Article

The knowledge gap on social media: Examining roles of engagement and networks

Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

The knowledge gap hypothesis predicts that information inequity will be amplified rather than attenuated by the media. Previous research has focused on the role of mass media exposure and has not examined the roles of social media and social networks in mitigating the gap. This study investigated the potential moderating roles of social media engagement, social networks, and the interaction between engagement and online and offline networks. Hypotheses were tested with data from a national sample survey ( N = 991) concerning political and health knowledge. More social media engagement predicted a smaller knowledge gap in the political domain but not the health domain. More diverse and denser social media networks predicted a smaller political, but not health, knowledge gap. Social media engagement interacted with mixed-media relationships to predict the political knowledge gap. More engagement with mixed-media relationships was associated with a smaller political knowledge gap.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.

... It predicts that media consumption increases, rather than reduces, the difference in science and public affair knowledge between high and low SES groups (Tichenor et al., 1970). Building on the knowledge gap hypothesis, a stream of research has tested factors that can help alleviate the knowledge gap (e.g., Kwak, 1999;Li & Cho, 2023;Su et al., 2014). Continuing along this trajectory, this study set out to test social media exposure to AI information (social media exposure hereafter) as one such factor. ...
... Third, it tests how information elaboration moderates social media exposure's association with the SES-based knowledge gap in AI. In line with prior research on the knowledge gap (e.g., Eveland & Scheufele, 2000;Li & Cho, 2023;Tichenor et al., 1970), SES is operationalized as the level of education. ...
... For instance, young people have been found to be more knowledgeable about computer technology than their older counterparts (Eckstein, 2022;Marquié et al., 2002). Gender was found to be associated with differential knowledge levels, with males exhibiting higher political knowledge and females possessing greater health-related knowledge (Li & Cho, 2023). In addition, Black and White individuals were found to differ in their vocabulary knowledge levels (Farkas & Beron, 2004). ...
Article
This study examined how social media influence the knowledge gap between low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups in artificial intelligence (AI), a highly debated scientific subject warranting immediate scholarly attention. A national survey of U.S. adults (N = 965) was conducted. The results showed that education and social media exposure to AI information (SME) predicted greater AI knowledge, and SME did not moderate the SES-based AI knowledge gap. Furthermore, information elaboration moderated the association between SME and the AI knowledge gap. SME was associated with a smaller AI knowledge gap when information elaboration was high rather than low.
... Action involves using interactive media features to perform communicative tasks, while cues are system-generated metrics on interactive media . In this study, social media actions refer to users' interaction with social media content, such as liking, commenting, and sharing (Khan, 2017;Li & Cho, 2021), while social media cues refer to attending to bandwagon cues, such as the number of likes, comments, and shares (Lee et al., 2022;Yang, 2016). Previous CMC research has found that both action and cues can affect various psychological and behavioral outcomes, such as emotion, credibility perceptions, behavioral intentions, and actual behaviors (Kim & Ellison, 2022;Li et al., 2020;Phua & Ahn, 2016). ...
... Social media actions were measured with four items adapted from previous research (Khan, 2017;Li & Cho, 2021). Participants were asked four questions: "In the past three weeks, how often did you (1) like, (2) comment, (3) share, and (4) Anger. ...
... Collective efficacy was measured with two items adapted from Cho, Li, et al. (2021). Participants were asked to indicate how likely they think the society as a whole is capable of "acting together to support Ukrainian refugees" and "working together to improve the situation for Ukrainian refugees," on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Extremely unlikely, 5 = Extremely likely). ...
Article
This study examined the effect of social media engagement on collective action intention to help Ukrainian refugees. This study proposes a dynamic, transactional model that draws upon computer-mediated communication research and the dynamic dual pathway model of collective action (DPPM) to investigate the impact of two types of social media engagement, namely actions and cues, on intergroup helping. The model aims to achieve two objectives: First, it examines the mediating role of anger and collective efficacy, the two parallel psychological mechanisms proposed by DPPM, in the effects of action and cues on collective action intention. Second, it tests the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between collection action intention and social media actions and cues over time. A three-wave longitudinal survey of U.S. adults was conducted after the Russian-Ukrainian War started. Longitudinal mediation analyses showed that social media action predicted greater collective action intentions indirectly through collective efficacy but not anger. Social media cues did not predict collective action intentions through collective efficacy or anger. Collective action intentions, in turn, increased subsequent social media actions and cues, forming a positive feedback loop. The effect of social media actions on collective action intention was stronger than that of social media cues.
