Abstract

Past research on communications in cyberspace has emphasized either the effect of computers as a medium or the difference between communications in cyberspace and that of the real life. With the introduction of social network theory, some progress was made in understanding communications in the cyberspace, yet there has been little effort to consider cyberspace as a new behavioral setting where diverse human behaviors exist. This study does not assume that cyberspace holds a same meaning to everyone. In other words, cyberspace acts as different behavioral settings to different people. In our study, we examined users of 'cyworld' - an online site representative of social networking theory - to observe their behaviors and experiences and investigate what Cyworld means to its users and what contexts it provides them. After collecting and analyzing data from 956 Cyworld users, we found that users engage in diverse behaviors such as social networking, seeking information, decorating “minihomes” through using different options on the menu, self-expressing, and using it as a diary to keep records and regarding it as a personal space. Three groups emerged after the analysis- active utilizers, isolated, diary recorders, and new relationship, information seekers. These groups differed in behavioral patterns and psychological characteristics. For active utilizers, Cyworld acted as a “stage” where they can self-express. For isolated, dairy recorders, Cyworld was a personal space and for new relationship, information seekers, Cyworld acted as a community or a “party” setting. This research is meaningful in that it attempted to understand the dynamics and interactions of people in cyberspace rather than focusing merely on the functional aspects of cyberspace as a medium. Cyberspace acts as another behavioral setting and people show diverse behavior patterns within this setting. In addition, through investigating psychological characteristics of Cyworld users, this study made it possible to make predictions on the evolvement of Cyworld.