Communication Technology Division 2009 Abstracts
Communication Technology Division (CTEC)
A Comparitive study of online privacy regulations in the U.S. and China • Tuen Yu Lau, Stanford University; Yangfang Wu, University of Washington; David Atkin, University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin, University of Connecticut • Online privacy seeks to protect the identity of an individual who uses the internet to collect information or express opinions. However, given the proliferating vehicles through which one’s identity can be ascertained, the question remains as to what policies can most effectively protect personal identity. This paper explores the similarities and differences with online privacy regulation in the United States and China.
Online Sexual Solicitation and Online Sexual Risk Taking: Age and Gender Differences • Susanne Baumgartner, University of Amsterdam; Patti Valkenburg, University of Amsterdam; Jochen Peter, University of Amsterdam • There are widespread concerns that on the internet, adolescents are especially vulnerable and take more risks than adults. However, research to validate this concern is still missing. The aim of this study was to explore whether a) online sexual solicitation, (b) online sexual risk taking and (c) the perception of risks and benefits of online sexual risk taking vary by age and gender.
A Whole New Ballgame: Mainstream Media Attitudes Toward Fan-Based Internet Sports Communities • Vincent Benigni, College of Charleston; Lance Porter, Louisiana State University; Chris Wood, JWA Communications • This study illustrates the impact of fan-based Internet sports communities (FBISCs), through a survey (n = 217) of sports media members in print, broadcast, and online. A shifting paradigm is evident in that most traditional media members use FBISCs to perform key tasks and many work for such sites. Respondents indicate that while such sites generally lack credibility, they wield some influence to sports administrators and student-athletes, and to a great degree, sports fans.
A New Space for Political Expression: Predictors of Political Facebook Use and its Democratic Consequences • Leticia Bode, Department of Political Science – University of Wisconsin Madison; porismita borah, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Facebook currently boasts more than 175 million active users worldwide, many of whom are young people. With the exception of some pieces on the broad potential of Facebook to impact political communication, no study has ventured into the growing political realm that exists on Facebook.
Facebooking to the Polls: A study in online social networking, social capital, and political behavior • Leticia Bode, Department of Political Science – University of Wisconsin Madison • Facebook has risen in use and popularity over recent years, but research has only just begun to examine the potential implications of such use. Given that such a large percentage of Facebook users are young citizens, yet to be fully politically socialized, the participatory impact of Facebook use is particularly important to understand. This study utilizes survey research to analyze how undergraduates are using Facebook and what political implications such use has.
Framing Second Life for Use in Higher Education • Kevin Bowers, University of Florida; Donna Davis, University of Florida; Jeffrey Neely, University of Florida • This study employed a framing analysis to examine articles from The Chronicle of Higher Education and EDUCAUSE Review related to the use of Second Life in academia. Four main frames were identified: exploration, growth, overcoming challenges, and level of endorsement or rejection. Additionally, sub-frames were identified in the exploration and endorsement/rejection main frames. Discussion of the results focuses on the overall perception of Second Life in higher education and implications for the future.
Moving the Crowd at Threadless: Motivations for Participation in a Crowdsourcing Application • Daren Brabham, University of Utah • Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed problem solving and production model already in use by businesses such as Threadless.com, iStockphoto.com, and InnoCentive.com. This model, which harnesses the collective intelligence of a crowd of Web users through an open-call format, has potential for government and non-profit applications. Yet, in order to explore new applications for the crowdsourcing model, there must be better understanding of why crowds participate in crowdsourcing processes.
Reporters, Commenters, or “Gate”keepers?: Mainstream Coverage of Professional Blogging Organizations • Deborah Carver, University of Minnesota • This paper examines qualities of large blogging organizations—group blogs that have emerged to combine reporting and discussion of news in order to make a profit—and addresses how such blogs are treated in scholarly discussion. This study seeks to encourage consideration of larger blogging organizations as different from more personal political blogs by individuals.
Gaining Gratifications or Losing Privacy on Social-Networking Sites? Exploring Privacy Concerns and the Relationship with Gratifications and Internet Addiction • Hsuan-Ting Chen, University of Texas at Austin • The study explored the three types of privacy concerns – improper information sharing, errors, and collection among users of social-networking sites. Further, it examined potential relationships among gratifications sought from social-networking sites, three types of privacy concerns, and Internet addiction. The findings showed that individuals’ privacy concerns for improper information sharing will decrease their Internet addiction.