... For example, liking and sharing indicate endorsement of the message (Dvir-Gvirsman, 2019), commenting suggests involvement in the message (Oeldorf-Hirsch and . Research has shown that engagement is associated with various psychological outcomes such as greater elaboration (Oeldorf-Hirsch, 2018), more efficient knowledge acquisition (Li and Cho, 2023), reinforced political attitude (Sude et al., 2021), and greater sense of agency (Oh et al., 2020). The ability of social media users to actively engage with messages about outgroup members broadens the scope of online mediated contact and has the potential to bring about new and significant insights into intergroup communication on social media. ...
... Interactive mediated contact on social media was measured with four items adapted from previous research of social media engagement (Khan, 2017;Li and Cho, 2023). ...
Article
This study examined the effects of interactive mediated contact, intergroup contact enabled by social media engagement, on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, as well as the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects, such as empathy and perceived threat. A three-wave longitudinal survey of 555 US adults was conducted in March and May 2022. The results of a cross-lagged panel model showed that interactive mediated contact predicted greater empathy and perceived threat. Subsequently, these two factors predicted positive and negative attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, respectively. Empathy and perceived threat mediated the effect of interactive mediated contact on intergroup attitudes over time. Furthermore, intergroup attitudes predicted increased empathy and decreased perceived threat subsequently, but did not predict
... This study was conducted as part of a larger project (Li & Cho, 2021). A survey of U.S. adults hosted on Qualtrics was performed using the online panel of Dynata. ...
Article
Addictive use of social media may engender negative outcomes. This study investigated modifiable factors associated with social media addiction (SMA). These factors were gratifications sought with social media use, perceived social media realism, and social media network characteristics. Data were from a survey of U.S. adults. The linkage between socialization gratification and social media addiction was weaker when people perceived social media content as being less real. Surveillance and socialization gratifications sought predicted social media addiction indirectly through people’s social network structures on social media. Implications for future interventions addressing social media addiction are discussed.
... Strategic management that integrates active involvement with social media enables firms to develop connections with their audience that are both transparent and authentic, thereby fostering a healthy organizational culture that is aligned with the values and aims of the business (Li & Cho, 2023). Social media plays an important part in strategic management because it provides companies with the potential to make educated decisions based on a plethora of information (Saura et al., 2023). ...
Article
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of social media, big data, and smart technology on intercultural communication and effective leadership inside the Ministry of digital & entrepreneurship. The main objective was to investigate the influence of these technical elements on organizational behavior and the efficacy of leadership within the particular setting of a government ministry dedicated to digital economy and entrepreneurship. In order to accomplish this goal, a thorough empirical inquiry was done, which included gathering data from important individuals involved in the Ministry. The study intentionally selected a sample size of 379 individuals, who represented various responsibilities within the Ministry. The process of data gathering entailed the distribution of surveys and the conduction of interviews to acquire valuable insights and viewpoints from the participants. The utilization of this approach yielded a resilient dataset that is well-suited for thorough investigation. The study explored the complex connection between the use of social media platforms, the implementation of big data analytics, and the incorporation of smart technologies in influencing the dynamics of intercultural communication and leadership inside the Ministry. The results emphasized the substantial influence of social media in promoting intercultural communication and cooperation among personnel within the Ministry. Moreover, the implementation of big data analytics has become a crucial element in improving decision-making processes, impacting several facets of leadership efficacy, strategic planning, and employee involvement. Smart technologies were recognized as crucial elements in establishing efficient communication channels and facilitating effective leadership practices. The study's findings emphasized the beneficial impacts of utilizing social media, big data, and smart technology in the Ministry of digital & entrepreneurship. The research highlighted the significance of government organizations incorporating these technologies in a proactive manner to foster a work environment characterized by improved multicultural communication, well-informed decision-making and efficient leadership. This study makes a substantial contribution to the comprehension of how technological improvements might influence organizational behavior and leadership practices in a government setting. It provides essential insights for policymakers, leaders, and researchers. The findings have broader significance beyond the Ministry, serving as a basis for additional investigation into the use of technology in intercultural communication and leadership effectiveness inside government institutions.
