Editorial: Diverse research methods and topics of research

Dear researchers, colleagues, and readers interested in cyberspace research,

We are very pleased to present the July issue of Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. It was encouraging and exciting to see the methodological creativity and exploration in the studies we published in the last regular issue in December last year. This trend continues in this issue, which comprises a more conventional literature review and studies with qualitative as well as quantitative research designs. The topics shed light on different corners of cyberspace and we think that this diversity among the papers we publish, both topical and methodological, is one of the strengths of this journal. Another strong element of the journal is generated by the research that pushes methodological boundaries and takes us into new fields of cyberspace previously unknown. Aside from their high quality, we believe that these are some of the reasons why the papers published in our journal are frequently cited.

The current issue comprises four articles. The first study is a literature review on how parents use the internet (Dworkin, Conell, & Doty). The results show that parents use the internet to find information and for social support. They are generally satisfied with the outcomes, but are at the same time concerned about the validity of online resources. Unlike a substantial part of prior research, the second study focuses on how friends, not strangers, communicate online (Sherman, Michikyan, & Greenfield). The results show, among other things, that emotional connectedness is related to the kind of media used for communication as well as text-based communication styles (e.g., video, audio, use of emoticons, etc.), but a higher level of bonding is felt in in-person communication in comparison to instant messaging. The third study explores social ties online and focuses on privacy concerns and behaviors on social networking sites (Guan & Tate). The results show that users are pragmatic when it comes to privacy and disclosure. This study also utilizes an innovative visualizer for scanning social networks to explore social ties between participants. The fourth and final study in this issue explores an e-mentoring program for career development (Rockwell, Leck, & Elliott). Despite being thought of as an especially attractive form of mentoring for women, this study shows that gender differences persist in the virtual environment. For example, male mentor-mentee pairs avoided non-work related issues and tended to be more methodologically oriented. They conclude that it is not technology or gender that contributes to an effective relationship, but how the program can be an environment for developing relationships between mentors and mentees.

We do get occasional emails from researchers requesting information about our acceptance rate. We know that this may be important information for several researchers who are considering submitting their manuscripts and currently our acceptance rate is 23% (past 12 months).

We want to encourage researchers to continue to submit their work to us and to consider discussing new and exciting research face- to-face at the 11th Conference Cyberspace in Brno 22-23 November (see cyberspace.muni.cz). Finally I’d like to take the opportunity to thank our reviewers and our editorial board for their invaluable work for the journal.

Kristian Daneback, associate editor David Smahel, editor Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace

Issue Content

Editorial and issue information

Kristian Daneback and David Smahel

doi: 10.5817/CP2013-2-1

A literature review of parents’ online behavior

Jodi Dworkin, Jessica Connell and Jennifer Doty

doi: 10.5817/CP2013-2-2

The effects of text, audio, video, and in-person communication on bonding between friends

Lauren E. Sherman, Minas Michikyan and Patricia M. Greenfield

doi: 10.5817/CP2013-2-3

The privacy implications of online bonding, bridging and boundary crossing: An experimental study using emoticons in a social network map

Xiaoyi Guan and Mary Tate

doi: 10.5817/CP2013-2-4

Can e-mentoring take the "gender" out of mentoring?

Brittany V. Rockwell, Joanne D. Leck and Catherine J. Elliott

doi: 10.5817/CP2013-2-5

About Journal

The 'Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace' is a web-based, peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The first peer-reviewed issue was published in September 2007. The journal is focussed on social science research about cyberspace. It brings psychosocial reflections of the impact of the Internet on people and society. The journal is interdisciplinary, publishing works written by scholars of psychology, media studies, sociology, political science, nursing, and also other disciplines. The journal accepts original research articles, as well as theoretical studies and research meta-analyses. Proposals for special issues are also welcomed.

The journal is indexed with EBSCO Academic Search Complete, the Directory of Open Access Journals, SCOPUS and the Czech Database of Scientific Journals.