Cultural differences in social relationships on SNSs: Cross-cultural comparison between Americans and Koreans • Seong Eun Cho, Rutgers University • This study explores cultural differences in SNS relationships between Americans and Koreans. In doing so, this study aims to confirm the effect of national cultures on SNS usage and to understand indications from previous single-culture studies. 322 American and 241 Korean college students participated in a survey. To analysis data, this study mainly employed independent sample t-test, correlation, and multiple regressions.
Participation divide among “online experts”: Prediction of psychological factors, experience and skills on web content creation among college students • Teresa Correa, University of Texas at Austin • This study explored the factors that predict the creation of online content among college students. A Web-based survey revealed that there are differences by gender, race, and age in creating content. Using self-determination theory as theoretical framework, this study found that psychological factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived competence and motivation are strong predictors of content creation. The gender divide disappears when perceived competence and skills are taken into account.
A Content Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ YouTube Sites • Juliann Cortese, Florida State University; Jennifer Proffitt, Florida State University • This study examines how the 2008 presidential candidates differed in the number, type, and content of videos posted on their YouTube sites. Results indicate that the Obama campaign posted significantly more videos and a variety of videos as compared to the McCain campaign. Further, McCain’s videos were predominantly negative while the Obama videos tended to be more balanced. Neither candidate fully utilized the space and time available on YouTube to specifically outline policies and proposals.
Standing at the Intersection of the Digital Divide and Environmental Justice: How One Community Made Sense of It • Jane Dailey, Marietta College • This study examined whether historically marginalized citizens perceive the Internet as a tool for environmental advocacy. Qualitative data collected from 44 adults living in poor working class neighborhoods suggest the Internet is not an end-all solution but does play a role. Participants viewed the Internet as an information source, but preferred face-to-face communication for mobilizing support. Their view is consistent with their claims of how they make use of the Internet in their everyday lives.
Determinants of High-Definition Television Awareness, Familiarity, and Knowledge • Michel Dupagne, University of Miami; Paul Driscoll, University of Miami • This study investigated whether education, income, mass media use, interpersonal communication, social participation, cosmopoliteness, perceived attributes of new communication technologies, and ownership of communication technologies predicted high-definition television (HDTV) awareness, familiarity, and knowledge. Results revealed mixed support for the hypotheses and identified different predictors for the three regression models. While education, income, and newspaper reading were positive predictors of HDTV awareness, perceived attributes and ownership of communication technologies were significantly related to HDTV familiarity.
A Case for a Greater Attention to Technology in the Individual-Level Political Communication Effects Research • Ivan Dylko, The Ohio State University • In this paper, a case is being made for an increasingly important role of technology in the individual-level research on mass and interpersonal political communication effects. The role of technology is particularly important in today’s age of information environment diversity. The Functional Model of Communication Technology is proposed as a helpful heuristic for advancing communication theory.
Gatekeeping and YouTube: News Filters and the Intermedia Dynamic in the Age of User-Generated Content • Ivan Dylko, The Ohio State University; Kristen Landreville, The Ohio State University; Michael Beam, The Ohio State University; Nicholas Geidner, The Ohio State University • The primary purpose of this study is to refine gatekeeping theory, by examining it in the new context of user-generated news content. Videos from YouTube were utilized as an approximation of user-generated content, due to YouTube’s leadership position in the online user-generated video streaming market.
Network Effect in Adoption and Use of Online Social Network Sites: The Case of Facebook • J-en Teo, Nanyang Technological University; Seraphina Seng, Nanyang Technological University; Wayne Fu, Nanyang Technological University • This study examines user-network effect on the adoption and use of social networking sites (SNSs). Online survey data were gathered from Singaporeans to test the effect among individuals’ choices about using Facebook.
New Scheme of Communication: An Exploratory Study of Interactivity and Multimedia Use in Chinese J-blogs and the Implications • Fangfang Gao, University of Florida; Renee Martin-Kratzer, University of Florida • This study examined the use of new technologies in Chinese j-blogs and found there is a positive correlation between the use of hyperlinks, videos and pictures with reader comments, indicating that the use of these features sparks a better dialogue with readers. The shift in the model of communication between journalists and readers through j-blogs changes the traditional concept of gatekeeping, providing broader implications for the flow of free information in China’s controlled media environment.
