The Role of Motivation and Media Involvement in Explaining Internet Dependency

Links among demographics, motivation for using the Internet, cognitive and affective involvement, and Internet dependency were investigated. By integrating uses and gratifications theory and media dependency research, motivation was found to play a more important antecedent role in explaining Internet dependency than demographics, and cognitive and affective involvement mediated the relationship between motivation and Internet dependency. This finding supported the uses and gratifications argument that certain factors intervene in the media uses and effects process between motivation to communicate and outcomes of communication behavior such as media use.     

Engagement@web 2.0 between the government and citizens in Singapore: dialogic communication on Facebook?

Responding to the rapid adoption of new technologies, political parties, both incumbent parties and minor ones, have been quick to leverage web 2.0 technologies for party communication and mobilization. A coterie of work addressed how social media such as Facebook are used as political tools for the promotion of candidate and party campaign platforms. However, a present bias is observed as current literature focus on western democracies. To bridge the gap, this study examines the gradual, yet significant, evolution in technology deployment by the ruling elite in Singapore. This paper traces the developments in e-engagement to bridge the affective gap between the ruling elite and an increasingly IT-savvy population, one which has demonstrated its astuteness in using new media to articulate its disenchantment. Developments in the last five years indicate that the government's earlier endeavor to centralize and streamline its political engagement via a single portal, REACH, is insufficient to say the least. Between the general election in 2006 and the watershed election in May 2011, the repertoire of media tools deployed by the political elite has broadened, with the inclusion of personal blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. In this paper, we apply Kent and Taylor's public relations dialogic communication framework to examine how Facebook fosters greater mutuality, propinquity, and empathy between the government and the electorate. However, problems arising from new technologies themselves inadvertently create risks and challenge the government's ability to commit to dialogic communication.     

新媒体环境下的公共档案馆信息服务研究

作为社会公共文化重要组成部分,公共档案馆更应该顺应现代新媒体技术发展要求,做好两者融合,发挥其社会公共文化服务功能,展现信息服务优势。本文分析了新媒体环境下的公共档案馆信息服务的网站、微博、微信公众号、档案科普栏目等具体形式,针对新媒体环境下的公共档案馆信息服务中存在的信息资源利用不足、数据资源整合和共享不足、新媒体技术应用层次不高等问题,提出了要把馆藏资源和新媒体技术在信息服务中进行有效融合、建立和完善数字档案资源的整合和分享机制、不断提升公共档案信息文化传播影响力等相关措施和建议。     

Children's media use in Indonesia

This article explores how Indonesian children have integrated media into their daily lives: media ownership at home, media uses, and gratifications sought, are discussed, as is the way in which gender and social-status influence the children–media relationship. Survey data of Jakarta-based children aged 9–15 (N=589) reveal that Indonesian children live in a media saturated environment, with high availability of media platforms in their homes and bedrooms. Similar to children in the US and Europe, children in Jakarta spend considerable amounts of time on a wealth of media platforms and experience multiple gratifications from using multiple media. Gender differences persist in that boys tend to be more into gaming, while girls focus more on communication aspects. High social-status children tend to have more media at their disposal in their bedroom, especially electronic games, computers, and Internet connections. Television is still prominent in the media menu of today, but mobile phones are ready to take its place in the near future.     

Gratification seeking,media exposure,and audience interpretations: Some directions for research

Research strategies are suggested for clarifying and advancing understanding of some key elements in uses and gratifications. These elements concern the role of gratification seeking in exposure to mass communication, the relation of gratification seeking to the interpretive frames through which audience members understand media messages, and linking gratifications to the content of mass media.     

图书馆借助新媒体传播科学文化的实践研究——以中国科学院文献情报中心“科学人讲坛”为例

[目的/意义] 以"科学人讲坛"在"新媒体+科学文化内容"方面的有序推进为主要案例，论述新媒体技术在图书馆科学文化传播活动中的具体应用，找到专业图书馆科学文化传播工作优势及发展方向。[方法/过程] 梳理"科学人讲坛"讲座内容、推送渠道及观看数据，通过数据分析影响科学文化传播效果的主要因素。[结果/结论] 新媒体及时、灵活、强互动等特性在科学文化传播工作中起到了良好的效果。图书馆的服务意识、丰富馆藏及科学人文精神与新媒体技术优势的结合，使科学文化传播工作中公众的参与兴趣得到了极大提升，拉近了科学与公众间的距离，提高了科学文化传播效果。     