Editor

Assoc. Prof. David Smahel, M.Sc. et Ph.D., Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail: smahel(at)fss.muni.cz

Associate Editor

Assoc. Prof. Kristian Daneback, Ph.D., University of Gothenburg, Sweden
E-mail: kristian.daneback(at)socwork.gu.se

Editor Assistants

Vera Kontrikova, M.A., Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail: kontriko(at)fss.muni.cz

Lenka Dedkova, M.A., Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
E-mail: ldedkova(at)fss.muni.cz

Editorial Board

Prof. Kaveri Subrahmanyam, Ph.D., California State University, Los Angeles, USA

Prof. Herbert Hrachovec, Ph.D., University of Vienna, Austria

Prof. Dr. Micheline Frenette, Universite de Montreal, Canada

Prof. Alexander E. Voiskounsky, Ph.D., Moscow State University, Russia

Prof. Michael W. Ross, Ph.D., DrMedSc, MPH, MPHEd, University of Texas, Houston, USA

Prof. Petr Macek, CSc., Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Prof. Olle Findahl, World Internet Institute, Uppsala University, Sweden

Prof. Jochen Peter, Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Prof. Veronika Kalmus, Ph.D., University of Tartu, Estonia

Assoc. Prof. Joshua Fogel, Ph.D., Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, USA

Assoc. Prof. Gustavo S. Mesch, Ph.D., University of Haifa, Israel

Vaclav Stetka, Ph.D., University of Oxford, UK

Andra Siibak, Ph.D., University of Tartu, Estonia

Birgit U. Stetina, Ph.D., University of Vienna, Austria

Lukas Blinka, M.A., Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Advisory Board

Prof. Bente Traen, Ph.D., University of Tromso, Norway

Prof. Charles Ess, Ph.D., Drury University, USA

Prof. Dr. Ilse Kryspin-Exner, University of Vienna, Austria

Prof. PhDr. Jan Jirak, Ph.D., Charles University, Czech Republic

Prof. Vasja Vehovar, Ph.D., University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Prof. Dr. Larry D. Rosen, California State University, USA

Prof. Patricia M. Greenfield, Ph.D., University of California, USA

Prof. Peter K Smith, University of London, England

Prof. Nicola Doring, Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany

Prof. Kimberly Young, Center for Internet Addiction Recovery

Prof. Jos de Haan, Ph.D., Erasmus University, Netherlands

Prof. Zbynek Vybiral, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Prof. Monica Whitty, Ph.D., Nottingham Trent University, UK

Assoc. Prof. Alfred Choi, Ph.D., Wee Kim School of Communication and Information, Singapore

Assoc. Prof. T. Ramayah, Technology Management Lab, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Assoc. Prof. Neil Coulson, Ph.D., The University of Nottingham, UK

Assoc. Prof. Kenneth C. C. Yang, Ph.D., University of Texas at El Paso, USA

Assoc. Prof. Sun Sun Lim, Ph.D., National University of Singapore, Singapore

Assoc. Prof. Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University, USA

Assoc. Prof. Jana Horakova, Ph.D., Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Assist. Prof. Alexander Schouten, Ph.D., Tilburg University, Netherlands

Assist. Prof. Ewa S. Callahan, Ph.D., School of Communications, Quinnipiac University, USA

Assist. Prof. Regina van den Eijnden, Ph.D., Utrecht University, Netherlands

PhDr. Ing. Petr Soukup, Ph.D., Faculty of Social Studies, Charles University, Czech Republic

Alistair Duff, Ph.D., Napier University, Scotland

Janis Wolak, Ph.D., University of New Hampshire, USA

Francesca Romana Seganti, Ph.D., American University of Rome, Italy

Jeffrey Gavin, Ph.D., University of Bath, UK

Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, Ph.D., University of Tartu, Estonia

PhDr. Radim Polcak, Ph.D., Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Michael Fenichel, Ph.D., New York, USA

Leslie Haddon, Ph.D., London School of Economics, UK

Monica Barbovschi, Ph.D., Babes-Bolyai University, Romania

Jan Sirucek, Ph.D., Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Publisher

Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies Jostova 10, 60200 Brno Czech Republic

Publication Schedule

Twice per year (July and December) plus special issues Gesundheit und Neue Medien etc.