In der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit – im Charakter einer Pionierstudie auf diesem Gebiet – wird mittels selbstkonstruiertem Onlinesurvey untersucht, inwiefern die Social-Network-Site Facebook die Bildungspartizipation und das Konsumverhalten ihrer Nutzer beeinflusst und verändert. Nach Definition eines sozialen Netzwerks, einer Social-Network-Site und definitorischer Eingliederung von Facebook als solche wird die Sozialplattform selbst historisch und faktisch erklärt und der bisherige Forschungsstand zusammengetragen. Zur weiteren Hypothesenformulierung dienen für die Bildungspartizipation Marotzkis strukturale Bildungstheorie (1990) und Banduras kognitive Lerntheorie (1979), für das Konsumverhalten ebenfalls Banduras sozial-kognitive Lerntheorie (1971; 1976; 1986), Heiders Balancetheorie (1946) und Festingers soziale Vergleichstheorie (1954). Nach äußerst umfangreicher Operationalisierung, Rekodierung und Skalenbildung, univariater und bivariater Analyse, Drittvariablenkontrolle und Mediationsprüfung werden im Regressionsabschnitt alle fünf Prädiktoren der Haupthypothesen der Bildungspartizipation und drei der fünf Haupthypothesen des Konsumverhaltens bestätigt. Die „Anzahl an Facebook-Freunden“, „Neue Facebook- Freunde“, „Daten aus der Vergangenheit“, „Lesen bildungsrelevanter Aspekte“ und die „Facebook-Nutzungshäufigkeit (pro Woche)“ beeinflussen somit signifikant positiv die Bildungspartizipation. Die „Neigung zu positiv geschlossenen Triaden“, die „Relevanz positiver Meinungen der Vergleichspersonen“ und die „Beobachtung positiver Signale Statushoher“ beeinflussen positiv-signifikant das Konsumverhalten, wobei jedoch im Endmodell die „Beobachtung negativer Konsumerfahrungen“ und die „Relevanz der Ähnlichkeit von Vergleichspersonen“ keinen statistisch gesicherten Effekt mehr aufweisen. Der überwiegende Teil der vorab gebildeten Unterhypothesen – als theoretische Zusatzannahmen fundiert – werden bestätigt. Als weiteres statistisches Instrument wird ein Künstliches Neuronales Netz als Regressionsfunktionsapproximator eingesetzt, das bemerkenswert genau die Einflussstärken der Haupthypothesenvariablen validiert. / Nowadays, the social network site Facebook preferably serves as an appropriate medium of communication and as adviser on issues about daily life. Thus, recent social scientists have plenty of reasons to investigate the research field Facebook, the connections amongst its members, their cognitive structures and way of behaving which is frequently not intended. Through an online survey, including 1,358 German respondents, the influence of Facebook on educational participation and consumer behaviour is analysed. According consumer behaviour as dependent variable, Heider´s Balance Theory (1946), Bandura´s Social Cognitive Theory (1971, 1976, 1986), and Festinger´s Theory of Social Comparison Processes (1954), including theoretical continuations for each of these, are used. In order to derivate hypotheses for educational participation Marotzki´s Strukturale Bildungstheorie (1990), further extensions and Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning Theory are taken. To sum up, tending to positively closed triads, relevant positive opinions of persons of comparison, and observing positively social signals from persons with a high status on Facebook significantly and positively influence consumer behaviour. Surprisingly, there is no significant influence from similarity to persons of comparison and observations of negative consumer´s experience. All hypotheses concerning educational participation could be confirmed: For instance, the more often a person gets new Facebook friends or the more often friends post visible educational aspects (i.e. newspaper articles or similar), the higher is educational participation on Facebook. These results, analysed by a regression analysis, are checked by an alternative method which is rarely used in that context. Using an artificial neural network (multilayer perceptron) a sensitivity analysis is conducted. Interestingly, the rank order of beta coefficients is almost reproduced. The existing study which was carried out at the Institute of Sociology in Leipzig is a pilot experiment in respect of both theoretical and methodical aspects. There are exploratively connections between social-psychological theory and consumer behaviour and educational participation on Facebook, supported by an extensive implementation of control variables.

The development of internet is creating intense competition in social network sites nowadays. How to conduct users¡¦ loyalty to social network sites gradually becomes an important issue to operate long-term social network sites. The study attempts to examine how consumers¡¦ utilitarian value, hedonic value and social value affect their loyalty. Furthermore, this study examines whether the relationship is mediated by gender difference. The model and relationship are tested and validated by using PLS and data collected from 200 people having facebook accounts in Taiwan. The results shows that loyalty is strongly affected by utilitarian value, hedonic value and social value. We also find that the difference of gender has positive influence on hedonic value and loyalty and negative influence on social value and loyalty. The implication for research and practice are also discussed.

