Wiki-worthy: collective judgment of candidate notability

The use of socio-technical data to predict elections is a growing research area. We argue that election prediction research suffers from under-specified theoretical models that do not properly distinguish between ‘poll-like’ and ‘prediction market-like’ mechanisms understand findings. More specifically, we argue that, in systems with strong norms and reputational feedback mechanisms, individuals have market-like incentives to bias content creation toward candidates they expect will win. We provide evidence for the merits of this approach using the creation of Wikipedia pages for candidates in the 2010 US and UK national legislative elections. We find that Wikipedia editors are more likely to create Wikipedia pages for challengers who have a better chance of defeating their incumbent opponent and that the timing of these page creations coincides with periods when collective expectations for the candidate's success are relatively high.     

Internet risks and expert views: a case study of the insider perspectives of youth workers in Hong Kong

This study collects and analyses the viewpoints of front-line youth workers regarding the notion of ‘Internet risks’. Previous studies have examined and discussed various dangers of the Internet. Parental, school, and governmental interventions are often called for by those concerned. The implicit assumption is that these are the people who possess the expertise to tackle the problems at hand. Through participation in three forums focusing on ‘Internet risks’, and in-depth interviews with 10 such ‘experts’ in Hong Kong, the study examines if this is a valid assumption. It finds that experts perceive Internet risks rather differently. In addition to the more conventional views about content, contact and conduct risks, our interviewees are aware that a new order is quickly emerging in the new media environment. Despite being considered as ‘experts’, they do not necessarily know how to tackle the so-called ‘youth-at-risk’. Rather, they are exploring how they would capitalize on the opportunities offered by the developments. The key findings highlight the need to critically review the notion of ‘Internet risks’. As with other risk frameworks, the ultimate aim is to develop intervention programmes. In this regard, risks are often treated as concrete problems that can be solved. Youth experts, however, find that the changing scope, speed and persistence of communication in today's information society present the biggest challenge in youth work. The existing framework of risks was unable to describe and account for such risks. In response, Internet risk has to be reconceptualized so that more updated, relevant and imaginative intervention can be introduced.     

Regarding the Protests of Others

While much social movement research focuses on how activists actively cultivate affect and how social movements benefit from shared emotions, these ideas rarely intersect with research examining how race constructs emotional responses in a white settler society. I bridge this theoretical divide by examining the 2009 Tamil diaspora protests in Canada to study dimensions of suffering and apathy through the construction of the racialized protest(er). Drawing upon illustrations from a critical discourse analysis of 153 mainstream news articles and interviews with activists and journalists, this paper explores how racial logic frames media and public discourse through (1) the expression of protesters’ suffering and (2) the construction of racial apathy by the Canadian public. The paper theorizes why and how race frames the production of suffering and apathy, and offers considerations for social movement theory.     

Making Sense of Neoliberal Subjectivity: A Discourse Analysis of Media Language on Self-development

The influence of neoliberalism on culture and subjectivity is well documented. This paper contributes to understanding of how neoliberal ideology enters into the production of subjectivity. While subject formation takes place in multiple and contradictory ways and across multiple social sites, we focus on the increasingly popular media discourse of self-development, and examine it as a technology of neoliberal subjectification. Drawing on Foucauldian understandings, we analyze data from two different newspapers from two different national contexts, both of which are heavily influenced by neoliberalism. Based on our analysis, we detail four interrelated discourses—rationality, autonomy and responsibility, entrepreneurship, and positivity and self-confidence—demonstrating how these discourses constitute the neoliberal subject in ways consonant with neoliberal governmentality. There is no observable resistance to subject positions offered within these discourses. Self-development discourse instills stronger individualism in society, while constraining collective identity, and thus provides social control and contributes to preserving status quo of neoliberal societies.     

Watching online videos interactively: the impact of media capabilities in Chinese Danmaku video sites

In China, the implementation of a Danmaku social media system to sustain and raise user interest in online video sites is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. Danmaku technology is used to display users’ messages in written text on the online video stream. Little is known about the effects of this form of interactive enhancement. The aim of this empirical study is to evaluate the evolving media capabilities of the Danmaku system and their effects on users’ perceptions of interactivity and their intentions to continue using Danmaku. We draw on media synchronicity theory and apply it to a stimulus-organism-response model. Using this framework, we hypothesize that the media capabilities of the Danmaku system, namely its transmission velocity, parallelism, symbol sets, rehearsability, and reprocessability, elicit increased interactivity, which influences users’ instantaneous intentions to share and to continue the use of the Danmaku system. The results showed that both users’ instantaneous intention to share and their intention to continue to use were significantly affected by the perceived interactivity. Unlike the results of previous studies, our findings showed that all five media capabilities positively affected the users’ perceptions of interactivity. The potential theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Dialogic communication in the health care context: A case study of Kaiser Permanente's social media practices

This case study examines how one of the largest not-for-profit health care organizations in the US, Kaiser Permanente, uses social media to communicate with its stakeholders. Through content analysis and interviews, this study identifies the communication models reflected in a sample of social media posts and examines the organization's approach to using social media. The study finds evidence of both one-way and two-way communication models, as well as principles of dialogic communication. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Examining signs of recovery: How senior crisis communicators define organizational crisis recovery

Interviews with senior crisis communicators explore how crisis recovery is defined and what role publics and organizational communication and characteristics play. Findings reveal recovery is measured operationally and short-term. Effective communication proactively addresses failures, is transparent and honest while positive, focuses on future directions, and rebuilds and repairs symbolic damage. Organizational best practices include tested values and crisis leadership. Publics can facilitate healing, highlight victims’ voices, and provide recovery evidence.     

新媒体对当代青年工作的影响及对策

新媒体时代的到来,对人们的生活方式、交往方式和工作方式都产生了重要的影响。青年是当前社会中最为活跃的群体,新媒体对青年的影响最为突出。新媒体在满足青年求知、交流需要的同时,也深刻地影响着他们的价值取向和行为模式,如果得不到正确引导,容易对生活、学习和工作带来不良影响。青年对新媒体的广泛涉入和新媒体对青年的重要影响,为做好当前青年工作提供诸多机遇,同时,也带来了众多挑战。因此,根据新时期青年发展的特点和规律,及时总结运用新媒体引导青年的工作实践和经验,对存在的问题提出思考和建议,对做好新形势下的青年工作具有重要意义。     

新闻媒介舆论引导力的内在特征及其运作机制

舆论引导是新闻媒介的基本社会功能之一,舆论引导力的高低决定舆论引导的效果。从舆论的形成及传播、导向来看,新闻媒介舆论引导力由事实报道能力、舆情研判能力、意见整合能力、新闻舆论传播能力、社会舆论导控能力等五要素构成。在新闻媒介的舆论引导实践运用中,这五要素相互融合、相互影响、相互作用,共同形成舆论引导力的有机共同体,并以合力的方式作用于舆论引导的各个环节。     

新媒体环境下大学生写作方式的改变及其影响

随着新媒体的发展与普及,大学生中形成了各种新的文化景观,最明显的是他们对文化的认知方式、思维模式和表达手段正发生着改变。以在大学生群体中的相关社会调查为依据,考察了新媒体环境下大学生写作方式的变化和影响,研究了大学生的新媒体写作与传统文学和写作教学的关系。文章认为,新媒体的发展虽然对大学生写作的媒介运用、内容表达、传播方式等方面带来了巨大变化和深刻影响,但大学生的写作也仍然受传统文学和写作形式的文化制约,大学的文学与写作教学需要顺应时代发展形势,将新媒体写作尽快纳入到教学体系之中去。