Vaccination hesitancy is a barrier to India’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Considera... more Vaccination hesitancy is a barrier to India’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Considerable resources have been spent to promote COVID-19 vaccination, but evaluations of such efforts are sparse. Our objective was to determine how vaccine videos that manipulate message appeal (collectivistic versus individualistic), tone (humorous versus serious), and source (male versus female protagonist) toward vaccines and vaccination. We developed eight videos that manipulated the type of appeal (collectivistic or individualistic), tone of the message (humor or serious), and gender of the vaccine promoter (male or female) in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Participants (N = 2349) were randomly assigned to watch one of eight videos in an online experiment. Beliefs about vaccines and those about vaccination were obtained before and after viewing the video. Manipulation checks demonstrated that each of the three independent variables was manipulated successfully. After exposure to...
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-bds-10.1177_20539517211023533 for Toxicity and verbal aggression ... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-bds-10.1177_20539517211023533 for Toxicity and verbal aggression on social media: Polarized discourse on wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic by Paola Pascual-Ferrá, Neil Alperstein, Daniel J Barnett and Rajiv N Rimal in Big Data & Society
Medical and public health professionals recommend wearing face masks to combat the spread of the ... more Medical and public health professionals recommend wearing face masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). While the majority of people in the United States support wearing face masks as an effective tool to combat COVID-19, a smaller percentage declared the recommendation by public health agencies as a government imposition and an infringement on personal liberty. Social media play a significant role in amplifying public health issues, whereby a minority against the imposition can speak loudly, perhaps using tactics of verbal aggression taking the form of toxic language. We investigated the role that toxicity plays in the online discourse around wearing face masks. Overall, we found tweets including anti-mask hashtags were significantly more likely to use toxic language, while tweets with pro-mask hashtags were somewhat less toxic with the exception of #WearADamnMask. We conclude that the tensions between these two positions raise doubt and uncertainty...
Best Practices in Planning Strategically for Online Educational Programs is a step-by-step guide ... more Best Practices in Planning Strategically for Online Educational Programs is a step-by-step guide to developing strategic plans for creating and implementing online educational programs within higher education institutions. From conception to execution and assessment, the successful management of purposeful online educational programs in colleges and universities carries increasing importance and a unique set of requirements.
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 2021
Objective:The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in coronavirus d... more Objective:The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine-related information and activity online. We hypothesized that if negative dominance appeared, it would be a reflection of peaks in adverse events related to the vaccine, that negative content would attract more engagement on social media than other vaccine-related posts, and posts referencing adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination would have a higher average toxicity score.Methods:We collected data using Google Trends for search behavior, CrowdTangle for social media data, and Media Cloud for media stories, and compared them against the dates of key adverse events related to COVID-19. We used Communalytic to analyze the toxicity of social media posts by platform and topic.Results:While our first hypothesis was partially supported, with peaks in search behavior for image and YouTube videos driven by adverse events, we did not find negative dominance in ot...
This chapter is based on an extensive ethnographic interview with a fan who exhibits extreme admi... more This chapter is based on an extensive ethnographic interview with a fan who exhibits extreme admiration for a couple that are Olympic ice dancing champions. The interview describes the role that the skaters play in her everyday life and the ways in which watching their videos functions as a means to reduce stress. Moreover, through a deep connection established on social media, the informant explores her mediated social connections with other fans and followers and the friendships she has formed though her travels to see the skaters perform. Through this analysis, we can extrapolate from her experience how culture has evolved from the parasocial to imaginary relationships to mediated social connections in the age of digital media.
The online social network, Pinterest, has grown in significance since its introduction in 2010, p... more The online social network, Pinterest, has grown in significance since its introduction in 2010, perhaps because of its emphasis of visual content, known as “pins.” According to the Pew Research Center, when it comes to Pinterest, “Women are about five times as likely to be on the site as men, the largest difference in gender” among popular social networking sites. While the literature indicates that idealizes images in traditional advertising venues have a negative impact on women’s self-perceptions, the present study extends this research to consider how newer social media, Pinterest in particular, affects women’s body image and self-esteem. The empirical findings of the present study, based on the results of an online survey of women, will greater understanding of the degree to which exposure to idealized images on Pinterest have an effect on self-evaluations. The study is based on social comparison theory as a moderator of effects, along with body image and self-esteem. The findi...
