As an increasing number of academic conferences transition to the online sphere, new event paradigms must be explored and developed to better utilise the unique multimedia opportunities offered by the virtual world. With this in mind, we conducted indepth interviews with researchers, performed a SWOT analysis of remote conferences, and developed experimental conference functionalities. We implemented these during the 9th edition of a two-day international scientific IT conference, which was attended by over 277 participants on the first day and 199 on the second. In this article, we describe how these innovative functionalities met the participants' needs based on qualitative and quantitative data. We present how the experiences of remote and in-person events differ, and offer recommendations on organising remote Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s).
As the COVID-19 pandemic confined millions across the globe to their homes, technology proved an indispensable tool that allowed humanity to sustain many aspects of everyday life, including social behaviours. In compliance with quarantine restrictions, communities were unable to support each other in the usual manner; simultaneously, the demand for such support grew, owing to the difficult circumstances. This study (N = 196) explores whether technology enabled or hindered this specific type of social interaction – helping others. We discovered that General Online Social Interaction Propensity correlated positively with helping – although it demonstrated stronger correlations with online support. The Technology Adoption Propensity Index Optimism and Proficiency subscales failed to correlate significantly with helping and only Vulnerability subscale showed significant correlation. In conclusion, both GOSIP and TAP Vulnerability are valid predictors of proneness to offer help online. We suggest considering various personality predispositions may help to maximize the effectiveness of online helping.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.