ABSTRACT

Social networking sites and apps (SNSAs) are being used more frequently across the world and yet the nature of this online environment and associated interactions are not fully understood. With no restrictions for SNSAs use related to specific geographical regions, language, age, gender, educational level, or any other factors, it is important to find a concept to describe and explain the components of this online environment and their relationships. This paper describes the environment of SNSAs use by Saudi postgraduate students from the perspective of second-generation activity theory (AT). The findings supported the theoretical framework of AT as a useful lens in understanding SNSAs use from the perspective of students, particularly in a cultural environment where physical communication has restrictions based on gender. A similar AT model can be drawn for the use of SNSAs, taking the perspective of different groups of academic users. The flexibility of the AT model appears at the level of SNSAs as technical and physical tools, and at the level of users’ community, which was managed by the explicit and implicit rules relating to communication. This feature reveals the way in which this extended framework can be used to indicate pertinent features of SNSAs.

摘要

社交网站和应用程序 (SNSA) 在世界范围内的使用频率越来越高，但这种在线环境和相关交互的性质尚未完全了解。由于 SNSA 的使用不受特定地理区域、语言、年龄、性别、教育水平或任何其他因素的限制，重要的是找到一个概念来描述和解释这个在线环境的组成部分及其关系。本文从第二代活动理论（AT）的角度描述了沙特研究生使用SNSA的环境。研究结果支持 AT 的理论框架作为从学生的角度理解 SNSA 使用的有用镜头，特别是在身体交流受到性别限制的文化环境中。从不同学术用户群体的角度来看，可以为 SNSA 的使用绘制类似的 AT 模型。AT 模型的灵活性体现在 SNSA 作为技术和物理工具的层面，以及用户社区的层面，由与通信相关的显式和隐式规则管理。该特征揭示了该扩展框架可用于指示 SNSA 相关特征的方式。