Use of social network sites for question and answer behavior
Name
727063983-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
4.9 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e3341b82d0ab34c13fd8fea25b2efb8a
Author(s)
Panovich, Katrina (Katrina Marie)
Advisor(s)
David R. Karger.
Date Issued
2011
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In this thesis, we look at the behavior of posting questions as status updates on popular social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. This question asking behavior is similar to the use of search engines, question and answer sites, and information exchange offline, and can provide useful information for information seeking patterns elsewhere. We performed a large-scale survey asking about this behavior and used the techniques of affinity diagramming to code types and topics of questions, and grounded theory to code motivations for asking and answering questions. We conducted a field study in which participants posted status updates that asked a question that we varied across several dimensions, including several variations on phrasing. We also conducted a lab study where participants with information needs both posted questions on their Facebook profiles and searched online - we report on their preferences. Lastly, we looked at what kinds of friends - acquaintances or close friends - were answering questions, and who among them was the most useful, helpful, and trustworthy. From our collected data, we report on implications for design of both social systems and search engines.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-63).
Subjects
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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