Facebook is the dominant SNS for American students in the United States, and Renren.com is heavily used by Chinese students in China. Chinese international students in the United States are likely to use both the host and home SNSs to keep in touch with their friends in the host and home countries. The purpose of the study is to explore the similarities and differences between host and home SNS use among Chinese international students in the U.S. This study compares their use of Facebook and Renren.com with respect to intensity and patterns of use. It explores how these student sojourners in the U.S. use the two SNSs to build up and maintain their social networks and social capital and how their levels of acculturation to American host culture and maintenance of Chinese home culture are associated with their SNS use. Quantitative data collected through a survey of 212 Chinese international students at the University of Texas at Austin was analyzed to address these research questions. The findings suggest that Chinese international students use Renren.com more intensively than Facebook and prefer Renren.com to Facebook for the purposes of communication and information seeking. They are more likely to use Renren.com than Facebook to interact with Chinese friends whether in the U.S., in China, or in other parts of the world. The intensity of Facebook and Renren.com use were found to be positively associated with bridging social capital, but neither of the two is associated with bonding social capital. Only the intensity of Renren.com use was found to have a positive relationship with maintained social capital. Furthermore, the levels of acculturation to host culture are associated with the intensity of Facebook use, while the levels of maintenance to home culture are associated with the intensity of Renren.com use. / text

In der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit – im Charakter einer Pionierstudie auf diesem Gebiet – wird mittels selbstkonstruiertem Onlinesurvey untersucht, inwiefern die Social-Network-Site Facebook die Bildungspartizipation und das Konsumverhalten ihrer Nutzer beeinflusst und verändert. Nach Definition eines sozialen Netzwerks, einer Social-Network-Site und definitorischer Eingliederung von Facebook als solche wird die Sozialplattform selbst historisch und faktisch erklärt und der bisherige Forschungsstand zusammengetragen. Zur weiteren Hypothesenformulierung dienen für die Bildungspartizipation Marotzkis strukturale Bildungstheorie (1990) und Banduras kognitive Lerntheorie (1979), für das Konsumverhalten ebenfalls Banduras sozial-kognitive Lerntheorie (1971; 1976; 1986), Heiders Balancetheorie (1946) und Festingers soziale Vergleichstheorie (1954). Nach äußerst umfangreicher Operationalisierung, Rekodierung und Skalenbildung, univariater und bivariater Analyse, Drittvariablenkontrolle und Mediationsprüfung werden im Regressionsabschnitt alle fünf Prädiktoren der Haupthypothesen der Bildungspartizipation und drei der fünf Haupthypothesen des Konsumverhaltens bestätigt. Die „Anzahl an Facebook-Freunden“, „Neue Facebook- Freunde“, „Daten aus der Vergangenheit“, „Lesen bildungsrelevanter Aspekte“ und die „Facebook-Nutzungshäufigkeit (pro Woche)“ beeinflussen somit signifikant positiv die Bildungspartizipation. Die „Neigung zu positiv geschlossenen Triaden“, die „Relevanz positiver Meinungen der Vergleichspersonen“ und die „Beobachtung positiver Signale Statushoher“ beeinflussen positiv-signifikant das Konsumverhalten, wobei jedoch im Endmodell die „Beobachtung negativer Konsumerfahrungen“ und die „Relevanz der Ähnlichkeit von Vergleichspersonen“ keinen statistisch gesicherten Effekt mehr aufweisen. Der überwiegende Teil der vorab gebildeten Unterhypothesen – als theoretische Zusatzannahmen fundiert – werden bestätigt. Als weiteres statistisches Instrument wird ein Künstliches Neuronales Netz als Regressionsfunktionsapproximator eingesetzt, das bemerkenswert genau die Einflussstärken der Haupthypothesenvariablen validiert. / Nowadays, the social network site Facebook preferably serves as an appropriate medium of communication and as adviser on issues about daily life. Thus, recent social scientists have plenty of reasons to investigate the research field Facebook, the connections amongst its members, their cognitive structures and way of behaving which is frequently not intended. Through an online survey, including 1,358 German respondents, the influence of Facebook on educational participation and consumer behaviour is analysed. According consumer behaviour as dependent variable, Heider´s Balance Theory (1946), Bandura´s Social Cognitive Theory (1971, 1976, 1986), and Festinger´s Theory of Social Comparison Processes (1954), including theoretical continuations for each of these, are used. In order to derivate hypotheses for educational participation Marotzki´s Strukturale Bildungstheorie (1990), further extensions and Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning Theory are taken. To sum up, tending to positively closed triads, relevant positive opinions of persons of comparison, and observing positively social signals from persons with a high status on Facebook significantly and positively influence consumer behaviour. Surprisingly, there is no significant influence from similarity to persons of comparison and observations of negative consumer´s experience. All hypotheses concerning educational participation could be confirmed: For instance, the more often a person gets new Facebook friends or the more often friends post visible educational aspects (i.e. newspaper articles or similar), the higher is educational participation on Facebook. These results, analysed by a regression analysis, are checked by an alternative method which is rarely used in that context. Using an artificial neural network (multilayer perceptron) a sensitivity analysis is conducted. Interestingly, the rank order of beta coefficients is almost reproduced. The existing study which was carried out at the Institute of Sociology in Leipzig is a pilot experiment in respect of both theoretical and methodical aspects. There are exploratively connections between social-psychological theory and consumer behaviour and educational participation on Facebook, supported by an extensive implementation of control variables.

