Before and after the Chinese gene-edited human babies: Multiple discourses of gene editing on social media

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252098775
Author(s):  
Xing Zhang ◽  
Anfan Chen ◽  
Weiyu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Chinese Social Media ◽  
Multiple Discourses

This study examines discourses in Chinese online discussions of gene editing by multiple social actors on Weibo before and after a significant scientific crisis, the 2018 scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies. A content analysis of 2074 posts was done to identify frames, emotions, and metaphors. Findings reveal that Chinese social media have opened up new spaces for multiple social actors to generate multiple discourses. This has resulted in a more participatory public engagement with science and technology on Chinese social media, potentially influencing the online agenda and policy decisions on science and technology. Finally, findings indicate that a scientific crisis can serve as a trigger for significant changes in public attitudes and opinions regarding gene editing.

scholarly journals (A)synchronous Communication about TV Series on Social Media: A Multi-Method Investigation of Reddit Discussions

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Unkel ◽  
Anna Sophie Kümpel
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Synchronous Communication ◽  
Automated Content Analysis ◽  
Social Tv ◽  
Discussion Threads ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Live Broadcast ◽  
Extensive Body ◽  
Do So

Audiences’ TV series entertainment experiences are increasingly shaped not only by the events on the ‘first screen’ but also by discussions on social media. While an extensive body of research has examined practices of ‘second screening,’ especially on Twitter, online discussions before and after the live broadcast and on other platforms have received less attention. On Reddit—one of the most important platforms for Social TV—discussions often take place in temporally structured threads that allow users to discuss an episode before (pre-premiere thread), during (live premiere thread), and after (post-premiere thread) it airs. In this project, we examine whether these spaces mainly indicate temporal preferences among users or are associated with different usage practices and motives. To do so, we conducted two case studies of the Reddit community r/gameofthrones: a survey about usage motives (<em>n</em> = 417) and an automated content analysis of approximately 1.2 million comments left on the episode discussion threads in which we examined thread use over time, interactions between users, and discussion content. The results revealed differing usage motives and practices for the three thread types, illustrating the distinct function that these communication spaces fulfil for users.

Changing Social Representations and Agenda Interactions of Gene Editing After Crises: A Network Agenda-Setting Study on Chinese Social Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932199806
Author(s):  
Anfan Chen ◽  
Xing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
The Media ◽  
Chinese Social Media

By incorporating social representation theory with science communication and by using a critical milestone scientific crisis (i.e., the scandal of Chinese gene-edited human babies in 2018) as a dividing point, this study adopted a network agenda-setting approach to explore how various actors (i.e., scientists, the media, laypeople, and the government) engaged in the construction of social representations of the controversial issue of gene editing on Chinese social media (i.e., Sina Weibo). Based on large-scale social media data, supervised machine learning was employed to identify attribute categories, and semantic network analysis was used to construct attribute networks. Results reveal that after the 2018 crisis, gene editing received increasing social attention on Chinese social media. Further, two trends emerged in social representations of gene editing on social media: de-scientization and medialization. The following dynamic agenda interactions among various actors were found: On the one hand, the media and laypeople’s attribute network agendas converged while scientists and the media’s diverged after the scandal. This indicates a scientific crisis can serve as a trigger for agenda convergence and divergence among different actors online. On the other hand, there were constant agenda interactions, such as between the Chinese government and the media. This reveals a feature of Chinese science communication—the media not only mediates between scientists and the public, it also observes the government’s agenda closely when representing controversial scientific issues such as gene editing.

Chinese Social Media Platforms and Microblogging in the Context of Public Diplomacy

Communicology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-179
Author(s):  
E.S. Nadezhkina
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Interactive Communication ◽  
Network Interaction ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Right ◽  
Chinese Social Media

The term “digital public diplomacy” that appeared in the 21st century owes much to the emergence and development of the concept of Web 2.0 (interactive communication on the Internet). The principle of network interaction, in which the system becomes better with an increase in the number of users and the creation of user-generated content, made it possible to create social media platforms where news and entertainment content is created and moderated by the user. Such platforms have become an expression of the opinions of various groups of people in many countries of the world, including China. The Chinese segment of the Internet is “closed”, and many popular Western services are blocked in it. Studying the structure of Chinese social media platforms and microblogging, as well as analyzing targeted content is necessary to understand China’s public opinion, choose the right message channels and receive feedback for promoting the country’s public diplomacy. This paper reveals the main Chinese social media platforms and microblogging and provides the assessment of their popularity, as well as possibility of analyzing China’s public opinion based on “listening” to social media platforms and microblogging.

