Tents,Tweets, and Events: The Interplay Between Ongoing Protests and Social Media

Recent protests have fuelled deliberations about the extent to which social media ignites popular uprisings. In this article, we use time‐series data of Twitter, Facebook, and onsite protests to assess the Granger causality between social media streams and onsite developments at the Indignados, Occupy, and Brazilian Vinegar protests. After applying Gaussianization to the data, we found contentious communication on Twitter and Facebook forecasted onsite protest during the Indignados and Occupy protests, with bidirectional Granger causality between online and onsite protest in the Occupy series. Conversely, the Vinegar demonstrations presented Granger causality between Facebook and Twitter communication, and separately between protestors and injuries/arrests onsite. We conclude that the effective forecasting of protest activity likely varies across different instances of political unrest.     

Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements,Corporate Interests,and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements

The uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere have been credited in part to the creative use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Yet the information policies of the firms behind social media can inhibit activists and empower authoritarian regimes. Analysis of Facebook's response to Egypt's “We Are All Khaled Said” group, YouTube's policy exemption for videos coming from Syria, Moroccan loyalist response to the online presence of atheists, and the activities of the Syrian Electronic Army illustrate how prohibitions on anonymity, community policing practices, campaigns from regime loyalists, and counterinsurgency tactics work against democracy advocates. These problems arise from the design and governance challenges facing large‐scale, revenue‐seeking social media enterprises.     

A comparative study of KakaoStory and Facebook: Focusing on use patterns and use motives

Before global SNS services, such as Facebook and Twitter, were introduced in Korea, Cyworld monopolized the Korean SNS market. However, Cyworld was left behind because it maintained a closed system, which no longer satisfied users. KakaoTalk, a popular Korean mobile messaging application has allowed the messenger itself to become a platform for various services including SNS. KakaoStory began as a photo-based SNS service; by integrating with KakaoTalk’s profile pictures, it has become the most popular SNS in Korea. This study focuses on the usage patterns of SNS users to analyze how KakaoStory became one of the most popular SNSs in Korea. In particular, we have examined the differences in usage patterns between KakaoStory and Facebook, and the primary reasons why Korean users select one of these two social networking sites instead of the other. We conducted an exploratory comparison between KakaoStory and Facebook, specifically focusing on the usage patterns and motivations of both sets of users. We also analyzed how the different usage motivations linked to these two social media networks have influenced usage patterns.     

Friending instructors on Facebook: Exploring the role of privacy on student-instructor connection on cyberspace

In the new media era, students and instructors are able to connect and interact with each other via various social network sites (SNS) like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. When offered with the connection opportunity, which factor would predict students’ decision of connection? A survey conducted among three hundred and fifty students (N?=?350) indicated students who were commonly active on SNS had a tendency to stay close with their instructors socially on the cyberspace. It is also found that once the professional relationship between the students and the instructors ended, students were more likely to connect with their instructors online. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Twitter data analysis for studying communities of practice in the media industry

Today, more and more physical communities of practice, a concept that describes a group of people that share a passion and interact regularly at events to exchange knowledge, utilize social media, such as Twitter. Brotaru, for instance, is such a physical community of practice for media professionals in Brussels. It is a monthly meet-up of videogame developers in various locations in Brussels. Furthermore, Twitter becomes widely acknowledged as important instrument for learning and community formation in the virtual world. But, do these communities of practice use Twitter only to promote their physical activities of learning? Or, are the activities of the physical communities further extended into the virtual world meaning that virtual communities of practice emerge from them? This article suggests a novel mixed-methods approach based on qualitative and quantitative data to measure the role of Twitter for physical communities of practice. The method applies different statistical measures and analysis on harvested Twitter data and additionally brings two of the most used methods in Twitter analysis together, social network analysis and text data analysis (a.k.a., content analysis). Four different communities of practice in Brussels’ media industry and their activities and followers on Twitter have been analysed. The findings showed that the activities of the communities of practice extend into the Twitter sphere as the online communities are characterised by a shared domain, a lively community and shared practices. The analysis further revealed that Twitter offers three main opportunities for the activities of communities of practice: it offers geographical extension; it gives temporal autonomy; and, it can be used to diversify the practices.     

