Black Lives Matter and the Effects of a Social Media User\u27s Connection to Differing Ethnic and Racial Backgrounds

Millions of citizens, including a large number of whites, joined the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the summer of 2020. An important factor that mobilized them toward BLM was the rise of social media. Recognizing the critical importance of social media, the present research explores the link between social media use and citizens’ behavior on the BLM movement in the United States. The focus of the analysis is on the issue of diversity. Because diversity on social networks can expose individuals to more diverse views, one can hypothesize that a higher number of one’s friends and followers being from different racial and ethnic backgrounds can lead to higher levels of activism in the BLM movement. In order to test the hypotheses, we conducted a survey in the United States specifically tailored for this study. A statistical analysis on the survey data reveals that diversity in one\u27s social networks on social media significantly enhances his or her likelihood of participation in the BLM protest. Yet, the significant effect disappears when the samples are limited to white respondents; it is clearly non-white respondents who are driving the significant result of diversity of social networks. This study makes an important contribution to the literature of social movements by dissecting the mechanism through which social media shapes citizens’ relations with BLM. Findings from this study generate critical implications that are essential in understanding dynamics of social movements in modern society

News Sharing in Social Media: A Review of Current Research on News Sharing Users, Content, and Networks

This article provides a review of scientific, peer-reviewed articles that examine the relationship between news sharing and social media in the period from 2004 to 2014. A total of 461 articles were obtained following a literature search in two databases (Communication & Mass Media Complete [CMMC] and ACM), out of which 109 were deemed relevant based on the study’s inclusion criteria. In order to identify general tendencies and to uncover nuanced findings, news sharing research was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Three central areas of research—news sharing users, content, and networks—were identified and systematically reviewed. In the central concluding section, the results of the review are used to provide a critical diagnosis of current research and suggestions on how to move forward in news sharing research

Influence of the 'News Finds Me' Perception on News Sharing and News Consumption on Social Media

The study focuses on ‘News Finds Me’ perception, i.e. the belief that users can stay informed enough without actively following traditional news media while relying on social media and personal contacts. The text analyses the influence between this perception and news consumption (“news internalising”) and sharing (“news externalising”). Uses & Gratifications sought (“information seeking”, “social interaction” and “impression management”) were considered as moderating variables. Survey based results (n = 96) show that ‘News Finds Me’ perception is positively correlated with news internalising but not with news externalising. It is thus concluded that the mere presence of the ‘News Finds Me’ perception does not encourage news sharing attitudes. The study also brings evidence to support a relationship between news internalising and news externalising habits, which influence each other mutually and can moderate other factors in news consumption and dissemination on social media. It is concluded that the presence of the ‘News Finds Me’ perception does not encourage news sharing attitudes

Does Campaigning on Social Media Make a Difference? Evidence from candidate use of Twitter during the 2015 and 2017 UK Elections

Social media are now a routine part of political campaigns all over the world. However, studies of the impact of campaigning on social platform have thus far been limited to cross-sectional datasets from one election period which are vulnerable to unobserved variable bias. Hence empirical evidence on the effectiveness of political social media activity is thin. We address this deficit by analysing a novel panel dataset of political Twitter activity in the 2015 and 2017 elections in the United Kingdom. We find that Twitter based campaigning does seem to help win votes, a finding which is consistent across a variety of different model specifications including a first difference regression. The impact of Twitter use is small in absolute terms, though comparable with that of campaign spending. Our data also support the idea that effects are mediated through other communication channels, hence challenging the relevance of engaging in an interactive fashion

Factors Influencing Facebook Users’ Political Participation: Investigating the Cambodian Case

As social networking sites (SNS) have been actively used as a platform for the political participation, this study investigates factors influencing SNS users’ political participation intention and behavior in developing countries. More specifically, based on the integrated model of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM), we develop a research model on how technological factors (e.g., performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions) as well as social factors (e.g., political interests and experience) influence Facebook users’ political participation intention, which lead to actual political participation behavior, focusing on the Cambodian context. Our research model will be empirically tested with survey samples gathered from Cambodian Facebook users and their actual political behaviors, measured by counting actual comments of each survey respondent one month after the survey. While prior studies have only focused on either technological or social influencing factors on online political participation, this paper is among the first attempts to investigate them from integrative and comparative perspectives. By highlighting the relative impacts of each factor in the context of developing countries, where direct and public challenging or criticizing on the government is still a fear for most citizens, this paper would provide an important lesson for other developing countries with a similar political environment

The Defense Of Oral Interaction In The Midst Of Whatsapp Use In The Learning Environment

This research aimed to explain the defense of oral interactions in the presence of information and communication technologies such as WhatsApp (WA) as well as to explore some of the positive contributions of WA used in building the Real Life Communication, especially in the learning environment. By applying the Exploratory design, this research involved 4 participants from various educational backgrounds as a purposively selected data source indicated as WA users at once. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion, Interview, and Observation and analyzed by several stages i.e. data reduction, displaying data, categorizing, and verifying and concluding. The results showed that oral interactions can decrease both in the language community and learning environment as the dominant use of WA that is not wise. Nevertheless, the use of WA applications also had some positive contributions in building a real relationship. Finally, the assumption that the negative impact of using the WA application should be able to change the mindset and positive attitude of the scholars in initiating and defending an oral interaction in the learning environment

Internet Information and Communication Behavior during a Political Moment: The Iraq War, March 2003

This article explores the Internet as a resource for political information and communication in March 2003, when American troops were first sent to Iraq, offering us a unique setting of political context, information use, and technology. Employing a national survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life project. We examine the political information behavior of the Internet respondents through an exploratory factor analysis; analyze the effects of personal demographic attributes and political attitudes, traditional and new media use, and technology on online behavior through multiple regression analysis; and assess the online political information and communication behavior of supporters and dissenters of the Iraq War. The factor analysis suggests four factors: activism, support, information seeking, and communication. The regression analysis indicates that gender, political attitudes and beliefs, motivation, traditional media consumption, perceptions of bias in the media, and computer experience and use predict online political information behavior, although the effects of these variables differ for the four factors. The information and communication behavior of supporters and dissenters of the Iraq War differed significantly. We conclude with a brief discussion of the value of "interdisciplinary poaching" for advancing the study of Internet information practices

Framing the collaborative economy - Voices of contestation

Within the context of multiple crises and change, a range of practices discussed under the umbrella term of collaborative (or sharing) economy have been gaining considerable attention. Supporters build an idealistic vision of collaborative societies. Critics have been stripping the concept of its visionary potential, questioning its revolutionary nature. In the study, these debates are brought down to the local level in search for common perceptions among the co-creators of the concept in Vienna, Austria. Towards this aim a Q study is conducted, i.e. a mixed method enabling analyses of subjective perceptions on socially contested topics. Four framings are identified: Visionary Supporters, Market Optimists, Visionary Critics, and Skeptics, each bringing their values, visions, and practical goals characteristic of different understanding of the collaborative economy. The study questions the need for building a globally-applicable definition of the concept, calls for more context-sensitivity, exploratory studies, and city-level multi-stakeholder dialogues

Effectiveness of Corporate Social Media Activities to Increase Relational Outcomes

This study applies social media analytics to investigate the impact of different corporate social media activities on user word of mouth and attitudinal loyalty. We conduct a multilevel analysis of approximately 5 million tweets regarding the main Twitter accounts of 28 large global companies. We empirically identify different social media activities in terms of social media management strategies (using social media management tools or the web-frontend client), account types (broadcasting or receiving information), and communicative approaches (conversational or disseminative). We find positive effects of social media management tools, broadcasting accounts, and conversational communication on public perception