See No Evil, Fear No Evil: Adolescents’ Extremism-related Media Literacies of Islamist Propaganda on Instagram

Islamist extremists are a group that pose a particular threat not only due to their proneness to violence but also because they recruit transnationally, utilizing freely accessible social media platforms such as Instagram. One of their key target groups is adolescents, a group that is particularly vulnerable and in need for orientation due to a variety of life-stage-specific challenges. As a result, adolescents are particularly susceptible to external influences on platforms such as Instagram. Recognizing this, Islamist extremists focus their strategic communication on adolescents, using a variety of strategies for both their messaging and the format of their content on Instagram to make it appealing to this group. To protect adolescents, the importance of extremism-related (media) knowledge is emphasized. However, the transfer of knowledge to action is not without preconditions. This paper is based on semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescents in Germany and examines how they apply their knowledge on Islamist extremism when using Instagram and whether, and why, a break between knowledge and action occurs. The study reveals several individual, situational, and message factors that interfere with the process and deter adolescents from applying their knowledge and protecting themselves

Deep Impact? How Journalists Perceive the Influence of Public Relations on Their News Coverage and Which Variables Determine This Impact

Journalists perceive 25% to 80% of their coverage to be influenced by public relations (PR). However, there is hardly any research on what factors determine where on this wide spectrum an individual journalist will fall. This study analyzed the extent and source of the perceived influence of PR on news coverage via a quantitative survey of German journalists. On average, participants perceived over one third of their work to be influenced by PR, and a number of variables were found to be associated with the degree of this impact. Role conceptions as populist mobilizers and newsroom conventions discouraging excessive reliance on PR decreased the influence of PR on news coverage. Secondary employments in the field of PR, having close personal relationships with PR professionals, and considering interests of publishers or advertisers increased the impact of PR on journalistic content

Brand Endorsers with Role Model Function

Sogenannte Social Media Influencer*innen (SMI) übernehmen als Werbebotschafter, mediale Entscheidungsträger, Online-Meinungsführer und Kommunikationspartner eine neue Rolle in der Kommunikationsumgebung ihrer Follower*innen. Basierend auf dem Persuasion Knowledge Model und der Konzeption von Werbekompetenz bestehend aus den Dimensionen Wissen, Einstellung und Handeln untersucht die Studie, wie SMI ihre mediale Rolle konstruieren, inwiefern sie sich ihrer Vorbildrolle für die insbesondere jungen Follower*innen bewusst sind und wie sie mit ihren Followern*innen interagieren. Im Jahr 2019 wurden fünfzehn halbstrukturierte leitfadengestützte Interviews mit SMI in Deutschland geführt, die in verschiedenen Themenbereichen tätig sind (z.B. Fitness, Mode, Reisen, Familie). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass SMI als werbekompetent gekennzeichnet werden können: Sie kennen ihre Funktionen (Rollenverständnis: Wissensdimension) und sind sich der damit verbundenen Wirkung ihres medialen Auftritts auf ihre Follower*innen bewusst (Rolleninterpretation: Einstellungsdimension). Auf Basis dieses Wissens und des Bewusstseins wählen sie konkret Inhalte für die Selbstdarstellung aus, konstruieren ihr mediales Erscheinungsbild bewusst und entscheiden sich proaktiv, inwieweit sie mit ihren Follower*innen interagieren (Rollenkonstruktion: Handlungsdimension).Social media influencers (SMIs) are taking on new roles in the communication environment of their followers as persuasive agents, opinion leaders, brand endorsers, and role models. Taking a look from the perspective of SMIs as agents in the persuasion attempt and their advertising literacy, our study has three aims. First, we provide insight into SMIs‘ self-perception as opinion-leading brand endorsers. Second, we discuss the extent to which SMIs use this awareness of and knowledge about their role model function for their particular young followers. Finally, we show how SMIs actively construct their media persona and how their relationship with their followers is based around this identity. The results from 15 semi-structured, guideline-based interviews conducted in 2019 with German SMIs working in different subject areas (e.g., fitness, fashion, travel, and family) show that SMIs are advertising literate. SMIs are aware of their multiple roles (understanding of one‘s roles: conceptional dimension), and reflect about their media persona‘s role model function (role interpretation: attitudinal dimension). Therefore, the majority of SMIs create their content and their media persona, as well as actively construct their relationship to their followers, based on their knowledge and awareness (role construction: performance dimension)

