Tweeting to Feel Connected: A Model for Social Connectedness in Online Social Networks

Social connectedness is an indicator of the extent to which people can realize various network benefits and is therefore a source of social capital. Using the case of Twitter, a theoretical model of social connectedness based on the functional and structural characteristics of people's communication behavior within an online social network is developed and tested. The study investigates how social presence, social awareness, and social connectedness influence each other, and when and for whom the effects of social presence and social awareness are most strongly related to positive outcomes in social connectedness. Specifically, the study looks at the concurrent direct and moderating effect of two structural constructs characterizing people's online social network: network size and frequency of usage. The research model is tested using data (n = 121) collected from two sources: (a) an online survey of Twitter users and (b) their usage data collected directly from Twitter. Results indicate that social awareness, social presence, and usage frequency have a direct effect on social connectedness, whereas network size has a moderating effect. Social presence is found to partially mediate the relationship between social awareness and social connectedness. The findings of the analysis are used to outline design implications for online social networks from a human-computer interaction perspective.