Communication and Social Dissonance

This chapter aims to identify the new patterns of communication generated by the COVID-19 crisis and to explain the mechanisms involved within remote communication. In this chronic crisis, the social context is distorted, and the communication map based on interpersonal relationships has been transformed in an imprecise mirror of conflicts without the possibility to solve the gaps of communication by the oldest tactics, principles, or communication techniques from the literature in the fieldwork.

Patterns of communication during full-scale emergency/disaster drills

The motivation for developing, administering, and participating in full-scale disaster drills is multifold. Emergency drills not only test the capacity of emergency systems but also allow organizations to learn as well as improve processes and communication structures before disasters strike. They have been used as a platform to develop and maintain collaborative networks. This article examines the extent to which organizations collaborate with others during emergency/disaster drills. A social network analysis is employed to determine the patterns of communication and interorganizational networks during the planning and implementation of a full-scale emergency exercise. Specifically, we seek to understand the communication lines that stakeholders used to receive updated information, who they reached out to when standard communication channels were down, and what backup systems were in place. The research was conducted in a municipality located in north central Texas. This study was based on field observations and involved 14 face-to-face interviews with experienced public officials and first responders involved in a municipal government emergency drill/exercise. The interviews were administered after the 2017 full-scale emergency drill. Three major findings can be emphasized from this study. First, two types of organizations, namely, city fire departments and a university partaking in the exercise, played central role as a “bridge” between various organizations during the emergency drill. Second, the types of information considered important during the exercise can be categorized as strategic, procedural, and technical information. Finally, several back-up systems including ham radio, cellphones, internet back-up, and satellite were used to maintain communication channels.

Public Theology in the Age of Social Media

The ubiquity of social media is a defining characteristic of our contemporary life. It has significantly changed the patterns of communication and altered the landscape of the public sphere. As a consequence the discipline of a public theology needs to reconsider its methodologies. With the aid of the study of political and media scholars, this article contends that the traditional public sphere, which is relatively stable and homogeneous, is experiencing a process of destabilization and pluralization under the impact of social media. The theoretical foundation of the widely adopted bilingual approach to public theology has been shaken. This article proposes that a transformational approach that attempts to shift public perception with the language of faith as its resource may fit the changing landscape of the public sphere better.

Communications patterns and power dynamics in the digital public sphere: A case study of the conversation about Minimum Living Income on Twitter

In 2020, in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic, the Spanish Government approved the implementation of the Minimum Living Income, a non-contributory benefit under the Spanish social security system that guarantees a minimum income for those in need of one. Drawing on previous work of Stefania Vicari et al. (2018) about the use of political hashtag publics and counter-visuality on the Italian Twittersphere, we analysed patterns of communication among users on Twitter. Thus, this paper contributes to existing research on the deliberative process within the digital sphere, with a particular focus on power structures and communication patterns. Findings show that digital-born media, politicians and political parties play a central role in the discussion through mention and quoted tweets practices, but not in the production of new messages, while ordinary users are more likely to be retweeted. This would suggest a tendency towards retransmitting and disseminating content produced by ordinary users more than official sources.

Patterns of Communication between Gen Z and Public Institutions in Times of Crisis: A Study Based on Relationship Marketing Principles

In time of crisis, the role of public institutions is on the rise and the communication between citizens and institutions is increasingly important, in order to preserve society's civic fabric and ensure the maintenance of trust in the aftermath of the crisis.

Transit Zones, Locales, and Locations: How Digital Annotations Affect Communication in Public Places

The article presents an analytical concept, the Constitution of Accessibility through Meaning of Public Places (CAMPP) model. The CAMPP model distinguishes different manifestations of public places according to how they facilitate and restrict communication between urbanites. It describes public places along two analytical dimensions: their degree of perceived accessibility and the elaboration of knowledge necessary to participate in place-related activities. Three patterns of communicative interaction result from these dimensions: civil inattention, small talk, and sociability. We employ the CAMPP model as an analytical tool to investigate how digital annotations affect communicative patterns and perceptions of accessibility of public places. Based on empirical observations and interviews with users of smartphone apps that provide digital annotations, such as Foursquare City Guide, we observe that digital annotations tend to reflect and reinforce existing patterns of communication and rarely evoke changes in the perceived accessibility of public places.

