Article
Communication
Diana Zulli, David James Zulli
Summary: This article critically analyzes the TikTok platform and argues that it encourages the principles of mimesis-imitation and replication. These memetic features alter modes of sociality, contributing to the formation of imitation publics on TikTok.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Cultural Studies
Matthew Barr, Alicia Copeland-Stewart
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in video game playing as people look for ways to cope with unprecedented circumstances. A survey conducted during the lockdown shows that majority of respondents reported a positive impact on their well-being from playing games, with benefits such as cognitive stimulation, social opportunities, and reduced anxiety and stress. These findings highlight the potential positive effects of video games on mental health and overall well-being.
Article
Communication
Isabelle Freiling, Nicole M. Krause, Dietram A. Scheufele, Dominique Brossard
Summary: The study investigates the influence of political viewpoints and anxiety on believing and sharing false, corrective, and accurate claims about COVID-19 on social media. The findings show that anxiety plays a significant role in individuals' belief and willingness to share claims, particularly for Republicans.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Communication
Patricia Rossini
Summary: This article addresses the popular argument that toxic online discussions are harmful to democracy and argues that the pervasiveness of incivility does not necessarily undermine democratically relevant political talk. The study highlights the importance of focusing on expressions of intolerance when assessing the impact of digital platforms on democratic values. The research investigates different platforms and reveals that incivility and intolerance occur in distinct discussion settings, with intolerance posing a greater threat to democracy.
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Communication
Patti M. Valkenburg, Irene I. van Driel, Ine Beyens
Summary: This review aimed to investigate the relationship between active and passive social media use and well-being, but found that most studies did not support the hypothesized associations. Time spent on social media may be too broad to lead to meaningful conclusions, and future studies should consider characteristics of social media content, senders, and receivers.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Communication
Jad Melki, Hani Tamim, Dima Hadid, Sally Farhat, Maha Makki, Lara Ghandour, Eveline Hitti
Summary: This study examines the relationship between increased media exposure to COVID-19 news and interpersonal communication, and people's abidance by prevention measures. The findings suggest that media exposure positively influences people's compliance, with perceived knowledge and fear playing a mediating role.
HEALTH COMMUNICATION
(2022)
Article
Business
Chen Lou
Summary: This study suggests that traditional notions of parasocial relations are no longer sufficient to capture the complexities of modern human interactions, proposing instead a concept of trans-parasocial relations. These trans-parasocial relations involve a mutually reciprocal, interactive, and co-created bond between influencers and their followers. The research findings indicate that followers generally have positive attitudes towards influencer-sponsored posts, view sponsorship disclosures as genuine and transparent, and find them inspiring and admirable.
JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING
(2022)
Article
Communication
Aleksandra Urman, Stefan Katz
Summary: This paper contributes to the research on the activities of far-right actors on social media by examining the interconnections between them and groups on the Telegram platform using network analysis. The study reveals that the far-right network on Telegram is highly decentralized and divided along ideological and national lines. The analysis also suggests that the migration of these actors to Telegram has allowed them to quickly regain prominence in the network, casting doubts on the effectiveness of deplatforming.
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Communication
Sacha Altay, Anne-Sophie Hacquin, Hugo Mercier
Summary: Despite the appeal of fake news, most people hesitate to share them due to the potential harm they can cause to one's reputation, even when the news aligns with their political beliefs. The decrease in trust that a source experiences when sharing fake news is greater than the increase in trust when sharing real news. Only sources that do not share any fake news have trust ratings similar to mainstream media outlets.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Communication
Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode, Melissa Tully
Summary: This study examines the effectiveness of using news literacy messages on social media to enhance expert correction of misinformation on Twitter. Two experiments show that expert organizations can successfully correct misinformation on social media with a single tweet, but different news literacy messages do not improve the effectiveness of the corrections.
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Communication
Avery E. Holton, Valerie Belair-Gagnon, Diana Bossio, Logan Molyneux
Summary: Journalists are increasingly experiencing online harassment, leading to fatigue, anxiety, disconnection from social media, and dissatisfaction with the profession. This study identifies three forms of harassment: acute, chronic, and escalatory. Women journalists, in particular, are more likely to experience chronic and escalatory forms. News organizations are criticized for not adequately addressing harassment, forcing journalists to find their own coping mechanisms. It is essential for news organizations to address harassment as a systemic issue in order to protect journalists' mental health and well-being.
