Communication Technology (CTEC) 2010 Abstracts
PeaceMaker: Changing Students’ Attitudes Toward Palestinians and Israelis Through Video Game Play • Saleem Alhabash, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • An experiment investigated the effects of video game role-play on change of students’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward Palestinians and Israelis. Sixty-nine participants played the Peacemaker, a video game in which people play the role of either the Palestinian President or the Israeli Prime Minister and respond to various scenarios through diplomatic, economic, and military decision-making. Results showed that participants playing as the Palestinian President reported positive change in explicit attitudes toward Palestinians and negative change in explicit attitudes toward Israelis. Participants playing as the Israeli Prime Minister reported no meaningful attitude changes toward both national groups over time. Implicit attitudes were more positive toward Palestinians but did not change significantly over time. Results are discussed in relation to self-persuasion, persuasive games, and attitude change.
Facebook and the Self: How Self-esteem, Satisfaction with Life, Self-Consciousness, and General Affect Inform Motivation and Intensity of Facebook Use • Saleem Alhabash, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Hyojung Park, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; YoungAh Lee, Missouri School of Journalism • A cross-sectional survey of U.S. college students (N=201) examined the relationship between four different psychological measures, and the motivations to use Facebook and the site’s usage patterns. Results of a structural equation model analysis showed that different psychological indicators of personality and the self were associated with Facebook usage patterns through specific indirect effects of seven motivations to use the site. Self-esteem positively affected Facebook use intensity and time spent on the site through the need for social connection, while satisfaction with life affected these two variables indirectly through the motivation to use Facebook for status updates. Even the three sub-constructs of self-consciousness (private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness, and social anxiety) took different indirect paths to influencing the dependent variables. Results are discussed within the framework of the Media Choice Model and the uses and gratifications theory.
Discussing Politics in the Newly Emerging Venues – Do You Talk Offline, on Mobile or Online? • Soo Young Bae, University of Michigan • This study examines the relationship between citizens’ political discussion and political engagement, with a specific interest in the implications of the new mobile and online communication contexts for political discussion. With an analysis of a representative sample of adults in the U.S., this study attempts to explicate the links between traditional and newly emerged forms of political discussions, by focusing on two pertinent characteristics of the political discussants – age and opinion leadership.
Screen name interpretation strategy as a corollary of social media experience: Toward a hierarchy of virtual needs • Jaime Banks, Colorado State University • The present study leverages a web-based card sorting task to simulate how social media users stereotype cyberothers based on screen names. Findings indicate the nature stereotyping behaviors depend on users’ experience and comfort with social media; a loose continuum suggests that greater social media sophistication associates with less stringent stereotyping and greater likelihood to engage in conversation with a cyberother while less sophisticated users are more stringent and less likely to engage.
Pandemic Situation and Health Organizations’ Use of Social Media Tools: A H1N1 Flu Context • Masudul Biswas, Louisiana State University • Grounded in outbreak communication strategies, this study explores the use of social media tools by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) in the context of H1N1 flu outbreak in 2009. This study content-analyzed H1N1 flu-related messages including 243 Twitter updates, 251 Facebook messages and comments, and 222 web site posts disseminated by the CDC and the WHO in six actual weeks between April – July, 2009. The findings suggest that Twitter and Facebook facilitated quick and constant dissemination of H1N1 flu-related messages on case investigation/diagnosis, safety/prevention, treatment and flu situation posted on the official web sites of the CDC and the WHO.
Showing off MySpace: Examining the effects of sociability on self-presentation of MySpace users • Kris Boyle, Creighton University; Tom Johnson, Texas Tech University • This study examined the effects that sociability has on a user’s self-presentation on MySpace, including the amount and type of information users provide on their pages. An analysis of 502 pages revealed that the number of friends and friend photos did predict the number of personal identity items on the user’s page. The number of friends negatively predicted the amount of information one was willing to reveal, while the number of friend videos did not predict self-presentation.
iWant my iPad! Characteristics of potential adopters of Apple’s tablet device • Tim Brown, University of Central Florida; Steven Collins, University of Central Florida; Kim Bissell, University of Alabama • The introduction of the iPad – Apple’s tablet device – affords scholars the opportunity to examine the potential reasons for adoption before the device is even released. Using concepts from diffusion research, the technology acceptance model and uses and gratifications, this study sought to determine the characteristics of potential adopters of the iPad among college students, one of the device’s target audiences. Results show that students are likely to adopt the device within three years, and that there is a moderate to strong correlation between the perceived usefulness (PU) of the iPad and the intention to adopt. Current iPhone users were more likely than non-smartphone users to predict they would adopt the device and that it would be useful. Interestingly, Hispanic students scored significantly higher on adoption and perceived usefulness measures than other demographic groups.
Motivations for student use of social media in education • Tim Brown, University of Central Florida; Amanda Groff, University of Central Florida • This study of 788 college students provides evidence that students compartmentalize their communication tools – social tools for social time, work tools for work time. In addition, students seem to be saying that they have limits as to what kind of academic information they want to receive through personal media channels. The recognition that personal SNS pages would mean that faculty would be able to view students’ personal information in addition to academic information does not sit well with the students in this survey. They seem to prefer to stay with formal, professional channels for school work in most cases. There are, however, exceptions. Students are willing to receive information on their personal media (SNS, text, mobile phones) in certain situations, such as emergency information or a change in course schedule; or, in the case of mobile phones, email and CMS information, most likely because of their professional nature. There are also a few students who view potential benefits in social networking in the classroom, specifically Twitter.