Stealing Television’s Eyeball Share? The Impact of Alternative Video Distribution Platforms on Traditional Television Viewing • miao guo, University of Florida; Chunsik Lee, University of Florida • This study examined the impact of alternative video distribution platforms, such as online video streaming on computer and mobile television through portable video devices, on traditional television viewing patterns. By drawing upon the uses and gratifications approach, the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the innovation diffusion theory, this study explored how motives, perceived media characteristics, affinity for alternative outlets, and viewing behavior jointly shaped the substitution phenomena between newly emerging alternative platforms and traditional television.
Good for business? IM and the virtual newsroom • Elizabeth Hendrickson, University of Tennessee • This research examines the newsgathering processes and production of an entertainment website, Futé.com, to understand how the site’s use of a virtual newsroom and computer mediated communication influences organizational dynamics and culture. By employing a case study of Futé, this research utilized in-depth interviews and observations to examine the role of instant messaging (IM) in organizing work and shaping organizational culture. The primary research question was: How does IM affect communication and organizational dynamics?
Revealing Myself in Games: Constructing an Identity Through Game Creation • Renyi Hong, Nanyang Technological University; Lin Zhi Jasmine Lee; Nathanael Tan, Nanyang Technological University; Ting Hui Grace Ong, Nanyang Technological University; Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen, Nanyang Technological University • The proliferation of media production technologies has allowed for game players to become game creators, tinkering and forging their own games. This qualitative project explores how amateurs express and construct their identity through the activity of game creation. Forty interviews were conducted with renowned game modifiers and independent game developers internationally. The findings revealed that the game creation performance is characterized by the practices of play, object-relating and public performance.
An Examination of the Business Strategies in the Second Life Virtual Market • J. Sonia Huang, Department of Communication and Technology, National Chiao Tung University • Second Life (SL) is now experiencing its own dystopia. The SL in-world market is perfectly competitive; largest businesses do not sustain over years. The study thus takes a diagnostic approach using real-world business strategies to examine whether largest businesses are creating a defendable position in the market and what choices they have to obtain competitive advantage.
Blogging in U.S. Newsrooms: A National Survey of Perceptions and Practices • Sun Ho Jeong, University of Texas at Austin • A national survey of 489 working journalists found that they spend about 2.5 days every week and an average of 40 minutes daily reading blogs for reporting and research. Journalists are turning to blogs to keep up with news and find out about alternative viewpoints. About 60 percent of the journalists write blogs. Earliest adopters of blogs are the most likely to perceive journalist-blogs as making positive contributions to journalism and perceive blogs credible.
Facebook. MySpace. Two-faced?: Credibility of Social Network Sites for Political Information • Tom Johnson, Texas Tech; Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee • This study employed an online survey to examine the degree to which politically interested Internet users judge social network sites as believable, fair, accurate and in depth. More specifically, this research focuses on the degree to which reliance on social network sites predict their credibility after controlling for political and demographic factors.
Uses and Gratifications of Twitter: An Examination of User Motives and Satisfaction of Twitter Use • Philip Johnson, Syracuse University; Sung-Un Yang, Syracuse University • Our study applied a uses and gratifications approach to investigate Twitter—an internet medium and micro-blogging platform with both mass and interpersonal communication features for sharing short messages to others. Twitter user motives (gratifications sought) and the perceived fulfillment of these motives (gratifications obtained) were examined. In addition, satisfaction of Twitter use was investigated by comparing the differences between gratifications sought and gratifications obtained.
Debauchery and Disclosure: Employer Perceptions of Facebook Profiles • Shannon Kennan, Pennsylvania State University; Haiyan Jia, Pennsylvania State University; Alice Shapiro, Pennsylvania State University • Can the party pictures that we post online hurt our job prospects? A 2×2 factorial experiment (N=81) with HR professionals showed that images of debauchery and excessive self-disclosure on a Facebook site affected their personality assessments and hiring decisions. Perceived extroversion and conscientiousness mediated the effects of debauchery while perceived agreeableness mediated that of self-disclosure upon hirability of a candidate. Interestingly, employers who had a Facebook account were significantly more sensitive to debauchery.
