The Public, the Attention Economy, and Archaeological Social Media

The Big Question: Have social media and/or smartphones disrupted life in your part of the world?

Social media have become an increasingly important tool for college coaches and administrators to connect with fans, alumni, and recruits. However, despite their increasing prevalence, it is not well understood which factors may contribute to the reach and popularity in social media of high-profile figures such as coaches and athletic directors. Using Football Bowl Subdivision head football coaches and the popular social-media platform Twitter, this case study sought to explore the potential influence of on-field performance on coaches’ popularity in social media. Among the results is the finding that the most influential factor is the football program’s prestige (long-term success), while the coach’s on-field success and the size of the school’s fan base are of lesser importance. Given the increasing influence of social media in intercollegiate athletics, the case study’s results feature several important considerations for administrators seeking to use social-media platforms to increase the reach of their athletic programs.

The paper is an investigation into the possibility of using the popular social interactive media in the classroom in thedeveloping world. There has been different school of thoughts about the usefulness of the interactive social media.The question being widely asked today is, can these popular social media be used constructively in the classroom.This study is therefore designed to provide empirical answer to the above widely asked question. The studyemployed descriptive survey design. A sample of 500 participants was selected using stratified sampling technique.A questionnaire tagged “PUSIM” was used to collect data for the study. It was tested for internal consistency and areliability of 0.73 was obtained. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showedthat the perceived benefits included flexibility, mobility of students and enhanced communication .It was also aneffective and innovative way of presenting subject matters. Succinctly put, social interactive technologies wereeffective in changing the image of schools, hence its effectiveness in the classroom to enhance flexible, creative andinteractive learning.

Popularity in social media is mostly interpreted by drawing a relationship between a social media account and its followers. Although understanding popularity from social media has been explored for about a decade, to our knowledge, the extent to which the account owners put efforts to enhance their popularity has not been evaluated in detail. In this paper, we focus on Twitter, a popular social media, and consider the case study of the 2016 US elections. More specifically, we aim to assess whether candidates endeavor to improve their style of tweeting over time to be more attractive to their followers. An ad hoc-defined predictive model based on a recurrent random forest is used for this purpose. To this end, we build a classification model whose features are obtained from the characteristics of a set of content/sentiment information extracted from the tweets. Next, we derive an index of social media popularity for both candidates. Results show that Trump wisely exploited Twitter to attract more people by tweeting in a well-organized and desirable manner and that his tweeting style has increased his popularity in social media. The differences in the tweeting styles of the two presidential candidates and the links between the sentiments arising from candidates’ tweets and their popularity index are also investigated.