Old Enough to Surf, Old Enough to Buy: Spokescharacters and Product Pitches on Popular Children’s Websites • Erik Bucy, Indiana University; Sojung Claire Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study examines the extent to which product spokescharacters are used for advertising purposes on children’s websites, and assess whether commercial sites geared towards young users are complying with industry guidelines calling for a clear separation between advertising and content. A longitudinal content analysis of 101 of the most popular children’s sites over a six-year period (2003, 2006, and 2009) found content and advertising integration to be common. The study found that a majority of sites employed characters in their online advertising and most did not identify advertising with an explicit label when characters were featured on their homepages. A similar pattern was found for product-based games that incorporated characters. Branded sites with a recognizable product were much more likely to employ characters in product-based games than non-branded sites, and to use popular characters in their advertising. Moreover, based on the patterns observed from 2003 to 2009, companies seemed to push characters inside their websites rather than on the front pages as well as in product-related games rather than in advertising. Implications for future research and industry regulation are discussed.
Perceived Substitutability and Actual Viewership Overlap between Traditional and New Video Platforms • Jiyoung Cha, University of North Texas • This study addresses television firms’ fear of rising online video platforms by investigating age variations in 1) the perceived substitutability between online video platforms and television, and 2) actual usage of those video platforms. The findings from this study indicate that an age difference exists in how people perceive online video platforms and television in satisfying their needs to watch video content. Different age groups also differ in their actual use of the video platforms.
The impact of social identity gratifications of Facebook use on collective action • Michael Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong • Drawing from uses and gratifications and social identity theory, this study explores the role of group identification, Facebook use gratifications, and intensity of Facebook use on willingness to engage in collective actions. Respondents from a Facebook group completed an online survey (N=406). Factor analyses revealed that group-driven motivations explained the most variance for Facebook Group use. Further regression analyses showed that the factors explained over 40% of the variance in willingness to engage in collective actions.
Factors Affecting e-Book Reader Awareness, Interest, and Intention to Use • Jong-Gu Park, School of Communications, Sogang University; Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, University of Florida; Young-Ju Kim, Korea Press Foundation; Jaemin Jung, Graduate School of Information & Media Management, KAIST • This study examines the relationship between consumer adoption of e-book readers and demographic, media usage/ownership, and perception variables. It was found that e-book reader awareness, interest, and intention to use were positively related to age, education, income, needs for print media, digital media ownership, consumer innovativeness, and perceived innovation attributes of e-book readers. Overall, demographics were the most influential factors in awareness, consumer innovativeness in interest, and perceived innovation attributes in intention to use.
Factors Affecting the Use of Web Portals in the Mobile Internet • Sun-Hee Lee, Media & Culture Contents Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University; Byeng-Hee Chang, Sungkyunkwan University • As the development of mobile Internet technology and devices advances, Internet use and access are becoming more popular among users of mobile devices. However, to date, researches on the use of portals through mobile Internet devices remains insufficient. This study suggested a research model that explains general use of portals in the context of mobile Internet. Specifically, this study proposed that use of the portals on mobile Internet devices would be affected by perceived ubiquitous effects (from previous mobile Internet studies), perceived ease of use (from TAM), Perceived consequences, habit, social factors (from Triandi’s mode), attitude, and intention. In addition, this study suggested service-platform fit that can be defined as the suitability of use between the portal service and the mobile Internet device as a new variable. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis showed that perceived consequences, perceived ease of use, and social factors except for perceived ubiquitous effect had significant effects on attitude. Also, habit, perceived consequences, social factors, and intention were found to have effects on use of the portal on a mobile device.
Who do you Trust? Source Effects in Online Product Reviews • Xue Dou, Pennsylvania State University; Justin Walden, Pennsylvania State University; Seoyeon Lee, Pennsylvania State University; Ji Young Lee, Pennsylvania State University • Drawing on source credibility literature and theoretical conceptualizations about electronic word of mouth, this study examines how visible sources of product reviews influence people’s product judgments. This study finds that reviews made by third party websites and regular Internet users (visible sources) lead to greater trust toward the reviewer (the original source), compared to descriptions from product makers. Findings suggest that the intentions of online reviewers are critical for evaluating opinions about online reviews/products.
iPedagogy: Using Multimedia Learning Theory to iDentify Best Practices for MP3 Player Use in Higher Education. • Edward Downs, University of Minnesota Duluth; Aaron Boyson, University of Minnesota Duluth; Hannah Alley, University of Minnesota Duluth; Nikki Kotosky, University of Minnesota Duluth • Some institutions of higher learning have invested considerable resources to diffuse iPods and MP3 devices while knowing very little about learning outcomes tied to their use. An experiment was conducted to examine how systematic variations in the capability of commonly used MP3 technologies facilitate learning. Dual-coding and multimedia learning theories guided the development and editing of a typical college lecture so that it could be presented in a combination of audio and visual forms across small-screen and large-screen displays. Scores on a cued-recall assessment test indicated that dual-coded presentations were substantially more potent learning aids. Depending on the presentation, group mean scores ranged from 56% to 71%. Results are discussed in terms of developing best-practice strategies for those who wish to implement iPod technology into course curricula.
