Communication Technology 2018 Abstracts
Faculty Paper Competition
No time to think: The impact of smartphone technology on mindfulness and reflection • Mary Beth Bradford, Florida Southern College • As smartphones have become more prevalent in society, so have become consequences. Using research from Carr (2010) and Turkle (2015), this study investigated the relationship between smartphones and reflection, mindfulness and hyperactivity. The results showed that smartphone addiction symptoms of withdrawal are significantly related to hyperactivity and negatively related to reflection. Phubbing, which is snubbing others with a smartphone, is negatively related to levels of mindfulness. Social media addiction was not a significant predictor.
Pro-Vaxxers Get Out: Anti-Vaccine Advocates Influence Questioning First-Time, Pregnant, and New Mothers on Facebook • Amanda Bradshaw, University of Florida; Summer Shelton, University of Florida; Easton Wollney, University of Florida; Debbie Treise, University of Florida; Kendra Auguste • Facebook has revolutionized health information-seeking behavior with crowd-based medical advice. Decreased vaccination uptake and subsequent disease outbreaks have generally occurred in localized clusters based upon social norms; however, geographically unrestricted Facebook networks may promote parental refusal congruent with digital identity formation. Interactions within the largest closed Facebook group for vaccination choice were analyzed through the lens of Social Influence Theory. Anti-vaccination advocates impacted questioning mothers’ expressed vaccination intentions through both informational and normative influence processes.
Anyone Can Be a Troll: Predicting Behaviors and Perceptions of Uncivil Discourse Among Reddit Users • Daniel Montez, Brigham Young University; Pamela Brubaker, Brigham Young University; Scott Church, Brigham Young University; Ching (Jina) Shih, Brigham Young University; Spencer Christensen, Brigham Young University • Uncivil discourse is an increasingly pervasive problem on computer-mediated communication platforms. This study examined predictors of trolling behaviors as well as perceptions of trolling among 438 Reddit users. A path analysis indicated malicious motives mediated the relationship between personality traits (i.e., the Dark Triad) and online incivility. Outspokenness did not directly or indirectly predict incivility. Results also showed that both those with malicious motives who more or less serve as malicious online lurkers, as well as those who are uncivil online (i.e., trolls), view trolling as a functional approach to online discourse. This was further supported as both groups of individuals considered trolling as not being dysfunctional. Those who merely observed incivility on Reddit did not consider trolling to be a functional part of online discourse. Age, time spent on Reddit, and the Dark Triad did not predict functional/dysfunctional perceptions of trolling.
Risk Factors for Cyberbullying Victimization: A Survey of Adult Internet Users in 19 Countries • Tiernan Cahill, Boston University; Kate Mays, Boston University; John Donegan, Boston University; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; James H. Liu, Massey University • Research on cyberbullying has historically focused primarily on the experiences of children and adolescents and been limited to cross-sectional associations between risk factors and outcomes. The present study expands the understanding of causal risk factors for cyberbullying victimization among adults through a longitudinal panel survey of Internet users in 19 countries. The risk factors investigated include demographic attributes, online behavior, and personality attributes.
Emotional expression and social media practices: A social identity-based perspective • Xi Cui, College of Charleston • This study explores general patterns of the relationship between emotional expressions and social media practices such as hashtags and post sharing with three datasets of two breaking events and one longitudinal collection. We assume a social identity perspective and attend to the identity meanings of various hashtags. Findings deepen our understanding of identity-driven social media uses in different topical contexts and possible influence of strategic self-presentation in moderating the expressions of emotions and identities.
Predicting Cellphone Use while Driving and Walking Among College Students • Tao Deng, Michigan State University; Juan Mundel, DePaul University; Kristen Lynch, Michigan State University; Anastasia Kononova; Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University • Amidst growing concerns related to use of cellphones while driving and walking, we explored different predictors of risky cellphone use, including demographic factors, psychological individual differences, and problematic use of technology using a cross-sectional survey of college students at a large Midwestern university (N = 577). Results showed that problematic social media use had the strongest predictive power on cellphone use while driving and walking, with psychological individual differences predicting risky cellphone use while driving.
Facilitating Role of Opinion Climate in Speaking Out: Testing Spiral of Silence in Social Media • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • Through secondary analysis of data collected from a nationwide survey of adults (N = 956), this study uses the spiral of silence theory to examine the facilitating potential of the opinion climate cultivated on social media. Specifically, the role of individuals’ previous experience of online harassment via social media in speaking out is examined. Results identify potential positive effects of like-minded online opinion environment in facilitating speaking out behavior.
