Strategies for Landing an Oracle DBA Job as a Fresher
Sohn&kim(2012) attributes of social network services a classification and comparison
1. Attributes of Social Network Services: A Classification and Comparison
Jeong Woong Sohn and Jin Ki Kim
Department of Business Administration, Korea Aerospace University
100 Hanggongdae gil, Hwanjeon-Dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang City, Gyeongg- Do 412-791, Korea
Tel: +82-2-300-0353 E-mail: eviljiyo@naver.com
Department of Business Administration, Korea Aerospace University
100 Hanggongdae gil, Hwanjeon-Dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang City, Gyeongg- Do 412-791, Korea
Tel: +82-2-300-0353 E-mail: kimjk@kau.ac.kr
Abstract
Since Social Network Services (SNSes) are considered as an effective means to communicate and
interact with customers, companies are trying to utilize SNSes effectively. However, there are
few studies on the features of SNSes which address how companies can better use SNSes for
specific purposes. This study aims to investigate the attributes and functions of SNSes to classify
SNS sites. Based on these attributes, this study tries to evaluate three major SNS sites to
differentiate them. This study finds the following: First, a factor analysis reveals seven attributes
that can be used to classify SNSes – these are Interaction, Communication, Entertainment,
Information, Share, Intimacy and Connection; and second, through an analysis of variance with
multiple comparisons, three attributes, Interaction, Communication and Connection, are found
to play differentiated roles depending on the SNS site. The result of this study will aid in
understanding the attributes that companies should take into consideration in order to operate
and manage SNS sites in the future by defining the SNS attributes and allowing the differences in
the attributes among SNS sites to be checked. From an academic perspective, this study provides
a foundation for the development of further research and has demonstrated the potential to
develop a general theory that can throw ideas into shape.
Keywords: Social Network Service (SNS), Media attributes, Social Network Theory, Factor
analysis, Analysis of variance, Multiple comparison
2. SNS Attributes – 2
1. Introduction
In the past Web 2.0, the users of the internet used and shared information passively, but
since social network services began, the technology that ensures convenience and real-time
service has made it easy for users to share and spread their opinions and activities(Java, Song,
Finin, & Tseng, 2009). At present, the social network internet is deeply rooted in our social lives.
Therefore, social network services are endlessly working to bring about a lot of changes in our
society.
The roles of enterprises, which acted as the main producers of internet information in the
past, have been reduced, while individuals as internet users have become information producers
and have expanded their roles. Now, individuals can mutually communicate and share their
experiences, thoughts, information, and various responses in virtual space.
Since Web 2.0 has become a social issue, the system of internet-based services has
developed rapidly. User created content (UCC) and social networking services (SNSes) are the
two service platforms which have attracted the most attention.
The services that form networks on the internet on the basis of contents produced online
by people have been conceptualized as social network services, and the sites which provide such
services have been conceptualized as social network service sites.
As a network of relationships between people, SNSes can be said to be the services that
are formed as communities with the same purposes or services form into groups in accordance
with their personal friendships or interests. Including Facebook and Twitter, SNSes are now
playing an important role for individuals, enterprises and societies (Beak, 2010).
Being different from traditional media such as TV or radio, SNSes constitute an internet-
based technology which makes it possible to interactively communicate between one and N, or
3. SNS Attributes – 3
between N and N. Providing a variety of services, SNSes take up a large share of web services.
Some of them are very large and have a great ripple effect. Through SNSes, users pursue a lot of
purposes by sharing their personal information, expanding their social capital and retrieving
valuable information.
SNSes are growing rapidly, and many people are spending an increasing amount of their
time using these services (Hargittai, 2007). The raw numbers of active SNS users is impressive;
there were about 700 million users of Facebook (as of November 2011) and 150 million of
Twitter (as of May 2011).
SNSes are well-known as web-based services that help users to build a public or semi-
public profile over the internet. Users can share human connections with other users while
exchanging their lists of connections with each other within the same system (Boyd & Ellison,
2007). However, the properties of such connections can be different to some degree, depending
on which SNS site users belong to.
The reasoning behind the growing popularity of SNSes among the public is centered on
the ability of SNSes to extend and maintain a member’s offline social relationships to the virtual
realm, which is not bound by space or time (Lamp, Ellison, & Steinfield, 2005). Like in offline
communities, people in SNSes gratify their social and emotional needs that realize connections
in a person-to-person manner that is more direct and interpersonal (Rothaermel & Sugiyama,
2001). Rau, Gao and Ding (2008) argue that while SNSes are based on Computer Mediated
Communication (CMC), SNSes differentiate themselves from CMC in such a way that while
CMC centers on the online communities and blogs mainly for information sharing and exchange,
SNSes focus more on social emotional needs.
4. SNS Attributes – 4
In the past, existing internet services were used to simply gather information and show
where individuals were allowed to access and share information. Since the development of the
SNS concept, the number of users of SNSes such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and
so on has been increasing (Ko, Hwang, & Ji, 2010). Users are given similar means by different
SNS sites so that they may interact with each other over the internet, such as through e-mail,
instant messaging and even no-charge calls, and users are also allowed to share ideas, activities,
events and interests within the boundary of each site. Table 1 shows the functions of major SNS
sites.
Table1. Functions of major SNS sites
SNS Sites Functions
Editing profiles (interests, workplaces, schools, etc.), instant messaging, receiving real-
time updates (news feeds / mini-feeds), checking friend statuses (recent statuses),
Facebook sharing content (videos, images, etc.), searching, commenting, managing contacts
(member group management), adding Facebook applications, cross linking with other
sites, receiving recommendations and comments from friends
Editing profiles (interests, workplaces, schools, etc.), receiving RSS feeds, managing
follow/follower/retweet/reply functions, direct messaging, cross linking with other
Twitter
sites, receiving recommendations for finding people/friends listed/friends, searching
interests field, using hash tags, writing (140 characters or less)
Editing profiles, sharing content (videos, images, etc.), searching, commenting,
Cyworld recommendations for finding people/friends listed/friends, direct messaging, listening
to music, clipping
Sharing/uploading/recommending videos, commenting on video bulletin boards,
YouTube categorizing videos, customizing video views, translating video captions, video RSS,
managing favorites, cross linking with other sites
Uploading, sharing and modifying videos and pictures, commenting for videos and
Flickr pictures on bulletin boards, tag searching for videos and pictures, cross linking with
other sites
Recently, researchers have begun to use SNSes to investigate how companies interact
with one another, building many casual connections between executives, organizations and
individual employees working for different companies. Companies can even gather information
about other companies and devise strategies to gain a better position in the market or reformulate
pricing tactics through these kinds of networks.
5. SNS Attributes – 5
With the worldwide emergence of smartphones, marketing strategies with respect to
SNSes will continue to spread. Companies are striving to create new revenue streams, including
advertisement sales, using the popularity and unique attributes of SNSes. SNSes are not only
attractive for their economic value as a means of advertising media, but also for the potential
impact they will have on social interactions. With SNSes, companies expect to gain benefits in
terms of increasing their brand image by connecting more directly with consumers, and also in
terms of using SNSes to achieve low-cost high-efficiency marketing. Compared to the attention
paid to the value of SNSes, there is a distinct lack of theory relating to the attributes and users of
SNSes.
Enterprises use SNSes for their product public relations and marketing, but many of
them do not have differentiated strategies in using SNSes. Therefore, their effect is very small –
certainly smaller than their expectations. In some cases, they feel skeptical about whether or not
they are really using SNS-related strategies properly. In the cases where they cannot produce
tangible results, SNSes increasingly having a negative influence on enterprises.
Even though SNSes are beginning to attract the attention of academic researchers,
discussions on SNSes have focused only on the ripple effect and expansion of SNSes, including
motives of use. Two noteworthy models are the diffusion of innovation model and the
technology acceptance model. Most studies conducted to date have focused on a single SNS site.
