scholarly journals Trolls, Pressure and Agenda: The discursive fight on Twitter in Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
Uğur Baloğlu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Communicative Rationality ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
New Form

Censorship, banning, and imprisonment are different methods used to suppress dissenting voices in traditional media and have now evolved into a new form with bot and troll accounts in the digital media age in Turkey. Is it possible to construct a bloc with counter-trolls against the escalating political pressure on the media in the post-truth era? Are counter-trolls capable of setting the agenda? This article discusses the possibility of constructing a bloc against the escalating political pressure in Turkey on the media through counter-trolls in the context of communicative rationality. First, it observes the ruling party’s troll politics strategy on Twitter, then examines the counter-discourses against political pressure today; thereafter it analyzes the discourse in hashtags on the agenda of the Boğaziçi University protests. Firstly, 18,000 tweets are examined to understand the suppress-communication strategy of the AK Party trolls. Secondly, the agenda-setting capacity of counter-trolls is observed between January 1, 2020, and February 5, 2021, and 18,000 tweets regarding Boğaziçi protests are examined to analyze the communication strategy of the counter-trolls. The study shows that the populist government instrumentalizes communication in social media, and Twitter does not have enough potential for the Gramscian counter-hegemony, but the organized actions and discourses have the potential to create public opinion.

Conflict and interest between journalists and politicians in Iraq in the age of media entrepreneurship

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Omar Bali
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Smartphone Applications ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Media Space ◽  
The Media ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study examines the ethical conflict of interest that exists in this sphere between journalists and politicians in an age of media entrepreneurship in Iraq, which theoretically would enable journalists to express their own voices and hold a greater stake in the media market. A qualitative method was adopted for this study using open, in-depth interviews with 36 participants. The study found that relative freedom, smartphone applications and social media helped innovative Iraqi journalists to become media entrepreneurs and own media enterprises themselves. These media enterprises are characterized by activities such as publishing material that is critical in tone and satirical in content and accompanied by short videos that are broadcast on social media. This is then easily accessible for media consumers using their smartphones. Media enterprises appear to offer journalists an opportunity for professional and financial independence, but their operation in the Iraqi media space tends to reflect the propagandistic function of traditional media outlets instead of fulfilling this emancipatory role. The findings also showed that there is a dark side to Iraqi digital media enterprise, which involves politicians exploiting journalists to troll and attack activists through anonymous digital media. This in turn harms the freedom of expression and suppresses critical views voice against the political establishment.

Indigenous language newspapers and the digital media conundrum in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692098340
Author(s):  
Kevin Onyenankeya
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
The Future ◽  
Major Factors

The future of journalism is being shaped by the convergence of technology and societal shifts. For indigenous language press in Africa battling to stay afloat amidst stiff competition from traditional media, the pervasive and rapidly encroaching digital transformation holds both opportunities and potential threats. Using a qualitative approach, this paper examined the implication of the shift to digital media for the future of the indigenous language newspaper in Africa and identifies opportunities for its sustainability within the framework of the theories of technological determinism and alternative media. The analysis indicates poor funding, shrinking patronage, and competition from traditional and social media as the major factors facing indigenous newspapers. It emerged that for indigenous language newspapers to thrive in the rapidly changing and technology-driven world they need to not only adapt to the digital revolution but also explore a business model that combines a futuristic outlook with a practical approach.

scholarly journals Social Media Influencer’s Reputation: Developing and Validating a Multidimensional Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Eun Ah Ryu ◽  
Eun Kyoung Han
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media

Since the introduction of smartphones in 2009, social networking services (SNS), which have seen a surge in users, facilitated changes in the media environment along with social influence that has increased the economic value and political influence of SNS. In particular, as consumers’ media use and consumption behavior change around digital media, social media plays a very important role in consumers’ lives. From this perspective, influencers who influence not only consumers’ consumption behavior, but also decision-making and opinion formation based on social media are attracting attention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop items to measure an influencer’s reputation as a new source of information in the SNS environment; no previous researchers have presented generalized measurement items for an influencer’s reputation. We intended to identify what dimensions and items in the existing literature could effectively measure a social media influencer’s reputation and to verify each item’s relevance as a measure of a social media influencer’s reputation. Based on in-depth interviews with 30 experts and empirical findings from 557 adults, this study identified dimensions that impact on a consumer’s perception of a social media influencer and developed a scale. The results showed that the social media Influencer’s Reputation scale comprises four distinctive dimensions: Communication skills, influence, authenticity, and expertise. Additionally, the reliability and validity of the scale were assessed, using exploratory and confirmatory analyses and construct validity. The findings confirmed that the social media influencer’s reputation scale measurement items, in this study, can be used as a consistent measurement tool for each dimension. It is also important to develop value in favor of the marketing strategy by increasing value through the influencer’s reputation.

scholarly journals The Clickwrap: A Political Economic Mechanism for Manufacturing Consent on Social Media

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630511878477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Obar ◽  
Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
User Interactions ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Media Services ◽  
Social Media Service ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Economic Function

The clickwrap is a digital prompt that facilitates consent processes by affording users the opportunity to quickly accept or reject digital media policies. A qualitative survey analysis was conducted ( N = 513), assessing user interactions with the consent materials of a fictitious social media service, NameDrop. Findings suggest that clickwraps serve a political economic function by facilitating the circumvention of consent materials. Herman and Chomsky’s notion of the “buying mood” guides the analysis to analogize how social media maintain flow to monetized sections of services while diverting attention from policies that might encourage dissent. Clickwraps accomplish this through an agenda-setting function whereby prompts encouraging circumvention are made more prominent than policy links. Results emphasize that clickwraps discourage engagement with privacy and reputation protections by suggesting that consent materials are unimportant, contributing to the normalization of this circumvention. The assertion that clickwraps serve a political economic function suggests that capitalist methods of production are successfully being integrated into social media services and have the ability to manufacture consent.

