The dark side of social media - cyberbullying, catfishing and trolling : a systematic literature review

This research aims to identify the factors contributing to the dark side of social media usage by looking explicitly at cyberbullying, catfishing, and trolling. The systematic literature review was performed to better understand the factors contributing to the dark side of social media and provide ways in which these factors can be prevented. The systematic literature review has been performed on numerous articles with the aim of gathering information to help identify factors contributing to the dark side of social media. The systematic literature review found that most factors contributing to dark social media are related to Dark Triad personality types. Unfortunately, this means that there is no way to prevent dark social media usage from taking place. Although psychology theories speculate that these personality types can be helped, there is no way of completely stopping them.http://www.easychair.org/publications/EPiC/Computingam2023Informatic

Exploring COVID-19 public perceptions in South Africa through sentiment analysis and topic modelling of Twitter posts

The narratives shared on social media during a health crisis such as COVID-19 reflect public perceptions of the crisis. This article provides findings from a study of the perceptions of South African citizens regarding the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic from March to May 2020. The study analysed Twitter data from posts by government officials and the public in South Africa to measure the public’s confidence in how the government was handling the pandemic. A third of the tweets dataset was labelled using valence aware dictionary and sentiment reasoner (VADER) lexicons, forming the training set for four classical machinelearning algorithms—logistic regression (LR), support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)—that were employed for sentiment analysis. The effectiveness of these classifiers varied, with error rates of 17% for XGBoost, 14% for RF, and 7% for both SVM and LR. The best-performing algorithm (SVM) was subsequently used to label the remaining two-thirds of the tweet dataset. In addition, the study used, and evaluated the effectiveness of, two topic-modelling algorithms—latent dirichlet allocation (LDA) and non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF)—for classification of the most frequently occurring narratives in the Twitter data. The better-performing of these two algorithms, NMF, identified a prevalence of positive narratives in South African public sentiment towards the government’s response to COVID-19.The University of Pretoria, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and ABSA.http://link.wits.ac.zajournal/journal.htmlam2024InformaticsSDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur

It seems to have a hold on us : social media self-regulation of students

Social media plays a positive role in the lives of students by providing social networking, communication and information functionalities. However, social media also acts as a distraction, resulting in multi-tasking between social media and studying which leaves fragmented time intervals for focused concentration. Self-regulation is emphasized as an essential skill necessary to manage the use of social media when planning or performing learning activities. In this paper we determine whether students are aware of the need for social media self-regulation behavior during their studies and if so, which measures they take. Through interviews with 50 students, we analysed the self-reported self-regulation behaviour of students using Zimmerman’s cyclical model of self-regulation. Students are aware of the distractive nature of social media and make and implement plans to limit it. Some of these include the physical removal of the phone, using technological functions to limit access (e.g. removal of the battery, uninstall the apps) or sheer will-power. However, what is clear from the data is the strong ‘pulling’ power of social media, making the implementation of these plans difficult. Reasons for this phenomenon include fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) and the habit-forming nature of social media and mobile devices. Another factor is the two ‘worlds’ of social media as perceived by students: it can be used both academically and socially. How to ignore the one and focus on the other? We emphasise the importance of awareness amongst students and lecturers regarding the need for self-regulation of social media use as well as strategies to manage it.http://www.springer.comseries/7899hj2019Informatic

The perception of South African parents on the use of technology in schools

Parents are recognized as an important group of stakeholders to take into account when implementing technology in schools. However, very little research has considered the parent’s view in the learning development of his/her child, when introducing technology. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the findings of an inductive study to improve the understanding of parents’ perception on the adoption of technology in their child’s learning environment. A qualitative study was done with data gathered through an online anonymous questionnaire containing open-ended questions. The questionnaire was distributed on parents’ communication platforms. The data indicated that the introduction of technology has caused concern amongst parents. The parents sensed that their children’s (inter alia) academic goals, neurological development, competency in computer usage and health, are affected by the introduction of technology. They experienced an increase in difficulty to monitor learning; some children find it more difficult to study and that children are easily distracted. The parents managed these interferences by amongst others acquiring hard copy textbooks; adjusting the way they monitor homework and agreeing to trust their children rather than attempting to monitor everything. The findings illustrate the importance of involving parents in the technology implementation process because of their close involvement in the academic development of their children (especially primary school children).http://link.springer.combookseries/5582018-08-13hj2017Informatic

