Online Communication Platforms Research Articles

Health Information and the Like—Response

Reddi's thoughtful comments highlight the importance to global health policy of understanding the spread of health behaviors in society. Social media sites and online communication platforms are becoming increasingly popular sources for the dissemination of health information about prevention, medical conditions, and treatments. They are therefore central to the promulgation of beliefs about health threats and the efficacy of health interventions. To explain the critical points of divergence between our results and Reddi's conclusions, we must critically evaluate the scientific evidence. First, ours is a randomized experiment, whereas the studies to which Reddi refers rely on observational data to make claims about information diffusion (the authors of those studies are careful to note that their evidence is predictive rather than causal). Our approach, which randomly manipulates the ratings of online content, holds author and content effects constant, isolating the causal effect of upvoting or downvoting on opinion and behavior change. For example, the studies Reddi refers to analyze whether negative or positive content about vaccinations is more likely to be retweeted. They do not exclude several likely alternative explanations of retweeting behavior that may have nothing to do with whether negative tweets are actually changing people's opinions about vaccinations. The majority of Twitter users may already have a negative opinion of vaccinations, inspiring more retweets of such content. The evidence Reddi cites shows that negative information spreads farther and faster. Our experiment shows that negative information is less likely to change people's opinions than positive information. These two claims are not contradictory. In fact, they are complementary pieces of evidence in a broader story of information diffusion and behavior change. Observational data about and simulations of information diffusion are useful for understanding how information and awareness spread ([ 1 ][1], [ 2 ][2]), but causal inference is necessary to understand how information diffusion subsequently changes opinions and behavior ([ 3 ][3]–[ 5 ][4]). Combining causal analysis of behavior change with predictive analysis of information diffusion creates a powerful lens through which to understand the ebbs and flows of behaviors on our planet. Second, analogies between ratings systems and Twitter will always remain loose at best. Collective opinion rating aggregates and presents the opinion of the community about specific content. Voters are likely motivated by the hope that their vote may influence the opinion of other readers. (Re)tweeting information on Twitter is also likely motivated by the desire to maximize publicity for certain information, the desire to become known as a curator of certain information, and the desire for personal exposure. Ratings are anonymous and do not push information to one's “followers,” making these motivations less likely in ratings systems than on Twitter. The influence mechanisms in these scenarios differ as well. Twitter users are not privy to collective opinion on a topic when they tweet about it, whereas they are precisely aware of collective opinion when they vote on or rate an item. Thus, the motivations for diffusing information and rating it likely differ. Perhaps more important, differences in the designs of these systems could drive differences between our results and results from studies of Twitter. Whereas the system we studied enables users to either upvote, downvote, or abstain, there is no feature analogous to the downvote on Twitter. The user can only choose to either retweet or not. Facebook operates similarly: One can like content, but not dislike it. Our results generalize to collective opinion aggregation and ratings systems; results from studies of Twitter likely generalize to microblogging and networked information dissemination systems. 1. [↵][5] 1. E. Adar, 2. L. A. Adamic , in The 2005 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (Compiegne, France, 2005), pp. 207–214. 2. [↵][6] 1. S. Aral, 2. M. Van Alstyne , Am. J. Soc. 117, 90 (2011). [OpenUrl][7][CrossRef][8] 3. [↵][9] 1. S. Aral, 2. L. Muchnik, 3. A. Sundararajan , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 106, 21544 (2009). [OpenUrl][10][Abstract/FREE Full Text][11] 4. 1. C. R. Shalizi, 2. A. C. Thomas , Soc. Meth. Res. 40, 211 (2011). [OpenUrl][12][CrossRef][13] 5. [↵][14] 1. S. Aral, 2. L. Muchnik, 3. A. Sundararajan , Network Sci. 1, (2013). 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Black Twitter? Racial Hashtags, Networks and Contagion

