Social Media Conversations Research Articles

273 IgA Nephropathy (IgAN) Symptoms and Disease Impact: A Linguistic Analysis of Social Media Conversations in IgAN with Patients, Caregivers, and Healthcare Providers

273 IgA Nephropathy (IgAN) Symptoms and Disease Impact: A Linguistic Analysis of Social Media Conversations in IgAN with Patients, Caregivers, and Healthcare Providers

The Challenge of Debunking Health Misinformation in Dynamic Social Media Conversations: Online Randomized Study of Public Masking During COVID-19.

BackgroundThe spread of false and misleading health information on social media can cause individual and social harm. Research on debunking has shown that properly designed corrections can mitigate the impact of misinformation, but little is known about the impact of correction in the context of prolonged social media debates. For example, when a social media user takes to Facebook to make a false claim about a health-related practice and a health expert subsequently refutes the claim, the conversation rarely ends there. Often, the social media user proceeds by rebuking the critic and doubling down on the claim.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the impact of such extended back and forth between false claims and debunking attempts on observers’ dispositions toward behavior that science favors. We tested competing predictions about the effect of extended exposure on people’s attitudes and intentions toward masking in public during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and explored several psychological processes potentially underlying this effect.MethodsA total of 500 US residents took part in an online experiment in October 2020. They reported on their attitudes and intentions toward wearing masks in public. They were then randomly assigned to one of four social media exposure conditions (misinformation only vs misinformation+correction vs misinformation+correction+rebuke vs misinformation+correction+rebuke+second correction), and reported their attitudes and intentions for a second time. They also indicated whether they would consider sharing the thread if they were to see it on social media and answered questions on potential mediators and covariates.ResultsExposure to misinformation had a negative impact on attitudes and intentions toward masking (β=–.35, 95% CI –.42 to –.29; P<.001). Moreover, initial debunking of a false claim generally improved attitudes and intentions toward masking (β=.35, 95% CI .16 to .54; P<.001). However, this improvement was washed out by further exposure to false claims and debunking attempts (β=–.53, 95% CI –.72 to –.34; P<.001). The latter result is partially explained by a decrease in the perceived objectivity of truth. That is, extended exposure to false claims and debunking attempts appear to weaken the belief that there is an objectively correct answer to how people ought to behave in this situation, which in turn leads to less positive reactions toward masking as the prescribed behavior.ConclusionsHealth professionals and science advocates face an underappreciated challenge in attempting to debunk misinformation on social media. Although engaging in extended debates with science deniers and other purveyors of bunk appears necessary, more research is needed to address the unintended consequences of such engagement.

Teenagers Language Politeness Strategy on Social Media WhatsApp Based on Level of Education

Language politeness in social media is still often ignored. The article aims to describe teenagers' politeness strategies in social media conversations, especially in the WhatsApp group of junior high schools, senior high schools, and colleges. The research was quantitative and qualitative descriptive, and the population was complete sentences in WhatsApp group conversations. The period of recording the conversation with each group is during September 2021. The data collection technique is by exporting the conversation data to Ms. Words. The data were arranged based on the entry date, then coded using Brown &amp; Levinson's politeness theory. The interpretation of the data classification results used the approach of Makassar's cultural perspective. The findings showed that in social media WhatsApp, the teenagers talked more frequently used three kinds of politeness strategies. 1) Bald on record involving questions, commands, and requests. Teenagers use this strategy from three-level of education. 2) Positive strategies involve jokes, identity, and paying attention. The college and high schools teenagers use jokes and identity. However, paying attention's strategy is just used by college teenagers. 3) Negative strategies include apologies, be-thankful, and questions. College and high schools teenagers use the apology and thank strategies. Nevertheless, teenagers from the high school level only used negative politeness in asking questions. In conclusion, the level of education of teenagers determines the use of politeness strategy in social media. The implication is that teachers and stakeholders pay more attention to students' language politeness building, especially in speaking politely to others, so their interaction is harmonious with their communities.

