News consumption and media coverage during the confinement by Covid-19: information overload, ideological bias and sensationalism

The Covid-19 pandemic has confined millions of citizens in their homes. The situation of isolation has many consequences at multiple levels: social, psychological, economic, educational..., and also communicative. Based on a survey to 1,122 people during the most severe confinement phase, this article aims to analyze how information consumption has been modified during this period of time, and how citizens assess media coverage of Covid-19. The results show citizenship get more news and more frequently than before the health crisis. All in all, citizens maintain a critical attitude towards media coverage of the outbreak, which is, according to the results, conditioned by the media ideology, and reported in a sensationalist way, generating unnecessary social alarm.

Consumo informativo y cobertura mediática durante el confinamiento por el Covid-19: sobreinformación, sesgo ideológico y sensacionalismo // News consumption and media coverage during the confinement by Covid-19: information overload, ideological bias and sensationalism

The Covid-19 pandemic has confined millions of citizens in their homes. The situation of isolation has many consequences at multiple levels: social, psychological, economic, educational..., and also communicative. Based on a survey to 1,122 people during the most severe confinement phase, this article aims to analyze how information consumption has been modified during this period of time, and how citizens assess media coverage of Covid-19. The results show citizenship get more news and more frequently than before the health crisis. All in all, citizens maintain a critical attitude towards media coverage of the outbreak, which is, according to the results, conditioned by the media ideology, and reported in a sensationalist way, generating unnecessary social alarm

Social Media and Well-Being: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring Interpretations of Social Media, Perception of Self, and Well-Being Amongst University Students

This study aimed to explore the association between personal interpretations of social media, self-perception, and well-being. Previous literature indicated increased social media use resulting in lower self-esteem (see Vogel, Rose, Roberts and Eckles, 2014; Murphy, 2013) while also highlighting the benefits that connection-promoting (see Clark, Algoe and Green, 2017) and the power of ‘likes’ (see Burrow and Rainone, 2017) have on self-esteem and overall well-being. Quantitative methods dominate this research area without providing richly detailed subjective accounts from participants. As such, this study employed semi-structured interviews in order to gain an understanding of user experiences and how these impact upon self-perception and well-being. The participants in this study were six undergraduate students, aged 18-25, with 2 males and 4 females. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses, two superordinate themes emerged from the transcripts. The first centred around self-perception and self-presentation, whereas the second focussed on the uses of social media. There was an overall consensus that social media is useful in the modern world for staying connected with peers and the wider world, but negatively affected well-being and self-esteem when engaging in activities such as social comparison as it causes users to evaluate the perceived deficiencies in their own lives against idealised others. This study presents an opportunity for further research to explore why people continue to use social media given its detrimental effects on well-being

Consumo informativo y cobertura mediática durante el confinamiento por el Covid-19: sobreinformación, sesgo ideológico y sensacionalismo // News consumption and media coverage during the confinement by Covid-19: information overload, ideological bias and sensationalism

The Covid-19 pandemic has confined millions of citizens in their homes. The situation of isolation has many consequences at multiple levels: social, psychological, economic, educational..., and also communicative. Based on a survey to 1,122 people during the most severe confinement phase, this article aims to analyze how information consumption has been modified during this period of time, and how citizens assess media coverage of Covid-19. The results show citizenship get more news and more frequently than before the health crisis. All in all, citizens maintain a critical attitude towards media coverage of the outbreak, which is, according to the results, conditioned by the media ideology, and reported in a sensationalist way, generating unnecessary social alarm

El papel del alumnado en la propuesta y diseño de acciones docentes

En aquesta investigació es presenta el Projecte d'Innovació Docent ComunicArte16 dut a terme en el curs 2015-2016 en l'assignatura Estructura Econòmica del Sector de la Comunicació del grau en Comunicació i Relacions Públiques d'ESIC Business & Marketing School, on van participar 21 alumnes. ComunicArte16 té com a objectiu incrementar la participació de l'alumnat a través de la proposta i disseny de les seues pròpies accions docents a realitzar a l'aula. A partir de les 14 accions proposades, es va sol·licitar a cinc docents especialistes en la matèria que revelaren les seues preferències d'acord amb els objectius del currículum de l'assignatura. Aquest procés s'ha articulat sobre quatre eixos: analitzar, connectar, experimentar i crear (ACEC), seguint com a referència el Model d'Estils d'Aprenentatge de Felder-Silverman (FSLSM). Per a la selecció d'accions docents de ComunicArte16 es va seguir el Procés Analític Jeràrquic (AHP) que, a través de la comparació aparellada d'alternatives de tipus autoexcloents, va brindar una prelació ponderada i va donar lloc a la selecció efectiva de 4 accions, una per a cada eix. L'anàlisi dels resultats avala una alta acceptació de ComunicArte16 entre l'alumnat, incrementant la participació activa a l'aula i millorant el seu compromís a través d'una major taxa d'assistència a classe

