Online Communication Platforms Research Articles

Employer and employer association matters in 2021

For employers and their associations, 2021 began with the prospect of significant industrial relation change and a return to business as usual. However, the enduring implications of the pandemic, and defeat of many employer-supported aspects of the Coalition Government's legislative changes in the Senate, quickly dashed these dreams. Through a review of public submissions, media reports and interviews, this article explores the key activities and interests of employers and their associations throughout 2021. This year saw welcomed clarity regarding casual employment, renewed government interest in (if not support for) skilled migration, and through the enhanced use of online communication platforms, the opportunity for better member–association relationships. As the year progressed, employer attention shifted back to the pandemic, and more specifically, the challenge of managing vaccine mandates. For employers and their associations, 2021 was then a year of mixed results and enduring uncertainty.

A Deep Learning Framework for Detection of COVID-19 Fake News on Social Media Platforms

The fast growth of technology in online communication and social media platforms alleviated numerous difficulties during the COVID-19 epidemic. However, it was utilized to propagate falsehoods and misleading information about the disease and the vaccination. In this study, we investigate the ability of deep neural networks, namely, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Bi-directional LSTM, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and a hybrid of CNN and LSTM networks, to automatically classify and identify fake news content related to the COVID-19 pandemic posted on social media platforms. These deep neural networks have been trained and tested using the “COVID-19 Fake News” dataset, which contains 21,379 real and fake news instances for the COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccines. The real news data were collected from independent and internationally reliable institutions on the web, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and their official accounts on Twitter. The fake news data were collected from different fact-checking websites (such as Snopes, PolitiFact, and FactCheck). The evaluation results showed that the CNN model outperforms the other deep neural networks with the best accuracy of 94.2%.

Learning through Online Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication among Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Conceptual Discourse

This is a conceptual paper on the review of literature related to adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), online learning, and online synchronous and asynchronous communication for the use of future studies. It recognizes that social communication is essential in developing human relationships – and is needed for people with ASD to gain independence and acceptance into society, yet represents one of their most significant impairments, thus affecting the learning of other life skills. Online synchronous and asynchronous communication, along with technological advancement and modern trends, including various new online communication platforms (like Facebook and Discord) may offer alternative ways to support the learning experiences of people with ASD. However, there appears to be gaps in our understanding of how online communication benefits or supports those with ASD in a learning context, despite people with ASD having shown improved interest and motivation in interacting with one another in gaming and dating platforms. As adolescents with ASD often use online communication but lack skills that negatively affect their learning experience, this conceptual paper intends to provide new insights by compiling and discussing the review of past literatures and theories in hopes of supporting them in future. The discussions in this research paper are meant to supplement the literature of academics as reference for their research and attempts to extend the findings of past research studies. It also intends to extend the theory of social constructivist learning and apply it to the context of learning through online synchronous and asynchronous communication among adolescents with ASD. Hence, the creation of a new conceptual framework designed for reference in future studies. With the rising trend of online and hybrid learning modalities, continued research on the use of online communication, especially in an academic setting, could better support people with ASD and strengthen their communication abilities to improve their social connection and learning ability as the flexibility of the learning environment offered by online and hybrid learning modalities may lead to more powerful social connections while enhancing their learning.

The Impact of Covid-19: A Literature Review on the Challenges in E-Learning

The pandemic of Covid-19 has compelled numerous companies worldwide to use several growing online communication platform technologies fully. Educational institutions are among the organizations that have urged students and educators to communicate through a variety of online communication platforms in order to maintain an ongoing educational process. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has created challenges for the worldwide education sector when using these expanding technologies. The challenges were highlighted in many recent studies. However, compared with other developing countries, fewer studies were conducted in Malaysia. This study aimed to identify the challenges faced by educators and learners in online learning impacted by Covid-19 through a literature review. The challenges mentioned are lack of facilities, lack of social interaction among students and educators, poor internet connection, motivation issues, assessment and evaluation process. This literature review implies that they could facilitate relevant authorities such as educational institution administrators, officers serving the Ministry of Higher Education and policymakers in designing effective measures to tackle the challenges.