Social Bots' Involvement in the COVID-19 Vaccine Discussions on Twitter.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media served as an important channel for the public to obtain health information and disseminate opinions when offline communication was severely hindered. Yet the emergence of social bots influencing social media conversations about public health threats will require researchers and practitioners to develop new communication strategies considering their influence. So far, little is known as to what extent social bots have been involved in COVID-19 vaccine-related discussions and debates on social media. This work selected a period of nearly 9 months after the approval of the first COVID-19 vaccines to detect social bots and performed high-frequency word analysis for both social bot-generated and human-generated tweets, thus working out the extent to which social bots participated in the discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine on Twitter and their participation features. Then, a textual analysis was performed on the content of tweets. The findings revealed that 8.87% of the users were social bots, with 11% of tweets in the corpus. Besides, social bots remained active over three periods. High-frequency words in the discussions of social bots and human users on vaccine topics were similar within the three peaks of discourse.

Headloading: Exploring Creative Transmediation as a Methodological Direction in Visual Art Research

This article describes a study which explored a methodology suitable for studio-based visual art research. The study drew upon an ethnographic and cultural phenomenon manifesting in a social media conversation, with art practice emerging through a process of transmediation. The exploration proposes a methodology which integrates interdisciplinary concepts, such as semiotics, within related practice-led frameworks in order to further develop processes available to practical researchers in visual art. This approach essentially retools aspects of transmedia and intertextual practices, resulting in a methodology for art practices as “visual transmedia discourse”. As a means of storytelling and practice-based visual research it enables the extension of semiosis across platforms and contexts of display. In this article, the steps explored for the methodology are exemplified by considering headloading as a sociocultural phenomenon and using art practice by one of the authors, Trevor Morgan. Artworks were created by reinterpreting the theme, particularly as sociopolitical commentary on Facebook, contextualised with artworks by other Nigerian artists and personal experience of the practice and the context. This article also demonstrates how visual data and the emerging art pieces are analysed using Barthes’ semiotics of denotation and connotation.

College students’ perceptions of COVID-19 conversations on social media

Objective: This project assessed college students’ perceptions of social media conversations about COVID-19 in the United States. Participants: A total of 110 college students completed an online survey (N = 110) over two periods of time: April 2020 (n = 60) and September 2020 (n = 50). Method: Measurements included students’ perceptions of sentiment, risk, blame, outrage, and opinion/behavioral intention. Results: Survey results showed that college students’ attitudes and perceptions of these concepts on social media varied from April to September with negative sentiment, concern, uncertainty, and risk perception decreasing over time while blame and outrage increased over time. A sample of tweets was also examined for these constructs. Conclusions: This study provides important insight on college students’ perceptions during a public health emergency and how they use social media as a tool for health information.

Social media interactions, purchase intention, and behavioural engagement: The mediating role of source and content factors

Consumers increasingly interact with multimedia posts shared by peers on social media (SM) platforms. Drawing upon service-dominant logic (SDL) and the information adoption model (IAM), we examine the relationship between Consumer-to-Consumer’s (C2C) social media interactions (SMIs, Facebook and Instagram) and consumers’ intention (i.e., purchase intention) and behaviour (i.e., behavioural engagement (BE), liking, sharing, commenting), considering the mediating role of source (i.e., source homophily, credibility) and content factors (i.e., content quality). The results indicate that SMIs influence perceived source credibility, source homophily, content quality, and consumers’ purchase intention. Furthermore, source credibility and homophily predict BE and partially mediate the relationship between SMI and BE, whereas both homophily and post quality partially mediate the relationship between SMI and purchase intention. This study integrates SDL, the IAM, and source homophily, showing their application to C2C social media conversations, contributing to both theory and practice.