Few studies have compared attitudes and behaviors across sites (Facebook, Myspace, etc.).
Without considering the attribute as a medium which SNS sites have, many of these studies
regard SNS sites as relationship-oriented social network service media that facilitate information
expansion.
6. SNS Attributes – 6
SNSes are not services that have been created recently. Existing media, communities,
websites and blogs have been developed and a variety of services and functions have been added
to create SNSes with their own unique values as online network services in which many people
can participate and make exchanges with each other. Therefore, this study will review the
functions and existing theories on SNS sites and investigate the attributes of SNSes.
Up until now, there has been no thesis that provides a framework which distinguishes
differences in the aspects and attributes of SNSes and differentiates their strategies. By isolating
the attributes of SNSes and the characteristics of SNS sites, we can understand the paradigm of
communication between people and save a lot of effort in forming and maintaining relationships.
Therefore, enterprises that use SNSes need strategic approaches on this basis and should find
improved solutions so that they can communicate with customers and meet their needs
satisfactorily.
This study aims at investigating attributes and functions of SNSes to classify SNS sites.
Based on these attributes, this study tries to evaluate three major SNS sites to differentiate them.
2. Social Network Service Sites
2.1 SNS History & Major SNS sites
The first social network site opened in 1997. With SixDegrees.com, users were able to
create their own profiles and build different groups of friends. In 1998, users were given a
chance to view other users’ lists of friends. In fact, some of the features that SixDegrees has at
present, such as profiling, existed on other sites like chatting or dating sites and community sites
(Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Table 2 shows the launching years of major SNS sites.
7. SNS Attributes – 7
Table 2. Launch dates of major SNS sites
1997 1999 ~ 2002 2003 ~ 2004 2005 ~ 2006
Couchsurfing, Linkedin,
Livejournal, Yahoo!360, Youtube, Cyworld
Myspace, Tribe.net, Open
AsianAvenue, (China), Ning, AsianAvenue,
BC/Xing, Last.FM, Hi5, Orkur,
Blackplanet, Lunarstorm, BlackPlanet (relaunch), Windows
SixDegrees Dogster, Flickr, Piczo, Mixi,
Migente, Cyworld, Live Spaces, Cyworld (U.S.),
Facebook (Harvard-only),
Ryzem, Fotolog, Twitter, MyChurch, Facebook
Multiply, Asmallworld,
Friendster, Skyblog (open access)
Dodgeball, Catster, Hyves
Source: Boyd & Ellison (2007).
• Facebook
Facebook launched in February, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a
former Harvard student. It has over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups,
events and community pages). Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more
efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers (Turban & Volinino, 2010).
Photos, groups, events, marketplaces, posted items and notes are the basic applications
already installed on Facebook. Apart from these basic applications, users can develop their own
applications or add any of the millions of Facebook available applications that have been
developed by other users.
In May 2012, Facebook was listed on the NASDAQ and closed at $38.23. After eight
years since its foundation, Facebook is now worth $1.046 billion in market capitalization.
A primary reason that Facebook expands is the network effect: that is, more users means
more value. The more users involved in the social space, the more they can connect to other
people. Facebook realized that by only focusing on college and university users, they could keep
them for only four years.
Facebook is encouraging organizations to open pages where they can post
advertisements and promotions. Also, the site is open to developers who create applications both
for entertainment and business. By 2011, Facebook had reached more than 750 million active
8. SNS Attributes – 8
users with the average user having 130 friends. Also in 2011, there were more than 250 million
active users accessing Facebook through their mobile devices (Facebook, 2011).
• Twitter
Twitter is an SNS company providing a social network and personal blog service where
users can interact with other users, especially through messages called tweets. Tweets are text-
based messages, and users can write up to 140 characters per message, and the messages are
displayed on their profile pages. Tweets were originally designed to be open to the public, but
senders can put restrictions on message delivery. Users can subscribe to other users' tweets. This
process is known as following, and subscribers are known as followers in this case.
On August 31, 2010, OAuth became Twitter’s authentication method through which
users could access applications more conveniently without entering their passwords when using
the applications. Twitter expected that its change to OAuth would bring about increased security
and a better experience.
In April 2010, Twitter had 105 million registered users. New users were signing up at
the rate of 300,000 per day. Twitter users were, in total, tweeting an average of 55 million tweets
a day (Huffington Post, 2010).
•YouTube
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim were the founders of YouTube, and in
November 2005, the site was first launched as a video sharing platform. All three members
previously worked for PayPal.
According to YouTube’s statistics, approximately more than one trillion hits were
tabulated in 2011. To put this number in perspective, it is equivalent to every person on Earth
watching one video 140 times. One video is uploaded every second, and there are more than 800
9. SNS Attributes – 9
million net users visiting every month. YouTube has more than 30,000 partners in 27 countries
around the world. Partner revenue has increased by a factor of two in the last four consecutive
years.
Non-subscribers can only watch video clips, while regular subscribers are allowed to
upload as many video clips as they want. In May 2010, YouTube was providing over two billion
video clips per day, which is almost twice as many as a combination of the three major television
networks in the United States. In October 2010, Google published a report about its financial
performance for the third quarter of the year. According to the report, YouTube was providing
over two billion video clips a week, which included advertising. Back in October 2006, Google
Inc. announced that it had made an acquisition deal with YouTube for $1.65 billion, and they
completed the deal on November 13, 2006 (Thrusocial, 2011).
• Cyworld
Cyworld was founded in 1999 in South Korea. The original purpose of Cyworld was to
improve online dating and chatting services, making them similar to that of a matchmaking site,
and to provide users with an open public meeting place so that they could connect with each
other over the internet. Cyworld has two meanings: Cyber World and a world of relationships,
which have been the core concepts for SNSes thus far. Through the Cyworld service, users’
human relations are embodied by an ‘Ilchon’ link, which infers that there is a relationship as
close as that between family members (Kim&Yun, 2007; Skcoms, 2007).
One of the prominent features Cyworld possesses is that each user is allowed to create a
virtual homepage. In this way, social celebrities and politicians can use this platform to be much
closer to their fans and audience. The number of users started to increase rapidly from the end of
2003, eventually reaching the present level of approximately 23 million. In 2005, Cyworld was
10. SNS Attributes – 10
the most successful messenger service company in Korea, thanks in part to its M&A with
NateOn, which enabled Cyworld to vault itself into the number one ranking (Skcoms, 2008). By
2010, Cyworld had pulled out of three markets, namely Germany, Japan and America. However,
overseas efforts continued in China and Vietnam. In 2009, the former had seven million
subscribers while the latter had 450,000 subscribers (Skcoms, 2008).
3. Theoretical Background
The concept of social and interpersonal relationships in a social network has been shifted
to the online SNSes where not only social infrastructures such as the networking and
management of human networks are supported, but also information is recommended and shared
as a one-man media function for interactive communication between members.
3.1 Social Network Theory
A social network is defined as a network of personal or business contacts, especially
promoted by social networking over the internet, where users interact with each other in sharing
their ideas, interests and activities (Barnes & Leinhardt, 1997; Kempe, Kleinberg, & Tardos,
2003; Kwon & Wen, 2010). By comparing a close-knit network with a loose-knit network at the
qualitative level, Bott (1977) develop an analytic concept. A close-knit network means a social
network in which not only are the members of a community connected around a central ego, but
they also closely interact with one another. Cheung, Chiu and Lee (2010) argue that the growth
and public popularity of social networks are creating a new world for communication and
cooperation, and that many people all around the world are using online social networks to share
information and knowledge.
