To Tweet or Not To Tweet: Factors Affecting the Intensity of Twitter Usage in Japan and the Online and Offline Sociocultural Norms

Authors

  • Shaojung Sharon Wang National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

Keywords:

Twitter, relational mobility, self-disclosure, relational commitment, Japan, anonymity

Abstract

Japan’s external cultural borders are less penetrable and the Japanese Internet is more culturally homogeneous. Yet, Twitter has encountered few barriers in entering the country, and Japan has the highest Twitter penetration rate in the world. This study explored the factors that influence the intensity of Twitter use in Japan through the dual lenses of socioecology and the characteristics of computer-mediated communication. It found that relational mobility and information-sharing intention were significant predictors of Twitter use intensity. Positive relationships between Twitter self-disclosure and relational commitment and between relational commitment and intensity of Twitter use were also supported. Whether Japan’s offline social and cultural norms are also communicated in the virtual world is further explained.

Author Biography

Shaojung Sharon Wang, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

Shaojung Sharon Wang (Ph.D., University at Buffalo, SUNY) is an associate professor in the Institute of Marketing Communication at National Sun Yat-sen University. She explores the effects of using new communication tools on social, cultural, and political changes and how they translate into human interactions. She may be contacted at shaowang@faculty.nsysu.edu.tw; 886-7-525-2000 ext. 4965 

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Published

2016-05-25

Issue

Vol. 10 (2016)

Section

Articles

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