Social networking applications (SNAs) have experienced a boom in popularity in recent years. Sites like Facebook and MySpace continuously draw new users, and are successful in organizing groups of users around topics of common interest. Among SNAs, Facebook has demonstrably outgrown its rivals growing an estimated 157 percent from 2008 to 2009. Facebook is now estimated to be the fourth largest Internet site in the world, trailing only Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (Schonfeld 2009). This dissertation posits and tests a theoretical model composed of key factors that contribute to post-adoptive use of social networking applications and the relationship of those factors to one another. This study also identifies and clarifies new constructs that were not previously used to measure usage, and further refines the constructs that were previously used so that they better fit social networking applications. The results of this dissertation show that the critical factors of social capital, hedonic enjoyment, perceived usefulness, social influence, satisfaction and attitude have a positive influence on a post-adoptive user's intention to continue using Facebook. The results of this study yielded a structural model for predicting the post-adoptive use of Facebook. This work also developed an instrument for measuring constructs relevant to social networking applications.

Due to the evolution of new media technologies, social networking websites have become major avenues for online media consumption. Twitter is one of many proven beneficial for online users. It is utilized for many different reasons, one of which includes music. It is then necessary to know how beneficial Twitter is for music fans and consumers. This study attempts to analyze the benefits of Twitter for music fans and consumers. Using an online survey, different gratification items are measured. Results reveal that some music fans and consumers do use Twitter for music purposes and that there is a statistically significant difference in terms of gratifications between those who use Twitter for music purposes and those who do not.

Sports in the 21st century have become popular across multiple industries, and a major boon to a television industry dealing with increasing audience fragmentation. So an understanding of fans' behavior is important to all parties. This study, an online survey consisting of 242 responses, examined fandom and its relationship with time spent using social networking sites and found no statistical correlation. Six uses and gratification factors obtained: human connection, network content, distraction/amusement, social integration, social surveillance, and active entertainment. The low comparative saliency of the social integration factor suggests that perhaps fandom is distinct from other ways of identifying with similarly-minded individuals (e.g. political and/or religious affiliation), or that perhaps fandom as a factor is less than sufficient to explain how/why sports fans use social networking sites.

In recent years the advent of social networking has exploded across the Internet. Online communities such as LinkedIn.com and Facebook.com have captured the attention of millions. These environments allow individuals to connect, communicate, and discover new virtual experiences with other people. In the age of Web 2.0, Internet users are redefining the rules of social interaction by leveraging a range of new technologies to create and sustain virtual communities based upon common interests. Communications channels such as blogs and Wikis, amplified by collaborative technologies such as social networking, provide powerful tools for sharing information and sustaining relationships across geographic borders and common areas of learning. What is often referred to as ‘collective intelligence,’ the body of knowledge created by these social online gatherings of like minds, can easily produce a ‘sum of the parts is greater than the whole’ effect. The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to evaluate how social networking impacts collaboration and learning within the high tech sales industry and; second to determine if a need exists for the development of an online social networking environment to address the particular interests of the Information Technology (IT) sales professional.

Within the working environment, the attitudes and behaviours individuals display toward change are a fundamental part of whether change initiatives succeed or fail. In a growing world of computer-mediated communication, social networking sites are being incorporated into the corporate arena to better communication and functionality. Yet it still remains as a change initiative. This research report looked at whether readiness for organisational change, resistance toward organisational change and behavioural support for organisational change related to the perceptions and usage of a corporate SNS. Similarly demographic characteristics were also explored. Correlations, ANOVAs, a Chi squared, a Multiple Linear Regression and a Moderated Multiple Regression were conducted. The sample consisted of 118 participants of which, 65% were female, 59% were white, 49% were married and the 69% were under 49 years of age. The researcher found that readiness and behavioural support for organisational change related positively to the perceptions of the SNS whereas resistance to organisational change did not. Race significantly related to the perceptions of the SNS and SNS usage significantly related to the SNS uptake data categories. Conclusions and recommendations are also presented.

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One of the major factors toward the persistence of college freshman with their education as discussed by Vincent Tonto is Social and Academic integration into the life of a university. Social integration is how well the student feels connected to other members of the university community. There has been a significant body of research done on the use of social networks to encourage social integration in a university setting. This project proposes the creation of a synchronous virtual community / social network to not only encourage social integration but also physical integration through use of the network. / Master of Science

In contemporary society, online Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook provide increasingly popular contexts within which late adolescent peer interactions and accompanying identity experiments can occur. Consequently, of increasing interest is exploring the impact of SNS use on psychological functioning in this age group. There is some evidence suggestive of a relationship between greater SNS use and increased depressive symptoms. However, findings are inconsistent, with a large body of literature also indicative of possible beneficial effects of SNS use on adolescent social and emotional adjustment. Therefore, as a means to address this divergence, the present study aims to investigate whether it is the quantity of use, including use of the site to connect with existing or new contacts, or the quality of Facebook interactions that might relate to depressive symptoms. Moreover, the present research attempts to identify for which late adolescents these associations are more likely to be a risk, drawing on constructs implicated in offline self-definition and identity development. One hundred and sixty-nine late adolescents (mean age 18.6 years) participated in this quantitative, cross-sectional study. Participants completed an online survey comprising self-report questionnaires validated by previous research assessing depressive symptoms, the intensity of Facebook use, strategy used to connect with peers on Facebook, self-reported quality of interactions on Facebook, and self-definition and identity variables; self-concept clarity (SCC), separation-individuation, and ego-identity commitment. Consistent with previous research, no relationship was found between the intensity of Facebook use, including number of Facebook friends, time spent on the site each day, perceived integration of the platform into daily life, and connection strategy and depressive symptoms. There was, however, evidence suggestive of a relationship between reports of feeling down following interactions on Facebook and increased depressive symptoms. Self-definition and identity variables were not found to moderate this relationship.

This study examines the impact of political information conveyed through computer-mediated social networks. Using a popular social networking website, Facebook, a randomized field experiment involving Georgia State University undergraduates explores the extent to which computer-mediated peer-to-peer communication can increase political knowledge. For this experiment two Facebook profiles were created, one to administer information about the 2009 Atlanta mayoral election and the other to administer timely entertainment information. Students were randomly assigned one of these profiles to “friend.” Students choosing not to “friend” their assigned profile were aggregated to create an additional control condition. Treatments were administered to those who “friended” their assigned profile for the seven days preceding the mayoral election. To assess the transfer of knowledge between the profiles and the students a subsequent in-person survey was conducted (N=374). Results reveal that being exposed to political information by a peer through a social networking website increases the probability of recalling at least some of that information by 18.2 percent. Notably, the same method of exposure to entertainment information produces no significant effects on the recall of that information.