Communicating on social media during a #FestivalEmergency

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to explore multidirectional flows of information over the course of an emergency. The following research questions were designed to guide this study: How does social media communication unfold over the course of an emergency at a cultural event? How does the nature and purpose of social media communication between all SM users change once an emergency occurs that affects event operations? How does the sentiment of social media communication change once an emergency occurs that affects event operations?Design/methodology/approachThis study explored how social media was used to communicate about on-site emergencies at community cultural events. Three events were studied before, during and after an on-site emergency that disrupted the event. The Twitter and Facebook posts referencing emergencies that took place at Shambhala, Detonate and Zombicon were explored, and the nature and purpose of the posts revealed how online communication changed throughout the emergencies. The Social Mediated Crisis Communication Model guided this research and findings contribute to the model's ongoing development by incorporating additional theories and models.FindingsThe research demonstrates that social media communication shifts during an emergency and how communication moves through a network changes. Once an emergency is underway, communication increases and who is talking with whom changes. The nature and purpose of the social media conversation also evolves over the course of an emergency.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examined the social media communication during three on-site emergencies at three different cultural events. The findings contribute to the understanding of the Social Media Crisis Communication Model. Specifically, the research confirms the various actors who engage online but also shows that two-way communication is not common. As this study only examined three events experiencing three different emergencies, we have a limited understanding of how the type of emergencies affects social media communication.Practical implicationsThe findings show the need for pre-crisis work by event organizers. It is necessary for the events to build trust with their online communities to ensure that when an emergency occurs the event will be seen as a trusted source. Also, staff training is needed to ensure people are prepared to handle the complexities of communicating online during an emergency. Issues like misinformation, influencers and the rapid pace of social media communication create a challenging environment for staff who are unprepared.Originality/valueEmergencies can threaten the survival of event organizations and put the health and wellness of attendees, staff and other stakeholders at risk. The study of crisis communication in special event contexts has received little theoretical attention and yet it is an important area of event management practice. Social media is an essential part of communication strategies and should be integrated into emergency planning to best reach people when an emergency threatens the safety of those involved with the event. The Social Media Crisis Communication Model offers some insight, but understanding its relevance is necessary if it is to be integrated into event emergency management.

Anglocentrism in the Academy: On Linguistic Privilege, Mastery and Hoito

In this paper, we discuss the tacit agreement to use English as lingua franca in global academia. Our interest is in how Anglocentrism manifests within academic practices – seminars, conferences, and academic publishing – all of which are marked by neoliberal assumptions of mastery, quality, and efficacy. Drawing on autobiographical narratives, social media conversations, and literature, as well as recent discussions on conferencing and peer review practices, we analyse how historically shaped linguistic privilege and linguistic divides continue to be lived at the level of the body, affects and affective atmospheres. Language is not just language, rather, seemingly practical decisions about language always involve the aspects of material labour, time, money, and careers: they shape researcher subjectivities and entire domains of scientific knowledge. However, we also highlight the potentials nested in the emergence of minor language and the deterritorialising forces of humor. Articulating the speculative lines of what if, we propose more care-full academic linguistic practices.

Using Social Media Listening in Crisis Communication and Management: New Methods and Practices for Looking into Crises

The paper aims to explore new methods and practices for looking into crises in online environments by using social media listening tools and methods. Based on the case of two privately owned hospitals in Romania facing boycotts due to their response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we study the social media conversations on the topic, the emerging themes, the visibility triggered and the impact on the brand and actors involved. Drawing on a social media listening and crisis communication framework, our research looks to unveil the relationship between stakeholders’ expectations and brand promise, aiming to foresee predictive crisis communication and management models.

67. Artificial intelligence-based analysis of literature and social media conversations on the sensory, social, neurobiological and psychological dimensions of pleasurable pork eating experiences

67. Artificial intelligence-based analysis of literature and social media conversations on the sensory, social, neurobiological and psychological dimensions of pleasurable pork eating experiences

Putting Appreciative Communication into Practice on Social Media Platforms

Is it possible to have meaningful conversations on social media platforms at a time when there is so much divisiveness and partisanship? It is not only possible but doable! By applying the AI principles of Wholeness and Enactment to social media conversations, I present a model framework to guide conversations away from those that devalue to those that add value.

Speaking Up on Black Lives Matter: A Comparative Study of Consumer Reactions toward Brand and Influencer-Generated Corporate Social Responsibility Messages

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement ignited divergent social media reactions and conversations. Addressing the importance of message sources, this study aims to (1) compare audience reactions toward BLM content posted by brands and by influencers with brand sponsorship and (2) apply computational methods in influencer marketing to examine a large volume of social media texts qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 32,702 comments on 110 Instagram posts on BLM were collected and analyzed through both human efforts and machine-learning algorithms. As a result, we found that black-influencer-created BLM attracted higher consumer engagement than posts by nonblack influencers and brands. Moreover, we generated seven different themes among which brands received the highest percentages of criticism, demands for more proactive actions, and purchase/boycott intentions. Influencers had more comments that reflected personal stories and emotion regarding BLM. Black influencers in particular received the highest percentage of praise and appreciation. Finally, comments on brands’ BLM posts embedded the highest proportion of negative sentiment, while those of black influencers’ posts were predominantly positive. Therefore, the comparisons of BLM sources elucidate the promising potential of influencers in communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages of racial equality—a topic which engenders high relevance to every individual in our society.

