Page 83 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 3. Contextual Background

al form of a social network service focuses on relationship types such as friends and

face-to-face relationships, but SNS in the Web 2.0 age brings more focus to the online
virtual community and computer-mediated communication (Kwon and Wen, 2010).
Boyd and Ellison define SNS as:
‘web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-pub-
lic profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom

they share a connection and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and
those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these
connections may vary from site to site’ (Boyd and Ellison, 2008, p.211).

Kwon and Wen simplify the definition of SNS as:
‘a web-based service which is based on certain meaningful and valuable relation-
ships including friendship, kinship, interests and activities, etc. Social network
services allow individuals to network for a variety of purposes including sharing
information, building and exploring the relationship, etc.’ (Kwon and Wen, 2010,

p.255)
The two terms – ‘social network site’ and ‘social networking site’ – are often used
interchangeably in public discourse. In this research, ‘networking’ is chosen to empha-

sise the relationship initiation. SNS help expand and strengthen one’s connections by
facilitating networking, which is an essential channel for information exchange and re-
source sharing in the online public sphere (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). The uniqueness of
SNS is that it allows users to dominate, shape and articulate their social networks, and
it is easier for users to make themselves visible on the online networks compared with

off-line networks. (ibid)
SNS is a cyber-environment in which a variety of online communities are nur-
tured. The multimedia communication elements in SNS such as instant messaging,

photos and video clips make it a collaborative tool to accelerate group formation and
escalate group scope and influence (Kane, et al., 2009; Pfeil, Arjan and Zaphiris, 2009;
Ross et al., 2009). It provides a straightforward approach to extend and strengthen
connections between users with shared interests and activities (Kwon and Wen, 2010).
The online communities formed on SNS cover a wide range of topics such as history

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