My watch begins : identification and procedural rhetoric on second screens and social networks.

Digital rhetoric creates opportunities for examining rhetoric as it evolves daily. This evolution may be described in terms of network circulation and immediate opportunities for publishing and creating. This project analyzes mobile applications and live feeds used during television broadcasts, where rhetoric is closely tied to the work of identifying with another point of view. Producers and designers of dual-screen applications prompt us to answer how we would act if we assumed the role of protagonist and saw the world through her or his eyes. These questions support the idea that identification is not just a relative of empathy or a way to engage emotionally with the text but also a way to approach problems and sharpen observation. From this dissertation’s findings we may reconsider the work of seeing and perspectival shifting as part of a sophisticated procedure of reflexive role play and public intellectualism. In addition, the analysis provides information about how mobile devices and second screens work to support consensus and a preferred reading (viewing) of popular narratives and group performances, thereby calling into careful consideration how we use such devices to influence others. Finally, the dissertation’s work helps us understand new forms of viral communication and the velocity (Ridolfo and DeVoss) at which they are transmitted. Consequently, we may approach textual artifacts as “living documents” and consider how such “living” properties may change our perceptions of authorship and composing. In Chapter One, “My Watch Begins: Complex Narrative, Transmedia, and Point of View,” I begin by offering an overview of my methodological approach to these applications. I situate the work of identification on mobile devices within the larger conversation surrounding transmedia and how it encourages viewers to participate in contemporary television narratives. This section provides explanations of how the terms procedural rhetoric (as introduced first by Ian Bogost), prosopopoiea (from ancient rhetoric), and point of view (from narrative theory) will function in this project, with most of the attention given to procedural and rhetorical studies of the various programs and websites associated with audience writings. This chapter also calls attention to the difference between empathy and perspective shifting. An example from contemporary culture that helps illustrate this difference and provides space for conversation is the viral blog post “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother.” This editorial, written in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, features identification techniques used as persuasive tools but does so in a problematic way that might be better handled with a nuanced and careful study of how identification operates in other settings. Central to this project are questions addressing how we discuss and document the acts of viewing/seeing/looking, and in what ways the process of seeing from multiple perspectives is currently being lauded in society and the academy. In Chapter Two, “If You See Something, Say Something: Syncing Audience Viewing and Response,” I reveal two opening examples that illustrate these premises: one from a Walking Dead advertisement that features the protagonist’s eye and one from a Department of Homeland Security ad-“If You See Something, Say Something.” These examples dovetail into a specific analysis of syncing devices, or dual screen viewing experiences, and the actual rhetoric accompanying the requests to see from multiple perspectives (“If you were Rick, you would ___”). I also call attention to shows where the act of identifying with the protagonist raises questions about the limitations of perspectives. To be specific, I suggest that the white middle-class male is the paradigm of identification exercises for shows that encourage participation from viewers. Examples from television suggest that women and minorities are less likely to be the characters with whom we align our interests; therefore, I argue we should interrogate this trend and think reflexively about the act of identifying. In Chapter Three, “Choreographing Conversation through Tagging, Tokens, and Reblogs,” I argue that analysis of audience reactions via live feeds and blogging platforms shows that textual artifacts, through increased circulation, promote a certain form of identification through consensus. This consensus reveals the tendency of viewers to gravitate toward preferred readings (viewings) of narratives and to identify with characters closely resembling themselves. By constituting viewers in a rhetoric specific to each fictional world, producers encourage identification and help secure appropriate and largely positive viewer behaviors through conversations online. Specifically, digital activities like “checking in” to a show and writing with specific hashtags become markers of narrative involvement. Producers, in turn, engage in reciprocal action by promoting or displaying fan activity on their own feeds, thereby sponsoring the work of the audience. While such activity often leads to conformity, I argue that these moments of group consensus may act as springboards for future conversation about other perspectives and narrative outcomes. In Chapter Four, “Texts as Bodies, Bodies as Texts: Tumblr Role Play and the Rhetorical Practices of Identification,” the rhetorical analysis of these online sites and mobile applications then leads to questions of how we perceive embodiment during identification. In this section I look closely at the writing found on the microblogging site Tumblr, where viewers of television narrative engage in role playing their favorite protagonists and creating dialogue with fellow role players. This practice, operating outside the jurisdiction of producer-designed apps, reveals new patterns of the work of identification. With attention to the ideas of Katherine Hayles and Deleuze and Guattari, we may reconsider how text, once circulated, acts as an extension of and a replacement for the physical body. Still, the work of these bloggers demonstrates that identification is still a personal investment that refers to and gives credit to the person behind the computer screen. This chapter reveals a productive tension between the embodied author’s work and the nature of writing as it moves through networks. In my conclusion I explain how these applications and online tools have implications for the writing classroom. Students are frequently told that good writers and thinkers must see a problem or an issue from multiple perspectives. This project focuses intensely on the work of shifting perspectives and how those perspectives are represented in writing. Its implications for teaching productive source integration and research may be applied to the first-year writing classroom but also the graduate class curriculum, where novice scholars learn to extend, oppose, and ally themselves with the scholars who have come before them

