The benefits of information communication technology use by the homeless: a narrative synthesis review

Recent studies have suggested that technologies are becoming an increasingly ubiquitous element in the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness. With both Canadian and US researchers reporting staggering levels of homelessness on both sides of the border, an understanding and synthesis of the current literature exploring how technologies are being utilized by homeless individuals and how it may impact their well-being is of relevance to policy makers and social service organizations. The study explored and synthesized literature to examine the ways in which individuals experiencing homelessness utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs), and how the use of ICTs influences the health and social outcomes of individuals experiencing homelessness. The study examined 16 peer reviewed articles using a narrative synthesis systematic review, following three elements of the narrative synthesis approach: preliminary synthesis of findings; exploration of relationships between studies; and assessment of the robustness of the synthesis. In relation to what ICTs are used for by homeless individuals, three major themes emerged: social connectedness, identity management, and instrumental purposes. Furthermore, there was some tentative evidence about a positive relationship between ICT use among individuals experiencing homelessness and health outcomes. The paper discussed limitations, future areas of research, as well as some policy directions.     

Media reputation in initial public offerings: A study of financial news coverage in Hong Kong

This study investigated media reputation in initial public offerings (IPOs) by proposing eight attributes of substantive media reputation from environmental and product-resource perspectives. A content analysis on financial news coverage (2281 newspaper articles from 2004 to 2010) in Hong Kong was conducted to examine how print media reported financial and nonfinancial information on 38 IPO firms in the sectors of financial, properties and construction, and consumer goods. Results from partial least squares analysis showed that, although substantive media reputation and recency of news coverage together only explained a small proportion of changes in IPO share price, substantive media reputation has a significant positive effect on changes in IPO share price. Apart from the significant positive effect from the presentation tone of environmental attributes, the tone of social attributes had a significant negative effect on substantive media reputation. With the increasing concern on measuring media reputation attributes in financial news coverage across different contexts, this study contributes to the applicability of environmental and product-resource attributes in the specific context of IPOs.     

Breaking bad online: A synthesis of the darker sides of social networking sites

This essay deconstructs the ultra-dark side of social media and explores the variety of ‘bad’ behaviour online by looking at a wide spectrum of exploitative practices. Through the use of primary data from an online platform, we posit the question ‘What’s the worst thing you’ve done online’? We collect, code and synthesise the fully anonymised discussions and develop a classification model for bad online behaviour. We combine the categories that emerge from our empirical data with those proposed by Baccarella, Wagner, Kietzmann, and McCarthy (2018) and develop a new combined (meta-) classification model that captures both the dark side of social networking and the ultra-dark. A framework is proposed for conceptualising the spectrum of exploitative practices and the essay concludes by providing a series of management considerations.     

Mapping the structures of international communication organizations’ networks and cross-sector relationships on social media and exploring their antecedents

Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of the alliance theory and the collective action theory, this study examines the global network structures of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and their cross-sector relationships on social media and explains the predictors of the relationships. More specifically, we conduct a network analysis to examine the network structure of international communication organizations and their cross-sector relationships on Twitter. This study found that INGOs and IGOs are more likely to establish following relationships on Twitter with the same type of organizations. Furthermore, educational level and cultural context influence their cross-sector relationships. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.     

Examining the effects of internal social media usage on employee engagement

This study explores whether and how internal social media influences employee engagement, a top priority for those working in public relations. Specifically, it proposes and tests a conceptual model that links employee use of internal social media, perceived organizational transparency, and organizational identification, to employee engagement. Through an online survey of 1150 employees from various organizations in the United States that had adopted internal social media, results show that employees’ use of internal social media contributes to an enhanced level of perceived transparency of the organization and organizational identification, which in turn, leads to employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

French Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes): Similarities and Differences With Occupy Movements

The Yellow Vests movement in France was the most widespread and violent protest movement France has seen since 1968. This research highlights the resemblances and dissimilarities between the Yellow Vests and other Occupy movements. We find similarities in movement origins around suddenly revealed economic issues and relative deprivation. We also find that the Yellow Vests resemble other Occupy movements in terms of a combined strategy of a diffused and countrywide occupation of public spaces alongside weekly mass protest, and a lack of central organization and rejection of leadership. The Yellow Vests, however, differ from other Occupy movements in the extreme violence of the weekly demonstrations. Despite its rejection by the media, violence did not affect widespread public approval. In addition, the Yellow Vests achieved most movement objectives in spite of the lack of effective leadership with whom politicians could negotiate.     

Does social media promote democracy? Some empirical evidence

This study explores the relationship between social media and democracy in a cross-section of over 125 countries around the world. We find the evidence of a strong, positive correlation between Facebook penetration (a proxy for social media) and democracy. We further show that the correlation between social media and democracy is stronger for low-income countries than high-income countries. Our lowest point estimates indicate that a one-standard deviation (about 18 percentage point) increase in Facebook penetration is associated with an improvement in the democracy index by about 8-point (on a scale of 0–100) for the world sample and over 11 points for the sample of low-income countries.     

高素养文化公民的养成园——当前校园文化建设的任务

当前校园文化建设的任务是高素养文化公民的培育以及中华文化传统的传承和创新。校园文化包含相互交融的四个子系统:校园文化价值系统、校园文化体制系统、校园文化传媒系统和校园文化符号系统。校园文化的特征表现为特、精、传。校园文化建设的目标应以非强制而令人愉快的方式濡染学子的文化心灵,使他们养成始终不渝地向往人生更高境界的文化自觉习惯。     

经济危机时期英国的移民报道及其对中国的启示——从广州媒体报道非洲黑人说起

2009年7月15日广州黑人冲击派出所,以及随后网上对《东方天使》的参赛者“黑女孩”娄婧的一些讨论,使得黑人群体受到全国媒体乃至世界媒体的关注,境外媒体称“中国首次爆发了有关种族歧视的不同寻常的公开讨论”,“中国人对黑人抱有天真的种族主义”。与此同时,移民大国——英国国内关于移民的讨论也达到了白热化的程度,移民报道在文化与政治领域的重要性得到了前所未有的关注。通过分析经济危机时期英国媒体的移民报道策略、成因和危害,并与中国媒体的黑人报道做简单比较,以期为正在走向世界的中国传媒以启示。     

Policy agendas and immigration in Australia 1996 –2012

Immigration in Australia is inherently a controversial topic. Events such as the MV Tampa affair cause increased media and legislative attention but increased legislative attention in the policy area do not always follow such dramatic events. We analyse media and legislative attention in the area of immigration and show increased activity in parliament around both dramatic events discussed in the media and also over more technical issues. Increased attention within parliament sometimes occurs outside of the gaze of the media.