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Call for Papers: The Use and Impact of Social Networking

Special issue of the Journal of Theoretical and Applied
Electronic Commerce Research Guest editors: Frantisek Sudzina,
Hans-Dieter Zimmermann, and Sherah Kurnia

The Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce
Research is planning a special issue on the Use and Impact of
Social Networking.

Social networking sites are already widely-spread and are here to
stay. We experienced the rise of social networking sites and we
learned that first-movers were not necessarily winners. We also
saw Google+'s uptake that was faster than Facebook's, and we
observed efforts to revive MySpace. Whereas Social Networking
Sites probably have a certain life cycle, it can be assumed that
underlying communication and interaction patterns are more
universal. In addition, the development of social networking
sites in China is worth mentioning. Facebook is blocked there,
while Renren seems to be a very successful substitute.

We have seen some integration between Web 2.0 tools, such as
Twitter and Foursquare messages appearing on Facebook or
LinkedIn. Conversion of connections from one social networking
site to another is getting easier. As it is common with
innovation, imitations come along quickly. For example, music
once was mostly associated with MySpace, but now we also listen
to music on Facebook and networking sites such as Spotify. On the
other hand, some sites discontinued and outsourced some features.
For example, Facebook discontinued its social coupon Deals, while
Facebook's Marketplace is owned by Oodle now.

A common feature of social games is that they involve virtual
goods; these improve strength or the speed of levelling up.
Virtually all social games allow to buy at least some virtual
items, so players, who are willing to pay, are able to progress
faster. This is also the reason why some people stopped playing
social games. One may expect that as a response to that, there
will be new social games developed, where the progress will not
depend on money spent.

Another issue with virtual goods in social games is that the
rules forbid players to trade with their virtual goods. But
people sell and buy these goods anyway. In order to comply with
the rules, the claim that it is not a sale but a contract for
finding or achieving goals necessary for obtaining the virtual
goods.

People tend to get bored with one game after some time. So, it is
normal to expect players switching between games. There are
various issues linked to the switching. It is also impossible to
catch up with players, who started to play at the time the game
was introduced. There is also no simple way to transfer the
refund for virtual goods, which have not been used. This could be
partially solved by Facebook Credits. Mandatory usage of Facebook
Credits for all applications has a wide-reaching impact on the
whole Facebook ecosystem.

Daily-deal/ social-coupon sites grew rapidly in the last few
years. However, it is difficult and expensive to attract new
subscribers. There is an increasing number of anecdotal reports
which suggest that this type of marketing is not suitable for
everybody. Not all business can sustain such huge discounts.
These deals also attract existing customers and potential
customers, who already know about the company and who only want
to take advantage of the lower price. So it is not so effective
in attracting truly new customers. Even the conversion rate of
one-time customers into regular customers is not so high. Not to
mention that there is an increasing competition between big
players (some of whom already backed down) and other local
competitors.

Furthermore, marketing communication is worth exploring in the
context of social networking sites, for example how organizations
and even individuals advertise on social networking sites,
including social games. A relatively recent phenomenon is related
to promotion of organizations' and (or) their products' Facebook
URLs in addition to (or instead of) regular organizations` web
sites on marketing medium such as billboards. This raises
interesting questions: How do organizations use social networking
sites for marketing communication? Is it a one-way communication
as it was the case with traditional media, or is it a truly
two-way communication?

But social networking sites have also influenced communication
between consumers. This may have a direct or indirect bearing on
speed of product adoption. It is possible to argue that social
networking sites made on-line shopping and of e-recruitment more
socially acceptable. There are certainly other possible ways
(other than those we are aware of) in which social networking
sites adoption can influence business, although the extent of the
impact varies from one country to another.

Subject Coverage

Particular topics to be addressed in this issue might include,
but are not limited to the following:

1. Business models of

Social networking sites (of any type, i.e. LinkedIn/XING,
Academia.edu/Researchgate.org, Facebook/Google+, ones with an
unclear business model such as Twitter, even currently less used
such as Fiendster/Myspace and controversial such as Netlog)

Games on Facebook and other social networking sites

Other sites residing above existing social networking sites, e.g.
referral sites such as TopProspect and NotchUp

Daily-deal/social-coupon sites (business models and competition
between Groupon, Living Social, Google Offers and alike,
including discontinued ones such as Facebook Deals)

Mobile geolocation services (such as Foursquare and Google
Latitude)

2. Marketing and Social Networking Sites

Organizations advertising on any social networking site

People advertising on Facebook walls

Advertisement in games

Gamification of non-game applications (such as in the case of
Foursquare)

Promotion of organizations` and/or products` Facebook URLs in
addition to or instead of regular organizations` web sites even
in old media

Usage of social networking sites for marketing communication

3. Societal impact of Social Networking Sites

Impact of social networking sites on social acceptability of
shopping on-line

Impact of social networking sites on consumers' communication
patterns

Impact of social networking sites on social acceptability of
e-recruitment

Impact of social networking sites on speed of product adoption

Other business-related impact of social networking sites adoption
on society

Notes for Intending Authors

We are seeking original manuscripts on the use and impact of
social networking. Papers can focus on particular social
networking sites or they can deal with more general communication
and interaction patterns specific to a particular type or
category of social networking sites. Empirical research papers
are encouraged. Most of the journals and conferences focus on
publishing papers, which report statistically significant
results. However, contribution to the existing literature can
occur also when no statistically significant impact is observed.
One possibility is when the null hypothesis is interesting as
such. Another possibility is when null impact is observed but
previous research has indicated significant impact which suggests
that the relationship of interest does not hold under certain
conditions. Thus replications are acceptable as well.

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be
currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Author guidelines can be found at
http://www.jtaer.com/author_guidelines.doc. All submissions will
be refereed by at least three reviewers. Submissions should be
directed by email to fransu_(at)_asb.dk with copy to
sherahk_(at)_unimelb.edu.au and hansdieter.zimmermann_(at)_fhsg.ch.

For more information, please visit the following web site:
http://www.jtaer.com.

Important dates

- Full paper submission: 1 August 2012
- Notification of acceptance: 1 October 2012
- Revisions: 1 November 2012
- Final acceptance notification: 15 November 2012
- Camera ready version of paper: 15 December 2012
- Publication: April 2013

Guest Editors

Dr. Frantisek Sudzina Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
Aarhus University Denmark E-mail: fransu_(at)_asb.dk

Dr. Hans-Dieter Zimmermann Faculty of Business FHS St. Gallen
University of Applied Sciences Switzerland E-mail:
hansdieter.zimmermann_(at)_fhsg.ch

Dr. Sherah Kurnia Computing and Information Systems University of
Melbourne Australia E-mail: sherahk_(at)_unimelb.edu.au

To recommend JTAER to ISI Thomson Reuters you must fill up a
recommendation form in Recommending JTAER with the requested
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