From the Margins to the Newsfeed: Social Media Audiences’ Disruption of the Protest Paradigm • Summer Harlow, University of Houston; Danielle Kilgo, Indiana University • This content analysis expands protest paradigm research, examining the relationship between social media audience engagement and newspaper articles about protests in 2017. Results showed stories that were not posted to social media housed more negative frames and devices that delegitimize protesters. For select protests, audiences engaged more with articles with legitimizing content, suggesting users, like journalists, follow a paradigm that legitimizes some protests and marginalizes others.
Instagramming Social Presence: A Test of Social Presence Theory and Heuristic Cues on Instagram Sponsored Posts • Erika Johnson, East Carolina University; Seoyeon Hong, Rowan University • This study investigates Social Presence Theory, using sponsored posts on Instagram. By testing a 3 (social presence) x 2 (heuristic cues) x 2 (source of sponsorship) mixed subjects experiment (N = 378), the results showed significant main effects of social presence, heuristic cues, and source on social media engagement. Results show that higher social presence, higher likes (heuristic), and official sources lead to higher social media engagement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for how to effectively deliver sponsored contents on Instagram.
I DON’T USE FACEBOOK ANYMORE: An investigation into the relationship between the motivations to leave Facebook and the Big Five personality traits • Seoyeon Hong, Rowan University; Klive (Soo-Kwang) Oh, Pepperdine University • This study linked the Big Five personality traits with motivational factors to leave Facebook. The Big Five were expected to predict eight factors retrieved from existing literature. Results showed that neuroticism was positively related to addiction, banality, peer pressure, and privacy while conscientiousness was negatively related to peer pressure, addiction, annoyance, and emergence of new platforms. Openness was positively related with banality but negatively with addiction and peer pressure. Theoretical and practical interpretations are also discussed.
Who are the second screeners? Personality traits predicting dual screen use • Brigitte Huber; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; James H. Liu, Massey University • This study investigates the relationship between personality traits and second screening for politics worldwide. Employing two-wave panel-data from 19 countries, this study tests how the Big Five personality traits relate to dual screening practices. Results show that extraversion positively predicts second screening. In contrast, agreeableness and openness to new experience are negatively related to second screening. Moreover, multilevel analysis is performed to test whether the between-country variation is related to cultural and technical indicators.
Pundits, Presenters and Promoters: Investigating Gaps in Digital Production among Social Media Users Using Self-Reported and Behavioral Measures • Ke Jiang; Rui Wang; Lance Porter; Martin Johnson • We investigate the relationship between the social characteristics of social media users and their production of digital content. Matching survey data with self-reported user profiles and a year’s worth of actual posts on Twitter, we found four dominant fields of discussion and three main types of actors participating in these discussions. Pundits, presenters and promoters tweeted about different combinations of lifecasting, politics, promotion and entertainment to gain digital capital in 2016.
Developing and Testing Web-based Avatar Customization as a Self-Affirmation Manipulation Tool • Hyunjin Kang, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Hye Kyung Kim, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University • In two lab experiments, this study tested the potential of web-based avatar customization as a new self-affirmation manipulation method. Study 1 (N = 126) found that the process of avatar customization has a self-affirming effect equivalent to a widely used self-affirmation method. Study 2 (N = 139) further found that avatar customization reduces defensive processing of self-threatening health information among those who most likely to be defensive. We discuss practical implications and future research directions.
Effects of User versus Object Agency in Interaction with Smart Objects: A Moderated Mediation Model of Anthropomorphism and Perceived Connectedness • Hyunjin Kang, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Ki Joon Kim, Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong • In human-IoT interaction, both users and smart objects can exercise own agency. The current study examines interplay of the locus of agency (user vs. object) and anthropomorphic cues on user responses to interactions with IoT mediated by sense of connectedness. Experiment results (N =71) indicated that users generally exhibit more positive responses to IoT interactions when they have own agency. Yet, anthropomorphism was shown to relieve agency tension among users when objects have own agency.
The effects of gratifications on the continuance intention to use a mobile instant messenger service • Hyunjung Kim • In this study, we examined the motivational factors associated with the intention to continue to use an MIM service and explored the relationship between the size of an MIM group chatroom and the respective effects of the motivational factors. The results demonstrate that the effect of the social interaction gratification on the intention to continue using the MIM was greatest among those who mainly use the service for small-group chatrooms with three to five members.
Checking in During Irma: Investigating Motivations, Emotions, and Narratives on Facebook’s Safety Check Feature • Seoyeon Kim; Lucinda Austin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University • This study investigated public discourse on social media during the recent natural disaster Hurricane Irma through a quantitative content analysis of 750 Facebook posts. Levels of public engagement across different motivations for use, emotions, and crisis narratives were examined. Posts elicited higher engagement when users were motivated by information sharing; expressing fear/anxiety; and using victim narratives. Emotions across different crisis narratives are also discussed.
