Whose Site Is It Anyway? Expectations of College Web sites

An examination of college Web site preferences of high school students, parents/guardians of high school students, and high school guidance and admissions counselors suggests that offering dialogic Internet features could impact the likelihood of submitting applications. The findings also show that intuitive interface and useful information that generate return visits take precedence over flashy graphics, photos, and interactive features

User Perceptions of Dialogic Public Relations Tactics via the Internet

A usability study of New Jersey’s 19 community college Web sites was conducted to determine users’ perceptions of dialogic relationship-building communication principles in their design and everyday usage. The results of the study —which encompassed a two-stage usability test with a sample of 119 undergraduate students—indicate that the full sample of New Jersey’s community colleges are not capitalizing on the interactive potential offered by the Internet. Despite negative user experiences, the data suggests that users did not have strong feelings for or against the sites. Of Kent and Taylor’s five dialogic Internet principals, users only had negative reactions to the lack of Dialogic Feedback Loop features

New Distributional Records of the Ohio Shrimp, Macrobrachium ohione Smith (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) in Arkansas

The Ohio shrimp (Macrobrachium ohione) is a migratory (amphidromous) river shrimp that occurs in some Arkansas rivers. It is known from the Upper Missouri River from its mouth downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, but shrimp abundance has declined, particularly upstream of Louisiana. Ohio Shrimp has also been collected in the lower reach of the Missouri River not far from the confluence of the Mississippi River in St. Louis County. Dams and alterations in channel flow are hypothesized to have impacted upriver migrations of shrimp. Current range, abundance, and life history of Ohio shrimp is relatively unknown in the Mississippi River basin in reaches distant from sea water. Here, we report recent collections of Ohio shrimp in Arkansas rivers that were notably greater than 800 km from the Gulf of Mexico

Does social media usage matter? An analysis of online practices and digital media perceptions of communication practitioners in Europe

A key aspect for understanding and explaining online communication is the micro level of communication practitioners’ social media usage and their general attitudes towards digital platforms. This paper investigates how public relations practitioner's personal and professional use of social media is related to their perceptions of social media. A quantitative methodology was applied to perform this research. A population of 2710 professionals from 43 European countries working on different hierarchical levels both in communication departments and agencies across Europe were surveyed as part of a larger transnational online survey. Results show that practitioners with a high level of usage of social media give more importance to social media channels, influence of social media on internal and external stakeholders and relevance of key gatekeepers and stakeholders along with a better self-estimation of competences. Issues about diverse levels of overestimation of social media use, application and importance in the professional arena are also debated