... Research has shown that implementing marketing analytics benefits businesses by optimizing resource allocation, understanding consumer perceptions, increasing profitability, enhancing customer value, and informing strategic planning and marketing communication (Rahman and Reza 2022;Truong 2023). Marketing analytics play a pivotal role in connecting marketers and consumers (Fetais et al. 2023;Li and Cho 2023). Although marketing analytics enhance business intelligence and improve business decision-making, the persisting challenge lies in the effective transformation of diverse data into actionable insights that empower marketers to address specific issues and improve performance (Rahman and Reza 2022). ...
Article
Full-text available
Fashion brands including luxury brands are embracing TikTok to access young consumers, but there is a notable absence of research on how luxury fashion brands can leverage TikTok. Video analytics is crucial for understanding marketing communications via TikTok, a video-based social media platform. This study aims to examine how luxury brands establish their presence and effectively attract and engage with young consumers on TikTok through social media video analytics. A multiple case study approach was employed on the selected four luxury fashion brands. Data were collected from the selected brands’ official accounts, endorsed users’ accounts, and related hashtag links on TikTok. A three-stage content analysis of social media video analytics was conducted. The common and customized strategies employed across the selected brands on TikTok were identified, respectively. The findings revealed that young consumers prefer high-quality videos regarding branding messages, branded challenges, and influencers-led branded content. A consumer-brand engagement framework was proposed based on the data analysis. This research contributes to understanding how TikTok benefits the fashion industry and offers theoretical and practical insights for fashion brands to better harness TikTok. This study represents a pioneering endeavor in exploring social media video analytics, contributing to the advancement of marketing analytics literature.
... The affordances associated with these platforms are offering "seemingly unlimited opportunities for publics to become engaged with organizations" (Jelen-Sanchez, 2017, p. 934) so much so that they have become synonymous with relationship-building between organizations and their publics (Anderson et al., 2016). The authors have argued that active engagement is central to the conceptualization of social media (Li & Cho, 2023). ...
... The knowledge gap literature highlighted education as the main predictor of the uneven information distribution among citizens (W. Li & Cho, 2021;Lind & Boomgaarden, 2019;Tichenor et al., 1970). The underlying mechanisms involve the differences in ability, motivation, and opportunities for getting information among the more educated and the less educated (Tichenor et al., 1970). ...
Article
Full-text available
The risk of fake news has become a salient topic in recent public discourses across different societies. Like many other perceptions of social reality, people’s perceived risks and influences of fake news are constrained by individual factors such as education and political involvement; citizens’ perceptions of fake news could in turn shape how they combat and cope with fake news. Consistent with this idea, results from a representative survey in Taiwan show that education and political interest predict higher perceived risks and influences of fake news. Accordingly, those who perceive more fake news risks and influences prefer more comprehensive measures to combat it. Communicating the risks and influences of fake news to those less educated and the politically inattentive is a viable way to boost citizens’ support for more comprehensive measures to combat fake news.
... Nevertheless, the knowledge gap will not disappear immediately. When public engagement on social media is insufficient, it often means that the public has a high knowledge distance (Li & Cho, 2021). ...
Article
Full-text available
This study examines the impact of government social media accounts (GSMAs) on public engagement in policy agendas. Data were collected from two similar GSMAs in policy fields and analyzed using Granger causality test and text analysis. The results show that the quality of information interaction has a positive impact on public engagement, and more direct ways of disseminating information result in a greater positive impact. The study highlights the importance of avoiding irrelevant information and managing the information conveyed through GSMAs. The results also suggest that citizens prefer more accessible and open environments for exchanging information, and governments should consider these preferences when communicating with the public. This study provides insights into the strategic use of GSMAs in promoting policy agendas and the role of information quality and relevance in promoting public engagement.
... Traditional media and interpersonal communication are not effective in improving knowledge level. Access to online information is not the only reason of knowledge inequality rather in some cases the quality of use, also reflect the differing benefits individuals acquire through digital media (Li & Cho, 2021). (Mathrani et al., 2021) measured digital divide with the help of variables like gender, age, family income and their level of study. ...