How to tell the kids? Parental crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic

Crisis communication in a pandemic is challenging for parents, who have to explain risks and prevention measures to their children without transferring their own worries. Studies about crises indicate, that inappropriate crisis communication with children can ignite fears, worries, and even trauma among them. Recommended parental communication strategies in such situations are: (1) to consider developmental level to ensure comprehensibility; (2) to address age-related concerns; and (3) to use naturally occurring situations to talk about the crisis. However, the application of such strategies during a world-wide crisis is not known yet. Thus, we analyzed how parents explained their children the COVID-19 pandemic, which media they used, and which situations they employed. Following a mixed-method approach, semi-structured interviews (n = 55) and an online survey (n = 146) were conducted with parents in Germany. We identified three types of parental crisis communication (use of children-specific media, co-use of adult media, personal talk), found differences due to the developmental stage of the children, and recognized how parents used daily life activities for crisis talk. In sum, parents mostly employed forms of crisis communication recommended by experts, although they were sometimes hindered by the high burdens of their own emotional and organizational challenges

Die Mischung macht's

Der Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie stellte Eltern und Kinder weltweit vor Herausforderungen und löste Unsicherheiten aus. Eltern mussten neben dem Alltag Homeoffice, Betreuungsaufgaben und die Begleitung des Homeschoolings ihrer Kinder bewältigen. Insbesondere die Schliessung der Kindestagesstätten und Schulen sowie Ausgangsbeschränkungen veränderten die familiären Tagesabläufe, was mit einer erhöhten Mediennutzung von Heranwachsenden und Erwachsenen einherging. Der Aufsatz untersucht auf Basis der Parental-Mediation-Theorie, welche Mediationsstrategien der kindlichen Mediennutzung Eltern während des ersten Lockdowns generell und bezogen auf Informationen über das Corona-Virus einsetzten, inwiefern sie diese Strategien pandemiebedingt anpassten und welche Faktoren bestimmten, für welche Form der Medienregulation sich Eltern entschieden. Er basiert auf Leitfadeninterviews (n = 55) sowie einer Onlinebefragung von Eltern mit Kindern im Alter von drei bis 18 Jahren (n = 146). Die Befunde zeigen, dass Eltern erstens verschiedene Mediationsstrategien miteinander kombinierten, diese zweitens in der Pandemie situativ den kindlichen Bedürfnisse anpassten und drittens Kind-, Eltern- und Kontextfaktoren die Wahl der Mediationsstrategie bestimmten.The outbreak of the Corona pandemic posed challenges and resolved uncertainties for parents and children worldwide. Parents had to cope with home office, childcare responsibilities, and accompanying their children’s homeschooling in addition to everyday life. In particular, daycare and school closures and curfew restrictions altered family routines, which was accompanied by increased media use by adolescents and adults. Drawing on parental mediation theory, this paper examines the mediation strategies of childen’s media use parents used during the first lockdown in general and in relation to information about the Corona virus, the extent to which they adapted these strategies in response to the pandemic, and the factors that determined which form of media regulation parents chose. It is based on guided interviews (n = 55) and an online survey of parents with children aged three to 18 (n = 146). The findings show that parents firstly combined different mediation strategies, secondly adapted them in the pandemic depending on the situation and the child’s needs, and thirdly that child, parent, and context factors determined the choice of mediation strategy

Stressed, but connected: Adolescents, their perceptions of and coping with peer pressure on Instagram