This chapter highlights how at a young age children are first introduced to projected objects, li... more This chapter highlights how at a young age children are first introduced to projected objects, like a teddy bear, but quickly are inculcated into a digital world of what may be referred to as the Internet of Toys. Later children move on to apps on smartphones, games on tablets or other dedicated digital technologies. From a child’s earliest days until adulthood, they are brought up in a culture of digital technology that impacts them in ways that last throughout their lives. Technologies are becoming increasingly humanlike, as robotics grow to serve the interests of children and adults. Newer technologies—robotics and voice-activated digital media—have changed the landscape regarding mediated social connections, as self-talk transforms into talk with Siri and Alexa.
The purpose of this research is to better understand the ways in which social media is utilized t... more The purpose of this research is to better understand the ways in which social media is utilized to further political and social causes. The research focuses on the aftermath of the 2018 shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida and the rise of the #NeverAgain movement. The study takes a social networks approach to look at a social movement that forms on and through the use of social media. As social and political movements develop, social networks form not as monolithic communities but rather operate in the guise of clusters and niches based on particular interests or the situational relevance of the issue. The research, based on an analysis of 100 thousand tweets that utilized the #NeverAgain hashtag, found four categories of tweets that ranged from spreading information to sharing personal stories. A sentiment analysis was conducted that indicated that language was contextual, meaning that an overtly negative term might be utilized in a more positive vein. Data...
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising (DTCA) is the fastest growing form of advertisin... more Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising (DTCA) is the fastest growing form of advertising, topping $6 billion in expenditures in 2017. Celebrities play a key role in promoting prescription medications, including entertainers, actresses and actors, sports figures and political figures. This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which DTCA has moved from its beginning in print and television to enter into newer media platforms, what is referred to as eDTCA. The chapter looks at the way celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Cedric the Entertainer, among others, promote prescription drugs, and the chapter presents a case study of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, who is the spokesperson for a psoriasis drug. The chapter also speaks to the new role of ePatient, ordinary people who become health advocates for themselves or loved ones.
Vaccination hesitancy is a barrier to India’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Considera... more Vaccination hesitancy is a barrier to India’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Considerable resources have been spent to promote COVID-19 vaccination, but evaluations of such efforts are sparse. Our objective was to determine how vaccine videos that manipulate message appeal (collectivistic versus individualistic), tone (humorous versus serious), and source (male versus female protagonist) toward vaccines and vaccination. We developed eight videos that manipulated the type of appeal (collectivistic or individualistic), tone of the message (humor or serious), and gender of the vaccine promoter (male or female) in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Participants (N = 2349) were randomly assigned to watch one of eight videos in an online experiment. Beliefs about vaccines and those about vaccination were obtained before and after viewing the video. Manipulation checks demonstrated that each of the three independent variables was manipulated successfully. After exposure to...
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-bds-10.1177_20539517211023533 for Toxicity and verbal aggression ... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-bds-10.1177_20539517211023533 for Toxicity and verbal aggression on social media: Polarized discourse on wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic by Paola Pascual-Ferrá, Neil Alperstein, Daniel J Barnett and Rajiv N Rimal in Big Data & Society
Medical and public health professionals recommend wearing face masks to combat the spread of the ... more Medical and public health professionals recommend wearing face masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). While the majority of people in the United States support wearing face masks as an effective tool to combat COVID-19, a smaller percentage declared the recommendation by public health agencies as a government imposition and an infringement on personal liberty. Social media play a significant role in amplifying public health issues, whereby a minority against the imposition can speak loudly, perhaps using tactics of verbal aggression taking the form of toxic language. We investigated the role that toxicity plays in the online discourse around wearing face masks. Overall, we found tweets including anti-mask hashtags were significantly more likely to use toxic language, while tweets with pro-mask hashtags were somewhat less toxic with the exception of #WearADamnMask. We conclude that the tensions between these two positions raise doubt and uncertainty...
Best Practices in Planning Strategically for Online Educational Programs is a step-by-step guide ... more Best Practices in Planning Strategically for Online Educational Programs is a step-by-step guide to developing strategic plans for creating and implementing online educational programs within higher education institutions. From conception to execution and assessment, the successful management of purposeful online educational programs in colleges and universities carries increasing importance and a unique set of requirements.
