scholarly journals Exploring the direct and indirect effects of elite influence on public opinion

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0257335
Author(s):  
Lauren Ratliff Santoro ◽  
Elias Assaf ◽  
Robert M. Bond ◽  
Skyler J. Cranmer ◽  
Eloise E. Kaizar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Research University ◽  
Student Organizations ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Dynamic Information ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Elite Influence ◽  
Significant Direct Effect

Political elites both respond to public opinion and influence it. Elite policy messages can shape individual policy attitudes, but the extent to which they do is difficult to measure in a dynamic information environment. Furthermore, policy messages are not absorbed in isolation, but spread through the social networks in which individuals are embedded, and their effects must be evaluated in light of how they spread across social environments. Using a sample of 358 participants across thirty student organizations at a large Midwestern research university, we experimentally investigate how real social groups consume and share elite information when evaluating a relatively unfamiliar policy area. We find a significant, direct effect of elite policy messages on individuals’ policy attitudes. However, we find no evidence that policy attitudes are impacted indirectly by elite messages filtered through individuals’ social networks. Results illustrate the power of elite influence over public opinion.

scholarly journals Twitter Networks’ Centrality Measures of the Association of Health Journalist (ANIS): the Case of Vaccines - Introduction and Theoretical Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Miguel Martín Cárdaba ◽  
Rafael Carrasco Polaino ◽  
Ubaldo Cuesta Cambra
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
The Social ◽  
One Year

The popularization of Internet and the rise of social networks have offered an unbeatable opportunity for anti-vaccines, especially active communicators, to spread their message more effectively causing a significant impact on public opinion. A great amount of research has been carried out to understand the behavior that anti-vaccine communities show on social networks. However, it seems equally relevant to study the behavior that communities and communicators “pro vaccines” perform in these networks. Therefore, the objective of this research has been to study how members of the Spanish Association of Health Journalist (ANIS) communicate and use the social network Twitter. More specifically, the different interactions made by ANIS partners were analyzed through the so-called “centrality measures of social network analysis” (SNA), to check the configuration of the user network and detect those most relevant by their indexes of centrality, intermediation or mentions received. The research monitored 142 twitter accounts for one year analyzing 254 twits and their 2.671 interactions. The research concluded that the network of ANIS partners on Twitter regarding vaccines has little cohesion and has several components not connected to each other, in addition to the fact that there are users outside the association that show greater relevance than the partners themselves. We also concluded that there are an important lack of planning and direction in the communication strategy of ANIS on Twitter, which limits the dissemination of important content.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Taylor N. Carlson ◽  
Marisa Abrajano ◽  
Lisa García Bedolla
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Knowledge Policy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

In this chapter, we introduce the theory, situate the research within the literature, preview the results, and provide an overview for the rest of the book. We argue that individuals with varying social positions have political discussion networks that are composed differently, and as a consequence their discussion networks exert distinct effects on their political behavior. We assert that this book makes three central contributions: (1) expanding the scope of the political discussion network literature by providing a comparative analysis across ethnorace, nativity, and gender; (2) demonstrating how historical differences in partisanship, policy attitudes, and engagement are reflected within groups’ social networks; and (3) revealing how the social position of our respondents affects the impact that networks can have on their trust and efficacy in government, political knowledge, policy attitudes, and political and civic engagement patterns.

scholarly journals Transformations in the Social Impact: Politics, Media, Social Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75
Author(s):  
Svetlana Alexandrova
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Communication Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media

The article analyzes the role of political elites and the media in shaping public opinion and the direction of public attention. Focusing on the transformations in the social impact under the influence of network culture in the online communication environment, it examines how the role of traditional structures of power is transformed, and how this affects political culture, the formation of public opinion, and its participation in socio-political life. Social networks are a means of dialogue and organization, and this requires political elites and the media to consult and comply with active public opinion in the online communication environment.

scholarly journals The Role of Social Networks in Creating Public Opinion About Electronic Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-397
Author(s):  
Shanaz Sadeq Mohamad ◽  
Sara Mohsen Qadir
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Study Process ◽  
Electronic Education

In line with the developments of various social networks, it has made the public see a change for all the various issues in the nation, one of which was the issue of electronic education, which has been influenced by the social networks, especially by students. Therefore, from this perspective, the researcher in the research scientifically shows the role of the social networks in creating public opinion about the process of electronic study. This research is a description, a researcher who has used the research to achieve detailed and necessary data and information about the subject of survey methodology research. Among the students of Kurdistan University, Salahaddin University and World University students are research samples of 422 students of both maleand female genders, the most important results that researchers have reached are the social networks that are a reason for creating public opinion and all The data spread through the social network to a process have created public opinion about the electronic study process, the strongest network, the Facebook social network to create public opinion in Kurdistan. In the short list of research, recommendations and suggestions have been made.

