Social Reactions to the Pandemic

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global health and economic crisis and has had many impacts on daily life. This study investigates the effect of the pandemic on movie viewing preferences in Turkey. Using Google Trends data, it handles trends towards epidemic movies with a quantitative analysis method. Google Trends data is a valuable source of information for examining quarantine's psychological, sociological, and health effects. In this way, it can be determined which media preferences the society, which wants to get rid of the epidemic's concerns, is turning to. In this study, the search was made on IMDb with the keyword “contagion,” and movies with an IMDb rating above 6.0 among the listed pandemic movies were examined as sampling. The interest in epidemic films determined three months before and after the epidemic's start was compared. This study suggests an increase in watching pandemic movies in Turkey in response to the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Audible Word” in the Media Preferences of Youth

The development of digital technologies creates the conditions for a new stage in the development and dissemination of audio culture. Radio plays have been replaced by audiobooks, audio podcasts, and audio series. The book market is experiencing an "audio explosion". There is a steady growth of interest in audiobooks, which compete with musical content. The authors of the article turn to the study of the current state of the culture of the "audible word". This article examines the audiobook reading of student readers, who were socialized under the conditions of the large-scale spread of digital technologies. The aim of the research: to consider audioreading in the context of leisure and educational practices of young people. The study is based on theoretical approaches that consider the phenomenon of audio consumption in modern media (V.Y. Bal', M.Y. Gudova, J.P. Melentieva, V. Erlmann, W. Hagen, A. Kassabian, J.F. Lehmann). The study examined students' perceptions of audiobook reading, its place in leisure and educational practices. The authors conducted a sociological study (December 2020) with the participation of 85 students in order to identify the perceptions of audiobook reading. Qualitative methodology of analysis of answers to open-ended questions was used for the study. The design questionnaire included questions on preferred types of reading, use of audiobook reading in educational and leisure practices, reasons for interest in audiobook reading and possibilities of audiobook reading as a type of educational content. The study identified students' preferences in the choice of book format (paper, electronic, audiobooks), students' ideas about the reasons for wide distribution of audiobooks, advantages and limitations of audiobooks, convenient contexts for daily life, practices of using audiobooks in educational and leisure activities. The authors consider the potential of audiobooks in the organization of educational and leisure activities of students.

Activism and Social Media: Youth Participation and Communication

Background: Digitalization and hyperconnectivity generate spaces for youth participation in social activism through social media platforms. The purpose of this research was to analyze young people’s online experience in social activism movements, including their preferences, themes, usage of language, and perceived impact. Methods: The research is framed within a qualitative interpretative–descriptive paradigm. Five focus groups were conducted, including 58 high school students from Malaga, Spain. Results: Several themes were identified through the coding process, including technological devices and social media preferences, participation in social movements or activism, perception of the degree of participation, the focus of interest, motivation for involvement, language use on social media, and beliefs. Conclusions: In a hyperconnected world, youth participation in social movements becomes more relevant. Their interest is reflected in the enormous potential that this social participation of young people has through networks and virtual platforms, becoming an informal communication model with characteristics to be an effective vehicle for social transformation.

The role of user preferences in engagement with online learning

Digital technology in education has become a staple of many contemporary classrooms. Educational technology offers many benefits, including access to knowledge, mobility, multiple means of engagement, accessibility, distance learning, as well as the ability to connect in unprecedented ways. There is a growing body of research that examines digital learning tools, online classroom environments, learning management systems and other technologies that are integrated into the learning process. Such research extends to analysing the positive impacts of online and blended learning; however, few studies explore the user preferences of the learners. Without assessment of the user preference, the benefits of learning through technology are often lessened. This research explores and analyses how user media preferences influence engagement and motivation in online learning. One hundred twenty-two KS3 (13-year-olds) secondary school were provided voluntary access to a purpose-built online learning resource that augmented their in-class Holocaust history curriculum with learning materials in audio, video and e-text. Data were collected through web analytics and user feedback forms. The analytical tools provided detailed quantitative data on user activity on the site, while the feedback forms yielded qualitative data on usefulness and enjoyment. Results provided insights on the usage trends and user preferences that influence engagement. These behavioural patterns reflect user motivation and learning preferences and can be utilised to personalise digital content delivery to increase engagement with online learning materials.

An Infectious Curiosity: Morbid Curiosity and Media Preferences during a Pandemic

In this study conducted during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, I explored how trait morbid curiosity was related to interest in 1) factual information about Coronavirus that was specifically morbid; 2) general factual information about Coronavirus; 3) pandemic and virus genres of films and TV shows; and 4) genres of film and TV shows that center around threat more broadly. Participants (n = 125) who scored high in morbid curiosity reported increased interest, compared to usual, in pandemic/virus genres as well as horror and thriller genres. Morbidly curious participants were also more interested specifically in morbid information about Coronavirus. Furthermore, disgust sensitivity was unrelated to these preferences. These results provide initial evidence that trait morbid curiosity can predict particular media preferences in the face of a real threat, and that morbid curiosity may reflect an adaptive predisposition in some individuals toward learning about the dan­gerous and disgusting aspects of a threat.

Messengers in the structure of media preferences of the national audience

The presented article is devoted to the analysis of the place and role of messengers in the structure of media consumption of the audience and the national information field as a whole. Based on the data of a mass survey of the population conducted by the Center of Sociological and Political Studies of the Belarusian State University in 2020, the most popular instant messengers are identified, the place of these resources among traditional media and social media space is determined, and the features of media consumption practices are considered. As part of the study, it was possible to establish that instant messengers, in particular, the Telegram resource are used for their intended purpose both as a communication channel and as a channel for disseminating mass information. The results obtained allow us to conclude that the popularity of instant messengers relative to other segments of the national information field will continue to grow.

THE IMPACT OF MEDIA INFODEMICS ON COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN INTENSIFYING GLOBAL PANIC AMONG MALAYSIANS: A PERCEPTION-BASED ANALYSIS

In Malaysia, the Restricted Movement Order's implementation has turned the media to become the main primary source of information for the people. As a result, numerous mendacious news about the Covid-19 outbreak began to appear on air. Such reports and claims made in response to the outbreak, which the World Health Organisation labelled as "infodemics," have been excessively proliferated on media (Thomas, 2020). Hence, the study explores the Malaysians' perceptions of the extent to which the Covid-19 outbreak infodemics produced by the local media amplify global panic in society. The study applies a qualitative research design, using a case-study analysis on perception to discover the Malaysians' awareness and views on the virus outbreak based on the media's information and how these contents elevate public reactions. Focus group interviews are conducted with 15 Malaysian citizens residing in five different states in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, and Pulau Pinang. A set of 10 open-ended questions are probed to participants during the interviews. Data are analysed following a deductive approach and clustered according to the research questions. The following five-step framework is applied: data familiarisation, thematic analysis framework, coding, plotting, and interpretation. The validity of data is achieved through inter-rater reliability. Four themes, namely media preferences and mainly sought information, awareness of the fake news spread on media, news reliability check, and reaction-based impact in response to the infodemics were established. The majority of the participants favoured official news broadcasts for updates on the outbreak. A few of them reported consuming infodemics that were conveyed by social media platforms. Participants indicated being well-informed on the spread of fake news on media, and 53% reported difficulties in verifying the information they received due to excessive coverage by media. Finally, 60% of the participants reported a significant influence of the infodemics they consumed towards their perceptions and reactions.