Facebook originally had a single reaction feature, like, which was updated in 2016 with five other options, and again in 2020 with a sixth. The intended meanings of these features remains unclear: they are both constrained in expressive range and potentially confused with one another. This study examines the distribution of these reactions across seven samples of Facebook posts to evaluate their potential meanings and assess their comparability across contexts, in terms of three current approaches to interpreting social media meanings: engagement, sentiment, and face-work. The reactions’ distribution is complex and unstable across samples and the available aggregate data does not reveal face-work patterns which are otherwise readily observable. In conclusion, cautions are offered regarding interpreting quantitative analyses of reaction features.
{"title":"The awkward semantics of Facebook reactions","authors":"John C. Paolillo","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.13157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.13157","url":null,"abstract":"Facebook originally had a single reaction feature, like, which was updated in 2016 with five other options, and again in 2020 with a sixth. The intended meanings of these features remains unclear: they are both constrained in expressive range and potentially confused with one another. This study examines the distribution of these reactions across seven samples of Facebook posts to evaluate their potential meanings and assess their comparability across contexts, in terms of three current approaches to interpreting social media meanings: engagement, sentiment, and face-work. The reactions’ distribution is complex and unstable across samples and the available aggregate data does not reveal face-work patterns which are otherwise readily observable. In conclusion, cautions are offered regarding interpreting quantitative analyses of reaction features.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74688104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this study, we examined online conversations on Twitter about a Chinese balloon spotted over U.S. airspace in January 2023. We investigated the conversations between U.S.-based, China-based and accounts from the rest of the world. We also studied the difference between bots and human accounts within these conversations. We found that U.S.-based accounts referred to the balloon as a surveillance balloon, China-based accounts focused on the shooting and removal of the balloon, while the rest of the world engaged in general discourse. There were also some differences in the focus of topics between bots and human accounts within each region.
{"title":"Popping the hood on Chinese balloons: Examining the discourse between U.S. and China-geotagged accounts","authors":"L. Ng, K. Carley","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.13159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.13159","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we examined online conversations on Twitter about a Chinese balloon spotted over U.S. airspace in January 2023. We investigated the conversations between U.S.-based, China-based and accounts from the rest of the world. We also studied the difference between bots and human accounts within these conversations. We found that U.S.-based accounts referred to the balloon as a surveillance balloon, China-based accounts focused on the shooting and removal of the balloon, while the rest of the world engaged in general discourse. There were also some differences in the focus of topics between bots and human accounts within each region.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87898121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, activists have given new impetus to aspirations of ‘leaderful’ organizing. Disavowing the centralization of leadership and rethinking the history of the struggle for civil rights, many have sought to develop and revamp models of decentralized leadership. Digital networking features prominently in these models, but the literature suggests its role is ambiguous: while social media provide affordances for decentralized leadership, they may also induce the centralization of leadership. To examine such leadership dynamics, we adopt a computational approach. Drawing on a dataset of roughly 18 million tweets collected over a 30-month period, we examine two aspects of leadership dynamics: the concentration of leadership (i.e., inequality in terms of centrality within networks) and the consolidation of leadership (i.e., the degree to which central figures retain prominence over time). Engaging with the measurement of network inequality by differentiating temporal aspects of concentration and consolidation, we show that leadership dynamics fluctuate strongly over time. Aside from a select few individuals, there is little consolidation of leadership: new voices can consistently rise to prominence. Beyond providing an examination of online leadership dynamics within the Movement for Black Lives, this paper shows how computational analyses can be adopted in ways that do justice to the dynamic and diverse nature of movements.
