Hurricanes and hashtags: Characterizing online collective attention for natural disasters

We study collective attention paid towards hurricanes through the lens of n-grams on Twitter, a social media platform with global reach. Using hurricane name mentions as a proxy for awareness, we find that the exogenous temporal dynamics are remarkably similar across storms, but that overall collective attention varies widely even among storms causing comparable deaths and damage. We construct ‘hurricane attention maps’ and observe that hurricanes causing deaths on (or economic damage to) the continental United States generate substantially more attention in English language tweets than those that do not. We find that a hurricane’s Saffir-Simpson wind scale category assignment is strongly associated with the amount of attention it receives. Higher category storms receive higher proportional increases of attention per proportional increases in number of deaths or dollars of damage, than lower category storms. The most damaging and deadly storms of the 2010s, Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, generated the most attention and were remembered the longest, respectively. On average, a category 5 storm receives 4.6 times more attention than a category 1 storm causing the same number of deaths and economic damage.

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Facebook confessions: Corporate abdication and Silicon Valley dystopianism

New Media & Society ◽

10.1177/1461444820933549 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 146144482093354

Author(s):

Tero Karppi ◽

David B Nieborg

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Decision Making ◽

Social Media ◽

Small Group ◽

Silicon Valley ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

Media Platform

This article investigates the public confessions of a small group of ex-Facebook employees, investors, and founders who express regret helping to build the social media platform. Prompted by Facebook’s role in the 2016 United States elections and pointing to the platform’s unintended consequences, the confessions are more than formal admissions of sins. They speak of Facebook’s capacity to damage democratic decision-making and “exploit human psychology,” suggesting that individual users, children in particular, should disconnect. Rather than expressions of truth, this emerging form of corporate abdication constructs dystopian narratives that have the power shape our future visions of social platforms and give rise to new utopias. As such, and marking a stark break with decades of technological utopianism, the confessions are an emergent form of Silicon Valley dystopianism.

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Conspiracy and debunking narratives about COVID-19 origins on Chinese social media: How it started and who is to blame

10.37016/mr-2020-50 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kaiping Chen ◽

Anfan Chen ◽

Jingwen Zhang ◽

Jingbo Meng ◽

Cuihua Shen

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Social Media ◽

The United States ◽

User Participation ◽

Intercultural Understanding ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Political Orientations ◽

Media Platform ◽

Conspiracy Narratives ◽

Chinese Social Media

This paper studies conspiracy and debunking narratives about the origins of COVID-19 on a major Chinese social media platform, Weibo, from January to April 2020. Popular conspiracies about COVID-19 on Weibo, including that the virus is human-synthesized or a bioweapon, differ substan-tially from those in the United States. They attribute more responsibility to the United States than to China, especially following Sino-U.S. confrontations. Compared to conspiracy posts, debunking posts are associated with lower user participation but higher mobilization. Debunking narratives can be more engaging when they come from women and influencers and cite scientists. Our find-ings suggest that conspiracy narratives can carry highly cultural and political orientations. Correc-tion efforts should consider political motives and identify important stakeholders to reconstruct international dialogues toward intercultural understanding.

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An assessment of fluoride related posts on Instagram

Health Promotion Perspectives ◽

10.15171/hpp.2019.11 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 85-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Corey H. Basch ◽

Nicole Milano ◽

Grace C. Hillyer

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Information ◽

Driving Force ◽

English Language ◽

Fluoride Content ◽

Conspiracy Theory ◽

The Internet ◽

Medical Providers ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Media Platform

Background: Social media is a driving force in the sharing of information. The purpose of this study is to describe fluoride related content on Instagram, a popular social media platform. Methods: Content categories were created and coded to better describe the nature of the posts.Data collection occurred in three sessions, two months apart. Only relevant posts that included images and had text written in the English language were included. Results: The most common topics were conspiracy theory, contained in 37.3% of posts, followed by dangers of fluoride to health (30.3%) and benefits of fluoride to teeth (28.7%). Of the posts reviewed, 96/300 (32.0%) contained pro-fluoride content while 139/300 (63.0%) posts featured anti-fluoride content. Content varied significantly between pro- and anti-fluoride posts.Conclusion: Our review of Instagram posts revealed that there were approximately 300 posts focused on fluoride related content. Of these posts, there was a higher number of anti-fluoride related content compared to pro-fluoride related content. With accessibility comes the potential for misinformation. Future efforts from medical providers need to focus on educating consumers about reliable sources for health information on the internet.

