What determines an Individual’s commitment towards social networking sites!

Individual participation in the Social Networking Sites (SNS) more or less corresponds to the aspects of physical space and essentially draws from the behaviors one exhibits in physical space. The selective withdrawal from physical space and active participation in virtual space, gives more freedom to an individual, which in turn culminates into the range of activities like curiosity to find more friends, active participation in online discussion groups or expressing consent or vice-versa.

In virtual space through the SNSs individuals tend to be more expressive than in physical space. This might be considered as the one of the most important attribute of the virtual space. When the network is more constrained like in physical space in terms of the nature of social relations, creation of social relation and hierarchy of social relation, the individual’s presentation becomes more constrained. However, contrary to physical space network, in virtual space, the network becomes more liberated through the SNSs, in terms of the social relation an individual shares with the network which he/she created for some specific purpose. And with less hierarchical structures, an individual becomes more liberated in expressing himself/herself,

Successful interaction in social networking sites (SNSs) depends not only on the user’s commitment for the group but also efforts to facilitate the member’s social interaction as a member of the group. A useful online discussion is a collective good for the whole; the contribution costs are restricted to active members, discussion benefits are distributed among all active and passive member.

Online interaction is often embedded in offline networks. It can lead to new contacts that are transferred to the offline world in unplanned ways; alternately, users can maintain existing offline contacts via online communication. Furthermore, some online SNSs are naturally affiliated with offline social interaction, and some intentionally create opportunities for offline meetings among members.

Register now to read more about ‘Online Participation and Self-presentation in Social Networking Sites’ from the Journal of Creative Communications.

    

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