Exploring eWOM in Online Consumer Reviews: Experience versus Search Goods • Jinsoo Kim, University of Florida; Jaejin Lee, Univ. of Florida • The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide a description of eWOM that allows a better understanding of this new communication phenomenon by conducting content analysis. The study analyzes 828 online consumer reviews based on product characteristics (experience/search goods) and website characteristics (specialized/general sites) from various angles. This study reveals that product and website characteristics are closely associated with quality/quantity of content, review characteristics, preference, and consumer rating. Implications/suggestions for future studies are discussed.
“You Say Net Neutrality, I Say Net Neutrality”: Content and Semantic Network Analyses of Newspaper Coverage of Net Neutrality • Minjeong Kim, Colorado State University; Jang Hyun Kim, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo • The issue of network neutrality has generated a great deal of attention and conflict among interested parties in recent years. The purpose of this study was to explore how net neutrality has been conceptualized and understood in the media. This study examined, through categorical content analysis and semantic network analysis, a total of 134 net neutrality stories that appeared in the four major newspapers from February 2004 through January 2009.
Did Social Media Really Matter? College Students’ Use of Online Media and Political Decision Making in the 2008 Election • Matthew Kushin, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University; Masahiro Yamamoto, Washington State University • We examined young adults’ use of internet content for political information as well as online expression behaviors for the 2008 election. Media attention variables were assessed using regression analysis for their relationship with involvement and efficacy. Results supported a moderate relationship between attention to traditional internet sources, efficacy and involvement. Social media attention was not significantly related to efficacy or involvement after controlling for other political internet variables. Online expression was significantly related to involvement.
Information Hierarchy in Web 2.0 Context: An Exploratory Study of ‘Folksonomy’ • Kyounghee Kwon, SUNY-Buffalo; Shin-il Moon, SUNY-Buffalo • Based on theoretical contention between information decentralization and the persistency of preexisting information hierarchy on the Internet, the study examines how folksonomy, a Web 2.0 practice, retrieves and organizes issue-sensitive information. The results support the thesis of persistent preexisting hierarchy, revealing major retrievals from traditional mass media and previously well-known sources. On the other hand, diversity does exist in folksonomy, as seen from different agendas set between mainstream and alternative sources.
Political Discourse on Facebook: A New Public Sphere? • Lindita Camaj, Indiana University; Seong Choul Hong, Indiana University; Gerry Lanosga, Indiana University School of Journalism; Yunjuan Luo, School of Journalism, Indiana University Bloomington • In messages posted on presidential candidates’ Facebook pages, users carry on an energetic political discussion, not limited to those with whom they happen to agree most. However, the discourse appears concentrated among a small, hardcore group of users, and there is little evidence that these conversations inspire any offline political activity, an important element in public sphere theory. A content analysis of these messages challenges the notion of a true Habermasian public sphere online.
When the Mask Governs the Mind: Effects of Social Category Representation on Task Performance and Motivation in Avatar-Represented Virtual Groups • Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Stanford University • This experiment examined how social category representation via avatars affects stereotype-relevant task performance in virtual group settings. In particular, this study focused on the phenomenon of stereotype threat – a type of psychological threat induced by situations in which negative stereotyping about a group leads its members to fear the risk of confirming the stereotype, which leads to behavioral consequences such as performance and motivational deficits in the stereotype-relevant domain.
Anti-Smoking Videos on Social Media: Comparative Analysis of the Persuasive Attributes on YouTube Videos • Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri • This study seeks a descriptive understanding of anti-smoking videos posted on YouTube and users’ reaction toward the videos. The appeals, themes, model characteristics, and viewers’ reactions were examined based on a content analysis of 199 anti-smoking videos. While the study finds that cessation theme and fear appeal are the most frequent strategies utilized by these videos, industry manipulation and fear appeal received the lowest ratings from video viewers.
Text me when it becomes dangerous: Exploring the Determinants of College Students’ Short Message Service (SMS) Text Alerts Service Adoption • Doohwang Lee, University of Alabama; Jee Young Chung, The University of Alabama • Based on Davis’ (1986) technology acceptance model and Brehm’s (1989)’s reactance theory, this study sought to explore the determinants to college students’ SMS text alerts service adoption. The results showed that the probability of being the SMS text-service subscribers or non- subscribers was not directly affected by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and social norms.