How should I reach you? A Quantitative Analysis of Interpersonal Relationship Dialectics in Computer Mediated Communication • David Fry, Colorado State University – Journalism and Technical Communication • The purpose of this research was to examine Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) use to maintain pre-existing intermittent face-to-face contact (IFFC)(months or years in between face-to-face communication) in friend and family relationships. Sustained lifelong communication with both friends and family is important to a happier, longer, and more social life, but both require at least intermittent contact. Using the Dialectical Theory of Relationships as a scope to examine both the human-human and human-computer interaction, when utilizing different CMC methods, gave a better understanding of why communicators choose one method over another. Six media were surveyed including postal mail, telephone, email, instant messaging, cellular messaging, and social networking, using six dialectical contradictions to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in using each particular medium to maintain relationships. The most used medium for IFFC communication was telephone, while the most used CMC method was Email. Telephone proved to be the least difficult, easiest to understand, gave the highest feeling of connection, the most privacy, and provided the best means for supporting a stable relationship. Social networking tools were rated the most fun to use.
The quest for national standards in digitizing television: A comparative policy analysis • Hanlong Fu, University of Connecticut; David Atkin, University of Connecticut • China recently has emerged as a serious player in setting ICT standards, evidenced by its presence in major conferences on standardization with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). While the ATSC standard contributes to the successful completion of the DTV transition in the U.S., China’s home-grown DTV standard bears little, to date, on China’s relative success in converting one third of her cable households to digital service. In light of these differing outcomes, this paper attempts to identify and compare the strategies behind the quest for national standards of DTV by retracing the key policy initiatives in China and the U.S. This paper found evidence supporting the importance of maintaining a state of equipoise-particularly between industry and governmental policy–is critical to maintain technological innovation and a competitive marketplace.
Media, Instability, and Democracy: Examining the Granger-Causal Relationships of 122 Countries from 1946 to 2003 • Jacob Groshek, ISU • Using cross-national time-series data in sequences of Granger causality tests, this study analyzed the democratic effects of media technologies with a sample of 122 countries. This process revealed that communication technologies are vital, but not exclusive or universal prerequisites of democratic growth. As expected by media system dependency theory, media diffusion was shown to have Granger-caused democracy only in countries where media served more information functions and where sociopolitical instability levels were higher. This study further indicated that media diffusion is central to the development of sociopolitical instability, which suggested certain direct as well as indirect macro-level democratic effects of mass media diffusion. The conditions of media system dependency theory also demonstrated an integrative relationship with the economic development thesis.
The Role of Provider-Patient Communication and Trust in Online Sources in Online Health Activities • Jiran Hou, The University of Georgia; Minsun Shim, University of Georgia • Provider-patient communication is an important factor influencing patients’ satisfaction and their health outcomes. In this study, we examined the association between the perceived patient-centeredness of provider-patient communication and patients’ online health-related activities. Using the data on more than 4,000 adults from the 2007 Health Information National Trend Survey (HINTS), we found that as individuals perceived their communication with healthcare providers to be less open and patient-centered, they were more likely to participate in various types of online health-related activities, such as using websites for healthy lifestyles and searching for healthcare providers. In addition, trust in online health information was also found to be a significant predictor of individuals’ online information seeking. The results of this study emphasized the important role of provider-patient communication in affecting individuals’ health information seeking behaviors.
The Influence of Prior Issue Attitudes on Perception Bias and Perceived Message Credibility: Opposing Online Messages about Smoking Bans • Jehoon Jeon, Wayne State University; Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University; Thomas Hove, Michigan State University • Using a simulated online discussion board focused on the smoking ban issue, this online survey study investigates whether individuals perceive similar messages differently and how their prior issue attitudes relate to perception bias and perceived message credibility. Findings indicate biased assimilation of media content. Participants perceived the entire online discussion to be congruent with their prior issue attitudes, and they showed a higher perceived message credibility for specific posts supporting their own point of view.
The Effects of High-Context and Low-Context Profile and Subjective norm on Attitudes and Behavioral intentions toward Social Network Sites • Bokyung Kim, MU; Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri-Columbia • Guided by Hall’s (1976) cultural context and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study explored the impact of high and low cultural context elements and perceived subjective norm (invitation from a friend vs. invitation from the Social Networking Site [SNS]) on users’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward SNS. This study found the main effect of cultural contexts of profile page and the interaction effect between contexts and subjective norm on outcome variables. The results theoretically confirmed to the constructs of TPB and expanded the theory to the context of SNS. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
How Does Depression Interact with Different e-Health Systems to Improve Psychosocial Outcomes of Cancer Patients? • Sojung Claire Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Robert Hawkins, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Susan Pingree, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Fiona McTavish, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Gustafson, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study investigated potential interaction effects of depression and the use of Interactive Cancer Communication Systems (ICCSs) on breast cancer patients’ psychosocial health outcomes. Specifically, main and interactive effects of depression and three different ICCS use – Full CHESS, CHESS plus Mentor, and Internet only as control — with varying degrees of interactivity and presence, on healthcare competency and quality of social life, were examined. Consistent with previous research, this investigation found the main effects of depression on healthcare competency for the first three-month intervention period. That is, breast cancer patients with high levels of depression had lower levels of healthcare competency than those who with low levels of depression. For the interaction effects, both healthcare competency and quality of social life of cancer patients were greatly influenced by the use of different configurations of ICCS services and feeling of depression for the total six months and the second three months of the intervention period. Those who reported high levels of depression as opposed to those who experienced low levels of depression benefited the most when they used the CHESS plus Mentor intervention system for both psychosocial health outcomes. Suggestions for future research and practical implications of what types of e-health services were beneficial to cancer patients were discussed.