User settings for advertising optimization on Facebook: Active customer participation or settings blindness?

Facebook and many other social media companies act on information markets with various player groups, which are differentiated by the kind of payment, one group paying with money (normally, advertisers) and the other group paying with their personal data or their attention (i.e., Facebook’s users being simultaneously the advertisers’ potential customers). In order to minimize users’ problems with (rather annoying) ads on digital services, some providers offer user settings for the optimization of advertising. We analyzed the information behavior of Facebook users concerning ad settings with the help of an online survey (N = 1,021). Only about 40% of participating Facebook users know about personalization of settings of their advertising preferences. More than 20% of the users who work with Facebook’s advertising optimization are satisfied since the changes, but 35% are unsatisfied, and another 32% have a generally negative attitude towards online advertising. To describe customers’ disregard or ignorance of settings we introduce the term “settings blindness.” Especially the users’ gender and their educational background influence the information behavior concerning advertisement settings. The results have practical implications for Facebook users (namely, setting their own preferences for ads and thus seeing only personally customized ads), for Facebook and other social media companies (producing less annoying ads leading to a better customer loyalty and maybe more trust in the service), and for advertisers on social media (improving the correct addressing of the target groups).     

Sousveillance: Communities of resistance to the surveillance environment

Facebook is often invoked in popular discourse as a device for the potential exploitation of individual privacy. Facebook users invite surveillance, and personal information revealed by Facebook users is compiled into aggregated databases of linked information, preferences, and behaviors. In the interest of the ideals of individual empowerment, cultural integrity, social responsibility and equality, social networking communities are forming to interrogate networked surveillance. This article examines those communities of resistance in the form of “sousveillance” tactics that have emerged as a backlash to the surveilled environment. Sousveillance is “watching from below,” a form of inverse surveillance in which people monitor the surveillors. Examples include citizen video, watchdog web sites, or the monitoring of authorities (corporations, military, government). Sousveillance embraces the idea of transparency as an antidote to concentrated power in the hands of surveillors. Sousveillance is used in Facebook itself to expose the data gathered by Facebook to the larger networked population. The surveillance sector’s responses to citizen resistance may ultimately alter the power dynamic between the watchers and the watched. Implications for this power dynamic are discussed through an exploration of Facebook sousveillance communities of resistance and how they are sustained in an effort to contribute to the larger examination of hegemonic practices in the global information society.     

Show your best self(ie): An exploratory study on selfie-related motivations and behavior in emerging adulthood

Although self-presentation has been studied for decades, social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook have produced novel opportunities for visual online self-presentation. Posting selfies is currently a popular mode of consciously constructing visual online self-presentations, yet most prior research is limited to selfie-posting alone. This study aimed to profile selfie-makers’ motivations and behavior, and examine the extent to which underlying mechanisms preceding selfie-posting are interconnected. Results of a survey (N?=?224; 79.9% females; M_age?=?21.66, SD_age?=?2.08) regarding selfie-behavior on SNS (e.g., Facebook and Instagram) characterized selfie-makers in emerging adulthood as mainly concerned with the social aspects of selfies. Entertainment and moment-retention were identified as main motivations for selfie-making. Findings supported the proposed Selfie-Stadium Model, representing various steps of selfie-taking and underlying motives as well as selection and editing before actual posting. This study on profiling selfie-makers and their self-presentation taps into a fairly new media use research domain.     

Examining the links between active Facebook use,received likes,self-esteem and happiness: A study using objective social media data

For social media users, profile updating and receiving Likes may feel like a reward, and elicit positive emotions, reinforcing use of the platform. Could this mechanism have consequences for users’ self-esteem and happiness? Previous findings on the topic are mixed, and typically limited by use of self-reports of online activity. In the present study, we used objective behavioral data to examine the hypotheses that receiving Likes on Facebook would relate to 1) users’ level of perceived self-esteem, and 2) increased happiness via the mediating role of self-esteem. We recruited 2,349 adult Facebook users (589 men, 1,760 women; 67% aged 18–25, 26% aged 26–35, 7% aged > 35 years). Participants answered an online survey and provided access to their objective Facebook data (i.e., profile updates and received Likes). We found that frequency of users updating their profile and sharing personal content (e.g., self-generated texts, images, friends and location tags) had a direct effect on the frequency and intensity of the feedback (i.e., Likes) they received from other users in their online social network. Additionally, analyses supported a positive link between the frequency and intensity of positive feedback received by users and perceived happiness that was mediated in part by an increase in self-esteem. Overall, findings demonstrate a process linking positive online social feedback and perceived well-being.     