Exploring the Roles of ICT Adoption in the Migratory Adaptation of the Rural-urban Migrants in Beijing • Weizhen Lei, School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China; Martin Gibbs, Information System Department, the University of Melbourne; Shanton Chang, Information System Department, the University of Melbourne; Heejin Lee, Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University, Korea • In the current era where globalization and ICT (Information and Communication technology) use is pervasive, the understanding of technology-based social structure, such as how ICT is applied to enhance the rising networked society (Castells, 2000; van Dijk, 2005), becomes significant. In studying this phenomenon, exploring various migrant populations and how they use ICT can explicitly show the relationships between human mobility, social network, autonomy and new media technologies.
Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Facilitate Learning • Mitzi Lewis, Midwestern State University; LaRae Donnellan, Florida A&M University • This paper examines a collaboration between instructors and students at two higher education institutions in different states. Web 2.0 technologies were used to facilitate group efforts in the development, implementation, and evaluation of an Internet survey. Instructors discuss lessons learned and offer suggestions for successful implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in an educational environment.
Stonewalling Manipulation Effects on Internet Use and Beliefs: The Resiliency of College Internet Users • Jennette Lovejoy, Ohio University; Erin Armstrong, Ohio University; dave sennerud, Ohio University; Roshan Noorzai, Ohio University; Chong Wu, Ohio University • This experiment using college students (n=189) at a large midwestern university utilized a 2×2 between subjects design with a fifth control group to explore the interaction between positive or negative news stories and their effect on self-reported Internet use and Internet belief measures. Both the angle of the news story and the positioning of the news story within the experiment packet were manipulated.
When blogs become organizations • Wilson Lowrey, University of Alabama; Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama • This exploratory study first examines the degree to which bloggers, who pride themselves on challenging mainstream journalism, are adopting an organizational form in pursuit of heightened popularity, status, and advertising revenue. The study also examines the relationship between organizational form and formality of content, namely, whether blog postings resemble traditional journalism. Relationships among pursuit of revenue, organizational form and level of popularity are also assessed.
Soap Box or Box of Soap: Consumer Understanding of the Relationship between Content and Advertising in the Context of User-Generated Content • Sally McMillan, University of Tennessee • Mass media in the United States have hosted news content and delivered audiences to advertisers. But while advertiser support for traditional media has been dropping, activities of online ‘citizen journalists’ have been on the rise. A key question for both traditional news organizations and citizen journalists is who will pay for content of online news and information.
An Exploration of the Policy Objectives of South Korea’s Broadband Convergence Network • Siddhartha Menon, Michigan State University • The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the South Korean government’s policy objectives for the Broadband Convergence Network (BcN) between 2004 and 2007. The BcN is envisioned as conduit for broadband content and applications. This paper uses generativity as a conceptual framework to determine whether the objectives for the BcN, based on a content analysis of policy documents and interviews with experts, empowered the network to sustain a generative critical information infrastructure.
The Exploratory Study of High Definition Advertising and Consumer Response • Jang Ho Moon, University of Texas at Austin; Jong-Hyuok Jung, University of Texas at Austin; Wei-Na Lee, The University of Texas at Austin • In just a few months, all full-power broadcast television stations in the U.S. will begin broadcasting only in digital format. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of high definition technology on television advertising at this time of digital transition. By conducting an experimental study and a follow-up explanatory focus group, this study suggests that high definition technology may have a significant impact on advertising effectiveness in the digital television era.
Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Technology: Hofstede’s Dimensions and Human Development Indicators • George Musambira, University of Central Florida; Jonathan Matusitz, University of Central Florida • Correlations between Hofstede’s dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance and selected indicators of the Human Development Report (HDR) were analyzed. Three communication technology indicators – i.e., cell phone subscription, Internet use, and the number of telephone main lines – were predicted to measure the development of a nation. Results indicate a negative correlation between high power distance and communication technology in terms of the three technologies examined in this study.
Moving One Step Closer to Reengaging Citizens: Discovering Patterns of Online Political Activity • Lindsay Newport, Louisiana State University • An exploratory factor analysis of survey data (N=1,238) revealed four primary classifications of Internet users based on their typical online political activities: videophiles, highly interesteds, pass alongs, and content creators. These four classifications support the notion of a psychological model of Internet effects and may aid in discovering targeted and effective ways of motivating these citizens to political action based on their online activities.