Rice, Grant, Schmitz and Torobin (1990) argue that SNSes are the online services that
shift the concept of offline social relations into a virtual community which emphasizes the
11. SNS Attributes – 11
gratification of motivations which are social network oriented rather than content oriented. The
social interaction in the context of SNSes may therefore be considered as the social impacts that
reflect communication established through networking and the maintenance of networks around
human interactions. The social impacts were defined as the influences by and between member
behaviors in social relations. However, a social relation cannot be maintained just by connecting
to others in an SNS site. Rather, a social relation requires various interactions between members
to form within an SNS site. The emergence of SNSes has not only created a new form of
relations, but also changed the lifestyles of modern people. SNSes transcend the mere concept of
an internet-based tool; they are building a new life paradigm through interactions between e-
services and their users. Although SNSes exist in the cyber world, they mirror real human
relations (Kwon & Wen, 2010).
Those more strongly tied between communicating pairs use more media to communicate
than those with weak ties. Media use within groups conforms to a uni-dimensional scale, which
shows a configuration of different tiers of media use supporting social networks of different tie
strengths (Haythornthwaite, 2005).
A sense of mutual engagement and openness among members are important factors that
form an online community (Bays & Mowbray, 2001; Rheingold, 1993), and SNS usage interacts
with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for
users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction (Bateman, Gray, & Butler, 2006).
Scholars in many fields have begun investigating how such sites may play into issues of
identity, privacy, social capital, youth culture and education. In particular, Facebook is
increasingly becoming the object of scholarly research (Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010;
12. SNS Attributes – 12
Bateman, et al., 2006; Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Butler, 2001; Green-Hamann, Eichhorn, & Sherblom,
2011; Hargittai, 2007; Haythornthwaite, 2005).
Amichai-Hamburger and Vinitzky (2010) investigate the relationship between user
personalities and their behaviors on Facebook. In this research, five personalities were used for
evaluation: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to
experience. They argue that these personalities are strongly corelated with their behaviours on
Facebook.
Steinfield, Ellison and Lampe (2008) investigate the relationship between the intensity
of Facebook use, psychological well-being and bridging social capital. They found that the
intensity of Facebook use in the first year strongly predicted bridging social capital in the second
year, even after controlling for measures of self-esteem and satisfaction with life. The latter
psychological variables are definitely associated with social capital outcomes. Self-esteem plays
a role in moderating the relationship between Facebook usage intensity and bridging social
capital. That is, people with lower self-esteem gain more from their use of Facebook than others
with higher self-esteem in terms of bridging social capital. Facebook helps people improve their
self-esteem while building large and heterogeneous human networks that can be sources of
bridging social capital in the future (Steinfield, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008).
In most SNSes, users are allowed to join or create groups in order to interact with other
users with similar interests. In addition, the fact that people are joining and using SNSes may be
related to social capital. Social capital is an elastic construct used to describe the benefits one
receives from one's relationships with other people (Bateman, et al., 2006). For instance, self-
esteem has been regarded as a moderator of the relationship between social network site use and
social capital (Steinfield, et al., 2008).
13. SNS Attributes – 13
Alexander and Michael (2008) and Ko, et al. (2010) define the functions of SNSes by
analyzing several SNS sites. The common functions are defined in Table 3.
Table 3. Functions of SNSes
Alexander & Michael
Ko, et al. (2010) Functions of SNS
(2008)
Function that enables you to search for those who have
Expert finding Expert search
expertise or things of interest, etc.
Function that enables you to express your status, mood
Network awareness Identity
or feeling, etc.
Function that enables you to share your messages or
Exchange Communication
conversations with others
Function that enables you to establish, communicate
Contact management Connection
and manage a relationship with others
Alexander and Michael (2008) suggest the functions of SNSes could be categorized as
identity management (access rights can be direct or role based) and context awareness (the
awareness of a common context with other people). Ko, et al., (2010) put forward that SNSes
also provide the function of content sharing (the function that enables the sharing and
distribution of personal audio and video content).
3.2 Media attributes
Among the five major forms of media – print, video, audio, graphics and data – the last
four forms have been combined to constitute what is called multimedia. In other words,
multimedia is an integration of video, audio, graphics and data, mostly through a single computer
workstation. It was first intended to be differentiated from the existing media in terms of the
mode of delivery and presentation for teaching and training (Patrick, 2004).
Newspapers are one of the oldest forms of mass media, and this form holds a number of
advantages over other forms. They give more detailed story information, can be read and re-read
and can be circulated and stored for repeated readership, optimizing the information delivery (Jin,
2008). Mobility, which is an exclusive characteristic of newspapers, is keeping newspapers alive
and strong despite the emergence of more evolved forms of mass media such as TV and internet.
14. SNS Attributes – 14
Regarding the effects of mass media by functional similarities, radio is very similar to
newspapers in that not only does it share the technical aspects with TV, which offers informative
and entertaining content, it also provides a massive amount of information (Katz, Gurevitch, &
Hass, 1973). Differences in motivation lead to different communication choices (Armstrong &
Rubin, 1989). Audiences listen to the radio to seek companionship and to overcome social
isolation, and this is why talk radio still serves as an alternative to other forms of mass media
(Avery, Ellis, & Glover, 1978).
In terms of motivation for use based on the characteristics of TV and internet, the
motivation to watch TV is thought to be connected to the concept of TV being conceived of as a
life companion, offering relaxation from stress, habituation, entertainment, enjoyment and the
obtainment of information and knowledge (Bantz, 1982; Conway & Rubin, 1991; Greenberg,
1974; Rubin, 1981). The motivation for internet use, which is characterized as interactions where
a sender of information can also be a receiver and vice versa, is centered on asynchronicity
unbound by time, multi dimensional communication, democracy in information generation and
distribution by the many and unspecified. Rafaeli and John (1995) identified motivations for
internet use as information acquisition, pleasure, socialization, social avoidance and job
exchange based on the democratic characteristic (Eighmey, 1997; Korgaonkar & Wolin, 1999;
Rafaeli, 1986). Differences in motivation between TV and internet also reflect the
complementary relationship between these two.
The study on the microscopic aspects of users regarding the appearance and use of new
media depends on the acceptability of people who use such media. The ‘Use and Gratification’
theory has been developed together with communication technology, explaining the motives of
users of traditional media. Whenever a new media technology enters into the communication
15. SNS Attributes – 15
academy, researchers study the uses of gratification of the users of the new media (Elliott &
Rosenberg, 1987).
3.3 Internet Attributes
With the advent of computers in the second half of the twentieth century, network
systems were developed to link computers to one another. Subsequently, when human beings
desired to make information truly global, networks to connect countries together were needed.
This need gave way to the development and expansion of the internet.
With the exponential growth of information and communication, internet technology
made it possible for a lot of individual users to meet and talk in cyber space in a way that was not
possible in the real world in the past. Interactive exchanges can now be made between users,
each of whom has access to a variety of technical functions to enhance the experience. Functions
such as electronic bulletin boards, teleconferencing, chatting, Usenet and e-mail lists make
interactive communication possible and allow users to actively form virtual communities and
involve themselves in participation and association.
There are five motives for using the internet; interpersonal utility, passing the time,
seeking information, convenience and entertainment. As these five motives indicate, the internet
has a great influence on our daily lives (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000).
Research has shown that the motives for using the internet are related to use and
satisfaction. This research also notes that there are several specific motives such as
diversion/entertainment, a sense of identity, human relationships, social interaction and
monitoring/information (Parker & Plank, 2000). One study on the users of internet blogs related
to the news argued that the motives of using the internet are entertainment, hobbies, social
relationships, the acquisition of information and escapism (Yang, 2007). Another study put
16. SNS Attributes – 16
forward that there are seven internet attributes; interaction, internationalization, communication,
connections, expense, fun and passing time(Jang, 1998).
Teo, Lim and Lie (1999) decided that the motives of using the internet are perceived
enjoyment (internal motive), perceived usefulness (external motive) and perceived ease of use.
They also argued that the use of internet would be on the increase if users thought that the use of
the internet was both easy to use and very helpful in carrying out business. They maintained that
along with business use and ease of use, the motives of using computers were connected to the
experience of enjoyment (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1992), perceived usefulness and
perceived fun (Igbaria, Schiffman, & Wieckowski, 1994).