scholarly journals Analysing inter-media agenda setting influence between Social media and electronic media; a perspective from Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 4 (Issue 2) ◽  
pp. 478-496
Author(s):  
Farrukh Shahzad ◽  
Prof. Dr. Syed Abdul Siraj
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Lagged Correlation

Inter-media agenda setting is a commonly used phenomenon to investigate the transfer of contents between news media. The recent digitization era challenges the traditional presuppositions. This study investigates the inter-media agenda setting influence between social media and traditional media. To address this question, the present study investigates first level agenda setting between Twitter and ARY news during Farishta murder case 2019. Content analysis method was used to assess agendas present within Twitter and ARY news. By employing cross-lagged correlation, the study investigates the inter-media agenda setting influence between Twitter agendas and of ARY news agendas. Aggregate findings of cross-lagged correlation reveal a clear agenda setting influence of Twitter on ARY news coverage agenda about Farishta murder case. The results of the study suggest that Twitter has the capability to influence broadcast agendas of television in Pakistan

Unknown Publics

2018 ◽  
pp. 207-214
Author(s):  
Susan Zieger
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Information Storage ◽  
First Century ◽  
Media Consumption ◽  
The Media ◽  
Twenty First Century

The conclusion reviews the five central components through which the book has posited connections between nineteenth- and twenty-first century habits of media consumption. It shows how “addiction” still serves as a descriptive metaphor for the consumption of information, now networked and constantly refreshing itself; how the fantasy of infinite mental retention still governs fantasies of mastering information overload; how playback has only continued to conflate memory with information storage, resulting in programmable subjects and information as a super-commodity; how digital media reproduction and circulation ironically still creates the aura of mass live events; and finally, how the media consumer’s dilemma of establishing authenticity has only become more aggravated in an era of self-branding on social media.

Communicating During an Outbreak or Public Health Investigation

2019 ◽  
pp. 243-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbigail J. Tumpey ◽  
David Daigle ◽  
Glen Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media

Effective communication during an outbreak or public health investigation is crucial for fostering adoption of public health recommendations and minimizing or preventing harm. During outbreaks, a comprehensive communication strategy integrating news media, social media, and partner engagement is essential for reaching affected persons and for keeping everyone informed about public health actions and recommendations. The strategies outlined in this chapter are the foundation for rapidly and effectively conveying information and public health recommendations to the persons at risk, the media, and the different entities involved in the response. Regardless of the public health event’s cause, core communication actions and steps will be similar; however, in every outbreak or public health investigation, perceptions and needs will vary among target audiences, partners (i.e., persons or organizations that can play a role in the crisis response), and persons or organizations with a connection or interest in the outbreak (stakeholders).

scholarly journals Using the president’s tweets to understand political diversion in the age of social media

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lewandowsky ◽  
Michael Jetter ◽  
Ullrich K. H. Ecker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Increased Activity

Abstract Social media has arguably shifted political agenda-setting power away from mainstream media onto politicians. Current U.S. President Trump’s reliance on Twitter is unprecedented, but the underlying implications for agenda setting are poorly understood. Using the president as a case study, we present evidence suggesting that President Trump’s use of Twitter diverts crucial media (The New York Times and ABC News) from topics that are potentially harmful to him. We find that increased media coverage of the Mueller investigation is immediately followed by Trump tweeting increasingly about unrelated issues. This increased activity, in turn, is followed by a reduction in coverage of the Mueller investigation—a finding that is consistent with the hypothesis that President Trump’s tweets may also successfully divert the media from topics that he considers threatening. The pattern is absent in placebo analyses involving Brexit coverage and several other topics that do not present a political risk to the president. Our results are robust to the inclusion of numerous control variables and examination of several alternative explanations, although the generality of the successful diversion must be established by further investigation.

Media vs. candidates and minorities vs. majorities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briana Trifiro ◽  
Yiyan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Time Series Analysis ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Setting Process ◽  
The Media ◽  
Online Web

Abstract Despite an abundance of research dedicated to the first level agenda setting process in political elections, there is a considerable gap within the literature regarding how the amount of media coverage granted to minority candidates – people of color and women – influence their salience in public opinion. The current study seeks to address this gap by analyzing the effects of online coverage of minority candidates and their subsequent performance in national polling data from June 1, 2019 to November 20, 2019. The present study utilizes a time-series analysis to compare three information formats: Twitter accounts of major media organizations, online web mentions of candidates from these organizations, and the candidates’ own Twitter presence. The presented findings illustrate important relationships – specifically, where candidates of color were able to set their own agenda through their Twitter accounts as opposed to coverage that they received from the media.

The hardware and software of Trumpism: A figure/ground analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Miroshnichenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Media Effects ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
Instrumental Approach ◽  
News Industry ◽  
The Media

This article probes into Trumpism using McLuhan’s idea of figure/ground analysis. To make visible the hidden ground behind a salient figure (or figures), the dichotomy of instrumental and environmental approaches to media effects is introduced. The widely used instrumental approach is rooted in the long-standing Lasswellian tradition of communication studies (‘who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?’). The instrumental explanations of Trumpism are unavoidably reductionist, as they focus on figures and, therefore, overemphasize rationality and agency in media use. On the contrary, the environmental approach focuses on hidden ground and explores what environmental forces originate from new media’s proliferation and how these forces reshape habitat and inhabitants. To apply this view, the article examines the environmental factors within the news industry and social media that are favourable to Trumpism: the commodification of Trump by the media, the morphological conflict between broadcasting and engaging modes of agenda-setting, the built-in polarization of social media and others.

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