scholarly journals Online interaction turns the congeniality bias into an uncongeniality bias

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Buder ◽  
Anja Zimmermann ◽  
Brett Buttliere ◽  
Lisa Rabl ◽  
Markus Huff

Online phenomena like echo chambers and belief polarisation are believed to be driven by humans’ penchant to selectively expose themselves to attitudinally congenial content. However, if like-minded content were the only predictor of online behaviour, heated debate and flaming on the Internet would hardly occur. Research has overlooked how online behaviour changes when people are given an opportunity to reply to dissenters, potentially turning a preference for attitudinally congenial information into a preference for uncongenial information. Three main experiments consistently show that in a discussion forum setting where users can respond to earlier posts, larger conflict between user attitude and post attitude predicts higher likelihood to respond. The effect of conflict on response behaviour is shaped by the attitudinal composition of the forum, and it also predicts subsequent polarisation of users’ attitudes. These results suggest that belief polarisation on social media can be driven by conflict rather than congeniality.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Ilya Kiriya

This article explores aspects, transformations, and dynamics of the ideological control of the internet in Russia. It analyses the strategies of actors across the Russian online space which contribute to this state-driven ideological control. The tightening of legislative regulation over the last 10 years to control social media and digital self-expression in Russia is relatively well studied. However, there is a lack of research on how the control of the internet works at a structural level. Namely, how it isolates “echo chambers” of oppositional discourses while also creating a massive flood of pro-state information and opinions. This article argues that the strategy of the Russian state to control the internet over the last 10 years has changed considerably. From creating troll factories and bots to distort communication in social media, the state is progressively moving towards a strategy of creating a huge state-oriented information flood to “litter” online space. Such a strategy relies on the generation of news resources which attract large volumes of traffic, which leads to such “trash information” dominating the internet.


2021 ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
Timur Badmatsyrenov ◽  
Fedor Khandarov ◽  
Alexander Tsydenov

The study of the features of the reproduction of political ideologies in social networks and the formation of user communities united by adherence to some political ideas is an urgent problem of contemporary political science. Social media has become an agent for the development of new forms of political activity, providing unprecedented opportunities for transferring and exchanging information, broadcasting political ideas, and involving people in virtual and real communities. Today, social media have become not just a means of transmitting information and a form of entertainment, but a special global form of social political interaction, increasingly penetrating into the most diverse aspects of society. In political interactions, the online services of new media can be described as a “third space”, a development of Ray Oldenburg's concept, in which he singles out a part of the social space not related to housing (“first place”) and work (“second place”). Online communities on social networks have become a mixed form of institutionalized political and informal non-political interactions, as exemplified by ideologically based social media groups. The transformations caused by the rapid development of the Internet and “new social media” are giving rise to a fundamentally new reality of social interaction, which combines two contradictory trends. On the one hand, the Internet and social media have expanded people's access to information and significantly increased the field of social interaction and communication, thereby creating the basis for uniting users on various grounds, including political and ideological views. On the other hand, such changes led to a crisis of trust between the participants. Users belonging to different political ideologies form stable “echo chambers” in their Internet environment, rigidly filtering the information they receive, locking themselves in and reproducing the attributes of only their political ideology and not allowing outsiders there. In our opinion, this requires a study that provides for a close study of ideological “echo chambers”, which seems necessary for understanding the processes of political communication and ways of reproducing political and ideological views in the online sphere.


Glimpse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
Nokta Celik ◽  

From artists like Michelangelo to Andy Warhol, art has played an interesting role in conveying messages to society. Worldwide increase in media consumption and increasing time spent on the Internet make art previously concerning niche audiences more widespread. In December 2019, Art Basel, one of the most important art platforms in the world, came to such attention with artwork exhibited in one of its galleries. When Maurizio Cattelan's work titled “Comedian”, which consisted of a banana affixed to a wall with duct tape, was sold for $150,000, it came to the limelight through the media. It was then transformed into a simulation with the interest of marketers and communicators and took its place among real-time marketing examples. In this study, Cattelan's “Comedian” is analyzed in terms of similarly prepared and published Turkish social media advertisements inspired by the artwork. It was seen that simulations most associated with the artwork in terms of visual and meaning had most online interaction and even won awards. Jean Baudrillard’s perspective that a vast process of simulation is taking place over the span of daily life, similar in style to ‘simulation models’ through which operational and cybernetic sciences work, is discussed in this context. The evidence from this study suggests that ‘banana copycats’ are creating by combining features or elements of reality.


Author(s):  
Gwen L. Shaffer

When two high-profile social media evangelists proposed a code of conduct for bloggers in April of 2007, the idea triggered a heated debate in cyberspace. Critics charged that the draft code contradicted the principles of free speech and expression that make blogs ideal spaces for uncensored discussion. However, proponents of the Internet self-regulation argued that formally adopted rules of conduct are necessary for bloggers to serve as a step towards a virtual civil society. The present analysis, grounded in a civil society theoretical framework and the U.S. tradition of media self-regulation, documents how Web users can routinely take advantage of the Internet’s open architecture for self-expression. Rather than attempting to enforce a blanket code of conduct, the author maintains that bloggers’ self-moderation based on generally acceptable content policies can foster inclusivity on blog pages and can help move the blogosphere to a virtual civil society.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Ranny Rastati

