Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities
- Authors
- Lee, Ho; Choi, Jaewon; Kim, Kyung Kyu; Lee, Ae Ri
- Issue Date
- Jul-2014
- Publisher
- Idea Group Publishing
- Keywords
- Anonymity; Information Sharing; Online Communities; Pseudonymity; Self-Discrepancy; Social Media; Unlinkability; Unobservability
- Citation
- Journal of Global Information Management, v.22, no.3, pp 57 - 77
- Pages
- 21
- Journal Title
- Journal of Global Information Management
- Volume
- 22
- Number
- 3
- Start Page
- 57
- End Page
- 77
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/sch/handle/2021.sw.sch/12043
- DOI
- 10.4018/jgim.2014070103
- ISSN
- 1062-7375
1533-7995
- Abstract
- Many web users post their opinions and information without revealing their identities (i.e., demographics, social standing, and/or expertise); anonymity has become a common form of information exchange in online communities such as social media sites and Internet forums. In the meantime, negative social consequences have resulted from anonymous activities in online communities. Existing literature reports largely mixed results about the impact of online anonymity on online community outcomes. In an effort to clarify these mixed results, this study proposes a new operational definition of online anonymity that consists of three dimensions: unlinkability, unobservability, and pseudonymity. The data used in this study was collected from 238 online community users through a web-based survey conducted in South Korea. The results show that unlinkability, unobservability and pseudonymity positively influence self-discrepancy, which in turn positively influences the quality and quantity of information sharing.
- Files in This Item
- There are no files associated with this item.
- Appears in
Collections - College of Global Business > Department of Business Administration > 1. Journal Articles
![qrcode](https://api.qrserver.com/v1/create-qr-code/?size=55x55&data=https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/sch/handle/2021.sw.sch/12043)
Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.