Why Do College Students Use Twitter? • Mijung Kim, Michigan State University; Mira Lee, Michigan State University • Tweeting is becoming a new social phenomenon. The present research explores why and how college students use Twitter, from the Uses and Gratifications perspective. An online survey of college students identified six motivations of using Twitter: entertainment, passing time, information providing, information seeking, social interaction, and professional advancement. The findings of this study also demonstrated that college students’ motivations of using Twitter influenced their Twitter usage behaviors.
Sticky News: Online Newspaper Use of Multimedia and Interactivity to Engage Audiences • Lewis Knight, The University of Texas at Austin • This study examines three large online newspapers to see if user experience and/or user engagement play a role in their use of media technology innovation to attract and keep audiences on their Web sites. Findings in this study indicate that consumer preferences of emerging media are now playing a role in how news organizations deliver online content. The we write – you read relationship model of the past is becoming less applicable for digital news delivery.
The New News: Orienting to Structural Features and Information Introduced in Online News • Anastasia Kononova, University of Missouri; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • Two psychophysiological experiments explored orienting responses (OR) to different interfaces (EmPrint vs. Web) of online news stories. To examine online navigation, the study took a human information processing perspective suggesting that heart rate change is a valid measure of cognitive resource allocation to media message encoding. Experiment 1 showed that the change of static banners from one EmPrint page to another was not drastic enough to elicit OR: people’s heart rate did not decelerate more when novel information was presented. For the second experiment, a measure of information introduced (I-squared) was adjusted to the Web to calculate how many novel items are presented on each following Web page during online navigation. This experiment indicated that people immediately allocate cognitive resources to encoding Web pages with low levels of information density and this process takes them less time. On the contrary, individuals tend to spend more time on information-intense Web pages and their heart rates accelerate while navigating such pages. The results are discussed using a cognitive psychological perspective.
Gender Differences in Perceptions of Online Intimacy • Linlin Ku, National Taiwan University • This study examines the dimensions of online intimacy, attitudes toward online intimacy, the impacts of online intimacy on the self-reflexive process, and gender differences in perceptions of online intimacy. In-depth interviews and an online survey were conducted. The research findings suggest that intimacy, trust, and respect are still valuable qualities of online relationships. Even so, online relationships are still unique in terms of the virtual nature of the environment where such relationships are developed and nurtured. Online lovers tend to be more satisfying when they are able to master text-based electronic systems and take control of their relationships by taking advantage of the nature of computer-mediated communication. It appears that online relationships allow people to grow; they become more considerate of their partners’ feelings. When a relationship terminates, people are willing to accept the outcome, believing a new one will come along soon. Women’s attitudes toward online intimacy are in line with expectations of a traditional society. Men tend to pursue romantic love, turn more sentimental when an affair ends, and expect more in the future. Self-disclosure is a multifaceted concept, which deserves further examination. The self-reflexive process also requires more systematic study.
Mobile Communication and the Personalization of Public Life: Implications for Open Political Dialogue • Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan; Scott Campbell, University of Michigan; Hoon Lee, University of Michigan; Katie Brown, University of Michigan; Yu Rebecca, University of Michigan; Soo Young Bae, University of Michigan • This study tested theoretical propositions that intensive mobile-mediated discourse in small networks of like-minded close ties contributes to the disruption of dialogue with others in the public sphere. Using two-wave panel data from a representative sample of adults in the US, the study found that attitudes about open political dialogue became more negative with increased mobile-mediated discussion in strong-tie networks that were large and like-minded, rather than small and like-minded as expected. In fact, attitudes toward open dialogue became more positive in the case of the latter. Although attitudes changed significantly over time for these individuals, reported levels of dialogue outside of the network did not. Interpretation of the findings and directions for future research are offered in the discussion.
Presence in 3DTV: A Study on the Perceptive Characteristics of the Presence in Three Dimensional Imaging Programs • sang hee kweon, skku; Kyung Ho Whang, Mr • This study tried to research user cognitive about three dimensional imaging through using a concept of presence. presence could occur through a personalize connection if viewers have the connection when they experience new media. At the result of this study, animation shows higher presence than movie in standard imaging program.
The Influence of Interdependent Self-Construal on Consumers’ eWOM Behaviors in Social Networking Web sites • Doohwang Lee, University of Alabama; Hyuk Soo Kim, The University of Alabama; Jung Kim, University of Alabama • The current study reconceptualized interdependent self-construal as a social cognitive indicator of self-observation that individuals employ for developing and maintaining social relationship. From the social cognitive perspective this study investigated the effects of the relational view on consumers’ eWOM behavior for online brand communities and demonstrated that consumers’ community engagement self-efficacy had a significant influence on their eWOM behavior intentions directly and indirectly through their cognitive assessment of the potential social outcomes associated with the particular behaviors. Further, this study also found that such social cognitive process of eWOM behavior was strongly instigated when consumers’ self-construal were primed to be interdependent rather than independent.
