Abstract: ［Purpose/Significance］This paper aims to analyze the influence of different user characteristics on knowledge exchange, explore the platform improvement strategies, and enhance the knowledge exchange effect of academic social network.［Design/Methodology］With the use of principal component analysis, user characteristics were classified into five  categories, which are identification characteristic, impact characteristic, interaction characteristic, tracking characteristic and program characteristic. By using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis, the influence of different user characteristics on knowledge exchange effect was explored.［Findings/Conclusion］The RG index distributions of users vary in different disciplines. The characteristics of influence have great impact on knowledge exchange effect, and the influence of H index is the greatest.［Originality/Value］This paper could provide reference for improving the effectiveness of academic social network knowledge exchange.

Key words: Academic social network, User characteristics, Information behavior, Knowledge exchange effect, ResearchGate