Digital Communication Environment Research Articles

Blame and obligation: The importance of libertarianism and political orientation in the public assessment of disinformation in the United States

AbstractDisinformation concerns have heightened the importance of regulating content and speech in digital communication environments. Perceived risks have led to widespread public support for stricter control measures, even at the expense of individual speech rights. To better understand these preferences in the US context, we investigate public attitudes regarding blame for and obligation to address digital disinformation by drawing on political ideology, libertarian values, trust in societal actors, and issue salience. A manual content analysis of open‐ended survey responses in combination with an issue salience experiment shows that political orientation and trust in actors primarily drive blame attribution, while libertarianism predominantly informs whose obligation it is to stop the spread. Additionally, enhancing the salience of specific aspects of the issue can influence people's assessments of blame and obligation. Our findings reveal a range of attributions, underlining the need for careful balance in regulatory interventions. Additionally, we expose a gap in previous literature by demonstrating libertarianism's unique role vis‐à‐vis political orientation in the context of regulating content and speech in digital communication environments.

Visible scientists in digital communication environments: An analysis of their role performance as public experts on Twitter/X during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to significant societal challenges, there is a growing demand for scientists to actively engage in public discussions. The recent Covid-19 pandemic led to the sudden visibility of certain scientists, necessitating them to extend their roles beyond research and actively communicate with the general public. Online platforms allow for direct engagement but increase the challenge by interconnecting different public arenas. Our case study examined the role performance of visible virologists on Twitter/X in six different time periods during the pandemic in Germany (N = 1003). Findings indicate that they often express calls to action, and voice their own views, but seldom address uncertainty. Differences over time were found in their use of different types of statements, scientific jargon and emotional language. They also utilised the opportunities of direct communication, performing roles like watchdogs or advocates, highlighting the importance for scientists to reflect on their roles as communicators.

A survey on multi-lingual offensive language detection.

The prevalence of offensive content on online communication and social media platforms is growing more and more common, which makes its detection difficult, especially in multilingual settings. The term "Offensive Language" encompasses a wide range of expressions, including various forms of hate speech and aggressive content. Therefore, exploring multilingual offensive content, that goes beyond a single language, focus and represents more linguistic diversities and cultural factors. By exploring multilingual offensive content, we can broaden our understanding and effectively combat the widespread global impact of offensive language. This survey examines the existing state of multilingual offensive language detection, including a comprehensive analysis on previous multilingual approaches, and existing datasets, as well as provides resources in the field. We also explore the related community challenges on this task, which include technical, cultural, and linguistic ones, as well as their limitations. Furthermore, in this survey we propose several potential future directions toward more efficient solutions for multilingual offensive language detection, enabling safer digital communication environment worldwide.

Promoting the Patriotic Agenda on Social Media among Russian Students

The study aims to compare patriotic attitudes among the social group of student youth, as reflected in public opinion dynamics and social media information flows. The research methodology was based on cognitive and network approaches to examining social processes. The methods of open sociological and statistical data analysis, cognitive content mapping and automated social media analysis were used to determine the content and intensity of the impact of opposing patriotic and anti-patriotic information flows in the Russian segment of social media on the social values and attitudes of student youth. The results of the study revealed a high intensity of information pressure of anti-patriotic information flow in the digital communications environment on the audience of student youth. The sociological data indicates a strong prevalence of patriotic attitudes among the youth, however, analysis of information flows reveals the widespread presence of anti-patriotic narratives and discourses on social networks. The student communities of supporters of the patriotic idea differ from the opponents in that they are much more numerous, but much less active in producing and promoting semantic content in the social media space. The social media segment in Russia lacks a well-developed network infrastructure, including opinion leaders and effective platforms for broadcasting patriotic content. The empirical study of information flows has shown that universities are not on the list of platforms for promoting the patriotic agenda. Russian universities face a significant challenge in implementing patriotic education for the youth due to their technological and ideological detachment from students who are immersed in the digital communication environment. These circumstances reveal institutional issues with implementing the state policy of youth development in the face of existential challenges.