Race itself has become a digital medium, a distinctive set of informatic codes, networked mediated narratives, maps, images, visualizations that index identity. (1) There is a growing body of research exploring issues of race and ethnicity in digital environments. Social networking relations, modes of online communication and digital identities have been revealed to be far from race-neutral. (2) Research has raised questions concerning how extant racial segregations and inequalities have spilled over into the virtual realm, highlighting the creation of new kinds of digital divides. The oft-cited, iconic 1993 New Yorker cartoon by Peter Steiner announcing 'On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog' captured the apparent freedom of a blossoming World Wide Web. However, the original cyberspace promise of 'leaving the meat (body) behind' has done little to withstand the racialization of online spaces. The internet has always been a racially demarcated space and today the plethora of online communication platforms (instant messaging, email-lists, blogs, discussion forums and social media) continue to exhibit varying degrees of identity marking and racialized segregation. (3) The internet, in other words, is a manifold set of sociotechnical practices, generative of digital privileges and racial ordering. It has become apparent that online race is complex and mutable. This picture supports Geert Lovink's declaration that: 'The idea that the virtual liberates you from your old self has collapsed. There is no alternative identity'. (4) That digital media should be understood as merely an adjunct to the 'real' world is, then, an increasingly tenuous standpoint. But this should not be taken to mean that there is a static replication of 'off-line' identities online, far from it. Online racial inclusions and exclusions are dynamically transforming, augmented by the explosion of 'Web 2.0' social networking sites, and modes of access (broadband and mobile phones). For instance, the rise of social networks witnessed the 'white flight' of users from MySpace towards Facebook. (5) And variations in the adoption of social media by different ethno-racial groups have become more visible. (6) The hype of Web 2.0 celebrating user participation and content generation has obscured the racialized protocols that circumscribe our online interactions. (7) Web studies exploring race and ethnicity have principally conceived identity as a 'lived' social construction or hegemonic mode of representation. The relationship between communication platforms and identity practices is difficult to unravel, particularly as research in this field risks essentialising online activity in relation to supposed ethno-racial designation. The rapidly expanding digital landscape poses a further challenge to researchers, as the 'real-time' speed, propagation and irruptions of race online create a presentism that seemingly resists critical analysis. (8) Modalities of race wildly proliferate in social media sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter: casual racial banter, race-hate comments, 'griefing', images, videos and anti-racist sentiment bewilderingly intermingle, mash-up and virally circulate; and researchers struggle to comprehend the meanings and affects of a racialized info-overload. (9) The complexity of online racial formations raises the question of whether adequate attention is being paid to the significance of the online environments that race exists in: how are both race and digital networks transformed in their mutual encounter? This essay offers an analysis which centres upon exploring the technosocial production of race. Digital networks are generative of race and can be grasped by an approach attentive to the operations of online platforms. My contention is that a move to a materialist understanding of digital media and networks (10) opens up new possibilities for rethinking how race works online. Lisa Nakamura and Peter Chow-White intimate that 'race itself has become a digital medium'; thus the materiality of both race and the digital can prompt an alternative approach and method, beyond the mantra of race as a social construction. …

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This article reports and reflects upon the approaches, challenges and opportunities within the online environment as experienced and expressed by representatives of national music centres and jazz agencies within Europe. Comparisons of national approaches reveal differences in thinking about the role of the state and public funding in the arts in general—and jazz in particular—as well as the different ways in which these sorts of institutional schemata (in the Kantian sense) are implemented and enacted through a range of online communication platforms. Through the application of a critical frame drawn from the fields of Digital Media Studies and Media Ecology, these case studies and the discursive practices they reveal provide the occasion for not merely reflecting upon the affordances and effectivities of the online environment for national jazz organizations, but also to inform further potential developments of existing and future web offerings by these agencies.

User adoption of social networking sites: Eliciting uses and gratifications through a means–end approach

This research examines users’ motives for adopting and using social networking sites (SNSs), with the aim of providing a better understanding of the fundamental reasons behind SNS adoption behavior. To uncover the relationship between the attributes of SNSs and users’ perceptions of their consequences and values, this study integrates a means–end approach with uses and gratifications theory and thereby extends the technique to a communication media selection context. Laddering interviews identify users’ perceptions of five attributes, 10 consequences, and four values associated with SNS adoption (i.e., Facebook). The results show that belonging, hedonism, self-esteem, and reciprocity are the four main values users attain through SNS adoption. Furthermore, the chains associated with SNS adoption can be represented in a hierarchical value map. This study should help practitioners design online communication platforms that more closely fit their users’ needs and provide users with safer, more friendly, and thus more attractive environments.