Usage of social networks by digital natives as a new communication platform for interpersonal communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ece Kahraman ◽  
Tutku Akter Gokasan ◽  
Bahire Efe Ozad
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Communication Platform ◽  
The Social ◽  
University Level

Abstract Social Networking Sites (SNS), particularly Facebook (FB) have become extremely popular among digital natives, especially university-level students. Moreover, they sometimes may see social networks as an extension of their lives (D. Boyd, 2014) which can be called as a new communication platform for interpersonal communication. For the purpose of the study, interpersonal communication skills (ICS) levels explored in four sub-sections both in the social and e-social environments.1 Digital natives’ IPC skills were measured to figure out whether there is any statistically difference between both environments. Interpersonal Communication Skills Inventory (Social Learning, 2002) is used as an instrument for the present study.

scholarly journals The Measurement of Demographic Temperature Using the Sentiment Analysis of Data from the Social Network VKontakte

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 987
Author(s):  
Irina Evgenievna Kalabikhina ◽  
Evgeniy Petrovich Banin ◽  
Imiliya Abduselimovna Abduselimova ◽  
German Andreevich Klimenko ◽  
Anton Vasilyevich Kolotusha
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Temperature Ratio ◽  
Additional Result ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Comments

Social networks have a huge potential for the reflection of public opinion, values, and attitudes. In this study, the presented approach can allow to continuously measure how cold “the demographic temperature” is based on data taken from the Russian social network VKontakte. This is the first attempt to analyze the sentiment of Russian-language comments on social networks to determine the demographic temperature (ratio of positive and negative comments) in certain socio-demographic groups of social network users. The authors use generated data from the comments to posts from 314 pro-natalist groups (with child-born reproductive attitudes) and eight anti-natalist groups (with child-free reproductive attitudes) on the demographic topic, which have 9 million of users from all over Russia. The algorithm of the sentiment analysis for demographic tasks is presented in the article. In particularly, it was found that comments under posts are more suitable for analyzing the sentiment of statements than the texts of posts. Using the available data in two types of groups since 2014, we find an asynchronous structural shift in comments of the corpuses of pro-natalist and anti-natalist thematic groups. Interpretations of the evidences are offered in the discussion part of the article. An additional result of our work is two open Russian-language datasets of comments on social networks.

scholarly journals Social networks and the development of social skills in cowbirds

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1597) ◽  
pp. 1892-1900 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. White ◽  
Andrew S. Gersick ◽  
Noah Snyder-Mackler
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Molothrus Ater ◽  
Dynamic Structure ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
The Social

The complex interrelationships among individuals within social environments can exert selection pressures on social skills: those behaviours and cognitive processes that allow animals to manipulate and out-reproduce others. Social complexity can also have a developmental effect on social skills by providing individuals with opportunities to hone their skills by dealing with the challenges posed in within-group interactions. We examined how social skills develop in captive, adult male brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater ) that were exposed to differing levels of ‘social complexity’ across a 2-year experiment. After each year, subjects housed in groups with dynamic social structure (where many individuals entered and exited the groups during the year) outcompeted birds who had been housed in static groups. Exposure to dynamic structure subsequently led to substantial changes to the social networks of the home conditions during the breeding season. Static groups were characterized by a predictable relationship between singing and reproductive success that was stable across years. In dynamic conditions, however, males showed significant variability in their dominance status, their courting and even in their mating success. Reproductive success of males varied dramatically across years and was responsive to social learning in adulthood, and socially dynamic environments ‘trained’ individuals to be better competitors, even at an age when the development of many traits important for breeding (like song quality) had ended.

scholarly journals Cultural Diversity Broadens Social Networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienne Wood ◽  
Adam M. Kleinbaum ◽  
Thalia Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
International Students ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Master Of Business Administration ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
The Social ◽  
American Students ◽  
New Community ◽  
Diverse Nations

Migration and mobility increase cultural diversity. Does this diversity have consequences for how a culture’s members interact, even in a new community? We hypothesized that people from regions with greater present-day and historical cultural diversity would forge more diversified social ties in a newly formed community, connecting otherwise unconnected groups. In other words, that they would become social brokers. We tested this prediction by characterizing the social networks of eight Master of Business Administration cohorts (N=2,250). Here we show that international students (N=776) from populations with diverse long-history migration were more likely to become social brokers than international students from less ancestrally diverse nations. American students’ (N = 1,464) brokerage scores were also positively related to their home counties’ indices of international connectivity (calculated from aggregate Facebook data). The results of this study suggest that more culturally diverse social environments—defined here at multiple geographic and temporal scales—endow people with socially adaptable behaviors that help them connect to new, heterogeneous communities.

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