Abstract: Virtual social network (VSN) has become an international phenomenon, but its diffusion is far from even across different countries. Such a new form of global digital divide prevents many people all over the world from enjoying the benefits of VSN. The objective of this study is to find out what lead to the variation in the global diffusion of this innovation. It identifies relevant cultural, developmental and regulatory factors and conceptualizes them as hierarchical foundations of VSN diffusion in a pyramid model. The model was empirically validated with secondary data. The results suggest that the regulatory foundation has relatively strong but volatile impact on the diffusion of virtual social networks, whereas the cultural foundation yields relatively weak yet stable influence, and in between is the developmental foundation. The findings have important practical implications, especially for policy makers, on how to facilitate the diffusion of virtual social networks in different countries.

Keywords: virtual social network, global diffusion, digital divide, user culture, country development, telecommunication regulation

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Recommended Citation: Wang, Y., Sun, J. (2013). Global Diffusion of Virtual Social Networks: A Pyramid Model of Cultural, Developmental and Regulatory Foundations . Journal of Information Systems Applied Research, 6(1) pp 27-38. http://jisar.org/2013-6/ ISSN: 1946-1836. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of CONISAR 2012)