Open AccessCommunication Processes in Participatory Websites
Author(s) -
Walther Joseph B.,
Jang Jeongwoo
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of computer‐mediated communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.15
H-Index - 119
ISSN - 1083-6101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01592.x
Subject(s) - citizen journalism , variety (cybernetics) , computer science , focus (optics) , function (biology) , world wide web , aggregate (composite) , user generated content , human–computer interaction , data science , social media , artificial intelligence , physics , materials science , evolutionary biology , optics , composite material , biology
Research on participatory websites has been minimally theoretical and lacks a comprehensive framework that identifies common elements and their functions across a variety of Web 2.0 platforms. This article suggests the definitions of 4 common message types in participatory websites—proprietor content, user‐generated content, deliberate aggregate user representations, and incidental aggregate user representations—and offers research exemplars that illustrate how they may function in transforming online social interaction and influence. It introduces the 6 empirical studies in this Special Issue of the Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication in terms of the theories, functions, cues, and message types on which these articles focus.