Cultivating the Community

A growing body of HCI research has sought to understand how online networks are utilized in the adoption and maintenance of disordered activities and behaviors associated with mental illness, including eating habits. However, individual-level influences over discrete online eating disorder (ED) communities are not yet well understood. This study reports results from a comprehensive network and content analysis (combining computational topic modeling and qualitative thematic analysis) of over 32,000 public tweets collected using popular ED-related hashtags during May 2020. Our findings indicate that this ED network in Twitter consists of multiple smaller ED communities where a majority of the nodes are exposed to unhealthy ED contents through retweeting certain influential central nodes. The emergence of novel linguistic indicators and trends (e.g., "#meanspo") also demonstrates the evolving nature of the ED network. This paper contextualizes ED influence in online communities through node-level participation and engagement, as well as relates emerging ED contents with established online behaviors, such as self-harassment.

Online Social Support Groups/Communities

Numerous studies over the past two decades suggest that people with a variety of health concerns are increasingly turning to online networks for social support. This has led to the rise of online support groups/communities for people facing health concerns. Researchers have found that these groups/communities provide patients, disease survivors, and caregivers a number of advantages and disadvantages in terms of mobilizing social support for their health-related concerns. This chapter will examine these issues in greater detail as well as the theoretical and practical implications of this body of research for patients who use online support communities to help cope with and manage a variety of health issues. It will provide an overview of online social support and health outcomes, discuss key processes and theoretical explanations for the efficacy of online support communities for people facing health concerns, and the limitations of this body of research as well as an agenda for future communication research on health-related online support groups/communities.

Learning Innovations and Strengthening Student Character Through Distance Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on Indonesia’s education system. Learning has had to be conducted remotely to prevent students from contracting COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to determine the innovations implemented by teachers so that learning could continue and to find out how student character can be strengthened through distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative approach was taken, using a case study design. Data were collected through interviews with informants. The results showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, learning was carried out in online networks by utilizing technology. ZOOM and WhatsApp were the applications most often used in the learning process. It was also found that the character of students can be strengthened through distance learning. For example, some teachers suggested that students pray together with their close family and other relatives. Teachers also encouraged students to help with the house chores of the family. Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, learning, innovation, technology, character, students

Online Networks and Subjective Well‐Being: The Effect of “Big Five Personality Traits”

This article provides an empirical examination of how online social networks affect subjective well‐being, namely enquiring if networks mediate the effect of personality on subjective well‐being of the individuals who use those networks. We use the theories of complementarity of face‐to‐face and online networks, preferential attachment, and the “Big Five Personality Traits” to test the following hypothesis: Given that online and offline networks complement each other as integrative factors that generate happiness, greater use of online networks would imply greater happiness. We also hypothesize that networks mediate the effect of personality on subjective well‐being. Data was compiled from interviews of 4,922 people aged 18 years and older, carried out by the Centre for Sociological Research of Spain in 2014 and 2016. The results confirm the hypothesis and show how online networks, when controlled for personality traits, have a significant and even greater effect on subjective well‐being than face‐to‐face networks.

Physiology labs during a pandemic: What did we learn?

This article captures a collective reflection on the successes and challenges we experienced when teaching physiology laboratories online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physiology instructors from six institutions discussed their own efforts to redesign meaningful physiology laboratories that could be taught remotely, as the nation scrambled to respond to the sudden shift out of the classroom. Despite the complexity of this task, clear themes emerged as our courses transitioned to an online format in spring 2020 and were solidified in the fall of 2020. This article reflects on the history, features, benefits, and challenges of current laboratory teaching when applying a scientific teaching approach to facilitate the redesign process. We believe online networks like ours can facilitate information sharing, promote innovations, and provide support for instructors. The insights we gained through this collaboration will influence our thinking about the future of the physiology lab, whether online or in person.