Effect of Online Brand Community on Brand Loyalty: A Uses and Gratifications Perspective • Jaejin Lee, University of Florida • This study examined how online brand community characteristics affect online brand community loyalty and brand loyalty by employing a uses and gratifications perspective. The research found that interactivity and reward for activity significantly influenced online brand community loyalty. Moreover, emotive needs and contextual needs in using an online brand community moderate the relationship between online brand community characteristics and online brand community loyalty. Other interpretations and implications of the findings are also discussed.
Virtual Experience in Navigation: 2D Versus 3D From the Perspective of Telepresence and Flow • Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri-Columbia; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • This study explored the influence of visual dimension (2D/3D) on telepresence and flow in popular virtual navigation interfaces. In a 2 (visual dimension: 2D vs. 3D) _ 2 (message repetition) within-subjects experiment, seventy-one participants navigated four different travel destinations using Google Earth (3D) and Google Map (2D). While participants reported greater telepresence while navigating a 3D environment, there was no significant effect of dimension on flow. Furthermore, ease of use was found to be an important variable in using Google Earth. These results are discussed in terms of practical and theoretical implications for virtual navigation and telepresence.
The digital divide exists among cancer patients • Chul-joo Lee, The Ohio State University; Susana Ramirez, University of Pennsylvania; Nehama Lewis, University of Pennsylvania • The digital divide among cancer patients deserves more attention considering the importance of information and knowledge in cancer control. We thus explore the effects of education on cancer patients’ cancer information seeking from the Internet, mass media, and interpersonal sources. The sample includes breast, prostate and colon cancer patients diagnosed in 2005 (n=1,971) who were randomly drawn from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry, and returned mail surveys in fall of 2006 (response rate was 68% for breast, 61% for colon, and 64% for prostate cancer patients). The association between education and cancer-related information seeking is described according to two categories of cancer-related information: cancer-treatment options, and quality-of-life issues. Education is positively related to cancer information seeking from mediated sources and the Internet. Education was also a significant predictor of cancer patients’ information seeking about treatments from medical professional sources and other people. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Who Gets Their News Online and Why? Exploring the Role of Selective Exposure in the Consumption of Internet News • Shin Haeng Lee, Indiana University – Bloomington Background: Despite substantial evidence that people want access to Internet-based communication with news providers, few studies have examined individual attitudes toward news consumption and the demographic factors associated with the use of Internet news. Objective: The aim of the study is to use nationally representative data to describe what factors (individual attitudes toward news consumption and demographics) are involved in the use of online news communication. Methods: The data for this study are taken from a survey of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (Pew, 2008). The Pew Biennial Media Survey measured the public’s use of and attitudes toward the news media and news consumption. Adult Internet news users in 2008 (n=918) were included in the present study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors for Internet news consumption. Results: In multiple logistic regression analyses, gender, age, and education variables were significantly associated with the usage of Internet news as a main news source. Also, gender and education were significantly correlated with the frequency of Internet news use. Among the individual attitudes factors, individuals’ degree of enjoyment of keeping up with the news is only significantly related to Internet news use as a main effect. When it comes to individual predispositions toward selective news exposure, predispositions toward selective reliance on news sources, interacting with age or education, were negatively associated with Internet news use.
Why Hong Kong Youth Blog? : Exploring the Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivations for Blogging by Hong Kong Students • Ying LI, City University of Hong Kong • Blogging stickiness and motivations have become a frequently studied topic in blogging research for several years. Yet few research paid attention to the difference between the initial motivation and current motivations. This study proposes to investigate and understand bloggers behaviors through specifying the intrinsic and extrinsic components of their motivations. Two major questions were raised and explored in this study: 1. what the reasons that promote students to initiate blogs are; 2. how the blogging motivations and behavior patterns interact in blog maintaining. Based on a survey of 186 bloggers among City University of Hong Kong, it is found that: three major motivations (practicing a new type of diary, curiosity and thoughts on following the crowd) are the most important motivations in initiating blogging. In maintaining a blog, the hypothesis that social connection motivation is positively related to interaction-oriented behavior while emotion pouring motivation is positively related to self-restriction behavior in expression is supported.
On the Global Regularity and Local Uniformity of Human Online Behavior: Exploring the Trajectory of Friendship Formation Behavior on Social Network Sites • ZHANG Lun, City University of Hong Kong • With anthropological data mining, this study firstly examined the time path and the saturation time of friendship formation within individuals, and then explored the relationship of trajectory of friendship formation process between individual and the global level, which extended the diffusion model from single level to multilevel perspective. Specifically, encountered the approach of polynomial logistic regression to fit the time path of friendship formation for each node, interestingly, we found the increase of number of friends within each user typically follows a logistic function with time, indicating that the growth rate of number of friends for each user might slowly increase and then decrease. More importantly, the trajectories appear uniformly, if not identically, across individuals. Our findings contrast with the two existing results claiming that (1) users create a first edge, and never comeback; (2) the level of number of friend addition seems to be uniform over time. Regarding the saturation day of the friendship growth, we have found that it takes on average 290 days for individuals to build up their personal connections online. More surprisingly, we found a self-similar trajectory of growth of friendship between individual and global level.