Article
An emergency shift to online education after Covid-19 brought many challenges for students and teachers, especially the university students living in the rural areas of Pakistan. So this study has focused on assessing the problems students faced while acquiring online education with special reference to the theoretical background of digital divide. It is a quantitative study which employed Heckman’s treatment effect model to analyze the impact of digital divide on university students’ performance. The results of the study indicate that online education further increases an already existing digital divide between have and have nots. Online education is a good alternate of face-to-face education in many cases however for ensuring maximum benefits of online education requires proper availability of gadgets and internet access along with training. Existing online education system in developing countries like Pakistan may be more suitable to teach theoretical subjects like social sciences which are subjective in nature however it is not much appropriate for teaching numerical subjects. The findings of the study direct a positive impact of digital divide due to the scarcity of necessary gadgets, internet access, family income, gender, field of study, age and location.
... For example, classic studies in this area find positive relationships between offline discussion network diversity and democratically desirable outcomes like hard news use, factual political knowledge, and political participation (Scheufele, Hardy, Brossard, Waismel-Manor, & Nisbet, 2006). More recent studies have examined the role of online network diversity in processes of incidental exposure (Barnidge & Xenos, 2021) and opinion (de-) polarization (Lee & Choi, 2020), as well as the reduction of knowledge gaps (Kim, Lu, & Lee, 2021;Li & Cho, 2021) and conspiracy beliefs (Min, 2021). ...
Article
Full-text available
Political communication researchers commonly use one of two strategies to measure online network diversity: a “subjective” approach tapping participants’ impressions of the diversity in their networks, or a “structural” approach that asks about the socioeconomic position of individuals within their networks. While these measures are largely treated as functional equivalents in research about information technology and politics, we demonstrate that the two measures are only moderately correlated, and there are systematic differences in the reliability and validity of the two measures. We conclude that the structural measure is the better choice for most studies, although the subjective measure may be more appropriate in some cases.
... Indeed, in one field, psychologists have documented that people's ability ratings do not match their skill level (e.g., Kruger and Dunning, 1999). The knowledge gap is an influential antecedent of social media search for information (Beam et al., 2016;Chatman and Pendleton, 1995;Li and Cho, 2021;Shakeri et al., 2018;Valentino et al., 2004). ...
Article
Purpose In the face of increasing political polarization worldwide, this study explores whether people create biased perceptions of political knowledge and how this affects their selection and evaluation of political content on YouTube. Design/methodology/approach For this study, an online experiment was conducted with 441 panels of South Korean respondents. In the first phase, participants answered 10 questions designed to capture their level of objective political knowledge, and for each question, they indicated whether they had responded to that question correctly as a means of measuring their subjective political knowledge. In the second phase, two types of YouTube thumbnails were presented to represent progressive and conservative claims on two controversial political issues, and participants rated and selected the content they would like to see. Findings Participants with low political knowledge perceived their knowledge as more than it really was. In contrast, participants with high political knowledge perceived their political knowledge as less than it really was. This biased perception of political knowledge influences respondents' choice and evaluation of political YouTube channel videos. Originality/value At a time when political polarization is increasing around the world, this study sought to explore how perceptions of political knowledge differ from actual political knowledge by applying the Dunning-Kruger effect. The authors also used political YouTube channels, whose role in forming public opinion and political influence is rapidly growing, to study the behavior and attitudes of a group of Korean respondents in the media according to their actual and perceived level of political literacy.
... Similarly, Peykani et al. (2022) reiterated that the knowledge gap creates insufficiency in the role of innovative activities that shape organizational strategy. Li and Cho (2021) aver that constant social media engagement predicts a lesser knowledge gap in the political circus. Against this background, we propose that: ...
