Affiliation:
1. Department of Communication Sciences imec-mict-Ghent University Korte Meer 11 B-9000 Ghent Belgium + 32 264 67 11. Ghent Belgium
2. Department of Communication Sciences imec-mict-Ghent University Ghent Belgium
3. School for Mass Communication Research Faculty of Social Sciences KU Leuven Leuven Belgium
Abstract
Abstract
There is a tendency in the literature on local digital media use and neighborhood outcomes to conceptualize Social Network Sites (SNSs) as mere transmission channels, thereby ignoring SNSs’ dynamics and limiting the understanding of their role in neighborhood life. Informed by Communication Infrastructure Theory and social media literature, we propose and test a model to investigate the association between the use of SNSs, appropriated as online neighborhood networks, and neighborhood sense of community. We administered a survey to Flemish online neighborhood network users (n = 590) and found that active localized SNS use brings about an online sense of community and community awareness, which both independently lead to a neighborhood sense of community. Based on these findings, we argue that SNSs, appropriated as online neighborhood networks, function simultaneously as neighborhood hotspots in a neighborhood’s communication action context as well as community awareness media in a neighborhood’s storytelling network.
Subject
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Communication
Cited by
4 articles.
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