图书馆借助新媒体传播科学文化的实践研究——以中国科学院文献情报中心“科学人讲坛”为例

[目的/意义] 以"科学人讲坛"在"新媒体+科学文化内容"方面的有序推进为主要案例，论述新媒体技术在图书馆科学文化传播活动中的具体应用，找到专业图书馆科学文化传播工作优势及发展方向。[方法/过程] 梳理"科学人讲坛"讲座内容、推送渠道及观看数据，通过数据分析影响科学文化传播效果的主要因素。[结果/结论] 新媒体及时、灵活、强互动等特性在科学文化传播工作中起到了良好的效果。图书馆的服务意识、丰富馆藏及科学人文精神与新媒体技术优势的结合，使科学文化传播工作中公众的参与兴趣得到了极大提升，拉近了科学与公众间的距离，提高了科学文化传播效果。     

A Social Cognitive Theory of Internet Uses and Gratifications: Toward a New Model of Media Attendance

Recent research explaining Internet usage has both extended and challenged the uses and gratifications approach to understanding media attendance by discovering "new" gratifications and introducing powerful new explanatory variables. The present research integrates these developments into a theory of media attendance within the framework of Bandura's (1 986) Social Cognitive Theory. Respondents from 2 Midwestern states were recruited by mail to complete an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test a.new model of media attendance in which active consideration of Internet uses and gratifications, moderated by Internet self-efficacy, joins habitual behavior and deficient self-regulation as determinants of media behavior. The model explained 42% of the variance in Internet usage. ,     

Audience orientations toward new media

The proliferation of new communication technologies over the last 2 decades has increased opportunities for audience activity by offering more choices and greater control aver the communication process for media consumers. However, extant research on the degree of user activity with new media portrays conflicting views of audience members as more active or more passive. This study attempts to sort out this issue by exploring audience activity levels among users of new and traditional media, as indicated by instrumental or ritualized orientations toward media use. Results indicate that new communication technologies are motivated by both instrumental and ritualized motives, but are used more instrumentally than traditional channels, particularly among older users.     

Social and Technological Motivations for Online Photo Sharing

The popularity of social media sites for posting pictures has given rise to a new form of mediated communication: online photo sharing. This article explores motivations for sharing photos online, using the 2-step procedure common in Uses and Gratifications research. Focus groups revealed 42 motivations which were rated in importance by survey respondents (N = 460). Factor analysis revealed 4 classes of gratifications: seeking and showcasing experiences, technological affordances, social connection, and reaching out. These results suggest that photo sharing is driven by social needs and facilitated by interface features, with important implications for theories of technology and user psychology.     

One Click,Many Meanings: Interpreting Paralinguistic Digital Affordances in Social Media

In this study we conceptualize cues in social media that require a single click (e.g., Likes, Favorites) as paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs). Why do people use PDAs and how do they interpret them when they are the recipient? Through focus groups (N = 25) and interviews (N = 26) we address these research questions within a uses and gratifications framework. Using adaptive structuration theory as a lens for analysis, we examine both faithful and ironic uses of PDAs, finding they contribute more than phatic communication and may indicate just as much about the relationship between sender and receiver as they do content.     

Informational Sources,Social Media Use,and Race in the Flint,Michigan, Water Crisis

Safe, clean water is necessary for health and well-being. Water issues affect minority and vulnerable populations at disproportionate rates, including the poor and racial and ethnic minorities. An investigation of the relationships of race, social media use, and informational sources during the municipal water crisis in Flint, Michigan, reflects an instrumental view of communication and uses and gratifications theory in this study. Data from 208 Flint residents in 2016 indicated that African American respondents favored interpersonal networks and resources and were more likely than other racial groups to obtain current information about the water crisis via Instagram. Preferred channels and sources to receive additional crisis information varied on the basis of race.     

Framing responsibility for depression: how U.S. news media attribute causal and problem-solving responsibilities when covering a major public health problem

This paper analyzes how major U.S. print and broadcast news media framed depression causal and problem-solving responsibilities at individual and societal levels over the past three decades. Results from the content analysis showed that the media placed more causal and problem-solving responsibilities on individuals than the society. However, references to societal solutions increased moderately over time. Organizational differences emerged in news attribution of responsibilities, as print media presented more individual-level causes while broadcast media focused more on solutions at both individual and societal levels. Additionally, local newspapers put more problem-solving responsibilities on individuals than national newspapers, while a cable news channel allocated more time to the discussion of overall depression responsibilities than network TV. Findings are discussed in the context of cultural orientations, organizational constraints, changing practice and trends in health news reporting, and the broader political/social environment in which the news media operate. Practical implications for health journalism, mental health communication and advocacy, and public health policy-making are discussed.     

