Information networks and social media use in public diplomacy: a comparative analysis of South Korea and Japan

This article examines how South Korean and Japanese public diplomacy organizations employ digital media to embrace the principle of ‘networked public diplomacy’ through analyses of the web and social media practices. A network analysis was used to map interorganizational information networks among core public diplomacy organizations in each country. To reveal the key organizations' communication strategies on Facebook, a content analysis was also conducted. The findings indicate that Japan had a strong internal network infrastructure achieved through dispersed connections and partnerships; however, Korea had a centralized network, including a limited number of dominant actors. The results of content analysis suggest that both South Korea and Japanese public diplomats focused on promoting their cultural products and national values through their use of texts and visual images. In addition, user profile analysis gaged the degree of users' engagement in the organizations' profiles and identified the demographic features of users. Comparative data suggest the Korean public diplomacy organization was more successful at attracting and engaging with foreign public than the Japanese public diplomacy organization. These results imply that although these two countries had similar sociopolitical backgrounds and perspectives of public diplomacy, they had distinct forms of internal information networks, communication strategies, and social networking performances with public.     

Students' increased time spent on social media,and their level of coronavirus anxiety during the pandemic,predict increased social media addiction

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the level of anxiety and the duration of social media use increased in university students.

Objectives

This study aimed to examine the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and social media addiction in university students.

Methods

The sample consisted of 346 university students in Turkey. The data were collected online using the Sociodemographic Data Form, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale Short Form and the Social Network Addiction Scale. The data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance, Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson correlation analysis, chi-square analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

The results showed that the mean coronavirus anxiety score was higher in men than in women. Social media addiction increased as the daily time spent by the students on social media increased. A positive correlation was found between the daily time spent on social media before the pandemic and social media usage during the pandemic. It was concluded that students use social media more during the pandemic than before it and that social media addiction increases as the students' coronavirus anxiety increases.

Conclusion

It is important to plan initiatives to reduce coronavirus anxiety to prevent social media addiction in young people.

Study Location and Sample

The research population consisted of 1st and 2nd year students who are studying in the Medical Services and Techniques Department of Vocational School of Health Services at a university located in the west of Turkey, during the Fall Term of academic year 2020–2021. Students in this department are studying in anaesthesia, dialysis, first and emergency aid, medical laboratory techniques, medical imaging technique, and medical documentation and secretarial programmes.     

Trust,norms and networks in social media environmental mobilization: a social capital analysis of Under the Dome in China

After the Spring Festival of 2015, an environmental documentary called Under the Dome in which Chai Jing acted as a narrator has caused the public opinion to boom in social media in China. Why could a documentary released by internet attract so much attention and spark such a heated discussion? What are the factors that have influence on the information dissemination of social media environmental mobilization? This paper employed case study and semi-structure interviews to reveal these questions. It turned out that individual trust, group norms and information networks of the social capital played an important role in the social media environmental mobilization. The reason why Under the Dome became a hot issue was that it made full use of the social media users’ trust on the mobilizer, aroused the mobilized’s emotions and combined the network channels of social relationships.     

News media,movies, and anti-Muslim prejudice: investigating the role of social contact

This study examines the relationship between Indian non-Muslim adolescents’ Western and Indian news media use, exposure to Hollywood and Bollywood movies, and their prejudice against Muslim minorities. Based on contact hypothesis, the moderating roles of out-group contact were tested within this framework. Multivariate analyses revealed that Western news media use and exposure to Hollywood movies were significant predictors of anti-Muslim prejudice, while frequent, enriched contact with Muslims reduced out-group prejudice. The relationship between Indian news media use and prejudice was statistically insignificant. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Consumer health information seeking in social media: a literature review

Objective

The objective of this literature review was to summarise current research regarding how consumers seek health‐related information from social media. Primarily, we hope to reveal characteristics of existing studies investigating the health topics that consumers have discussed in social media, ascertaining the roles social media have played in consumers’ information‐seeking processes and discussing the potential benefits and concerns of accessing consumer health information in social media.

Methods

The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched for existing literature on consumer health information seeking in social media. The search returned 214 articles, of which 21 met the eligibility criteria following review of full‐text documents.

Conclusion

Between 2011 and 2016, twenty‐one studies published explored various topics related to consumer information seeking in social media. These ranged from online discussions on specific diseases (e.g. diabetes) to public health concerns (e.g. pesticide residues). Consumers’ information needs vary depending on the health issues of interest. Benefits of health seeking on social media, in addition to filling a need for health information, include the social and emotional support health consumers gain from peer‐to‐peer interactions. These benefits, however, are tempered by concerns of information quality and authority and lead to decreased consumer engagement.     

