CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 16Knowledge Management and SharingInformation Systems Theories and ImplementationMedia and Digital Communication

Social networking in an academic conference context: insights from a case study

Levy, Meira, Hadar, Irit, Te'eni, Dov, Unkelos-Shpigel, Naomi, Sherman, Sofia, Harel, Nassi·2016·Information Technology & People
DOI 10.1108/itp-09-2014-0220
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conference-based online social network (OSN) for academics’ knowledge sharing and collaboration around and beyond a conference, while exploring the entanglement of the social and technical aspects of the system. Design/methodology/approach: – Following an exploratory study, an OSN prototype was developed and implemented in ECIS 2014. The usage of the OSN platform was monitored and in-depth interviews were conducted with seven of its active users. Findings: – Academic researchers have positive attitudes toward using conference-based OSN. However, there is a gap between academics’ perceptions and their actual behavior. Several barriers for engagement were identified, leading to technical and social recommendations, including the following needs: integrating the OSN platform with other conference information systems; addressing privacy concerns; allowing on-going collaboration; increasing OSN vitality; using the wisdom of the crowd; and promotion and its timing. Research limitations/implications: – The case study highlighted existing benefits, and identified potential future benefits from implementing a conference-based OSN. Future research is required to generalize the findings and evaluate the proposed strategies for enhancing user engagement. Practical implications: – This study revealed the set of considerations that should be taken upon launching a new academic OSN, which are beyond the technical issues per se. Social implications: – The paper presents the expected benefits from, and existing barriers to using a conference-based OSN, and suggests recommendations for encouraging academics to engage in such OSN, in order to enhance long-term social interactions, knowledge sharing and collaboration among conference participants. Originality/value: – This is a first study to examine a conference-based OSN.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1108/itp-09-2014-0220

Cites

47 of 47 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 48 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Abergel, N. , Unkelos-Shpigel, N. , Levy, M. , Sherman, I. , Hadar, I. and Teeni, D. (2014), “Enhancing communication among academic conference participants via social network”, Proceeding of Social IS Workshop in 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2014, Tel-Aviv.
  2. Li, C. and Bernoff, J. (2008), Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies , Harvard Business Review, Boston, MA.
  3. Mathes, A. (2004), “Folksonomies – cooperative classification and communication through shared metadata”, Computer Mediated Communication , Vol. 47 No. 10, pp. 1-13.
  4. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1994), “Grounded theory methodology: an overview”, in Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research , Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 273-285.
  5. Wenger, E. (1996), “Communities of practice: the social fabric of a learning organization”, Healthcare Forum Journal , Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 1-26.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Levy, M., Hadar, I., Te'eni, D., Unkelos-Shpigel, N., Sherman, S., & Harel, N.
Affiliations
  • Shenkar College of Engineering and Design (IL)
  • University of Haifa (IL)
ORCID
Venue
Information Technology & People
Publisher
Emerald
Published
2016-03-07
Volume
29
Issue
1
Pages
51-68
ISSN
0959-3845 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1108/itp-09-2014-0220
OpenAlex
W2285468158
Semantic Scholar
e00d722e4a666a2f72ff2cb1efb34535612caf63
Cited by
16
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2015: 1
FWCI
4.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.emerald.com/insight/site-policies (tdm)
Locations
Information Technology and People (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Knowledge Management and Sharing
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Media and Digital Communication
Keywords
social networking sites, academic conferences, knowledge sharing, research collaboration, user engagement, privacy concerns, wisdom of crowds

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review