Article
Full-text available
Digital technologies are essential tools that Service-based firms can integrate into their business to transform their operations. However, in the emerging countries’ perspective, research on the application of digital orientation among Service-based firms is less researched. This poses questions to scholars why the adoption of digital orientation is quite low among developing economies. The purpose of this article is to examine the impediments to digital orientation among Service-based firms in emerging and developing countries. Inspired by a resource-based view, a survey using a structured questionnaire was administered to 466 respondents (management and employees) of Service-based firms via a convenience sampling method in Ghana. Findings revealed that the knowledge gap, cost burden, and upgrading of technology positively and significantly create the gap in digital orientation among Service-based firms. The authors admonished that Service-based firms should 'be orient' on the use of digital technologies through appropriate training programs to enhance its adoption. The study again recommends practitioners of Service-based firms cultivate the habit of investing in human and technical capacities to optimize the benefits of the evolution of digital technologies. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
... More concerning, scholars compared the roles of social media use in the political and health domains and indicated that more social media engagement increased political knowledge, but not health (W. Li & Cho, 2021). ...
Article
Full-text available
Social media has become an important avenue for learning. However, the mechanisms underlying social media use and its influence on knowledge are not clear. Based on the cognitive mediation model, this study explored the pathways through which social media use was linked to health knowledge, taking into account different information acquisition patterns (e.g., media attention vs. information discussion), information processing (e.g., elaboration), and information seeking experience. With a cross-sectional survey conducted in China (N = 1,350), this study found that paying attention to health information on social media had a direct and positive relationship with health knowledge. However, discussing such information was negatively associated with knowledge. Media attention also had a positive relationship with information discussion. Both media attention and information discussion were positively related to information elaboration, which in turn, had a positive association with health knowledge. Also, the poor quality of health information seeking experience weakened the relationship between social media use and elaborative processing. This study provides important implications for health communication research and practice in the digital era.
... However, individuals often perceive mainstream media's information as one-sided and sensational (Oh et al., 2013). Thus, individuals turn to social media to seek and share information, to express opinions and inner thoughts (Heverin & Zach, 2012), or to bridge knowledge gaps between a perceived event and factual information explaining it (Li & Cho, 2021;Oh et al., 2013). Ambiguous situations and the increasing salience of self-organizing information systems such as social media have caused rumors that impact the individual sense-making process to circulate (Oh et al., 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
Large-scale societal crises require individuals and organizations to make sense of ambiguous situations. Nowadays, users use social media such as Twitter to seek and contribute crisis-related information. However, contradictory cues such as rumors increasingly break up their sense-and decision-making processes. We examine how sense-breaking (i.e., rumor-supporting and-correction messages) impact rumor spreading and how different user archetypes contribute to this process. Against the theory of connective action as a backdrop, we conducted a case study on the German Chemnitz 2018 riots and associated Twitter communication. With an analysis combining semi-automated content analysis and social network analysis, we identified five rumor-spreading networks. Characteristic user behavior and deduced user archetypes revealed that impeded connective action negatively impacted rumor correction. From those findings, we theoretically derive a concept that we call "connective sense-breaking"; that is, connective efforts by involved user archetypes and their supporting and correction behavior to achieve information consensus. This new perspective on rumor spreading provides IS researchers with an expedient lens for future work and helps crisis communication stakeholders such as emergency management agencies to define their role in rumor spreading and, consequently, improve their ad hoc decision-making.
Article
Full-text available
An essential tenet of social capital is that it is a reciprocal process: social networks produce desirable outcomes, and the resulting outcomes can then feed back into influencing networks. The current study is among the first to examine a dynamic, reciprocal process of social capital, using within-person measures from 2,065 reports of offline and online daily social interactions from 66 participants over a 1-week period. Results show that online and offline social interactions, characterized by tie strength and communication diversity, generate different levels of emotional, practical , and informational support, which, in turn, exerts differential influence on tie strength and diversity of subsequent interactions. Results also reveal a mismatch between the resulting social support and subsequent motivated social interactions. Importantly, social support reinforces subsequent tie strength but reduces communication diversity. Lay Summary This study has examined the reciprocal processes of social capital. Findings show that daily social activities produce benefits. These benefits and resources then drive later social activities. Daily online and offline social activities with close social contacts provide emotional and practical benefit. Online interactions with people of different backgrounds and opinions provide new information. After getting more benefits or resources from social activities, people increase their social activities with their close friends or families but reduce social activities with people of different backgrounds or different opinions.
