Investigating the quality of interactions and public engagement around scientific papers on Twitter

This study explores science communication on Twitter by investigating a sample of tweets referring to academic papers in five different scientific fields. The specifications of science communicators on Twitter, the characteristics of those who initiate actions (by tweeting), the extent and quality of reactions (retweeting), individual and group interactions, and the distribution of tweets across types of engagement in the process of science communication (i.e., dissemination, consultation, and evaluation) were explored. A broad array of actors is involved in the communication of science on Twitter, with individual citizens and individual researchers playing an important role. In principle, this is promising for creating direct interaction, which can be difficult through more traditional mass media. The vast majority of communication activities regarding academic papers is undigested dissemination with almost no sign of debate, contestation, or collective reflection. Another general finding of this study is that bot accounts play a major role in the science communication landscape on Twitter.     

Educational programs as an interactive tool for public engagement by public archives repositories in South Africa

The purpose of this article was to investigate whether public archives in South Africa’s educational programs serve as an interactive tool for public engagement. The study adopted a quantitative research approach involving all 10 public archival institutions in South Africa. Data was collected using survey questionnaires, analysis of the legislation on archives, and the national Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and relevant provincial departments’ annual reports from the 2012–13 to 2014–15 financial years according to the relevant themes of the study. In South Africa, public archival institutions fall under and report to the DAC. The purpose of data triangulation was to collect as much, and as diverse, data as possible to help generate the best possible insight. The study revealed that the public archives’ educational activities were not effectively designed and implemented to bring potential users to archives. The study recommends that public archives engage with educators and curriculum developers to support the South African Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). This will enable archivists and public archival institutions to identify and incorporate developmental and topically relevant archival material into CAPS for use by educators and learners in a classroom environment.     

政府形象传播与民意互动

政府形象传播的指向虽然是社会公众 ,但其本质是处理民意 ,也就是了解民意的实质 ,判断、预测民意的走向和后果 ,为政府施政既创造有利的民意环境 ,又扭转不利的民意环境。民意以社会普遍和整体的认识 ,准确揭示周围环境的内在联系和现实世界的发展趋势。政府既要学会从舆情中察民情、识民意、知民心 ,更要做到及时调整政策 ,顺民意 ,合民心。善于驾驭和把握舆论的方向、善导民意是政府成熟的标志     

我国媒体公益传播研究分析

公益传播作为一个研究热点,逐步得以关注、尤其是媒体公益传播,国内研究者对传统媒体和新媒体以及异态时期的公益传播作了一些研究.本文对这一系列研究,连取有代表性问题进行植理与归纳,以期为今后研究提供一个参照.     

Building context-based knowledge of government social media communication through an ethnographic study of the US Coast Guard

Governments are increasing digital communication with citizens, yet little is known about how the public sector influences communicators’ daily social media activities. This ethnographic study uses interviews, documents, and participant observation to offer a rare emic view of the US Coast Guard (USCG) social media program. Breaking up the monolithic public sector communication context, influences on social media communication were nested within five contexts: organization, military, parent agency, federal government, and the US public sector. By observing how the contexts and related attributes influence personnel and the program, the study provides insights related to social media communication processes rather than merely content products. Findings extend theoretical and practical applications by identifying enablers and challenges to government social media communication within an applied context. USCG's culture and history of transparency and engagement drive the strategy, while resource constraints and a devaluing of social media within the decentralized organization constrain program effectiveness and real-time engagement.     

The practical paradox of technology: The influence of communication technology use on employee burnout and engagement

Technological advancements in the workplace frequently have produced contradictory effects by facilitating accessibility and efficiency while increasing interruptions and unpredictability. We combine insights from organizational paradoxes and the job demands–resources model to construct a framework identifying positive and negative mechanisms in the relationship between communication technology use (CTU) and employee well-being, operationalized as work engagement and burnout. In this study of Dutch workers, we demonstrate that CTU increases well-being through positive pathways (accessibility and efficiency) and decreases well-being through negative pathways (interruptions and unpredictability). We highlight the importance of (1) investigating CTU resources and demands simultaneously to grasp the relationship between CTU and employee well-being, and (2) considering CTU's downsides to successfully implement new communication technologies and flexible work designs.     

The use of information and communication technologies in public libraries in South Africa as tools for bridging the digital divide: the case of the Kempton Park public library

ABSTRACT

The information and knowledge society has resulted in the exponential growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs), thus creating a gap between those who use ICTs and those who do not; hence the emergence of the term “digital divide” in the 1990s. One of the milestones of South Africa’s National Development Plan, a policy that charts the country’s development up until 2030, is to ensure that high-speed broadband internet is universally available at competitive prices. Notwithstanding the importance of ICTs in public libraries, the provision of such is still taking place on a limited scale in South Africa. This article investigates the use of ICTs in public libraries in South Africa as a tool in bridging the digital divide. It also examines the inequalities in access and use and suggests ways in which ICTs may be used to reduce the digital divide. A qualitative research methodology was adopted. In order for public libraries to function as an important tool in bridging the digital divide, there is a need to standardize the provision of public library services with regard to the digital divide.     

