The Predictive Power of Content and Temporal Features of Posts in Information Dissemination in Microblogging

Abstract

Reposting and commenting are the key mechanisms for information diffusion in microblogging. This study investigated the effects of content- and temporal-related characteristics of microposts on the number of reposts and comments received. Using a case study approach, data were collected from the microblog of a corporate in the hospitality industry. For the content-related factors, the results suggest that the use of multimedia features (including emoticons and pictures) and originally written posts had positive effects on reposts and comments. Different thematic topics also generated varying numbers of reposts and comments. For the temporal-related factors, the hour of the day in which a post was posted apparently affected the number of reposts and comments received.

转发和评论是微博信息传播的主要机制。以一家酒店集团的官方微博作为案例研究的对象，本文研究了微博发布的内容和时间特征对微博的转发量和评论量的影响。研究结果显示，从内容特征方面来说，采用多媒体（如表情图示、图片）、超链接以及原创型微博，对微博的转发量和评论量有显著性的正向影响；不同类型的话题也影响到微博的转发量和评论量。从微博发布的时间特征来说，每一天中的不同的发布时间段对微博的转发量和评论量具有影响，但是其发布的星期性特征不显著。本文所揭示的微博信息传播机制，可以对企业开展微博营销的内容设计和时间管理提高指导。

KEYWORDS:

• Hospitality and tourism marketing
• microblogging
• information dissemination
• reposting and commenting

关键词：:

• 旅游与酒店业营销
• 微博
• 信息传播
• 转发和评论