A study of the social networking website service in digital content industries: The Facebook case in Taiwan

In recent years, a social networking service (SNS) not only thrives in digital content industries but also functions as a platform that focuses on facilitating the building of social interactions among people. Based on the DeLone and McLean model (2003), this study develops a modified model to examine the effect of the three website technology characteristics on user satisfaction, benefits of social interaction, and continuance usage. Based on a survey of 346 participants, the study uses a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach as the research model to investigate the above issues. The results provide an expanded understanding of the factors that measure SNS success. The results also indicate that system quality, information quality and privacy protection service had a significant effect on the continuance usage of a SNS in relation to user satisfaction and benefits of social interaction. In conclusion, implications of the research and practice are discussed, as well as future research directions; furthermore, research finding implies that psychological rather than technical factors are more important in digital content industries. Privacy protection and the increased benefits of social networking can ensure better website services. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.