Social Networking Sites' Feature Development from a Complexity Theory Perspective

Given that relatively few studies have been conducted on the feature development process of social networking sites (SNS), the understanding of SNS feature development may provide valuable insight for developers into designing SNS features. This paper therefore intends to illustrate how SNS features are developed through the interaction between developers and users from a complexity theory perspective. We analyze in detail why a SNS can be regarded as a complex system composed of developers, users and SNS features, and identify four processes -exploration and exploitation, affordance, evaluation and enactment, and stimulation-through which SNS features are developed. We contend that this paper contributes to research in that it expands the inclusiveness of complexity theory and shapes complexity theory in a way that fits the context of SNS. In addition, this paper provides guidance for developers in better developing SNS features, such as a welcoming attitude towards users' responses, extracting knowledge from user evaluations and enactments, and designing SNS features with certain affordances.