Abstract: Mobile social networks provide a communication platform for migrants who are unable to integrate into urban social networks, so that they can share information with others, thereby establishing social connections and gaining social recognition. Not sufficient researches examine the antecedents to online information sharing from the novel perspective of social influence. Thus, the research on the effect of residential mobility, the frequency individual moves, on online information sharing with different linguistic expressions provides a new perspective for information sharing theory. This paper studies the joint impact of residential mobility and linguistic extremity on the willingness of information sharing and the mechanism behind this effect. Studies shows that compared to individuals with low residential mobility, individuals with high residential mobility are more willing to avoid high linguistic extremity information from sharing out of the need to belong. In detail, when linguistic extremity is high, individuals with high residential mobility have lower sharing intention of information, compared to individuals with low residential mobility. When linguistic extremity is low, there is no difference in the sharing intention of information between individuals with high residential mobility and individuals with low residential mobility (Study 1 and 2). The effect is mediated by need to belong (Study 3).

Key words: residential mobility, information sharing intention, linguistic extremity, need to belong