The main characteristics of mobile internet services are that these services maintain
attributes such as openness and interaction while users are on the move. Mobile internet services
emphasize mobility, portability and personalization (Durlacher Research, 1998).
With further developments in the study of motives for using the internet, studies on the
motives of using the information performance of online policies are being carried out in addition
to the studies on the internet itself (Kaye & Johnson, 2002).
3.4 Blog Attributes
The term ‘blog’ is a shortened form of ‘weblog’, which itself is a closed compound
formed by ‘web’ and ‘log’. It is the online equivalent of keeping a daily log (Blood, 2002). The
word ‘weblog’ was first used by John Barger in 1997 in the U.S. when he introduced a blog site
as a form of daily log in which a newly uploaded text was placed at the top line of the page. Peter
Merholz used the word ‘blog’ as ‘wee-blog’ on his site, but ‘wee’ was later removed, and the
simple form ‘blog’ was widely used after that. As blogs become a common means of delivering
thoughts on social events, bloggers are now playing an important role as ‘news guerillas’
17. SNS Attributes – 17
(Wellman, et al., 2003). A blog is not only a user’s own space but also a place of mutual
exchanges, and is substituting the concept of existing online communities.
As more and more internet users are operating personal sites, or blogs, studies on the
motives of using blogs are also being carried out. Blogs contain records of personal life, reviews
and opinions, expressions of emotions, expressions of personal thoughts and community forums
(Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht, & Swartz, 2004).
Blogs are similar to existing homepages or online communities, but there are differences
between them. While existing homepages are unilateral, blogs and online communities are
relatively interactive. In terms of the distribution of communication, the communication
distribution of online communities is concentrated within the communities. In general, the
unilateral communication of existing homepages occurs within the relevant homepages. The
attributes of blogs include the trust of information, interaction, entertainment, intimacy and easy
accessibility (Lee, 2009).
One study showed that there are six main motives of American bloggers to use blogs.
These motives were information seeking and media checking, convenience, personal fulfillment,
political surveillance, social surveillance and expression and affiliation (Kaye, 2005).
3.5 Homepage Attributes
Homepages are web pages which appear when web users run a web browser such as
Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer.
Many internet users use internet web sites as a means of acquisition of reliable
information, electronic commerce and exchanges, pursuits of entertainment/enjoyment and fun.
A study on the behavior of 1993 internet users with respect to reliability showed that the users,
who believed through their previous experiences that the information obtained from the internet
18. SNS Attributes – 18
was reliable, took a positive view of the acquisition of information through the internet in the
future. In another study, users who used online news a lot regarded the internet as a source of
information (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000). The study also said that institutional guarantees,
reputation and the benefits of use which customers perceive from web sites are the factors that
enhance reliability for web sites. It stressed that such factors make consumers want to buy
products through web sites (Xu, Kim, & Padmal, 2004).
In a typical study on personal homepages, Papacharissi (2002) asserted that among the
seven motives of opening and using homepages, namely entertainment, information, social
interaction, self expression, passing time, professional advancement and new trends, the highest
motives are entertainment and information, followed by self expression and communication with
friends and family.
Personal homepages are alternative media by which homepage openers can express
themselves in a different form of communication, saying that there is a correlation between the
characteristics of homepage openers and homepages. One study found that entertainment and
information proposed by Chen and Wells (1999) are the characteristics of internet media.
3.6 Communication Attributes
Communication is a social interaction through messages (Fiske, 1990). People not only
exchange information and communicate with each other through that means of communication,
but also make society a communal society by persuading each other. Communication, which
controls all the fields of a modern society in this way, is an important medium that helps people
to share their individual thoughts, influence each other and live together.
An older study asserted that people exchange and share information and opinions on
interesting subjects through communication, thus getting to know each other better and feeling a
19. SNS Attributes – 19
sense of closeness (Bruckman & Resnick, 1993). A more recent study asserted that the perceived
interaction has a positive effect on satisfaction and continuous use even in the mobile service
environment (Lee, Ahn, & Jang, 2006). Therefore, it can be said that continued communication
has an effect on a sense of belonging.
Another study found that existing customers can speak positively or negatively about
companies and products produced by a lot of people or organizations through the internet
potentially and practically. It said that due to the development of technologies with new internet
communication tools, online word of mouth now has a much stronger effect than the traditional
offline word of mouth(Henning-Thurau, Kevin, Gianfranco, & Dwawne, 2004).
If you are absorbed in a community, community sentiment is formed and a sense of
closeness for community members increases. As a result, you will feel a sense of belonging(Bell
& Newby, 1992).
SNSes have the characteristics of virtual communities which are defined as a group of
people who interact with each other with common interests and experiences (Rheingold, 1993).
According to the social identity theory, social identity is created when people interact with each
other, and people try to square their target with the community’s target (Turner, Hogg, Oakes,
Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987).
Mobile media are not only a means of people’s daily communication but also a tool
which reflects life styles. They play a variety of roles as a personal computer and are used as a
means of important communication with the development of technologies (Oksman & Turtianen,
2004).
20. SNS Attributes – 20
In order to draw attributes of SNSes from the precedent documentary research, the
functions and attributes of SNSes, media, the internet, blogs, communication and homepages are
summarized in Table 4 below.
Table 4. Functions and attributes of SNSes, media, the internet, blogs, communication and
homepages
Functions & Attributes Reference
Identity management, expert search, context awareness, (Alexander & Michael,
SNS network awareness, exchange, contact management 2008)
Functions Expert search, communication, connection, content
(Ko, et al., 2010)
sharing, identity
(Deuze, 2001; Walther,
Interaction, hypertext, multimedia
Gay, & Hancock, 2005)
Interaction, asynchronism, one-to-many communication,
(Rafaeli & John, 1995)
many-to-many multi-dimensional democracy
Interaction, demassification, asynchronism, connection,
(Morris & Ogan, 1996)
digital
Media
Message speed/pass time, activity, privacy of media,
Attributes (Hoffman & Novak, 1996)
interaction
Personal communication, interaction of media, message
stream, message speed/time, knowledge of informer,
(Reardon & Rogers, 1988)
intimacy, feedback possibility, control, synchronism, easy
accessibility of media
Interaction, hypermedia (Bolter & Grusin, 1999)
Internet Interaction, internationalization, communication,
(Jang, 1998)
Attributes connection, expense, fun, passing time
Blog Trust of information, interaction, entertainment, intimacy,
(Lee, 2009)
Attributes ease of accessibility
Communicati (Preece, 2010; Wu &
Interaction, information, convenience of use, ease of use
on Attributes Chang, 2005)
Ease of use, product information, entertainment, trust,
(Elliott & Speck, 2005)
customer support, currency
Homepage Entertainment, information, homepage construction (Chen & Wells, 1999)
Attributes Convenience, interaction, private preferences (Ghosh, 1998)
Information, entertainment, interaction (Kim, 2005)
4. SNS Attributes Model
As a result of looking into existing studies, it was found that those studies contrasted
blog attributes from the attributes of homepages and web sites. They centered on the
21. SNS Attributes – 21
characteristics and functions of blogs when analyzing the attributes of the most advanced blogs
as a means of media.
As the results of academic studies on the attributes of SNSes up until now were
insignificant, this study investigated the seven attribute of SNSes on the basis of the attribute
theories of media and communication as well as the attribute theories of online web service-
based media internet, blogs, and homepages when checking the functions and characteristics of
SNS sites, in the same manner that existing blog attributes were investigated. Figure 1 shows
these SNS attributes. As a result, we propose a list of basic SNS attributes:
22. SNS Attributes – 22
Figure 1. SNS Attributes Research Model
Previous research has analyzed SNSes to identify their common functions as well as the
attributes of media, the internet, blogs, communication and homepages. Findings from these
analyses are the common components extracted and mapped to the tasks identified by theory.
