Australia’s social media minimum age laws

Solace in Social Media: Women Unite Under COVID-19

The importance and frequency of social media in marketing communication is undeniable today, especially when the target of such communication are young people (and the puropse is advertising and overall improvement of internal communication). Social media are the main source of information for youth as well as virtual space where they can express and present themselves in the best possible way. The significant role of using social media in everyday communication has been recognized by institutions of higher education and they have become an essential part of their marketing mix. Ultimately, the students are the ones who have the main role in acquiring new communication technologies and their communication networks have tendency to be dense and layered (Quan-Haase, 2007). That is the reason why new technologies like social media are mostly accepted and used by high school and university students. In this paper authors analyse the meaning, influence and usage of social media in the context of institutions of higher education and present the findings of an online survey conducted among teachers in such institutions in Croatia. By analysing the results, authors got 104 replies who helped them to get an insight into activities of institutions of higher education on social media as well as the usage of certain social media by private institutions compared with the public ones. This research confirmed that private institutions of higher education are on the overall more active in the usage of social media. However, Chi-squared test showed almost no difference in usage of the most popular social media Facebook and Instagram in private and public institutions of higher education, whereas there is a difference in usage of other social media. In this research, the intensity of certain social media usage in general in Croatia was also compared with the level of their usage in institutions of higher education.

Ethical standards for cardiothoracic surgeons' participation in social media

Cooperative Mentorship: Negotiating Social Media Use within the Family

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory for evaluating social media usage in higher education. The paper reports on a social media awareness campaign which was designed and implemented in a higher education context as extra-curricular content.Design/methodology/approachA case study research approach was used and the theoretical model was adopted in a South African higher education institution where a social media campaign was conducted to improve environmental awareness. The activities of the environmental awareness campaign were conducted using popular social media such as Facebook and YouTube. The U&G theory was used to evaluate social media usage before and after the campaign. Three gratifications (or factors) of the U&G were used, namely coordination, immediate access and social presence.FindingsThe findings revealed an increase in environmental knowledge during the campaign and a positive correlation was found between activity on the social media campaign and environmental knowledge. However, the ratings for the U&G gratifications were lower in the post-test evaluation than in the pre-test evaluation for all three factors. This low rating could indicate that the use of social media for these gratifications and the acceptance of social media used for extra-curricular educational purposes are low. Through qualitative feedback three other factors that influenced the usage and acceptance of the campaign social media were identified, namely: time, attitude and a fast internet connection.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation of the study was the relatively small sample size of 72 students in one higher education institution.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study still provide deeper insight into students’ usage of social media for extra-curricular education and the theoretical model can be used in other studies on social media usage.Originality/valueWhilst several studies have investigated social media use for learning, there is limited research which explores the usage and acceptance of social media for extra-curricular knowledge.