Troll Culture in Bangladesh: A Study on social media

Bangladesh's rapid proliferation of online communication platforms has given rise to a pervasive and impactful phenomenon, troll culture.This paper is written on the characteristics of troll culture in our country as online trolling become a new trend in our country, especially on social networking sites. It aims to explore the characteristics of troll culture in the country, shedding light on its various manifestations, the underlying behavioral patterns, and the consequential societal impact.Troll culture has become an integral part of online communication inBangladesh. This study aims to explore the different types of trolls in Bangladesh, their behavior, and the impact of troll culture on society. Social Media has revolutionized the way people communicate, behave, and interact within this virtual landscape people connect with others.These days online trolling gains momentum, particularly on social networking sites, and its nuances become imperative for both academic discourse and societal well-being.The researcher adopted a mixed-methods design incorporating both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques. The quantitative aspect involves the use of surveys and data analytics to quantify the prevalence of trolling and its various forms.On the qualitative part content analysis is utilized to gain a nuanced understanding of troll behavior.Utilized some random sampling techniques to ensure a representative dataset and conducted frequency analysis to quantify the prevalence of trolling and identify patterns. The findings reveal that there are various types of trolls in Bangladesh, including political trolls, social media trolls, and cyberbullies. The study also found that troll behavior is mainly driven by group identity, anonymity, and the desire for attention and validation. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of troll culture by examining both overt and covert scenariosand their implications for the cultural fabric of Bangladesh

Анализ веб-сайта медицинской организации в условиях пандемии COVID‑19

The Web site has become an integral part of organizations that use the power of the Internet and online communication platforms to build trust and strengthen relationships with stakeholders during and after a crisis. The COVID‑19 pandemic is an uncertain risk factor that requires ongoing analysis of interventions in order to make effective decisions. P u r p o s e of the study is to analyze user behavior pattern at medical organization website. M a t e r i a l s a n d m e t h o d s . The analysis of the website of the SamSMU Clinics performed using the web-analytics tool Yandex Metrics. The measurement periods has been done between January 2020 and June 2021. R e s u l t s . The results showed a change in visitor behavior during the pandemic in the direction of an increase in visits, a decrease in time and depth of browsing, and a change in the type of device used to access the site in favor of the smartphone. The main result was the need to make decisions to improve interaction with patients as part of the development of mobile health. F i n d i n g s . The COVID‑19 pandemic has had an impact on medical organization digital marketing. A behavioral shift of site visitors toward increased activity in the use of electronic registration and mobile devices has been revealed. To improve interaction with the target audience, it is necessary to categorize website content into different categories: for the patient, for medical students, and for medical staff.

Leveraging Social Media Platforms for valuing Agri-Entrepreneurship in Punjab, India

Social media tools offer a huge opportunity to value digital engagement for agribusiness stakeholders. The rapid pace of developing digital platforms calls for substantial growth in agri-entrepreneurship in Punjab. The present study analyzed the usage pattern of different social media platforms by agripreneurs in Punjab and examined the significance of their demographic characteristics in the usage of these online communication platforms. The data were collected from 200 agripreneurs, who got or were getting training from Punjab Agricultural University during the year 2019. The findings highlighted that WhatsApp and Facebook were the two topmost used social media applications for agribusiness pursuits in Punjab, followed by Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Among various demographic attributes, age, educational qualification, and marital status of the agripreneurs were found to have significant relationships with their usability in agribusiness. The young, highly educated, and unmarried agripreneurs recorded more use of social media tools for agribusiness undertakings as compared with older, less educated, and married agripreneurs. It can be concluded that all agribusiness stakeholders should encourage the synchronized use of such digital platforms to make the right information available at right time to the agripreneurs.