Unter den Social Network Sites (SNS) hat sich Instagram zu einer der wichtigsten Plattformen für Jugendliche (10-19 Jahre) entwickelt, insbesondere in Deutschland. Sie nutzen die Plattform zum Austausch von Erfahrungen und Inhalten und vor allem zur Interaktion mit Gleichaltrigen. Normen, die von der Peer-Group definiert werden, können ihr Verhalten sowohl online als auch offline beeinflussen. Dieser Einfluss auf die Anpassung der eigenen Bedürfnisse an die Erwartungen im Umfeld wird als Druck wahrgenommen. Wie Jugendliche diesen Druck von ihrer Peer-Gruppe im Detail auf Instagram wahrnehmen und wie sie damit umgehen, stand bisher selten im Mittelpunkt qualitativer Forschung. Welche Muster und möglichen Bewältigungsstrategien zeigen sich im Verhalten der Jugendlichen? Sind diese Strategien eher problemlösungs- oder vermeidungsorientiert? Der Aufsatz setzt sich mit diesen Fragen auseinander und untersucht anhand von Leitfadeninterviews mit 30 Jugendlichen, welche Strategien sie entwickeln, um mit dem wahrgenommenen Druck umzugehen. Die Befunde zeigen, dass die Peer-Group positive und negative Effekte bei der Instagram-Nutzung auf Heranwachsende haben kann. Sie stellt für sie eine wichtige Bezugsgrösse dar; ein Effekt, der durch die Natur der Plattform noch verstärkt wird, die zwischenmenschliche Verbindungen mit Gleichaltrigen ermöglicht. Gleichzeitig verspüren Heranwachsende den Druck, mit der Gruppe kommunizieren und deren ästhetischen Idealen auf Instagram folgen zu müssen, um nicht aus der Gruppe ausgeschlossen oder anderweitig sanktioniert zu werden. Um mit diesem wahrgenommenen Gruppendruck umzugehen, entwickeln die Heranwachsenden verschiedene aktive und vermeidende Bewältigungsstrategien, u.a. indem sie sich selbst ein mediales Umfeld entsprechend ihrer Bedürfnisse gestalten, sich gegenseitig unterstützen und im eigenen Handeln bestärken. Diese Bewältigungsstrategien kann die Peer-Group wiederum positiv oder negative beeinflussen. Die Peer-Group kann zum Beispiel dabei helfen, mit Gruppendruck umzugehen und Erfahrungen teilen zu können. Negativ bestimmt sie die Bewältigung des Gruppendrucks, da Heranwachsende den Gruppennormen ohne Rücksicht auf ihre persönlichen Interessen entsprechen müssen. Die Befunde unterstreichen die Notwendigkeit, Heranwachsende bei der Bewältigung dieser Formen von Gruppendruck zu unterstützen. Um handeln zu können und dem wahrgenommenen Druck entgegenzuwirken, benötigen Jugendliche motivationale, emotionale und reflexive Fähigkeiten, die durch medienpädagogische Angebote gefördert werden können.Among social network sites (SNS), Instagram has become one of the most important platforms for adolescents (age 10–19 years), especially in Germany. They use it to share experiences and meaningful content and above all, to interact with their peers. Norms, defined by the peer group, influence adolescents’ behavior, online as much as offline. This influence on aligning one’s needs with expectations in the SNS environment leads to pressure. How adolescents perceive this pressure from their peer group in detail on Instagram and how they cope with it has seldom been the focus of qualitative research within communication studies thus far. What patterns and potential coping strategies become apparent in adolescents’ behavior? Do these strategies tend to be problem-solving or avoidant oriented? This paper addresses this need and uses in-depth interviews, drawn via purposive sampling, with 30 adolescents to investigate the strategies adolescents develop to cope with perceived forms of peer pressure. Results show that the peer group has both positive and negative effects on adolescents. Positive in that they are an important reference for adolescents, an effect, that is enhanced by Instagram, which allows interpersonal connections with peers. Then again negative in that adolescents, among other things, feel pressure to communicate with the group and to follow its aesthetic ideals at Instagram in order not to be excluded from the group or otherwise sanctioned. In order to deal with this perceived peer pressure, adolescents develop both active (problem-solving oriented) and avoidant coping strategies, including designing their own media environment according to their needs, supporting each other, and encouraging each other in their own actions. In these coping strategies, the peer group can again have positive or negative impacts. Positive, e.g., as adolescents can share their experiences; negative, e.g., as adolescents might obey the group norms disregarding their personal interests. The findings thus highlight the need to support adolescents in coping with these forms of peer pressure. To be able to act and counter the perceived pressure, adolescents need motivational, emotional, and reflexive skills that can be promoted through media literacy programs