From platform jumping to self-censorship: internet freedom,social media,and circumvention practices in Zambia

This article describes the complex media environment of urban Zambia based on qualitative interviews with 42 active ICT and social media users in Lusaka. After a contextual discussion of media censorship and Internet freedom, the article draws upon interview data to delineate four circumvention practices: (1) platform jumping; (2) anonymity; (3) self-censorship; and (4) negotiation of legal challenges. Rather than approach circumvention as a set of techniques disseminated from the information capitals of the world to those in the “global south,” this study approaches it as a set of cultural practices that emerges within particular sociohistorical conditions and platforms of communication.     

Reinforcing attitudes in a gatewatching news era: Individual-level antecedents to sharing fact-checks on social media

Despite the prevalence of fact-checking, little is known about who posts fact-checks online. Based upon a content analysis of Facebook and Twitter digital trace data and a linked online survey (N?=?783), this study reveals that sharing fact-checks in political conversations on social media is linked to age, ideology, and political behaviors. Moreover, an individual’s need for orientation (NFO) is an even stronger predictor of sharing a fact-check than ideological intensity or relevance, alone, and also influences the type of fact-check format (with or without a rating scale) that is shared. Finally, participants generally shared fact-checks to reinforce their existing attitudes. Consequently, concerns over the effects of fact-checking should move beyond a limited-effects approach (e.g., changing attitudes) to also include reinforcing accurate beliefs.     

Testing a cultural orientation model of electronic word-of-mouth communication: a comparative study of U.S. and Korean social media users

Expanding electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) literature and cross-cultural literature, this study proposes a horizontal–vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism (HVIC)-eWOM model in a cross-cultural context. We employed HVIC at the individual level to explain the variance of eWOM communications on social media. We collected data from American and Korean social media users to examine how the hypothesized model fits the samples from each country. The analysis of the HVIC-eWOM model within and between the two countries revealed that there are some similarities and differences in influential cultural dimensions on eWOM communications in the two countries. The results suggest that vertical aspects of individualism and collectivism are significant drivers of opinion-leadership and opinion-seeking tendencies for both countries.     

Examining public acquisition of science knowledge from social media in Singapore: an extension of the cognitive mediation model

This study extends the cognitive mediation model (CMM) by examining the role of social media in cultivating public science knowledge. A sample of 901 Singaporeans was collected through an online survey panel. The results showed that the CMM could be applied to a social media context with a focus on science literacy. Specifically, the findings indicated that people with higher levels of surveillance gratification and social utility motivations tended to pay more attention and to elaborate more about science news that they encounter on social media. Likewise, people with greater social utility motivation tended to engage in greater interpersonal discussions on social media. Notably, attention to news on social media had an indirect association with science knowledge through news elaboration and interpersonal discussion on social media. Implications for theory and practice for science communication were discussed.     

Exploring the de-stigmatizing effect of social media on homosexuality in China: an interpersonal-mediated contact versus parasocial-mediated contact perspective

The subject of homosexuality remains taboo in contemporary China, given that the public maintains a considerably negative attitude toward the subject. Recent Pew Research indicates that, on average, 21% of Chinese respondents believe that homosexuality should be accepted. However, parallel surveys of Internet users paint a different picture, as online surveys found a more liberal atmosphere toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The online and offline discrepancy in attitudes toward homosexuality begs the question of whether the Internet carries a stigma-reducing function in terms of views on sexual minority groups. Guided by the contact hypothesis and parasocial contact theory, the current study investigates the de-stigmatizing effect of the social media on homosexuality in China. A web-based survey with 980 social media users with a heterosexual orientation confirmed the positive role of interpersonal-mediated contact with lesbian and gay celebrities via social media venues in stigma reduction; but findings did not lend support to the parasocial-mediated contact hypothesis.     

Candidates’ use of informal communication on social media reduces credibility and support: Examining the consequences of expectancy violations

ABSTRACT

This experiment (N= 476) investigates how individuals evaluate political candidates who use informal communication on social media. We use expectancy violations theory (EVT) to predict that informal communication will lead to negative evaluations. Our results suggest that politicians’ use of informal communication on social media leads to expectancy violation, which decreases perceived credibility and lessens intention to support a candidate. This effect was not moderated by sex (male versus female) or age (young versus old) of the candidate, nor of participants being the same sex as the candidate. These findings suggest that political figures should use informal communication on social media with caution.     

Chronicling a crisis: media framing of human trafficking in India,Thailand, and the USA

Despite the vast research on human trafficking, little is known about mass media coverage of the issue. This study, a quantitative content analysis of English-language news coverage of human trafficking in the USA, India, and Thailand, analyzes human trafficking coverage before and after the launch of a large-scale international anti-trafficking treaty to determine whether the treaty had an impact on the amount and framing of media coverage on the issue. Findings reveal that while coverage of the issue increased after the treaty, was more localized, and suggested causes and remedies more frequently, it also placed less blame for the problem occurring, focused primarily on crime and policy sides of human trafficking rather than human rights or public health, and lacked the voices of victims. How the news media, and in turn the public, deal with mediating such an issue is a significant and meaningful question, and this paper suggests that United Nations policy-makers need to take proactive steps in order for policy information to be more thoroughly disseminated via the news media.     

