Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
Reference Hub13
Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities

Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities

Ho Lee, Jaewon Choi, Kyung Kyu Kim, Ae Ri Lee
Copyright: © 2014 |Volume: 22 |Issue: 3 |Pages: 21
ISSN: 1062-7375|EISSN: 1533-7995|EISBN13: 9781466657663|DOI: 10.4018/jgim.2014070103
Cite Article Cite Article

MLA

Lee, Ho, et al. "Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities." JGIM vol.22, no.3 2014: pp.57-77. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.2014070103

APA

Lee, H., Choi, J., Kim, K. K., & Lee, A. R. (2014). Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities. Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM), 22(3), 57-77. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.2014070103

Chicago

Lee, Ho, et al. "Impact of Anonymity on Information Sharing through Internal Psychological Processes: A Case of South Korean Online Communities," Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM) 22, no.3: 57-77. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.2014070103

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite Full-Issue Download

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.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.