Measuring Relevant Information in Health Social Network Conversations and Clinical Diagnosis Cases (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Moreira ◽  
Raul Alonso-Calvo ◽  
Alberto Muñoz ◽  
Jose Crespo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Biomedical Knowledge ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Health Social Network ◽  
Discussion System ◽  
Clinical Cases

BACKGROUND Internet and Social media is an enormous source of information. Health Social Networks and online collaborative environments enable users to create shared content that afterwards can be discussed. While social media discussions for health related matters constitute a potential source of knowledge, characterizing the relevance of participations from different users is a challenging task. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to present a methodology designed for quantifying relevant information provided by different participants in clinical online discussions. METHODS A set of key indicators for different aspects of clinical conversations and specific clinical contributions within a discussion have been defined. These indicators make use of biomedical knowledge extraction based on standard terminologies and ontologies. These indicators allow measuring the relevance of information of each participant of the clinical conversation. RESULTS Proposed indicators have been applied to two discussions extracted from PatientsLikeMe, as well as to two real clinical cases from the Sanar collaborative discussion system. Results obtained from indicators in the tested cases have been compared with clinical expert opinions to check indicators validity. CONCLUSIONS The methodology has been successfully used for describing participant interactions in real clinical cases belonging to a collaborative clinical case discussion tool and from a conversation from a Health Social Network.

scholarly journals Before the 2020 Pandemic: an observational study exploring public knowledge, attitudes, plans, and preferences towards death and end of life care in Wales

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishrat Islam ◽  
Annmarie Nelson ◽  
Mirella Longo ◽  
Anthony Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Service Utilisation ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Manner Of Death ◽  
Attitudes Towards Death

Abstract Background Understanding public attitudes towards death and dying is important to inform public policies around End of Life Care (EoLC). We studied the public attitudes towards death and dying in Wales. Methods An online survey was conducted in 2018. Social media and the HealthWiseWales platform were used to recruit participants. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results 2,210 people participated. Loss of independence (84%), manner of death, and leaving their beloved behind were the biggest fears around death and dying. In terms of EoLC, participants sought timely access to care (84%) and being surrounded by loved ones (62%). Being at home was less of a priority (24%). Only 50% were familiar with Advance Care Planning (ACP). A lack of standard procedures as well as of support for the execution of plans and the ability to revisit those plans hindered uptake. The taboo around death conversations, the lack of opportunities and skills to initiate discussion, and personal fear and discomfort inhibited talking about death and dying. 72% felt that we do not talk enough about death and dying and advocated normalising talking by demystifying death with a positive approach. Health professionals could initiate and support this conversation, but this depended on communication skills and manageable workload pressure. Participants encouraged a public health approach and endorsed the use of: a) social media and other public platforms, b) formal education, c) formal and legal actions, and d) signposting and access to information. Conclusions People are ready to talk about death and dying and COVID-19 has increased awareness. A combination of top-down and bottom-up initiatives across levels and settings can increase awareness, knowledge, and service-utilisation-drivers to support health professionals and people towards shared decisions which align with people’s end of life wishes and preferences.

Social Media in Surgery

2020 ◽  
pp. 000313482097297
Author(s):  
Kevin N. Harrell ◽  
Dominique Vervoort ◽  
Jessica G.Y. Luc ◽  
Brett M. Tracy ◽  
John Daniel Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Online Presence ◽  
Personal Branding

Social media has become a permeating form of communication with billions of daily users. Twitter in particular has become a tool for the surgical community to engage with other providers, as well as patients, through active online discussions, sharing of research, and highlighting opportunities for community outreach. Twitter can help with personal branding, mentorship, and international collaboration on multiple types of academic endeavors. Likewise, institutional and residency programs can harness the power of social media to develop an online presence and aid in resident recruitment.

scholarly journals Changes in Online Psychoactive Substance Trade via Telegram during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Matthijs Blankers ◽  
Daan van der Gouwe ◽  
Lavinia Stegemann ◽  
Laura Smit-Rigter
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Lysergic Acid ◽  
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ◽  
Psychoactive Substance ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Other Substances

<b><i>Background:</i></b> In this article, we present an evaluation of online psychoactive substance trade via Telegram, a free encrypted social media messenger service. The evaluation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed us to monitor the effects of the spring 2020 lockdown in the Netherlands on substance trade via Telegram. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in psychoactive substance trade on Telegram markets in the Netherlands can be observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Between December 2, 2019, and June 29, 2020, a total of 70,226 posts appeared in two analyzed Telegram groups. A total of 5,643 posts were psychoactive substance related. Based on the analyzed posts, Telegram is mostly a ‘“sellers” market as only a minority of the posts (6.3%) could be identified as a request for a substance. The proportion of posts related to specific substances varied between the periods before, during, and after the lockdown. The proportion of posts on the stimulants ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamine was lower during the lockdown than before and after. For psychedelics – ketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine (2C-B) – and other substances, there was a relative increase in the number of posts during the lockdown, which was maintained after the lockdown. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Telegram analysis shows that in the Netherlands, online psychoactive substance trade may have been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The direction of this effect was different for different classes of substances.

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