| Dissertation |
Thesis (M.Sc.) --NUI, 2016 at Department of Accounting, Finance and Information Systems, UCC. |
| Summary |
Unlike traditional internet media (TIM) which resembles earlier one-way broadcast media, social internet media (SIM) is a two-way communication channel, which creates new challenges in terms of information quality (IQ). The difficulties with IQ in SIM have been highlighted over the last decade due to the lack of standards of information posted online, the rapid growth of contributors and available content. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of reputation and user feedback on perceived information quality in social internet media. A quantitative study was performed on a Q&A platform (“The Workplace”). A theoretical model was derived from the literature and a systematic sampling method was used to gather 203 answers. Empirical indicators for reputation, feedback, and PIQ were measured and eight hypotheses were tested using regression and other analysis techniques. Two factors have emerged as characteristically different for collaborative media, that of community feedback and individual user reputation. While building the theoretical model it became clear that in a collaborative context it is necessary to differentiate between individual and group measures of PIQ and between the quantity and quality of user feedback. The study reveals that reputation does impact upon individual PIQ (the judgement of the answer seeker) but not on group PIQ (collective judgement at the community level). While feedback impacts both kinds of PIQ, the findings reveal it is the quality rather than quantity of feedback that is important. Finally, the study did not find evidence of a relationship between reputation and feedback, which is anticipated by prior research. The study thus makes several contributions, including a refined conceptualization of PIQ (individual vs group) and feedback (quality vs quantity) and an improved understanding of the relationships between feedback, reputation, and PIQ in social internet media contexts. |
| Subject |
Information technology -- Management.
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Management information systems.
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Social media -- Management.
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| Collection |
Theses Masters (Research)
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Theses Accounting, Finance and Information Systems Department.
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| Description |
127 pages ; 30 cm. |
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