Snapchat Usage from the International Perspective: Comparison between the United States and South Korea • Haseon Park, University of North Dakota; Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota; Joonghwa Lee, University of North Dakota • This study explored international differences in Snapchat usage between the United States and Korea by taking long-term orientation, separateness self-schema, and motivations into account. The results from online survey revealed that both long-term orientation and separateness had positive relationships with attitudes toward Snapchat and intention to use Snapchat. Motivations that significantly influence attitudes toward Snapchat and intention to use Snapchat were also found to be different between the two countries. Implications are discussed.
YouTube, show me “How-to”: exploring parasocial interaction and self-efficacy mechanism governing behavioral intent in YouTube tutorial videos • Hyosun Kim, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point • A web survey was conducted to examine how “How-To” videos on YouTube affect purchase intent toward the products featured in the videos. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the findings suggest that perceived authenticity predicts parasocial interaction, which then affects self-efficacy to predict purchase intent. Thus, results revealed a significant mediating role of parasocial interaction and self-efficacy in the learning process that positively affects people towards buying the product they learned about from the YouTube tutorial videos.
Characteristics of Compensated Consumer Reviews and the Effect of Compensation Disclaimer on Attitude and Purchase Intention • Su Jung Kim, Iowa State University; Ewa Maslowska, University of Amsterdam; Ali Tamaddoni, Deakin Business School • This paper examines different characteristics and effects of compensated versus self-motivated reviews, and the mechanisms behind these effects, using mixed methods in two studies. The findings of text mining analyses suggest that, despite compensated reviews provide more elaborate and evaluative content, they are perceived less helpful than self-motivated reviews. The findings of a randomized experiment suggest that compensation disclosure negatively influence consumers’ attitude and purchase intention via increased suspicion of the reviewer’s ulterior motives.
Peer-To-Peer Connections: Perceptions of a Social Networking App Designed for Young Adults with Cancer • Allison Lazard; Adam Saffer; Lindsey Horrell; Catherine Benedict; Brad Love • Objective: Social support is a critical, yet frequently unmet, need among young adults (YAs) affected by cancer. YAs desire age-appropriate resources that will help them connect to members of the YA cancer community. Given the overwhelming adoption of smart phones among YAs, a peer-to-peer, social networking mobile app is a promising intervention to provide this desired social support if the design affords meaningful connections. Methods: We interviewed 27 members of the YA community to assess perceptions of the Stupid Cancer app. Findings: Most participants expressed interested in using the app to connect with other YA survivors/caregivers. Connection preferences varied by prevalence or rarity of one’s cancer diagnosis. Additional themes shared included: juxtaposition of the desire for profile anonymity versus profiles with more personal information such as pictures, the need for multiple matching algorithms and filter options to find connections that meet varying support needs, and desire for tailored messaging and chat room features (e.g., topic-specific, search capabilities). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the promise of using an app-based platform to fulfill YA cancer survivors’ unmet peer support needs. Practical Implications: Peer-to-peer networking apps should be designed so users can control their identify and customize connection features in this underserved cancer population.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Social Capital: Examining the Impacts of Mobile, PC, and Tablet Uses on Bonding and Bridging Social Capital • Hoon Lee; Scott Campbell • This study aims to tease out the distinctive repercussion of a particular ICT use for the accrual of social capital. Our results demonstrate mobile phone use is positively associated with bonding capital, whereas using desktop PC explains enhanced bridging capital. It is further shown that private-oriented use of mobile phone mainly contributes to the cultivation of bonding capital while using desktop PC for political ends is the key predictor of augmented bridging capital.
A Review of Media Addiction Research from 1991 to 2016 • Louis Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Cheng Chen • In this review study, a descriptive analysis was conducted of the media addiction research published from 1991 to 2016. The search of all academic output published in 13 major academic databases within the 26-year period yielded 1,099 SSCI/SCI articles that were relevant to this study. The review was focused on the trends, developmental periods, study domains, themes, research methods, measurement instruments, and research purposes in the field of media addiction. The implications of these findings for future media addiction research are discussed.
Does being an expert make you more negative? An investigation of subjective expertise and electronic word-of-mouth communication • Jiangmen Liu; Cong Li, School of Communication, University of Miami • This study aims examines how communicator’s subjective expertise impacts generation of eWOM and through what mechanisms. A 2 (subjective expertise: high vs low) 2 (anonymity: anonymous vs real identity) 2 (audience size: large vs small) between-subjects experiment conducted online. Results revealed a two-way interaction between subjective expertise and anonymity on eWOM valence. Findings provide theoretical contributions to eWOM research by exploring the influences of communicator characteristics and platform characteristics on eWOM generation.
