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David R. Karger. Panovich, Katrina (Katrina Marie) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science 2011-06-20T15:57:08Z 2011-06-20T15:57:08Z 2011 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64593 727063983 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). 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. by Katrina Panovich. S.M. 63 p. eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Use of social network sites for question and answer behavior Thesis application/pdf Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="419cbf81-7c47-40dc-adc5-168b2df6e29b"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>Use of social network sites for question and answer behavior</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2011</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Panovich, Katrina (Katrina Marie)</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.</Keyword> <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.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>