23. SNS Attributes – 23
Table 5. Mapped SNS Attributes
Attributes
Attributes SNS Functions
Media Internet Blog Communication Homepage
Exchange Interaction
Interaction (Rafaeli & John, Interaction Interaction Interaction
Interaction (Alexander & (Preece, 2010; Wu
1995) (Jang, 1998) (Lee, 2009) (Ghosh, 1998)
Michael, 2008) & Chang, 2005)
Personal communication
(Reardon & Rogers, 1988);
Communication (Ko,
Communication Many to many multi- - - - -
et al., 2010)
dimensional democracy
(Rafaeli & John, 1995)
Entertainment
Network awareness
Multimedia (Deuze, 2001; Fun (Jang, Entertainmen (Chen &
Entertainment (Alexander & -
Walther, et al., 2005) 1998) t (Lee, 2009) Wells, 1999;
Michael, 2008)
Kim, 2005)
Message speed/pass time Information
Communication, Information
(Hoffman & Novak, 1996) , (Preece, 2010;
Information content sharing (Ko, - - (Chen &
Knowledge of informer Wu & Chang,
et al., 2010) Wells, 1999)
(Reardon & Rogers, 1988) 2005)
Content sharing (Ko, Massage speed/pass time
Sharing - - - -
et al., 2010) (Hoffman & Novak, 1996)
Network awareness
(Alexander &
Intimacy (Reardon & Intimacy
Intimacy Michael, 2008); - - -
Rogers, 1988) (Lee, 2009)
Identity (Ko, et al.,
2010)
User convenience
Easy Ease of use
Connection Connection (Morris & Connection (Preece, 2010;
Connection Accessibility (Elliott&
(Ko, et al., 2010) Ogan, 1996) (Jang, 1998) Wu & Chang,
(Lee, 2009) Speck, 2005)
2005)
24. SNS Attributes – 24
• Interaction
Attempts have been made since the 1950s to identify interactive features that can
complement the limit of the conventional unilateral mass media. Discussions on interaction
began as early as the 1980s when it drew attention from scholars as a new concept for new media
communication.
Rafaeli and John (1995) define interaction as something that enables a sender (producer)
to become a receiver (consumer) simultaneously. They further define that interaction enables a
degree of control in mutual disclosure and role exchange between the participants in the course
of communication. Rafaeli (1988) and Rafaeli and Sudweeks (1997) assert that the old concept
of interaction was an attribute that could be formed during communication between users, but it
is defined now as the inter-connectivity between a series of messages that are exchanged during
all forms and types of communication such as mass communication and internet. Deighton and
Blattberg (1991) define interaction as direct communication between individuals or groups of
people without limits of time and space.
Jang (1998) defines it as bilateral communication in virtual communities, while Lee
(2009) defines interaction for blogs as a quick response between users and a quick response by
administrators. With the SNS function of exchange, and attributes of media (interaction), the
internet (interaction), blogs (interaction), communication (interaction) and homepages
(interaction), the SNS attribute of interaction has been identified.
In SNSes, interaction enables a sender (producer) to become a receiver (consumer) at the
same time, and an individual or a group can modify the contents in SNSes or participate in topics
real-time without limitations in terms of time and space. Interaction is also defined as something
25. SNS Attributes – 25
that can facilitate immediate actions between the users through user participation and real-time
feedback.
• Communication
In the cyber world, ‘word of mouth’ is often playfully dubbed ‘word of mouse’ (WOM).
In comparison with the conventional word of mouth, Gelb and Soundaram (2002) prefer the term
word of mouse, referring to the modern phenomenon of potential buyers collecting and sharing
information in chat rooms, news groups and bulletin boards (known collectively as internet
information sources), rather than from colleagues or peers. Traditional research placed an
emphasis on the characteristics of the communicator, on the premise that there exists a direct
contact between a communicator and receiver. For WOM in an online community, on the other
hand, communicators are unidentifiable, the relation between a communicator and its receiver is
made on an ad hoc basis and communication is anonymous. Borgida and Nisbett (1977) define
word of mouth as the face-to-face communication founded on individual experiences, and Bone
(1995) defines WOM as the interpersonal communications in which none of the participants are
marketing sources.
Hoffman and Novak (1996) argue that the marketing communication model via the
internet is interruption-free many-to-many communication, and that companies can provide
content to media, and so can consumers for the web-like hyper media computer mediated
environment (CME). Hangel and Armstrong (1997) define virtual communities as the computer-
mediated spaces where there is the potential for an integration of content and communication
with an emphasis on member-generated content. Fernbak and Thompson (1995) define online
communities as a social relationship forged in cyberspace through repeated contacts within a
specified boundary or place that is symbolically delineated by topic of interest. In SNSes, ideas
26. SNS Attributes – 26
of an individual can be transmitted freely and swiftly to others. The delivery of messages and
responses is made quickly in SNSes as communities can be formed by linking the homepages of
others, or through WOM.
From the precedent documentary research and the communication and media attributes
(level of point-to-point and point-to-many communications, and inter-personal communication)
the functions of SNS communication has been identified as one of the attributes of SNSes.
Communication in SNSes is defined as having a multi-dimensional communication attribute
where point-to-point, point-to-many and many-to-many communications are enabled in a
continuous manner. It is further expressed as speed, range and mapping through communication
tools (such as bulletin boards, notes, chatting and other tools) in SNSes. In addition, text, picture
and video files can be transferred and be shared by people. Accordingly, the meaning of
information can be transferred easily to people.
• Entertainment
Entertainment involves all web site elements that promote enjoyment while using a site.
These include sensory and hedonic stimuli, like color, music, action and interactivity.
Kim (2005), Lee (2001) and Papacharissi and Rubin (2000) assert that the entertainment
attribute of homepages promotes enjoyment and pleasure to users. Lee (2009) claims that a blog
provides various events and interests. Jung and Park (2000) assert that the ability to provide
services that are fun or informative, as well as entertainment that can continuously attract users
and keep them connected on a homepage, is of help to build a continuous relation. Papacharissi
and Rubin (2000) find that archiving and entertainment are the major motivations for internet use
among alternative uses, archiving, passing time, convenience and entertainment.
27. SNS Attributes – 27
Ducoffe (1996) asserts that consumers use the internet efficiently for entertainment and
the utilization of information, and Eighmey (1997), after an analysis of the degree of satisfaction
of website users, asserts that users are satisfied when their entertainment related motivation is
gratified.
From the precedent documentary research, the network awareness function of SNSes,
and the attributes of media (multi-media characteristics), the internet (fun), blogs (fun) and
homepages (fun), entertainment has been identified as one of the attributes of SNSes.
In SNSes, entertainment is defined as the attribute that provides enjoyment, interest and
useful information on key issues and concerns. Users can find fun factors in the use of SNSes,
and furthermore, they can form close relations with others. A relation formed through the fun
factor can last. It is also defined as a frequent connection without specific purpose.
• Information
The informativeness construct of the uses and gratifications theory can be defined as the
extent to which the web provides users with resourceful and helpful information (Chen & Wells,
1999; Ducoffe, 1995). Kim and Kim (2000) assert that information has meaningful influences
over user perceptions, behavior and intentions of behavior, and that it is reasonable to consider
information as important in the evaluation of the contents in a homepage. Lee (2009) categorizes
information on blogs according to that information’s specialty, availability and reliability.
Through recommendation and sharing functions, SNSes enable an easy and quick distribution of
information. The U.S. based Pew Research Center found that “75% of online news consumers
obtain news through email or SNS links, and 52% of them distribute the same in the same ways.”
SNSes like Twitter filter and redistribute news upon evaluation, and promote active participation
of the public in social phenomena (Pew Research, 2010).
