Features of Trust in Online Guanxi among Malaysian Web-Forum Members

Abstract

Studying the social behaviors in web-forums helped to understand how users behaved online, and why they remain committed to online interactions when there is little or no marked individual gain. The present study argues that online Guanxi that is made-up of discourse features of trust, social presence and face-saving acts played important roles in building online Guanxi in web-forums. Cumulatively these three aspects of online bonding together were termed as online Guanxi. However, this paper will discuss only one of the discourse features which is trust. Broadly speaking, Guanxi aided the web-forum interaction by getting forum members to indulge in return-action in a broader context of exchange, where an initial information seeking act necessitated responding messages. Guanxi was sought in web-forums not to profit or benefit, as in a contract or economic exchange, but rather Guanxi became the foreground that necessitated interactivity when forum members recognized the other forum members' need to share information.