社交媒体vs传统信息中介:新特点与新问题

Social Media vs Traditional Information Intermediaries:New Features and Emerging Issues

作为一种新兴的信息中介,社交媒体在资本市场中发挥着越来越重要的作用。但是,关于社交媒体与传统信息中介对资本市场影响的差异,仍然没有得到充分的关注。通过文献综述的方法,本文首先从信息供给的动机和能力两个角度对比社交媒体与传统信息中介在运行机理上的差异。其次,基于运行机理的差异,从信息内容的准确性、信息传播的及时性以及服务对象的广泛性三个方面,总结社交媒体在信息供给方面相比于传统信息中介所具有的新特点。再次,从用户群体特征和用户之间的交互行为这两个方面,对社交媒体信息供给影响因素的相关文献进行综述。最后,基于对现有文献的梳理,从社交媒体内部群体结构、社交媒体自身的治理、社交媒体对其他信息中介的影响以及外部制度环境的影响这四个维度对未来的研究进行展望。通过总结社交媒体相对于传统信息中介的不同之处,本文希望引发学界围绕社交媒体所具有的独特问题展开更为丰富和深入的研究。

Social media,an emerging information intermediary,plays an increasingly vital role in the capital market.However,the differences in the impact of social media and traditional information intermediaries on the capital market have not raised sufficient attention.By reviewing the existing literature,this paper first compares the differences in operating mechanisms between social media and traditional information intermediaries,from the perspectives of motivations and capabilities of information supply.Secondly,based on the differences in operating mechanisms,this paper summarizes the unique characteristics of social media in supplying information compared to traditional intermediaries,from the perspectives of the accuracy of information contents,the timeliness of information dissemination,and the broadness of service targets.Thirdly,this paper reviews the literature on factors that affect the information supply of social media,from the perspectives of the characteristics of user groups and the interactions among users.Finally,based on the current literature,we encourage future research to further explore the following four areas:the internal structure of social media’s user groups,governance of social media,and the impact of social media on other information intermediaries and external institutional environments.We hope that this study clarifies how social media differs from traditional information intermediaries and its unique role in the capital market.We also encourage researchers to further delve into the distinctive issues on social media.