• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.635-660
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• 2024

A growing body of research explores how users of online communities navigate through large-scale platforms to find the information they seek. This study builds on the theories of homophily, structural embeddedness, and social exchange to investigate how interest homophily and existing communication structures serve as mechanisms driving information searches and the subsequent formation of communication networks in these communities. Specifically, we analyze comment-on-post tie formation using network data from "Today's House," the largest online user community specializing in interior design in Korea. Employing the LR-QAP method, a permutation-based hypothesis testing algorithm for social network data, our research identifies that network tie formation is driven by both homophilous information searches based on instrumental and hedonic interests, as well as by structurally induced searches such as preferential attachment, reciprocity, and transitivity. In addition, we investigate the contingent effects of communication structure on homophilous tie formation. Our findings suggest that while network-wide structural characteristics enhance homophilous tie formation based on instrumental interests, local network processes leverage homophily based on hedonic interests. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of the differential influence of participation motivations on information search patterns and the practical implications for the design of online communities.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.382-406
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• 2019

We study the antecedents to tie formation on an (Facebook-like) enterprise social media platform implemented to support cross-boundary connections. Research has produced mixed findings regarding the role of social media in cultivating bridging vs. closed networks. We examine the tie formation patterns of 1,386 enterprise social media users over a two-year period. Specifically, we observe who became (or chose not s become) "friends" with whom at the dyadic level and relate the decisions to various mechanisms that affect one's network to expand, constrain, or bridge. Using logistic and OLS regressions, we find that users tend to form ties via reciprocity and transitivity (with friends of friends), both of which help expand one's network. We also find strong networking tendency toward functional and hierarchical homophily (same business unit and same rank, respectively), which is likely to constrain one's network (closed network structure). We find that one's participation in various online interest groups is likely to open one's network (bridging network structure) while no evidence found for preferential attachment. Overall, we find that enterprise social media offers features, some of which are likely to foster bridging while others foster closed networks via different mechanisms.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2013

This paper explores the influences of the traditional Chinese culture on social relations in China. It provides an introduction to the concept of Guanxi, the notion that social connections are based on socially situated reciprocity. This is different from social interaction in Western society that is based on self-interest and equity. Guanxi represents the foundation of social networks in many Eastern countries. As such, the study of social networks in China requires scholars to examine Guanxi networks. The paper demonstrates how a Guanxi perspective might be added to the examination of various theories that comprise structural (network) theory, including social capital theory, social exchange theory, cognitive and contagion theories, and the role of homophily for the study of Chinese society and its social organizations.