This thesis is a case study of three virtual communities for parents of children with special needs in Taiwan. The main focus of this research was on understanding the role that virtual communities play in providing support for parents. This study addressed the following research questions: How do virtual communities provide support for parents of children with special needs in Taiwan? What motivates Taiwanese parents of children with special needs to search for support through virtual communities? How does the support provided through virtual communities impact the relationship between Taiwanese parents of children with special needs and professionals? This thesis constructs an analytical framework that helps in understanding the concept of support in virtual communities for parents of children with special needs. Employing this framework identified three broad types of support: informational support, advocacy, and emotional support. In this study, informational support included parenting skills, advice, and access to services; advocacy referred to articulating needs and rights; and emotional support included solidarity, increased self-esteem, acceptance, and affirmation. All three virtual communities were established by parents; two are managed by parents, and one is managed by a professional. Web-based observations were conducted in each virtual community from November 2014 to December 2015. Semi-structured interviews were held with 14 parents, 7 professionals, and 6 administrators and concentrated on experiences of, and motivations for, seeking and providing support through virtual communities. The analytical framework was used to identify broad themes in the data. A thematic analysis was employed to look across the cases to identify commonalities and differences, and finally, a systematic analysis borrowing from social network analysis was used to map the interactions among the participants. The main findings of this study indicate that information and support related to parenthood and parenting skills was easily accessed through virtual communities. Parents were found to join together to share their experiences of parenting, comfort one another, and advocate for their needs through the virtual communities. The parents occasionally excluded members of the community to ensure that all members shared similar parenting values. In addition, parents are beginning to gain control of knowledge and their relationships with professionals through virtual communities. This paper's main contributions to knowledge are as follows: (1) Virtual communities allow parents to redefine themselves in ways that they believe are publicly acceptable. (2) Parents are using virtual communities to exercise power to renegotiate their identity and obtain resources. (3) Parents are also starting to alter the power relationships between themselves and professionals.

Social network site (SNS) has been very popular with global Internet users since 2008, the amount of social network users grew very much. Based on some reasons, users enjoyed using social network site. However, whether the current users or new users will continue to use social network site or not is an issue today. To assure social network site¡¦s company could develop and run well in the future, we must realize the factors that can increase and retain the user to use. This study based on expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and through literature review to explore the factors that can influence the user¡¦s satisfaction. Successfully, we integrated perceived utilitarian benefit and perceived hedonic benefit into original ECT model. In this study, an empirical survey methodology with eight hypotheses was applied to verify this model. Covariance-based structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze data and evaluate the model. The results pointed out that past ECT model with only one aspect can be extended from utilitarian and hedonic dimensions. It indicated that confirmation of utilitarian benefit, perceived utilitarian and hedonic benefits have significant influence on user¡¦s satisfaction. Lastly, user¡¦s satisfaction will positively influence the continuance intention. In sum, this study integrated utilitarian and hedonic dimensions into original ECT model, and proposed a more comprehensive framework to explain the continuance usage of social network site. This study also provided a reference model for future continuance intention research and some suggestions for social network site practitioners.

As the number of users grows, more and more companies and brands use Facebook to shape their own images. What they want is ¡§Word of Mouth (WOM). However, each user has his/her own characteristics, and it might affect the WOM activities on Facebook. This research try to (1) explore the traits of WOM on Facebook, (2) find users¡¦ motivations of WOM behaviors on Facebook, (3) figure out what kind of characteristics might influence the WOM activities on Facebook, and (4) find some situational factors that have impacts on WOM activities on Facebook. The results show that (1) users who have high needs of uniqueness likes to share WOM to out-group members, (2) users prefer to share non-business messages and the messages which are related to their own benefits, (3) users with different characteristics have different motivations of WOM activities on Facebook. Keywords: Word of Mouth, Facebook, Characteristics, Situational Factors, Focus-group Interview, On-line Survey, social network site.

