Knowledge Sharing of Faculty Members on Social Media: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aims at exploring factors related to knowledge sharing activities on Researchgate.net by faculty members from King Saud University (KSU). Two sets of data have been collected for this study. First, social media data was collected from Researchgate.net, where users from King Saud University (KSU) faculty were identified and their activity data including scholarly contribution: (RG score and research items), scholarly impact (reads and citations), and social network engagement (followers, following, questions, and answers) were crawled and downloaded. Second, survey data based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and social capital theory (SCT) was collected from all KSU faculty members. The results of social media data showed that major knowledge sharing activities KSU faculty members engaged on Researchgte.net are scholarly impact (reads and citations), followed by social network engagement (followers, following), and scholarly contribution (RG score and research items). There were little question and answer activities on the site. In addition, ranking of colleges from highest to lowest in terms of their knowledge sharing activities on researchgate.net are Research Institutes, Science Colleges, Health Colleges, Humanities Colleges, and Community Colleges. Top sub-colleges are C37: College of Tourism and Archeology, C49: College of Science, C51: Research Institutes, C25: College of Pharmacy, C48: College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, C46: College of Engineering, and C44: College of Computer Sciences and Information. Top two departments are Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Material (CEREM) and King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology. The survey data with 312 participants who had a presence on ResearchGate from KSU showed that performance expectancy and effort expectancy have a significant positive influence on behavioral intention. As anticipated, age and experience were successfully shown to be a moderator. In addition, social interaction ties and identification have a significant negative influence on user behavior.