From Interaction to Transaction: Analyzing the Influence of Social Presence on Impulsive Purchasing in Live Streaming Commerce

Objective: This study investigates how social presence elements, such as streamers, other viewers, and products, directly and indirectly influence consumers' impulse purchase behaviour in live-streaming commerce. Design/Methods/Approach: An empirical evaluation was conducted on the suggested model, utilizing survey responses from 205 live-streaming commerce users. Furthermore, the interconnections among the elements within the research framework were examined through SEM PLS version 3. Findings: The results show that social presence directly and significantly affects impulse purchase behaviour. This study also strongly links social presence with perceived usefulness and positive affect. In addition, the results show that perceived usefulness and positive affect significantly influence impulse purchase behaviour. Interestingly, perceived usefulness and positive affect serve as potential intermediaries linking the impact of social presence with impulse purchase behaviour. Originality/Value: This research explores the influence of social presence and several consumer psychological factors, such as perceived usefulness and positive affect, on impulse purchase behaviour in live-streaming commerce. While this area has rarely been a significant focus in previous literature, the speciality of this research is integrating the product dimension into the social presence framework. This initiative has yet to be found in the literature so far. With this approach, the research seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of how social presence elements such as streamers, other viewers, and products collaborate and directly and indirectly impact impulse buying behaviour. Practical/Policy implication: The results of this study offer a significant perspective for businesses in the e-commerce sector and individuals producing content for live-streaming commerce. This information can be used to create better approaches to encourage impulse buying behaviour and increase customer interaction. The interaction between social presence, perceived usefulness, and positive affect can be the basis for designing more efficient strategies

Mobile journalism at RTP: production of news - using the smartphone as a tool for news production

The goal of this paper is to show case a practical resolution for the integration a ta greater scale of the Mobile Journalism philosophy, both in the production and in the consumption of news. The production-side concerns the use of the smartphone and other light equipment in the production of news, while the consumption-side concerns how the news are displayed and consumed on a smartphone. This work project was realized in syndication with RTP and was adjust and tailored to its respective needs, resources and objectives. In order to achieve this goal, several analysis were developed to address the external and internal environment, identifying the opportunities and threats of the broad casting industry and the strenggic recommendations that ensures a work able dissemination plan for Mobile Journalism