La massification des usages des réseaux socionumériques n’est pas sans conséquences sur la visibilité dont les individus font l’objet. Les potentialités d’internet dans la diffusion de l’information et les divers services de communication mis à disposition sont autant de mécanismes de dévoilement de l’intimité de l’usager dans les espaces publics numériques.Notre projet de recherche doctoral propose d’appréhender les pratiques et l'ensemble des facteurs associés au phénomène de mise en visibilité de soi sur les réseaux socionumériques, et plus particulièrement sur Facebook.Pour ce faire, cette recherche s’appuie sur une analyse quantitative, issue de la passation d’un questionnaire en ligne auprès de 444 usagers de Facebook, ainsi que sur une analyse qualitative provenant de 27 entretiens réalisés auprès d’utilisateurs du réseau socionumérique.Il s’agit de comprendre les raisons expliquant l’élaboration de pratiques de régulation de la visibilité numérique face à un réseau socionumérique incitant à une exposition de soi accrue.Il apparaît que les usagers sont en mesure de développer des espaces de visibilité de leurs informations personnelles et sont en constante variation afin de gérer la complexité de l’identité numérique. Ensuite, les évolutions de la visibilité des individus sur Facebook ne se réalisent pas de manière linéaire mais s’opèrent davantage par phases, entendues comme des interventions dans les pratiques de gestion de la vie privée. Ces évolutions correspondent à des épisodes de vie concomitants à l’expérience d’usage. Enfin, Le dispositif sociotechnique, ou plutôt les invitations à la mise en visibilité de soi qu’il émet, tout comme les attentes normatives de la « société » sont tout autant des modalités de définition de l’identité de l’usager des réseaux socionumériques. Les facteurs d’invitation à la mise en visibilité de soi – que sont l’usager lui-même ; son réseau de relations ; le dispositif sociotechnique Facebook ; et la « société » sous le trait des attentes normatives imposées – correspondent, en grande partie, aux mécanismes de prévention contre les potentielles atteintes à la vie privée. / The increase of the use of social network sites has consequences regarding individual privacy. The Internet’s capability to disseminate information and various communication services available is also a mechanism that reveals the privacy of the user in digital public spaces.Our doctoral research project proposes to study the practices and whole of the factors associated with the phenomenon of self-exposure on social network sites, especially on Facebook.This research contains a quantitative analysis, based on an online questionnaire to 444 Facebook users, as well as a qualitative analysis from 27 interviews conducted with users of this social network site.It aims to analyze the reasons that explain the development of regulatory practices of digital visibility caused by a social network site that incites increased self-exposure.It appears that users are able to develop spaces of visibility of their personal information and that they modulate their practices in order to manage the complexity of the digital identity. Then, changes in individuals’ visibility on Facebook do not occur a linear fashion but in phases, defined as interventions in the management practices of privacy. These changes correspond to instances of life that are concurrent to the experience of use. Finally, the socio-technical system, or rather the invitations to self-exposure so that it emits, as the normative expectations of the "society" are equally ways of defining the identity of the user of social network sites. Factors invitation to self-exposure - that is the user himself; its network of relationships; the socio-technical device Facebook; and "society" under the related normative expectations it imposes - correspond largely to preventive mechanisms guarding against potential threats to privacy.

This thesis focuses on online communities - both their historic and current form. Various forms of communications are described, main focus is then given to identity online and self-presentation - various forms it can take, which expressive devices are used, how trustworthy is it and how is it perceived by other others. Influence of anonymity is mentioned. Empirical part of this work explores online friendship relations, cornerstone of the current wave of social networking services. It asks several questions about ways in which they affect communication between users. Relation between several factors (reciprocity, direction of initiation of said relation) and both quantity and frequency of communication between those users before and after that friendship is established.

The Master's thesis Network analysis of the self-presentation of users on the social media platform Facebook.com focuses on the different ways of self-presentation and behavior of the users on the Facebook.com. The central theme of the thesis is the analysis of the self- presentation tools used by users to construct their virtual identities. In the theoretical part there are explained concepts of identity, self-presentation, social role and social network. The emphasis is also put on the dramaturgical concept of Erving Goffman, which is also the basic theory for this empirical research. The aim of this research is to find out whether there is a difference between the so-called virtual and real user identity and to point out the existence of the so-called ideal self. The research consists of two parts and combines two research methods. In the first part of the research, there are analysed all the data obtained by qualitative in-depth interview. This data is then used in the following network analysis of the content of their Facebook profiles. This network analysis is the main outcome of this thesis. In the conclusion, the findings obtained during the research are presented and at the same time they are compared with previous researches dealing with this topic.