Social Networking through Weblogs : A Case Study of Hiroshima Blog

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  • ウェブログ・ポータル「広島ブログ」を介した社会的ネットワークの形成と活用
  • ウェブログ ポータル ヒロシマ ブログ オ カイシタ シャカイテキ ネットワーク ノ ケイセイ ト カツヨウ

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Abstract

This article takes the Hiroshima Blog as an example to investigate the geographical characteristics of communications through a weblog portal focusing on two analytical viewpoints: spatial structure of social networks formed in cyberspace and their economic or social activities in real space oriented from communication and social networks in cyberspace. The results are as follows. The comments contributed to a weblog can be divided into two types: those contributed by someone who lives in the neighboring area as the blog owner and those contributed by someone who wants to express friendship with the blog owner or is interested in the contents the blog owner wrote regardless of geographical proximity between the owner and contributor. The comments and the trackbacks form an interregional network that has a hub in the area (Hiroshima City in our case). They also form smaller regional clusters of the towns where active contributors live and informational clusters that are linked across several towns. The contributors can also be divided into two types: those actively communicating with each other through both their own weblogs and the weblog portal (the Hiroshima Blog) and those communicating with contributors who live outside the area (outside Hiroshima Prefecture) and do not disclose their address in real space to the public. Some contributors of this first group often write about regional news on their weblogs, and they actively seek to extend their social networks by self-introduction on their weblogs and participation in blog-oriented meetings held in real space. They promote their economic or social activities by making the most of personal relationships formed on their weblogs and the weblog portal.

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