What makes online content viral? The contingent effects of hub users versus non–hub users on social media platforms

Abstract

Extant research has focused on the role of hub users (e.g., individualswith a large number of ties to other people) in social media–based productadoption or information diffusion processes to the neglect of non–hub users.Drawing on the strength-of-weak-ties perspective and social capital theory, we (1)reveal systematic differences in characteristics of hub users vs. non–hubusers in terms of user type, follower type, as well as user–followerrelationships and (2) demonstrate differential effects of non–hub usersversus hub users contingent upon contextual factors. Using a dataset collected froma popular Chinese micro-blog website, we find that hub users are more likelyinformation disseminators than non–hub users, that followers of hub users aremore likely information disseminators themselves than followers of non–hubusers, and that there are more reciprocal ties between non–hub users andtheir followers than relationships between hub users and their followers. Moreimportantly, results confirm contingent effects of hub users vs. non–hubusers on reposts. Specifically, relative to hub users, the effect of non–hubusers on reposts becomes much less weak whencontent topics are of high personal relevance to followers’ lives or whencontent has high emotional valence. By contrast, hub users, relative tonon–hub users, become even more impactfulwhen many of their followers happen to be active online when an original post isseeded.