Social media news deserts: Digital inequalities and incidental news exposure on social media platforms

Some people live in social media “news deserts,” while others are embedded in online networks that are rich in news content. These news deserts represent a new form of digital inequality—distinct from problems of access, resources, or civic skills—that could foreclose one of the ways social media are believed to contribute to informing citizens and engaging them in democratic processes: providing opportunities for incidental news exposure. This study investigates incidental exposure on social media platforms, drawing on an online survey administered just before the 2018 US Midterm Elections ( N = 1493). The study finds that even after controlling for key individual-level factors, characteristics of social media discussion networks play a role in explaining variation in incidental exposure. The results are discussed in light of prevailing theory about incidental exposure, public engagement, and digital inequalities.

Cryptocurrency as a payment agent

The paper examines the essence of cryptocurrency as a method of payment has been investigated and identifies its key features (exchange for goods or services; exchange for classic currency; payment for goods and services; minimum level of possibility of abduction; payments, fast and direct transactions; investment asset; business development in cryptocurrency). Different approaches to determining the legal nature of cryptocurrency are analyzed (cryptocurrency as a method of payment; cryptocurrency as a foreign currency; cryptocurrency as a financial asset; cryptocurrency as a financial pyramid). The conclusions of the EU court, the courts of the national system on the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment are analyzed. The legal nature of cryptocurrency is determined through the prism of world practices of its use. The possibility of using cryptocurrencies in terms of their ability to perform the basic functions of money is analyzed. The paper examines two attempts of legislators to regulate the issues of taxation, legal nature and legal regulation of cryptocurrency in 2019 and 2020. Attention is also paid to the relevant institutions where you can pay with cryptocurrencies, namely: “Spendabit”, “CoinATMRadar”, exchange office in online networks – WebMoney. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the danger of cryptocurrency transactions is indicated. Examples of the main risks associated with the purchase, sale, exchange and conversion of cryptocurrencies are given (possibility of loss of funds due to theft, possibility of fraud, lack of infrastructure, significant price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies, lack of guarantees for return of invested funds in cryptocurrencies). In conclusion, attention is drawn to the need for legislative regulation of the essence of cryptocurrency for further effective evolution.

FROM MARIJUANA TO INTERNET AND VIDEO GAMING ADICTION- A CASE REPO

Marijuana is the most widely used psychoactive substance after coffee and it is used for both medical and recreational purposes. It has been known since ancient times and it seems to have been part of the mixture that was put in the pipe of “peace” by Native Americans. Marijuana is psychically addictive, but in its case, there is no physical addiction as in the case of high-risk drugs (heroin) and over 70% of consumers do not recognize marijuana addiction. This substance can induce an acute psychotic episode and the onset of schizophrenia. Usually, the patient’s family is the one who asks for help in their case. We chose to present the clinical case of a patient, initially, marijuana addicted, who, after stopping it, developed an internet gaming disorder addiction. The digital environment is constantly evolving, growing exponentially at a considerable rate and online networks mean creating connections between people, minds and memories, regardless of their location in space and time. Many of us have different passions but there are also people who take these passions to the extreme as is the case with our patient who has developed an addiction to video games. Thus, we can conclude that one addiction can be replaced by another one in a very short time.

On Social Contagion in Gamification

Social connections shape our behaviour because of peer pressure and social contagion. This phenomenon is amplified in online networks by particularly influential individuals: influencers. Although this concept originated in social media, recent research shows how influencers can also exist in games and affect players' long-term retention. Prolonged retention caused by influencers could benefit gameful systems, especially if the system's goal is positive behavioural change. Retention is desirable because it can aid in internalizing new habits. Therefore, we investigated retention influencers' presence within a location-based persuasive gamified system (Play&Go) and their influence on other behaviours (i.e., the pursuit of a gamification goal), via social network analysis techniques. Results show how retention influencers exist in Play&Go and how studying different influence types (which push the systems' goals) may lead to different influencer groups. Our findings emphasize the importance of social mechanics in location-based gamification and discuss the value of understanding a player community to improve game design.