Online Social Relations and Country Reputation

Abstract

This study examines the effects of online connectedness and information use regarding other countries on individuals’ evaluations of those countries. Theoretical and operational definitions of the variables are developed and then used to investigate how they affect people’s ratings of other countries’ reputations in this age of online social networking. A survey of South Korean Internet users provides empirical data for this study. The results show that online connectedness through social media is a more powerful predictor of individuals’ evaluations of other countries than is their use of the Internet for simple information gathering. Results also demonstrate that personal experience of visiting other countries remains the most significant predictor of a person’s favorability toward those countries.