A niche analysis of three interpersonal media: examining the competition among Facebook,Line, and e-mail

Dimmick’s niche theory was applied to examine the gratifications obtained from the use of Facebook, Line, and e-mail to understand the competitive relationships among them in Taiwan. Two methods were adopted, the first of which was to conduct 20 intensive interviews. The second method was a telephone survey that consisted of 1,042 valid calls. The results of the data analysis showed that among the three media, Line had the widest niche breadth and the highest scores for competitive superiority, and it competed strongly with Facebook. However, the overall findings actually indicate that the strengths of Facebook and Line were more complementary than competitive. Therefore, based on these results, it is predicted that Facebook and Line are able to coexist. Furthermore, based on the results, it is predicted that Line is unable to replace e-mail in safe and formal communication because it is effective in task coordination whereas the strength of e-mail is in documentation. The results also showed that Facebook and Line had wide niche breadths, indicating that they are “generalists” in terms of communication. In contrast, e-mail had a narrow niche breadth, indicating that it is a “specialist” focusing on safe and formal communication. The results also showed that the competitive superiority scores of a medium were a powerful predictor of the use history of that medium only when individuals perceived that two media were similar.     

Go viral on the Facebook! Interactions between candidates and followers on Facebook during the Hungarian general election campaign of 2014

The study addresses the question of what type of political content can trigger reactions from electoral candidates’ followers on Facebook. Citizens’ reactivity is increasingly important in contemporary political communication. The politicians’ posts can reach the wider public through the citizens’ public reactions. While we have extended knowledge about mass media reactivity, citizens’ political reactivity on social media is highly underexplored. This study is intended to fill this gap by examining what type of political content can trigger reaction from followers on politicians’ Facebook pages. The data contain 7048 Facebook posts by 183 single-member district candidates posted during the Hungarian general election campaign in 2014. The unit of analysis is the individual Facebook post, and the dependent variables are the numbers of likes, comments, and shares. The independent variables are the structural (text, picture, video, etc.) and substantial (content, emotional tone, etc.) characteristics of each post, after controlling for, inter alia, a general follower-activity score on politicians’ Facebook pages. Results showed that citizens are highly reactive to negative emotion-filled, text-using, personal, and activity-demanding posts. Virality is especially facilitated by memes, videos, negative contents and mobilizing posts, and posts containing a call for sharing.     

Predicting users’ privacy boundary management strategies on Facebook

This study examines the process by which Facebook users regulate their interpersonal privacy and information sharing. By tracing the influence of gender, Facebook usage, and privacy-protecting behaviors that are determined by knowledge and attitude, this research identifies a dynamic management process through which Facebook users maintain personal and interpersonal boundaries. Two distinct strategies are used – a privacy-setting control and a self-disclosure control. Based on data collected in a survey of 432 college students conducted in Hong Kong, our results suggest that different uses of Facebook activities (i.e., social interaction, social browsing, and entertainment) can be used to predict different boundary management strategies. Gender and privacy-related psychological factors (i.e., privacy literacy and concern about privacy) also showed significant effects. We concluded that the privacy setting options available on social networking sites such as Facebook were useful in providing users with a base point and a psychological sense of security, but they had little influence on the actual patterns of self-disclosure. To regulate their privacy boundaries, users were more likely to rely on frequently changing their privacy settings and on controlling their levels of self-disclosure.     

Open media or echo chamber: the use of links in audience discussions on the Facebook Pages of partisan news organizations

This study evaluates the use of hyperlinks in audience discussions on the Facebook Pages of two partisan cable news organizations: the liberal-leaning Rachel Maddow Show and the conservative O'Reilly Factor, to investigate to what extent linking might intensify partisan political discussion or infuse a variety of perspectives into online communication. The results suggest that these Facebook audiences show a preference for a small group of information resources; furthermore, the two audiences shared an even smaller number of information resources in common. The findings support previous research that suggests a relatively small number of information resources receive most of the news audience traffic, and provide some support for other studies that indicate that partisan political discussions on social media are segregated by political orientation.     

Digital skills and social media use: how Internet skills are related to different types of Facebook use among ‘digital natives’

Based on the idea that Internet use can be conceptualized in terms of depth (frequency) and width (differentiated) uses of the Web, this study explored how socio-demographic factors and digital skills are related to frequency and types of Facebook use among young adults. It used a face-to-face representative survey conducted in the three main urban areas of Chile among a sample of 18-to 29-year olds. The results found that men and more educated young people had higher levels of skills, confirming that the so-called ‘digital natives’ are not a monolithic group. They also revealed that digital skills did not predict frequency of Facebook use. Furthermore, lower educated young people tended to use Facebook more frequently. Although these results go against the long-established digital divide research, traditional digital gaps emerged when types of use were analyzed. While more educated and skillful individuals tended to use Facebook for informational and mobilizing purposes, socio-demographic factors and skills did not make a difference in Facebook use for social purposes.     