Social Media and the Decision to Participate in Political Protest: Observations From Tahrir Square

Based on a survey of participants in Egypt's Tahrir Square protests, we demonstrate that social media in general, and Facebook in particular, provided new sources of information the regime could not easily control and were crucial in shaping how citizens made individual decisions about participating in protests, the logistics of protest, and the likelihood of success. We demonstrate that people learned about the protests primarily through interpersonal communication using Facebook, phone contact, or face‐to‐face conversation. Controlling for other factors, social media use greatly increased the odds that a respondent attended protests on the first day. Half of those surveyed produced and disseminated visuals from the demonstrations, mainly through Facebook.     

Historicizing New Media: A Content Analysis of Twitter

This paper seeks to historicize Twitter within a longer historical framework of diaries to better understand Twitter and broader communication practices and patterns. Based on a review of historical literature regarding 18th and 19th century diaries, we created a content analysis coding scheme to analyze a random sample of publicly available Twitter messages according to themes in the diaries. Findings suggest commentary and accounting styles are the most popular narrative styles on Twitter. Despite important differences between the historical diaries and Twitter, this analysis reveals long‐standing social needs to account, reflect, communicate, and share with others using media of the times.     

Social networking in the aging context: Why older adults use or avoid Facebook

Despite a growing body of research about older adults’ use of social networking sites (SNS), scholars have not fully explored how this technology is meeting this group’s interactional and information-seeking needs. How do these older adults view this technology? What are their communication needs and expectations and why are they drawn to it? To address these questions and fill a gap in the literature, this study draws upon in-depth interviews with 46 older adults (average age: 80.4 years) about their perceptions of Facebook, which was the leading SNS at the time of writing. Analysis of interview data revealed six primary reasons for using Facebook (keeping in touch, sharing photos, social surveillance, responding to family member requests, convenient communication, curiosity) and six primary reasons for not using Facebook (privacy, need for media richness, preference for familiarity, triviality of communication, time commitment, frustration with site tools). Emergent findings hold implications for future research and SNS design.     

Tennis influencers: The player effect on social media engagement and demand for tournament attendance

Understanding the interest of sports fans in professional tennis has valuable operational and marketing implications for tournament organisers, marketeers, player sponsors and the media. In sports, professional tennis in particular, the player effect on social media user engagement is still elusive. Using data from the 2019 Australian Open grand slam period, the authors examine Adler’s (1985) theoretical construct in the context of sports and social media. A social listening tool is used to probe more than 2 million posts and comments mentioning elite male and female tennis players on four major social media channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, over the grand slam period. It is shown that the effect of professional tennis players on social media user engagement extends beyond their talent. A selection of players had a strong positive impact on prompting social media activity, even after accounting for factors related to their performance, the tournament rounds in which they were featured and the opponents against whom they played. Furthermore, the connection between social media research and sports economics is considered by examining the relationship between a player’s effects on social media engagement and her/his differential influence on demand for tickets at the Australian Tennis Open. The authors further discuss how the social media star influence can be used, in combination with other quantitative measures, to optimise tennis tournament scheduling, determine player appearance fees and lift participation in the sport.     

Social by definition: How users define social platforms and why it matters

Social media platforms are characterized by diverse features and functions, and these facets remain in constant flux over time. This research examines how users define the central purpose of four major platforms in the United States (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat), and how such lay definitions relate to key outcomes previously associated with social media use. In Study 1, we validated self-report measures using a comparative scaling approach to capture what users view as the most defining categories of the four platforms. In Study 2, we investigated whether lay definitions of platforms relate to perceptions of social affordances and social resources. Overall, results provided evidence that defining platforms as social interaction (vs. other categories) is associated with amplified social affordances and resources. Together, the studies contribute to our understanding of how users navigate a dynamic online ecosystem, as well as how lay definitions may anchor the experiences and effects of social media.     

The future of online social networks (OSN): A measurement analysis using social media tools and application

The explosion of online social networks (OSN) has created an interactive and communicative global phenomenon that has enabled billions of users to connect to other individuals on Facebook and Twitter but also with media sharing platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest. This study examines the current use of social media platforms and explores the factors that help define the long term implications of social media. The study employed a nationwide survey collected from 2012 to 2013 and is available from the PEW Internet research center of more than 2000 American citizens’ behaviour towards OSNs. The results revealed strong predictors of OSN that form the connections among users; and the core significant predictors: age, gender and access to mobile Internet that foster the adoption and usage of OSN in the future. Furthermore, online activities such as posting video content on social networks also highlighted the online usage patterns and trends of using social media to actively engage with other users more willingly than text. This is due to the viral nature of online media sharing on social media and as part of the video viewing and creating experience. An outline of practical implications of the findings and areas for future research is also discussed.     

Examining the roles of social media and alternative media in social movement participation: A study of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement

During the recent wave of pro-democracy movement across the world, new media technologies play a vital role in mobilizing participants. Much scholarly attention has been paid to the role of social media in empowering grassroots movements, but the rise of alternative media was somehow ignored. This study examines the impacts of social media and alternative media on social movement participation. The data came from a survey of 769 students from eight public universities in Hong Kong at the height of the Umbrella Movement. The findings revealed that acquisition of political information from social media and alternative media is associated with social movement participation through different mechanisms. Specifically, social media serve as an echo chamber where people are motivated to participate by perceiving a homogeneous opinion climate and forming a pro-protest attitude. In contrast, alternative media serve as an attitude intensifier to facilitate social movement participation.     

Reexamining the relationship between social media and happiness: The effects of various social media platforms on reconceptualized happiness

The current study reexamined the relationship between social media use and happiness by broadening the scope of social media and rethinking the conceptualization of happiness. Specifically, this study included platforms other than Facebook and tested differential effects of each platform. Because happiness is not entirely relative, it was hypothesized that social comparison would influence only relative happiness, which is only one part of overall happiness. A two-wave longitudinal survey among Korean females revealed that the use of blogs, Instagram, and LinkedIn is positively associated with social comparison at Wave 1 (W1), whereas Twitter is negatively associated. LinkedIn use was most strongly associated with social comparison. In turn, social comparison at W1 negatively predicted relative happiness at W2 (“I am happier than my friends”) but did not predict overall happiness at W2. Social media may lead us to believe that other people’s lives are better through social comparison. However, such comparison influences only part of overall happiness or life satisfaction. Without social comparison, social media have the potential to make us happier.     

Dual Screening the Political: Media Events,Social Media,and Citizen Engagement

Dual screening—the complex bundle of practices that involve integrating, and switching across and between, live broadcast media and social media—is now routine for many citizens during important political media events. But do these practices shape political engagement, and if so, why? We devised a unique research design combining a large‐scale Twitter dataset and a custom‐built panel survey focusing on the broadcast party leaders' debates held during the 2014 European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom. We find that relatively active, “lean‐forward” practices, such as commenting live on social media as the debate unfolded, and engaging with conversations via Twitter hashtags, have the strongest and most consistent positive associations with political engagement.     

Social media use,political affect,and participation among university students in urban China

Although the role of affects and emotions in political participation has attracted much scholarly attention, few studies have examined whether and how media and communications can be the sources of political affects. This study argues that social media are not only information channels; they can also be effective in communicating feelings and emotions. Social media use may contribute to political affects, which in turn impinge on civic and political participation. In addition, political affects may moderate the effects of social media use on political participation. Based on a survey of university students in Guangzhou, China (N = 897), this study finds that, under China’s networked authoritarianism, political communication via social media is related to positive affects toward the government and society, while connection with activists via social media is related to negative affect. Positive and negative affects have different impact on different types of participation. Negative affects strengthen the connection between social media use and participation. The roles of three discrete negative emotions – anger, anxiety and fear – are also explored.