scholarly journals Political Communication Patterns of Young Adults in Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Datts ◽  
Jan-Erik Wiederholz ◽  
Martin Schultze ◽  
Gerhard Vowe
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Communication Patterns ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Starting Point

While the political communication and participation activities of young adults are changing, this is often not adequately captured by research due to a too narrow conceptualization of the phenomenon. Our approach conceptualizes political communication as activities comprising the reception of political content, interpersonal communication regarding political issues and political participation. We incorporated both analog and digital media, as well as different forms of political participation, to reflect the complex reality of political communication activities of young adults in the digital age. On the basis of a sample from 2013, we investigated the patterns of political communication of young adults (ages 18–33 years). This age group represents the first generation to have grown up under the ubiquitous influence of the internet and other modern information technologies. In addition, we examined factors influencing the formation of different political communication patterns of this generation. Results of cluster analyses demonstrated that young adults should not be seen as a homogeneous group. Rather, we found six communication types. Interestingly, no online-only type of political communication was revealed, By applying multinomial logistic regression analysis, we were able to demonstrate that socio-demographic variables, individual resources and cognitive involvement in politics influence the likelihood of belonging to more active political communication types. The present study investigated various information and communication opportunities of young adults, and is rare in terms of the richness of data provided. Our conceptual innovative approach enables a better understanding of young adults’ complex political communication patterns. Moreover, our approach encourages follow-up research, as our results provide a valuable starting point for intergenerational comparisons regarding changes in political engagement among young adults in Germany, as well as for cross-country analysis regarding different generations of young adults.

Hyperpartisan news: Rethinking the media for populist politics

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482091041
Author(s):  
Maria Rae
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Agents ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Media ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Better Than

Online media sites such as Breitbart News in the United States and The Canary in the United Kingdom have come to prominence as powerful new agents. Their reach and influence in the contemporary digital media ecology have been widely highlighted, yet there has been little scholarship to situate these important new players in the field of political communication. This article argues that, first, these ‘interlopers’ known as the ‘alt-right’ and ‘alt-left’ need to be understood as embedded in the context of populist politics. Second, ‘hyperpartisan’ describes these sites better than the framework of alternative media as it mirrors populism’s ideological pillar of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Finally, a deliberate provocation is argued to name these digital start-ups as news to create a starting point for conceptualising these disruptive new media forces.

scholarly journals Cyberpolitics

Communication ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Howard
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Media Environments ◽  
Media Systems

Cyberpolitics is a domain of inquiry into the role of new information technologies in contemporary political life. It is an exciting domain of inquiry because not all of the things that communication scholars learned by studying mass media systems and interpersonal communication hold up in digital media environments. Studying cyberpolitics usually means one of two things. It can mean investigating the ways in which political actors use new technologies in creative—and sometimes problematic—ways. Some voters use digital media to improve their knowledge of public affairs, others use the same media to limit the flow of news and information. The Internet allows some journalists to do more research and track down more sources, but such digital media has had a significant impact on the organization of the newsroom and the features of the news market. Politicians and candidates for elected office use the Internet to reach out to new voters, but they also use it for data mining and manipulating public opinion. But studying cyberpolitics can also mean investigating the less overt political machinations that go into setting telecommunications standards and making decisions about how to engineer information infrastructure. Allocating the public spectrum, setting privacy standards into law, building universal broadband access, or deciding which information packets may be more important than others are technical issues with significant implications for political life.

scholarly journals Desigualdade, conectividade e direito à educação em tempos de pandemia

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-132
Author(s):  
Susana Beatriz Scavino ◽  
Vera Maria Candau
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
State Education ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
The Right