Negative Downstream Effects of Alarmist Disinformation Discourse: Evidence from the United States

AbstractThe threat of disinformation features strongly in public discourse, but scientific findings remain conflicted about disinformation effects and reach. Accordingly, indiscriminate warnings about disinformation risk overestimating its effects and associated dangers. Balanced accounts that document the presence of digital disinformation while accounting for empirically established limits offer a promising alternative. In a preregistered experiment, U.S. respondents were exposed to two treatments designed to resemble typical journalistic contributions discussing disinformation. The treatment emphasizing the dangers of disinformation indiscriminately (T1) raised the perceived dangers of disinformation among recipients. The balanced treatment (T2) lowered the perceived threat level. T1, but not T2, had negative downstream effects, increasing respondent support for heavily restrictive regulation of speech in digital communication environments. Overall, we see a positive correlation among all respondents between the perceived threat of disinformation to societies and dissatisfaction with the current state of democracy.

Evaluation of sustainable metaverse characteristics using scenario-based fuzzy cognitive map

Metaverse, a virtual world that is parallel to the real world, has gained significant attention in recent years. This is because of the merging of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp under the “Meta” umbrella, intending to encompass all forms of digital communication and virtual environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend, as the need for virtual social interaction has grown due to the cancellation of in-person events. However, creating a metaverse environment parallel to the real world necessitates an examination of its sustainability dimensions, including those from economic, environmental, social, and technological viewpoints. A sustainable metaverse must possess certain characteristics, such as being able to meet high computational demands, being interoperable and scalable, and having appropriate norms and regulations in place. This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of a sustainable metaverse in detail. The Fuzzy Cognitive Map is used to handle negative causal relationships and address the lack of crisp data. Additionally, scenario analysis is conducted to examine the impact of changes in specific characteristics on other characteristics. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the understanding of the metaverse and can serve as a valuable resource for those working to create a sustainable virtual world.

The Influence of Economic Digital Ecosystems on the Formation of Social Representations of the Subject

The object of research is the transformation of the social representations of the subject in the digital communication environment, the transformation of social representations in economic digital ecosystems is highlighted as the subject. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing convergence of digital, cognitive and social technologies in the emerging digital society, and, as a consequence, the inclusion of information and digital technologies in the system of social interactions. The study is aimed at identifying the ways and mechanisms of influence of economic digital ecosystems on the social perceptions and values of the subject. Accordingly, the article examines the features and goals of economic digital ecosystems emerging in the process of development of the digital economy. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the features of digital communication in economic ecosystems, which create new opportunities and ways of influencing ecosystems on the formation and dissemination of social ideas. The methodological basis of the study is made up of structural-functional and systemic-communicative approaches to the study of the processes of transformation of social ideas and values of the subject. The main conclusion of the study is the following: in the information society, the influence of digital economic ecosystems, aimed at constructing the digital environment of society, on the formation and transmission of social ideas, is increasing. The growth in influence is largely due to the high adaptability of ecosystems to the individuality of the consumer and the digital capabilities of personalizing consumption. The novelty lies in the introduction of the concept of “collective digital transpersonal community,” which characterizes the features of the method of forming social ideas and values in the digital environment.

Enhancing Email Accessibility for Visually Impaired Individuals

This paper presents an innovative, voice-based email system designed to improve email accessibility for visually impaired individuals. The proposed system leverages Artificial Intelligence and speech recognition technologies to convert speech to text and text to speech, enabling visually impaired individuals to send and receive emails using voice commands. The system offers an intuitive user interface, secure authentication measures, and robust database architecture to ensure seamless and secure user experience. Comparative analysis with traditional email systems reveals the superior functionality and inclusivity of the proposed system. Despite certain limitations, future enhancements promise to further refine the system, paving the way for a more inclusive digital communication environment.

