Christopher Sibona

Unfriending on Facebook: Friend Request and Online/Offline Behavior Analysis

Objectives: Determine the role of the friend request in unfriending decisions. Find factors in unfriending decisions and find differences in the perception of online and offline behaviors that vary depending on the unfriending decision. Method: Survey research conducted online. 690 surveys about unfriending were analyzed using exploratory statistical techniques. Results: The research results show that the initiator of the friend request has more than their expected share of unfriends compared to those who receive the friend request. There are online and offline factors for unfriending decisions; the research identified six constructs to evaluate unfriending decisions. There are 4 components for online behaviors (unimportant/frequent posts, polarizing posts, inappropriate posts and everyday life posts) and 2 offline components (disliked behavior and changes in the relationship). Survey respondents who said they unfriend for online reasons were more likely to agree that the person posted too frequently about unimportant topics, polarizing topics, and inappropriate topics compared to those who unfriended for offline reasons.

Purposive Sampling on Twitter: A Case Study

Recruiting populations for research is problematic and utilizing online social network tools may facilitate the recruitment process. This research examines recruitment through Twitters @reply mechanism and compares the results to other survey recruitment methods. Four methods were used to recruit survey takers to a survey about social networking sites, Twitter recruitment, Face book recruitment for a pre-test, self-selected survey takers, and a retweet by an influential Twitter user. A total of 7,327 recruitment tweets were sent to Twitter users, 2,865 users started the survey and 1,544 users completed it which yielded an overall completion rate of 21.3 percent. The research presents the techniques used to make recruitment through Twitter successful. These results indicate that recruitment through online social network sites like Twitter is a viable recruitment method and may be helpful to understand emerging Internet-based phenomena.

Unfriending on Facebook: Context Collapse and Unfriending Behaviors

Social network sites (SNS) like Facebook allow users to add friends from a variety of contexts to a single general-purpose social network. The variety of friend types that gather on the site can lead to context collapse where connections from a variety of context are grouped in a single collection. This research examines the friend types who are commonly unfriended and examines two particular friend types in detail to determine differences between these types of friends and the general population. The most common type of friend who is unfriended is the high school friend (18.6%), followed by other (uncategorized), friend of a friend, and work friend. These four friend types account for the majority (53.7%) of unfriending decisions. High school friends are unfriended for making online posts that are polarizing and for posting too frequently about unimportant topics. Work-related friends are commonly unfriended for engaging in disliked offline behavior and are not typically unfriended for their posting behavior.

Patient perceptions of electronic medical records: physician satisfaction, portability, security and quality of care

Physicians are adopting electronic medical records in much greater numbers today and are escalating the rate of adoption. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides incentives for physicians to adopt this technology. The objectives of this paper are to determine whether patient satisfaction is affected by computer use in the exam room and whether patients who have experienced computers in the exam room perceive differences in the utility of electronic medical records. Physicians received higher overall satisfaction scores when a computer was used to retrieve patient information. Physicians received similar satisfaction scores when a computer was used to enter patient information. Patients who have experienced electronic medical records perceive benefits such as increased portability of the record but do not believe that physicians who use electronic medical records produce better health outcomes. Patients who have experienced electronic medical records do not desire more control over their record than those who have traditional medical records.

Patient Perceptions of Electronic Medical Records

Background: Physicians are adopting electronic medical records in much greater numbers today and are escalating the rate of adoption. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides incentives for physicians to adopt this technology. Objectives: Determine whether patient satisfaction is affected by computer use in the exam room and whether patients who have experienced computers in the exam room perceive differences in the utility of electronic medical records. Results: Physicians received higher overall satisfaction scores when a computer was used to retrieve patient information. Physicians received similar satisfaction scores when a computer was used to enter patient information. Patients who have experienced electronic medical records perceive benefits such as increased portability of the record but do not believe that physicians who use electronic medical records produce better health outcomes. Patients who have experienced electronic medical records do not desire more control over their record than those who have traditional medical records.

Predicting social networking sites continuance intention through alternative services

Social networking sites (SNSs) continue to grow in popularity with competition in the market growing as well. The purpose of this paper is to examine three research questions to determine how competition within the SNS area may affect the continuance intention on the incumbent SNS, Facebook. The first question examines the relationship between having an account on one of the four different SNSs and the impact on continuance intention. The second question examines attitudes toward specific alternatives and continuance intention on the incumbent SNS. The third question takes a broader examination of general attitudes about alternative attractiveness and attitude toward switching to predict continuance intention. A post hoc analysis was conducted to further understand the impact of specific SNS alternative attitudes on general attitudes.,Based on a survey of 918 users, this research examines the three questions using various methods including ANCOVA to examine question 1 and multiple structural equation models to examine questions 2, 3 and the post hoc analysis.,The analysis of the models suggests that both alternative attractiveness and attitude toward switching have the greatest impact on the continuance intention of the incumbent site. Specific sites were found to be complements or substitutes for the incumbent. The viewing of the specific alternative site as an alternative to Facebook had a negative impact on continuance intention. The general model of alternative attractiveness and attitude toward switching explained a moderate to substantial amount of continuance intention.,Although use and abandonment of SNSs have been examined extensively, minimal attention has been given to the impact that alternative SNSs have on continuance intentions of a user’s primary SNS.

Facebook Fallout: Future Contact Avoidance After Being Unfriended on Facebook

Objectives: Determine the factors that predict whether a person who is unfriended on Facebook will avoid future contact with the person who unfriended them. Results: The research results show that six factors can predict whether a person will avoid future contact with the individual who unfriended them: whether the person discussed the event after it occurred, the emotional response to the unfriending, whether the person who was unfriended believed it was related to their offline behavior, the perceived geographical distance between dyad, whether difficulties were discussed between the dyad prior to the event and how the person valued the peak-tie strength of the relationship.

Facebook Fallout: The Emotional Response to Being Unfriended on Facebook

Social networking sites allow users to form, maintain and dissolve relationships on the network. This investigation examines the factors that predict the emotional response a Facebook user may experience when they are unfriended. Facebook users who valued the peak of the relationship more highly were more negatively affected by the unfriending. Facebook users who displayed high levels of network vigilance were more negatively affected when unfriended. Users who discussed the unfriending with others after the relationship dissolved were less negatively affected by the dissolution. Facebook users who discussed the difficulty in the relationship prior to the friendship dissolution were less negatively affected by the dissolution. Common emotional responses to being unfriended include surprise, bothered, amusement and sadness, in this order by level of agreement.

Unfriending on Facebook: factors affecting online relationship termination in social networks and its impact on business

Establishing and maintaining relationships online is becoming ever more important in the expanding global knowledge economy. This study examines factors underlying the termination of relationships in the social networking environment of Facebook and examines how this information may be used to promote virtual business relationships. The results indicate that people use a variety of reasons for terminating virtual relationships which may be broadly clustered into offline and online reasons.

Moving On: Predicting Continuance Intention on Social Networking Sites through Alternative Products

Social networking sites (SNS) have growing popularity and several sites compete with each other. This study examines three models to determine how competition between Facebook and other social networking sites may affect continuance intention on Facebook. The first model examines the relationship between having an account on four different SNSs and its impact on Facebook. Twitter users have lower intentions to continue using Facebook, Instagram users have higher intentions. The second model examines attitudes toward specific alternatives and found that users who felt alternatives were attractive have lower intentions to continue using Facebook. The third model examined general attitudes about alternative attractiveness and attitudes toward switching, this model explained a moderate to substantial amount of the variance in continuance intention. This study makes important contributions to both research and practice.