scholarly journals Social Media, Cognitive Reflection, and Conspiracy Beliefs

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik A. Stecula ◽  
Mark Pickup
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Facebook Use ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

A growing number of Americans stay informed about current events through social media. But using social media as a source of news is associated with increased likelihood of being misinformed about important topics, such as COVID-19. The two most popular platforms—Facebook and YouTube—remain relatively understudied in comparison to Twitter, which tends to be used by elites, but less than a quarter of the American public. In this brief research report, we investigate how cognitive reflection can mitigate the potential effects of using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for news on subsequent conspiracy theory endorsement. To do that, we rely on an original dataset of 1,009 survey responses collected during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, on March 31, 2020. We find that using Facebook and YouTube for news increases conspiracy belief (both general and COVID-19 specific), controlling for cognitive reflection, traditional news media use, use of web-based news media, partisanship, education, age, and income. We also find that the impact of Facebook use on conspiracy belief is moderated by cognitive reflection. Facebook use increases conspiracy belief among those with low cognitive reflection but has no effect among those with moderate levels of cognitive reflection. It might even decrease conspiracy belief among those with the highest levels of cognitive reflection.

Woke : internet news and social media on recent attitudes towards police use of force

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Katelynn Patricia Towne
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Police Use Of Force ◽  
Black African ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
Internet News ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Impact

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] News media has long featured high-profile incidents of police use of force; however, exposure to these incidents may be increasing because of the accessibility of smartphones, social media, and Internet news. Police are concerned about the impact this potential increase in negative publicity may be having on the relationship between police legitimacy and crime prevention. However, scant research has examined the role Internet news and social media consumption have on attitudes toward police use of force. This dissertation study employed mixed methods to explore the role social media and Internet news have on such attitudes at the macro, meso, and micro levels in the United States across racial and ethnic groups. At the macro level, nationally representative data were used to examine the relationships between Internet news consumption, neoliberal and racial resentment ideologies, and demographics on attitudes of approval toward police use of force. The results indicated that Black/African American Internet news consumers are more supportive of police use of force than non-Internet news consumers. Furthermore, education increased the odds of approving of police use of force among the Hispanic/Latinx subsample, whereas Internet news consumption did not. Significant predictors for Whites included income, conservativism, individualism, and gender. However, these results changed when the analysis accounted for variation at the meso level. Lastly, personal experiences with police and retrospective experiences online when consuming use-of-force incidents provided a greater understanding of the findings. The variation observed between the racial and ethnic subsamples built upon theories of social location and media.

OHNS Residency Program and Applicant Social Media Presence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 000348942098797
Author(s):  
Shadi Ahmadmehrabi ◽  
Deborah X. Xie ◽  
Bryan K. Ward ◽  
Paul C. Bryson ◽  
Patrick Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Social Media Presence ◽  
Residency Application ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Residency Match

Objectives: In addition to clinical and social disruption, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many aspects of the otolaryngology residency application process. With delays in the 2021 Electronic Residency Applications Service (ERAS) timeline, students and programs have had more time to interact prior to the formal application process. This communication will report recent trends in social media presence by OHNS residency programs, and discuss mechanisms to compensate for decreased applicant-program interactions using social media ahead of the 2021 Match. Methods: In a cross-sectional study of the accredited otolaryngology residency programs in the United States, the number of social media profiles on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook from 2009 to 2019 were recorded and compared. Results: Most programs (61%) have at least 1 social media profile. Over the past 10 years, the number of programs on social media has increased. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Twitter and Instagram showed higher rates of growth compared to Facebook. With the reduction of in-person opportunities for interactions, both applicants and programs are utilizing social media to showcase their values and their research. Twitter, in particular, also serves as a platform for professional networking. Conclusion: Both Twitter and Instagram are growing in popularity among programs and applicants to enhance networking. Social media is a powerful tool for networking and may help compensate for limitations imposed on the residency match process by the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining professionalism considerations. The impact of social media on the 2021 otolaryngology residency match is an evolving phenomenon.