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 2021
Objective:The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in coronavirus d... more Objective:The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine-related information and activity online. We hypothesized that if negative dominance appeared, it would be a reflection of peaks in adverse events related to the vaccine, that negative content would attract more engagement on social media than other vaccine-related posts, and posts referencing adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination would have a higher average toxicity score.Methods:We collected data using Google Trends for search behavior, CrowdTangle for social media data, and Media Cloud for media stories, and compared them against the dates of key adverse events related to COVID-19. We used Communalytic to analyze the toxicity of social media posts by platform and topic.Results:While our first hypothesis was partially supported, with peaks in search behavior for image and YouTube videos driven by adverse events, we did not find negative dominance in ot...
This chapter is based on an extensive ethnographic interview with a fan who exhibits extreme admi... more This chapter is based on an extensive ethnographic interview with a fan who exhibits extreme admiration for a couple that are Olympic ice dancing champions. The interview describes the role that the skaters play in her everyday life and the ways in which watching their videos functions as a means to reduce stress. Moreover, through a deep connection established on social media, the informant explores her mediated social connections with other fans and followers and the friendships she has formed though her travels to see the skaters perform. Through this analysis, we can extrapolate from her experience how culture has evolved from the parasocial to imaginary relationships to mediated social connections in the age of digital media.
The online social network, Pinterest, has grown in significance since its introduction in 2010, p... more The online social network, Pinterest, has grown in significance since its introduction in 2010, perhaps because of its emphasis of visual content, known as “pins.” According to the Pew Research Center, when it comes to Pinterest, “Women are about five times as likely to be on the site as men, the largest difference in gender” among popular social networking sites. While the literature indicates that idealizes images in traditional advertising venues have a negative impact on women’s self-perceptions, the present study extends this research to consider how newer social media, Pinterest in particular, affects women’s body image and self-esteem. The empirical findings of the present study, based on the results of an online survey of women, will greater understanding of the degree to which exposure to idealized images on Pinterest have an effect on self-evaluations. The study is based on social comparison theory as a moderator of effects, along with body image and self-esteem. The findi...
This chapter highlights how at a young age children are first introduced to projected objects, li... more This chapter highlights how at a young age children are first introduced to projected objects, like a teddy bear, but quickly are inculcated into a digital world of what may be referred to as the Internet of Toys. Later children move on to apps on smartphones, games on tablets or other dedicated digital technologies. From a child’s earliest days until adulthood, they are brought up in a culture of digital technology that impacts them in ways that last throughout their lives. Technologies are becoming increasingly humanlike, as robotics grow to serve the interests of children and adults. Newer technologies—robotics and voice-activated digital media—have changed the landscape regarding mediated social connections, as self-talk transforms into talk with Siri and Alexa.
The purpose of this research is to better understand the ways in which social media is utilized t... more The purpose of this research is to better understand the ways in which social media is utilized to further political and social causes. The research focuses on the aftermath of the 2018 shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida and the rise of the #NeverAgain movement. The study takes a social networks approach to look at a social movement that forms on and through the use of social media. As social and political movements develop, social networks form not as monolithic communities but rather operate in the guise of clusters and niches based on particular interests or the situational relevance of the issue. The research, based on an analysis of 100 thousand tweets that utilized the #NeverAgain hashtag, found four categories of tweets that ranged from spreading information to sharing personal stories. A sentiment analysis was conducted that indicated that language was contextual, meaning that an overtly negative term might be utilized in a more positive vein. Data...
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising (DTCA) is the fastest growing form of advertisin... more Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising (DTCA) is the fastest growing form of advertising, topping $6 billion in expenditures in 2017. Celebrities play a key role in promoting prescription medications, including entertainers, actresses and actors, sports figures and political figures. This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which DTCA has moved from its beginning in print and television to enter into newer media platforms, what is referred to as eDTCA. The chapter looks at the way celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Cedric the Entertainer, among others, promote prescription drugs, and the chapter presents a case study of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, who is the spokesperson for a psoriasis drug. The chapter also speaks to the new role of ePatient, ordinary people who become health advocates for themselves or loved ones.
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