In an experiment we research the effect of the Philips iCat, a human-like user-interface, on copresence and social presence in remote meetings. Two remote meeting situations were compared, one in which an iCat represented a remote participant, and one with a video connection. Participants’ perception of copresence and social presence was measured through questionnaires. We found a systematicall...

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of an online educational experience through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Transcript analysis of online discussion postings and the Community of Inquiry survey were applied to understand the progression and integration of each of the Community of Inquiry presences. The results indicated significant change in teaching and so...

This study provides a framework for researchers who study the interactions of humans with computers to develop and evaluate user-centric user-interfaces by applying existing theories about telepresence, human-computer research, and characteristics of technology itself to produce social and spatial experiences similar to the ones computer users experience in the non-mediated world. An experiment...

With the growing popularity of information and communication technologies (ICT), researchers from information systems (IS) field are increasingly interested in the factors influencing user satisfaction in computer-mediated environment. Drawing on media synchronicity theory (MST), this study explores how various media characteristics influence user satisfaction through social presence. The resul...

The effectiveness of group learning in asynchronous distributed learning groups depends on the social interaction that takes place. This social interaction affects both cognitive and socioemotional processes that take place during learning, group forming, establishment of group structures, and group dynamics. Though now known to be important, this aspect is often ignored, denied or forgotten by...

The Irish Social Welfare System has developed in a piecemeal manner over three quarters of a century since the introduction of the old age non-contributory pension in 1909 It has developed along lines broadly similar to the social security systems in other countries Increasingly, there has been an emphasis on developing the social insurance element although Ireland still relies on means-tested ...

Armed with the great potential for business value and social networking, social media have generated great interests in academia and practice. Rare studies investigated the impact of social psychological factors on the usage of Facebook and the formation of quality relationship. The objective of this paper is to examine the key social psychological factors to better explain the formation of qua...

The advancement of communication tools has changed interpersonal communication among consumers. Companies leverage different communication tools to reach customers, while it is unclear, how communication types affect online referral acceptance. This study draws on affordances and social presence theory to investigate the role of two communication types (i.e. private and public) in social networ...

Lacking the presence of human and social elements is claimed one major weakness that is hindering the growth of e-commerce. The emergence of social commerce (SC) might help ameliorate this situation. Social commerce is a new evolution of e-commerce that combines the commercial and social activities by deploying social technologies into e-commerce sites. Social commerce reintroduces the social a...