Introduction I have this somewhat diffuse concern that at some point, I am in an appointment procedure ... and people say: ‘He has to ... be on social media, [and] have followers ..., because otherwise he can’t say anything about the field of research, otherwise he won’t identify with it … and we need a direct connection to legitimise our discipline in the population!’ And this is where I think: ‘For God’s sake! No, I really don’t want that.’ (Postdoc) Social media such as Facebook or Twitter have become an integral part of many people’s everyday lives and have introduced severe changes to the ways we communicate with each other and about ourselves. Presenting ourselves on social media and creating different online personas has become a normal practice (Vorderer et al. 270). While social media such as Facebook were at first mostly used to communicate with friends and family, they were soon also used for work-related communication (Cardon and Marshall). Later, professional networks such as LinkedIn, which focus on working relations and career management and special interest networks, such as the academic social networking sites (ASNS) Academia.edu and ResearchGate, catering specifically to academic needs, emerged. Even though social media have been around for more than 15 years now, academics in general and German academics in particular are rather reluctant users of these tools in a work-related context (König and Nentwich 175; Lo 155; Pscheida et al. 1). This is surprising as studies indicate that the presence and positive self-portrayal of researchers in social media as well as the distribution of articles via social networks such as Academia.edu or ResearchGate have a positive effect on the visibility of academics as well as the likelihood of their articles being read and cited (Eysenbach; Lo 192; Terras). Gruzd, Staves, and Wilk even assume that the presence in online media could become a relevant criterion in the allocation of scientific jobs. Science is a field where competition for long-term positions is high. In 2017, only about 17% of all scientific personnel in Germany had permanent positions, and of these 10% were professors (Federal Statistical Office 32). Having a professorship is therefore the best shot at obtaining a permanent position in the scientific field. However, the average vocational age is 40 (Zimmer et al. 40), which leads to a long phase of career-related uncertainty. Directing attention to yourself by acquiring knowledge in the use of social media for professional self-representation might offer a career advantage when trying to obtain a professorship. At the same time, social media, which have been praised for giving a voice to the unheard, become a tool for the exclusion of scholars who might not want or be able to use these tools as part of their work and career-related communication, and might remain unseen and unheard. The author obtained current data on this topic while working on a project on Mediated Scholarly Communication in Post-Normal and Traditional Science under the project lead of Corinna Lüthje. The project was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). In the project, German-speaking scholars were interviewed about their work-related media usage in qualitative interviews. Among them were users and non-users of social media. For this article, 16 interviews with communication scholars (three PhD students, six postdocs, seven professors) were chosen for a closer analysis, because of all the interviewees they described the (dis)advantages of career-related social media use in the most detail, giving the deepest insights into whether social media contribute to a social exclusion of academics or not. How to Define Social Exclusion (in Academia)? The term social exclusion describes a separation of individuals or groups from mainstream society (Walsh et al.). Exclusion is a practice which implies agency. It can be the result of the actions of others, but individuals can also exclude themselves by choosing not to be part of something, for example of social media and the communication taking part there (Atkinson 14). Exclusion is an everyday social practice, because wherever there is an in-group there will always be an out-group. This is what Bourdieu calls distinction. Symbols and behaviours of distinction both function as signs of demarcation and belonging (Bourdieu, Distinction). Those are not always explicitly communicated, but part of people’s behaviour. They act on a social sense by telling them how to behave appropriately in a certain situation. According to Bourdieu, the practical sense is part of the habitus (Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice). The habitus generates patterns of action that come naturally and do not have to be reflected by the actor, due to an implicit knowledge that is acquired during the course of (group-specific) socialisation. For scholars, the process of socialisation in an area of research involves the acquisition of a so-called disciplinary self-image, which is crucial to building a disciplinary identity. In every discipline it contains a dominant disciplinary self-image which defines the scientific perspectives, practices, and even media that are typically used and therefore belong to the mainstream of a discipline (Huber 24). Yet, there is a societal mainstream outside of science which scholars are a part of. Furthermore, they have been socialised into other groups as well. Therefore, the disciplinary mainstream and the habitus of its members can be impacted upon by the societal mainstream and other fields of society. For example, societally mainstream social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, focussing on establishing and sustaining social connections, might be used for scholarly communication just as well as ASNS. The latter cater to the needs of scholars to not just network with colleagues, but to upload academic articles, share and track them, and consume scholarly information (Meishar-Tal and Pieterse 17). Both can become part of the disciplinary mainstream of media usage. In order to define whether and how social media contribute to forms of social exclusion among communication scholars, it is helpful to first identify in how far their usage is part of the disciplinary mainstream, and what their including features are. In contrast to this, forms of exclusion will be analysed and discussed on the basis of qualitative interviews with communication scholars. Including Features of Social Media for Communication Scholars The interviews for this essay were first conducted in 2016. At that time all of the 16 communication scholars interviewed used at least one social medium such as ResearchGate (8), Academia.edu (8), Twitter (10), or Facebook (11) as part of their scientific workflow. By 2019, all of them had a ResearchGate and 11 an Academia.edu account, 13 were on Twitter and 13 on Facebook. This supports the notion of one of the professors, who said that he registered with ResearchGate in 2016 because "everyone’s doing that now!” It also indicates that the work-related presence especially on ResearchGate, but also on other social media, is part of the disciplinary mainstream of communication science. The interviewees figured that the social media they used helped them to increase their visibility in their own community through promoting their work and networking. They also mentioned that they were helpful to keep up to date on the newest articles and on what was happening in communication science in general. The usage of ResearchGate and Academia.edu focussed on publications. Here the scholars could, as one professor put it, access articles that were not available via their university libraries, as well as “previously unpublished articles”. They also liked that they could see "what other scientists are working on" (professor) and were informed via e-mail "when someone publishes a new publication" (PhD student). The interviewees saw clear advantages to their registration with the ASNS, because they felt that they became "much more visible and present" (postdoc) in the scientific community. Seven of the communication scholars (two PhD students, three postdocs, two professors) shared their publications on ResearchGate and Academia.edu. Two described doing cross-network promotion, where they would write a post about their publications on Twitter or Facebook that linked to the full article on Academia.edu or ResearchGate. The usage of Twitter and especially Facebook focussed a lot more on accessing discipline-related information and social networking. The communication scholars mentioned that various sections and working groups of professional organisations in their research field had accounts on Facebook, where they would post news. A postdoc said that she was on Facebook "because I get a lot of information from certain scientists that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise". Several interviewees pointed out that Twitter is "a place where you can find professional networks, become a part of them or create them yourself" (professor). On Twitter the interviewees explained that they were rather making new connections. Facebook was used to maintain and intensify existing professional relationships. They applied it to communicate with their local networks at their institute, just as well as for international communication. A postdoc and a professor both mentioned that they perceived that Scandinavian or US-American colleagues were easier to contact via Facebook than via any other medium. One professor described how he used Facebook at international conferences to arrange meetings with people he knew and wanted to meet. But to him Facebook also catered to accessing more personal information about his colleagues, thus creating a new "mixture of professional respect for the work of other scientists and personal relationships", which resulted in a "new kind of friendship". Excluding Features of Social Media for Communication Scholars While every

