-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AISWorld] CFP: JGITM Special Issue - Online Communities and Social Networks – Global and Cultural Perspectives Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:28:21 -0400 From: Eric Lu ericlu100@gmail.com To: aisworld@lists.aisnet.org CC: Fujun Lai fujun.lai@usm.edu, Yang Dan yangd@swufe.edu.cn

a) Title: “Special Issue on Online Communities and Social Networks – Global and Cultural Perspectives”

b) Theme Recent advances in the Internet and communication technologies have led to the rapid growth of social networking communities, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, SecondLife, and YouTube. According to Nielsen online report (2009), social networking is now the fourth most popular online activity, and virtual communities are visited by two-thirds of the global online population.

This phenomenal growth has attracted researchers from a wide range of disciplines such as mathematics, sociology, computer sciences, and information systems. However, many of prior studies emphasized on the network topology and structural properties, such as network ties, centrality, density, and cliques (Johnson and Faraj). Studies in this area have also focused on social network analysis and more recently on social media intelligence and networking data mining (Agarwal et al. 2008; Oinas-Kukkonen et al. 2010). However, current research is not closely related to culture and organization issues, and they do not fully capture and understand the social and managerial impact of Web 2.0.

The purpose of this special issue is to help advance this line of research and bridge the gap. In particular, this special issue will report the latest research about online communities and social networks from global culture, organization, and management perspectives. Given the multidisciplinary and collaborative nature of inquiries into the interaction between online social network and technology, the contributions are expected to incorporate diversified and creative applications of theories and methodologies from various fields including Information Systems (IS), Economics, Management, Marketing, Communication, and Information Science (Duan 2009). Consistent with the focus of JGITM, all submitted papers must explicitly address key global (i.e., international and cultural) issues.

c) Aims and Scope The objective of this special issue is to attract high quality manuscripts in the area of online social networks and online communities, particularly from a global culture and management perspective. It is expected to provide a forum for both academic researchers and practitioners in this area. Papers of all methodological approaches are welcomed. Papers that do not have a clear context on social networks and virtual communities will not be considered for the special issue. Consistent with the focus of JGITM, all submitted papers must explicitly address key global (i.e., international and cultural) issues.

Possible contributions may include, but are not limited to the following: · Contextual social network analysis; · Influence of social networks on individual, group, or organizational performance; · Social capital and growth of virtual community; · Social capital to support virtual teams; · Social network and human resource management; · Social network and guanxi network; · Privacy concerns and social networks, social networking and computer ethics; · Social networking as a driver for e-democracy and e-government; · Effectiveness of online recommendation systems; · Impacts of organizational networks structure on IT productivity and performance; · Online social networks and IT outsourcing management; · Online social networks and digital divide; · Online social networks and firm’s external relationship management (SCM and CRM); · Online social networks and e-commerce; · Online social networks and business intelligence

All papers will go through a blind-review process. Each paper will be reviewed by at least three reviewers and the guest editors. The guest editors will make acceptance recommendations to the Editor in Chief, Dr. Prashant Palvia, who will make the final decision.

The special issue will include the following: Editorial preface to be written by the guest editors 3 or 4 referred papers An interview with a CIO or another senior executive of a company A book review relevant to the theme of the special issue

d) Important Dates Deadline for submission: January 30, 2011 Initial decision and revisions sent to authors May 15, 2011 Deadline for revised papers: July 30, 2011 Notification of final acceptances: August 30, 2011 Deadline for final versions: October 15, 2011 Tentative Publication Date: January, 2012

Submissions: Please submit electronically as MS-Word attachment to three editors simultaneously at the following addresses. Approximate size of the paper should be 25 double-spaced pages not including references, tables, and figures.

Special Issue Editors:

Fujun Lai The University of Southern Mississippi College of Business 730 E. Beach Blvd Long Beach, MS 39560 Phone: 228-214-3446 Email: Fujun.lai@usm.edu

Yong Lu The Pennsylvania State University Information Sciences& Technology 76 University Dr. Hazleton, PA 18202 Phone: 570-450-3024 Email: yul14@psu.edu

Dan Yang School of Business Administration Southwestern University of Finance and Economics Chengdu, China 610074 Email: yangd@swufe.edu.cn

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