Credibility or Convenience? Political Information Choices in a Media-Saturated Environment

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim E. Moody
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Information Selection ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Research

This article considers how a range of personal characteristics (media scepticism, political interest, need for cognition and media gratifications) influence the political information choices of Australians. Data collection was conducted in Brisbane via a postal survey during March and April 2008. The data revealed that the characteristics associated with information quality have very little influence on media use patterns, indicating that use of the media appears to occur simply as a consequence of other everyday life practices, rather than as an information-seeking activity. People regularly use media they do not trust to find out about politics, calling into question the previously assumed centrality of trust to information choices. If convenience trumps credibility in information selection, the importance of media literacy is heightened. The findings also emphasise the need for more holistic contexts for media research, which consider the broader social contexts and practices in which media-oriented behaviours occur.

Politikvermittlung an der Schnittstelle von Unterhaltung und Information : Political communication at the interface of entertainment and information

SPIEL ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-145
Author(s):  
Larissa Leonhard ◽  
Anne Bartsch ◽  
Frank M. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Dual Process Model

This article presents an extended dual-process model of entertainment effects on political information processing and engagement. We suggest that entertainment consumption can either be driven by hedonic, escapist motivations that are associated with a superficial mode of information processing, or by eudaimonic, truth-seeking motivations that prompt more elaborate forms of information processing. This framework offers substantial extensions to existing dual-process models of entertainment by conceptualizing the effects of entertainment on active and reflective forms of information seeking, knowledge acquisition and political participation.

scholarly journals Cultural diversity and wisdom of crowds are mutually beneficial and evolutionarily stable

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît de Courson ◽  
Léo Fitouchi ◽  
Jean-Philippe Bouchaud ◽  
Michael Benzaquen
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Wisdom Of Crowds ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolutionarily Stable ◽  
Individual Information

AbstractThe ability to learn from others (social learning) is often deemed a cause of human species success. But if social learning is indeed more efficient (whether less costly or more accurate) than individual learning, it raises the question of why would anyone engage in individual information seeking, which is a necessary condition for social learning’s efficacy. We propose an evolutionary model solving this paradox, provided agents (i) aim not only at information quality but also vie for audience and prestige, and (ii) do not only value accuracy but also reward originality—allowing them to alleviate herding effects. We find that under some conditions (large enough success rate of informed agents and intermediate taste for popularity), both social learning’s higher accuracy and the taste for original opinions are evolutionarily-stable, within a mutually beneficial division of labour-like equilibrium. When such conditions are not met, the system most often converges towards mutually detrimental equilibria.

Bicycle Helmet Use Patterns Among Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory B. Rodgers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Helmet Use ◽  
Use Patterns

Objective. To describe and evaluate the helmet use patterns of children younger than 15 years of age in the United States. Methods. A national telephone survey of bicycle riders was conducted by means of the Mitofsky-Waksberg method of random-digit dialing, a survey method intended to give all telephone numbers in the continental United States an equal probability of selection. Based on information collected in the survey, a logistic regression model was used to determine and quantify the factors associated with helmet use. Results. Information was collected on the bicycle and helmet use patterns of a national sample of 399 children younger than 15 years of age who rode bicycles during the year preceding the survey. This sample projects to the approximately 26.4 million children who are estimated to have ridden bicycles in 1991. About 26% of all child riders owned or had the use of bicycle helmets, and about 15% were reported to have used their helmets all or more than half of the time when riding. Information is provided on the reasons the children did or did not wear helmets. The logistic regression analysis shows that helmet use by children is systematically related to their personal characteristics (eg, age and whether they had previously had bicycle-related accidents requiring medical attention), riding patterns (eg, riding surface), and household demographic characteristics (eg, geographic location and whether household members had attended college). Conclusions. Helmet use rates among children remain low. Less than one fifth of the children who rode bicycles wore helmets all or more than half of the time in 1991. However, based on comparisons with earlier studies, the results of the analysis suggest that helmet use rates have been rising.

scholarly journals Social Aspects of Health Communication – Towards a Research Agenda

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. I-IV
Author(s):  
Sarah Geber ◽  
Tobias Frey ◽  
Thomas N. Friemel
Keyword(s):  
Health Communication ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual

Health and health-related behaviours are embedded in social contexts in various ways which comprise both risks and opportunities for health communication. We propose a research agenda on social aspects of health communication and introduce the articles of the present special issue. Owing to the complexity of individuals’ social contexts, the research agenda addresses questions lying at the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels. The issue’s articles cover different and highly relevant questions of this research agenda, ranging from stigmatisation to impression management to collective action and from experimental designs to qualitative interviews and netnography. In sum, the articles demonstrate not only the diversity but also the relevance of academic research on social aspects of health communication. We expect that this topic will continue gaining importance, given the ongoing digitalisation of the media environment and the increasing interconnectedness of producers and users, doctors and patients, and experts and laypersons.

