Antecedents and Consequences of Online Social Interactions

Abstract

Online social interactions occur in many venues, from e-mail lists and Usenet newsgroups to real-time chat-rooms and multiuser domains (MUDs). We conceptualize such online interactions as intentional social action and study its individual-level antecedents (attitudes, perceived behavioral control [PBC], anticipated emotions) and social-level antecedents (subjective norms, group norms, social identity). Further, we examine a number of its key behavioral outcome consequences such as changes in offline interactions with family and friends, engagement in neighborhood activities and hobby groups, and the use of such mass media as television, radio, and print publications. An empirical study involving 545 members of 7 different types of high- and low-interactivity online venues not only supports our theoretical framework but uncovers interesting venue- and gender-related differences among participants.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to express our gratitude to two anonymous reviewers and the editor for comments and suggestions made on this article.

Notes

^aIncludes the six respondents of “networked video games”.

All of the measures in the survey adopted a common time frame of “the next 2 weeks.” This served two purposes. First, it gave participants an appropriate closed-ended context in which to respond to the measures in the first wave. Second, it allowed us to approach participants again after that time period had elapsed and refer to the same time period when collecting participation behavior measures, thus permitting temporal consistency in measures across the two waves.

^aIncludes the six respondents of “networked video games”.