Comparisons and Contrasts of Articles on Social Media Theories

This paper discusses the comparisons and contrasts between articles on different theories related to social media. It explores personal behavior theories, social behavior theories, and mass communication theories. The articles focus on topics such as user acceptance of technology, blog usage, knowledge sharing, and online gaming communities.

Running head: INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Interactive Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The purpose of the following paper is to demonstrate the comparisons and contrasts
between articles on different theories related to social media. Six articles from three theories
would be discussed in this paper since authors of these articles have discussed about these topics
in different ways. The three theories that would be discussed here in this paper are personal
behavior theories, social behavior theories and mass communication theories. The development
of understanding on these theories can be gained by comparing and contrasting the theories. It
would be better to provide an overview on these issues so organizations can follow these theories
for their betterment.
Discussion on articles one and two
The name of the first article is Exploring user acceptance of technology using social
networks. The authors of this article were Liaquat Hossain and Anjali de Silva. This article had
been published in the year 2009. In this section, the most important factor is the Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM) (Hossain & de Silva, 2009). The acceptance of users in new
technologies of computers has been discussed in this paper. However, some issues have been
highlighted in this article regarding limitations of existing TAM model on the virtual
communities in the world. This model is very closely linked with that of personal behaviour
theories since acceptance of new computer technologies will be very important to students and
professional users in virtual communities. This article has evidently discussed about all those
issues that would be helpful and problematic for the virtual community users (Hossain & de
Silva, 2009). In this article, the authors have attempted to make new attempts to extend the
technology acceptance model so different kinds of social ties can be influenced by the measure

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of new theoretical issues. The authors in this article have also described the influence of model
on those virtual communities.
On the other hand, the second article is named Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of
technology acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation. The authors of this
article are Hsu Chin-Lung and Judy Chuan-Chuan Lin. This article had been published in the
year 2008 (Hsu & Lin, 2008). This article also emphasizes on the technology acceptance model
(TAM) and issue of using blogs in refining the role of technology. In opposition to the previous
article, this article has brought out the issue of blog writing and how people will be influenced by
this. The contents of this article have discussed the role of blog activities that are quite important
in the contemporary times. In this article, the authors have made sutveys on 212 blog participants
(Hsu & Lin, 2008). It has been done so readers can understand the influence of blog writing and
its connection with technology acceptance model to be precise. Some crucial social factors have
been discussed like community activities. These things had not been properly shown in the
previous article. Therefore, users have showed a very passionate desire to use these blogs
properly taht shows strong support for implementation of social behaviour theories (Hsu & Lin,
2008).
Discussions on article three and four
The following two articles have social behaviour theories that are related with technology
acceptance model (TAM). The name of this article is “What makes bloggers share knowledge?
An investigation on the role of trust”. The authors of this article are Sangmi Chai and Minkyun
Kim. It had been published in the year 2010 (Chai & Kim, 2010). In this article, authors have
described that growth of blogs are included in the Web 2.0 technology. Here authors have

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depicted that knowledge sharing is indeed a very important factor for users. The connection
between sharing practices of bloggers and role of trust has been largely examined in this article
by authors (Chai & Kim, 2010). They have made significant discussions on this topic as well.
The authors have 485 responses from survey questionnaires in this article. Therefore, it shows
that the connection between knowledge sharing practices of bloggers and trust is positive indeed.
Therefore, it will be highly beneficial for the implementation of Technology Acceptance Model
(TAM). Different types of trusts have been depicted in this article like trust in blog providers,
trust in the internet, trust in ethical measures of bloggers and economy-based trust (Chai & Kim,
2010). Therefore, this article can be regarded as a valid document for a better understanding in
this matter.
The next article for making comparison and contrast is “Why would online gamers share
their innovation- conducive knowledge in the online game user community? Integrating
individual motivations and social capital perspectives”. The authors of this article are Yong Sauk
Hau and Young- Gul Kim. It had been published in the year 2011 (Hau & Kim, 2011). This
article has brought out the factors related to online gamers. The social behaviour theory has been
implemented in this article in the light of innovation-conducive knowledge sharing abilities of
communities that encourages different organizations to innovate new products (Hau & Kim,
2011). Community users go on to share the innovation-conducive knowledge i.e. helpful for all
community users. This article is somewhat different from the previous one since it brings out the
factors from the perspective of online gamer communities. On the other hand, knowledge sharing
practices have been described in both these articles.

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Comparison between article five and six
The following two articles have focused in media richness theory i.e. well connected with
use of social media and technology acceptance model. Social media is a very wide part of using
social media for benefits of common people. The first article that will be described in this paper
is “Examination of how social aspects moderatethe relationship between task characteristics and
usage of social communication technologies (SCTs)”. The authors of this article were Chulmo
Koo, Yulia Wati and Jason J. Jung. It was published in the year 2011 (Koo, Wati & Jung, 2011).
The authors in this article have revealed the influence of social information technologies on
social communities and the needs for proper interactions. Several types of social media
communications were selected like video conferencing, email, blog, instant messaging and
telephone. The usage of media and building of social relationships have been described in this
article (Koo, Wati & Jung, 2011). Therefore, it suggests that employees can build up good ideas
about their affinity with social hierarchy and relationships with clients.
The next article that will have to be compared in this paper is “Exploring and mitigating
social loafing in online communities. Computers in Human Behavior”. The authors of this article
are Yih- Chearng Shiue, Chao-Min Chiu and Chen- Chi Chang (Shiue, Chiu & Chang, 2010).
This article had been published in the year 2010. This paper can be compared to the earlier one
by saying that this article has discussed about the survival and success of communities through
using online social media. This article has also used 323 online users to make the survey. These
online users have given the proper support for technology acceptance model. Therefore, contrasts
lie in the group cohesion of online users (Shiue, Chiu & Chang, 2010). Two crucial factors have
been described in this article that is perceived risk and social capital. These factors have not been

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discussed in the previous article. A proper understanding of social loafing behaviour has been
outlined in this article.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that these articles have brought out a thorough
understanding about the social media networking and its consequences on the virtual
communities. Differences and similarities between these articles have been found in this paper as
well. The influence of these social media strategies on these online user communities have been
highlighted in the articles. The effect of knowledge-sharing practices has been shown in those
articles as well.

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Reference List
Chai, S., & Kim, M. (2010). What makes bloggers share knowledge? An investigation on the
role of trust. International journal of information management, 30(5), 408-415.
Hau, Y. S., & Kim, Y. G. (2011). Why would online gamers share their innovation-conducive
knowledge in the online game user community? Integrating individual motivations and
social capital perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 956-970.
Hossain, L., & de Silva, A. (2009). Exploring user acceptance of technology using social
networks. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 20(1), 1-18.
Hsu, C. L., & Lin, J. C. C. (2008). Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology
acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation. Information &
management, 45(1), 65-74.
Koo, C., Wati, Y., & Jung, J. J. (2011). Examination of how social aspects moderate the
relationship between task characteristics and usage of social communication technologies
(SCTs) in organizations. International Journal of Information Management, 31(5), 445-
459.
Shiue, Y. C., Chiu, C. M., & Chang, C. C. (2010). Exploring and mitigating social loafing in
online communities. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(4), 768-777.