近年來，社群網路成為大家生活中重要的一部分，我們發現越來越多的人在得知特定事件時(新聞、球賽)，當下會進入社群網路與大家分享自己的情緒，本研究探討在特定事件下眾人聚集在線上社群的因素，從社會需求、自我需求、及情緒需求分別對閱讀內容、回應內容、張貼內容、及轉貼連結這四種分享行為的影響程度為何。
　此研究進行問卷調查，研究對象為在討論版上討論過特定事件的人，我們蒐集到384 份有效問卷，研究結果顯示情緒的需求促使群眾在線上社群中有分享行為最為顯著，而閱讀內容這項分享行為是群聚現象時大家最常做的事情，相較之下轉貼連結是大家最不常做的分享行為，本研究提供不同於以往對於特定事件(災難)的研究注重在創傷後的成長，而是給予企業主在特定事件發生下，如何控管網路上民眾群聚的力量或是為自己提高曝光率進而增加商業利潤。

　Online social networks have become a vital part of our life. People now gather in social websites to share things with friends or even complete strangers. Moreover, when some special event happens, such as a severe earthquake or an international sports competition, many people would join social websites to share their feelings or release their emotions. This research seeks to investigate why tens of thousands people crowd in social websites when certain events happen.
　Three aspects are presented as the influential factors: social needs, self needs and emotional needs. We conducted a survey and collected 384 valid replies. The results show that the social and emotional needs are the major factors that trigger people herding in social websites within a short time period when certain events happen. The online herding crowd may turn out to be within the spectrum of a carnival or a riot. Therefore, managers of online marketing or public relations enterprises need to understand this phenomenon more.

Contents
中文摘要 ............................................................................................................. i
Abstract ............................................................................................................. ii
Table of Contents ................................................................................................ iii
List of Figure ....................................................................................................... iv
List of Table ........................................................................................................ v
Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2 Theoretical background and Hypotheses ................................................. 9
2.1 Social Sharing of emotion ................................................................................ 9
2.2 Social needs and sharing behavior ...................................................................13
2.3 Self needs and sharing behavior ......................................................................15
2.4 Emotional needs and sharing behavior .............................................................17
Chapter 3 Research Methodology .........................................................................21
3.1 Measurement and Data Collection ...................................................................21
3.2 Analysis Methods ..........................................................................................26
Chapter 4 Results ............................................................................................... 27
4.1. Measurement Model ................................................................................. ....27
4.2. Structural Models and Hypotheses Tests ................................................... ....29
Chapter 5 Discussions ...................................................................................... ..35
Chapter 6 Conclusions, Implications and Limitations .............................................. 38
6.1. Conclusions ................................................................................................. 38
6.2 Theoretical Implications ................................................................................. 39
6.3 Practical Implications ................................................................................. ...40
6.4. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research .......................................... .41
Reference ...........................................................................................................42
Appendix A .........................................................................................................46
Appendix B ....................................................................................................... 48

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