Is No News Good News?: Exploring the Impact of Social Media Use on Misinformation Beliefs

Does diminishing access to print news have an impact on people’s propensity to believe misinformation? What if this misinformation emanates from an online source as opposed to a print source? The focus of recent research on misinformation has been narrow: (1) recognizing its existence and acknowledging its potential impact, and (2) generating and categorizing potential analytical types of misinformation. However, the ramifications of vanishing print media have so far been overlooked. This paper asserts a connection between news sources and misinformation beliefs, further positing that the decline in the quality and availability of quality print journalism predicates an individual’s belief in political misinformation. Although inconclusive results were found linking geography with a tendency towards using social media as a main news source, analysis of social media habits and beliefs using the 2020-2022 ANES Social Media Survey suggests that misinformation belief generally concurs along party lines; that is, most users of these sites will follow general political leanings toward or against fake news stories. However, as partisan users increase their exposure to online material, they become more likely to believe in the misinformation spread from politically like-minded sources as opposed to those who obtain news from print. Thus, these data suggest that misinformation relies on the size of the audience exposed to it alongside the time invested in reading and propagating these stories. Although a preliminary analysis, it suggests several avenues for further examination and study and introduces a basis for new research on the topic to better explore correlations of the phenomenon

Exploring Fragmentation in Ali Smith’s Autumn

This paper seeks to explore the effect of fragmentation in Ali Smith’s Autumn. Through examination of academic literature that compares traditional fragmentation utilized in modernist literature to the effects of fragmentation and its reappearance in contemporary literature, this essay seeks to examine the effects, implications, and practice of using fragmentation in contemporary work. As seen in Autumn, the fragmented nature of contemporary works functions as a method of consistency rather than to create a disconnect between the author and their text. The use of fragmentation is seen in this text’s structure, the relationship of its main characters, and the disjointed nature of the timeline. Smith’s use of fragmentation serves as a critique on the reader’s experiences, expectations of life, and the things they give value to within society

Unraveling the Threads: Memory and Narrative in Ian McEwan\u27s Atonement

This paper, written for Dr. Haffey’s English 449U course on 21st Century Fiction, explores the intricate narrative structure and metafictional elements in Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. The novel is a commentary on the power and responsibilities of storytelling, particularly how narratives shape our understanding of memory and truth. Through the lens of its protagonist, Briony Tallis, McEwan demonstrates the complexities of memory and the subjectivity of truth. Briony’s narrative, marked by guilt and a quest for forgiveness, becomes a vehicle for examining how biases and emotions influence perception. The paper delves into the novel’s use of multiple narrative perspectives and a nonlinear narrative structure, illustrating how these techniques enhance the thematic concerns of memory and truth. Additionally, this paper highlights how McEwan’s narrative drives readers to question the reliability of contemporary storytelling and contributes to the discourse in 21st Century Fiction literary studies

The Impact of Heterogeneous Voting Strategies and Candidate Issue Adaptation on Elections: An Agent-Based Model

Political candidates in a democracy articulate positions on the issues of the day, but they are also highly aware of voter sentiment on those issues, and tailor their campaigns accordingly as they seek to win elections. Voters, too, adjust their political opinions based on (among other things) interactions with others in their social network. I present an agent-based simulation that models this dynamic interplay between candidates and voters, in order to shed light on what outcomes candidates can expect to result from a policy of “chasing” votes. The voters in the simulation differ from one another in the decision procedure they use in choosing who to vote for – these voting algorithms are modeled on results from the political science literature about the different ways voters make decisions. The model can thus be used to experiment with a virtual electorate, to determine the conditions under which vote-chasing candidates gain an advantage or perhaps even cause the election outcome to be objectively irrational

Virginia History Standards and Inclusivity

Diversity in the Commonwealth of Virginia is increasing rapidly and there is some concern among citizens that the Social Studies Standards of Learning are not accurately representative of the student population. The purpose of this study was to analyze and assess the current Standards of Learning for diversity and inclusion. The research study was a content analysis of the 2023 Social Studies Standards of Learning. It was found that the standards do not currently reflect the diversity of the student population. The results of this research study highlights gaps in diversity and inclusion of racial/ethnic groups and genders in Standards of Learning for the Commonwealth of Virginia

Christian Nationalism’s Effect on Women\u27s Socioeconomic Status in the United States

This paper will discuss existing literature on the moral reasoning behind conservative evangelicals’ and Christian Nationalists’ views about women’s subordination. Through various tools like homeschooling, fear-mongering, and policy implementation conservative evangelicals have been able to shape their idea of what role women should fill and gain the following of evangelical women. Additionally, this paper will discuss the balance and reforms needed between working for equality for women and holding respect for the religious views of all Americans, including conservative evangelicals; as well as provide a counter-argument from the perspective of conservative evangelicals. This paper will also explore practical solutions to counter the problematic teachings of evangelicals concerning their ideas of women’s status

The Metaphor of Ekphrasis: or Why does your Ekphrasis look different from mine?