The Integration of ICT in Generation Z's Learning Culture: A Study on Indonesian Students

The development of information communication technology (ICT) has changed the way of life in twenty-first-century society. It also affects the lives of students who are currently known as generation Z, including their learning culture. This study aimed to find out and describe how generation Z students utilize ICT in their learning culture. One hundred and twenty-two students in the first and third year at Yogyakarta State University participated in an online survey using Google Forms. The data were collected using a five point-Likert scale questionnaire and analyzed with quantitative descriptive methods. The results showed that most generation Z students were familiar with using ICT to support their learning activities, such as using social media, online communication platforms, web browsers, and instructional videos. The average total score obtained from the questionnaire was 3.15, which was in the fair category. But, even though the students had access to adequate ICT tools, they stated that they still need face-to-face learning activities. More than 85% of students revealed that they were well-equipped with the proper electronic devices that support learning activities and had adequate abilities to utilize them.
 Keywords: student learning culture, generation Z student, ICT integration

New Technologies in Educational Solutions in the Field of STEM: The Use of Online Communication Services to Manage Teamwork in Project-Based Learning Activities

STEM education as an innovative paradigm of education is being rapidly introduced into the curricula of higher educational institutions. The research is devoted to the study of the capabilities of online communication services for managing teamwork aimed at the development and implementation of innovative investment projects in the STEM education environment. An innovative concept of a distance learning course – Designing investment projects in the field of health care and recreation – is suggested based on organizational principles. The online communication services such as Mirapolis Virtual Room, Moodle and Microsoft Teams implemented into the educational interaction program made it possible to create a high-quality real-time e-learning environment. The online course was tested by 200 students. The results of the experiment confirmed the effectiveness of the use of online communication services and platforms in the development of professional practical experience within the educational concept of STEM. Students appreciated the high level of the innovative component in team interaction programs (98%), as well as, in the approaches to cooperation with business entities (95%); 91% of students noted the high level of quality of the educational content, pedagogical (84%), technological (92%) and conceptual (78%) innovative value of the educational product. Taking a course that is based on the STEM model had a dramatic impact on the development of the key competencies of the 21st century. The study can be of interest to teachers who are looking for effective pedagogical models that can be easily adapted to the needs of the business environment and the generation of students of the new digital era.

Dentistry & COVID-19: Spreading facts not myths

Dental professionals are trying to adapt to the new norms, while the medium to long-term impact of COVID-19 on dentistry needs further investigation. The COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies include strict adherence to infection control practices (use of hand sanitizers, facemask and maintaining social distancing), reducing the amount of aerosol production in the dental setting, and managing the quality of air in the dental treatment rooms by reducing the use of air conditioners and improving air exchange. Among several potential transmission sources in the spreading of the COVID-19, dental services have received a high volume of attention. The aim of this article was to review the available literature on the relevant aspects of dentistry in relation to COVID-19 and to discuss potential impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on clinical dentistry, dental education and research. Although the coronavirus pandemic has caused many difficulties for provision of clinical dentistry, there would be an opportunity for the dental educators to modernize their teaching approaches using novel digital concepts in teaching of clinical skills and by enhancement of online communication and learning platforms. This pandemic has also highlighted some of the major gaps in dental research and the need for new relevant knowledge to manage the current crisis and minimize the impact of such outbreaks on dentistry in the future.

Sentiment Analysis of Customer Feedback in Online Food Ordering Services

Abstract Background: E-commerce websites have been established expressly as useful online communication platforms, which is rather significant. Through them, users can easily perform online transactions such as shopping or ordering food and sharing their experiences or feedback. Objectives: Customers’ views and sentiments are also analyzed by businesses to assess consumer behavior or a point of view on certain products or services. Methods/Approach: This research proposes a method to extract customers’ opinions and analyse sentiment based on a collected dataset, including 236,867 online Vietnamese reviews published from 2011 to 2020 on foody.vn and diadiemanuong.com. Then, machine learning models were applied and assessed to choose the optimal model. Results: The proposed approach has an accuracy of up to 91.5 percent, according to experimental study findings. Conclusions: The research results can help enterprise managers and service providers get insight into customers’ satisfaction with their products or services and understand their feelings so that they can make adjustments and correct business decisions. It also helps food e-commerce managers ensure a better e-commerce service design and delivery.