The expatriate information flow model : towards understanding internet usage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Expatriate adjustment research has identified a number of challenges that expatriates experience when adjusting to the host country. These include spousal influence, cultural training/understanding, fluency in the host language and the personality or emotional readiness of the expatriate. These challenges are amplified when considered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which has large cultural distance when compared to the average Western culture and therefore provides a setting for an interesting study. This paper describes how the degree of information flow", a substantive category derived through the grounded theory methodology, provides an understanding of the emotional relationship expatriates in KSA have with the Internet. An expatriate information ow model was developed explaining the pre-conditions to and the consequences of information ow. The paper shows that the pre-conditions to information ow include overcoming the challenges experienced by Internet users in KSA in addition to their intention to use the Internet based on their personal needs, status and personality. The consequences of information ow were indicated as having an overall positive impact on the expatriate's well-being. This was operationalised as giving expatriates an extended control over their environment, increased social presence and an increased exchange of information between the expatriates and their benevolent communities.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_comp.htmlam201

Factors mediating social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media fatigue : a comparative study among Instagram and Snapchat users

The proliferation of social media platforms has provided researchers with ample opportunities to explore the implications of these platforms' positive and negative use. Focusing on the latter, the literature has highlighted the severe implications of the fear of missing out (FoMO) and its associations with negative aspects of social media use, such as the problematic use of social media, phubbing, and reduced well-being. Our study investigates the association between FoMO and social media fatigue, which is mediated by information and communication overload, online subjective well-being (OSWB), and compulsive social media use (compulsive use). The proposed model is grounded strongly in self-determination theory (SDT), the theory of compensatory Internet use (TCIU), and the limited-capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP). We tested the model using two independent cross-sectional data sets collected from Instagram and Snapchat users. Our findings, which align with TCIU, suggest that FoMO is positively associated with information overload and compulsive use for both Instagram and Snapchat users. For Snapchat users, FoMO is also positively associated with communication overload and OSWB. The overuse aspect associated with TCIU is explained in the strong positive associations between FoMO and compulsive use among both Instagram and Snapchat users. In addition, OSWB, information overload, and compulsive use are positively associated with social media fatigue for users of both platforms. In contrast, communication overload significantly predicts social media fatigue for Snapchat users only.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/techforehj2023Informatic

Factors mediating social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media fatigue : a comparative study among Instagram and Snapchat users

The proliferation of social media platforms has provided researchers with ample opportunities to explore the implications of these platforms' positive and negative use. Focusing on the latter, the literature has highlighted the severe implications of the fear of missing out (FoMO) and its associations with negative aspects of social media use, such as the problematic use of social media, phubbing, and reduced well-being. Our study investigates the association between FoMO and social media fatigue, which is mediated by information and communication overload, online subjective well-being (OSWB), and compulsive social media use (compulsive use). The proposed model is grounded strongly in self-determination theory (SDT), the theory of compensatory Internet use (TCIU), and the limited-capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP). We tested the model using two independent cross-sectional data sets collected from Instagram and Snapchat users. Our findings, which align with TCIU, suggest that FoMO is positively associated with information overload and compulsive use for both Instagram and Snapchat users. For Snapchat users, FoMO is also positively associated with communication overload and OSWB. The overuse aspect associated with TCIU is explained in the strong positive associations between FoMO and compulsive use among both Instagram and Snapchat users. In addition, OSWB, information overload, and compulsive use are positively associated with social media fatigue for users of both platforms. In contrast, communication overload significantly predicts social media fatigue for Snapchat users only.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/techforehj2022Informatic

KMS as a sustainability strategy during a pandemic

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data used to perform supply chain simulation was obtained from the three authenticated websites namely, Statistics South Africa, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the Department of Health COVID-19 official site. The websites are listed below; Population data: Statistics South Africa: https://www.statssa.gov.za/ accessed 5 June 2023. COVID-19 Statistical data: National Institute of Communicable Diseases: https://www.nicd.ac. za/wp-content/uploads/2021/ accessed 5 June 2023. Department of Health COVID-19 website: https://sacoronavirus.co.za/covid-19-daily-cases/ accessed 26 February 2023.The 21st century world never anticipated a scenario in which it would be thrown into disarray by a fast-spreading viral disease, during which governments hastily had to enforce curfews by imposing travel and social gathering restrictions in order to contain it. The coronavirus disease of 2019 disrupted global supply chains and economies and caused death in every part of the world. Health departments and hospitals became the centres of attention as healthcare workers battled to save the lives of the infected. Governments struggled to calm citizens as the spread of incorrect and, sometimes, malicious information dominated all social media channels. The absence of established knowledge-sharing strategies and channels, knowledge about the disease or how to deal with the pandemic exacerbated the situation. This study investigates knowledge management systems as a sustainability strategy during a pandemic from three perspectives: understanding the disease, sourcing the required drugs and communicating with the citizens during a pandemic. The researchers adopted a survey research strategy for the study. The study makes an essential contribution to the value of KMS and the need to adopt them in the healthcare sector, particularly when faced with pandemics such as COVID-19.The South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the South African Medical Research Council.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityam2024InformaticsNon