O artigo parte da constatação de que a pandemia do COVID-19 escancarou as enormes desigualdades presentes na sociedade brasileira e as inter-relações entre elas. Entende os Direitos Humanos como processos históricos, sempre em construção, na busca permanente de condições de vida justas e dignas para todos. Nesse contexto, situam as questões relativas ao direito à educação. Tem presente os esforços e lutas de diversos grupos sociais, particularmente, a partir da Constituição Brasileira de 1988, para a afirmação desse direito. Assinala que houve conquistas relevantes, mas que ainda temos muito que caminhar para que todos possam ter uma educação de qualidade. Tendo presente o contexto atual e a implantação do “ensino remoto emergencial”, por parte de muitos sistemas municipais e estaduais de educação, afirma que emerge com força a necessidade de garantir o direito de todos ao acesso às tecnologias de comunicação e informação, especialmente as mídias digitais, como um componente fundamental do direito à educação. No entanto, é importante não se ter uma visão meramente instrumental dessa questão, muitas vezes, reduzida à utilização de pacotes oferecidos por diversas organizações numa perspectiva mercadológica. É fundamental levar em consideração que a cultura digital está cada vez mais presente em diferentes âmbitos da vida social e afeta diversas dimensões de nossas vidas, individual e coletivamente, e nos desafia a entender, como educadores, formas de aprendizagem múltiplas, suas possibilidades e limites. O texto defende a posição de que, além da universalização do acesso, é fundamental promover processos de letramento digital de forma contínua, processual e sistemática, tanto orientada aos alunos e alunas, como aos professores e professoras, que permitam afirmar o direito à conectividade numa perspectiva educacional reflexiva, crítica e criativa.   Inequality, connectivity, and the right to education in times of pandemic The starting point of this article is the observation that the COVID-19 pandemic has wide opened the enormous inequalities into Brazilian society and their interrelationships. We understand the Human Rights as historical processes always under construction and in permanent search for fair and decent living conditions for everyone. In this context, we detach the issues related to the right to education. We consider the efforts and struggles of various social groups, particularly since the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, to affirm this right. There have been relevant achievements, but there is still a long way to guarantee quality education to everyone. In the current context of the “emergency remote education”  implementation by many municipal and state education systems, we affirm that guarantee everyone’s right to communication and information technologies,  especially digital media, is strongly needed as a fundamental component of the right to education. However, it is important not to take a merely instrumental view of this issue, often reduced to the use of packages offered by various organizations from a market perspective. It is fundamental considering that the digital culture is increasingly present in different spheres of social life and affects different dimensions of our lives, individually and collectively. It also challenges us, as educators, to understand multiple forms of learning, their possibilities, and limits. The text defends that, beyond the access universalization, it is important to promote digital literacy processes in a continuous, procedural, and systematic way. Both must be oriented to students and teachers to affirm the right to connectivity in a reflexive, critical, and creative educational perspective. Keywords: Right to education. Right to connectivity. Digital culture. Digital literacy.  

scholarly journals The Influence of Digital Communications on Political Participation

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. V. Pyrma
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Digital Communications ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Interactive Technologies ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

The article provides a review of studies assessing the effects of digital communication technologies on the political participation of citizens. Political participation is understood as civic engagement. The author considers the changes in the forms of political participation of citizens in the transition of digital communications from unidirectional information technologies Web 1.0 to interactive technologies Web 2.0 used in social media. Evaluation of the impact of digital communications on public activity is shown from various well-founded positions of ‘cyber-pessimists’ and ‘cyberoptimists’. Pessimists note the negative effects of the increased use of digital communications, which consist of social disunity, the erosion of social capital and, as a result, in a decrease in civil and political activity. In turn, optimists argue that the intensive use of digital communications has opened up opportunities for access to the necessary information and the creation of new forms of political participation, significantly reducing the cost (time, effort) of mobilising supporters and coordinating action. Moreover, digital media has created conditions for the implementation of creative and non-political formats of participation, which are often transformed into political actions. Based on the metadata, the author concluded it is necessary to strengthen and diversity of the effects of digital communication on civic and political participation.

scholarly journals Political Communication of Indonesian Female Regional Leaders

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 365
Author(s):  
Sadiyah El Adawiyah ◽  
Aida Vitayala Hubeis ◽  
Titi Sumarti ◽  
Djoko Susanto
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Communication Patterns ◽  
Interactive Communication ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
Regional Leaders

The women's presence as regional leaders is one of the strategies for establishing more gender-just policies. Female regional leaders conducted diverse methods to win the votes of their constituents. The communication patterns used are diverse despite having similarities. The research aims to find out and analyze patterns and channels as well as the effects of political communication by female regional leaders in Indonesia. This study used a qualitative approach with three female regional leaders in three Javanese provinces. The research found that women tend to choose communication patterns and channels that used interpersonal communication channels to obtain political information. The female regional leaders used interactive communication patterns through social media, outdoor media, and mass media, such as television and print media. Communication channels used were personal communication channels, group communication channels, public communication channels, social communication channels, and traditional communication channels. The effect is that there is a change in the process of fighting for various public interests through verbal and nonverbal messages and mutual influence with various government policies. The research recommended that it is necessary to change the communication channel using social media massively to greet and discuss with constituents so that the effects are received massively as well.