Accessibility in Online User Testing

The current COVID-19 crisis has revealed the crucial role of online communication technologies in providing unique opportunities to carry out qualitative research in online user-based testing. The ability to provide a shared common space for participants living in different parts of the world and to record discursive data in text format accurately, makes these tools crucial in gathering qualitative data for research studies (Turney & Pocknee, 2005). Although the accessibility of the online communication platforms is improving, they still present significant challenges for all users, especially when running synchronous meeting sessions with participants in remote settings (Dodds & Hess, 2020).

Online Communication Tools in Teaching Foreign Languages for Education Sustainability

Higher education curricula are developed based on creating conditions for implementing many professional and universal competencies. In Russia, one of the significant competencies for a modern specialist is business communication in oral and written forms in the Russian language and a foreign language. Therefore, teaching students to write in a foreign language is one of the modern requirements for young specialists’ professional training. This article aimed to study the tools of online communication that are used in teaching foreign languages. The article presents the results of an empirical study and analysis of factors of application of online communication technologies in foreign languages teaching, synchronous and asynchronous means used in online learning, and the advantages of integrating online communication tools into the educational process of teaching a foreign language. The study of the advantages and disadvantages of educational platforms is based on an analysis of information and online communication technologies used in the educational process. Based on the example of teaching a foreign language, the article shows how online communication platforms are involved in the educational process. Furthermore, the teachers’ and students’ opinions are presented on how online platforms are convenient. The survey involved 928 first-year students and 76 foreign language teachers of Volgograd State University (Volgograd), Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod), Tomsk Polytechnic University (Tomsk), Ural Federal University, named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin (Ekaterinburg). It was revealed that the integration of online communication tools has positive effects on the formation and development of written communication skills.

Deplatforming sexual speech in the age of FOSTA/SESTA

ABSTRACT The 2018 US anti-sex trafficking laws Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) were intended to limit the use of online communication platforms as illegal sexual commerce hubs. Several years later, sex trafficking prosecutions have plummeted, and US law enforcement agencies lament the loss of internet sites like Backpage where they previously identified victims. Instead, a range of serious consequences like the diminishment of global sex workers’ rights and the chilling of sexual speech abound. FOSTA/SESTA are analyzed as part of the deplatforming of sex, and as having emboldened technology corporations to make sweeping changes to the sexual content that can exist on mainstream platforms like Google. Digital platforms are central to sexuality, and thus we must articulate and defend our rights against government intrusion and overreaching corporate content moderation. Citizens deserve to pursue consensual sexual lives and protecting the ability to do so, even when that entails challenging laws and oligopolistic technology corporations’ policies, is a social justice mandate.

Gamersprache und Netzjargon aus soziolinguistischer Perspektive. Liste von üblichen Abkürzungen

"Gaming Language and Gamer Slang from a Sociolinguistic Perspective. A List of Common Abbreviations. The development of technology, online communication platforms and digital programs plays an important role in the dynamics of language evolution and influences the correctness and complexity of written and oral communication. Computer games and gaming slang, due to its broad usage by mostly teenagers and young adults, influence the choice of vocabulary, phrasing, sentence structure and style in various communicative situations and forms. This paper describes the characteristics of computer games and online slang from a sociolinguistic perspective and discusses their influence on language maintenance and evolution, such as, for instance, the tendency toward language economy, the use of Anglicisms and Americanisms, abbreviations, emoticons, elliptic structures, orthography, lexical and grammatical structures, illustrated in the practical section via a list of commonly used terms and abbreviations. The purpose of the article is to provide a critical view on language dynamics, the positive and negative impact of the newer linguistic trends, as well as some considerations on how language evolution and cultivation can be harmoniously combined, from a didactic and linguistic viewpoint, in the research, teaching and study of the German language. Keywords: language dynamics, computer games, gaming slang, sociolinguistics, online communication, Anglicisms, youth "

Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention: The roles of vaccine knowledge, vaccine risk perception, and doctor-patient communication