Attributes and Consequences of New Communication Technologies in the Values of Transnational Work • Fernando Paragas, Nanyang Technological University • This study tests a literature-based means-ends chain (MEC) framework that depicts the relationship between the attributes of new communication technologies (NCTs), the consequences of using such NCTs, and the values of self and family among migrant workers from the Philippines using data from a random survey of 320 respondents.
Explaining Online Health Information-Seeking and the Physician-Patient Relationship • Songyi Park, Northwestern University • Although the use of the Internet for health information continues to grow rapidly, its impact on health care is still unclear. Previous studies have shown inconsistent findings with regard to which demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of patients influence online health information seeking. Few studies have analyzed the association between the discussion of online health information and the physician-patient relationship at the multivariate level.
Age Differences in Perceptions and Intention of Online Community Participation: An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model • Jae Eun Chung, University of Southern California; Namkee Park, University of Oklahoma; Helen Hua Wang, University of Southern California • This study examined age differences in perceptions of online communities and the factors that affect future intention of online community participation, within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The study supported the major propositions of the TAM but found that age was a moderator of certain key relationships in the model.
Denying Destiny: Viewtron and the refusal to recognize mutual shaping of technology • Mark Poepsel, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri School of Journalism; Seth Ashley, University of Missouri School of Journalism • This paper combines a qualitative content analysis of newspaper and trade magazine reports about Knight-Ridder’s Viewtron project with a close reading of primary sources in order to inform a discussion about why Viewtron failed. Mutual Shaping of Technology theory is applied. This theory suggests that new technologies both affect the cultures into which they are introduced, and they are shaped by cultural processes as well.
Keeping Up with Mrs. Jones: Mommy Blogging, Social Comparison, and Self-Esteem • Anesha Brown, Brigham Young University; Holly Wallace, Brigham Young University; Liz Mott, Brigham Young University; Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University; Karson Denney, Brigham Young University; Autumn Linford, Brigham Young University • As the community of mommy bloggers increases, it raises the question of the effects of engaging in this socially interactive medium. This study examines the phenomenon through the lenses of social comparison and self-esteem. A survey of 619 blogging mothers reveals that those scoring higher on a social comparison index are likely to spend more time reading and maintaining blogs, while a regression analysis shows that this activity can have a negative impact on self-esteem.
Type Up, Speak Out! An Analysis of the Spiral of Silence in an Online Forum • Lauren Reichart, University of Alabama; Skye Chance Cooley, The University of Alabama • 522 user ratings and reviews of nine separate movies on a movie review website were examined in order to determine if the opinions all conformed to either all positive or all negative. The mass communication theory of the spiral of silence was used to analyze the website.
Facebook groups as an e-learning component in higher education courses: one successful case study • Gary Ritzenthaler, University of Florida; Dave Stanton, University of Florida • This case study examines the benefits that a social networking site like Facebook can add to a university-level course. A Facebook group was created as a platform to distribute content related to the course as well as provide a venue for students to meet, discuss and socialize.
The Path Already Taken: Technological and Pedagogical Practices in Convergence Education • Jeremy Sarachan, St. John Fisher College • Communication departments considering adapting or further implementing a convergence curriculum can benefit from exploring choices made at other universities. In this survey, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 110 AEJMC affiliates as a means to explore course content, student assessment methods, lab space, software, and other technical considerations. A range of solutions were found to exist, but common curriculum choices and tools emerged.
What do your friends say about you? Activist group evaluations in a social networking context • Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University; Qian Xu, College of Communications Penn State University; Saraswathi Bellur-Thandaveshwara, Pennsylvania State University; Erin Ash, Pennsylvania State University; Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, Pennsylvania State University; Andrew Kegerise, Penn State University • Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This idea of a bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in an online context, where cues about the number of supporters are readily available. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters, with race being one potentially important factor.
Innovation processes in journalism as actor-networks and communities of practice • Amy Schmitz Weiss, San Diego State University; David Domingo, University Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) • This paper explores two different but complementary theoretical approaches to frame innovation in online media: Actor-Network Theory and Community of Practice. The principles and key concepts of each are presented and their applicability is discussed. Four research programs are presented for developing use of these theories, which offer efficient tools to understand and analyze the actors involved in innovation decisions, the dynamics of the negotiation and learning processes, and the factors constraining and fostering evolution.