Toujou radyo: the digital extensions of Haitian music broadcasting

“Radio” is a hard word to pin down. It refers to a physical device with certain properties— perhaps a dial and antenna—but also to a whole world of sonic communication: newscasts, call- in shows, police dispatches, music streaming services— media that can be transmitted in any number of ways, on any number of devices. This dissertation focuses on Haitian music broadcasting as a social practice, meaning the programming formats, aesthetic conventions and listener experiences that make this particular medium function. I then trace those practices from Haiti’s terrestrial airwaves, out to the many digital media platforms that are ubiquitous in Haiti and Haitian-American communities today, arguing that there is a clear line of continuity across these various forms of radio. In doing so, this research offers a possible model for understanding the so-called 'digital revolution' of which we are all part, with the distinction that this model is rooted in media practices of the Global South. The four case studies that form the body of this dissertation are each framed around the specificity of Haitian radio—for both its producers and listeners—and progress outwards from the medium’s terrestrial roots, to its farthest digital extensions. Chapter One introduces some of the program formats and hosting techniques heard commonly on Haiti’s airwaves, with a special focus on the art of ‘animation,’ by which broadcasters bring music to life through verbal commentary. Chapter Two provides a deeper history of broadcasting in Haiti and the Caribbean, arguing that radio in the region has been transnational in scope from its earliest applications. In Chapter Three the focus shifts to the United States, and to the specific regulatory, social and geographic dynamics that have informed the development of radio broadcasting among Haitian immigrants here. Finally, Chapter Four tells the stories of two musicians who have themselves taken on many of the roles and practices of broadcasters, as an opportunity for comparative analysis. Each case study considers how a diverse range of practices and technologies can be understood as still radio—toujou radyo—while investigating the musical consequences and social impact of these digital extensions

Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch

This Open Access book provides a comprehensive review of the rapidly developing esport phenomenon by examining one of its contemporary flagship titles, Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment 2016), through three central themes and from a rich variety of research methods and perspectives. As a game with more than 40 million individual players, an annual international World Cup, and a franchised professional league with teams from Canada, China, Europe, South Korea, and the US, Overwatch provides a multifaceted perspective to the cultural, social, and economic topics associated with the development of esports, which has begun to attract attention from both commercial and academic audiences. The book starts with an introduction chapter to Overwatch and esports engagement in general, co-authored by the editors. This is followed by 15 unique chapters from scholars within the field of game cultures and esports, representing ten different nationalities. The contributions construct thematic sections that divide the book into three parts: Players, Diverse Audiences? and Fan & Fiction Work. As such, the parts provide a wide-ranging overview of esport engagement, thus disclosing the phenomenon’s cross-cultural, transmedial, and interconnected relations that have not been probed earlier in a single anthology

Believing the News: Exploring How Young Canadians Make Decisions About Their News Consumption

In the last two decades, the adoption of online and mobile news applications has drastically altered the practice of news consumption. Young news consumers, the first generation of digital natives, have seemingly unlimited options in news sources, styles, modalities, and stories; but with so many choices, it is unclear how these young people make decisions about what news to consume. It is also unclear how these consumers are coming to believe the news when it is being disseminated from so many platforms and sources. This study seeks to fill a gap in scholarship by exploring how young Canadians are making decisions about what news to consume and what news to believe. Through a series of focus groups, interviews, and diaries, the participants in this study report that they use factors like interest, source, and experience to decide if they will read or follow a story. Participants also identified reasons that they believe the news including factors like source, completeness, corroboration, quality, and personal logic (if it sounds or “feels” true). However, these study participants indicated that they use these factors in subjective sophisticated strategies based on learned methods, news beat, and experience to make further decisions about the news. This study resolves that though many young people identify social media as a “source” of news, it acts more as a gateway to mainstream news that is considered more trustworthy and believable

Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch

This Open Access book provides a comprehensive review of the rapidly developing esport phenomenon by examining one of its contemporary flagship titles, Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment 2016), through three central themes and from a rich variety of research methods and perspectives. As a game with more than 40 million individual players, an annual international World Cup, and a franchised professional league with teams from Canada, China, Europe, South Korea, and the US, Overwatch provides a multifaceted perspective to the cultural, social, and economic topics associated with the development of esports, which has begun to attract attention from both commercial and academic audiences. The book starts with an introduction chapter to Overwatch and esports engagement in general, co-authored by the editors. This is followed by 15 unique chapters from scholars within the field of game cultures and esports, representing ten different nationalities. The contributions construct thematic sections that divide the book into three parts: Players, Diverse Audiences? and Fan & Fiction Work. As such, the parts provide a wide-ranging overview of esport engagement, thus disclosing the phenomenon’s cross-cultural, transmedial, and interconnected relations that have not been probed earlier in a single anthology

Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch

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