Social factors in the usage continuance of instant messaging for group collaboration

• Main Authors: Ebardo, Ryan A., Limpin, Laiza L.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Mobile communication systems in education; Instant messaging; Group work in education; Educational Technology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/12507
• Institution: De La Salle University

The ubiquity and mobility of mobile technologies have led to the proliferation of instant messaging apps, which have become a primary choice of communication mode among students. This trajectory gives birth to various affordances which presents opportunities for research on how these tools can support learning beyond the walls of traditional classrooms by facilitating group collaboration. While prior studies focused on examining the technological factors in the use of collaboration tools, other researches revealed that social factors are equally important. In this paper, we contribute to the dearth of research in exploring social dimensions as antecedents of usage continuance of collaboration tools. A total of 168 students participated in an empirical study which revealed social influence and social presence as predictors of positive attitude towards instant messaging tools for collaboration. Further analysis of data establishes social influence as the strongest indicator of usage continuance. However, contrary to prior research, social influence does not predict social presence. Future research, implications for the academe and limitations of the study are also discussed.