Reconceptualizing Media Dependence: The Impact of ICTs on Social Systems and MSD Theory • Wendy Maxian, Xavier University • This paper reexamines the construct of media dependence proposed within media systems dependency (MSD) theory (Ball-Rokeach, 1985, 1998; Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976) by redefining dependency within the context of current social and media systems. The rapid diffusion of information communication technologies (ICTs) has allowed individuals unprecedented interaction with media content, and their dependency upon media has changed from one of perceived helpfulness (Ball-Rokeach, 1998) to, as it will be argued, one of perceived necessity. That is, media are necessary for individuals to function in modern social systems. Motivation to access media is inherent in modern, networked societies and MSD is uniquely able to explain individuals’ media use. An overview of MSD and the dependency concept is provided, the impact technology has had on both is addressed, alternative conceptualizations of dependency are assessed, and a new conceptual definition of dependency that will strengthen and refine MSD is proposed.
Reaching Constituents Online: A Content Analysis of Frames and Design on Obama’s Official Blog • Lori McKinnon, Oklahoma State University • To better understand the online communication of Barack Obama, researchers examined the content of his official blog posts during the general election period and during his first 100 days in office. Researchers conducted a quantitative analysis, examining 1,427 official posts. Overall, researchers found Obama’s messages to be consistent and carefully constructed. By understanding successful framing elements, candidates can maximize the impact of blog content.
Redefining News Through Crowdsourcing the News Gatekeeping Function in Social Media News Aggregators • Sharon Meraz, University of Illinois, Chicago • This study examines the news stories and news sources contained in the top news pages and new news pages of four social media news aggregators against that of traditional media and portal news outlets, three times a day, for an approximate one-week period in June 2008. Examining 2388 unique stories across all outlets, results reveal that social media news outlets are significantly more likely to cite citizen media, with no evidence of traditional media having an A-list, superstar effect in the short head of their long tail media citations. Social media entities were also more likely to stress different news genres and to expose audiences to more unique stories when compared to traditional media. There were also significant differences in the types of news stories that were emphasized on a day-to day-basis in social media news outlets in their top news pages when compared to other media. Further examination reveals that these social sites selectively utilize traditional media’s agenda, and often highlight political news items that fail to gain the attention of traditional and portal news outlets on their home pages.
The Influence of Cultural Differences on Intention to Upload Content on Wikipedia • Namkee Park, University of Oklahoma; Naewon Kang, Dankook University; Hyun Sook Oh, Pyeongtaek University • This study investigated the factors that influence intention to upload content on Wikipedia within the theory of planned behavior framework. Further, the study compared the associations between the factors in two different cultures, the U.S. and South Korea, focusing on the role of subjective norm. Unlike previous studies’ findings, the role of subjective norm was rather minimal even in the collectivist society, South Korea, although it presented a significant indirect effect on the uploading intention.
Expanding the List of Social and Psychological Factors that Influence the Gathering of Political Information Online • John H. Parmelee, University of North Florida; Stephynie Chapman Perkins, University of North Florida • This study qualitatively explores what social and psychological factors are associated with motives and patterns of media use when gathering political information online. An analysis of in-depth interviews with 47 college students who searched for political information online during the 2008 U.S. presidential election adds to uses and gratifications research by identifying new social and psychological antecedents that trigger motivations and patterns of media exposure. The findings contribute to past research that has linked social and psychological factors to communication motivations, media use, and media effects.
Defending Against Defriending: Understanding Self-censorship of Online Social Network Profiles • Jason Reineke, Middle Tennessee State University; Heather Burchfield, Middle Tennessee State University • Classic theories of public opinion and other mass communication phenomena discuss how perceptions influence communication and vice versa. The purpose of this study is to test whether variables theorized to influence public opinion expression decisions relate to similar decisions about communication on the online social network (OSN) Facebook. A unique snowball sampling technique was used to collect responses from over 600 Facebook users. We found that greater previous experience with defriending, or the termination of a connection on the OSN, was associated with greater OSN self-censorship. Greater fear of social isolation and willingness to self-censor, concepts developed and operationalized in public opinion expression contexts, were also associated with greater OSN self-censorship. Implications and opportunities for future research are discussed.
To Blog, or Not to Blog: The Theory of Planned Behavior in the Blogosphere • Amy Reitz, Colorado State University • The paper applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to blogging and suggests how the main concepts of the theory can transcend to the blogosphere. In addition, the paper identifies key characteristics of blogging that demonstrate that the extended version of the TPB, that includes identity expressiveness, is an excellent theoretical model to adopt to study intentions to blog. The characteristics include that blogs are public, blogs communicate under a one-to-many communication approach and blogs need to be maintained. With blogging showing no sign of slowing down its growing prominence in popular culture and society, the author argues that it is imperative for researchers to study how and why people create blogs so researchers have an in-depth understanding of the current media landscape.
Developing a Content Analysis Approach to Measuring Student Engagement in Constructionist Game Making Learning Environments • Rebecca Reynolds, Rutgers University; Michael Scialdone, Syracuse University School of Information Studies • Globaloria is a technology education program of the World Wide Workshop Foundation that empowers young people in economically disadvantaged and technologically underserved communities to experience a valuable new way of learning through the creation of web and wiki content, including interactive web-games. The program is currently being implemented as a statewide pilot project throughout the state of West Virginia, and offers a comprehensive game-design curriculum via an online social learning network to educators and students. This paper discusses the development of a coding scheme to content analyze and evaluate students’ proficiencies in Globaloria, analyzing finished game projects and related wiki postings to infer about valuable learning that resulted from making the game. The coding scheme presents a robust set of game design attributes that map to a theoretical framework of learning objectives the program has prioritized. Students’ inclusion of specified attributes in a game indicates that they have gained knowledge in the related learning objective dimension, because to program the game with a given attribute required learning certain skills. The scheme provides both researchers and educational practitioners with a common metric of comparison for student game-design and programming performance.