Social media conversations reveal large psychological shifts caused by COVID-19's onset across U.S. cities.

The current research chronicles the unfolding of the early psychological impacts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by analyzing Reddit language from 18 U.S. cities (200,000+ people) and large-scale survey data (11,000+ people). Large psychological shifts were found reflecting three distinct phases. When COVID-19 warnings first emerged (“warning phase”), people’s attentional focus switched to the impending threat. Anxiety levels surged, and positive emotion and anger dropped. In parallel, people’s thinking became more intuitive rather than analytic. When lockdowns began (“isolation phase”), analytic thinking dropped further. People became sadder, and their thinking reflected attempts to process the uncertainty. Familial ties strengthened, but ties to broader social groups weakened. Six weeks after COVID-19’s onset (“normalization phase”), people’s psychological states stabilized but remained elevated. Most psychological shifts were stronger when the threat of COVID-19 was greater. The magnitude of the observed shifts dwarfed responses to other events that occurred in the previous decade.

Bots as online impersonators

Social bots are automated agents programmed to act on social media impersonating human behaviour to influence discussions online. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of how bots can endanger online communication and alter information flows. We resorted to a mixed-method approach based on grounded theory and observational techniques in order to investigate the bots’ activities online during the 2016 municipal elections in Rio de Janeiro. We collected related content on Twitter in this period and detected 3,101 bots. This sample was classified in three categories based on tweeting content: user-generated bot, media spambot, and political bot. Our findings indicate that, although bots work for different political and social purposes, their computational nature claims into service of dominant social groups and economical elites. We conclude that computational propaganda is building a dangerous scenario of widespread automation in which different kinds of algorithms bias social media conversation.

Mining Arabic Twitter conversations on health care: a new approach to analysing Arabic language on social media

Purpose This paper aims to equip professionals and researchers in the fields of advertising, branding, public relations, marketing communications, social media analytics and marketing with a simple, effective and dynamic means of evaluating consumer behavioural sentiments and engagement through Arabic language and script, in vivo. Design/methodology/approach Using quantitative and qualitative situational linguistic analyses of Classical Arabic, found in Quranic and religious texts scripts; Modern Standard Arabic, which is commonly used in formal Arabic channels; and dialectical Arabic, which varies hugely from one Arabic country to another: this study analyses rich marketing and consumer messages (tweets) – as a basis for developing an Arabic language social media methodological tool. Findings Despite the popularity of Arabic language communication on social media platforms across geographies, currently, comprehensive language processing toolkits for analysing Arabic social media conversations have limitations and require further development. Furthermore, due to its unique morphology, developing text understanding capabilities specific to the Arabic language poses challenges. Practical implications This study demonstrates the application and effectiveness of the proposed methodology on a random sample of Twitter data from Arabic-speaking regions. Furthermore, as Arabic is the language of Islam, the study is of particular importance to Islamic and Muslim geographies, markets and marketing. Social implications The findings suggest that the proposed methodology has a wider potential beyond the data set and health-care sector analysed, and therefore, can be applied to further markets, social media platforms and consumer segments. Originality/value To remedy these gaps, this study presents a new methodology and analytical approach to investigating Arabic language social media conversations, which brings together a multidisciplinary knowledge of technology, data science and marketing communications.

