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Article
Supporting Prosocial Behaviour in Online Communities through Social Media Affordances
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology (2022)
  • Dominique Kelly, Western University
  • Liu Yifan
  • Alex Mayhew, Western University
  • Sarah E Cornwell
  • Yimin Chen, Western University
  • Nicole S Delellis, Western University
  • Victoria L. Rubin
Abstract
Affordances are action possibilities that emerge from the relationship between the properties of an object and an interacting agent’s capabilities. This poster examines how one type of affordance—anonymity—is enabled or constrained by six features of social media platforms. Our work is one step in a broader agenda to: (1) identify affordances that influence users’ behaviour in online communities; (2) outline the social media features that enable or constrain those affordances; and, (3) experimentally determine whether certain affordances, or combinations of affordances, support prosocial behaviour. Prosocial behaviour in information and communication technologies (ICTs) is broadly viewed here as benefiting other individuals in online communities, which in turn could increase the subjective well-being (SWB) of the community’s members. SWB is characterized by high positive affect, low negative affect, and high life satisfaction.
Keywords
  • Anonymity,
  • Affordances,
  • Social Media Design,
  • Human-Computer Interaction,
  • Prosocial Behaviour
Publication Date
October 14, 2022
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.703
Citation Information
Dominique Kelly, Liu Yifan, Alex Mayhew, Sarah E Cornwell, et al.. "Supporting Prosocial Behaviour in Online Communities through Social Media Affordances" Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology Vol. 59 (2022) p. 723 - 725
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/victoriarubin/20/