Media Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Pathogenic or salutogenic? (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjolaine Rivest-Beauregard ◽  
Justine Fortin ◽  
Connie Guo ◽  
Sabrina Cipolletta ◽  
Ram Sapkota ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Related Information ◽  
The Media ◽  
Support Seeking ◽  
Peritraumatic Distress

BACKGROUND While exposure to COVID-related stressors, level of peritraumatic distress, and frequency of media use for seeking COVID-related information can increase the risk for trauma- and stressor-related (TSR) symptoms during the pandemic, frequency of social media use for support and connection may buffer these effects. OBJECTIVE We examined the associations between COVID-related stressors and frequency of media use for information-seeking on TSR symptoms, with a focus on the indirect effects of social media use for support-seeking and peritraumatic distress. METHODS A path model was tested in an international sample of 5 913 adults who completed an online survey. RESULTS COVID-related stressors (β = .25, p <.05) and information-seeking through media (β = .24, p <.05) were significantly associated with TSR symptoms in bivariate comparisons. Levels of peritraumatic distress and frequency of social media use for support were significant intermediary variables (respectively, β=0.71, p<.05; β=.02, p<.05). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that exposure to COVID-related stressors and seeking COVID-related information through the media are associated with higher levels of peritraumatic distress and, in turn, higher levels of TSR symptoms. Although exposure to the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic may be unavoidable, the frequency consuming COVID-related information through the media should be approached with caution. CLINICALTRIAL NA

Chatman's Theories of Information Behavior (1996, 1999, 2000)

2015 ◽  
pp. 136-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullahi I. Musa
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Behavior ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Information Behaviors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Theory Of Information ◽  
Information Poverty

Information behaviors are complex practices rooted within individual's everyday social and cultural dynamics. However, understanding the social and cultural dynamics of information seeking and use is a major challenge for many graduate students, scholars, and information practitioners. The objective of this chapter is to advance the understandings of social contexts and cultural situations in information behavior processes using Chatman's theories of information behaviors: theory of information poverty, theory of life in the round, and the theory of normative behavior. Over the past twenty years scholars have adopted Chatman's theories as a lens to illuminate understandings of information behaviors in diverse contexts and situations. This chapter synthesizes these studies. The chapter is useful for information professionals and scholars who are interested in applying social theories to examine the social and cultural dynamics of information practices in different settings.

Being exposed to political information in the media

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Kim Andersen ◽  
Jakob Ohme ◽  
Camilla Bjarnøe ◽  
Mats Joe Bordacconi ◽  
Erik Albæk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Information ◽  
The Media

Web Information Resources Vis-à-Vis Traditional Information Services

2011 ◽  
pp. 528-540
Author(s):  
John D. D’Ambra ◽  
Nina Mistillis
Keyword(s):  
User Experience ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Information Resource ◽  
Prior Use ◽  
The Web

This chapter considers the change in information seeking behaviour of tourists as a result of the increased use of the World Wide Web as an information resource in the context of information services provided by visitor information centres (VICs). The theoretical approach adopts the model of expectation-disconfirmation effects on Web customer satisfaction. The chapter proposes that visitor information centres are analogous to an information system and that the user experience of visiting the centre can partially be explained by users perception of the information quality of information resources used at the centre and a prior use of the Web. The research proposition explored in the reported research is that a priori usage of the Web may influence tourists’ perceptions of the information services provided by visitor information centres. In order to investigate this proposition a survey was conducted at the Sydney visitor information centre resulting in 519 responses. The analysis of the data collected, using structural equation modeling, found that perceived information quality of staff and brochures used at the centre explained 63% of the variance of the user experience at the centre, a prior use of the Web did not explain any of the variance. The implications for VICs’ strategic information resource management to meet visitor needs are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document