The impact of polices on government social media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations

Government agencies are increasingly using social media to connect with those they serve. These connections have the potential to extend government services, solicit new ideas, and improve decision-making and problem-solving. However, interacting via social media introduces new challenges related to privacy, security, data management, accessibility, social inclusion, governance, and other information policy issues. The rapid adoption of social media by the population and government agencies has outpaced the regulatory framework related to information, although the guiding principles behind many regulations are still relevant. This paper examines the existing regulatory framework and the ways in which it applies to social media use by the U.S. federal government, highlighting opportunities and challenges agencies face in implementing them, as well as possible approaches for addressing these challenges.     

Opinion mining in social media: Modeling,simulating, and forecasting political opinions in the web

Affordable and ubiquitous online communications (social media) provide the means for flows of ideas and opinions and play an increasing role for the transformation and cohesion of society – yet little is understood about how online opinions emerge, diffuse, and gain momentum. To address this problem, an opinion formation framework based on content analysis of social media and sociophysical system modeling is proposed. Based on prior research and own projects, three building blocks of online opinion tracking and simulation are described: (1) automated topic, emotion and opinion detection in real-time, (2) information flow modeling and agent-based simulation, and (3) modeling of opinion networks, including special social and psychological circumstances, such as the influence of emotions, media and leaders, changing social networks etc. Finally, three application scenarios are presented to illustrate the framework and motivate further research.     

Social media rumors as improvised public opinion: semantic network analyses of twitter discourses during Korean saber rattling 2013

Social media rumors are improvised and expressive forms of public opinion that especially arise under uncertain sociopolitical situations. This study utilizes early rumor studies as theoretical framework for textual analysis of Twitter public opinion. A content and semantic network analysis of Twitter messages spread during Korean saber rattling in 2013 was conducted for understanding public opinion in an uncertain context. The results show that, while non-rumor narratives focus on policy-level responses to the threat situation in a similar manner to institutionalized opinion polling, rumors are less concerned with official responses, instead reflective of hegemonic tensions between anti-leftwing political sentiments and the counteractive accounts. Some rumors reveal the public's coping with fears in the form of humor, guesswork, or wishes. Online rumor analysis helps understand how the society's collective memories interact with the current situational uncertainty in shaping public opinions and sentiments.     

Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies

In recent years, many governments have worked to increase openness and transparency in their actions. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen by many as a cost-effective and convenient means to promote openness and transparency and to reduce corruption. E-government, in particular, has been used in many prominent, comprehensive transparency efforts in a number of nations. While some of these individual efforts have received considerable attention, the issue of whether these ICT-enabled efforts have the potential to create a substantive social change in attitudes toward transparency has not been widely considered. This paper explores the potential impacts of information and ICTs – especially e-government and social media – on cultural attitudes about transparency.     

From e-government to we-government: Defining a typology for citizen coproduction in the age of social media

This paper examines the evolution of citizen coproduction in the age of social media, web 2.0 interactivity, and ubiquitous connectivity. The paper first discusses the re-emergence of citizen coproduction – whereby citizens perform the role of partner rather than customer in the delivery of public services – as a fashionable policy option in the face of persistent budget deficits and the advent of new channels for mass collaboration. Finding a plethora of competing labels, models, and concepts for coproduction in the age of social media, the paper proposes a unified typology to support systematic analysis based on the overarching categories of “Citizen Sourcing,” “Government as a Platform,” and “Do-It-Yourself Government.” To demonstrate its use, the typology is applied to leading U.S. government implementations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential implications for public administration, the remaining limitations and rising social concerns, and the possible emergence of a new social contract that empowers the public to play a far more active role in the functioning of their government.     

Understanding government social media users: an analysis of interactions on Immigration,Refugees and Citizenship Canada Twitter and Facebook

Social media is being adopted at a rapid pace by governments around world and across different levels of government. In Canada, federal, provincial and municipal governments created social media accounts in 2000s and are now using them to interact with the public. Studies to date, however, focus primarily on social media strategies and practices of government agencies while government social media users' behaviors and perspectives remain understudied. This study analyzes experiences of government social media users and how they interact on Twitter and Facebook accounts maintained by a Canadian federal government agency – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It also explores why users chose to interact on social media as well as their perspectives. The findings suggest that Canadian immigration agencies are using social media as a customer services tool, and migrant social media users are turning to government social media to hear directly from the government agencies and are expecting personalized answers.