Not by technology alone: The “analog” aspects of online public engagement in policymaking

Between Twitter revolutions and Facebook elections, there is a growing belief that information and communication technologies are changing the way democracy is practiced. The discourse around e-government and online deliberation is frequently focused on technical solutions and based in the belief that if you build it correctly they will come. This paper departs from the literature on digital divide to examine barriers to online civic participation in policy deliberation. While most scholarship focuses on identifying and describing those barriers, this study offers an in-depth analysis of what it takes to address them using a particular case study. Based in the tradition of action research, this paper focuses on analysis of practices that evolved in Regulation Room—a research project of CeRI (Cornell eRulemaking Initiative) that works with federal government agencies in helping them engage public in complex policymaking processes. It draws a multidimensional picture of motivation, skill, and general political participation divides; or the “analog” aspects of the digital divide in online civic participation and policy deliberation.     

学术期刊微信公众平台的传播策略及案例研究——以《同济大学学报》微信公众平台为例

从微信公众平台的现状出发,着重研究微信平台的传播策略,并将其运用到平台的传播过程中.总结学术期刊微信平台的传播特征,为传统期刊的发展提供思路.     

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.     

Exploring strategic public relations management in China: current state and challenges

ABSTRACT

Applying four generic principles that are most relevant to strategic public relations management, this study examines the extent to which public relations is strategically managed in China. Public relations practitioners from four types of organizations participated an online survey (N?=?92) and an interview (N?=?20). It was found that public relations mainly contributes to routine operations rather than strategic policy-making. While typically given a direct reporting line with top management, public relations departments are not trusted to handle government relations and are considered inferior to the marketing department. Practitioners in the survey indicated the use of all four models to various degree in their organizations, despite that interviews revealed the difficulty to implement symmetrical communication model as compared to the other three models. In addition, practitioners were more proficient in fulfilling technician roles than managerial roles.     

A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: lessons learned before and during a pandemic

Background:Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users.Case Presentation:Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs: adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children''s programs and circulation statistics of the kits.Conclusions:This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information–seeking practices.     

Voting alone: the decline of bodily mass communication and public sensationalism in presidential elections

The congregational crowd was a powerful mode of political communication in the nineteenth-century US until banished by the imposition of literate modes on popular electoral politics by Progressive reformers. We examine its major channels of expression, bodily mass communication and public sensationalism, within a framework of class-based struggle, observing that the practice of live bodily assembly created broad points of entry into political life, socialized the young, and successfully conveyed the importance of voting. A text-based normative model of the informed deliberative voter, we argue, offers too narrow a conception of participation compared to a more spaciously conceived democratic community.     

信息无障碍理念在我国公益性信息服务业中的应用现状调查

本文采用文献调研、网络调查、田野调查等方法调查了我国各级政府、图书馆、第三方组织及相关企业在其提供公益性信息服务过程中应用信息无障碍理念的一些实际情况,并总结了8种具体模式及近50种子模式,并提出相关建议。     

The path to information in the public domain: Official publications in Spain

Official publications are aimed towards editing and spreading the messages created by governments and other bodies of the public domain. At the beginning, the aim of this activity is twofold: on the one hand, fulfilling the principle of publicity of the norms, as it constitutes a basis for the efficiency of those, and, on the other hand, fulfilling a general function of information about the activities of public authorities. As the action of government generalises, this function of communication between those governing and those governed has extended to other fields of activity, thus, free and pay materials, both printed and electronic, are published.     

The third-level agenda-setting study: an examination of media,implicit, and explicit public agendas in China

Through two separate studies in the context of Hong Kong, a Chinese society, this research tests the third-level agenda-setting effects and examines the differences between the explicit and implicit public agendas based on the attributes consciously and unconsciously reported by the public. A total of 1667 news reports and 680 responses to a public survey are collected for analysis. Evidence from both studies shows strong attribute agenda-setting effects at the third level, no matter the focus of the issue is obtrusive or unobtrusive. Results also demonstrate that the media agenda is positively associated at a higher level with the implicit public agenda than the explicit one. Findings well extend the network agenda-setting research.     

Examining the quality of social support messages produced face-to-face and in computer-mediated communication: The effects of hyperpersonal communication

ABSTRACT

The hyperpersonal communication model was used to investigate the implications of the reduced social cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC) for the production of social support messages. Participants were randomly assigned to interact with a confederate seeking help about a problem for which the confederate was or was not responsible. The interactions took place either face-to-face or in one of two CMC conditions. The results were partially consistent with the intensification effect proposed in the hyperpersonal model. Participants evaluated the confederate most negatively, but produced the highest quality support messages, in the CMC condition with visual anonymity followed by the CMC condition and face-to-face condition. Participants’ evaluations of the confederate were also influenced by the confederate’s responsibility for their problem.     

Multicultural Libraries' services and social integration: The case of public libraries in Montreal Canada

Montreal is a multicultural city, with a high percentage of immigrants where great value is given to culture. The city has a network of public libraries, which are located in the different districts. The provincial government has just opened the new Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, which combines a national library service with those of a public library. The Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec and the public libraries in Montreal have set a goal to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Montreal society. In this context, the objective of this research is to find out to what extent the public libraries in Montreal are facilitating the integration of immigrants into society and to discover what important role the libraries actually play in this process.     

Food (in)security communication: a Journal of Applied Communication Research forum addressing current challenges and future possibilities

ABSTRACT

This forum brings together food, (in)security, and communication. The authors participating in this forum center communication as both process and tool for understanding, mitigating, and making meaning of food (in)security. The nine authors together discuss the role of communication in food (in)security, the central challenges for scholars and practitioners working on food (in)security, and the creative possibilities and impacts influencing the future of food (in)security. The forum produces a call for applied scholars to re-imagine communication frameworks in order to make meaningful differences in their communities.