Chih-Hui Lai

First Comes Love, Then Comes Google: An Investigation of Uncertainty Reduction Strategies and Self-Disclosure in Online Dating:

This study investigates relationships between privacy concerns, uncertainty reduction behaviors, and self-disclosure among online dating participants, drawing on uncertainty reduction theory and the warranting principle. The authors propose a conceptual model integrating privacy concerns, self-efficacy, and Internet experience with uncertainty reduction strategies and amount of self-disclosure and then test this model on a nationwide sample of online dating participants ( N = 562). The study findings confirm that the frequency of use of uncertainty reduction strategies is predicted by three sets of online dating concerns—personal security, misrepresentation, and recognition—as well as self-efficacy in online dating. Furthermore, the frequency of uncertainty reduction strategies mediates the relationship between these variables and amount of self-disclosure with potential online dating partners. The authors explore the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of uncertainty reduction, warranting, and self-disclosure processes in online contexts.

Organizational Resilience and Using Information and Communication Technologies to Rebuild Communication Structures

This study employs the perspective of organizational resilience to examine how information and communication technologies (ICTs) were used by organizations to aid in their recovery after Hurricane Katrina. In-depth interviews enabled longitudinal analysis of ICT use. Results showed that organizations enacted a variety of resilient behaviors through adaptive ICT use, including information sharing, (re)connection, and resource acquisition. Findings emphasize the transition of ICT use across different stages of recovery, including an anticipated stage. Key findings advance organizational resilience theory with an additional source of resilience, external availability. Implications and contributions to the literature of ICTs in disaster contexts and organizational resilience are discussed.

The Evolution of Networks and the Resilience of Interorganizational Relationships after Disaster

This study uses social capital and evolutionary theory to examine organizational resilience in terms of interorganizational networks of disaster-struck organizations following Hurricane Katrina. Approaching post-disaster organizational resilience using social network analysis highlights the way pre-disaster relationships and networking patterns play a vital role in post-disaster rebuilding. Data support the idea of structural inertia, suggesting that disaster is an event that further strengthens pre-existing networks and is not a time when organizations might benefit from forging new networks in seeking support and fueling survival. Implications suggest that the social capital accrued through long-standing partnerships and efficient pre-disaster networking through building communities of practice significantly impact post-disaster resilience.

An integrated approach to untangling mediated connectedness with online and mobile media

With the growth and convergence of mobile and social computing technology, mobile media are accorded new social meaning manifested in different aspects of our everyday life. This paper employs multiple theoretical frameworks-including the theory of the niche, the framework of media repertoires, and the communication infrastructure model-to examine individual-technology relationship as manifested through media repertoires and media connectedness. It argues that individuals tend to construct a set of media options and build connectedness with media technologies by engaging in a wide scope of activities through these media. In turn, this media repertoire and media connectedness may facilitate the performance of social and cultural practices in the public space. To investigate this conceptualization empirically, this study conducted a secondary analysis of data collected by the Pew Research Center in the United States. The results showed that multidimensional use of mobile apps was predicted by multidimensional Internet use, along with the scope of regular apps used and monetary investment by users. Additionally, multidimensional Internet use and the use of media repertoires consisting of mobile media and social media for socio-cultural activities facilitate public socio-cultural engagement. These results bring to light a new way of understanding how humans appropriate multiple types of technologies for activities in everyday life.

Understanding Local News Consumption and Community Participation via the Lens of Information Repertoires and Media Multiplexity

This study applies and extends the frameworks of information repertoires and media multiplexity to examine how the use of local information repertoires affects multimodal community participation, which is in turn reflected in community integration. A path analysis was conducted on the data gathered by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The results showed that four variables—habits of information seeking, diverse community interests, access to technology, and local information repertoires—were associated with each other. In addition, together they predicted community participation through multiple media use and the media gratifications obtained, which in turn positively influenced the level of local ties, community satisfaction, and community efficacy. Implications of the findings for theoretical and societal contributions and directions for future research are discussed.