{"title":"Dynamics of digitally networked leadership in #blacklivesmatter","authors":"Sander van Haperen, J. Uitermark","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.12936","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.12936","url":null,"abstract":"Using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, activists have given new impetus to aspirations of ‘leaderful’ organizing. Disavowing the centralization of leadership and rethinking the history of the struggle for civil rights, many have sought to develop and revamp models of decentralized leadership. Digital networking features prominently in these models, but the literature suggests its role is ambiguous: while social media provide affordances for decentralized leadership, they may also induce the centralization of leadership. To examine such leadership dynamics, we adopt a computational approach. Drawing on a dataset of roughly 18 million tweets collected over a 30-month period, we examine two aspects of leadership dynamics: the concentration of leadership (i.e., inequality in terms of centrality within networks) and the consolidation of leadership (i.e., the degree to which central figures retain prominence over time). Engaging with the measurement of network inequality by differentiating temporal aspects of concentration and consolidation, we show that leadership dynamics fluctuate strongly over time. Aside from a select few individuals, there is little consolidation of leadership: new voices can consistently rise to prominence. Beyond providing an examination of online leadership dynamics within the Movement for Black Lives, this paper shows how computational analyses can be adopted in ways that do justice to the dynamic and diverse nature of movements.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74499325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Many argue that swift and fundamental interventions in the system of scholarly communication are needed. However, there are substantial disagreements over the short- and long-term benefits of most proposed approaches to changing the practice of science communication, and the lack of systematic, empirically based research in this area makes these controversies difficult to resolve. We argue that experience within public health can be usefully applied to scholarly communication. Starting with the history of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) application, we illustrate four ways complex human systems threaten reliable predictions and blunt ad-hoc interventions. We then show how these apply to interventions in scholarly publication – open access based on the article processing charge (APC), and preprints – to yield surprising results. Finally, we offer approaches to help guide the design of future interventions: identifying measures and outcomes, developing infrastructure, incorporating assessment, and contributing to theories of systemic change.
{"title":"Interventions in scholarly communication: Design lessons from public health","authors":"Micah Altman, Philip N. Cohen, Jessica K. Polka","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.12941","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.12941","url":null,"abstract":"Many argue that swift and fundamental interventions in the system of scholarly communication are needed. However, there are substantial disagreements over the short- and long-term benefits of most proposed approaches to changing the practice of science communication, and the lack of systematic, empirically based research in this area makes these controversies difficult to resolve. We argue that experience within public health can be usefully applied to scholarly communication. \u0000Starting with the history of DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) application, we illustrate four ways complex human systems threaten reliable predictions and blunt ad-hoc interventions. We then show how these apply to interventions in scholarly publication – open access based on the article processing charge (APC), and preprints – to yield surprising results. Finally, we offer approaches to help guide the design of future interventions: identifying measures and outcomes, developing infrastructure, incorporating assessment, and contributing to theories of systemic change.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83136340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The popularity of the instant messaging app Telegram in Ukraine and Russia was already high before the still-ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, since 24 February 2022 (when the Russian invasion began), it has seen huge increases in subscribers and has even become the primary communication and news source in Ukraine. In this exploratory research, we analyzed Telegram channels from both Ukraine (@UkraineNow — the official channel of the Ukrainian government, and @V_Zelenskiy_official — the official channel of Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and Russia (@rt_russian — the official channel of the news network RT) to understand communication patterns in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Our analysis of 37,172 posts showed that while @UkraineNow is being used in particular to communicate invasion-related news, @rt_russian is working as a mere extension of RT, which is part of the pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation ecosystem. However, Zelenskyy has opted for a completely different approach: he is using his Telegram channel to encourage Ukrainians and to garner support from the world. Thousands have lost their lives and millions have become refugees in this war that has now gone on for more than a year. Our timely research seeks to determine how both countries’ governments utilize Telegram as a weapon in an information war and the impact of this information war on the ground.