Navigating Social Media in #Ophthalmology

Purpose This study aims to examine how information professionals select a social media channel for information discovery and delivery. This analysis was focused to provide usage based ranking of social media channels for information discovery and delivery. This study has also measured the preference of social media as compared with other information and communication channels such as radio, TV, newspapers, etc., for information discovery and delivery. This study compared the global social media rank with the study rank to record the variances in the light of uses and gratification theory. Design/methodology/approach For this quantitative research study a self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants of the study. Sample of this study was 700 information professionals necessarily user of social media. Findings Findings of this reveals that social media is the most preferred channel for information discovery and delivery among information professionals and study validates the assumption of uses and gratification theory with a view that information professionals are independent and active users of social media and global rank of social media is significantly different from the rank developed in this study. Research limitations/implications The present study is limited to information professionals only and considers social media (only top 20 sites) as an information and communication channel among information professionals. Practical implications This study has determined the preference of social media as an information and communication channel as compared with other information and communication channels and present a ranking based on usage among information professional, which is significantly different from the existing global user based ranking. Social implications Social media provides versatility of information in different forms and large numbers of information professionals are the users of social media around globe. This study shall help information professional to select appropriate channels for information discovery and delivery. Usage based ranking provided in this study shall stream line the social media practices at large. Originality/value This study has developed a usage based rank of top social media. This study elaborated the preference of social media as an information and communication channel.

Beware: Patients increasingly purchasing medications via social media

The power of social media has grown in recent years and is a new approach that can be used by businesses to shape consumer buying behavior. Businesses are aware of the changing nature of customers’ engagement with branding and that is why they are trying to build engagement through social media. The ways of communication between companies and customers have changed, and companies need to integrate new communication practices into their communication marketing. Thus, this study focuses on what are the main reasons that users react to the brands’ posts and identifies the different types of consumers related to social media brand content and users’ motivations of visiting brand page. An online survey was conducted with 503 questionnaires, where the data were collected. The results show two main factors in customers’ engagement to brand posts which are interactivity and customization of information. The paper identifies two groups on users’ reaction to offensive brand content, which are passive and active users. In addition, the research grouped social media users in five categories according to their motives of following a brand page and grouped social media content into three users groups.KeywordsSocial media motivesSocial media users groupsUsers content groups

