Use of social media in uncovering information services for people with disabilities in China

Wenke Wang; Yen Chun Jim Wu; Chih Hung Yuan; Hongxia Xiong; Wan Ju Liu

doi:10.19173/irrodl.v18i1.2621

Use of social media in uncovering information services for people with disabilities in China

Wenke Wang, Yen Chun Jim Wu^*, Chih Hung Yuan, Hongxia Xiong, Wan Ju Liu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The tangible and intangible needs of people with disabilities have been neglected in research agendas over the past decades, particularly in China. Bringing more benefits to people with disabilities and combining information delivery with Internet technology to improve their quality of life is impossible if their special needs are ignored. This study employed the crowdsourcing through social media method to investigate information needs of people who are disabled. The results indicate that using the popular social media platforms WeChat and QQ can be an effective means of reaching out to this group. Information needs can be mainly divided into internal and external needs. Leisure, tourism, and entertainment as well as assistive devices are major internal information needs, whereas work, entrepreneurship, and living services are the main external information needs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	65-83
Number of pages	19
Journal	International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
Volume	18
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i1.2621
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

China
Crowdsourcing
Feedback
Information needs
People with disabilities
Social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education

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10.19173/irrodl.v18i1.2621

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title = "Use of social media in uncovering information services for people with disabilities in China",

abstract = "The tangible and intangible needs of people with disabilities have been neglected in research agendas over the past decades, particularly in China. Bringing more benefits to people with disabilities and combining information delivery with Internet technology to improve their quality of life is impossible if their special needs are ignored. This study employed the crowdsourcing through social media method to investigate information needs of people who are disabled. The results indicate that using the popular social media platforms WeChat and QQ can be an effective means of reaching out to this group. Information needs can be mainly divided into internal and external needs. Leisure, tourism, and entertainment as well as assistive devices are major internal information needs, whereas work, entrepreneurship, and living services are the main external information needs.",

keywords = "China, Crowdsourcing, Feedback, Information needs, People with disabilities, Social media",

author = "Wenke Wang and Wu, {Yen Chun Jim} and Yuan, {Chih Hung} and Hongxia Xiong and Liu, {Wan Ju}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the government research grant CLMV (R. J130000.7817.4L188) as well as the FRGS grants (R.J130000.7809.4F539) and (R.J130000.7817.4F601) from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. In addition, the first author is a researcher of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) under the postdoctoral fellowship scheme (PDRU grant) for the project: “Conversion of various types of lignocellulosic compounds to bioenergy” (Vot No. Q.J130000.21A2.03E42).",

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AU - Wang, Wenke

AU - Wu, Yen Chun Jim

AU - Yuan, Chih Hung

AU - Xiong, Hongxia

AU - Liu, Wan Ju

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the government research grant CLMV (R. J130000.7817.4L188) as well as the FRGS grants (R.J130000.7809.4F539) and (R.J130000.7817.4F601) from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. In addition, the first author is a researcher of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) under the postdoctoral fellowship scheme (PDRU grant) for the project: “Conversion of various types of lignocellulosic compounds to bioenergy” (Vot No. Q.J130000.21A2.03E42).

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The tangible and intangible needs of people with disabilities have been neglected in research agendas over the past decades, particularly in China. Bringing more benefits to people with disabilities and combining information delivery with Internet technology to improve their quality of life is impossible if their special needs are ignored. This study employed the crowdsourcing through social media method to investigate information needs of people who are disabled. The results indicate that using the popular social media platforms WeChat and QQ can be an effective means of reaching out to this group. Information needs can be mainly divided into internal and external needs. Leisure, tourism, and entertainment as well as assistive devices are major internal information needs, whereas work, entrepreneurship, and living services are the main external information needs.

AB - The tangible and intangible needs of people with disabilities have been neglected in research agendas over the past decades, particularly in China. Bringing more benefits to people with disabilities and combining information delivery with Internet technology to improve their quality of life is impossible if their special needs are ignored. This study employed the crowdsourcing through social media method to investigate information needs of people who are disabled. The results indicate that using the popular social media platforms WeChat and QQ can be an effective means of reaching out to this group. Information needs can be mainly divided into internal and external needs. Leisure, tourism, and entertainment as well as assistive devices are major internal information needs, whereas work, entrepreneurship, and living services are the main external information needs.

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Use of social media in uncovering information services for people with disabilities in China

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Keywords

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