Communication totalitarianism in Japan: ‘Decontextualisation’ and ‘Recontextualisation’ and the digital communication environment

ABSTRACT In Japan, young people are becoming increasingly apathetic about politics, while at the same time they are experiencing a rightward leaning and a growing sympathy for totalitarianism and authoritarianism. To understand this contradiction, we need to look at the digital communication environment in which they engage in political discourse. One of the most representative opinion leaders in this regard is Hiroyuki Nishimura. In recent years, Hiroyuki has become widely known as the ‘King of Refutation’ and is immensely popular among the young generation. He is very active in political and social issues, arguing in a logical and neutral manner. However, despite his enlightened mode of argumentation, his arguments have been perceived as accommodative to totalitarian and authoritarian perceptions. This paper argues that at the heart of this mode of refutation is a process of ‘decontextualisation’ and ‘recontextualisation’ which has resulted in reducing the complexity of the issue, making it comprehensible to the majority while oppressing minorities. And this mode of refutation and the processes of ‘decontextualisation’ and ‘recontextualisation’ are at the centre of the various digital communication platforms that he operates and that have become hubs of political communication around the world: 2channel, 4chan, Nico Nico Douga and YouTube clips. In this sense, the totalitarianism and rightward leaning of the young generation is not due to a specific ideology but is strongly conditioned by the communication environment. ‘Communication totalitarianism’ can be used to describe the totalitarianism and right-wing tendencies taking place in Japan.

Can Risk Communication Surveillance Prompt COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Internet users? Applying the Situational Theory of Problem Solving: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The World Health Organization has recently raised concerns about the low number of fully vaccinated people against COVID-19 among developing countries. The low ratio of fully vaccinated people and the emergence of renewed infectious variants correspond to worsening public health. Global health managers have highlighted COVID-19 vaccine-related infodemics as the significant risk perception factor that hinders mass vaccination campaigns. Given the ambiguous digital communication environment which has fostered infodemics, developing nations struggle to boost public willingness to get people fully vaccinated. Authorities have launched some risk communication-laden digital interventions in response to infodemics. However, the value of these risk communication strategies employed to tackle infodemics needs to be evaluated. The current research using the tenets of the situational theory of problem-solving is novel, as it explores the impending effects of risk communication strategies. The relationship between infodemic-induced risk perception about COVID-19 vaccine safety and risk communication actions to intensify willingness to get fully vaccinated was examined. This research used a cross-sectional research design vis-à-vis nationally representative online survey. We collected data from 1946 internet users across Pakistan. Participants voluntarily participated in this research after filling consent form and reading the ethical permissions. Responses were received over three months, from May 2022 to July 2022. The results delineated that infodemics positively affect risk perception. This realization pushed the public to engage in risky communicative actions through reliance on and search for accurate information. Therefore, the prospect of managing infodemics through risk information exposure (e.g., digital interventions) using the situational context could predict robust willingness to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The pioneering results offer strategic considerations for health authorities to effectively man-age the descending spiral of optimal protection against COVID-19. This research concludes that the likelihood of managing infodemics using the situational context through exposure to relevant information could improve one's knowledge of forfending and selection, which can lead to robust protection against COVID-19. Hence, more situation-specific information about the underpinning problem (i.e., selection of appropriate vaccine) can be made accessible through several official digital sources to achieve a more active public health response.

Rethinking digital rights through systemic problems of communication

Introduction: Recent policy and expert debates surrounding problems in the digital environment have promoted different conceptualizations of digital rights. However, current problems of digital communication are often discussed separately from earlier debates pertaining to the democratization of the media. This article argues for the re-grounding of digital rights debates to address systemic communication problems. Methodology: Intended as a conceptual contribution, this article connects recent critical research on digital rights to the body of literature on democratic media activism through an analysis of problem representations. The article draws on the “What is the problem represented to be?” approach to study problem representations in the academic accounts of mobilizations and to identify common themes that describe systemic problems of communication. Results: The results identify problem representations that have emerged in and been defined by mobilizations over time and illustrate persistent themes with examples from the digital and mass media eras, including inequalities in the distribution of communicative resources, ownership and economic model of the communication system, and problems of participation and exclusion. Discussion: Focusing on problem representations enables identification of alternatives to current dominant discourses and offers grounds for collaboration at the nexus of activism and scholarship. Conclusions: Future research can benefit from a further dialogue between the framework of democratic media activism and rights-based approaches to the digital communication environment.