Issue-Based Micromobilization via Call-to-Action Message: Path analysis model linking issue involvement to expressive action in social media • Elmie Nekmat, National University of Singapore; Ismaharif Ismail, National University of Singapore • This study investigates identity- and perceptual-based factors determining individual expressive support for issue-driven collective action on social media. A mediated pathway model positing influence of personal issue involvement via individual-group identification, perceived individual-network issue opinion congruity, and perceived participative efficacy on likelihood to engage in expressive support (commenting, ‘liking,’ ‘sharing’ of message and information) was evaluated. Results reveal group identification as robust mediator of issue involvement, predicting expressive support irrespective of user issue attitudes. Perceived participative efficacy is the strongest predictor of likelihood to express support but, like perceived individual-network opinion congruity, demonstrate variances between users with different levels of issue involvement and attitude. Results suggest a more intricate micromobilization process that needs to consider contextual issue-group positions and status quo in society, as well as counter-groups dynamics on social media.
The Emotional Consequences of Social Exclusion through Social Media • Dominik Neumann, Michigan State University; Nancy Rhodes, Michigan State University • Using social media affords an unfiltered window into the lives of friends. Although this can facilitate positive relationships, it also affords awareness of social activities friends are enjoying, that the user has not been included in. We report an initial, qualitative investigation into perceptions of self-exclusion and ostracism and emotional consequences of these types of exclusion. Thinking about an ostracism situation led to higher anger, and lower regret and happiness than thinking about self-exclusion.
News Finds Them, and Then What? How Post-Millennials Engage with Social and Mobile Media News • Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, University of Connecticut; Preeti Srinivasan, University of Connecticut • The reliance on social and mobile media for news is changing how young adults engage with and learn from news. Focus groups with current college students (N = 60) explore how they experience news via different media formats and how the content influences them. Results reveal social and mobile media as imperfect but unavoidable convenience, a general hesitation to engage publicly with news content, and a sense of awareness of but not learning from news.
Twitter versus Facebook: Discussing Controversial Issues on Social Media • Mustafa Oz, Southern Indiana University • Abstract: This study compares how do people express their opinions on the Facebook versus on Twitter. It was sought to understand whether people were more willing to express their opinions on some social media channels than others. It was assumed that fear of isolation and affordances may influence users’ opinion expression behaviors on social media websites. Overall, the results suggested that people were more likely to express their opinion on Twitter than Facebook when they think the majority does not support their opinion.
Smartphone and Self-Extension: Functionally, Anthropomorphically, and Ontologically Extending Self via the Smartphone • Chang Sup Park, University at Albany, SUNY; Barbara Kaye • This paper focuses on the blurring boundary between the smartphone and humans and aims to identify types of self-extension people experience through smartphone use. Based on in-depth interviews with 60 smartphone users, the findings support three types of self-extension via the smartphone – functional extension, anthropomorphic extension, and ontological extension. The findings suggest that smartphone users perceive that the smartphone has become an important part of their self and influences their identity.
Big data and crowdfunding for startups: An application of social capital theory • Sun-Young Park, University of Massachusetts Boston; Boon Thau Loo • Crowdfunding is a recent financing phenomenon as a tool for startups to raise seed funding for them. Utilizing big data analytics for crowdfunding platforms, such as AngelList (N = 744,036) and Crunchbase (N = 10,156), and social media sites, such as Facebook (N = 37,761) and Twitter (N = 70,563), our research investigates the impact of social engagement on startup fundraising success through the lens of social capital theory. The results show cognitive, structural, and relational dimensions of social capital sources served as important predictors of fundraising for startups.
Predicting Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Use in South Korea: The Roles of Socio-Demographic Characteristics, Innovativeness, Sense of Belonging, and Computer Self-Efficacy • Kyungeun Jang, Yonsei University; Jinyoung Choi, Yonsei University; Seonggyeol Cho, Yonsei University; Namkee Park, Yonsei University • This study explored the factors that affect individuals’ adoption and use of AI chatbots, focusing on socio-demographic characteristics, innovativeness, sense of belonging, and computer self-efficacy. The study fills the gap between the current use of AI chatbots and the lack of empirical studies that examined the predictors of adoption and use of the technology. The study is also expected to stimulate future research, calling for attention to individual and psychological factors for AI chatbot use.
