User perceived quality of online social information services: from the perspective of knowledge management

Features of online social information services show promises for overcoming obstacles in current knowledge management practices. This paper first discussed the potential efficacy and emerging practices of such technologies in the domain of knowledge management. Then a quality model of online social information systems was derived from prior literature on online information service quality and analyses of characteristics of emerging technologies. An online questionnaire was developed and administrated to 168 users. Four quality dimensions that are perceived as important by users were identified by factor analysis and proved to be reliable: system usability, content quality, content exchangeability and accessibility, and sociability. The findings of this research provide implications for developers of both enterprise knowledge management systems and public social Websites, and can facilitate future development of the instrument measuring the quality of online social service from other perspectives.