JOURNALISM PRACTICE
(2023)
Article
Business
Sora Kim
Summary: This study validates a U.S.-based model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication process through two representative surveys in Beijing and Hong Kong. The study extends the model by adding government trust as a second moderator and government involvement as a unique dimension of CSR communication. The perceived presence of CSR communication factors contributes to positive consumer outcomes in Chinese contexts, and the process of CSR communication differs significantly between Chinese and Western contexts.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
(2022)
Article
Communication
Michael Hameleers
Summary: This paper reports on experiments conducted in the US and the Netherlands, which found that evidence-based misinformation is considered more accurate than fact-free misinformation. The combination of news media literacy interventions and fact-checkers is shown to be the most effective in reducing issue agreement and perceived accuracy of misinformation.
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Communication
Samantha Sinclair, Jens Agerstrom
Summary: This study examined whether communicating descriptive social norms is an effective way to influence young people's intentions and reduce vaccine hesitancy. The results showed weak support for the hypothesis that conveying strong norms leads to reduced hesitancy and stronger intentions. Furthermore, norms did not have significantly different effects compared to standard vaccine information. There was also no support for the hypothesis that young people are more influenced by norms when the reference group consists of other young individuals.
HEALTH COMMUNICATION
(2023)
Article
Communication
Mufan Luo, Jeffrey T. Hancock, David M. Markowitz
Summary: This article examines the credibility and detection accuracy of fake and real news on social media. The studies show that people tend to perceive news headlines on social media as fake, indicating a deception-bias. The average detection accuracy is approximately 51%, and social media endorsement cues (such as Facebook likes) have an impact on message credibility and detection accuracy.
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Communication
Kaitlin C. Miller, Seth C. Lewis
Summary: In the face of growing threats to the press worldwide, this article explores the nature of harassment experienced by women broadcast journalists at US local television stations. Through qualitative interviews, the research reveals that these women face disruptive and physical harassment in person, as well as online harassment in the form of unwanted sexual advances and threats/criticisms. The study highlights the significant emotional labor performed by these journalists as they navigate and attempt to prevent further harassment.
Article
Communication
Jorge Vazquez-Herrero, Maria-Cruz Negreira-Rey, Xose Lopez-Garcia
Summary: The influence of TikTok has reached the news media, leading to the incorporation of news outlets on the platform to target a young audience. This new approach to journalism is characterized by visual and short content, algorithmic recommendations, and viral trends.
Article
Communication
Minh Hao Nguyen, Jonathan Gruber, Will Marler, Amanda Hunsaker, Jaelle Fuchs, Eszter Hargittai
Summary: This study examines the relationship between digital media use and social connectedness during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic among 2925 U.S. adults. The findings suggest that different digital communication methods have varying impacts on social connectedness under stay-at-home circumstances with limited face-to-face interactions. Overall, digital communication is related to lower social connectedness, with media lower in social presence showing a negative relationship while media higher in social presence do not.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Communication
Yannis Theocharis, Ana Cardenal, Soyeon Jin, Toril Aalberg, David Nicolas Hopmann, Jesper Stromback, Laia Castro, Frank Esser, Peter Van Aelst, Claes de Vreese, Nicoleta Corbu, Karolina Koc-Michalska, Joerg Matthes, Christian Schemer, Tamir Sheafer, Sergio Splendore, James Stanyer, Agnieszka Stepinska, Vaclav Stetka
Summary: This study focuses on the interactive role of social media in promoting conspiracy theory beliefs. Using data from an online survey conducted in 17 countries, the study finds that Twitter has a negative effect on conspiracy beliefs, while other platforms have a positive effect.
NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Communication
Fengxiu Zhou, Huwei Wen, Chien-Chiang Lee
Summary: With the development of broadband infrastructure, the export trade in Chinese cities has been significantly promoted as a result of improved information efficiency and reduced logistics costs. The direct effect plays a major role in influencing export trade, while the indirect effects through industrial structure and technological innovation are relatively minor.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY
(2022)