Social Media Disorder Scale: desenvolvimento da versão portuguesa, estudo da estrutura fatorial e das propriedades psicométricas em estudantes do ensino superior

Introdução: As redes sociais fazem parte do quotidiano da sociedade atual e a sua utilização tem vindo a aumentar exponencialmente no número de utilizadores e na quantidade de horas que lhes é dedicada, tendo como público principal os jovens. Com a evolução destas torna-se essencial a existência de um instrumento que avalie o seu uso. Neste contexto foi desenvolvida a Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale), que demonstrou ser uma medida válida e fidedigna de avaliação do grau de dependência das redes sociais. Objetivos: A presente investigação teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento da versão portuguesa da Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale-PT) e o estudo da sua estrutura fatorial e propriedades psicométricas em estudantes do ensino superior. Método: Uma amostra de 297 estudantes, 205 mulheres (69%) e 92 homens (31%), a frequentar o ensino superior procedeu ao preenchimento, online, de um questionário sociodemográfico e dos instrumentos de autorresposta Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale), Escala de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stress 21 (EADS-21), Internet Addiction Test (IAT) e Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q). Resultados: A SMD Scale-PT revelou uma estrutura fatorial unidimensional, com os seguintes valores indicadores de ajustamento: χ2/gl = 2.078, CFI = .934, GFI = .964, TLI = .906, RMSEA = .060, MECVI = .315. No que diz respeito à consistência interna, o valor do alfa de Cronbach encontrado foi .67 e de fiabilidade compósita (FC) foi de .70. A SMD Scale-PT mostrou-se positivamente correlacionada com o IAT e o NMP-Q, que avaliam constructos semelhantes. No que respeita à associação da SMD Scale-PT com os sintomas emocionais negativos avaliados pela EADS-21 observaram-se igualmente correlações positivas e estatisticamente significativas. Conclusão: A versão portuguesa da SMD Scale-PT, ainda que tenha revelado algumas fragilidades, demonstrou uma estrutura fatorial idêntica à dos estudos das demais versões e propriedades psicométricas adequadas. Este estudo apontou ainda possíveis modificações que poderão contribuir para um aperfeiçoamento desta medida. / Introduction: Social media are part of everyday life in society and its use has been exponentially increasing both in number of users and in number of hours dedicated to them, with young people as their main audience. With the evolution of social media the existence of an instrument to assess its use is essential. In this context, the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale) was developed, and proved to be a valid and reliable measure of social media degree of addiction. Objectives: The development of the Portuguese version of the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale-PT) and study of its factor structure and psychometric properties in college students. Methods: A sample of 297 students, 205 women (69%) and 92 men (31%), attending higher education completed online self-report instruments including: socio-demographic questionnaire, the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD Scale), the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale - 21 (EADS-21), the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q). Results: SMD Scale-PT revealed a unidimensional factor structure, with the following adjustment indicators: χ2/gl = 2.078, CFI = .934, GFI = .964, TLI = .906, RMSEA = .060, MECVI = .315. As far as internal consistency is concerned, the Cronbach’s alpha was .67 and composite reliability (FC) was .70. The SMD Scale-PT was positively correlated with IAT and NMP-Q, which assess similar constructs. Regarding the association of SMD Scale-PT with the anxiety, depressive and stress symptoms assessed by the DASS-21, there were also positive and statistically significant correlations. Conclusion: The Portuguese version of the SMD Scale-PT, although revealing some fragility, showed similarities in factor structure and psychometric properties with the original and Turkish versions. This study also pointed out possible modifications that may contribute to this measure improvement

Sampling Twitter users for social science research: Evidence from a systematic review of the literature

