169 research outputs found
Social Media and Contentious Action: The Use and Users of QQ Groups in China
This article presents an analysis of a netnographic study of QQ groups engaged in contentious activities in China. Informed primarily by semiâstructured inâdepth interviews of 34 participants and field observations through years of grounded research, the findings shed light on the communicative dynamics and mobilization strategies of QQ groups in nurturing contentious action and motivating mass participation in social protest. Inâgroup communication stays highly focused on the respective mission of the groups, and it cultivates a sense of shared awareness conducive to collective action. There is also a noticeable contagion effect that transfers the spirit of contestation in terms of speech and action. Mobilizing dynamics in the QQ groups point to a hybrid model of activistâbrokered networks, which crosscuts and interconnects elements in Bennett and Segerbergâs (2012) prototype of selfâorganizing networks and organizationally brokered networks. Group leaders and activists resort to a multiâlayered mechanism to dissipate contentious information and to mobilize participation in protests
Live Ambience and Homestead Away From Home: Social Media Use and Dependency by Visiting Chinese Students in the United States
This study investigates social media dependency relations among Chinese college students during their three-month study abroad sojourn in the United States. Data were collected using a multimethod approach of ethnography, field observation, and in-depth interviews. Inspired by the lens of media system dependency (MSD) theory, the analysis focuses on the diverse goals and motivations that drive student behavior in social media engagement, as well as various contextual factors leading students to adapt and transition to the U.S. social networking sites (SNS), and the subsequent outcomes. The findings indicate that task-driven and assignment-centered goals dominate social media use, and that multidimensional aspects of interaction pervade student engagement with different social networking applications. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in light of the overall findings
Local News Deserts in China: The Role of Social Media and Personal Communication Networks
The field of local news is often associated with news deserts, commonly defined as geoâbased communities without newsâ papers or other legacy media as providers of locally oriented news and civic information. This phenomenon is expanding in global society due to the diminishing presence of newspapers at moments of accelerated digitization. This study examines the multiplex nature of news deserts in rural and suburban areas in China. Data were collected through a multiâmethods approach combining two focus groups and 44 semiâstructured inâdepth interviews. Patterns of engagement among interâ viewees reveal that smartphoneâbased social media applications and digital platforms function as viable sources of news, and incidental exposure to news has become the norm of digital news use. Governmentâorchestrated convergent media services and WeChat channels are preferred choices by most research participants for local news. We argue that a media ecology perspective may be a productive approach to understanding community news and local newspaper
Local News Deserts in China: The Role of Social Media and Personal Communication Networks
The field of local news is often associated with news deserts, commonly defined as geo-based communities without newspapers or other legacy media as providers of locally oriented news and civic information. This phenomenon is expanding in global society due to the diminishing presence of newspapers at moments of accelerated digitization. This study examines the multiplex nature of news deserts in rural and suburban areas in China. Data were collected through a multi-methods approach combining two focus groups and 44 semi-structured in-depth interviews. Patterns of engagement among interviewees reveal that smartphone-based social media applications and digital platforms function as viable sources of news, and incidental exposure to news has become the norm of digital news use. Government-orchestrated convergent media services and WeChat channels are preferred choices by most research participants for local news. We argue that a media ecology perspective may be a productive approach to understanding community news and local newspapers
Smartphone Use and Psychological Well-Being among College Students in China: A Qualitative Assessment
Background: Problematic smartphone use is widespread, and college-age youth faces an especially high risk of its associated consequences. While a promising body of research has emerged in recent years in this area, the domination of quantitative inquiries can be fruitfully and conceptually complemented by perspectives informed through qualitative research. Toward that end, this study aimed to interrogate the myriad behavioral, attitudinal, and psychological tendencies as a side effect of college studentsâ engagement with the smartphone in their everyday lived experience through in-depth interviews.