유럽인권법원의 판례상 통신감청에 관한 연구

The pace of progress in digital technology is difficult to predict. At the same time, the growing threat of serious crime raises questions about the tension between “individual freedom” and “public safety” more acutely than ever. The conflict between the two is clearly revealed in the discussion of the state's surveillance of communications. The European Court of Human Rights has so far guaranteed the right to respect for privacy “offline” and the right to freedom of expression. In particular, it is noteworthy that in the ruling on May 25, 2021, the judgment was made in connection with the current situation transferred to “cyberspace”. Until recently, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Internet have not been so prominent. However, it is no exaggeration to say that the European Court of Human Rights is now facing new challenges due to technological advances. Data movement on the Internet transcends national borders, and data theft by government agencies is possible due to the opaque route. There is no question that the scope of surveillance is much broader and that it gives access to the core areas of privacy. The European Court of Human Rights stated that wiretapping is possible only when there is “serious suspicion against the person being monitored.” General and unrestricted surveillance violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Above all, it cannot be denied that in recent years, it is inevitable to grant wide-ranging powers to intelligence agencies to respond to threats to national security. As is well known, it would be difficult to imagine even a moment of everyday life freed from today's information and communication technology. Against the background of this digital stage, techniques that ensured encryption and anonymity, such as the dark web and telegram, appeared. Therefore, it is self-evident that finding and responding to clues in the field is virtually impossible. In line with this situation, it is necessary to legally prepare appropriate countermeasures for the security authorities. At the same time, the European Court of Human Rights emphasizes that legal and technical safeguards must be secured to prevent abuse and violation of fundamental rights. Ultimately, in order to collect information related to serious crimes or acts of terrorism in today's information and communication environment connected to the Internet of Things, corresponding regulations must be prepared. This is the principle of equality of arms. From this point of view, the general authority to collect information regulated by the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers and “Regulations on Information Collection and Processing” is not only incompatible with today's digital information and communication environment, but it is difficult to avoid criticism that it is a way that is far behind in comparison. In future legislation, disclosure and non-disclosure (secret) means should be separated, and in the case of non-disclosure, stricter requirements should be set in consideration of the high degree of violation of fundamental rights.

Conserving complexity: A complex systems paradigm and framework to study public relations’ contribution to grand challenges

Sustainable development poses a grand challenge for society, addressed by organisations through their public relations activities. Grand challenges are complex by nature and call for nontrivial solutions whose effects show at the level of society. That is why studying public relations’ contribution to grand challenges requires a macro perspective that accounts for the dynamic interaction between individual, organisational, and system levels in a digital communication environment. This paper offers a new paradigm to analyse organisations’ significant and at times undue impact on grand challenges through public relations. It develops a framework inspired by complex adaptive systems thinking and adopts its ten properties for public relations: emergence, adaptivity, heterogeneous actors, nonlinear effects, feedback mechanisms, self-organisation, phase transitions, networks, scaling, and cooperation. The paper applies the framework to the example of sustainable development. It shows why research on grand challenges requires a holistic perspective and how it can help study digitally born communication phenomena. The proposed complex systems paradigm provides space for critical, social scientific, and interpretative research lines in public relations. Inquiries start from the grand challenge and study the communicative interactions between organisations and other actors from existing theory while accounting for the ten properties of complex adaptive systems. The paper outlines how future research can enrich the study of public relations and discusses its limits.