A study of emergent organizing and technological affordances after a natural disaster

Purpose Drawing on the model of technology-in-practice and the literature on bona fide approaches and technological affordances, the purpose of this paper is to argue that collectives involved in emergency response may exhibit similar and different usage patterns for technology due to the combined influence of the temporal development of the response actions and the existing and newly enacted organizational, social, and technological structures. Design/methodology/approach To enrich the argument about the inter-related influence on response organizations’ use of technology across phases of the disaster response, this research uses a multi-method and longitudinal case study of citizen-based response organizations after Hurricane Sandy. Findings Findings show that technologies were used similarly by response organizations immediately after the hurricane, whereas the later use of technologies exhibited variations. Moreover, Twitter was used consistently for diverse purposes across the phases of the disaster response, whereas Facebook usage among organizations first diverged and then converged two months after the hurricane. The organizations’ different patterns of social media use also reflected the construction and reconstruction of resource networks for relief operations over time. Research limitations/implications This study integrates multiple theoretical frameworks in explaining the processes and outcomes of technology use for collectives in emergency response, which presents an example of bridging and enriching the theoretical constructs from the areas of technology adaptation and emergency management. Practical implications Findings of this study provide practical knowledge about the mechanisms of integrating multiple information systems into the building of resilient social systems for emergency response. Social implications Findings of this study enrich social understanding about how the use of technologies for collective activity in emergency situations can go beyond one-time events and lay the foundation for long-term resilient emergency management. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in its mixed-method and longitudinal design, which allows for the examination of the timing, circumstances, and outcomes of citizen-based response organizations’ technology use.

Unpacking the Network Processes and Outcomes of Online and Offline Humanitarian Collaboration

Employing a bona fide network perspective, this study investigates the network processes and outcomes of organizational collaborative networks before and following Typhoon Haiyan, taking into account the influences of network factors, organizational attributes, and environmental exigencies. The analysis from an online survey with relief organizations and those organizations’ Twitter data showed the consistent influence of past relationships on the formation of subsequent relationships after the disaster. In the on-the-ground network, a few highly active organizations stood out and engaging in multiple modes of communication with resource contacts was seen as an adaptive practice that helped organizations to build resource ties after the typhoon. In the online domain, organizations developed post-typhoon networks by means of becoming directly linked to one another and becoming equally resourceful in building their ties. In addition, different forms of resilience were observed as outcomes of collaborative networks. Findings of this study present theoretical and practical implications by unveiling the network dynamics of contemporary humanitarian actions.

A multifaceted perspective on blogs and society

Abstract This paper proposes to employ a multifaceted perspective to systematically understand the impact of blogs on societies. Through the presentation of the structural, technological and usage factors that shape the use of blogs in Southeast and East Asia, this paper demonstrates the potential of this perspective to account for the variations of blog use across societies. These variations are further reflected in different social roles that bloggers play in these respective societies. With data drawn from email interviews with 14 bloggers located via Global Voices, a global blogging website, and supplementary secondary sources, this study also examined different types of self-organizing communication networks emerging among bloggers and non-bloggers at national and transnational levels in Southeast and East Asia. Implications of the findings for theoretical and practical contributions to research on blogs and contemporary collective action are discussed.

Volunteer associations in the Internet age: Ecological approach to understanding collective action

ABSTRACT This study draws on theories of collective action and organizational ecology to investigate a particular type of voluntary association: mixed-mode groups. Mixed-mode groups are created and organized online to meet physically in geographically defined ways. An online survey was conducted with 171 randomly sampled groups on Meetup.com—a website that facilitates the creation and coordination of mixed-mode groups. Analysis shows that even when a mixed-mode group implements strategies focused on internal group processes, it benefits from tapping into its external networks to obtain resources for group operation. Also, the differential impacts of internal and external strategies indicate that in the case of environment-prone mixed-mode groups, implementation of internal strategies alone, with or without solicited external networking resources, is helpful for generating positive group outcomes. Together, these results establish that boundary spanning represents not only a type of strategic action to obtain resources and produce positive outcomes but also an inherent and defining mechanism of contemporary voluntary groups for engaging in collective action.