P–493 Couples joint narratives of coping with and making sense of recurrent pregnancy loss: a dyadic interview study

Study question What are couples’ joint narratives of coping with, and making sense of recurrent pregnancy loss? Summary answer Couples can become stuck in patterns of communication and coping roles that may be dissatisfying and not reflect the complexity of their experience of RPL. What is known already Fertility problems such as recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) are unique health issues because they are a couple problem, in that they involve a blocked parenthood goal for both members of the couple regardless of the cause or source of the fertility issue. Previous research has focused on the psychosocial impact on the individual or examined gender differences in men and women’s response to RPL. Research suggests that couples’ relationships are impacted, but few examine this issue in interviews with couples as participants. We need appropriate study designs to examine and understand the couple’s experience and process on a dyadic level. Study design, size, duration This was a qualitative study using dyadic interviews and analysis. This method facilitates a co-construction of meaning and joint narrative between couples through sharing and comparing their experience in a conjoint dyadic interview. Thirteen couples who were referred to the RPL program, in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark were interviewed over a two-month period in 2017–2018. Interviews were held at Rigshospitalet and ranged between 81 and 109 minutes (average 91 minutes). Participants/materials, setting, methods: Inclusion criteria included: heterosexual couples with at least three pregnancy losses (PL) under 12 weeks gestation with no children/one child and willing to be interviewed in English. Thirty invitations were sent to couples who met the inclusion criteria and 15 couples contacted the interviewer to schedule an interview. Semi-structured dyadic interviews were conducted in person with 13 couples. Data was analyzed using dyadic analysis with a focus on common themes in co-constructed meaning across couples. Main results and the role of chance On average, participants had been in their relationship for 8.4 years, experienced three PLs (range three–six), with most recent PL occurring 4.3 months before the interview. Couples described becoming stuck in patterns of communication and in rigid roles of coping and relating (e.g., the optimist, the emotional one) that could be dissatisfying and not meet their needs and not reflect the nuances and complexity of their experience of RPL. Common roles included the “optimist” versus the “pessimist”, the “talker” versus the “listener” and the “emotional” versus the “rational / problem solver”. While these roles were rooted in some truth of their experience, the rigidity of these roles did not create space and flexibility for the full spectrum of their reactions and experience. For example, a woman said, “I hope for him to be the pessimist so I get to be the optimist sometimes” and several men shared the depth of their grief for the first time. The interviews were a way to highlight and create a new dynamic by allowing couples to respond to and correct their partner’s assumptions about their experience or role (e.g., “that’s not how I feel all the time”) and try new ways of communicating. Limitations, reasons for caution The findings cannot be generalized to all couples who have experienced RPL given the study design. Whilst dyadic interviews allow for a fuller, more nuanced narrative account, couples may omit some of their experience in the interview due to social desirability. Wider implications of the findings: This study provides a better understanding of the complexity of communication patterns and roles in couples with RPL that can improve provision of support and counselling. Dyadic interviews can provide opportunities for couples to communicate differently and break out of dissatisfying patterns while creating common ground and generating shared meaning. Trial registration number N/A

Interactive analysis and exploration of cell-cell communication in single-cell transcriptomics with InterCellar

Deciphering cell-cell communication is a key step in understanding the physiology and pathology of multicellular systems. Recent advances in single-cell transcriptomics have contributed to unraveling the cellular composition of tissues and enabled the development of computational algorithms to predict cellular communication mediated by ligand-receptor interactions. Despite the existence of various tools capable of inferring cell-cell interactions from single-cell RNA sequencing data, the analysis and interpretation of the biological signals often require deep computational expertise. Here we present InterCellar, an interactive platform empowering lab-scientists to analyze and explore predicted cell-cell communication without requiring programming skills. InterCellar guides the biological interpretation through customized analysis steps, several visualization options and the possibility to link biological pathways to ligand-receptor interactions. By analyzing COVID-19 and melanoma cell-cell interactions, we show that InterCellar resolves data-driven patterns of communication and highlights molecular signals through the integration of biological functions and pathways.

Towards New Standards? Interaction Patterns of German Political Journalists in the Twittersphere

Research has provided few findings on the patterns of communication and interaction between political and media actors in social media and how these interactions have evolved. The present study analyzes how journalists registered in the German Federal Press Conference interact with members of the German Bundestag (member of parliament) on Twitter and what type of content they exchange with each other. Based on two time periods (2016, 2020), the communicative practices and the patterns of interactions are examined. New insights into the conversational structure are generated through a combination of content and network analysis. The results indicate a trend in the use of Twitter among the actors as a political opinion medium. While the dissemination of opinions among politicians remains stable, journalists use Twitter interactions more to express a subjective and critical view and less for news coverage over time. Furthermore, the analysis notes that journalists generally comment in negative terms on the parties, except for the Greens. To some extent, the results indicate that the usual journalistic norms of objectivity and balance do not apply for interactions in the Twittersphere. To evaluate whether this pattern also applies to other countries, more comparative investigations in the domain of media–politics interactions on Twitter are needed.