The Selfie Study: Archetypes and Motivations in Modern Self-Photography

Photographic self-portraits have existed since the mid-19th century, but the emergence of digital photography and social media as tools that facilitate rapid visual communication have contributed to a surge of self-photographs, or selfies, and the practice has become a ubiquitous part of today's culture. This exploratory research employed a Q-method analysis to quantitatively and qualitatively identify what archetypal motivations exist among individuals who take and share selfies. The findings largely validated past scholarship on the uses and gratifications of photography, new media, and visual rhetoric individually, but also identified that the motivation to take and share selfies is a complex balance of preservation, communication, and entertainment for most individuals who engage in the practice.     

Choices of new media and traditional channels in organizations

The uses and gratifications framework was applied to the question of choice of face‐to‐face, written and electronic channels in organizations for production, maintenance, and innovation communication. Choice was based on differences in production and innovation gratifications, but choice of traditional channels was marked by receiving more gratifications in low‐need situations.     

Book reviews

Guided by uses and gratifications theory and prior research on cross-cultural adaptation (CCA), this article investigated how loneliness influenced Chinese students’ Internet use and CCA. The results showed that chronically lonely, situationally lonely and non-lonely groups were significantly different in their motives for Internet use. Non-lonely Chinese students were more likely to use the Internet for acculturation and less likely to use it for passing time and companionship than did chronically lonely Chinese students. Moreover, loneliness was a significant negative predictor of both sociocultural adaptation and psychological adaptation. Consistent with previous research on CCA, the findings lent support to the uses and gratifications paradigm which posits that individual differences influence people's motivation for media use. Implications of the results for uses and gratifications and CCA research are discussed.     

“网络为王”时代的媒体公信力认定——网络媒体评价指标与方法

网络媒体的迅速扩张表明其在信息传播中的地位与作用越来越重要，但是这种新媒体也面临着有效传播的问题，要建立网络媒体的公信力，首先要对其进行评价和认定。通过定性和定量的方法，对网络媒体的利用率、网络信息质量、网络影响力等的评价是目前对网络媒体公信力评价的基本方法。     

Network technologies for information warfare and manipulation of public opinion

This paper explores the impact of new information technologies on the development of social communication and social systems. The properties and features of the modern information environment are analyzed. The factors and technologies of information warfare and confrontation are investigated. The role of information communication technologies in the operation of social-network movements is demonstrated. The means and methods of the mass media, social networks, and destructive network technologies that are applied to manipulate group behavior and to transform public opinion are exposed. The potential of sociodynamics as a new instrument of targeted impact on social systems is explored. Possible risks and threats that face the development of telecommunication systems and networks are assessed. Conclusions and relevant activities are formulated to prevent the rise of information confrontations and to mitigate hidden impacts and threats to the country’s social-economic, scientific, and technological development.     

Toward an etiology of media use motivations: the role of temperament in media use

Despite the potential of the uses and gratifications paradigm to explain the etiology of media uses and effects, most research to date has ignored the issue of etiology and has focused on creating motivation typologies. Recent advances in bio-behavioral research provide a new way to address the question of etiology. A survey of 285 adults showed that the biologically rooted individual difference behavior variable of temperament was a consistent and moderately strong causal factor in forming television use motivations. Distinct patterns of relationships between temperament and all television use gratifications were found, supporting the uses and gratifications paradigm. Particularly potent predictors of television use motivations were negative mood, low task orientation, and behavioral rigidity. These results point out the importance of future bio-behavioral etiological media uses and effects research.     

The Missing Role of Parents: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Parenting Practices and Communication Strategies for Addressing Binge Drinking

Parents can employ communication strategies to prevent alcohol use among college students. This investigation utilizes content analysis to examine the coverage of parent-related strategies in 32 newspapers over the last decade. Of the 255 articles related to college drinking, only 49 mentioned one or more parenting strategies. The most frequently mentioned strategies were parental notification of their child's problem behavior by college administrators and communicating with older children about alcohol. The strategies mentioned least were monitoring and staying connected with college-aged children and talking about the consequences of binge drinking. The minimal coverage suggests a need for the use of media advocacy by public health professionals.