Take them there: From narrative engagement to behavioral intention in cause-related immersive storytelling • Geah Pressgrove; Nicholas Bowman, West Virginia University; Jennifer Knight • This study explores the role of immersive storytelling in a prosocial context. Across three stories, using immersive storytelling technologies (such as head-mounted displays) led to the highest levels of presence, but there was no association between presence and increased attitudes towards the story content. Only narrative engagement impacted attitudes. Data suggests that telling engaging narratives that increase the viewer’s self-efficacy, independent of immersive technologies, are key to behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
How Many Will Read It on Reddit? A Model That Predicts Rankings of Reddit News • Aditya Ravindra Bhat; Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland • Research investigated social media sites in the context of user engagement and sharing of news, but few studies have focused on how user interactions could predict the ranking of news sources. 8,300 postings were collected from Reddit – the fourth largest news aggregator in the U.S. – to develop a new formula that can predict rankings of news sources. Initial results indicated the formula can successfully predict Reddit rankings with at least 70 percent reliability.
Predictors of Multiscreen Use: A Comparative Study of the United States and the Netherlands • Claire Segijn, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities; Anastasia Kononova • Previous cross-country studies found that media multitasking was most prevalent in the US and the least prevalent in the Netherlands. The current study seeks explanations for these differences by comparing survey data from the US (n = 314) and the Netherlands (n = 328) and examining audience, media, and cultural factors as predictors of multiscreening, a specific form of media multitasking. The results showed that media factors are the most important predictor of multiscreen use.
Hey Alexa! Tell us Why People Adopt and Trust Voice Activated Digital Assistants • Claire Sauter, St. John Fisher College; Morgan van der Horst; Mary Wilson, St. John Fisher College; Sophia Germano, St. John Fisher College; Ronen Shay, St. John Fisher College • This study employed a survey (n=235) content analysis, and pseudo-experiment to examine the factors that contribute towards the adoption of Alexa, Google Home, and Siri devices. The findings demonstrated perceived companionship with the virtual assistant was the strongest predictor of adoption; statements before wake words are not found in device transcriptions; emotions towards assistants are positive, but neutral towards the degree of privacy; and perceived usefulness is a predictor of trust for all brands studied.
Who Will Reply to A Troll? A Network Approach to Understanding Trolls in Online Communities • Qiusi Sun; Cuihua Shen • This study investigated trolls’ influence in online communities by examining how individual members react toward trolls. Trolls are antisocial individuals provoking emotional responses and disrupt discussions. Using social identity theory and a dataset from YouTube, the study found out that individual members’ centrality, discussion network’s density, other members’ previous response to trolls, and the community’s cumulative response to trolls and the negativity of troll posts are associated with individual members’ likelihood of responding to trolls.
Social media and the classroom: Reversing the knowledge gap through tweets • Jason Turcotte • Knowledge gap theory demonstrated mass media’s role in facilitating learning disparities between the haves and have nots. The knowledge gap is also conditioned by the medium, yet the role of digital platforms is less clear. As social media plays an increasingly routine role as an information source and as a pedagogical tool, this study examines the effectiveness of incorporating social media in mass communication instruction.
Who leads the conversation on climate change?: A study of the global network of NGOs on Twitter • Hong Vu; Hung Do; Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu, University of Kansas • Using a big data approach, this study investigates how climate change NGOs across the world communicate and interact on Twitter. It found that the Global North/South hierarchy is perpetuated in the network of these NGOs, with those from the Global North and Oceania dominating the conversations on climate change. Our social network analyses identified several types of centralities, conceptualized as connectivity, as predictors of an organization’s interactivity and posting. Implications for interorganizational communication and online opinion leadership were discussed.
Space-body Relationship: Visualizing Geolocation on Instagram and the Implications on Psychological Well-being • Shaojung Sharon Wang, National Sun Yat-sen University • This study investigated how location-based image sharing on Instagram might provide meaning for socio-spatial interaction processes by connecting bodies with locations. The results of an online survey showed that the use of Instagram features and visual appeal of an Instagram profile can both significantly predicted the users’ sense of space. Users’ sense of space had a positive impact on inner space and online social support and both inner space and online social support positively predicted three aspects of perceived interpersonal attraction: physical attraction, sexual attraction, and group attraction. The three aspects of perceived interpersonal attraction can further positively predict psychological well-being (PWB). Theoretical implications on how Instagram users might shorten the inner distance and trigger social perceptions by exhibiting external spatial beauty on a visual-oriented social platform to achieve PWB are discussed.