Social media provides valuable opportunities to share content and engage online; however, problematic use, specifically in young adults, leads to serious psychological issues. This study examines the connections between social media addiction, usage, and aggression in young adults, employing a correlational research design and purposive sampling with 122 participants (all smartphone users who had engaged with social media for at least six months), aged 18 to 25 (63 men and 59 women). The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale was used to evaluate social media addiction and usage, while aggression was assessed using the Puss-Berry Aggression Questionnaire. Results revealed a significant negative correlation between social media addiction and usage and a significant positive correlation between social media addiction and aggression. No significant correlation was identified between social media usage and aggression. Gender differences emerged, with women exhibiting higher levels of social media usage and men displaying greater addiction. No significant difference was noted in aggression despite men scoring higher than women. Implications for youth welfare were discussed, and recommendations and limitations were also addressed at the end of the study.

The research aimed to contribute to investigate the impact of social networking media on academic performance, health and social interactions in Oman. It is a causal study as it studied the impact of social media usage on academics, social interactions and health. The study area was University of Technology and Applied sciences, Nizwa. The period of study was from February 2023 to May 2023. The total population of students studying in University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Nizwa is 5692 A sample of 242 students were selected for the study from four departments. Samples were designed from students in each department by using proportionate stratified sampling. Primary data was collected online using Google form, with the help of a structured questionnaire in English and Arabic. The findings of the study revealed that the correlation between social media usage and health issues is 0.174. There is a significant relationship between social media usage and its impact on health. Social media usage contributes only 3% to health issues on the students. The correlation between social media usage and social interactions and behaviour is 0.264. 7% of the variation in social behaviour can be predicted due to usage of social media. It is proved that there is a significant relationship between social media usage and its impact on social interactions and behavior of students. The correlation between social media usage and academic performance is 0.271. Social media usage contributes only 7% to academic performance of the students. It is proved that there is a significant relationship between social media usage and its impact on academic performance of students, their health and behaviour. There is no significant relationship between gender, department, level of study and grade with the usage of social media.

#trial: clinical research in the age of social media

Purpose This study aims to explore the nexus between tourist’s characteristics and the changing intensity of social media’s impact on tourist decision-making among Indian tourists. A group-based comparison is done in this exploratory study; the basis of groups is the tourist’s characteristics which signifies their different types such as social media type, user type, traveller type and destination type. India, which is a huge market for tourists and social media users, is explored for this study. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an exploratory design where an attempt is made to analyse if the intensity of social media impact on their decision-making changes with different types of tourists. For this purpose, primary data analysis using Partial Least Squares Regression based Multi Group Analysis (PLS-MGA) is performed on 488 Indian Tourists which was collected using a structured online questionnaire. The groups have been divided according to tourist characteristics signifying different types like social media type, user type, traveller type and destination type. Findings Social media usage frequency and travel frequency have no moderating effect on social media’s impact on tourist decision-making. But social media type partially moderates decision-making with changing impact on the need recognition, information search and post purchase behaviour stages. Destination type also partially moderates with an impact on post purchase behaviour stage of tourist decision-making. Thus, it can be said that different types of tourists are impacted differently by social media across various stages of decision-making. Originality/value This is a novel study that for the first time explores the changes in the impact of social media on tourist decision-making through changes in their own personal characteristics. Also, it provides real-time insights for tourism marketing for Indian market which has huge potential due to Indians being avid travellers and users of social media.

This study is aimed to investigate the usage and influence of social media to the life of a group of Malaysian pre-university students. Instrument of this study involved a set of closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires that were distributed online to 123 students of the ASASIpintar pre-university program in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The results showed that the students used social media as an entertainment mainly when they were bored. Even though most of the students felt that social media impacted them positively rather than negatively, 55.3% of them claimed that their eyes were not in a good condition after spending hours on social media while 12.2% had lack interaction with parents due to the usage of social media. Besides that, 52% of the students used social media more than seven times daily and 66.7% agreed that the social media had helped them with their studies. In conclusion, social media was a valuable tool for the students to kill their free time and helped them with their studies. However, the usage of social media should be monitored to avoid its negative influence to the students’ social life and physical health.