本研究係延伸過去傳統傳播理論「沉默螺旋」，探討在虛擬社群中，使用者的匿名性與成員間的熟悉性在言論表達行為上的影響。本研究採用實驗室實驗法，操弄使用者匿名性、成員熟悉性，以及意見一致性，衡量使用者對爭議性議題之言論表達意願。共有147 名受試者參與實驗，研究結果顯示，匿名的使用者比起不匿名的使用者更願意在社群中表達自己與他人不一致的意見。且使用者若處在一群由不熟悉成員所組成的團體裡，其發表不一致言論之意願會低於當使用者處在一群由熟悉成員所組成的團體中。此外，無論使用者是匿名還是不匿名，是面對一群熟悉還是不熟悉的成員，皆願意表達與他人一致的意見。本研究是首篇驗證使用者匿名性與成員熟悉性在線上發表言論意願影響之研究，研究的結果可提供政府與企業之社群經理，在刺激大眾言論與回應的策略上，一個實務上的建議。

This study extended a traditional communication theory, spiral of silence, to explore the effects of user anonymity and member familiarity on opinion expression behavior in a virtual environment. A laboratory experiment method was used to manipulate user anonymity, member familiarity, and opinion congruity to measure the willingness to express opinions concerning controversial topics. A total of 147 participants were recruited in the experiment. The results revealed that anonymous users in virtual communities and users in groups comprising familiar members are more willing to express inconsistent opinions than nonanonymous users and users in groups containing unfamiliar members, respectively. In addition, anonymous and nonanonymous users as well as users in groups comprising familiar members and those in groups containing unfamiliar members are equally willing to express consistent opinions. This is the first study to verify the effect of user anonymity and member familiarity on the willingness to express opinions in online social communities. The findings have crucial implications regarding how governments and businesses can stimulate creativity and feedback through virtual communities.

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