the impact of social network sites(4)

changed the way music is both produced and consumed (Lam & Tan 2001). Specifically, as

technology evolved, the music industry has seen a move from traditional purchasing options (e.g. shopping for CDs in a physical store) to using online stores, communities and peer-to-peer networks (Beekhuyzen & Von Hellens 2008). Music it can be easily encoded in digital form and exchanged over the Internet (Lam & Tan, 2001), enabling people to share music and interact with music and each other in many new ways. As one of the main channels for information and entertainment is now the Internet (Gosain & Lee 2001; Lam & Tan 2001) new choices and ways of consuming are available. The social/cultural nature of these goods means that people are influenced by their network of

connections and use different tasks to find and consume them. Cultural tastes are both displayed and shared across connections on a SNS, the list of interests – music, books, movies, television shows etc. –are used as an expressive arena for taste performance (Liu, 2007). Digital music and current Web capabilities have enabled new forms of consumption behaviour to develop. Not only is user generated content being shared in these SNS, they also allow users to interact directly with their favourite

bands/artists. Social relations and culture are so intertwined it has become difficult to separate the two (Lewis et al., 2008). The underlying motivation for consumers is not just utility or necessity; cultural goods are in essence luxury goods for fun and enjoyment, similar to the use of SNS. Erickson (1996) argues that personal networks are a major source of cultural resources and that network variety builds cultural variety. The expansive nature of SNS is therefore extremely relevant to the study of culture and cultural goods, and the capabilities of SNS are generating larger social networks with more

dynamic and accessible content than was possible previously. It is important to study this phenomenon as the way people choose to use these technologies will shape how SNS will form.

4 Research Objectives and Model

The objective of this study is to understand the impact of social networking software on the consumption of cultural goods, specifically the affect of the functional affordances of SNS on the tasks associated with discovering cultural goods. The objective is operationalized through six research questions, as follows:

1. What are the functional affordances of SNS?

2. What tasks are associated with the consumption of cultural goods through SNS?

3. What is the effect of the social affordances on the consumption tasks?

4. What is the effect of the content affordances on the consumption tasks?

5. What is the interplay between the functional affordances of SNS?

6. What is the interplay between the consumption tasks of cultural goods?

The research model is portrayed in Figure 1, and discussed further in the next two sections. Figure 2. Research Model