This paper explores how luxury brands can utilize Weibo in order to create an effective marketing strategy that appeals to millenials. China accounts for 47% of global online retail sales (eMarketer, 2016) and it is predicted that millenials (born 1980-1995) and Generation Z will make up two-fifths of luxury spending by 2025 (eMarketer, 2017). However, due to political constraints, popular western social media sites cannot be used to target this vast market of online Chinese consumers. Weibo is one of the most popular social media sites in China, with 97.2% using the site (Yu et al., 2017). In order to target them effectively brands need to gain an indepth understanding of Chinese consumers and what would appeal to them on Weibo. The majority of social media research uses quantitative methodologies on popular social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. There are limited qualitative studies exploring consumers’ feelings and attitudes towards brands’ social media activities on Weibo. Due to different cultural backgrounds Chinese consumer behavior is likely to show a different trend to Western countries. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 12 participants were conducted. Findings showed that convenience, immediacy, social standing/status and entertainment were key drivers for using Weibo. Fashion information, latest product releases and videos were the most popular type of posts. Consumers read comments and tagged their friends, emphasising the importance of e-word-of-mouth (e-wom) and the influence that it can have on purchasing behaviour. This also facilitated the creation and feeling of a brand community. Consumers were very receptive to celebrity collaborations which influenced purchasing behavior. The main criticism of luxury brand’s Weibo was that it was not updated enough and Weibo did not have an influence on trust. This study provides a clear insight into what Chinese millenials want from luxury brands’ Weibo and how it can influence their purchasing behaviors and e-wom. The findings are novel, contributing to the academic literature through the conduction of a qualitative study exploring an under-researched area. This research has practical implications for luxury brands, as they should provide regular, up-to-date content consisting of videos and celebrity collaborations. A limitation could be the limited number of participants, yet, findings provide an interesting insight into consumers’ perceptions of Weibo and how it influences their attitudes and behaviors towards luxury brands.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between popularity in a social media network and a company’s revenue, expenditure and market value. Additionally, social media networks are analysed as tools for both voluntary and involuntary intellectual capital (IC) disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThese aims are analysed in the context of the football industry. An empirical analysis evaluates the correlations between team and player social media metrics from Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram and their football club’s market value, revenue and player transfer fees. Examples of timely IC disclosure are also reported.FindingsThe results indicate that popularity metrics in social media are determinants of the value of human and relational capital in professional football clubs. Popularity in social media positively correlates to market capitalisation, revenue and player transfer fees. Additionally, examples are provided to show how social media can be a tool for disclosing IC information in a relevant and timely manner.Practical implicationsFrom a strategic management perspective, the authors find that there are economic opportunities to be gained from managing social media platforms appropriately and that knowledge derived from social media needs to be used effectively by club managers, so that fans and followers can be transformed into consumers. One practical implication of this research is the need to hire social media experts that are able to develop, coordinate and manage digital communication strategies.Originality/valueThis paper presents an analysis of emerging changes in technology and communication platforms and different types of disclosure. It aims to demonstrate that the metrics derived from social media can be used as tool to disclose voluntary and involuntary information about IC – information that is particularly useful to investors because their shortage of tangible assets can make football clubs difficult to evaluate.

First‐person representations of illness have been studied as key to the cultural fabric disrupting dominant practices of ill health or disease regimes. However, the role that digital platforms play in shaping this fabric in contemporary societies has been mostly overlooked. We address this gap by investigating how mainstream social media, as mundane spaces modelled by corporate‐driven techno‐commercial structures, frame specific forms of visuality or ways to see ill health. We reflect on how these forms of visuality relate to existing disease regimes. The article presents an investigation of popular images of BReast CAncer (BRCA) hereditary cancer syndromes posted on Instagram, Twitter (now X) or Facebook over the course of 12 months. By combining cultural analytics, visual network analysis and interpretive techniques, we explore the emergence of platform‐specific visual vernaculars and the visual genres of ill health emerging from these vernaculars. Our analysis suggests that, in the context of BRCA hereditary cancer syndromes, popular social media images primarily exacerbate existing racialised and gendered practices. Where alternative views emerge, in their being shaped by platforms’ attention economies, they often operate in what we define as a ‘liminal space’ of imagination – one that hints at renewed, but not necessarily disruptive and certainly not radical ways to imagine ill health.

Purpose – we investigate models of social media activity of small local banks (SLBs) in Poland and the consequences of their adoption for SLBs’ growth. Research methodology – with the use of k-medoid clustering, we differentiate between types of SLBs’ social media activity. Then, after controlling for bank specificity and local environment, we employ these activity types in regression models explaining a bank’s popularity in social media and bank growth. Findings – although SLBs draw attention if they concentrate their social media activity on local affairs, conversion of such popularity into a bank growth is difficult to achieve. Research limitations – a relatively limited number of SLBs (111 entities) adopted an active social media policy. As a result, we have to look for social media activity models instead of describing the activity directly with numerous variables employed simultaneously in regressions. Practical implications – in order to reach the highest recognition in social media, a small bank should widely discuss local affairs. Nevertheless, SLBs’ managers should carefully enter the social media world as even suitably selected social media strategy does not automatically lead to economic outcomes. Originality/Value – first, we extend the scarce evidence on social media adoption by financial companies. Second, we clearly define different types of social media activity of local firms. Third, we differentiate between the attention drawn through social media activity and its economic repercussions.