Information Control as a Mood Enhancer: Mood Management through Website Interactivity • Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina; Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Reece Funderburk, University of South Carolina • This paper examines the interplay between mood (positive, negative, and neutral) and website interactivity (high and low) on responses to brand websites. Participants in a negative mood reported greater mood change and more positive attitudes toward a high-interactivity website whereas people in a positive mood exhibited non-significant mood change and comparable evaluations of the websites with different levels of interactivity. Participants in a neutral mood reported non-significant mood change but more favorable attitudes toward a high-interactivity website.
‘This Message Will Self-Destruct’: Brand Use of Ephemeral Content on Snapchat for Strategic Communication • Brooke Smith, Brigham Young University; Christopher Wilson, BYU; Pamela Brubaker, Brigham Young University • This study seeks to understand why and how brands use ephemeral content on platforms like Snapchat. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 23 brand social media managers who were involved in with brands’ Snapchat account. The results show that the ephemerality of the content shared on Snapchat was a key driver in platform adoption. Also, brand representatives wanted to reach younger audiences by telling them authentic visual stories. However, brands must balance the desire for carefully crafted brand stories the rawness characteristic of ephemeral content.
The Alternatives to Being Silent: Exploring the Opinion Expression Avoidance Strategies for Discussing Politics on Facebook • Tai-Yee Wu, National Chiao Tung University; Xiaowen Xu; David Atkin • This study integrates the theories of planned behavior and spiral of silence to examine one’s opinion expression avoidance on Facebook political discussions. Survey results suggest that self-efficacy and subjective norms promote the intention to adopt both tacit and “hassle” avoidance strategies. The latter could even benefit individuals with higher fear of isolation to less explicitly reveal disagreements if normative influence decreases. Findings from this comprehensive framework expand present understandings of online opinion expression and withdrawal.
When Journalism and Automation Intersect: Assessing the Influence of the Technological Field on Contemporary Newsrooms • Shangyuan Wu, Nanyang Technological University; Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Charles Salmon • In this era of “big data,” where information circulates in unprecedented amounts, this paper examines the use of automation in newsrooms to manage the data deluge – not from the perspective of news workers, but from the technologists driving these digital innovations instead. Using field theory and in-depth interviews with technological firms, this study maps out the principles and practices of the technological field and the pressures and powers it exerts on the journalistic field today.
How Does Customization Influence Conspicuous Consumption among Socially Excluded versus Included Consumers? • Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina; nandini bhalla, University of South Carolina; Anan Wan, University of South Carolina • A lab experiment was conducted to analyze how the interplay between social exclusion and customization influenced consumers’ tendency of conspicuous consumption. The results indicated that compared to socially included participants, socially excluded participants expressed a significantly stronger tendency of conspicuous consumption after customizing a website. However, such a difference between social exclusion and social inclusion was not observed among participants who just read the information on the website without customizing it. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed and future research suggestions also provided.
Relationships between Gameplay Motives, Gaming Activities, and Quality-of-Life Perceptions among Older Game Players • YOWEI KANG, KAINAN UNIVERSITY, REPUBLIC OF TAIWAN; KENNETH C.C YANG, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO, USA • Older adults have increasingly become an important and profitable segment. This empirical research analyzed data from 127 older game players (>55 years old) in Taiwan and examined how their gaming activities were influenced by their use motives and whether playing digital games could subsequently influence their quality-of-life (QOL) perceptions. The linear regression analyses found that the motive to seek social connectedness positively predicted their gameplay duration (β=0.36, t=2.76**). Participants’ motive to obtain relaxation also positively predicted their gameplay frequency (β=0.93, t=12.00***). In terms of their quality-of-life perceptions, our study found that gameplay frequency positively predicted participants’ satisfaction with their own material living conditions (β=0.13, t=2.87**) and social relationship with family members (β=0.34, t=4.03***). Commitment to playing digital games, on the contrary, negatively predicted participants’ satisfaction to take part in productive and main activities (β=-0.29, t=-3.28***).
Beyond the “Good or Bad” Typology: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Association between Social Media Use and Psychological Well-Being • Fan Yang, University at Albany, SUNY; Ruoxu Wang, The University of Memphis • A meta-analysis of 54 studies was conducted to examine the association between social media use and psychological well-being. Using social media does not necessarily link to users’ psychological well-being because the relationship between the two is contingent upon different types of social media use (active versus passive), motivations for social media use (instrumental versus relational), and age of social media users. However, the association does not vary by social media platforms (Facebook versus others).
