Abstract

It can be argued the Internet has opened up a new frontier for social interaction. Nowadays, many people have constant social relationship and exchange social supports in on-line community. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of the social support on the member's community involvement and identification in online community. Also we supposed social support in online community would influence on perceived stress and self-esteem. Respondents complete a questionnaire on perceived social support in online and off-line relationships, community involvement, community identification, self-esteem, and perceived stress. The results of the on-line survey analysis verify that there are differences between social supports in on-line and off-line relationships. All types of social supports influence on community involvement and identification and enhance self-esteem. And self-esteem effect on perceived stress. This analysis leads to the conclusion that social support in on-line community could influence on daily life and mental health of community members