28. SNS Attributes – 28
From the precedent documentary research, the communication and content sharing
functions of SNSes, and attributes of media (message speed/pass time, information about the
communicator), communication (information) and homepages (information), information has
been identified as one of the attributes of SNSes. Extensive information can be collected on the
internet.
Information in SNSes is defined as the attribute where information is recommended by
other users, and real-time validation of desirous, variable and reliable information is easily
enabled.
• Sharing
Smith (2007) identifies sharing as an attribute of SNSes to share things that are
meaningful to the participants (like photos or videos) and asserts that exposure derived from
sharing or distribution in SNSes could generate a revenue stream at a different level than web
searching. Kim (2009) asserts that the chief dimensions that differentiate SNSes from earlier
forms of media are the ‘sharing’ of personal experiences with others, and that they are volatile
and spreadable.
SNS users can easily search information that is customized to their needs from the sea of
information on the internet, and they can share information with others through replies or store
content by scrapping. Through instant networking, the sharing and distribution of information is
extremely fast. For media seeking information, an extensive range of information available on
the internet can be shared and distributed via SNSes, meeting the demand of information seekers.
Visitors can leave messages on others’ homepages, and through the link function, various
information can be shared.
29. SNS Attributes – 29
From the precedent documentary research, the content sharing function of SNSes, and
attributes of media (message speed/ pass time), sharing has been identified as one of the
attributes of SNSes. Sharing in SNSes is defined as the attribute that enables the easy and quick
posting of one’s thoughts and the sharing or distribution of personal content like music and
videos via web or mobile devices.
• Intimacy
Intimacy may be defined as the level of closeness felt by the members of a specific
community site. One may expect a high level of participation to a community when there exists a
high level of intimacy between the members within the community. Intimacy plays an important
role in user engrossment and community formation. Armstrong, Arthur and Hagel (1996) assert
that online communities can build and maintain close relations between members, share opinions
on products and services and affect the daily life of the individuals in terms of their purchasing
and consumption behaviors. Members of a virtual community obtain emotional satisfaction such
as closeness in their exchanges with other members of the community.
Lee (2009) defines intimacy for blogs as relation forming (such as ‘Ilchon’, ‘neighbor’,
‘friend’) between a blog and its visitors, or relation forming (such as ‘Ilchon’, ‘neighbor’,
‘friend’) between a brand blog and its visitors. SNSes facilitate expressions of one’s recent status,
moods and feelings and provides intimacy to a grouped community of the same hobbies,
companies or schools.
From the precedent documentary research, the network awareness functions of SNSes,
and attributes of media (friendliness) and blogs (intimacy), intimacy has been identified as one of
the attributes of SNSes.
30. SNS Attributes – 30
In SNSes, intimacy facilitates relation building with other users online, enhances current
relations through an in-depth involvement in others’ daily lives and expands the depth of
relationship through exchanges of various news stories. Intimacy is defined as something that has
the potential to improve a relationship that already exists.
• Connection
Conventionally, connection has been viewed as something physical. With the emergence
of the internet, connection has evolved to facilitate the entering into a relationship between
individuals in virtual space through information.
Lee (2011) asserts that shareability between internet users, which is realized through
connection, can play a role as a sophisticated marketing tool by collectivizing the pattern of
internet media usage. Hook (1998) defines accessibility as the effective searching function and
efficient interface structure of the website user interface. Lee (2009) asserts that connection for
blogs refers to easy access without any joining procedures.
The open platforms in SNSes offer various application programs, simplify connection
and facilitate the easy manipulation of the content therein. Most SNSes can be connected through
a combination of various forms of media or links, and content can be shared with or distributed
to other SNSes. Various forms of connections, which have become available through evolutions
on the web, as well as through the increasing supply of smartphones, are becoming more
significant in societies and the economy in general, and they are demanding changes in consumer
relations, advertisement marketing strategies and organizational culture.
From the precedent documentary research, the connection function of SNSes, and
attributes of media (connection), the internet (connection), blogs (accessibility) and homepages
(ease of use), connection has been identified as one of the attributes of SNSes.
31. SNS Attributes – 31
In SNSes, connection enables the creation of personal homepages to which personal
articles, photos and video files are posted without the need of joining a specific SNS, makes it
easier to build and manage personal homepages than the conventional methods and does not
require special skills, but enables the configuration of a variety of content instantly and easily.
Furthermore, the definition of connection includes the potential for assisting in information
searches without the worry of getting lost on the web.
5. Research methodology
5.1 Data collection
An online-survey was conducted to collect data. The sample was selected from among
individuals who are using social network services in Korea.
Initially, a pre-test, pilot test and main test were conducted. The pre-test was used to
refine a measurement instrument made by reviewing the previously available literature. Based on
the results of the pre-test, this study further developed an instrument to measure the major
constructs and then conducted a pilot test. In terms of methodology, this study carried out a
factor analysis three times (pre-test, pilot test and main test), surveyed data and then finalized the
constructs regarding measurement reliability and validity to verify a causal relationship model.
This study selected 239 (six survey responses removed) usable survey responses out of
245 for 10 days (from May 22 to 31, 2011) through an online survey which was conducted by
Embrain (www.embrain.com).
The sample consisted of 50.2% male and 49.8% female participants ranging from 15 to 55 years
old, the majority of which were in their twenties and thirties (49.7% and 27.6%, respectively).
Respondents mainly used Cyworld (46%), Facebook (24.7%) and Twitter (21.7%).
Most of the respondents have used SNSes heavily: 55% of the respondents use at least
32. SNS Attributes – 32
one of the services for more than one hour per day. Hence, the respondents seem to be qualified
to analyze attributes of SNSes. The demographics of the respondents are shown in Table 6.
Items to measure constructs in the model were mainly adopted from prior research.
Some minor wording changes were made for the SNS context. New constructs in the model,
however, had to be constructed.
All items were measured on a five-point Likert scale, where 1 is disagree strongly and 5
is agree strongly. SPSS18 was used as a statistical package for testing. All items are shown in
Appendix A.
Table 6. Attributes of respondents (n= 239)
Items Number Percentage (%)
Male 120 50.21
Gender
Female 119 49.79
Under 20 37 15.48
21-30 119 49.7
Age 31-40 66 27.6
41-50 13 5.4
Over51 4 1.6
High school or below 49 20.5
College 38 15.8
Education
Undergraduate 114 47.6
Graduate 38 15.8
Student 108 45.1
Manager 68 28.5
Specialized job 27 11.2
Occupation Service industry 8 3.3
Technical post 9 3.8
Housewife 8 3.3
Etc. 11 4.6
Twitter 52 21.7
Facebook 59 24.7
Cyworld 110 46
SNS Site Flickr 4 1.6
YouTube 6 2.5
QQ 3 1.3
Etc 5 2.1
Less than 1 hour 106 44.4
Less than 2 hours 80 33.4
SNS use time (1 day) Less than 3 hours 35 14.7
Less than 4 hours 12 5
Over 4 hours 6 2.5
33. SNS Attributes – 33
6. Results
6.1 SNS attributes
Before running an exploratory factor analysis and reliability check, we checked where
the data satisfied the assumptions for factor analysis. The following three checks were performed:
the correlation coefficient among question items, Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser-
Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy (MSA).
Validity is the extent to which a measure diverges from other similar measures. Testing
for validity involves checking whether the items measure the construct in question or other
constructs. With the exception of a strong correlation between some constructs (e.g., interaction,
information, connection, sharing, entertainment, intimacy and communication), correlations were
moderate, weak or nonexistent (Table 7).
Reliability is the most common index of the validity of measures. It is used to check
whether the scale items measure the construct in question or other (related) constructs; a value
of .70 or above is deemed acceptable (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Cronbach’s coefficient alpha
was used to test the inter-item reliability of the scales used in this study. Cronbach’s alpha
assesses how well the items in a set are positively correlated with one another. In general,
reliability of less than .60 is considered poor, reliability in the .70 range is considered acceptable,
and reliability greater than .80 is considered good (Sekaran, 2003). As shown in Table 7, all of
the alpha values were greater than the recommended level and showed good reliability with
Cronbach’s alpha (>.70) in each construct.