“You Can Do Better Than That!”: Tweeting Scientists Addressing Politics on Climate Change and Covid-19

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic are global challenges in which scientists play a crucial role, and immediate political actions are necessary. However, in contrast to climate change, strong governmental actions have been taken during the pandemic. While climate change has been on the public agenda for several decades, the pandemic is a rather new issue. In such cases, social media offer scientists the potential to disseminate scientific results to the public and express calls to action and their personal views towards politics. Thus far, little is known about the extent to which scientists make use of this option. In this study, we investigated the similarities and differences between visible German climate experts and visible German Covid-19 experts regarding advocacy and assessments of policies and political actors on Twitter. We conducted a manual content analysis of tweets (<em>N</em> = 5,915) from 2021 of the most visible climate experts (<em>N</em> = 5) and the most visible Covid-19 experts (<em>N</em> = 5). The results show that climate experts addressed politics more often than Covid-19 experts in their tweets. The selected climate experts more often expressed negative evaluations, the degradation of competence and blaming. The Covid-19 experts, however, made more political calls for action. We assume that an issue’s history and context will affect scientists’ public assessments of politics. Our comparative study provides insight into the interrelations between science and politics in digital communication environments and elucidates visible scientists’ communication behaviours towards different socio-scientific issues.

OPPORTUNITIES AND FEATURES OF THE WORLDVIEW FORMATION IN THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT: BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF AN EXPERT STUDY

This article is devoted to identifying the features of the formation and transformation of the worldview and its key components in the context of the intensive development of the modern digital communication environment. In this regard, the paper puts forward a research hypothesis that the digital information and communication environment, as well as digital communication technologies, mechanics, affordances and algorithms, are not value-neutral and have the potential to influence the content aspects of the worldview of individuals. To confirm this hypothesis, the authors carried out a discourse analysis of modern research on this issue, as well as an international expert study with the aggregation and analysis of the results. The article defines and discusses the peculiarities of the influence of digital tools on the mass perceptions of users of the digital environment about objective reality, as well as on traditional worldview and value-semantic models. Based on the results of the study, a conclusion was drawn about the high level of value coloring and the significant impact of the digital information and communication environment, as well as digital communication technologies, mechanics, affordances, and algorithms on the modern worldview of individuals. It is concluded that the modern space of digital communications has acquired an independent ontological status, which, in the context of a significant drop in the volume of direct experience of the interaction of individuals with reality, is the foundation for intensive replacement of traditional ways of understanding the world and of the formation of worldview ideas through real social interaction with digital, maximally virtualized ways of understanding the world. The authors also conclude that high speed and intensity, seeming randomness and multidirectionality, as well as the high dynamics of the structure of digital communications, determine the crisis of the value-semantic and worldview self-identification of a modern person.

Formation of digital communication in the organizational and pedagogical activity of the university

Authors conducted a sociological study with further analysis of the opportunities and threats associated with the introduction of the digital environment at the. The proposed criteria for modeling digitalization are focused on activating the innovative and creative potential of students, scientific and project activity of the teaching staff, as well as on improving professional level of training of personnel and employees of the university, including contributing to personal development and improving labor efficiency. These criteria allow the university brand to take a stable position in a competitive environment and expand the target audience. The introduction of a digital information and communication environment makes the economic development of the university stable, and, as a result, expands the options for partnerships, large-scale scientific and educational projects that give the right to enter the modern socio-cultural space of the country and the world.

Manjinski mediji i digitalno komunikacijsko okruženje

In this paper “the minority media” in Serbia are viewed from a semantical perspective which does not exclusively include information in the languages of national minori- ties; they are deliberated in broader theoretical key encompassing the meanings surpassing the categories of national and ethnic. “Minority media” as an alternative to the “majority” ones, are observed as a “communi- cational channel” of national minorities in Serbia both on the regional and local level, but also as the media of the civil society, marginalized and socially deprived groups and entities with specific cultural needs. In digital communication environment and owing to the rapid development of the Inter- net and media services suiting the new needs and expectations of the audience, different condi- tions for deliberation and re-examining of the traditional model of functioning of the “minority media” have been created. Their future development shall depend on technical and technological possibilities for formal innovations, and also on the new financing models and creative solutions and experiments linked with media content makers and producers.

