Exploring user acceptance of technology using social networks

Liaquat Hossain^a, , , Anjali de Silva^b

a	Project Management Graduate Programme, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

b	Accenture, Sydney, Australia

Available online 27 March 2009.

Abstract

The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been widely used to study user acceptance of new computer technologies. However, it does not incorporate social structure and influence as a significant factor. In this study, we ask the following questions: (i) What are the limitations of the existing TAM for studying virtual community? (ii) What is effect of social networks on user acceptance of technology for virtual community? and (iii) How can the influence of different types of social ties serve as a basis for exploring the user acceptance of technology in a virtual community? Here, we explore the possibility for extending TAM to incorporate the influence of the different types of social ties as a new theoretical construct. Preliminary analysis of data from a virtual community results show that weak and strong ties influence technology acceptance. The findings enable HCI researchers to account for influence of social ties in future investigations using TAM.

Keywords: Technology acceptance; User behaviour; Strong ties; Weak ties; Social networks; Virtual community