Solace in Social Media: Women Unite Under COVID-19

The popularity of social media has led to many brands using platforms such as Facebook for marketing communications, typically whereby brands post content (text, images, and/or videos) on their social media pages for their consumer “fans” to see and, hopefully, engage with. Despite the widespread use of social media marketing, relatively little is known about how various characteristics of branded social media content affect different types of consumer engagement (e.g., liking, commenting, sharing) with brands on social media. The authors analyze 4,284 Facebook posts made by nine brands during an 18-month period. A theory-based typology of fourteen content characteristics covering aspects of what brands say and how they say it is developed and these are linked to different types of consumer engagement with brands’ posts. Various drivers of engagement are found, with the most important being those associated with persuasion. Contrary to traditional marketing communications, persuasive content characteristics are found to lower engagement in the social media context. This research sheds light on how consumers process and interact with branded content in social media, and has implications for how marketers should design content to maximize consumer engagement with their brands.

PurposeThis study seeks to explore the impact of “fear of missing out” (FOMO) and “psychological enhancement” (PE) on addiction to social media applications, subsequently influencing users' life satisfaction and continuous usage intention.Design/methodology/approachThis research involved the administration of two sets of questionnaires during distinct periods: December 15 to December 30, 2022 and August 26 to September 2, 2023. The participants were college students from three universities in China, and the data collection utilized the “Questionnaire Star” platform. Only responses deemed valid and consistent were included in the subsequent statistical analysis. A total of 1,108 valid samples were used for the final analysis. Analyses including reliability, validity, path analysis, structural equation modeling, mediation effects and moderation effects were conducted using SPSS and AMOS software.FindingsThe study revealed that both FOMO and PE exerted positive influences on users' addiction to social media applications. Furthermore, this addiction was found to have a negative effect on users' life satisfaction while simultaneously contributing positively to their intention to continue using these platforms. The mediating effect of social media application addiction and the moderating impact of self-regulation were also substantiated through the analysis.Research limitations/implicationsFirstly, it is important to note that the research population of this study is limited to college students, which may limit its generalizability and representativeness. Although college students are a group known for their familiarity with and frequent use of smartphones and social media apps, the findings may not fully capture the behaviors of social media app users in other age groups. To enhance the understanding of social media app addiction across different age groups, future studies should consider expanding the research population and conducting multi-group difference analyses. Secondly, while focusing on specific users within a particular region can minimize unexplained variance in model estimation, it may also restrict the broader applicability of the study results. Therefore, future studies should consider testing the research model with diverse groups from different regions and cultural backgrounds. This approach will provide valuable insights into how social media app addiction may vary across various contexts, thereby enriching our understanding of this phenomenon.Practical implicationsOur findings reveal that in the “attention economy” environment shaped by addiction, social media app managers should leverage technology to swiftly and accurately target audiences, attract them to their platforms and cultivate long-term relationships. Encouraging users to develop new beneficial habits through app-specific functions and precise services will foster continuous usage and unlock revenue and marketing opportunities for app companies.Social implicationsDespite the extensive scholarly discourse on social media application addiction, there is a lack of a well-defined framework delineating how addictive user behaviors can be leveraged in the marketing strategies of social media application platforms. The present study seeks to address these gaps, contributing to a better understanding of the formation mechanisms and knowledge systems related to social media application addiction. By investigating the causes and consequences of such addiction, this research offers valuable insights and recommendations for the innovative development of these apps, given their widespread popularity. Concurrently, the study establishes a theoretical basis for the concept that users can mitigate the negative effects of social media addiction by exercising their own self-regulation.Originality/valueAs the functionalities and features of social media apps converge, their individual uniqueness starts to diminish, intensifying the competition among social media companies. This escalating rivalry places higher demands on these companies. This study aims to aid social media app companies in comprehending and analyzing the diverse psychological needs of users. By enriching their platform features and services, leading users towards addiction and gaining an edge in the “Attention Economy” competition. Understanding and catering to users' needs will be instrumental in thriving within this dynamic and evolving attention economy landscape.

