Digital Social Influence: Reframing Social Influence for Online Social Networks

Online social networks (OSNs) are increasingly being interrogated for their ability to facilitate both positive and negative influence on their users. Although the number of studies examining social influence in OSNs is increasing, the theoretical frameworks applied to OSN research are outdated. Therefore, this research adopts a multi-method approach to reframe and extend social influence theory to align with the unique contextual factors of OSNs. The findings contribute to the effective application of social influence theory in OSN research and refine digital social influence mechanisms for both research and practice.