Methodology
The study took place in two research cycles. In the first cycle the social proxy was made visible to participants. Their activity within the communication environment (including number of posts and amount of active time logged in) was recorded and stored in server logs. At the end of the cycle, a Likert-scale attitudinal survey was conducted to gauge attitudes of engagement in an attempt to gain a qualitative perspective on the raw server data. Survey questions include:
- I frequently change my profile information, including my avatar image.
- I want to be seen as an active participant.
- I log on to check for new content every night.
- I often look at the profile information of other participants.
- I often stayed logged in just to see if anyone else would come on.
An email questionnaire was distributed to selected participants to capture their thoughts and feelings. Questions were open-ended and solicited longer, more considered responses.
In the second research cycle, the social proxy was removed from the site. User activity was recorded and logged, and at the end of the cycle another Likert-scale survey was distributed. Data from the first and second research cycles was then compared to determine whether participation was influenced by the absence of the social proxy.
ParticipationParticipation was measured as an aggregate of two areas of user activity: the amount of 'logged in and active' time and the number of messages posted.
Amount of 'logged in and active' timeThe research of Walther (1994, 1996) suggests that online relationships form in similar ways to face-to-face relationships, but that they need more time to develop given the relative absence of social cues in online communication environments. Parks (1996) suggests that time restrictions imposed on online interaction tainted early research in the field, and subsequent research shows higher levels of interaction in situations where users have unlimited amounts of time to communicate. Both studies point to time as an important variable in measuring and encouraging increased participation in online communities. This study will consequently record the amount of time (in minutes) a participant is actively logged in to the communication environment, where activity is defined as the time around which a participant sends a chat message or posts an entry. This amount will be fed through to the social proxy and be visible to other participants. When the social proxy is removed the amount of active time will continue to be recorded in the server logs and compiled for review.
Number of Chat and 'Share' MessagesIn their groundbreaking study of online interactivity, Whittaker et al (1998) analyzed over two million messages posted by members of the Usenet community, a popular online newsgroup/forum site. Among a number of key discoveries, they found that a small group of users were responsible for posting a large number of messages - with roughly 3% of users posting 25% of messages overall. This did not indicate that the majority of users were idle, however. Whittaker differentiates between active users (those who post frequently) and peripheral users - those who may simply read messages without replying, or who rarely post a message at all. He suggests that the frequent participation of active users - even of a small few - has the flow-on effect of encouraging participation overall. This study will record the number of synchronous chat messages sent by participants as well as the number of asynchronous blog entries posted to the communication environment. The data will be visible to all other users via the social proxy, and will continue to be recorded when the social proxy is hidden.
It is hoped that the combination of indications of active participation (in the number of posts) and passive participation (in time logged in) will give a clear picture of the intentions of participants and show how the absence of a social proxy affects perceptions of participation across the online community. As above-cited research by Walther and Parks shows that, given time, interaction naturally increases in online communication environments, this paper will consider both a decrease and a leveling-off of interaction as an indication that the absence of a social proxy has produced a negative impact on participation.
To log in and have a look at the online chat tool, please click here. You'll need a username and password. Email me to get one.