Exploring the Political-Economic Factors of Participatory Journalism: Views of Online Journalists in 10 Countries

This comparative study of user-generated content (UGC) in 10 Western democracies examines the political economic aspects of citizen participation in online media, as assessed by journalists who work with this content. Drawing on interviews with more than 60 journalists, we explore their perceived economic motivations for an ongoing redefinition of traditional journalistic roles, as UGC becomes an increasingly dominant feature of news websites

Food Prices, Social Unrest and the Facebook Generation

Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Factors Related to Social Media Adoption and Use for Emergency Services Operations: The Case of the NSW SES

This paper aims to provide some insights of a longitudinal case study of the adoption and use of social media technologies by the New South Wales (NSW) state emergency service (SES), with a focus on social media adoption factors. The study identifies a set of internal and external factors explaining the adoption and use of social media by the NSW SES including: the social media bandwagon effect, the effectiveness of social media use during the January 2011 Queensland floods, the NSW state strategic planning on emergency services, the opportunity offered by the upgrade of the NSW SES web site, and a strong internal management leadership toward the use of social media to support emergency operations. Finally, implications for research and practice are discussed

Social Media In Government: From eGovernment To eGovernance

Over the past five years, Web 2.0 has transformed the Internet by allowing previously passive web surfers to become active content creators who want to share. Companies have been quick to jump on the bandwagon to invest in social media in order to engage their customers, and governments have followed businesses in trying Web 2.0 technologies and are now focusing on investments in social media as a part of their IT strategy.  But, should the adoption of social media in government follow the same trial and error approach that business has used? Or, are there inherently different mission-related parameters that dictate different cost benefit analysis for investment in the use of social media in government? In this paper, we consider these questions in light of Accenture’s Public Service Value Governance Framework

Social Media And Credibility Indicator: The Effects Of Bandwagon And Identity Cues Within Online Health And Risk Contexts

Three studies were conducted to investigate how social media affordances influence individuals’ source credibility perceptions in risk situations. The MAIN model (Sundar, 2008), warranting theory (Walther & Parks, 2002), and signaling theory (Donath, 1999) served as the theoretical framework to examine the effects of bandwagon cues and identity cues embedded in retweets and users’ profile pages for health and risk online information processing. Study One examines whether bandwagon heuristics triggered by retweets would influence individuals’ source credibility judgments. Study Two investigates how bandwagon heuristics interact with different identity heuristics in credibility heuristics on an individual level. Study Three explores bandwagon heuristics at the organizational level. Three post-test only experiments with self-report online surveys were conducted to investigate the hypothesis and research questions. Results indicate that different online heuristic cues impact the judgments of competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness at different levels. Authority strongly influenced source credibility perceptions. A reverse-bandwagon effect was observed in influencing source credibility judgments. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Professional Learning Communities in the Expanded Learning Field

This white paper uses twelve evaluation reports of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) initiatives, as well as interviews with PLC participants and facilitators, to better understand how the PLC model is used in the Expanded Learning field, to demonstrate the benefits to participating staff and expanded learning programs, and to share best practices for youth-serving organizations interested in using PLCs

The role of online social capital in luxury brand consumption in Saudi Arabia

The focus of this research is to examine the links of social capital that rooted in social network interactions and relationships. This leads to addressing peer communication, which will contribute to the exchange of information about luxury products through online interactions that can lead indirectly to luxury brand consumption. This idea of using Social Capital Theory and linking it to luxury consumption has not been examined in recent research. Moreover, this relationship has been moderated by demographic variables (age, gender, and income) and psychological variables (materialism and susceptibility to normative influence). Previous literature found these variables to be the driving factors behind luxury consumption, but in this research, their impact on the relationship between online social capital and luxury consumption is examined. The conceptual model in this study is tested in a Saudi Arabian context, while all other research was carried out in a Western context. There has not been much research on luxury brand consumption in a Saudi context, and there is even less research on Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap in the literature on luxury brand consumption in terms of social interactions and relationships, including psychological and demographic factors. This research followed an explorative strategy to explore the impact of social capital on luxury brands consumption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This strategy involved surveys with a deductive approach to answer research questions. Quantitative data have been collected through the use of an online questionnaire with 407 Saudi Arabian participants who are luxury brand consumers and who also use social media. AMOS software was used for statistical analysis and to facilitate structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the model and the hypotheses. The primary research findings are that online social capital has a significant impact on luxury brand consumption. However, this positive relationship is mitigated when a peer communication mediator is applied. As a result, peer communication mediates the relationship between online social capital and luxury consumption. On the other hand, the moderation effects of age, income, and materialism on the relationship between online social capital and luxury consumption were rendered insignificant. However, moderation effects like gender and susceptibility to normative influence were found to have a significant influence on luxury brand consumption. This research contributes to the theoretical dimensions of purchasing and consumption, as it proves the applicability of using Social Capital Theory in the marketing context especially luxury consumption. Therefore, Social capital can be intangible asset for the luxury brands which can improve their marketing strategies on social network sites. On a practical level, results show that luxury brand companies operating in Saudi Arabia should consider how to market their products to individuals across all income and age groups to maximise profits. There is also evidence that Saudi Arabian consumers are prone to higher levels of normative influence. This means that luxury brands should consider how to increase their influence with consumers, perhaps by using social media influencers, in order to appeal widely to Saudi consumers