Will Butler Professor Kennedy ENGL_445K_01 Seminar: Epic Tradition The Metaphor of Ekphrasis: or Why does your Ekphrasis look different from mine? Ekphrasis is the ultimate extrapolation of symbols and metaphors. It is a set of words purported to describe a physical object that carries its own symbolism and, sometimes, portrays allusions to other narratives. Like the idea of a sign, words represent ekphrasis but, like a metaphor, ekphrasis represents something other than itself. This paper illustrates how a narrative description of an object can be filled with emotion and imagery, while being interpreted in distinctly diverse ways by individuals reading the same text. The arbitrary nature of language and its interpretive effect on narrative were reviewed, before delving into the question of how humans cognitively create an image of an object. The paper explores the impact of history, cultural context, and the perspectives of the participants viewing ekphrasis, using the fresco at Carthage from the Aeneid, before concluding by illustrating the difference in ekphrastic interpretation by presenting different renditions of the shield of Achilles - the most famous ekphrastic image of all time

Secrets, Soviets, and Sverdlovsk: Critiques of the Biological Weapons Convention and Biosecurity in the 1970s and 1980s

The Biological Weapons Convention, initially ratified in 1975, banned the production and stockpiling of biological weapons; however, it has faced considerable modern criticism for being unenforceable and not strong enough to ensure states\u27 compliance. These modern critiques are based on the knowledge that the Soviet Union was in violation of the Convention, which was not confirmed until 1989. By analyzing the reactions to the Biological Weapons Convention by scholars and scientists, American intelligence officials, and American news media, it becomes clear that concerns about the Convention did exist prior to 1989, even when for many it was not certain that there were existent violations. These reactions were diverse based on the knowledge available to each group, with varying amounts of concern about the strength of the Convention expressed

Attachment to Diagnostic Labels: Social Media, Over Identification, and Self-Efficacy for Personal Recovery

This study explored the relationship between self-diagnosis, social media exposure, and how individuals interpret a diagnostic label. Different attitudes toward one’s diagnosis impact an individual’s attitudes toward therapy, compliance with care, and general psychological well-being. One such attitude is over-identification, how attached an individual is to their diagnostic label and how they see a diagnosis as a part of themselves, as this could have implications for their self-concept and attitudes toward therapy. We will ask the following questions: Firstly, do individuals with different diagnoses show meaningfully different levels of attachment to their diagnosis? Secondly, do individuals vary in their social media usage by diagnosis? What variables can predict higher levels of this attachment to a diagnosis? Finally, how does an individual’s attitude toward their diagnosis relate to clinical outcomes such as self-efficacy for personal recovery? A cross-sectional survey data collection was performed to answer these questions. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) had significantly higher levels of over-identification. There were no differences in social media use. Having a self-diagnosis, having a weaker sense of self, and social media use all predicted more over-identification. Findings indicate that over-identification has complex and contradictory effects in the context of both functional and dysfunctional coping attitudes, with no clear beneficial or detrimental consequences

Unwanted Pursuit Behaviors & Emotional Reactivity to Former Romantic Partners: An EEG Study

Romantic relationships are extremely important connections for humans to make. When these relationships end, one partner will sometimes engage in unwanted pursuit behaviors (UPBs) to attempt to continue communication the other. Although previous research has demonstrated that these UPBs can result in psychological distress among victims, little is known about how they influence one’s emotional reactivity to the perpetrator. This study therefore sought to investigate the link between cyber and in-person UPBs and neural indicators of emotional reactivity when viewing photos of an ex-partner. Participants (n = 18) who experienced a breakup were asked to view pictures of their ex-partner while brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). Specifically, researchers looked at the vertex positive potential (VPP) and late positive potential (LPP) as neural markers of emotional reactivity. Results indicated that those who experienced many cyber UPBs evidenced lower emotional reactivity to their former partners, while those who experienced many in-person UPBs demonstrated higher emotional reactivity. These findings indicate that UPBs after the end of a relationship have a significant effect on how one partner emotionally reacts to their ex-partner, though the direction of this effect varies based on whether the UPBs occur in person or online