All social media platforms can be used to conduct social science research, but Twitter is the most popular as it provides its data via several Application Programming Interfaces, which allows qualitative and quantitative research to be conducted with its members. As Twitter is a huge universe, both in number of users and amount of data, sampling is generally required when using it for research purposes. Researchers only recently began to question whether tweet-level sampling—in which the tweet is the sampling unit—should be replaced by user-level sampling—in which the user is the sampling unit. The major rationale for this shift is that tweet-level sampling does not consider the fact that some core discussants on Twitter are much more active tweeters than other less active users, thus causing a sample biased towards the more active users. The knowledge on how to select representative samples of users in the Twitterverse is still insufficient despite its relevance for reliable and valid research outcomes. This paper contributes to this topic by presenting a systematic quantitative literature review of sampling plans designed and executed in the context of social science research in Twitter, including: (1) the definition of the target populations, (2) the sampling frames used to support sample selection, (3) the sampling methods used to obtain samples of Twitter users, (4) how data is collected from Twitter users, (5) the size of the samples, and (6) how research validity is addressed. This review can be a methodological guide for professionals and academics who want to conduct social science research involving Twitter users and the Twitterverse.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LOW EMISSIONS, HIGH CONCERN: HOW CLIMATE COMMUNICATORS GRAPPLE WITH A TRANSNATIONAL ISSUE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Climate change is one of the most pressing scientific and social issues of the 21st century. Communication about climate change has been the subject of intense interest by social scientists for the last two decades. However, the vast majority of scholarly studies about climate communication have focused on the wealthy nations that are major carbon polluters. Little is known about how climate change is communicated in the poorer nations that produce few emissions and are the first to experience the effects of climate change. This study addresses that gap in in scholarship by focusing on climate communication in the Philippines, a developing nation where climate change has been on the national agenda since increasingly devastating typhoons struck the country in the last five years. The study uses a mixed-methods design that includes semi-structured interviews and a quantitative social media analysis. Climate activists and journalists were interviewed in Manila to understand three aspects of climate communication in the developing world: journalists’ climate reporting, and activists’ social movement frame-building as well as social media strategies. A quantitative analysis of social media strategies was conducted on activist messages on Twitter targeting the U.N. climate negotiations in Paris in December 2015. This mixed-methods study of three aspects of climate communication in the developing world is informed by theories from mass communication and social movement scholarship. In particular, the study is concerned with public sphere theory and its applicability to a transnational issue – climate change – and the advent of borderless digital media systems. In general, the study finds that climate communicators in the developing world continue to be disempowered in the global debate about emissions despite the rise of global forms of journalism and open-access digital media networks. Climate journalism is still nascent and reporters struggle to connect local effects of climate change to the global issue due to organizational and cultural constraints. Activists are better-positioned to engage with climate on a transnational scale; they do this through the climate justice frame and in their social media strategies. However, developing nation voices still struggle to be heard as they compete with a multitude of other actors even in the supposedly democratic networked media space.Doctor of Philosoph

Effect of social media in b2b marketing: investigation of e-WOM effect in oil and gas sector in Qatar

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe sweeping and drastic advancement of the Internet are an element touching diverse divisions of business, such as modifications in the marketing sector. The significance of social media communications in the advertising setting cannot go without being noticed. An essential aspect of social media communication, which significantly impacts product promotion and marketing, is electronic word of mouth, which consist of client-to-client communication concerning the brands and products that impacts the purchase decisions of the consumers. Although there exists an extensive investigation about the effects of eWOM in marketing generally, only few studies focus on the influences within the gas and oil industry and even fewer within the gas and oil industry in Qatar. Also, a study by Abitol, A., Meeks, J., and cummings, R. G, titled “Does Oil and Goodwill Mix?: Examining the Oil and Gas Industry’s Impact on Stakeholder Engagement on Facebook” and published in Environmental Communication in 2018 showed that the top oil companies, albeit using social media, are inept in effective engagement of stakeholders through the social media platforms. in depth knowledge has been gathered on this particular topic based on the different views of different researchers. Their different views have been discussed on existing relevant and authentic research studies. The research purposes to examine the influence of social media in business to business promotion by conducting an inquiry of eWOMin the gas and oil sector in Qatar. The potential remedies to the adverse impacts of eWOM will also be established. Consequently, the current study will present significant contributions to research as well as the management of the gas and oil sector in Qatar. The study will also provide significant alterations in the management of the oil and gas industry as it offers managers with an in depth understanding of both the merits and demerits of eWOM in the industry. This study mainly used primary sources of data based on the respondents from the Qatar oil and gas industry. The specific methods utilised to collect the data included sampling methods, observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The current study found out that the eWOM strategy promotes the acquisition of new customers as well as brand building. The study also found out that the positive results of eWOM strategy include an increase in brand knowledge and awareness, improved brand trust, and unwavering brand loyalty. The current research also found out that eWOM strategy affected brand loyalty more than it affected brand knowledge and awareness and brand trust. The findings from this research indicate that marketing teams need to spend much time on social media to promote eWOM with particular attention to achieve marketing goals of improving loyalty, trust, and awareness as well as knowledge of the specific brand a company deals within oil and gas industry. However, because of the limitations of the study, particularly in the geographical coverage, future research should increase the scope of the study by increasing the number of participants derived from other regions so that the outcome of the study can reflect the broader target population. The aims an objective of the research have been detailed. Six layers of the research onion and the entire details of the research data collection have been included here. Strong knowledge about the different observational processes as well as different data collection techniques. The detailed information about the research participants has been provided. Using the Cronbach Alpha, the reliability and validity of the entire interview sample has been tested. The process of questionnaire development, key measurement parameters and other specifications are included. It emphasized on the discussion of samples, organizations, marketing departments, size of the sample, sampling techniques adopted as well as the procedure through which the samples were recruited. It even provides insight on the control of quality in the data collection process. It establishes the validity and reliability assessment of the obtained data. Further added theoretical evidence in the light of the present findings and highlighted empirical findings dictating B2B and industrial-specific elements in the contribution of social media marketing in Qatar’s gas and oil industry