Home> Archive> 2015> Volume 5 Number 3 (Mar. 2015)
IJSSH 2015 Vol.5(3): 258-264 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2015.V5.464

Does Opinion Leadership Increase the Followers on Twitter

Yoosun Hwang

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.

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