Newsmaking criminology in Australia and New Zealand: Results from a mixed methods study of criminologists’ media engagement

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Iliadis ◽  
Imogen Richards ◽  
Mark A Wood
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
Professional Duty ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Newsmaking Criminology

‘Newsmaking criminology’, as described by Barak, is the process by which criminologists contribute to the generation of ‘newsworthy’ media content about crime and justice, often through their engagement with broadcast and other news media. While newsmaking criminological practices have been the subject of detailed practitioner testimonials and theoretical treatise, there has been scarce empirical research on newsmaking criminology, particularly in relation to countries outside of the United States and United Kingdom. To illuminate the state of play of newsmaking criminology in Australia and New Zealand, in this paper we analyse findings from 116 survey responses and nine interviews with criminologists working in universities in these two countries, which provide insight into the extent and nature of their news media engagement, and their related perceptions. Our findings indicate that most criminologists working in Australia or New Zealand have made at least one news media appearance in the past two years, and the majority of respondents view news media engagement as a professional ‘duty’. Participants also identified key political, ethical, and logistical issues relevant to their news media engagement, with several expressing a view that radio and television interviewers can influence criminologists to say things that they deem ‘newsworthy’.

scholarly journals 1414. #Vaccine Twitter Influencers: is it Just About Reach and Followers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S714-S715
Author(s):  
Jean-Etienne Poirrier ◽  
Theodore Caputi ◽  
John Ayers ◽  
Mark Dredze ◽  
Sara Poston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Support ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background A small number of powerful users (“influencers”) dominates conversations on social media platforms: less than 1% of Twitter accounts have at least 3,000 followers and even fewer have hundreds of thousands or millions of followers. Beyond simple metrics (number of tweets, retweets...) little is known about these “influencers”, particularly in relation to their role in shaping online narratives about vaccines. Our goal was to describe influential Twitter accounts that are driving conversations about vaccines and present new metrics of influence. Methods Using publicly-available data from Twitter, we selected posts from 1-Jan-2016 to 31-Dec-2018 and extracted the top 5% of accounts tweeting about vaccines with the most followers. Using automated classifiers, we determined the location of these accounts, and grouped them into those that primarily tweet pro- versus anti-vaccine content. We further characterized the demographics of these influencer accounts. Results From 25,381 vaccine-related tweets available in our sample representing 10,607 users, 530 accounts represented the top 5% by number of followers. These accounts had on average 1,608,637 followers (standard deviation=5,063,421) and 340,390 median followers. Among the accounts for which sentiment was successfully estimated by the classifier, 10.4% (n=55) posted anti-vaccine content and 33.6% (n=178) posted pro-vaccine content. Of the 55 anti-vaccine accounts, 50% (n=18) of the accounts for which location was successfully determined were from the United States. Of the 178 pro-vaccine accounts, 42.5% (n=54) were from the United States. Conclusion This study showed that only a small proportion of Twitter accounts (A) post about vaccines and (B) have a high follower count and post anti-vaccine content. Further analysis of these users may help researchers and policy makers better understand how to amplify the impact of pro-vaccine social media messages. Disclosures Jean-Etienne Poirrier, PhD, MBA, The GSK group of companies (Employee, Shareholder) Theodore Caputi, PhD, Good Analytics Inc. (Consultant) John Ayers, PhD, GSK (Grant/Research Support) Mark Dredze, PhD, Bloomberg LP (Consultant)Good Analytics (Consultant) Sara Poston, PharmD, The GlaxoSmithKline group of companies (Employee, Shareholder) Cosmina Hogea, PhD, GlaxoSmithKline (Employee, Shareholder)

scholarly journals A Comparative Study on Social Media Use and Public Participation in Korea and the United States: Does Social Media Matter?