Influencers, Brands, and Pivots in the Time of COVID-19

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are some popular social media. DeLegge and Wangler (2017) have developed a Susceptible-Infectious-Removed type mathematical model to describe social media popularity. The DeLegge and Wangler model was a bilinear incidence rate model. In this paper, we improve the DeLegge and Wangler model by considering standard incidence rate. The presented model takes the form of an ordinary differential equation system that describes dynamic of susceptible (population of who are not social media users), infectious population (population of social networks users) and removed population (population of who leave social media). The presented model has three equilibria namely the “no social media users” equilibrium, “very popular social media” equilibrium and “popular social media” equilibrium. We find that the three equilibria are conditionally asymptotically stable. We also perform some numerical simulations to verify the analytical results.

Predicting popularity from social media has been explored about a decade. As far as the number of social media users is soaring, understanding the relationship between popularity and social media is really beneficial because it can be mapped to the real popularity of an entity. The popularity in social media, for instance in Twitter, is interpreted by drawing a relationship between a social media account and its followers. Therefore, in this paper, to understand the popularity of candidates of the US election 2016 in social media, we verify this association in Twitter by analyzing the candidates’ tweets. More specifically, our aim is to assess if candidates put efforts to improve their style of tweeting over time to be more favorable to their followers. We show that Mr. Trump could wisely exploit Twitter to attract more people by tweeting in a well-organized and desirable manner and that tweeting style has increased his popularity in social media.

Aim/Purpose: This paper, explored features of popular social media in promoting research activities for successful integration of information services on social media platforms. Background: Leisure, in the early days, was more aligned with reading and research activities and enjoyed a long term monopoly until the advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The society milieu is now accentuated with arrays of technological innovations and academic activities are, therefore, relegated to remnant time resulting from application and the use of ICTs. While reading and research are required more now than ever, social media, as components of ICTs, present their distractive features. However, studies have shown that social media could be incorporated to promote and communicate academic and research activities. Methodology: The paper analytically reviewed empirical literatures on information as obtained from innovative and sustained academic activities, which is a key to research development. The paper also discussed ways academic librarians could adapt and utilize popular social media such as facebook, whatsapp, instagram, badoo, skype, imo, wechat, twitter, blogs, flikr and youtube to provide Library services, Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI), and communicate specialized literature search result, to promote purposeful networking, communication and transfer of information to support teaching and research activities. Contribution: The study reviewed the features of 21st century popular social media, and proffered ways of promoting research and academic culture through the adoption and use of social media platforms by information professionals. Findings: The paper assessed and listed the potentials of the features of social media as a communication tool in academic and research processes, making it possible for librarians to incorporate the features of these communication tools in the discharge of library services in areas such as reference services, professional collaboration, virtual help desk, consortium/resource sharing, selective communication and information, dissemination of knowledge, and information bank. Recommendations for Practitioners: The paper assessed and listed the potentials of the features of social media as a communication tool in academic and research processes, making it possible for librarians to incorporate the features of these communication tools in the discharge of library services in areas such as reference services, professional collaboration, virtual help desk, consortium/resource sharing, selective communication and information, dissemination of knowledge, and information bank. Recommendation for Researchers: With the exponential growth and use of social media as primary mode of communication, this paper elucidated how librarians could utilize such phenomenon to promote academic culture. Researchers are encouraged to capitalize on this opportunity for effective and timely research communication aimed at bridging the research communication gap between developed and developing nation and ultimately, for solving societal developmental problems. Impact on Society: The paper explored the features of popular social media that have the potentials that could be harnessed by librarians to create a 21st century technology enhanced learning arena aimed at bridging the research communication gap between developed and developing nations for societal growth. Future Research: The paper has added to the body of literature to serve as a pivot for researchers with focus on social media and concepts such as learning, research, academic achievement, library services and information profession.