Social Media on Violent Ideological Group Websites

Matthew L. Jensen, Norah E. Dunbar, M. Shane Connelly, William Taylor, Bradley Adame, Bobby Rozzell, Michael Hughes

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent research has shown dramatic benefits to incorporating social media in public facing websites. Using a perspective based on the duality of goals, we argue that social media, with emphasis on facilitating visitors’ unconstrained exchanges, may undermine the communicative purpose of an organization’s website and may not be desirable in some cases. We tested these ideas by examining the social media features on 105 websites that are supported by nationwide or international groups. Some of the websites are supported by ideological groups that have a strong interest in controlling their messages and clearly articulating their ideology to the public. A subset of the ideological groups also promoted or were affiliated with acts of violence in support of their ideology. As we predicted, we found that desire for control outweighed the benefits of social media, but only for the violent ideological groups. Nonviolent ideological groups and non-ideological groups were nearly identical.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication19th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2013 - Hyperconnected World
Subtitle of host publicationAnything, Anywhere, Anytime
PublisherAIS/ICIS Administrative Office
ISBN (Print)9781629933948
StatePublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
Event19th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2013 - Chicago, IL, United States
Duration: Aug 15 2013Aug 17 2013

Publication series

Name19th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2013 - Hyperconnected World: Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

Conference

Conference19th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2013
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago, IL
Period8/15/138/17/13

Keywords

  • control
  • dual-purpose theory
  • ideological groups
  • Social media
  • website

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Information Systems
  • Library and Information Sciences

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