Understanding microblogging continuance intention: the directed social network perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how individuals form microblogging habits and why they continue to use microblogs from the perspective of direction social networks. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the social network theory and the social presence theory, the authors develop a theoretical framework to explain how individuals form microblogging habits and why they continue to use microblogs. To test the proposed model and examine its external validity, the authors collected data from two microblogs: Twitter and Sina Weibo. Findings: Satisfaction and habit have a significant influence on microblogging continuance intention. Whereas, users’ microblogging habits are developed by two key factors – satisfaction and frequency of past behavior – that are further determined by social presence and social network centrality. Research limitations/implications: Larger sample size with diverse populations is highly recommended for future studies. In addition, exploring the distinct technical functionalities of microblogs when conceptualizing habit formation would be of benefit in future studies. Practical implications: In this study, it was found that social presence increases both the satisfaction of users and the frequency of past use behavior. Hence, microblog designers should provide users with greater freedom to modify the form and content of their interface, and enable these modifications to be visible in real time to increase the interactivity of microblogs. Originality/value: In contrast to past studies that have largely neglected the impacts of the directed social network structure, this study aims to focus on microblogging continuance intention from the directed social network perspective. The results from two independent data sets converge on the conclusion that users’ continuance intention to use is affected by both their conscious evaluations (i.e. satisfaction) and unconscious reactions (i.e. habit).