Advances in Social Behavior Research
Vol. 2, 03 March 2023
Open
Access | Article
How Characteristics of Virtual Communities Influence the Identity of Online Fans in China? – Using Sina Weibo as An Example
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper introduces the relationship between fans' identity reconstruction and the characteristics of virtual communities via the rise of new media. The research will explore fans' ego and social identity perceptions in online platforms, and state phenomenon that occurs in virtual communities that influence fans' identity. Sina Weibo platform will be used as an example to explore the model of online star-chasing activity in China by subjecting fans as the research object. Method of interview will be adopted to explore the changes in fans’ self- recognition and behaviors in virtual communities, and explained by the identity theory to give the final conclusion.
Keywords
fans, social identity, ego identity, identity reconstruction, virtual community
References
1. Lei, K., Liu, Y., Zhong, S., Liu, Y., Xu, K., Shen, Y., & Yang, M. (2018). Understanding user behavior in Sina Weibo online social network: A community approach. IEEE Access, 6, 13302-13316
2. Hu, C., Zhao, L., & Huang, J. (2015). Achieving self-congruency? Examining why individuals reconstruct their virtual identity in communities of interest established within social network platforms. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, 465-475.
3. Ma, X., Gong, X., Cong, X., & Cong, J. (2021, November). Weibo “Super Topic Community”: Virtual Community from the Perspective of Interactive Ceremony Chain. In 7th International Conference on Social Science and Higher Education (ICSSHE 2021) (pp. 63-67). Atlantis Press.
4. Qin, W (2021 The Production and Dissemination of Fanquan Culture in Weibo Space-Taking Xiao Zhan Fanquan as an Example. Dalian University of Technology, DOI: 10.26991/d.cnki.gdllu.2021.002288.
5. Dennis, A. R., Pootheri, S. K., & Natarajan, V. L. (1998). Lessons from the early adopters of Web groupware. Journal of Management Information Systems
6. Handy, C. (1995). Trust and the virtual organization. Harvard Business Review
7. Hiltz, S. R. (1984). Online communities: A case study of the office of the future. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
8. Rheingold, H. (1993b). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
9. Sarason SB. (1974) The psychological sense of community: prospects for community psychology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
10. Erikson, E. H. (1956). The problem of ego identity. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 4(1), 56-121.
11. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (2004). The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. In J. T. Jost & J. Sidanius (Eds.), Political psychology: Key readings (pp. 276–293). Psychology Press.
12. Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. basil Blackwell.
13. Hogg, M. A. (1996). Intragroup processes, group structure and social identity. Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel, 65, 93.
14. Kim, H.-W., Zheng, J. R., and Gupta, S. (2011). Examining knowledge contribution from the perspective of an online identity in blogging communities. Comput. Hum. Behav. 27.
15. Ruyter, D. D., and Conroy, J. (2002). The formation of identity: the importance of ideals. Oxf. Rev. Educ. 28.
16. Donath, J. S. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. Communities in cyberspace, 29-59.
17. Turkle, S. (1997). Computational technologies and images of the self. Social Research, 1093-1111.
18. Hatoss, A. (2012). Where are you from? Identity construction and experiences of ‘othering’in the narratives of Sudanese refugee-background Australians. Discourse & Society, 23(1), 47-68.
19. Slay, H. S., & Smith, D. A. (2011). Professional identity construction: Using narrative to understand the negotiation of professional and stigmatized cultural identities. Human relations, 64(1), 85-107.
20. Stern, S. (2008). Producing sites, exploring identities: Youth online authorship (pp.95-118). MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative.
21. Chambers, D. (2013). Social media and personal relationships: Online intimacies and networked friendship. Springer.
22. Nambisan, P., & Watt, J. H. (2011). Managing customer experiences in online product communities. Journal of Business Research, 889–895.
23. Chung, S.; Cho, H. (2017). "Fostering Parasocial Relationships with Celebrities on Social Media: Implications for Celebrity Endorsement". Psychology & Marketing. 34 (4): 481–495. doi:10.1002/mar.21001.
24. Giles, D. C. (2017). How do fan and celebrity identities become established on twitter? A study of ‘social media natives’ and their followers. Celebrity Studies, 445–460.
25. Marshall, P.D. (2010) The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media, Celebrity Studies
26. Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
27. Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Fandom. New York: Routledge.
28. Gorden, R.L. (1992). Basic interviewing skills. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.Chung, S., & Cho, H. (2017). Fostering parasocial relationships with celebrities on social media: Implications for celebrity endorsement. Psychology and Marketing, 34.
29. Dunn, K. (2000). Interviewing.
30. Corbin, J., & Morse, J. M. (2003). The unstructured interactive interview: Issues of reciprocity and risks when dealing with sensitive topics. Qualitative inquiry, 9(3), 335-354.
31. Berndt, T. J. (2004). Children's friendships: Shifts over a half-century in perspectives on their development and their effects. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982-), 206-223.
32. Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories (p. 6). Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open Access Instruction).