The Visual Self

Der Artikel analysiert die Selbstdarstellung Heranwachsender auf Instagram, die Rolle, die Influencer bei der Selbstdarstellung Heranwachsender spielen, und ihre Werbekompetenz, definiert als die Fähigkeit, die von Influencern präsentierte Werbung zu erkennen und zu bewerten. Auf der Grundlage von 32 Leitfadeninterviews und Think-Aloud-Protokollen identifiziert die Studie fünf Arten der Selbstdarstellung (inszenierte, natürliche, verdeckte, veränderte und zweiseitige Selbstdarstellung). Für fast alle befragten Heranwachsenden waren Influencer ein wichtiger Massstab und Orientierung: Sie folgten einem oder sogar mehreren Influencern auf Instagram und liessen sich von den beworbenen Produkten inspirieren. Darüber hinaus erkannten die Heranwachsenden das kommerzielle Interesse und die Präsentationsstrategien von Influencern. Die positive oder negative Bewertung dieser Strategien war mit ihrer Selbstdarstellung verbunden und reichte von Ablehnung bis Zustimmung, wobei eine negative Bewertung der Werbung nicht automatisch zu einer Ablehnung der implizierten Werbebotschaft führte. Eine Diskrepanz zwischen dem Wissen der Heranwachsenden und ihrem Handeln wird deutlich, denn selbst wenn sie der Werbung kritisch gegenüberstanden oder wussten, welche Werbemechanismen verfolgt wurden, gaben sie zu, die von Influencern beworbene Produkte zu kaufen.This article analyzes adolescents’ self-presentation on Instagram, the role influencers might play in such content, and adolescents’ advertising literacy, defined as recognizing and evaluating advertising presented by influencers as well as using advertising knowledge. Based on 32 in-depth interviews and think-aloud protocols, this study identifies five types of self-presentation (staged, natural, covert, changed, and two-sided). Influencers were important benchmarks for almost all the adolescents interviewed; the participants each followed one or more influencers on Instagram and were inspired by the advertised products. Furthermore, they recognized influencers’ commercial interests and presentation strategies. Their positive or negative evaluations of these strategies were linked to their self-presentation and ranged from approval to rejection. A negative evaluation of advertising did not automatically lead to a rejection of the implied advertising message. A discrepancy between the adolescents’ knowledge and actions became clear when they admitted buying advertised products despite being critical of advertising or knowing which advertising mechanisms were being applie

(Un)Healthy Behavior? The Relationship between Media Literacy, Nutritional Behavior, and Self-Representation on Instagram

The article examines the relationship between media (and health literacy), self-representation, and nutritional behavior of girls who receive nutrition-related content on Instagram. Analyzing this relationship is important because social networks like Instagram can be used as platforms to promote one’s nutritional behavior as expression of personality and to interact with others. Countless meal images are posted, and reach a large number of users. With its visual characteristics, Instagram seems predestined for nutrition-related self-representation. Media literacy, one way of raising young people’s awareness of the risks of media use, encompasses the skills knowledge, evaluation, and action. If media literacy is transferred to the field of health communication, intersections become apparent. Media literacy is understood as a necessary ability to distinguish credible health information from non-credible health information. Both media and health literacy include the skills knowledge, evaluation, and action. Based on 15 qualitative interviews with girls in the age of 13 to 19, results show the relevance of media and health literacy for nutritional behavior. The girls own background information to classify and evaluate received content. They know that content on Instagram is staged and they reflect about negative effects of staged images. However, these images inspire them for their self-representation and nutritional behavior. They adapt what they see into their own eating habits, adopt trends, and thus act against their knowledge of negative consequences to reach the socially expected body image

