
institutionalized relationships of mutual
acquaintance and recognition.”
( Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992).
Impact on Society
Why is social capital important ?
For individuals: Allow people to draw on
resources from others in their networks.
Resources can take the form of:
• Useful information
• Personal relationships and general psychological
well-being
• Capacity to organize in groups
Impact on Society
For society:
Enhanced participation in civic
and political life
Ability to mobilize for collective
purposes
Greater trust and connection
between people
Impact on Society
Some researchers see the Internet as
decreasing social capital due to the
decline in face-to-face
communication.
Others see online interactions as
replacing in-person communication
What is the potential
impact of Facebook on
social capital ?
Facebook and Social Capital
• Researchers identify two types of
social capital: Bridging capital and
bonding capital.
• Bridging refers to loose
connections between individuals
who provide information or new
perspectives but not emotional
support.
Facebook and Social Capital
• Bonding capital refers to the connections
between individuals in close-knit, emotionally
close relationships such as family and friends.
• What types of connections does Facebook
facilitate ?
• What implications does it have for the
creation of different types of social capital ?
• Do online connections translate into longterm offline connections ?