If Likes Were Votes: An Empirical Study on the 2011 Italian Administrative Elections

Is it possible to forecast electoral results by analyzing social media conversations? This paper aims to contribute to the debate raised by authors claiming to have successfully predicted the outcomes of an election from Twitter or Facebook data. Our work tested the purported predictive power of social media metrics against the 2011 Italian administrative elections. During the months before the election day, we collected the amount of Likes received on the Facebook pages of 229 candidates running for the mayor offices of the 29 provincial capitals. We built two forecast models with the goal of predicting the outcomes of the elections: the aim of the first one was to predict the candidates’ vote shares, while the second was to forecast the name of the winning candidate. We found a non-significant correlation between the share of candidate popularity on Facebook and the respective share of votes. However, in 39% of the cases, the most popular candidate on Facebook actually won the contest, and in another 43%, that candidate came in second. The contribution to the ongoing debate is therefore two-sided: on the one hand, we provide a new case study from a cultural context and political system never analyzed before by this kind of study; on the other side, we propose two forecasting models that, although proven to be partially unsuccessful, can provide a foundation for improved forecasting models.

Kiprah Aktor Warganet melalui Media Sosial dalam Pemasaran Digital: Studi Kasus pada #HondaBeAT

&lt;em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-US"&gt;This study aims to determine the role of netizen actors on social media in the digital marketing of a product brand, like #HondaBeAT. Nowadays, the use of social media to exchange information is increasing for the dissemination of messages and other contents. In the digital marketing ecosystem, social media plays an important role in introducing products, enhancing a positive image, and building relationships with customers. The use of social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, has attracted the attention of the younger generation, especially the millennial generation (Y) and the post-millennial generation (Z). The level of effectiveness of digital marketing is also influenced and determined by the progress of netizen actors, such as followers, influencers, and buzzers. Their role is increasingly important to convey information more effectively through various product and service brand content on various social media platforms. This study uses a qualitative approach to analyze data from social media conversations on Twitter and Instagram within a certain period of time with the help of the Drone Emprit Academic (DEA) application. This research reveals the progress of netizen actors on the company’s official accounts of Twitter and Instagram as a basic understanding for designing and compiling digital marketing strategies using product brand hashtags. This study also found that the netizen actors studied had their respective roles in strengthening the delivery of messages and content on social media.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;

Social media, vaccine hesitancy and trust deficit in immunization programs: a qualitative enquiry in Malappuram District of Kerala, India

BackgroundWith increased penetration of the internet and social media, there are concerns regarding its negative role in influencing parents’ decisions regarding vaccination for their children. It is perceived that a mix of religious reasons and propaganda by anti-vaccination groups on social media are lowering the vaccination coverage in Malappuram district of Kerala. We undertook a qualitative study to understand the factors responsible for generating and perpetuating vaccine hesitancy, the pathways of trust deficit in immunization programs and the interaction between various social media actors.MethodsIn-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted among parents/caregivers, physicians, public sector health staff, alternative system medical practitioners, field healthcare workers and teachers in areas with highest and lowest vaccination coverage in the district, as well as with communication experts.ResultsThe trust deficit between parents/caregivers and healthcare providers is created by multiple factors, such as providers’ lack of technical knowledge, existing patriarchal societal norms and critical views of vaccine by naturopaths and homeopaths. Anti-vaccine groups use social media to influence caregivers' perceptions and beliefs. Religion does not appear to play a major role in creating vaccine resistance in this setting.ConclusionsA long-term, multipronged strategy should be adopted to address the trust deficit. In the short to medium term, the health sector can focus on appropriate and targeted vaccine-related communication strategies, including the use of infographics, soft skills training for healthcare workers, technical competency improvement through a mobile application-based repository of information and creation of a media cell to monitor vaccine-related conversations in social media and to intervene if needed.

“I Am Not Racist, But ...”: Rhetorical Fallacies in Arguments about the Refugee Crisis on Czech Facebook

This paper examines the strategies of social media users commenting on the so-called refugee crisis. This qualitative analysis of the role of passion politics discourse on social media primarily employs the concept of rhetorical fallacies. It aims to stress the interdiscursive nature of immigration as a topic. It is connected with anti-liberalism, anti-feminism (or homophobia), and conservatism. For the purpose of this study, we used techniques for social-media monitoring to analyze social-media conversations related to migration on the Facebook page of Parlamentnílisty.cz news during the Czech parliamentary and presidential elections. This analysis showed that rhetorical fallacies were used in a relatively small amount of the studied material. Only 13% of all comments contained rhetorical fallacies, among which the most used was the ad hominem fallacy (55% of the total), "call for fear" (11%) and "false authority" (7%).