Article
Full-text available
This article provides a meta-analysis of the knowledge gap hypothesis literature published between 1966 and 2018. We find the basic assumption of a positive education-knowledge relationship to be supported. This result is robust across different geographical settings of the knowledge topics examined, independent of the country of data collection, and – in line with the belief gap hypothesis – restricted to (politically) uncontested topics. The central assumption of the hypothesis – that an increase of mass media information fosters knowledge divides between those with less and more formal education – was supported. While TV fulfils a role as a knowledge gap maintainer, print media and especially online media use appears to increase knowledge inequalities between groups with discrepant educational attainment.
Article
Full-text available
With social media at the forefront of today’s media context, citizens may perceive they don’t need to actively seek news because they will be exposed to news and remain well-informed through their peers and social networks. We label this the “news-finds-me perception,” and test its implications for news seeking and political knowledge: “news-finds-me effects.” U.S. panel-survey data show that individuals who perceive news will find them are less likely to use traditional news sources and are less knowledgeable about politics over time. Although the news-finds-me perception is positively associated with news exposure on social media, this behavior doesn’t facilitate political learning. These results suggest news continues to enhance political knowledge best when actively sought.
Article
Full-text available
Advancing theory in media exposure and effects requires contending with an increasing level of complexity and contingency. Building on established theoretical concerns and the research possibilities enabled by large social datasets, we propose a framework for mapping information exposure of digitally situated individuals. We argue that from the perspective of an individual's personal communication network, comparable processes of "curation" are undertaken by a variety of actors-not only conventional newsmakers but also individual media users, social contacts, advertisers, and computer algorithms. Detecting the competition, intersection, and overlap of these flows is crucial to understanding media exposure and effects today. Our approach reframes research questions in debates such as polarization, selective and incidental exposure, participation, and conceptual orientations for computational approaches. © 2015 International Communication Association November 2015 10.1111/comt.12087 Original Article Original Articles
Article
Full-text available
Two affordances of digital communication technologies, persistent contact and pervasive awareness, are ushering in fundamental change to the structure of community. These affordances break from the mobility narrative that has described community since the rise of urban industrialism, including accounts of networked individualism and a postindustrial or a network society. In contrast to images of late modernity, which suggest that mobility will be maximized to the point where people are nearly free from the constraints of time, space, and social bonds, persistent–pervasive community renews the constraints and opportunities of premodern community structure. As a result of persistence—a counterforce to mobility—relationships and the social contexts where they are formed are less transitory than at any time in modern history. Through the ambient, lean, asynchronous nature of social media, awareness supplements surveillance with the informal watchfulness typified in preindustrial community. It provides for closeness and information exchange unlike what can be communicated through other channels. Social media and the algorithms behind them generate not only context collapse but an audience problem that, when managed through a dynamic balance between broadcasting and monitoring content, enhances indicators of awareness and availability of social ties. Persistent–pervasive community represents a period of metamodernity. It is a hybrid of preindustrial and urban-industrial community structures that will affect the availability of social capital, the success of collective action, the cost of caring, deliberation around important issues, and how lives are linked over the life course and across generations.
Article
Full-text available
Although they share a similar 'social media' tag, blogs, micro-blog sites like Twitter, and social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook are distinctive in their relationships with political engagement. This paper examined the impact of the use of the three media on the gaps in political knowledge and participation between the more and less educated people. In the results, Facebook use interacted positively with education in predicting civic and issue knowledge. The gap of offline participation was larger among heavy Twitter users than among light users. Overall, findings imply that social media amplify or reinforce inequality of political engagement.
Article
Full-text available
Information diffusion through social network sites is a new and important context that has received scant attention in extant research. This study developed a Facebook application to uncover the influence of network density and transmitter activity on the information diffusion process. The results showed that network density is positively related to transmitter activity on social network sites. In addition, transmitter activity partially mediated the effect of network density on the extent of information viewed and retransmitted. That is, transmitter activity can affect the information diffusion process, and the activity effect is plausible and should become stronger as social networks become denser. The findings of this study provide useful implications, not only for theory in the social network, but also useful references and suggestions to marketing practitioners.
