Do your friends make you smarter?: An analysis of social strategies in online information seeking

Prior research in the social search space has focused on the informational benefits of collaborating with others during web and workplace information seeking. However, social interactions, especially during complex tasks, can have cognitive benefits as well. Our goal in this paper is to document the methods and outcomes of using social resources to help with exploratory search tasks. We used a talk-aloud protocol and video capture to explore the actions of eight subjects as they completed two “Google-hard” search tasks. Task questions were alternated between a Social and Non-Social Condition. The Social Condition restricted participants to use only social resources—search engines were not allowed. The Non-Social Condition permitted normal web-based information sources, but restricted the use of social tools.     

Evaluating the social value of online health information for third-party patients: Is uncertainty always bad?

Online health interactions (OHIs) can benefit patients, physicians, and society. However, little research has been conducted that studies the social value of OHIs for third-party patients who view previous OHIs concerning similar health issues to theirs. Drawing on the literature on social support and information uncertainty, this study established a theoretical model to explore the roles of treatment information, prevention information, and emotional support in determining information usefulness perceived by third-party patients, and whether such relationships are contingent on information uncertainty. The model was tested using “health questions and answers” textual data from 1,848 OHIs. The results indicate that prevention information and emotional support significantly improve information usefulness perceived by third-party patients. When the level of information uncertainty regarding physicians’ replies is high, the effect of treatment information is strengthened and the effect of emotional support is weakened, indicating both the bright and dark side of information uncertainty. This study has implications for practitioners and contributes to the literature on online health information, social support, information science, and information uncertainty.     

Exploring the effect of heuristic factors on the popularity of user-curated ‘Best places to visit’ recommendations in an online travel community

In online travel communities, ‘Top-K best places to visit’ recommendations are gaining more attention from travelers due to their ubiquitous access to the Internet, but little empirical effort has been made to investigate what factors lead to the popularity of user-curated ‘best places to visit (BP2V)’ recommendations. This research therefore aims to identify and validate the heuristic factors affecting the popularity of BP2V recommendations. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of persuasion, we derive recommender-related (i.e., recommender's identity disclosure, reputation, experience, and location of residency) and recommendation-related (i.e., number of places recommended, helpfulness rating, number of comments added, and length of recommendation) heuristic characteristics of BP2V recommendations and investigate their impact on recommendation popularity. In addition, this study examines the moderating effect of destination category (i.e., attractions, food, shopping, and activities) on the relationship between heuristic characteristics and the popularity of BP2V recommendations. Our empirical results, which were based on 565 ‘best places to visit in the U.S.’ recommendation postings from Qyer.com, a major online travel community in China, suggest that recommender's identity disclosure, reputation, number of places recommended, helpfulness rating, and length of recommendation are positively associated with recommendation popularity. We also found that the relationships between heuristic factors and the popularity of BP2V recommendations are contingent on destination category. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge on online travel communities and HSM and provide valuable implications for general travelers and managers in the tourism and hospitality industry.     

Who cares? Practical ethics and the problem of underage users on social networking sites

Internet companies place a high priority on the safety of their services and on their corporate social responsibility towards protection of all users, especially younger ones. However, such efforts are undermined by the large numbers of children who circumvent age restrictions and lie about their age to gain access to such platforms. This paper deals with the ethical issues that arise in this not-so-hypothetical situation. Who, for instance, bears responsibility for children’s welfare in this context? Are parents/carers ethically culpable in failing to be sufficiently vigilant or even facilitating their children’s social media use? Do industry providers do enough to enforce their own regulations and remove those users they know to be underage? How far does a duty of care extend? Regulation of age restrictions has, it is argued, created unintended consequences that heighten online dangers for young people. While children are inevitably drawn to new online spaces for entertainment and fun, should their rights to participate in the social world around them be curtailed to ensure their best interests and those of the wider community? Such questions now pose significant practical and ethical dilemmas for policy makers and other stakeholders involved in internet governance. It especially highlights the question of responsibility for protection of minors online and calls into question whether the current model of shared responsibility is working.     

Reposting negative information on microblogs: Do personality traits matter?