Big Data and Communication Research

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Mobile Communication ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Filter Bubble

Communication research has recently had an influx of groundbreaking findings based on big data. Examples include not only analyses of Twitter, Wikipedia, and Facebook, but also of search engine and smartphone uses. These can be put together under the label “digital media.” This article reviews some of the main findings of this research, emphasizing how big data findings contribute to existing theories and findings in communication research, which have so far been lacking. To do this, an analytical framework will be developed concerning the sources of digital data and how they relate to the pertinent media. This framework shows how data sources support making statements about the relation between digital media and social change. It is also possible to distinguish between a number of subfields that big data studies contribute to, including political communication, social network analysis, and mobile communication. One of the major challenges is that most of this research does not fall into the two main traditions in the study of communication, mass and interpersonal communication. This is readily apparent for media like Twitter and Facebook, where messages are often distributed in groups rather than broadcast or shared between only two people. This challenge also applies, for example, to the use of search engines, where the technology can tailor results to particular users or groups (this has been labeled the “filter bubble” effect). The framework is used to locate and integrate big data findings in the landscape of communication research, and thus to provide a guide to this emerging area.

scholarly journals Critical literacy: The encounter between Western secularism and Islamic spirituality in selected young adult novels – An approach

Literator ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salome Romylos
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Knowledge Construction ◽  
Homogeneous Group ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Negative Perceptions

This article aims to show how selected young adult novels may be potentially powerful locations for creating an awareness and better understanding of Muslims, Islam, and veiling practices in particular. Critical literacy as a methodology will be employed to demonstrate how learners may be guided towards critically engaging with texts. This is essential as mere surface knowledge is not enough when learners are confronted with complex issues, such as race, spirituality and culture. Western TV, newspapers, and magazines are responsible for painting a very monolithic image of Muslims as a seamless homogeneous group. Many young adults are actively engaging in conversations on digital media, such as Twitter and Facebook, where issues of culture and diversity are commented on regularly. Westerners may form very negative perceptions of Islam and Muslims when inundated with a deluge of images of atrocities performed by extremist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The consequence is that all Muslims are stereotyped as being fundamentalists, terrorists and oppressing their women. Thus knowledge construction is manipulated by Western media. An understanding of the reasons for donning a piece of cloth – the headscarf – may serve as a starting point in changing perceptions about Muslims and their diverse practices. Educators should be wary of only advocating tolerance among different cultural groups, as tolerance implies a mere managing of one’s feelings of aversion for that which is to be tolerated. Critical literacy questions on texts, such as The breadwinner trilogy by Deborah Ellis and The girl in the tangerine scarf by Mohja Kahf, are discussed as examples for use in classrooms. These texts are very different in their portrayals of Muslim girls/women and may be read comparatively. The complexity of the encounter between Western secularism and Islamic spirituality emerges either subtly or explicitly in the novels discussed.

Political Communication in the Digital Age: Algorithms and Bots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hikmet Tosyalı
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere

Technology is one factor that has formed the basis for change in the media throughout history. Analog data and information shared by verbal, visual or written methods are now stored, processed, reproduced and shared in digital format due to developments in information technologies. On the other hand, social media, which is an important part of the digital media system, has become an important medium for political communication studies due to its prevalence and big data. As political actors better understand the value of data sets of millions of users, their interest in social media has also increased. However, this growing interest has also brought concerns such as digital profiling, informatics surveillance, systematic disinformation, and privacy violations. It has long been discussed that the practices of governments and technology companies for creating a structure similar to the gatekeeping in traditional media by taking social media under control. In recent years, some of these discussions are (ro)bot accounts on social media because online social networks are no longer just connecting people. Machines talk and interact with people, and even machines do this with other machines. Automatic posts made by bot accounts through algorithms to imitate people’s behavior on social media are liked, reposted or commented on by people and other bots. Bots that make political shares are also used by political actors worldwide, especially during election periods. Politicians use political bots to appear more popular on social media, disrupt their rivals’ communication strategies, and manipulate public opinion. This study aimed to reveal the effects of bots on political communication. After explaining the concepts of propaganda, algorithm, bot and computational propaganda, how political bots could affect the public sphere and elections were discussed in the light of current political communication literature.

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.

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