Exploring offline friendships on the social information network: Network characteristics, information diffusion, and tie strength

• Main Author: NATALI, Felicia
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Offline friendship; Twitter; Social Network; Social Information Network; Information diffusion; Tie strength; Digital Communications and Networking; Social Media
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/179; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1179&context=etd_coll
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The rapid increase in online social networking services over the last decade has pre- sented an unprecedented opportunity to observe users’ behaviour both on a societal and individual level. The insight gained from analysing such data can help foster a deeper understanding of social media users and the flow of information, while also offering valuable business applications. User relationships are among the most studied aspects of online behaviour. These relationships are not homogeneous. Past research has shown that people use social networks to both socialize and source in- formation. Hence, different types of links – used to socialize, gain information, or both – are formed among users. While much research has focused on how users are connected online in general, it is crucial to explore how users interact with those present in offline social networks on the online social networks. Questions such as, ”What would speed up the diffusion of a piece of information?” can be better answered from an integrated offline-online perspective. My thesis explores the be- haviour of offline friends on the social information network in three main areas. I especially focus on social information networks, and use Twitter as a case study. In the first study, I explore and compare network characteristics on Twitter among of- fline friends and online friends. In the second study, I explore information diffusion in the same setting. In the last study, I investigate whether we can use the measure- ment of tie strength among friends on Twitter as a substitute for, or a complement to the measurement of tie strength among friends in the offline world.