Имиджови роли на пиар текстовете в собствените медии на корпоративните брандове

The article considers the contribution of the proprietary media in the communication policy of business organizations. The aim of the study is to identify the general imaging functions of the different PR texts, published on the online platforms of the companies. The research is based on the hypothesis of the interaction between the individual contents and the dominant role of the PR texts in the narrative about the advantages of the corporate brands, competing for consumer’s attention in the digital communication environment. In order to achieve the research objective, the case study method was applied.

Social Digital Capital as Hybrid Non-Material Capital: Theoretical Approaches and Practical Solutions in the Russian Context

The article analysed theoretical approaches towards understanding digital capital as a new form of non-material capital which becomes a key human resource in the context of digitalization of all spheres of public life. It investigated the dynamics of theoretical insights into the forms of non-material capital discussing such concepts as “information capital”, “information habitus”, etc. The study discussed the contribution of the French sociologist P. Bourdieu into the conceptualization of non-material capital. The results of the latest research into digital capital in both international and Russian academic discourse were analyzed. The article reviewed critical reflections on the opportunities for the empirical analysis of digital capital: digital capital index, "digital passport", etc. Formation of digital capital and its measurement model is analysed through the systematization of the empirical research in this area. We conducted a series of expert interviews conducted during summer and autumn of 2021 to demonstrate how the concept of digital capital is perceived by Russian media researchers, educators, journalists, and representatives of the legislative power of the Russian Federation. Thematic analysis of the respondents' answers made it possible to identify the main sub-themes of digital capital in expert discourse: well-being of the individual, digital content, digital transformation, material resources, government, digital inequality, media education and media literacy. The article pointed to the importance of digital capital as a new hybrid meta capital in the professional and personal spheres of human life in the modern digital world, as well as to the role of the state in overcoming digital inequality and forming digital capital of citizens. We identified the issue of measuring digital capital given the rapid development of digital media communications and emergence of new services, platforms and technologies. The research provided some insights into such aspects of digital capital as safe functioning in the digital media communication environment and capacity to create and distribute digital content. The study discussed the specifics of measuring and constructing digital capital in the Russian Federation determined by the complexity of climatic, territorial and other characteristics.

Ethical challenges in an evolving digital communication era: coping resources and ethics trainings in corporate communications

PurposeThis study is motivated to investigate the ethical challenges facing public relations professionals in today's digital communication environment. Specifically, the authors focused the research on the new ethical challenges in digital practice, the resources relied on when encountering ethical challenges and public relations professionals' efforts in seeking trainings on communication ethics.Design/methodology/approachAn international online survey was designed and conducted in Canada and the USA. The final sample includes 1,046 respondents working full time in the profession of public relations and communication. In addition, the authors prespecified several demographic quotas in sampling design in order to recruit a more representative sample.FindingsThe research found nearly 60% of surveyed professionals reported that they faced ethical challenges in their day-to-day work, and there is a wide range of ethical challenges in digital practices. Results also revealed that professionals use various resources to deal with ethical issues. Those resources include ethical codes of practice of professional associations, ethical guidelines of their organizations and their personal values and beliefs. As common as experiencing ethical challenges, over 85% of surveyed professionals reported that they have participated in communication ethics training. However, only 30% of participants indicated that their ethics training took place in the past year.Originality/valueThe research provides solid evidence that the digital communication environment generates more ethical challenges, while it creates new ways of delivering content in corporate communications. Professional associations and organizations shall dedicate efforts in providing timely ethics training to PR professionals at all levels of leadership within and beyond corporate communications.