Lone Wolves in Cyberspace

Lone-wolf terrorism has been regarded as a serious threat to public safety in recent years. Moreover, the phenomenon appears to be increasing at an alarming rate. However, the gap between the perceived threat of lone-wolf terrorism, on the one hand, and the almost exclusive scholarly focus on group-based terrorism, on the other hand, indicates the need for more conceptual and empirical examinations of the lone-wolf terrorism. One perspective highlighted in this article is the use of online communication platforms. Lone-wolf terrorism has been regarded as a serious threat to public safety in recent years. After reviewing the role of these platforms for lone-wolf terrorists in general and for the “new” al-Qaeda, in particular, the paper concludes with proposed potential counter-terrorism measures applicable to this new arena.

Meaning of Epistemological Belief Through Online Communication: Exploratory Study

Abstract Learners’ perceptions of instructional practice may vary depending on their own different epistemological perspectives ( Hofer, 2004 ). In other words, learners’ beliefs about knowing may influence their attitude towards learning-related activities. Based on this assumption, the study focuses on how a learner's epistemological beliefs shape their experiences in relation to learning. The hypothesis is applied for online communication platforms like a Social Networking Service (SNS) which is a non-traditional learning environment where learners do not seek any explicit goals related to learning. To investigate this hypothesis, the study analyzed the survey results from 169 Korean adult bloggers and SNS users. The initial results show that the participants’ epistemological beliefs affect their definition of learning and their perception of a particular experience as meaningful or learning-related. Moreover, those who hold a broader epistemological belief tend to have a more comprehensive definition of learning and use online communication tools in a more meaningful way. Moreover such platforms for social communication tend to support learners to change their view of learning. In conclusion, this study may advance our understanding of epistemological belief, its role in learning, and the mediating role of social communication

The Efficacy of Online Communication Platforms for Plastic Surgeons Providing Extended Disaster Relief

Avashia, Yash J. BS; Fan, Kenneth BS; Dayicioglu, Deniz MD; DeGennaro, Vincent A. MD, MS; Thaller, Seth R. MD, DMD

Use of the internet and traditional media among young people

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the use of traditional media as well as the internet among young people in Hong Kong. With the fast development of the internet, the use of interpersonal as well as computer‐mediated communication has changed greatly. A study of how young people use traditional and new media is crucial as it enables commercial and social marketers to fully understand the role of mass mediated messages in the lives of youth. As the youth market expands and consumption power increases, marketers need to capture the latest trends in order to reach the young generation.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 405 Chinese persons aged 15 to 24 in Hong Kong was conducted in February 2006 using a self‐administered questionnaire. Undergraduate students distributed and collected these questionnaires through face‐to‐face interactions.FindingsThe study finds that the internet plays a prominent role among the young people in Hong Kong. A majority of respondents aged 15 to 24 spent one to three hours per day in the internet. The main reasons for internet usage were for listening to music and for fun. The internet was the preferred media choice for information‐driven activities. Magazines retained importance for entertainment and shopping activities while the television retained importance for news and current affairs. Most of the respondents found useful web sites through search engines. Interpersonal information sources gave way to the internet for obtaining information about sensitive issues.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was a convenience sample and this will limit its generalization.Practical implicationsThe twenty‐first century is a digital age. Marketers should face this challenge. They should take an active role in building their online communication platforms. Social services marketers targeting young consumers should establish a strong presence in the internet.Originality/valueThis paper offers an updated map of the Hong Kong young people's media usage, especially the use of internet. It provides guidelines for marketers to reach them in a cost effective manner.

Malicious MXit? South African adolescents’ use of mobile-based communication applications

Across the globe, and particularly in the high-income countries of the developed world, adolescents are resorting in increasing numbers to the virtual world for peer interaction and socialisation (Subrahmanyam, Smahel and Greenfield 2006). This new and popular way of relating through virtual mediums such as the Internet has sparked public concern, and has been a focus of academic debate. Ongoing debate in psychology literature discusses the notion of compulsive usage of online communication platforms (commonly termed Internet addiction), particularly among adolescents (Kim et al. 2006, Fu et al. 2010, Israelashvili, Kim and Bukobza 2012).