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Islam and Social Media: Attitudes and Views

Asian Social Science ◽

10.5539/ass.v12n5p221 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 221

Author(s):

Wafa Abu Hatab

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

English Language ◽

Human Interaction ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Individual Level ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

The Social ◽

Media Platform ◽

And Gender ◽

Use Of Social Media

<p>Social media has become an integral part of our daily life encapsulating time and place, creating new relations and fostering old ones not only on an individual level but also on social and global ones. This revolution in human interaction was led by the introduction of Facebook in 2004 that was followed by other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instegram. This electronic revolution swept over to reach mobile phones and to introduce new platforms such as WhatsApp and Viber. The present study investigated attitudes and views towards the use of social media in promoting Islam. A random sample of Facebook users was asked to fill in a questionnaire that tackled questions related to their attitudes towards the role of social media in promoting Islam, the linguistic influence of the social media on their English language skills when talking about Islam and the most preferred social media platform. . Respondents were then classified according to education and gender. The study revealed that the social media have affected the way the other is addressed when discussing Islamic topics. Despite some negative stands, the positive attitudes towards social media in promoting Islam prevailed. The views were influenced by the respondents’ age, gender and education. The linguistic influence of the social media on developing English skills was viewed positively. The Facebook was the most preferred social media platform. Further research is recommended on the interrelationships between social factors and views of social media. Code-switching among social media users and the effect on Arabic might be also investigated.</p>

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Influence of social media on EFL Yemeni learners in Indian Universities during Covid-19 Pandemic

Linguistics and Culture Review ◽

10.21744/lingcure.v4n1.19 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 35-47

Author(s):

Saleh Altam

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Research Methodology ◽

English Language ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Spelling Errors ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Media Platform ◽

Quantitative Design ◽

The Impact

The present study aims to scrutinize the efficiency of using social media on EFL Yemeni learners in Indian universities during COVID-19 pandemic. This research covers four social media_ Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp. The research methodology that is used in this research is quantitative design using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed online using a closed-ended questionnaire. Google forms was exploited in this study. The findings indicate that learners spend more time using social media for learning the English language, and listening is the most improved skill when using social media for learning the English language. Results also indicate that using social media makes learners acquire and practice new vocabularies and decrease their spelling errors. Finally, YouTube is the most used social media platform used for learning the English language. More research is needed to clarify the impact of other social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, Wechat ,etc. on EFL learners. Further research is also recommended for investigating the impact of social media on each skill separately.

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Social media analytics in the construction industry comparison study between China and the United States

Engineering Construction & Architectural Management ◽

10.1108/ecam-12-2019-0717 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (8) ◽

pp. 1877-1889

Author(s):

Liyaning Tang ◽

Logan Griffith ◽

Matt Stevens ◽

Mary Hardie

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Social Media ◽

Data Collection ◽

Construction Industry ◽

The United States ◽

Content Type ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Media Platform ◽

Similarities And Differences

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover similarities and differences in the construction industry in China and the United States by using data analytic tools on data crawled from social media platforms.Design/methodology/approachThe method comprised comprehensive data analytics using network link analysis and natural language processing tools to discover similarities and differences of social networks, topics of interests and sentiments and emotions on different social media platforms.FindingsFrom the research, it showed that all clusters (construction company, construction worker, construction media and construction union) shared similar trends on follower-following ratios and sentiment analysis in both social media platforms. The biggest difference between the two countries is that public accounts (e.g. company, media and union) on Twitter posted more on public interests, including safety and energy.Research limitations/implicationsThe research contributes to knowledge about an alternative method of data collection for both academia and industry practitioners. Statistical bias can be introduced by only using social media platform data. The analyzed four clusters can be further divided to reflect more fine-grained groups of construction industries. The results can be integrated into other analyses based on traditional methodologies of data collection such as questionnaire surveys or interviews.Originality/valueThe research provides a comparative study of the construction industries in China and the USA among four clusters using social media platform data.