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-230
Author(s):  
Kim Eun Yi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Impact

This study examines how the use of different types of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, affects public participation, drawing on the theory of motivation, which addresses the effect of internal and external political efficacy as well as the perceived political importance of social media. The study also investigates the interaction effect between social media use and perceived the political importance of social media on public participation. Employing a comparative perspective on an issue that has not been well studied, the study further seeks to discover potential variations in the impacts of different social media on public participation in the United States and Korea, both of which held presidential elections at the end of 2012. This study conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses using data collected from college students in the United States and Korea. It shows the positive impact of social media use and its interaction effect with the perceived political importance of social media on the offline and online public participation of youth. The political motivational factor is found to be critical to driving public participation. This study also shows that the impact of Facebook use is more influential than Twitter use on public participation in the United States, whereas the opposite pattern is observed in Korea.

scholarly journals For Better or for Worse? A Systematic Review of the Evidence on Social Media Use and Depression Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Minorities (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
César G Escobar-Viera ◽  
Darren L Whitfield ◽  
Charles B Wessel ◽  
Ariel Shensa ◽  
Jaime E Sidani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Media Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Over 90% of adults in the United States have at least one social media account, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons are more socially active on social media than heterosexuals. Rates of depression among LGB persons are between 1.5- and 2-fold higher than those among their heterosexual counterparts. Social media allows users to connect, interact, and express ideas, emotions, feelings, and thoughts. Thus, social media use might represent both a protective and a risk factor for depression among LGB persons. Studying the nature of the relationship between social media use and depression among LGB individuals is a necessary step to inform public health interventions for this population. OBJECTIVE The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize and critique the evidence on social media use and depression among LGB populations. METHODS We conducted a literature search for quantitative and qualitative studies published between January 2003 and June 2017 using 3 electronic databases. Articles were included if they were peer-reviewed, were in English, assessed social media use either quantitatively or qualitatively, measured depression, and focused on LGB populations. A minimum of two authors independently extracted data from each study using an a priori developed abstraction form. We assessed appropriate reporting of studies using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology and the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research for quantitative and qualitative studies, respectively. RESULTS We included 11 articles in the review; 9 studies were quantitative and cross-sectional and 2 were qualitative. Appropriate reporting of results varied greatly. Across quantitative studies, we found heterogeneity in how social media use was defined and measured. Cyberbullying was the most studied social media experience and was associated with depression and suicidality. Qualitative studies found that while social media provides a space to disclose minority experiences and share ways to cope and get support, constant surveillance of one’s social media profile can become a stressor, potentially leading to depression. In most studies, sexual minority participants were identified inconsistently. CONCLUSIONS This review supports the need for research on the role of social media use on depression outcomes among LBG persons. Using social media may be both a protective and a risk factor for depression among LGB individuals. Support gained via social media may buffer the impact of geographic isolation and loneliness. Negative experiences such as cyberbullying and other patterns of use may be associated with depression. Future research would benefit from more consistent definitions of both social media use and study populations. Moreover, use of larger samples and accounting for patterns of use and individuals’ experiences on social media may help better understand the factors that impact LGB mental health disparities.

Is Snapchat Discover really a news platform? News snacking from social media and users’ knowledge of current affairs

2021 ◽  
Vol 00 (00) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Jayeon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
The United States ◽  
Journalism Studies ◽  
Soft News ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Negative Predictor

The role of the media in informing the public has long been a central topic in journalism studies. Given that social media platforms have become today’s major source of news, it is important to understand the impact of social media use on citizens’ knowledge of current affairs. While people get news from multiple platforms throughout the day, most research treats social media as a single entity or examines only one or two major platforms ignoring newer social media platforms. Drawing on news snacking framework, this study investigates how using some of today’s most popular social media platforms predicts users’ current affairs knowledge, with particular attention to Snapchat and its news section Discover. A survey conducted in the United States (N=417) demonstrated that each of the platforms is distinct: Twitter is a strongly positive predictor of knowledge, Facebook a marginally significant negative predictor, Reddit a significantly negative predictor and Instagram not a significant predictor. Overall Snapchat use has no significant association with users’ knowledge of current affairs, whereas Discover use has a negative relationship. Further analysis revealed that mere exposure to Snapchat is positively related to soft-news knowledge and attention to Discover is negatively related to hard-news knowledge.