Student Paper Competition
Repurposed Geo-data and the Counterpublic: Folk Theories of Remote Check-ins to Standing Rock on Facebook • Jeeyun Baik, University of Southern California • This study defines social media users’ remotely checking in to political locations as an evolving form of counterpublic. It conducted a case study on Facebook check-in posts to Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 2016 where the users virtually stood with protesters who were fighting against the Dakota Access oil pipeline construction. Analyzing the discourse across the public remote check-in posts, five folk theories were identified regarding solidarity, counter-surveillance, privacy, education on geo-data and debunking rumors.
Whenever, Wherever: The Persuasive Effects of Commercials Experienced with Mobile Virtual Reality • Priska Breves, University of Wuerzburg; Nicola Dodel, University of Wuerzburg • With the rise of mobile VR, advertisers started producing immersive commercials in order to engage and persuade consumers. A 2×1-between-subjects-experiment (N=62) was conducted in participants’ living rooms under natural conditions, where they either experiencing the immersive commercial with a cardboard HMD or on a laptop. Serial moderated mediation analyses indicated positive effects of mobile VR due to elevated feelings of spatial presence; however, persuasive effectiveness was only increased if reported cybersickness was low or moderate.
The Effects of Modality, Device, and Task Differences on Human-likeness in Virtual Assistant Interaction • Eugene Cho, Penn State University; Maria D. Molina, Penn State University; Jinping Wang, Penn State University • This study attempts to explore the effects of modality, device, and task differences on attitudes toward virtual assistants (VAs), and the mediating roles of perceived human-likeness. A 2 (modality: voice vs. text) X 2 (device: mobile vs. laptop) X 2 (task type: hedonic vs. utilitarian) mixed factorial experimental design was employed. Findings suggest that voice (vs. text) interaction was mediated by higher level of perceived human-likeness to evoke more positive attitudes toward the VA system, but only with utilitarian (vs. hedonic) tasks. Interestingly, interaction using laptops (vs. mobile phones) also enhanced perceived human-likeness of the virtual agent. This study offers theoretical and practical implications for VA research by exploring the combinational effects of modality, device, and task differences on user perceptions through human-like interactions.
Playing the Visibility Game: How Digital Influencers and Algorithms Negotiate Influence on Instagram • Kelley Cotter • Algorithms regulate who and what gains visibility on social media. Yet, discussions of algorithmic power often neglect the ways knowledge of algorithms might constrain their power. Through a thematic analysis of online discussions among Instagram digital influencers, I observe that influencers actively learn about the platform’s algorithms and pursue influence as if playing a game. Influencers’ discursive interpretations of algorithms—and the “game” more broadly—intervene between the algorithms and influencers to shape influencers’ behaviors.
Moving with presence: A 4-week virtual reality-based exergame training with cognitive challenges on executive functions in people aged 50 and over • Tim Huang, Michigan State University • The older population, which has grown dramatically, is at a considerably higher risk for having problems related to the aging of the brain. Exergames show the potential to combine the cognitive benefits of physical activity and attractiveness of videogames and been found to be more effective as a tool for cognitive improvement in older adults. However, the mechanism by which exergames led to cognitive improvement has not been fully explored. The current research investigated the impacts of immersion (i.e., VR) and types of task-load on cognitive benefits in the context of exergaming and hypothesized the feeling of presence as a mediator between immersion and cognitive benefits. A 4-week exergame training, which consisted of eight 20-minute exergame sessions, was designed to test the hypotheses and answer the research question of the current research. The experiment was a 2 (high immersion vs. low immersion) x2 (task-relevant vs. task-irrelevant loads) between-subject factorial design. The results (N=41) showed that task-irrelevant load led to cognitive improvement immediately after a single-bout training, and immersion had an impact on cognitive impact after the 4-week training. However, the results after the 2-week training showed that both factors played an important role. Furthermore, spatial presence mediates the impacts of immersion on cognitive benefits. The significance of this study includes both theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.
Predictors of Peer-to-Peer Communication among Elder Adults within an Online Interactive Communication System • Juwon Hwang, UW-Madison; Junhan Chen • Despite the benefits and growing interests in online communication using technology among elder adults, little is known about the factors that predict engagement in a computer-mediated social support (CMSS) communication among elder adults. Based on an interactive communication system for elder adults, we explore how psychosocial and physical well-being characteristics predict engagement in peer-to-peer communication. Of eligible participants who were 65 and older, and have experienced one or more of clinical criteria of this study, we analyzed 174 of participants who were assigned to the intervention and used the interactive communication system during the 6-month study period. Results indicated that participants who have better emotional well-being but more physical symptoms were more likely to engage in online peer-to-peer communication. Specifically, elder adults with higher social support and a bigger size of the social network, and those with less depression were more likely to engage in peer-to-peer communication, whereas those with more physical symptoms and worse physical quality of lives were more likely to interact with peers.