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention in the United States. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted with 800 respondents recruited from an online panel managed by a survey company. Path analysis was employed to examine the relationships between the study variables. ResultsFirst, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 vaccine side effects was negatively associated with vaccination intention whereas perceived severity did not show any significant impact. Second, vaccine-related knowledge was not directly related to vaccination intention, but it had an indirect and positive effect on vaccination intention via decreasing perceived susceptibility. Third, doctor-patient communication strengthened the negative effect of vaccine knowledge on perceived susceptibility and severity. ConclusionThe results of this study offer insights on how to increase people’s vaccination intention and reduce their psychological concerns when making COVID-19 vaccine-related decisions. Practice implicationsGovernment agencies should actively promote the effectiveness and importance of vaccination, while addressing concerns about vaccine safety in the public; Health initiatives also need to enhance the level of knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines through various media channels; Doctors can start the conversations about COVID-19 vaccination with their patients at the point of care and/or via online communication platforms.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy- An emerging prospect in dentistry

There has been an upsurge for exploring new frontiers in the field of medical science for improved treatment. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has been extensively used in medical practice, for the management of urolithiasis, cholelithiasis, in various orthopedic and musculoskeletal disorders. The prospective applications of ESWT in the field of dentistry in providing beneficial outcomes, is no exception to this trend. : To assess the awareness of the application of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy as a possible paradigm in various dental treatments among dental professionals.: This cross-sectional study was conducted among dental professionals across India. An online structured questionnaire was created and circulated to dental professionals via various online communication platforms. The result obtained was tabulated into tables and graphs.: A large percentage of General dentists and postgraduates were aware of ESWT and the benefits it can bring about. : ESWT is no-exception to the emerging therapies that needs to be up to date among dental professionals. ESWT may be of useful adjunct for the management of Periodontal disease.

Politics at a distance: Infrastructuring knowledge flows for democratic innovation.

We study efforts at promoting deliberative mini-publics as a model of democracy. Our focus is on practices supporting the circulation of know-how for doing mini-publics. In this paper we center on the building of infrastructures for knowledge exchange in and around a network known as Democracy R&D. This is a network of mini-publics practitioners from around the world with the declared goal of adding momentum to democratic innovation by enhancing translocal connections, community building, and knowledge. We look at how the network is organized, how online communication platforms are installed, and how observatory devices draw dispersed practices together into a shared frame of mutual learning and collective action. How do such practices configure the ways in which knowledge can flow across sites? How do they constitute an instrument space, a translocal assemblage of knowing and doing democracy by means of deliberative mini-publics? Using concepts like scopic media and centers of calculation, we discuss these practices for how they enable and constrain the circulation of know-how, configure processes of mutual learning, shape the translocal innovation process, and thus, at a distance, also prefigure local ways of knowing and doing politics.

Delivering a Multi-Institutional Short-Term Faculty-Led Paralympic Study Abroad Program: The PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games

Short-term faculty-led study abroad programs have been offered in various institutions across the United States. Despite the many program offerings, students who are interested in the niche marketplace have been experiencing limited program participation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the use of online communication platforms in delivering a multi-institutional Paralympic study abroad experience among students from nine different universities across the United States and Canada. Specifically, this document intends to guide instructors in implementing a multi-institutional study abroad program. In addition, the paper shares thoughts on the beneficial opportunities study abroad trips can create for students who have a passion in the field of disability sport.

How district nurses can support team wellbeing during the pandemic and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required rapid adaptation of the community nursing service, including the introduction of online communication platforms to prevent COVID-19 transmission among staff. Remote working has protected the workforce in the community from being decimated through team sickness, but has resulted in nurses who are feeling anxious and isolated from their colleagues while experiencing increased workloads, with complex and often emotionally challenging situations. The pressures of community nursing and the associated impact on sickness absence relating to mental health are well documented. The resources made available to support staff wellbeing were increased during the pandemic, but there remains some disparity of access to these resources. There is much that can be done by the district nurse as a leader of a team to ensure that the pressures are managed in a way that promotes team cohesion and mutual respect, while ensuring that open communication about wellbeing is encouraged.