Impact of Social Media and Technology Companies on Digital Journalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 147-170
Author(s):  
Şükrü Oktay Kılıç ◽  
Zeynep Genel
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Business Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Digital Journalism ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media And Technology ◽  
The Impact

A handful of social media companies, with their shifting strategies to become hosts of all information available online, have significantly changed the news media landscape in recent years. Many news media companies across the world have gone through reorganizations in a bid to keep up with new storytelling techniques, technologies, and tools introduced by social media companies. With their non-transparent algorithms favoring particular content formats and lack of interest in developing solid business models for publishers, social media platforms, on the other hand, have attracted widespread criticism by many academics and media practitioners. This chapter aims at discussing the impact of social media on journalism with the help of digital research that provides an insight on what storytelling types with which three most-followed news outlets in Turkey gain the most engagement on Facebook.

scholarly journals 0386 Identification of Sleep Complaints Using Social Media: Effect of the Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time Transition

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A148-A148
Author(s):  
O J Veatch ◽  
D R Mazzotti
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Random Forest ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Media Effect ◽  
Sleep Complaints ◽  
Standard Time ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Circadian Patterns

Abstract Introduction Transitions to and from daylight savings time (DST) are natural experiments of circadian disruption and are associated with negative health consequences. Yet, the majority of the United States and several other countries still adopt these changes. Large observational studies focused on understanding the impact of DST transitions on sleep are difficult to conduct. Social media platforms, like Twitter, are powerful sources of human behavior data. We used machine learning to identify tweets reporting sleep complaints (TRSC) during the week of the standard time (ST)-DST transition. Next, we evaluated the circadian patterns of TRSC and compared their prevalence before and after the transition. Methods Using data publicly available via the Twitter API, we collected 500 tweets with evidence of sleep complaints, and manually annotated each tweet to validate true sleep complaints. Next, we calculated term frequency-inverse document frequency of each word in each tweet and trained a random forest to classify TRSC using a 3-fold cross-validation design. The trained model was then used to annotate a collection of tweets captured between Oct. 30, 2019-Nov. 6, 2019, overlapping with the DST-ST transition, which occurred on Nov. 3, 2019. Results Random forest demonstrated good performance in classifying TRSC (AUC[95%CI]=0.85[0.82-0.89]). This model was applied to 3,738,383 tweets collected around the DST-ST transition, and identified 11,044 TRSC. Posting of these tweets had a circadian pattern, with peak during nighttime. We found a higher frequency of TRSC after the DST-ST transition (0.33% vs. 0.27%, p<0.00001), corresponding to a ~20% increase in the odds of reporting sleep complaints (OR[95%CI]=1.21[1.16-1.25]). Conclusion Using machine learning and Twitter data, we identified tweets reporting sleep complaints, described their circadian patterns and demonstrated that the prevalence of these types of tweets is significantly increased after the transition from DST to ST. These results demonstrate the applicability of social media data mining for public health in sleep medicine. Support NIH (K01LM012870); AASM Foundation (194-SR-18)

Rumors on the Net: A Brackish Suspension of Speech and Hate

2019 ◽  
pp. 174387211988012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Wagner ◽  
Sarah Marusek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Public Memory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Cyber Culture ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mob Mentality

The legitimacy of public memory and socially normative standards of civility is questioned through rumors that abound on online social media platforms. On the Net, the proclivity of rumors is particularly prone to acts of bullying and frameworks of hate speech. Legislative attempts to limit rumors operate differently in France and throughout Europe from the United States. This article examines the impact of online rumors, the mob mentality, and the politicization of bullying critics within a cyber culture that operates within the limitations of law.

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