Abstract—As an efficient channel of an information flow,
Twitter is being paid more attention by opinion leaders. The
present study investigated motivational effects of opinion
leadership of Twitter users and the users’ intentional process of
increasing followers. On Twitter, information flows
interpersonally by followers and larger number of followers
helps to enhance the reach of opinion on mass public. Data were
obtained through an online survey and Structural Equation
Model was adopted for the analysis. First, the motivational trait
of opinion leadership of Twitter users was examined. Then, the
effect of opinion leadership of Twitter users on the intention of
making followers group was explored. The results show that
Twitter users’ higher level of self-esteem positively affects
higher level of users’ opinion leadership. Opinion leadership of
Twitter users positively predicts higher intention of forming
larger followers group. The users’ intention of social
participation through information exchange was found to be
positively associated with the intention of making larger
number of followers mediating opinion leadership. Implications
of the findings and meaning of followers on Twitter were
discussed.
Index Terms—Information flow, opinion leadership.
self-esteem, twitter.
Yoosun Hwang is with the Department of Journalism and Communication,
Joongbu University, Daehakro 201 Chubu Geumsan Choongnam, South
Korea (e-mail: yshwang@ joongbu.ac.kr).
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Cite: Yoosun Hwang, " Does Opinion Leadership Increase the Followers on
Twitter," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 258-264, 2015.