Framing social media communication: Investigating the effects of brand post appeals on user interaction

Social networking sites (SNS) play an increasingly important role in the mix of brands’ marketing communication. A key question for marketing departments, therefore, is how brand posts can be best framed to provoke positive user reactions and interactions. In order to better understand the determinants of communication success on SNS, we propose a theoretical framework of how users process posts on SNS. Its logic suggests that the overall theme of a post (“post appeal”) is a main antecedent of communication success. Thus, we empirically examine the effects of post appeals on user interaction by profoundly analysing a sample of 1948 Facebook posts. Results show that some post appeals have positive and others have negative impact on user interaction. Interestingly, some of the appeals with positive impact are rarely used by brands, while some of the appeals with negative impact are used quite frequently, indicating that brands currently do not grasp the full potential of post appeal strategy. This article concludes by discussing theoretical and managerial implications.     

Digital methods in a post-API environment

ABSTRACT

Qualitative and mixed methods digital social research often relies on gathering and storing social media data through the use of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). In past years this has been relatively simple, with academic developers and researchers using APIs to access data and produce visualisations and analysis of social networks and issues. In recent years, API access has become increasingly restricted and regulated by corporations at the helm of social media networks. Facebook (the corporation) has restricted academic research access to Facebook (the social media platform) along with Instagram (a Facebook-owned social media platform). Instead, they have allowed access to sources where monetisation can easily occur, in particular, marketers and advertisers. This leaves academic researchers of digital social life in a difficult situation where API related research has been curtailed. In this paper we describe some rationales and methodologies for using APIs in social research. We then introduce some of the major events in academic API use that have led to the prohibitive situation researchers now find themselves in. Finally, we discuss the methodological and ethical issues this produces for researchers and, suggest some possible steps forward for API related research.     

Migration,Imagination and Identity in Modern Sarawak

This analysis of changing perceptions of ethnic identity in Sarawak revolves around migration and imagination. The research is based on a case study of one longhouse, Levu Lahanan, and its imagined community from the mid-1980s on the Balui River to their resettlement in the Bakun Resettlement Scheme in 1999. One of fifteen longhouse communities belonging to five different ethnic groups, they were resettled to make way for Bakun Dam, which was completed in 2012. My use of the term imagination is linked to Sarawak state planning in organising the staged migration of the fifteen longhouse communities, the appeal to emerging Christian communities by calling the operation Exodus, and the exercise in salvage ethnography by recording oral histories, songs and other evidence of migration and difference. My argument is linked to recent developments in communication technology in the form of Facebook, WhatsApp and mobile phones which link the Lahanan longhouse and its urban and international diasporas. In their imagination, if not in reality, members of the diaspora return to their apartments of origin to revive their sense of belonging to a longhouse community, a place and an ethnic identity in a time of state, national and global change.     

‘It’s so scary how common this is now:’ frames in media coverage of the opioid epidemic by Ohio newspapers and themes in Facebook user reactions

ABSTRACT

Deaths from opioid overdose in the US have increased five-fold since 1999. Ohio ranks second among states in drug overdose deaths, with more than 39 deaths for every 100,000 people. In light of this, opioid addiction and related issues have garnered substantial media attention. However, few studies have examined the content and framing of opioid-related media coverage or explored ways that audiences react to coverage of the crisis within their communities. This study attempts to fill this gap through an analysis of opioid-related posts and comments on the public-facing Facebook pages of 42 Ohio newspapers between 2013 and 2017 (N?=?397). Content analysis was used to identify frames in posted newspaper content and themes in comments. Four frames were identified in posted stories: (1) Awareness of the Opioid Epidemic and Affected Populations (34.0% of all posted content; n?=?135); (2) Programs, Policies, and Interventions (29.5%; n?=?117); (3) Crime, Punishment, Legal Cases, and Law Enforcement (28.2%; n?=?112); and (4) Narratives of Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery (8.3%; n?=?33). Analyses of Facebook user comments on posted newspaper content revealed five themes: Emotion and Support, Choice and Responsibility, Disease and Treatment, Worthiness, and Attention and Action. Findings indicate both the intensive and diverse efforts of newspapers to cover the epidemic as well as the varied reactions of community members to opioid use and addiction.     

Participant recruitment and data collection through Facebook: the role of personality factors

As participant recruitment and data collection over the Internet have become more common, numerous observers have expressed concern regarding the validity of research conducted in this fashion. One growing method of conducting research over the Internet involves recruiting participants and administering questionnaires over Facebook, the world’s largest social networking service. If Facebook is to be considered a viable platform for social research, it is necessary to demonstrate that Facebook users are sufficiently heterogeneous and that research conducted through Facebook is likely to produce results that can be generalized to a larger population. The present study examines these questions by comparing demographic and personality data collected over Facebook with data collected through a standalone website, and data collected from college undergraduates at two universities. Results indicate that statistically significant differences exist between Facebook data and the comparison data-sets, but since 80% of analyses exhibited partial η^2?Facebook is a viable research platform, and that recruiting Facebook users for research purposes is a promising avenue that offers numerous advantages over traditional samples.