Forwarding negative information on microblogs, termed reposting negative information (RNI) in this study, refers to reposting negative, non-original information publicly on microblogs, causes large-scale bad news dissemination on microblogs, which in turn has detrimental consequences for organizations and the society. However, previous research concentrated on sharing of original content (such as knowledge sharing and word-of-mouth) or focused on general information forwarding on social media without distinguishing between positive and negative information. To address this issue, this study develops a model to investigate the predictors of RNI on microblogs (negative emotions and issue involvement in this study) and explores the contingency role of personality. A scenario-based online survey was conducted to test the proposed model and hypotheses. The empirical results confirmed (1) the direct and positive effects of negative emotions and issue involvement, (2) the negative moderation effect of extraversion on the relationship between negative emotions and RNI, and (3) the positive moderation effects of conscientiousness and agreeableness on the relationship between issue involvement and RNI. The study contributes to the literature by revealing the predictors of RNI on microblogs and by investigating the contingency role of personality.     

RoboWarfare: can robots be more ethical than humans on the battlefield?

Telerobotically operated and semiautonomous machines have become a major component in the arsenals of industrial nations around the world. By the year 2015 the United States military plans to have one-third of their combat aircraft and ground vehicles robotically controlled. Although there are many reasons for the use of robots on the battlefield, perhaps one of the most interesting assertions are that these machines, if properly designed and used, will result in a more just and ethical implementation of warfare. This paper will focus on these claims by looking at what has been discovered about the capability of humans to behave ethically on the battlefield, and then comparing those findings with the claims made by robotics researchers that their machines are able to behave more ethically on the battlefield than human soldiers. Throughout the paper we will explore the philosophical critique of this claim and also look at how the robots of today are impacting our ability to fight wars in a just manner.     

Do teams need both hands? An analysis of team process ambidexterity and the enabling role of information technology

As a core organizational resource, business processes are vital for organizational teams. To deal with today’s volatile business environment, organizations need to be ambidextrous in terms of process capabilities. However, little is known about how process ambidexterity, process standardization, and process agility, are enabled by information technology (IT) and related to team-level activities. To fill this gap in the literature, we conducted a field study based on 160 teams of 1081 individuals from seven companies in South Korea. Our results show that IT enables both process standardization and agility, and that a team’s process ambidexterity has a positive effect on inter-team coordination and team innovation, which in turn have a direct impact on team performance. Our findings highlight the importance of process ambidexterity by investigating the enabling role of IT and its outcomes in a team. Our results offer theoretical and practical implications from the perspective of team process ambidexterity.     

Are new technology-based firms located on science parks really more innovative?: Evidence from Taiwan

The establishment of science parks is employed as a vital strategy for developing high-tech industries in many countries. Whether new technology-based firms (NTBFs) located within science parks are, in comparison to their counterparts located outside of science parks, more efficient in terms of R&D investment remains less explored. The purpose of this paper is to compare the R&D productivity of NTBFs located within and outside of science parks by measuring the elasticity of R&D with respect to output. Using panel data for NTBFs located within and outside the Hsinchu Science Industrial Park (HSIP) in Taiwan, our empirical findings show that the elasticity of R&D with respect to outputs of NTBFs located within HSIP is significantly higher than that of other firms. These findings further reveal that NTBFs located in the science park invest more efficiently. Our results also indicate a slight advantage in R&D for firms in the science park, arising from the fact that the science park offers a clustering effect and establishes links among firms and research institutions.     

Do ‘liberal market economies’ really innovate more radically than ‘coordinated market economies’?: Hall and Soskice reconsidered

In Varieties of Capitalism; The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, Peter A. Hall and David Soskice (H&S) argue that technological specialization patterns are largely determined by the prevailing “variety of capitalism”. They hypothesize that “liberal market economies” (LMEs) specialize in radical innovation, while “coordinated market economies” (CMEs) focus more on incremental innovation. Mark Zachary Taylor [Taylor, M.Z., 2004. Empirical evidence against varieties of capitalism's theory of technological innovation. International Organization 58, 601-631.] convincingly argued that Hall and Soskice's empirical test is fundamentally flawed and proposed a more appropriate test of their conjecture. He rejected the varieties of capitalism explanation of innovation patterns. We extend and refine Taylor's analysis, using a broader set of radicality indicators and making industry-level comparisons. Our results indicate that Hall and Soskice's conjecture cannot be upheld as a general rule, but that it survives closer scrutiny for a substantial number of industries and an important dimension of radicality.