The role of social media in the formation of public opinion towards Islamists: A content analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagwa El Gazzar
Author(s):  
Ogbu S. U. ◽  
Olupohunda Bayo Festus

In Nigeria, during the agitation for Biafra by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra between 2013 and 2017, the role of Facebook in the dissemination of hate messages by the protagonists and those in opposition to the agitation raised concern about the role of social media as a tool for the spread of hate messages. It is against this background that this research was designed to evaluate the role of Facebook in the spread of hate messages over the agitation for the separate state of Biafra. The study adopted the exploratory design and the mix method approach; both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. For the quantitative data, 400 questionnaires were administered on purposively sampled respondents. The surveys were analyzed using simple percentages and frequency distribution. Also, content analysis of some purposively selected Facebook messages was carried out. In the end, the research found that hate messages were propagated through Facebook using six major channels during the agitation for Biafra between 2013 and 2017. They include; Facebook Personal Profiles, Status Updates and Wall Postings, Facebook Group Chats, Facebook Video Uploads, Individual Comments and Likes, Video Shares and Reposts, and sharing of articles and links to other social media platforms. In line with its findings, the research recommended that Facebook should review its community standards and policies on postings of hate messages through its medium and also strengthen its regulatory mechanisms to ensure that it does not provide a platform anymore for propagators of hate messages in Nigeria and around the world.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
AWAD BIN MUHAMMAD ALKATIRI ◽  
ZHAFIRA NADIAH ◽  
ADINDA NADA S. NASUTION

Social media is popular with all ages, people in young and old age groups can access social media. Social media is a place for information and opinion exchange. Twitter is one of the social media that is actively used in Indonesia. The new normal phenomenon that is currently being applied is wanted to be further known by researchers by referring to the hashtag #newnormalindonesia on Twitter. Researchers want to find out how public opinion is formed based on the hashtag #newnormalindonesia on Twitter. This research uses the concept of public opinion which is categorized into positive, negative, and neutral. In the research method, researchers use quantitative content analysis, the analysis unit uses thematic analysis units with the operationalization of concepts using the concept of public opinion. Coding sheets are used as instruments in data collection techniques, then in testing the validity and reliability using inter-coder reliability. The results showed that the twitter posts with the #newnormalindonesia hashtag tendto be negative by not supporting the implementation of new normal.


Author(s):  
Mohamad Saifudin Mohamad Saleh ◽  
Harald Heinrichs ◽  
Nik Norma Nik Hasan

This paper provides a discussion on the perception of Malaysian media and environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) on the role of images in shaping the public's mind about environmental matters. Two methods were employed for this study. First, a total of 24 participants from the Malaysian media and ENGOs were interviewed. Second, a total of 2,050 environmental articles on media newspapers and ENGOs newsletters from the period of 2012 to 2014 were collected for the quantitative content analysis. The findings from interview confirmed that pictures were labelled by journalists and ENGOs staff as the most important tool in presenting the reality of the environmental problems to the public. This is because, upon seeing the pictures accompanying environmental articles, readers will gain more trust of the environmental information. This was in harmony with the results of the quantitative content analysis, where more than 60% of pictures were found on environmental articles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Seerat Sohal ◽  
Harsandaldeep Kaur

The present study is an endeavour to broaden the research on the use of social media websites in political campaigns beyond the ambit of developed countries. This article focuses on scrutinizing the role of YouTube during 2014 Indian Parliamentary elections—the first ‘social media’-based elections in India. The methodology of data collection incorporates the content analysis of 147 YouTube-based audio–visual political advertisements, associating the message characteristics (natures, types and appeals) with message reach (number of views) and viewer engagement (types of comments). The results reveal the failure of the viewers to recognize the association between message reach and viewers’ engagement with message characteristics, confirming the ‘marginal’ use of YouTube. However, the study recommends the incorporation of contemporary, Internet-based social media advertising tools along with the traditional tools in the future political marketing campaigns. This article is instrumental for political marketers and consultants in devising political marketing strategies.


Cittaslow movement as a local development model has become increasingly important all overthe world since 1999. One of the important factor for the sustainability of this movement is communicated with both local residents and destination visitors accurately and conscious way about the principles and the benefits of Cittaslow philosophy and the unique features of the destination. At this point, social media is a key tool in destination marketing for Cittaslow destinations due to its features such as providing a competitive advantage, reaching a global audience, rapid dissemination of information, communicating with consumers. In this regard the study focuses the role of social media in destination marketing. The aim of the research is to determine how and at what level Cittaslow in Turkey use social media in destination marketing. In accordance with this purpose, content analysis technique was used and Facebook was chosen as social media channel. Among 11 Cittaslow in Turkey, 7 Cittaslow destinations (Gökçeada, Halfeti, Perşembe, Seferihisar, Şavşat, Vize, Yalvaç) that have an official municipality Facebook page were included to the research. This destinations’ posts between January 2016 and June 2016 were analysed in terms of content, frequency and interactivity by utilising the categories Hays et al. (2013) created in their study. The findings of this study show that, Seferihisar Municipality uses social media more effectively in terms of content and post frequency but they also reveal that interactivity which is one of the most important features of social media is not adequately heeded by all Cittaslow destinations in Turkey.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Amal Bakry ◽  
Mariam F Alkazemi

The current study examines the print and social media coverage of the “Maspero” massacre in Egypt, in which military forces attacked Coptic Christians in a predominantly Muslim country. By employing a qualitative content analysis, the authors examine the role of media in inducing a state of social cohesion. Data were collected from a state-owned newspaper, Al-Ahram, and an independent newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm. Data were also collected from a blog that compiles testimonies of witnesses to the “Maspero” massacre as well as three of Egypt’s best-known online activists: Alaa Abd El Fattah (@alaa), Salma Said (@salmasaid), and Rasha Azab (@RashaPress). The results reveal the themes of print and social media coverage of the events, with the suggestion that social media was much more effective in inducing social cohesion than the print media.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hüseyin Küçükali ◽  
Ömer Ataç ◽  
Ayşe Zülal Tokaç ◽  
Ayşe Seval Palteki ◽  
Osman Erol Hayran

Background: Vaccine hesitation, which is defined as one of the most important global health threats by World Health Organization, maintains its universal importance during the COVID-19 period. Due to the increasing appearance of anti-vaccine arguments on social media, Twitter is a useful resource in detecting these contents. In this study, we aimed to identify the prominent themes about vaccine hesitancy and refusal on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this qualitative study we collected Twitter contents which contain a vaccine-related keywords and published publicly between 9/12/2020 and 8/1/2021 (n=551,245). A stratified random sample (n=1041) is selected and analyzed by four researchers with content analysis method. Results: All tweets included in the study were shared from 1,000 unique accounts of which 2.7% were verified and 11.3% organizational users. 90.5% of the tweets were about vaccines, 22.6% (n=213) of the tweets mentioned at least one COVID-19 vaccine name and the most frequently mentioned COVID-19 vaccine was CorronaVac (51.2%). Yet, it was mostly as "Chinese vaccine" (42.3%). 22.0% (n=207) of the tweets included at least one anti-vaccination theme. Among tweets that included an anti-vaccination theme; poor scientific processes (21.7%), conspiracy theories (16.4%), and suspicions towards manufacturers (15.5%) were the most frequently mentioned themes. The most co-occurred themes were "Poor scientific process" theme come along with "suspicion towards manufacturers" (n=9) and "suspicion towards health authorities" (n=5). Conclusions: This study may be helpful for health managers to identify the major concerns of the population and organize the preventive measures, through the significant role of social media on early information about vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination attitudes.


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