Factor analysis was done using the data collected from the first version of the survey.
The cut-off criteria had a factor loading of 0.60. The analysis was done using a stepwise
approach. The question item which had the lowest maximum factor loading was removed. If the
34. SNS Attributes – 34
lowest maximum factor loading was less than 0.60, the factor analysis was repeated until the
lowest maximum factor loading was greater than 0.60. Three items were finally omitted. Values
of 0.50 and above are recommended for factor analysis (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). In addition,
factor analysis was used to examine construct validity. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and
Bartlett’s test of sphericity were first used to assess the appropriateness of the correlation
matrices for the factor analysis (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Lack, 1998).
Thus we can conclude that the data satisfies the assumption for the factor analysis. The
result of Bartlett's test of sphericity in this study shows that Sig (P) = 0.000 < α(=0.05) (χ
2=4066.056, df = 351). The result implies that there is no evidence that the correlation matrix is
an identity matrix. All seven factors showed a number of strong loadings, and all variables
loaded substantially on only one factor. The results of this analysis provided evidence of
construct validity (Table 7).
35. SNS Attributes – 35
Table 7. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation and reliability check
Cronbach’s
Component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
alpha
Interaction_2 .820 .075 .175 .117 .086 .114 .147
Interaction_3 .817 .028 .172 .102 .114 .159 .180
.872
Interaction_1 .770 .082 .008 .149 .042 .171 .233
Interaction_4 .748 .087 .112 .130 .195 -.022 .064
Information_2 .030 .843 .124 .117 .202 .218 .069
Information_3 .116 .841 .200 .104 .179 .129 .070
.906
Information_4 .081 .827 .090 .106 .109 .152 .083
Information_1 .057 .750 .186 .214 .158 .187 .216
Connection_3 .242 .248 .711 .086 .222 .164 .151
Connection_1 .310 .086 .707 .104 -.084 .165 .154
Connection_2 .348 .041 .695 .191 .088 .125 -.022 .838
Connection_5 -.062 .191 .690 .135 .260 .089 .135
Connection_6 -.125 .228 .673 .117 .376 .093 .164
Sharing_2 .053 .231 .050 .812 .116 .078 .137
Sharing_1 .215 .198 .199 .795 .069 .001 .077
.847
Sharing_4 .110 .067 .045 .768 .245 .169 .087
Sharing_3 .233 .009 .401 .666 .077 .132 .099
Entertainment_3 .137 .233 .145 .251 .777 .119 .075
Entertainment_4 .231 .279 .197 .180 .746 .182 .116 .859
Entertainment_2 .191 .177 .271 .106 .704 .235 .126
Intimacy_4 .218 .162 .186 .132 .176 .791 .064
Intimacy_3 .091 .294 .123 .104 .057 .756 .119 .809
Intimacy_5 .097 .208 .181 .094 .251 .743 .174
Communication_4 .165 .141 .068 .211 .123 .244 .792
Communication_2 .265 .236 .189 .032 .084 .064 .723 .767
Communication_5 .392 .021 .273 .195 .118 .070 .605
Number of items 4 4 5 4 3 3 3
Eigen-value 9.74 2.60 1.72 1.62 1.21 1.14 1.01
% of variance 37.46 10.03 6.62 6.23 4.67 4.40 3.91
KMO .897
Note. Numbers in bold show loading coefficients for items in each construct
6.2 SNS sites comparison in terms of attributes
The mean values of the independent variables were obtained based on 239 questionnaire
responses. The mean values of the independent variables refer to that of the score of items that
are grouped by attribute. The results of the mean values of the seven attributes of SNSes are
shown in Table 9. In order to see if there are variances in mean values between the chosen SNS
sites, it was further verified using ANOVA and a multiple comparison.
36. SNS Attributes – 36
Upon examination of variances in attributes between the SNS sites with variance
analysis, there was a significant variance for interaction, connection and communication at the
significance level of 0.05. In other words, interaction, connection and communication attributes
from the seven attributes of SNSes showed a significant variance by SNS site. From the evidence,
it can be inferred that the attributes play differentiated roles in various SNS sites.
Table 8. ANOVA test result of SNS attributes
SNS Attributes IN IF CO SH EN IT CM
F. 5.71*** .34 10.67*** 1.20 .96 1.91 4.25**
IN: Interaction; IF: Information; CO: Connection; SH: Sharing; EN: Entertainment; IT: Intimacy; and CM:
Communication
Note(a) : *p < 0.1 , ** p <0.5 , *** p < 0.01
Further examinations are necessary to find to which extent variances in SNS attributes
exist by SNS site. One of the most common tools to verify such variances is multiple
comparisons. There are a number of methods in multiple comparisons, but for this research, that
of Scheffe was used to verify variances in the most commonly used SNS sites (Twitter,
Facebook, and Cyworld). Flickr (4), YouTube (6) and QQ (3) were excluded in the analysis as
the number of users of these sites is considerably low. From the results shown in Table 9 the
following was obtained:
Table 9. Attribute scores of SNS sites and multiple comparisons
SNS Sites
SNS Attributes Twitter Facebook Cyworld Factors AVG
(n=52) (n=59) (n=110)
a b
Interaction 3.87 4.20 3.79 a 3.95
Information 3.33 3.25 3.22 3.27
Connection 4.10 a 3.99 a 3.69 b 3.92
Sharing 3.51 3.71 3.55 3.59
Entertainment 3.68 3.84 3.67 3.73
Intimacy 3.63 3.68 3.44 3.58
Communication 3.79 a 3.93 a 3.57 b 3.77
1. Note: a and b indicate the group in which significant difference are identified by Sheffe’s multiple
comparison. Otherwise, there are no significant differences among SNS sites.
2. Bold: highest scored site of each attribute.
37. SNS Attributes – 37
First, looking at the overall mean values of the SNS sites by attribute, interaction,
sharing, entertainment, intimacy and communication were relatively high in Facebook, while
information and connection prevailed in Twitter. The mean values of all seven attributes were
relatively lower in Cyworld than in Facebook and Twitter. These values present implications in
the light of management of and entry into an SNS, with thoughts on how much attention should
be paid to each of the services to be rendered.
Second, Facebook showed higher values in attributes of interaction, sharing,
entertainment, intimacy and communication than other SNSes. It can be inferred that the level of
satisfaction over the features of personal homepage building and the operation of personal
forums and various entertaining tools like social games and forums within the SNSes, which
make it easier to communicate with other users than other SNSes, is well manifested in the result.
Third, from the relatively high scores for information and connection in Twitter, it is
further observed that Twitter offers an easy user interface, facilitating the writing function on
‘Time line’ or the ‘Retweet’ function. Also, Twitter has an open policy by which the company’s
information is disclosed to the public through the Open API, enabling the writing only by simple
login to the Twitter account from an external site. While Facebook and Cyworld implemented
the two-way connection structure to link friends in a community, the one-way network
connection implemented by Twitter makes it faster to connect people, forming more chains of
connection.
Fourthly, regarding interaction, Facebook shows higher scores than Twitter and Cyworld,
which means Facebook is better in terms of user participation and immediate interaction than
Twitter and Cyworld. Fifth, for connection, Cyworld showed a significantly lower score than
Twitter and Facebook, which means Cyworld is lower in terms of platform openness, media
38. SNS Attributes – 38
combination and connection to links than Twitter and Facebook. Sixth, Cyworld was separated
from the others in the light of communication. Cyworld is relatively weak in communication as it
is limited to the message exchanges by and between ‘Ilchons’ while many-to-many and constant
communication is enabled with Twitter and Facebook.