Give-and-take: Why the wireless signal sharing movement is growing and its potential policy implications • Gwen Shaffer, Temple University • Using a resource mobilization framework, this study attempts to better understand the factors that motivate people to join wireless community networks that enable members to share bandwidth. In addition, the research illuminates ties between peer-to-peer networking and civic engagement at a broader level.
“I’ ll poke you. You poke me!” Self-disclosure, social attraction, predictability and trust as important predictors of Facebook relationships • Pavica Sheldon, Louisiana State University • The purpose of this research was to test how social attraction on Facebook influences self-disclosure, predictability and trust in another individual. Results of a survey of 243 students showed that we tell our personal secrets on Facebook to those that we like. The relationship between the depth of self-disclosure and trust is mediated by predictability.
Grand Theft Auto IV Comes to Singapore: The Effects of Repeated Exposure to Violent Video Games on Aggression • Kie Zin, Scott Teng, Nanyang Technological University; Sok Cheng, Amy Siew, Nanyang Technological University; Yew Mun, Gabriel Chong, Nanyang Technological University; Marko Skoric, Nanyang Technological University • This study is longitudinal lab-based experiment that examined longer-term effects of playing a violent video game. Participants played Grand Theft Auto IV for a period of three weeks and were compared to a control group on trait aggression, attitudes toward violence, and empathy. The findings do not support the assertion that playing violent video games increases aggression nor reduces empathy as predicted by the General Aggression Model, but they suggest an increase in proviolence attitudes.
Anatomy of Interaction Experience: Distinguishing Sensory, Semantic, and Behavioral Dimensions of Interactivity • Dongyoung Sohn, The Ohio State University • Most previous interactivity studies have focused on what technological characteristics make (mediated) interaction possible, but very few scholarly attempts have been made to answer what constitutes a person’s interactivity perception or experience. The primary objective of this article is to redefine interactivity as a construct that captures the general human interaction experience so that it can be applied to an interaction with any medium or in any context.
Mapping the Role of Information: A Model of the Press for a Post-Broadcast World • Steven Stuglin, Georgia State University • Four Theories of the Press set a comparative media systems standard for fifty years, but the contemporary world has a dramatically different press system than the one investigated in 1956. New theories are needed that can account for the declining role of the traditional press and the growing prominence of digital networking and information systems. This essay presents a model for comparing media systems using views of the role of information as a differentiating variable.
Online News Websites: How much information how fast? • Ryan Pierce, Baylor University; Amanda Sturgill, Baylor University; Yiliu Wang, Baylor University • Questions about the efficacy of the Internet for delivering online news are rapidly vanishing, as Internet news use is putting great financial pressure on print media. But questions on the best way to deliver content to readers in a way that keeps them coming back to a site remain both open and important. Usability and user satisfaction are both major issues behind a site’s adoption.
User Attitudes toward Customization and Personalization: A Priming Study of Gratifications Expected and Obtained • Hyunjin Kang, Penn State University; S. Shyam Sundar, Penn State University; Hyang Sook Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Keunmin Bae, Penn State University • Customization is everywhere these days, from faceplates on cell phones to background color on computer desktops to the arrangement of widgets on one’s internet start page. What lies behind the tremendous popularity of tailored content? We answer this question with a priming study (N = 322) that explores the gratifications expected and obtained from different kinds of tailored internet services. Self-esteem moderates gratifications derived from tailored services whereas identity, involvement and relevance mediate the relationship.
Kids these Days: Examining Differences in Political Uses and Gratifications, Internet Political Participation, Political Information Efficacy, and Cynicism based on Age • Kaye Sweetser, University of Georgia; Ruthann Weaver Lariscy, University of Georgia; Spencer Tinkham, University of Georgia • Using a telephone survey of randomly selected voters from the general population, this study sought to understand the interrelatedness of use of the Internet as a political information source with perception of political participation, political information efficacy, and cynicism. Guided by the traditional political uses and gratifications theory that divides media choice into approach and avoidance motives, we examine these constructs in terms of emergent generational differences.
Active within Structures: An Integrated Model of Internet Use • Tang Tang, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • This study represents one of the first attempts to empirically integrate three primary theoretical traditions in audience research — the uses and gratifications approach, structural approaches, and technology adoption theories — to explain Internet use. The findings suggest that Internet use is an active choice within structures. The study calls for a broader and integrated scheme to guide our understanding and exploration of new media users.