Methods: We recruited 70 participants from seven college campuses hailing from different geographic regions in China, and conducted semi-structured in-depth virtual interviews via WeChat in November and December 2020. Subjective experiences, personal narratives and individual perceptions in the context of routine interaction with the smartphone were thematically analyzed through a reiterative process in an effort to detect prevailing threads and recurring subthemes.
Results: The smartphone has established a pervasive presence in college studentsâ everyday life. Time-based use characteristics generated a typology of four distinct user groups: hypo-connected antagonists, balanced majority, hyper-connected enthusiasts, and indulgent zealots. Habitual usage falls on predictable patterns matched onto temporal, locale-based and contextual cues and triggers. Studentsâ dependency relationships with the smartphone have both functional and emotional dimensions, as prominently manifested in occasions of detachment from the device. Self-regulatory effort in monitoring and limiting use is significantly impacted by mental focus and personal goal setting. Perspectives from our qualitative data suggest the need for taking into account a variety of contextual cues and situational factors in dissecting psychological and emotional outcomes of smartphone use and abuse
Editorial: Studying novel immune signatures, targets, and drugs in hepatobiliary tumors: based on advanced technologies
Numerical Analysis of Partial Abrasion of the Straddle-type Monorail Vehicle running Tyre
The finite element model of the running tyre and the pre-stressed concrete (PC) track beam are created in the study. The wheel-rail contact status under the conditions such as acceleration or braking, lateral deviation, and roll is analysed. The wear law of the running tyre under the operating condition of driving on winding roads is discussed. The results show that the running tyre will unevenly wear when driving on the winding road; the smaller curve radius and the faster speed result in heavier and more uneven wear. There is a larger slip between the running tyre on the inner side of the curve and the rail surface, and this tyre has more uneven wear than the running tyre on the outer side of the curve. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for solving the problem of reducing the uneven wear of the running tyre
Tethered Disparities: Adolescent Smartphone Use in Rural and Urban China
The pervasive penetration of the smartphone has disproportionately affected adolescents and youth more than any other sociodemographic group. Inspired by the conceptual framework of the digital divide in internet use, this research aims to interrogate the multi-dimensional aspects of disparities in smartphone use among teens in China. Measurement was developed to assess the first-, second-, and third-level divide as manifested in smartphone access and engagement in a variety of activities, different skill sets, and myriad outcomes and consequences. Results from a cross-sectional survey of 1,511 at-school teens show various patterns of divide along the lines of age, gender, and rural/mid-sized-city/metropolitan location
Ultrafast elemental and oxidation-state mapping of hematite by 4D electron microscopy
This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-11-1-0055) in the Gordon and Betty Moore Center for Physical Biology at the California Institute of Technology.We describe a new methodology that sheds light on the fundamental electronic processes that occur at the subsurface regions of inorganic solid photocatalysts. Three distinct kinds of microscopic imaging are used that yield spatial, temporal and energy-resolved information. We also carefully consider the effect of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM), first reported by Zewail et al. in 2009. The value of this methodology is illustrated by studying afresh a popular and viable photocatalyst, hematite, α-Fe2O3, that exhibits most of the properties required in a practical application. By employing high-energy electron-loss signals (of several hundred eV), coupled to femtosecond temporal resolution as well as ultrafast energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy in 4D, we have, inter alia, identified Fe4+ ions that have a lifetime of a few picoseconds, as well as associated photoinduced electronic transitions and charge transfer processes.PostprintPeer reviewe
Individual Parametric Insurance Product Design
This report presents a design of a parametric insurance product for individual consumers in two neighboring countries AmbernÏa and PalÈmÏnÏa. Unlike traditional insurance, this product issues a predetermined payout to a policyholder when a pre-agreed event has been triggered. By conducting analyses on given health data in the countries, we first projected individual losses and calculated premiums according to gender, age and risk factor information. Then we defined triggering events and modeled the payout scheme for our product. Comprehensive strategies are also provided for marketing and risk mitigation
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