{"title":"Messaging strategies of Ukraine and Russia on Telegram during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine","authors":"Piyush Ghasiya, K. Sasahara","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.12873","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.12873","url":null,"abstract":"The popularity of the instant messaging app Telegram in Ukraine and Russia was already high before the still-ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, since 24 February 2022 (when the Russian invasion began), it has seen huge increases in subscribers and has even become the primary communication and news source in Ukraine. In this exploratory research, we analyzed Telegram channels from both Ukraine (@UkraineNow — the official channel of the Ukrainian government, and @V_Zelenskiy_official — the official channel of Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and Russia (@rt_russian — the official channel of the news network RT) to understand communication patterns in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Our analysis of 37,172 posts showed that while @UkraineNow is being used in particular to communicate invasion-related news, @rt_russian is working as a mere extension of RT, which is part of the pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation ecosystem. However, Zelenskyy has opted for a completely different approach: he is using his Telegram channel to encourage Ukrainians and to garner support from the world. Thousands have lost their lives and millions have become refugees in this war that has now gone on for more than a year. Our timely research seeks to determine how both countries’ governments utilize Telegram as a weapon in an information war and the impact of this information war on the ground.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"76 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83400133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applying a critical-constructivist approach, 21 semi-structured interviews conducted from June to October 2021 were analyzed thematically. Qualitative analysis suggests that users reported that Wikipedia’s health content can facilitate personal agency, is familiar and convenient to access, and that individuals’ trust in Wikipedia is contextual, conditional, and framed by their personal experiences.
{"title":"“I’m comfortable with it”: User stories of health information on Wikipedia","authors":"Denise A Smith","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i8.12897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i8.12897","url":null,"abstract":"Applying a critical-constructivist approach, 21 semi-structured interviews conducted from June to October 2021 were analyzed thematically. Qualitative analysis suggests that users reported that Wikipedia’s health content can facilitate personal agency, is familiar and convenient to access, and that individuals’ trust in Wikipedia is contextual, conditional, and framed by their personal experiences.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91298296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines the unregulated approach to video evidence in U.S. courts. It provides an overview of three key factors that contribute to the inconsistent treatment of video as evidence: the shifting and uncertain categories under which video is admitted as evidence, the discrepancies in how video is perceived and interpreted, and the lack of widespread legal training in visual literacy. Together, these factors exacerbate the challenges that visual perception and interpretation pose in court, as illustrated by the analysis of the varied use of video by district and appellate courts at summary judgment in McDowell v. Sherrer, a case involving an Eight Amendment excessive force claim. By discussing these challenges, the paper argues for the necessity of archival legal standards, which could facilitate research into uniform guidance and applications for treating video as evidence. Otherwise, civil rights and human rights may be disparately recognized and upheld.
{"title":"When believing can be seeing: The unregulated approach to video evidence in U.S. courts and the need for archival legal standards","authors":"Sandra Ristovska","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i7.13231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i7.13231","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the unregulated approach to video evidence in U.S. courts. It provides an overview of three key factors that contribute to the inconsistent treatment of video as evidence: the shifting and uncertain categories under which video is admitted as evidence, the discrepancies in how video is perceived and interpreted, and the lack of widespread legal training in visual literacy. Together, these factors exacerbate the challenges that visual perception and interpretation pose in court, as illustrated by the analysis of the varied use of video by district and appellate courts at summary judgment in McDowell v. Sherrer, a case involving an Eight Amendment excessive force claim. By discussing these challenges, the paper argues for the necessity of archival legal standards, which could facilitate research into uniform guidance and applications for treating video as evidence. Otherwise, civil rights and human rights may be disparately recognized and upheld.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76607747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Police body-worn cameras (BWCs) have emerged in response to calls for greater police transparency and accountability. Leveraged as techno-regulatory tools with the potential to influence officer behavior, BWCs may also afford officers opportunities to review video footage prior to writing incident reports, which has implications for how police-public interactions are documented in official records. In this study of BWC adoption by a police agency in the United States, we examine how officers’ ideological perspectives on BWCs, technological limitations, and policy-related concerns influenced their decisions about whether and how to review video as part of their report writing practice. In conclusion, we argue that police practitioners and policy-makers should provide clearer policy guidance to officers about how BWC footage should be used in the report writing process and that police administrators, policy-makers, and researchers should directly consider the role that technology might play in regulating officer behavior, even in unintended ways.