How should an embodied conversational agent carry out small talks? The effect of the agent’s passivity in small talks on user psychology • Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University • We examined how an embodied conversational agent (ECA) should carry out small talks with human users. In a 3 (agent type: active vs. passive vs. control) x 2 (topic: selfie vs. etiquette) between-subjects online study, participants interacted with a fictitious ECA who engaged in small talk as an active participant or a passive observant of human culture. We found that the passive agent elicited higher threat to uniqueness and perceived interactivity than the active agent.
Snapping Up Legacy Media: Using Theory of Affordances to Explain How News Outlets Behave on Snapchat • Eun Jeong Lee, Texas State University • This study uses an affordances approach to explore how U.S. media outlets utilize Snapchat to reach young people, the audience least engaged with traditional media. Using content analysis and interviews, this study found that publishers on Discover adopt Snapchat’s affordances and adapt their story topic and presentation of content with an emphasis on the visual. Yet, differences emerge between traditional “legacy” and “new” media outlets, especially in news judgment.
International Student’s Social Networking Sites Use, Perceived Social Support, and Acculturative Stress • Lin Li • This study examined the mechanisms through which ethnic and host social networking site (SNS) use influenced international students’ acculturative stress. By surveying international students in an American university (N = 263), the study found that host SNS use was associated with less acculturative stress through the increased level of social support from the host country, while ethnic SNS use was associated with more acculturative stress through the decreased level of social support from the home country.
Intermittent Discontinuance: The case of Twitter • Margaret Yee Man Ng • Early studies tend to view innovation discontinuance as a one-time complete abandonment of an innovation in use. However, this study argued that post-adoption behavior is not simply a binary distinction between use and non-use, but is a wide array of practices enacting varied degrees of engagement with and disengagement from an innovation. Using a national Twitter user survey (N = 419), this study identified differences (i.e., demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics) among continuing adopters, intermittent discontinuers, and permanent discontinuers.
Normalized Incivility: Two Studies of Social Cues in Online Discussion Environments • David Silva, Washington State University • Civility is required for democratic political communication, but the frequency of incivility online presents a vexing problem. This study approaches incivility from a social psychological framework and tests the efficacy of social cues on discussion intention. Findings from two experiments show group norms predict group identification, which affects communication intentions. Some social cues reduce perceptions of normative incivility, but others have adverse effects. Best practices and future research are discussed considering these results.
The Effects of Expectation Fulfilment of Likes on Anxiety and Depression: The Role of Perceived • Lipei Tang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Using a cluster sampling method, this study (N = 475) proposed and tested a moderated mediation model to examine the effect of expectation fulfilment of Likes on social media on anxiety and depression. Results found both conditional direct effect and conditional indirect effect of expectation fulfilment on people who Liked on anxiety and depression through perceived social support (importance of social media post as moderator). Theoretical implications are discussed.
“NextDoor People Are Nuts”: Analyzing Twitter Perspectives About the People and Purpose of NextDoor • Kelsey Whipple, University of Texas at Austin • This qualitative textual analysis examines how social media users characterize NextDoor, the private, geo-specific social platform dedicated to fostering neighborhood communities online, on another social platform: Twitter. By exploring the major themes of Twitter public discourse about NextDoor, this study seeks to analyze NextDoor’s role within a larger network of virtual online communities, as well as understand what type of people are assumed to use it and how users share and prioritize information.
Self-control and Media Multitasking: The Role of Conflict Identification and Intrinsic Motivation • Shan Xu, Ohio State University; Guanjin Zhang, Ohio State University • Based on the preventive interventive (PI) model of self-control, the current study investigates how trait self-control influences multitasking while studying and pinpoints two mediators: intrinsic motivation and conflict identification. Results from a survey study suggested that students who scored high on trait self-control were more likely to identify a conflict between media multitasking and schoolwork, and had a stronger intrinsic motivation toward study, which in turn decreased media multitasking during educational activities.
Human-like vs. Robot-like Voices: The Impact of Voice Cues of a Virtual Health Assistant and Health Information Sensitivity on Users’ Perception and Behavioral Intentions • Hyun Yang, The Pennsylvania State University; Ruosi Shao, Penn State University • This study shows (1) the relationship between voice cues of a virtual health assistant and perceived social presence; (2) the relationship between perceived social presence and credibility; (3) the moderating effect of trustworthiness beliefs in machine/human on the relationship between voice cues and perceived credibility; (4) the effects of perceived credibility on self-disclosure and behavioral learning intentions; and (5) the effect of health information sensitivity on self-disclosure intention. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
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