Tracking the Blogs: An Evaluation of Attacks, Acclaims and Rebuttals Presented on Political Blogs during the 2008 Presidential Election • Robert Wicks, University of Arkansas Department of Communication; Amy Mertensmeyer, University of Arkansas; Gregory Blackburn, University of Arkansas; Tiffany Fields, University of Arkansas • This study employed Benoit’s Functional Theory of Presidential Discourse to study the incidence of attacks, acclaims and rebuttals on four politically-aligned websites and six political non-aligned blogs. Results suggest that candidates use their own websites for acclaims, political parties use their blogs to level attacks against opponents, and rebuttals are on blogs are rare.
Emotional Responses During Facebook Use: Two Conceptual Frameworks • Saleem Alhabash, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Hyojung Park, University of Missouri; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri • Based on existing research on social networking, it was proposed that Facebook.com serves a need for connectivity and that a great deal of its use could be conceptualized using two conceptual frameworks: the first as either social browsing (i.e. Newsfeeds) and social searching (i.e. Friends’ profiles), while the second, as either interactive or extractive information-seeking strategies. This study explored whether these categories adequately reflect Facebook use and whether they moderate physiological indicators of emotion.
How does a Virtual Community Influence Older Netizens’ Social Capital? • Huan Wu, School of Jouranlism and Communicaiton in The Chinese University of Hong Kong • What this study seeks to answer is: “How does a virtual community influence its members’ social capital in face-to-face (FtF) communities?” The virtual community examined in this research is OldKids website, the earliest and the most influential senior-oriented virtual community in nowadays’ mainland China. And the FtF communities are OldKids club, set up by the founders of OldKids website; and OldKids salons, built up by OldKids netizens voluntarily.
Is Multimodality Better than Single Modality? Exploring modality effect on inter-cultural virtual collaboration • Qian Xu, College of Communications Penn State University; Deanna Behring, Ph.D. student • This study used a 2×2 within-subjects experiment to explore how media modality and presence of partner’s picture influenced inter-culture virtual dyad’s collaboration and communication accommodation. The results of the study showed that participants were more likely to be persuaded in audio than in text conditions. Modality and picture interactively influenced perceived ease of communication, language difference, and consensus. It also found that dyad members adopted different linguistic characteristics to accommodate each other in different conditions.
Faculty Adopters of Podcasting: Satisfaction, University Support and Belief in Podcasting • Jin Yang, University of Memphis • This study surveyed university and college professors who have used podcasts in their classroom and found that these early adopters of podcasts were very innovative in general. Most of them believed that podcasts can enhance the pedagogical value of teaching because podcasts provide alternatives to learn and engage students more on their turf.
Comparisons between Avatar users and Non Avatar users: People’s Personal Characteristics as Consumers and Their Attitudes toward Virtual World Advertising • Jay (Hyunjae) Yu, Louisiana State University • Avatars are Internet users’ representations that are created and utilized as animated characters in virtual worlds. Lately, many Internet users have created avatars and enjoyed a second life by experiencing a virtual world in which they can enjoy many things that they enjoy in the real world. Along with the rapid growth of avatar users, a growth of virtual places, where avatars can hang out is seen as well.
News Use and Social Use of the Internet: Testing a Substitution Model in Three Levels • Lingzi Zhang, National University of Singapore • Embedded in mass media and interpersonal communication theory, current study sheds light on news consumption and interpersonal communication in online settings. We hypothesized a mutual displacement between interpersonal social use and news use of the Internet, based on previous scholarship on media usage, online social relation, and Gratifications of Internet users.
Effects of Perceived Gratification-opportunities and Personal Network on Preference between MSN and QQ • Xiaoxiao Zhang, The School of Journalism and Communication in CUHK • Focusing on the dramatic overriding of QQ on MSN in China, this exploratory study explores the important role of perceived gratification-opportunities and personal network in IM preference and use. Data were gathered from an online snowballing sample of 410 Chinese IM users in 2008. Of the users, 88.0% preferred QQ while merely12.0% preferred MSN. Factor analyses identified three same MSN and QQ gratification-opportunities: entertainment, synchronism and risk.
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