Title:	PREDICTING OPINION LEADERS IN LARGE SCALE ENTERPRISE ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS
Author(s):	Maryam Shahbazi, Nazim Choudhury, Majid Shahbazi and Deborah Bunker
ISBN:	978-989-8533-74-6
Editors:	Miguel Baptista Nunes, Pedro Isaías and Philip Powell
Year:	2018
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Enterprise Online Social Network (EOSN), Information System (IS), Yammer platform, Influence measure, Online Communication
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	145
Last Page:	152
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Increased application of Enterprise Online Social Network (EOSN) platforms at the workplace extended influence on the decision making of corporate social communities from management to unofficial opinion leaders. This study attempted to examine the relationships between network structural positions and behaviors of EOSN users and their ability to influence others via EOSN platforms. By analyzing the pattern of user interactions via an EOSN platform (Yammer), this study revealed that a large number of users’ who voluntarily participate in this online community were influenced to participate by a small number of opinion-makers. Correspondingly, the results of this study showed that: i) memberships in various online workgroups; ii) structural position of actors in social networks; and iii) the degree of actors and groups’ online activities, largely impact a user’s ability to become an opinion leader or an influential actor within corporate social environments. Considering these facts, this study proposed a model to compute an influence score which represents the ability of an EOSN user to influencing other users in their decision-making. Subsequently a number of “predictor features” were extracted in our model to successfully calculate this score.
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