Medijska pismenost i razvojni zadaci: Savezna Republika Njemačka kao studija slučaja

This article presents a skill-based media literacy model which can help to explain digital inequalities. The model integrates the everyday life of children and their developmental tasks. Under this concept, users are media literate if they are able to fulfil their developmental tasks successfully by using the media and to reflect upon the consequences and risks of their media use. In 2011, 82 German boys and girls were interviewed to gain a better understanding of the connections between internet use, media literacy and digital inequalities.U radu je predstavljen model medijske pismenosti koji se temelji na vještinama. Pretpostavlja se da taj model može pomoći da se objasne digitalne nejednakosti. Model ujedinjuje svakodnevni život djece i njihove razvojne zadatke. Prema predloženom konceptu za korisnike se može reći da su medijski pismeni ako su sposobni uspješno ispuniti razvojne zadatke koristeći medije, a očekuje se i da promišljaju o posljedicama i rizicima korištenja medija. 2011. godine intervjuirano je 82 djece u Njemačkoj s ciljem da se dobije bolji uvid u poveznice između korištenja interneta, medijske pismenosti i digitalnih nejednakosti

The family rules. The influence of parenting styles on adolescents' media literacy

Der Aufsatz untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen der elterlichen Medienerziehung und der Medienkritikfähigkeit Jugendlicher. Basis sind je 28 qualitative Interviews mit einem Elternteil und ihren Kindern. Jugendliche nutzen soziale Netzwerke wie Instagram extensiv, ihre Eltern hingegen deutlich seltener. Dennoch sind sie erste Instanz der Mediensozialisation. Sie sollen Normen für die Mediennutzung vermitteln und über Chancen und Risiken aufklären. Instagram erfüllt den Wunsch Jugendlicher nach der sozialen Interaktion mit anderen bzw. die Teilhabe am Leben anderer, die Dokumentation des alltäglichen Lebens sowie die Möglichkeit zum Selbstausdruck durch seine visuelle Charakteristik. Der Aufsatz erarbeitet eine Typologie der Jugendlichen in Abhängigkeit der Medienerziehung und verdeutlicht deren Relevanz für die Medienkritikfähigkeit. Die Dimensionen elterlicher (Medien)erziehung Wärme und Kontrolle prägen diese Fähigkeit. Je höher die Wärme der Erziehung, desto höher ist die Medienkritikfähigkeit der Kinder. Der Einfluss der Kontrolle ist weniger deutlich. Sie ist bis zu einem gewissen Grad vorteilhaft und hilft den Kindern. Wird sie zu stark, entfaltet die Kontrolle ein eher negatives Potenzial, das die Medienkompetenz Jugendlicher hemmt.The paper examines the relationship between parenting styles concerning media and the ability of young people to criticize media. It is based on 28 qualitative interviews with each parent and their children. Young people use social networks such as Instagram extensively, while their parents use them much less often. Nevertheless, they are the first instance of media socialization. They should communicate norms for media use and inform about opportunities and risks. Instagram fulfils adolescents' desire for social interaction with others or participation in the life of others, documentation of everyday life and the possibility of self-expression through its visual characteristics. The paper develops a typology of young people depending on parenting styles and illustrates their relevance for media criticism. The dimensions of parenting styles heat and control characterize this ability. The higher the warmth of parenting, the higher the children's ability to criticize the media. The influence of control is less clear. It is advantageous to a certain degree and helps the children. If it becomes too strong, control unfolds a rather negative potential that inhibits young people's media literacy