In 2017 the majority of internet users are 19-34 years old or 49.52% (APJI, 2017). Almost half of the internet users in Indonesia are digital natives who were born after 1980: Generation Y (1980-1995) and Generation Z (1996-2009). This research will be focused on Generation Z as the true generation of the internet. Generation Z was born when the internet is available, a contrast to Generation Y who is still experiencing the transition of the internet. The purpose of this research is to find an effective way of providing information about media literacy to Generation Z. Through descriptive qualitative, the study was conducted with in-depth interview and observation toward 12 university students in Jakarta. The results showed that there are four effective ways of providing information about media literacy which is i) videos distributed to social media such as Youtube and Instagram, ii) interesting memes in communicative style, iii) through selebgram or micro-celebrity in Instagram who is consider as a role model and have a positive image, and iv) roadside billboards. Another interesting finding is that male informants tend to like media literacy information through videos and memes, while female informants prefer campaigns conducted by positive image selebgram and billboard. AbstrakPada tahun 2017 pengguna internet di Indonesia mayoritas berusia 19-34 tahun yaitu sebanyak 49,52% (APJI, 2017). Dari data tersebut terlihat bahwa hampir sebagian pengguna internet di Indonesia adalah digital natives atau penutur asli teknologi digital yaitu orang-orang yang lahir setelah tahun 1980: Generasi Y (1980-1995) dan Generasi Z (1996-2009). Penelitian ini akan difokuskan kepada Generasi Z karena mereka dianggap sebagai sebenar-benarnya generasi internet. Generasi Z lahir saat teknologi tersebut sudah tersedia, berbeda dengan Generasi Y yang masih mengalami transisi teknologi hingga menuju internet. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mencari tahu cara yang efektif dalam memberikan informasi mengenai media literasi kepada generasi Z. Metode yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif dengan observasi dan wawancara mendalam. Informan berjumlah 12 orang mahasiswa di Jakarta. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada empat cara yang efektif dalam memberikan informasi mengenai media literasi yaitu i) video yang disebarkan ke media sosial seperti Youtube dan Instagram, ii) meme menarik dengan bahasa yang mudah dimengerti, iii) melalui selebgram yang menjadi panutan dan berimage positif, dan iv) papan iklan di pinggir jalan. Temuan menarik lainnya adalah informan laki-laki cenderung menyukai informasi media literasi melalui video dan meme yang disebarkan ke media sosial, sementara perempuan lebih menyukai kampanye yang dilakukan oleh selebgram berimage positif dan papan iklan.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shreya Reddy ◽  
Lisa Ewen ◽  
Pankti Patel ◽  
Prerak Patel ◽  
Ankit Kundal ◽  
...  

<p>As bots become more prevalent and smarter in the modern age of the internet, it becomes ever more important that they be identified and removed. Recent research has dictated that machine learning methods are accurate and the gold standard of bot identification on social media. Unfortunately, machine learning models do not come without their negative aspects such as lengthy training times, difficult feature selection, and overwhelming pre-processing tasks. To overcome these difficulties, we are proposing a blockchain framework for bot identification. At the current time, it is unknown how this method will perform, but it serves to prove the existence of an overwhelming gap of research under this area.<i></i></p>


Communicology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-179
Author(s):  
E.S. Nadezhkina

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.


Author(s):  
Robert E. Goodin ◽  
Kai Spiekermann

This chapter reflects on the election of Donald Trump and the vote of the British electorate in favour of ‘Brexit’ from the European Union. While we refrain from judging the outcomes of these votes, we do discuss concerns pertaining to the lack of truthfulness in both campaigns. After rehearsing the lies on which the Trump and Brexit campaigns were based, we consider different explanations as to why these campaigns were nevertheless successful, and where this leaves the argument for epistemic democracy. Particularly worrisome are tendencies towards ‘epistemic insouciance’, ‘epistemic malevolence’, and ‘epistemic agnosticism’. We also consider the problematic influence of social media in terms of echo chambers and filter bubbles. The core argument in favour of epistemic democracy is that the pooling of votes by majority rule has epistemically beneficial properties, assuming certain conditions. If these assumptions are not met, or are systematically corrupted, then epistemic democracy is under threat.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lane

The first chapter introduces the concept of the digital street. The author argues that a digital form of street life plays out alongside the neighborhood on social media. The author discusses how the traditional boundaries of street life and the street code in particular have shifted as neighborhood space extends online. Black and Latino teenagers now experience their neighborhood differently from previous generations. The author explains the fieldwork this book is based upon. The author describes meeting “Pastor” and becoming an outreach worker in his peace ministry and then taking on additional roles online and offline with teenagers and concerned adults. This introductory chapter also gives background on access to smartphones and the Internet. A brief description of the contents of each chapter and the order of the chapters is provided.


Author(s):  
Marissa Silverman

This chapter asks an important, yet seemingly illusive, question: In what ways does the internet provide (or not) activist—or, for present purposes “artivist”—opportunities and engagements for musicing, music sharing, and music teaching and learning? According to Asante (2008), an “artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation” (p. 6). Given this view, can (and should) social media be a means to achieve artivism through online musicing and music sharing, and, therefore, music teaching and learning? Taking a feminist perspective, this chapter interrogates the nature of cyber musical artivism as a potential means to a necessary end: positive transformation. In what ways can social media be a conduit (or hindrance) for cyber musical artivism? What might musicing and music sharing gain (or lose) from engaging with online artivist practices? In addition to a philosophical investigation, this chapter will examine select case studies of online artivist music making and music sharing communities with the above concerns in mind, specifically as they relate to music education.


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