The role of social media in health misinformation and disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic : bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND: The use of social media platforms to seek information continues to increase. Social media platforms can be used to disseminate important information to people worldwide instantaneously. However, their viral nature also makes it easy to share misinformation, disinformation, unverified information, and fake news. The unprecedented reliance on social media platforms to seek information during the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by increased incidents of misinformation and disinformation. Consequently, there was an increase in the number of scientific publications related to the role of social media in disseminating health misinformation and disinformation at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health misinformation and disinformation, especially in periods of global public health disasters, can lead to the erosion of trust in policy makers at best and fatal consequences at worst. OBJECTIVE: This paper reports a bibliometric analysis aimed at investigating the evolution of research publications related to the role of social media as a driver of health misinformation and disinformation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study aimed to identify the top trending keywords, niche topics, authors, and publishers for publishing papers related to the current research, as well as the global collaboration between authors on topics related to the role of social media in health misinformation and disinformation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The Scopus database was accessed on June 8, 2023, using a combination of Medical Subject Heading and author-defined terms to create the following search phrases that targeted the title, abstract, and keyword fields: (“Health*” OR “Medical”) AND (“Misinformation” OR “Disinformation” OR “Fake News”) AND (“Social media” OR “Twitter” OR “Facebook” OR “YouTube” OR “WhatsApp” OR “Instagram” OR “TikTok”) AND (“Pandemic*” OR “Corona*” OR “Covid*”). A total of 943 research papers published between 2020 and June 2023 were analyzed using Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation), VOSviewer (Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University), and the Biblioshiny package in Bibliometrix (K-Synth Srl) for RStudio (Posit, PBC). RESULTS: The highest number of publications was from 2022 (387/943, 41%). Most publications (725/943, 76.9%) were articles. JMIR published the most research papers (54/943, 5.7%). Authors from the United States collaborated the most, with 311 coauthored research papers. The keywords “Covid-19,” “social media,” and “misinformation” were the top 3 trending keywords, whereas “learning systems,” “learning models,” and “learning algorithms” were revealed as the niche topics on the role of social media in health misinformation and disinformation during the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborations between authors can increase their productivity and citation counts. Niche topics such as “learning systems,” “learning models,” and “learning algorithms” could be exploited by researchers in future studies to analyze the influence of social media on health misinformation and disinformation during periods of global public health emergencies.The South African Department of Science and Innovation and the South African Medical Research Council under the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa Joint Application Form 2020/33.https://infodemiology.jmir.org/InformaticsSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-16:Peace,justice and strong institution

Healthcare supply chain efficacy as a mechanism to contain pandemic flare-ups : a South Africa case study

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : This study used three different data sets: population data, healthcare wholesalers, and COVID-19 statistical data. Population data were obtained from the official Statistics South Africa website: https:// www.statssa.gov.za/, accessed on July 12, 2023. Healthcare wholesalers’ data cannot be shared due to privacy and ethical restrictions. The COVID-19 statistical data were obtained from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases official site: https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/, accessed May 20, 2023, and the Department of Health’s COVID_19 official site: https://sacoronavirus. co.za/covid-19-daily-cases/, accessed April 26, 2023.The resilience and reliability of healthcare supply chain models were put to the test by the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study investigated the application of supply chain systems in South African healthcare institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic literature review (SLR) was employed to explore the performance of existing supply chain systems, followed by a case study that tested and compared the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 resources. The SLR revealed that most of the flare-ups were exacerbated by the acquisition of insufficient resources and speculative shortages as the supply chain systems got overwhelmed by the unprecedented demand. The simulation of the real-world data of South Africa revealed gaps in the distribution of resources, allocation of medical staff to administer COVID-19 vaccines, and shortages of vaccines. The study recommends development of effective contextual (SA) healthcare supply chain systems to support the containment of pandemic flare-ups. The study was conducted in South Africa and only reported data was used.The South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).https://dl.acm.org/journal/ijisscmhj2024InformaticsSDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur