Every Blog Has Its Day: Politically-interested Internet Users' Perceptions of Blog Credibility

This study employs an online survey to examine U.S. politically-interested Internet users' perceptions of the credibility of blogs. The article focuses on the influence of blog reliance compared to motivations for visiting blogs in determining blog credibility. The study found that blogs were judged as moderately credible, but as more credible than any mainstream media or online source. Both reliance and motivations predicted blog credibility after controlling for demographics and political variables. Reliance proved a consistently stronger predictor than blog motivations. Also, information-seeking motives predicted credibility better than entertainment ones.     

Interacting is believing? Examining bottom‐Up credibility of blogs among politically interested Internet users

This study examines how politically interested Internet users perceive blogs as a credible source of news and information. More specifically, this study aims to identify a new possible factor that has a moderating impact on blog credibility assessment in the collaborative nature of digital media circumstances. This study found that blog credibility was predicted by the interaction between blog reliance and online news activity, indicating that those who more actively interact with news and with other users judge blogs as more credible than those who do less so. Implications of the findings were discussed for future research.     

The dark side of the boon? Credibility,selective exposure and the proliferation of online sources of political information

While the media industry may consider credibility its most valuable asset, scholars suggest there is a potential “dark side” to credibility: Perceptions of credibility of a source lead to selective exposure and selective avoidance, and both lead to increased fragmentation and polarization of social and political views. The link between credibility and selective exposure and avoidance has not received much academic attention, therefore this study employed a survey of politically interested Internet users during the 2008 presidential campaign to test the influence of credibility and reliance on selective exposure and avoidance after controlling for demographic and political factors. This study found little evidence of a dark side to credibility. Respondents who judge blogs as credible search for information that supports their point of view, as well as challenges their opinions.     

The impact of anonymity on weblog credibility

A blog, or weblog, is an online diary whose writer is known as a blogger. Many bloggers choose to publish anonymously. This paper examines whether a blog by an anonymous blogger will be perceived as being any more or less credible than one by an identifiable blogger. Two studies were conducted in the UK to examine this, with one of the two studies being replicated in Malaysia. The first study presented respondents with a blog entry in one of three conditions: where the blogger was fully identifiable with a photograph, where only the age and sex of the blogger were revealed, and where only an alias was given for the blogger. Multi item constructs were used to measure the credibility of the blog and the blogger. No differences were found. Study 2 examined whether this was due to the presentation of the blog entry. This time respondents were shown one of two blog posts which conveyed exactly the same information and revealed exactly the same information about the blogger. One post introduced a number of spelling/grammar/punctuation errors. Results show that the well presented blog’s writer was perceived as being more credible than the writer of the badly presented blog, but there was no difference in the credibility of the blog itself. The implications of the results are discussed with reference to the use of blogs as a knowledge sharing tool.     

基于外场试验的电视导引头烟幕干扰效应模型构建

通过电视导引头外场挂飞烟幕干扰试验,获得了烟幕对电视导引头干扰效应的实测数据,通过分析实测数据发现了烟幕对电视导引头的干扰机理以及干扰效应的基本规律,据此建立了电视导引头烟幕干扰效应模型。该模型基于外场实体动态干扰试验结果而构建,相比于根据理论分析结果构建的模型更为准确可信,不仅可用于评估烟幕设备对电视制导导弹的干扰效果,同时在光电对抗仿真技术研究及光电对抗仿真系统构建中也有重要应用价值。     

Perceptions of News Credibility about the War in Iraq: Why War Opponents Perceived the Internet as the Most Credible Medium

This study investigated cross‐media credibility perception with respect to news coverage about the Iraq War. In an environment of political partisanship, perceptions of media credibility were likely affected by the audience’s political position on the war. Based on hostile media effect theory, a set of hypotheses was proposed to investigate whether the minority opinion group, war opponents, evaluated the Internet as a more credible medium than did neutrals or supporters. An online survey was conducted to which 481 people responded (71% war supporters, 19% opponents, 10% neutrals). Results showed that opponents of the war perceived the Internet as less aligned with a pro‐government position and as more credible than did neutrals or supporters. The opponent group also showed a strong negative correlation between perceived pro‐government alignment and perceptions of Internet credibility. For the minority partisan group, the diversity of information and views on the war was the main reason for the perception of high credibility of the Internet as a news channel.     

Persuasion in 140 characters: Testing issue framing,persuasion and credibility via Twitter and online news articles in the gun control debate

Using a 2 × 2 × 4 experimental design, this study examined the framing of the pro and anti-gun control arguments posited after the Sandy Hook shooting and the resultant effect on persuasion and credibility. Overall, pro-gun control frames were more persuasive and more credible than anti-gun control frames. Arguments transmitted via online news articles elicited more persuasion than those transmitted via Twitter. News article sources were deemed more credible too. I discuss the ramifications within.     

Rzeczpospolita blogów [Republic of Blog]: Examining Polish Bloggers Through Content Analysis

While researchers are increasingly interested in understanding the social context of weblogs, or blogs, most existing studies rely on analysis of English-language content. This study is a quantitative content analysis of Polish blogs ( N =358) aimed at understanding the content elements and user-initiated features, such as hyperlinks, of blogs under the theoretical framework of uses and gratifications. Results indicate that self-expression is the primary motivation for blog posts. Furthermore, Polish bloggers appear to be driven more by self-expression than by social interaction motivations. Additional findings explored the relationship among motivations, gender, and topics discussed in blogs.     

Online News Credibility: An Examination of the Perceptions of Newspaper Journalists

This study examines print and online daily newspaper journalists' perceptions of the credibility of Internet news information, as well as the influence of several factors—most notably, professional role conceptions—on those perceptions. Credibility was measured as a multidimensional construct. The results of a survey of U.S. journalists (N = 655) show that Internet news information was viewed as moderately credible overall and that online newspaper journalists rated Internet news information as significantly more credible than did print newspaper journalists. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that Internet reliance was a strong positive predictor of credibility. Two professional role conceptions also emerged as significant predictors. The populist mobilizer role conception was a significant positive predictor of online news credibility, while the adversarial role conception was a significant negative predictor. Demographic characteristics of print and online daily newspaper journalists did not influence their perceptions of online news credibility.     

In blog we trust? Deciphering credibility of components of the internet among politically interested internet users

This study employed an online survey of politically interested Internet users during the two weeks before and the two weeks after the 2004 presidential election to compare how they judge five components of the Internet in terms of credibility for political information. Blogs were judged as the most credible with issue-oriented Web sites also judged as highly credible. Candidate Web sites and bulletin boards were only judged moderately credible while chat rooms were rated not very credible. This study also explored whether reliance on the Internet resource or motivations for visiting the source significantly predict Internet component credibility after controlling for demographic and political variables.     

Filter Blogs vs. Personal Journals: Understanding the Knowledge Production Gap on the Internet

Blog is currently a popular form of knowledge production on the Internet. Research shows that relatively few bloggers produce "filter blogs," which focus on political knowledge. Most bloggers produce personal journals. This study uses national survey data to determine whether and why people have differential knowledge production in the form of different blogs. As knowledge is a critical indicator of social power, this research also examines whether blogs with different levels of political knowledge demonstrate unequal social power. Results show that bloggers with higher socioeconomic status contribute more filter blogs than lower-status segments. Even among filter bloggers, socioeconomic status, gender, and print-media use are associated with social influence. These findings suggest that a knowledge production gap merits more scholarly attention.     

Some like it lots: The influence of interactivity and reliance on credibility

This study has four primary purposes: to investigate the level of interactivity with 15 sources of political information, determine the degree of reliance on each of the sources, assess perceptions of credibility, and compare the strength of interactivity to the strength of reliance on judgments of credibility. This study includes sources that have received little attention in the credibility literature such as social network sites, Twitter, and mobile device applications. Respondents interact with and rely on the sources moderately. Credibility ratings range from moderate to highly credible. Reliance predicts credibility of 14 of 15 sources as compared to interactivity that predicts credibility of just 9 of 15 sources. Interactivity with sources that are inherently collaborative (e.g. Twitter, social media, talk radio) more strongly predicts credibility than interactivity with sources that are more source-to-user based (e.g. CNN, political websites).     

基于AHP-Fuzzy的航电综合化仿真系统可信度评估

航电综合化仿真系统的可信度研究越来越成为航电综合化仿真方面的一个重要研究课题;采用层次分析法和模糊综合评判相结合的方法,对航电综合化仿真系统的可信度评判进行了初步的探讨;针对航电综合化仿真系统的具体特点,用层次分析法建立了航电综合化仿真系统的层次模型并确定各子系统的权重,并利用模糊综合评判方法对整个系统的可信度进行评判,充分体现评价因素和评价过程所固有的模糊性,比一般的评价打分等方法更符合客观实际,从而使得评价结果可信、可靠。     

The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction

It has become increasingly common for Web sites and computer media to provide computer generated visual images, called avatars, to represent users and bots during online interactions. In this study, participants (N = 255) evaluated a series of avatars in a static context in terms of their androgyny, anthropomorphism, credibility, homophily, attraction, and the likelihood they would choose them during an interaction. The responses to the images were consistent with what would be predicted by uncertainty reduction theory. The results show that the masculinity or femininity (lack of androgyny) of an avatar, as well as anthropomorphism, significantly influence perceptions of avatars. Further, more anthropomorphic avatars were perceived to be more attractive and credible, and people were more likely to choose to be represented by them. Participants reported masculine avatars as less attractive than feminine avatars, and most people reported a preference for human avatars that matched their gender. Practical and theoretical implications of these results for users, designers, and researchers of avatars are discussed.     

Writing for Friends and Family: The Interpersonal Nature of Blogs

This research explores variables related to the use of personal-journal style blogs for interpersonal goals. A random sample of bloggers completed surveys exploring how the combination of extraversion and self-disclosure affect strong tie network size, which in turn serves as motivation to use blogs as an alternative communication channel. Bloggers who exhibit both extraversion and self-disclosure traits tend to maintain larger strong-tie social networks and are more likely to appropriate blogs to support those relationships. Age, gender, and education have no relationship to network size, blog content, or the use of blogs as a relationship maintenance tool. These results contribute to the continuing discussion about the impact that the Internet and its tools are having on relationships by suggesting that, rather than promoting isolation, computer-mediated communication tools such as blogs often function to enhance existing relationships.     

Fear Appeals,Message Processing Cues,and Credibility in the Websites of Violent,Ideological, and Nonideological Groups

Ideological groups use the Internet to deliver their messages unhindered by the constraints of traditional media. We examined how ideological groups promote their worldview through their websites. Using the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this research used trained coders to examine the websites of nonideological groups (n = 37), nonviolent ideological groups (n = 36), and violent ideological groups (n = 32) for credibility, persuasion processing cues, and interactivity factors. Results of this study found that the websites of violent ideological groups use more fear appeals, were less interactive, and were the least credible of the 3 groups. All 3 groups used more central cues than peripheral suggesting they focused on evidence for their arguments rather than emotion.     

Exploring the impact of ethnic identity through other-generated cues on perceptions of spokesperson credibility

Although previous studies indicate that perceived similarity can influence perceptions of source credibility, less is known about the impact of ethnic identity on these perceptions in social media environments. A quasi-experiment was designed to manipulate the strength of ethnic identity of an African American spokesperson promoting a health news story. The results indicate a substantive condition by participant ethnicity interaction, in which African Americans assign greater credibility to high ethnic identity spokespeople, while Caucasian respondents found low ethnic identity spokespersons more credible. The results are discussed in terms of the understanding of credibility perceptions across diverse audiences, and the implications for health communication professionals working with historically underrepresented populations.     

An effective coherence measure to determine topical consistency in user-generated content

When searching for blogs on a specific topic, information seekers prefer blogs that place a central focus on that topic over blogs whose mention of the topic is diffuse or incidental. In order to present users with better blog feed search results, we developed a measure of topical consistency that is able to capture whether or not a blog is topically focused. The measure, called the coherence score, is inspired by the genetics literature and captures the tightness of the clustering structure of a data set relative to a background collection. In a set of experiments on synthetic data, the coherence score is shown to provide a faithful reflection of topic clustering structure. The properties that make the coherence score more appropriate than lexical cohesion, a common measure of topical structure, are discussed. Retrieval experiments show that integrating the coherence score as a prior in a language modeling-based approach to blog feed search improves retrieval effectiveness. The coherence score must, however, be used judiciously in order to avoid boosting the ranking of irrelevant but topically focused blogs. To this end, we experiment with a series of weighting schemes that adjust the contribution of the coherence score according to the relevance of a blog to the user query. An appropriate weighting scheme is able to improve retrieval performance. Finally, we show that the coherence score can be reliably estimated with a sample exceeding 20 posts in size. Consistent with this finding, experiments show that the best retrieval performance is achieved if coherence scores are used when a blog contains more than 20 posts.     

Computer-mediated persuasion in online reviews: Statistical versus narrative evidence

The current study examined the effects of online product reviews on individuals’ credibility perceptions of the reviews and their attitudes about the product targeted in the reviews. Study 1 used a 2 (review type: statistical and narrative) × 2 (review valence: negative and positive) design, and study 2 used a 2 (statistical review valence: positive and negative) × 2 (narrative review valence: positive and negative) design. The findings of study 1 were consistent with those of study 2 and indicated that negative statistical reviews were perceived as more credible than negative narrative reviews, while the credibility of positive statistical reviews did not differ from that of positive narrative reviews. On the other hand, statistical reviews and narrative reviews did not differ in terms of affecting individuals’ attitudes about the product. The current study also found that the vividness and valence of each review type had varying effects on review credibility and attitudes about the product. The implications of these and other findings are discussed in detail in the paper.     

Sharing beliefs among agents with different degrees of credibility

This paper introduces an approach for sharing beliefs in collaborative multi-agent application domains where some agents can be more credible than others. In this context, we propose a formalization where every agent has its own partial order among its peers representing the credibility the agent assigns to its informants; each agent will also have a belief base where each sentence is attached with an agent identifier which represents the credibility of that sentence. We define four different forwarding criteria for computing the credibility information for a belief to be forwarded, and for determining how the receiver should handle the incoming information; the proposal considers both the sender’s and the receiver’s points of view with respect to the credibility of the source of the information.