A113.
Mikal, J. P., Rice, R. E., Kent, R. & Uchino, B. (2014). Common
voice:
Analysis of content convergence on a website characterized by group
identification and social attraction. Computers in Human
Behavior
(special issue on Social Media, part 3), 35, 506-515.
This
study analyzes images and associated commentary from an online
image-sharing
community (www.imgur.com). We hypothesize that, in the presence
of overt
communication of social rules, site content will reflect a somewhat
consistent,
content convergence irrespective of who comments, given that an
individual’s
social identity, rather than their individual identity, will dominate
their
online interactions. From a random sample of 5,000 images grouped
into
six categories, we randomly selected 10 images from each category, and
conducted
a close qualitative analysis of the micro-comments submitted in
response to
those images. Our results suggest that there is an overt
communication of
behavioral standards through explicit behavior correction by other site
members. Content convergence can also be observed both in
responses to a
single image, and more broadly in comment similarity across images and
even
categories. Cultural norms and resulting content convergence
suggests
that individuals may come to see themselves as representatives of the
site when
they post – and may modify their behavior accordingly. This may
lead to
the perception that a common voice
appears throughout the site, which may have implications for the
communication
of social support over the Internet, and for more quantitative
analyses.
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