Building Trust Through Social Networking

Usage of social networking sites requires continuous trusting actions through the sharing of personal information. According to Social Cognitive Theory, such behavior and resulting experiences should have an impact on the beliefs that led to the behavior, namely trust. In this study, a model of how this process takes place and the results of a survey suggest that increasing usage of social networking sites increases disposition to trust, mediated by optimism, innovativeness, and trust in the social networking site. Implications of these findings are discussed.