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Sosyal medyada Suriye’li sığınmacılara yönelik algı: bir sözlük değerlendirmesi

GÖÇ DERGİSİ ◽

10.33182/gd.v4i2.596 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 185-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Servet Kardeş ◽

Çağla Banko ◽

Berrin Akman

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Social Media ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Syrian Refugees ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Content Analysis Method ◽

Negative News ◽

Media Platform ◽

Made In

Bu araştırmada sığınmacılara yönelik paylaşımların yapıldığı sosyal medyada yer alan sözlüklerden birinde sığınmacılara yönelik algıya bakılmıştır. Yöntem olarak nitel desende olan bu çalışmada, bir sosyal medya sitesinde yer alan paylaşımlar içerik analizi yoluyla derinlemesine incelenip yorumlanmıştır. Araştırmanın sonucunda sosyal medya kullanıcılarının sığınmacıları büyük bir güvensizlik ortamı ve huzursuzluk yaratan bireyler olarak gördükleri saptanmış, sığınmacılarla yaşanan deneyimlerin ve medyadaki haberlerin bu düşüncelerin oluşmasında etkisinin olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bunun yanında sosyal medya kullanıcılarının devletin sığınmacılar konusunda yanlış politika izlediğini düşündükleri ve sığınmacılar için etkili bir planlama yapılmadığını ifade ettikleri görülmüştür. Çalışmanın sonuçları doğrultusunda medyada sığınmacılar hakkında çıkan haberlerde olumsuz ve şiddet temalı haberlerin azaltılması, Suriyeli sığınmacıların durumu, sahip oldukları haklar ve topluma yansımaları hakkında doğru ve bilgilendirici kamu spotları hazırlanması ayrıca sığınmacıların topluma entegre olma sürecinin her basamağında daha planlı ve etkili bir yol izlenmesi önerilebilir.ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHPerceptions about Syrian refugees on social media: an evaluation of a social media platformIn this research, posts which are about Syrian refugees were published in a social media platform, called as “sözlük” were investigated. The research is a qualitative research. The posts in this platform are analyzed with content analysis method. According to results of analyses, social media users see Syrian refugees as people who create an insecure and a restless environment. The experiences people had with them and news have an effect on this view. In addition, social media users think that government made inappropriate policies and ineffective plans about Syrian refugees. It is suggested negative news about Syrian refugees should be decreased and government should make safer policies. In addition, adaptation of refugees to society should be made in more planned and effective way.

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Value cocreation behavior of customers and companies on the Weibo social media platform

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.8903 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Huiqin Zhang ◽

Hai Lan ◽

Xudong Chen

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Service Quality ◽

Customer Value ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Customer Participation ◽

Citizenship Behavior ◽

Generation Process ◽

Social Media Platform ◽

Value Cocreation ◽

Media Platform

The Weibo social media platform in China has an important role in the value-generation process between a company and a customer. We investigated the relationship between the service quality provided on a company's Weibo page and the two dimensions of customer value cocreation behavior, namely, participation and citizenship, as well as the moderating effect of collectivism on this relationship. Participants were 354 active users of Weibo. Our findings confirmed that the service quality provided on a company's Weibo page was critical to the generation of customer value cocreation behavior. Further, collectivism moderated this relationship, with higher levels of collectivism strengthening the Weibo page service quality and customer value cocreation behavior relationship. In addition, customer citizenship behavior was positively related to customer perceptions of brand image, whereas customer participation was not. Implications for companies in the Chinese context are discussed.

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