Realistic Mapping vs. Symbolic Mapping: Effects of Controllers on Video Game Experience • Young June Sah, Sungkyunkwan University; Byungyul Ahn, Sungkyunkwan University; S. Shyam Sundar, Pennsylvania State University • Compared to symbolic input devices that require manipulation of a keyboard or joystick, realistic input devices for video games, such as the motion-detecting Wii Remote, provide players with greater freedom of movements. An experiment (N = 98) was conducted with a symbolic (i.e. a keyboard) and a realistic (i.e. steering wheel) controller in a racing game context in order to investigate the difference in players’ experience in terms of embodiment, presence, memory recognition, and enjoyment. The moderating effects of players’ prior driving experience were also examined. The results of the present study indicated that the realistic controller elicited higher sense of embodiment, presence, and overall enjoyment. Prior driving experience was related to memory recognition. These findings suggest that input devices play a significant role in shaping/forming players’ experience in video games. Theoretical and practical implications of the present study were discussed.
Are You What You Tweet? Warranting Trustworthiness on Twitter • Andrew Schrock, University of Southern California • The warranting principle dictates that, when forming an impression, information provided by third parties about a person is valued more than information they themselves provide. The current study applies warranting theory to the popular micro-blogging site Twitter, where people connect with others and share bursts of information. In light of the low signal-to-noise ratio on the site and the recent shift towards citizen journalism, evaluating trustworthiness trustworthiness was here considered to be an important consideration when considering if users will follow someone (read their updates and interact with them in the future). In a survey of Twitter users, support for the warranting paradigm with trustworthiness was not found on the site. However, individuals still followed those they found trustworthy, lending support to the idea that the warranting principle is confined to specific conditions. More generally, site-external and site-external resources were more frequently used for evaluating self-provided than other-provided information. Implications are discussed for future new media and CMC research.
Sports Journalism and Twitter: A Follow-up Study • Mary Lou Sheffer, University of Southern Mississippi; Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi • This was a follow-up study to survey research (Schultz & Sheffer, 2010) conducted to see how sports journalists were using Twitter as part of their professional journalistic duties. This study took the same approach, but used content analysis of sports journalists’ tweets (N = 1,008). Analysis showed a discrepancy between journalist responses and measured content. While journalists said they were using Twitter for breaking news and promotion, the dominant feature of the content analysis was commentary and opinion. There were also differences related to print and smaller media outlets. The implications of such differences were discussed, including a possible paradigmatic shift in journalist approaches.
Effect of trust and privacy concerns on social networking: A trust-based acceptance model for social networking systems • Dong-Hee Shin, Sungkyunkwan University • Social network services (SNS) focus on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. This study examines security, trust, and privacy concerns with regard to social networking Web sites among 323 consumers using both reliable scales and behavior. It proposes an SNS acceptance model by integrating cognitive as well as affective attitudes as primary influencing factors, which are driven by underlying beliefs, perceived security, perceived privacy, trust, attitude, and intention. Results from a Web-based survey of SNS users validate that the proposed theoretical model can explain and predict user acceptance of SNS substantially well. The model shows excellent measurement properties and establishes perceived privacy and perceived security of SNS use as distinct constructs. The finding also reveals that perceived security mediates the effect of perceived privacy on trust. Based on the results of this study, practical implications for marketing strategies in SNS markets and theoretical implications are recommended accordingly.
Stepping out of the magic circle: Regulation of play/life boundary in MMORPG-mediated intimacy Kim Phong Huynh, WKW School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Si Wei Lim, WKW School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Marko Skoric, WKW School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University • This qualitative study explores the perspectives of players regarding their romantic relationships initiated in massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPGs). Twenty six in-depth interviews were conducted via instant messaging (IM) with players of an MMORPG called MapleStory. A three-category typology of players emerged: splitters, migrators and blenders. We also found that players managed the stigma associated with their game-originated romantic relationship via concealment and mainstreaming strategies. The theoretical and design implications of the findings are discussed.
Measuring Expected Interactivity: Scale Development and Validation • Dongyoung Sohn, The Ohio State University; Sejung Marina Choi, The University of Texas at Austin • Most previous interactivity literature has implicitly assumed that people perceive the interactivity of a medium from scratch by evaluating it trait-by-trait. As psychologists have long shown, however, we perceive and evaluate an object/person not in a psychological vacuum, but instead based on our expectations toward its category. This study attempts to develop the measures of individuals’ category-level expectation toward interactivity, called expected interactivity (Sohn, Ci, & Lee, 2007). Upon specifying three conceptual dimensions underlying expected interactivity – sensory, semantic, and behavioral dimensions, scales for measuring expected interactivity are developed, refined, and validated through multiple studies. Implications for future interactivity research are discussed.