7. Conclusions
7.1 Implications
One of the important activities for businesses is to attract public attention to a product
or service through advertisements and commercials to the public. Prior to social networks, the
conventional means of successfully garnering public attention were time consuming and costly.
Recently, companies have expanded their business strategies through the adoption of
SNSes, which they utilize as an effective and indispensable marketing tool, particularly in the
past few years which have seen an explosion of SNSes and SNS use. However, businesses are
utilizing SNSes not only to attract more public attention and reduce the time and costs of
advertising, but also to interact with consumers and understand their reactions in real time. The
fact that there is no entry barrier for an SNS operation makes SNSes an open media with great
potential for growth, and SNSes are in particular emerging as the chief instruments for forming
public opinion. This in turn means that SNSes possess great influence over social issues, which
are circulated and discussed through SNS communities. SNSes are growing to become pivots of
modern life with ever increasing influence.
This research endeavored to analyze the attributes and functions of social network
service sites and investigated the most appropriate attributes and functions that companies should
have in order to increase their social marketing effects.
In summary the findings of this research are as follows:
39. SNS Attributes – 39
First, in consideration of the precedent research in all their aspects and through factorial
analysis, seven attributes of SNSes were identified: Interaction, Information, Connection,
Sharing, Entertainment, Intimacy and Communication.
Second, looking at the overall mean values of SNS sites by attribute, interaction, sharing,
entertainment, intimacy and communication were relatively high in Facebook; while information
and connection prevailed in Twitter. The mean values of all seven attributes were relatively
lower in Cyworld than in Facebook and Twitter.
Third, following variance analysis of the seven attributes drawn from the study, the
attributes of interaction and connection showed a significant variance in the SNSes (Facebook,
Twitter and Cyworld). This implies that each SNS plays a differentiated role in virtual
communities and presents implications in the light of the management of and entry into an SNS
with thoughts as to how much attention should be paid to each of the services to be rendered.
Fourthly, through multiple comparisons, this study shows differences of perceived
attributes on SNS sites. For the interaction attribute, Facebook is better than Twitter and Cyworld.
From this result, this study concludes that Facebook is better in terms of user participation and
immediate interaction than Cyworld. For connection and communication, Twitter and Facebook
are better than Cyworld. Thus, this study shows in terms of platform openness, media
combination and connection to links, that Twitter and Facebook are evaluated more highly than
Cyworld. Also, Cyworld is relatively weak in communication as it is limited to the message
exchanges by and between ‘Ilchons’ while many-to-many and constant communication is
enabled with Twitter and Facebook.
This research was carried out to validate attributes of SNSes from a general perspective,
and the findings are of great significance for academic and application development. From the
40. SNS Attributes – 40
academic perspective, these results provide a foundation for the development of further research,
and have demonstrated the potential to develop a general theory that can throw ideas into shape.
From the application perspective, this research is timely as SNSes are being established
as an effective two-way communication tool between companies and consumers. Variances in
attributes of SNS sites identified from the research are of significance from the application
perspective, and provide insight into the successful management of the attributes for current and
future SNS operators. In other words, an SNS administer would be able to recognize variances in
attributes from site to site in the operation of an SNS.
Such analyses will help SNS operators to gratify the attributes required by the SNS in
question in order to attract more members. Furthermore, by examination of user needs and
motivations for SNS use, they will be able to arrange gratifying information and provide data for
effective user management, thereby establishing strategies that can promote optimized
managerial performance.
7.2 Limitations and future research
This research drew attributes of SNSes based on the measurement items introduced in
the documents that were available at the time of research in order to add effectiveness to social
marketing. This study, however, had several limitations which must be noted.
First, the pattern of SNS use in consideration of user personalities, motivation for and
level of satisfaction from the SNS use were not applied to the research. There is a lack of
specified research relating to motivation for SNS use and the level of satisfaction by SNS use.
Second, in order to classify the types of SNSes, the surveyed respondents were asked to
select an SNS they mainly used. Cyworld (46%) was the one that is most used by the
respondents in Korea, which impairs explanation ability for the research findings.
41. SNS Attributes – 41
Third, validation for the correlation between the seven attributes and their performance
in the actual operation of an SNS does not exist. The research sought to provide explanations on
the SNS attributes through multiple comparison of SNSes. It will be meaningful to verify
empirically how these attributes identified from this research can affect the operation of
communities in reality.
Fourthly, the SNS attributes are limited to seven in this research, but other attributes
such as ‘reliability’, ‘mobility’, ‘continuity’ and so on may also be considered.
Further study will be possible in the future based on the limitations of this research.
First, research on the relationship model relating to the correlation between an SNS and
the personalities of its users, type of the relationship therein, user satisfaction and intention of re-
visit from the marketing perspective and the like may be necessary. The role and importance of
SNSes will be clearly manifested to incorporate success in the additional research findings.
Second, in order to provide sound evidence for the SNS attributes, a survey of SNS
operators should be conducted to check if they experience more effectiveness after having
adopted an SNS strategy.
Appendix A.
The following is a summation of the question items used in the study.
All items solicited responses on a five-point Likert scale with 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 =
neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree.
Interaction (Deuze 2001; Rafaeli & John 1995; Chen & Wells 1999; Ghosh 1998)
1. The SNS that I use enables me to participate in the conversation with other users through message
boards, communities and chatting.
2. The SNS that I use enables me to perform two-way communication.
3. The SNS that I use enables me to communicate with other people smoothly.
4. The SNS that I use is highly responsive to users.
Information (Ducoffe 2006; Chen & Wells 1999)
42. SNS Attributes – 42
1. The SNS that I use offers reliable information that I need.
2. The SNS that I use offers in-depth information that I need.
3. The SNS that I use offers useful information that I need.
4. The SNS that I use offers useful information that I need.
Connection (Deuze 2001; Elliott & Speck 2005)
1. The SNS that I use is easy to access through mobile devices.
2. The SNS that I use is easy to manage in writing comments.
3. The SNS that I use allows easy access to information.
4. The SNS that I use allows easy distribution of content to general portals, sites or other SNS sites.
5. The SNS that I use allows me to work easily without a complicated registration process.
6. The SNS that I use allows me to access information easily without a complicated registration process.
Sharing (Deuze 2001)
1. The SNS that I use enables me to distribute video clips easily.
2. The SNS that I use enables me to distribute music easily.
3. The SNS that I use enables me to convey content (video, music, other content) links easily.
4. The SNS that I use enables me to easily scrap and save content (video, music, other content) on my
private homepage.
Intimacy (Armstrong & Hagel 1996; Lee 2009)
1. Through the SNS that I use, I intend to establish close relationships (neighbors, friends) with other
users.
2. The SNS that I use offers information to other SNS users who have similar interests.
3. Through the SNS that I use, I intend to participate in e offline meetings or events.
4. I am satisfied with the relationships (neighbors, friends) that I have cultivated through the SNS.
5. I believe the relationship with my offline friends has become closer because they were connected with
me through the SNS that I use.
Communication (Deuze 2001)
1. The SNS that I use allows easy communication among users.
2. The SNS that I use allows me to offer a lot of information because the message board is activated.
3. The SNS that I use enables me to write my ideas and opinions positively.
4. The SNS that I use is well equipped with communities, message boards, chatting and so on in which
the users can share opinions.
5. The SNS that I use enables me to send and receive my opinions to other people or groups easily.
6. The SNS that I use enables me to get feedback on my opinions promptly.
Entertainment (Elliott & Speck 2005; Hoffman & Novak 1995; Chen & Wells 1999)
1. The SNS that I use includes multi-media functions (photos, videos).
2. The SNS that I use is interesting.
3. The SNS that I use has a good design and good functions.
4. The SNS that I use is enjoyable.
5. Through the SNS that I use, I can participate in various events.
6. When I visit the SNS that I use, I can read interesting data and writing, and I can view interesting
photos.
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43. SNS Attributes – 43
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