{"title":"Painting the narrative: Police body-worn cameras, report writing, and the techno-regulation of policework","authors":"B. Newell, M. C. Koen","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i7.13243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i7.13243","url":null,"abstract":"Police body-worn cameras (BWCs) have emerged in response to calls for greater police transparency and accountability. Leveraged as techno-regulatory tools with the potential to influence officer behavior, BWCs may also afford officers opportunities to review video footage prior to writing incident reports, which has implications for how police-public interactions are documented in official records. In this study of BWC adoption by a police agency in the United States, we examine how officers’ ideological perspectives on BWCs, technological limitations, and policy-related concerns influenced their decisions about whether and how to review video as part of their report writing practice. In conclusion, we argue that police practitioners and policy-makers should provide clearer policy guidance to officers about how BWC footage should be used in the report writing process and that police administrators, policy-makers, and researchers should directly consider the role that technology might play in regulating officer behavior, even in unintended ways.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78109533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article argues for the adoption of an affordance model for media literacy. Media literacy efforts have largely evolved separately from visual literacy programs, neglecting the role of the photographic image in the digital public sphere. The hyper-visuality of media today demands closer attention to visuals in media literacy efforts because individuals cognitively process images differently. Images are more emotionally powerful and memorable than words. For these reasons, visual communication cannot be treated in parallel with words. Conceiving of visuals in media as artifacts used by messengers instead of independent messages supports media literacy’s goals of helping individuals navigate today’s digital environment. While such an approach is not the only way to understand images, the affordance paradigm cultivates discourse that supports media literacy. Rooted in the constructivist paradigm, the affordance frame serves as a bridge between photographic indexicality and contingency.
{"title":"Visual media literacy and ethics: Images as affordances in the digital public sphere","authors":"M. Bock","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i7.13233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i7.13233","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues for the adoption of an affordance model for media literacy. Media literacy efforts have largely evolved separately from visual literacy programs, neglecting the role of the photographic image in the digital public sphere. The hyper-visuality of media today demands closer attention to visuals in media literacy efforts because individuals cognitively process images differently. Images are more emotionally powerful and memorable than words. For these reasons, visual communication cannot be treated in parallel with words. Conceiving of visuals in media as artifacts used by messengers instead of independent messages supports media literacy’s goals of helping individuals navigate today’s digital environment. While such an approach is not the only way to understand images, the affordance paradigm cultivates discourse that supports media literacy. Rooted in the constructivist paradigm, the affordance frame serves as a bridge between photographic indexicality and contingency.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75245589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Callisto, created by Sexual Health Innovations in 2015, is a sexual assault reporting application based on an information escrow model. By employing a walkthrough method of the platform’s primary tools (recording and matching), this essay situates Callisto’s design within proliferating informal rape justice responses that try to overcome the law’s disappointing rehearsal of “he said/she said” logic. This critical user-centered approach to interpreting the values enacted through the technology suggests that Callisto is the reflection of the evolving social dynamics of “target rape” and internal dynamics of victimization (“reporters’ dilemma”) on college and university campuses. As Callisto generates forms of evidence of sexual assault through its platform, collective forms of responsibility are fostered among victims to report, demonstrating the influence of digital platforms as novel forms of popular evidence unburdened by law’s preoccupation with the immediacy of visual proof.
{"title":"Allegation escrow platforms: Target rape, reporter's dilemma, and the promise of \"he said, they said\"","authors":"Kelli D. Moore","doi":"10.5210/fm.v28i7.13244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v28i7.13244","url":null,"abstract":"Callisto, created by Sexual Health Innovations in 2015, is a sexual assault reporting application based on an information escrow model. By employing a walkthrough method of the platform’s primary tools (recording and matching), this essay situates Callisto’s design within proliferating informal rape justice responses that try to overcome the law’s disappointing rehearsal of “he said/she said” logic. This critical user-centered approach to interpreting the values enacted through the technology suggests that Callisto is the reflection of the evolving social dynamics of “target rape” and internal dynamics of victimization (“reporters’ dilemma”) on college and university campuses. As Callisto generates forms of evidence of sexual assault through its platform, collective forms of responsibility are fostered among victims to report, demonstrating the influence of digital platforms as novel forms of popular evidence unburdened by law’s preoccupation with the immediacy of visual proof.","PeriodicalId":38833,"journal":{"name":"First Monday","volume":"90 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80409106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}