Hands Off My TV/Internet!: The Use of Agnotology to Discourage Technological Innovation • Cara Owen, University of Colorado- Boulder; Richard Stevens, University of Colorado • Scholars have begun to study the industry use of Astroturf faux grassroots efforts to sway public opinion. This paper examines the pay-TV controversy of the mid-1960s, analyzing news stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and advertisements. By plotting argument frames against poll data, the researchers found similar Astroturf tactics and frames to those utilized by the telecommunications industry against contemporary network neutrality regulation efforts, suggesting the Astroturf technique possesses a longer history than previously understood.
Boosting Their Street Cred: The Establishment of Authority in Podcasting • Bethany Poller, Baylor University; Kristine Davis, Baylor University; Amanda Sturgill, Baylor University • Like other new media applications, podcasting offers those with something to say a chance to build an audience and produce messages for that audience without being vetted by media organizations. While much has been written about the issue of credibility for bloggers, much less has been studied for how podcasters go about establishing credibility and authority. This study represents an early step in this effort. Twenty-one episodes of seven podcasts were content analyzed to determine what techniques the podcasters used to establish authority. The podcasts studied were all talk format, not affiliated with any larger media conglomerate, and were found on iTunes on the main categories page under Top Podcasts. Several podcasts meeting this description were emergently coded to generate a codesheet for consistent content analysis. The final seven podcasts were those that had at least 20 episodes of 30 minutes minutes or more. Two coders examined the podcasts for references to celebrities or experts (prestige references), references to the podcaster’s training or experience (self references) and references to standards of podcasting practice such as being responsive to listener feedback and investing money in the podcast. For the podcasts studied, it was found that all three strategies of establishing authority were used, but references to standards of podcasting practice were the most prevalent.
An Analysis of public relations and dialogic communication efforts of 501(C)(6) organizations • Dustin Supa, Ball State University; Adriane Russell, Ball State University • The primary purpose of this research is to examine how 501(C)(6) organizations, also known as membership associations, utilize the Web through principles of dialogic communication and how they define their unique public relations efforts. The results of the content analysis and interviews indicate that while many membership associations are using varying aspects of dialogic communication, the majority have room for improvement.
Towards a Comprehensive Model of Internet Use: The Influence of Motivations, Gratifications, and Structures • Tang Tang, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Emil Bakke, Ohio University • This study sought to empirically test the structure of a theoretical model that instrumental and ritualistic motivations, gratifications, and structures that predict Internet use. Results from the structural equation model indicated that both gratifications and structures were significant positive predictors of Internet use. All together, they explained 87% of the variance in Internet use. Thus, the study advances the theory which conceptualized today’s media users as active within structures, and encourages future inquiry.
Speaking Up in the 21st Century: The Effects of Communication Apprehension and Internet Self-Efficacy on Use of Social Networking Websites • Brendan Watson, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Communication apprehension research has traditionally focused on two forms: written and oral communication apprehension. Both affect the amount an individual is likely to communicate. But to reflect online communication, researchers have recently developed a measure of Computer mediated communication (CMC) apprehension. It attempts to combine the traditional forms of communication apprehension and computer apprehension into a single measure. CMC apprehension has been shown to predict how frequently individuals use email, text messaging and online chat. It has not previously been studied in regards to online social networking. This paper tests the CMC apprehension measure — and Internet self-efficacy — against the traditional communication apprehension measures to see which best predicts use of social networking websites.
The Pros and Cons of Teaching a Wholly Online Unit: An Australian Case Study • Niranjala Weerakkody, Deakin University • This exploratory case study examines the teaching of a theory and analysis-based, undergraduate media effects unit offered wholly online at an Australian university. Using autoethnography and content analysis of specific student posts, it found most posts on subject matter were insightful while some submitted none. Technological problems were common and students expected academic staff to solve all problems increasing time spent teaching. The problems of the early stages of online teaching have remained in 2007.
Immersive Tendency and Motion as Indicators of Video Game Involvement and Presence • Kevin Williams, Mississippi State University • Seventy-two male undergraduates played one of four video game conditions to determine how personal immersive tendency and motion controls influenced feelings of involvement and presence with the video game. Results indicate that high immersive tendency as compared to low immersive tendency increase both involvement and presence. Motion controls, as compared to traditional thumb controls, increase involvement but not presence. Practical implications for the recruitment of remote operators, such as combat drone pilots, are discussed.
Hey BikerGal: Using ALL CAPS=EPIC FAIL!: Identifying message factors that influence the persuasiveness of online comments • John Wirtz, Texas Tech University; Austin Sims, Texas Tech University; Betsy Anderson, University of St. Thomas • This paper presents the results of two studies about the persuasiveness of online comments left in response to online news articles. Three variables – language intensity, message strength, and message discrepancy – were used to predict comment persuasiveness (Studies 1 and 2), credibility, and attitude toward the comment (Study 2). Findings demonstrated a consistent effect of message discrepancy, such that comments were less persuasive when they were discrepant from participants’ initial viewpoints (and vice-versa). A message discrepancy x message strength interaction also emerged, where by participants in the high discrepancy condition actually displayed more positive attitudes toward strongly negative messages. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
Silence in Cyberspace: Testing the Spiral of Silence in Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Contexts • Robert Zuercher, University of Kentucky • The purpose of this investigation is to further spiral of silence research by examining both face-to-face and computer-mediated contexts. Despite using an experimental design, no differences in fear of isolation were found. Similarly, no relationship was found between attention paid to news and fear of isolation. No differences in perceptions of opinions expressed in either condition were found. Reasons for such unexpected findings, as well as strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
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