Article
Full-text available
This study assesses two key types of knowledge assessments, factual and perceived knowledge, in the study of knowledge gaps. In addition, we distinguish between communication channels in exploring the phenomenon, examining nanotechnology knowledge gaps based on levels of attention to traditional media, science blog use, and the frequency of interpersonal discussion. Using regression analysis, we find that how researchers measure knowledge can significantly affect the discovery of gaps. We also find differential effects based on communication channels, including evidence that the direction of perceived gaps in knowledge can be reversed as media consumption increases. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Article
Full-text available
This experimental study tested the knowledge gap hypothesis at the intersection of audience education levels and news formats (newspaper versus online). The findings reveal a gap in public affairs knowledge acquisition between South Korean citizens (N = 123) from different educational backgrounds. Moreover, the high education group comprehended news with the same level of efficiency across online and newspaper formats while low education participants gained more knowledge from reading a newspaper than using an online news source. Taken together, this study’s findings confirm the knowledge gap hypothesis through experimental research and offer evidence of its potential contribution to the digital divide.
Article
Full-text available
We greatly appreciate Gaziano's invaluable comments1 on our meta-analysis. The comments gave us an opportunity to review our meta-analysis from a fresh perspective.2 In this note, we would like to address issues raised by Gaziano's critique. We first clarify how we tested the knowledge gap hypothesis in our meta-analysis, an issue that seems to have raised the greatest concern. Then, we move on to address additional issues one by one. Finally, we conclude with our perspectives on future knowledge gap research.
Article
Full-text available
The study described here examined whether knowledge gaps decrease when motivation to acquire information or the functionality of information is similar among more and less educated groups. Surveys at baseline and 12 months compared two groups with differing motivation to acquire cancer and diet information in a community that received a year-long health campaign. The more motivated group (higher on measures of salience, perceived cancer risk, and self-efficacy) was composed of those who self-selected to receive home-based learning, a campaign strategy. They were compared to general population samples. The study found that education-based differences in knowledge were evident even among members of the more motivated group. However, the effect of membership in this group raised knowledge levels higher than the general population irrespective of education level. The study suggested that group membership, information functionality, motivation, and education combined to affect knowledge, rather than motivation alone over-coming the effect of education.
Article
Full-text available
We describe an interview-based data-collection procedure for social network analysis designed to aid gathering information about the people known by a respondent and reduce problems with data integrity and respondent burden. This procedure, a participant-aided network diagram (sociogram), is an extension of traditional name generators. Although such a diagram can be produced through computer-assisted programs for interviewing (CAPIs) and low technology (i.e., paper), we demonstrate both practical and methodological reasons for keeping high technology in the lab and low technology in the field. We provide some general heuristics that can reduce the time needed to complete a name generator. We present findings from our Connected Lives field study to illustrate this procedure and compare to an alternative method for gathering network data.
Article
Full-text available
Members of the World Economic Forum recently identified the economic, health and knowledge disparities between the "haves" and "have-nots" in the world as one of the central risks in the global risk landscape. However, research on the role of communication in reducing knowledge disparities for emerging technologies is rare. More importantly, little research has tracked knowledge gaps about emerging technologies in representative populations over time. In this study we examine U.S. public knowledge levels across different levels of education and media use using data from two nationally representative telephone surveys. Our results show that increased science Internet and television use among low education groups can help narrow, or significantly reduce the growth of knowledge gaps that are forming based on educational disparities.
Article
Full-text available
There are numerous indirect ways in which socioeconomic status (SES) can advantage or disadvantage people in developing social capital. Specifically, SES affects the access individuals have to beneficial resources that indirectly affects the social capital benefits individuals receive from personal and group social networks. With the advent of social network sites like Facebook, the ability to quantify and measure the effects of SES on social capital benefits is possible to a much greater degree than ever before. This study of undergraduate students focuses on the relationship between SES and social capital. We examine the relationship between SES and three structural measures of students' social capital using online social network data: general social capital (network size), bridging social capital (number of clusters), and bonding social capital (average degree). According to our results, higher SES relates to larger and denser networks, but not to networks with more clusters. These findings suggest that SES is not related to greater opportunities for networking, but better capitalization of existing network contexts. In addition to the novel substantive contribution, this paper offers a methodological advance in the structural study of social capital, which has previously been limited in size or complexity due to recall.
Article
Full-text available
Community pluralism predicted both exposure to sources of heart disease prevention information and diversity of source exposure in three Upper Midwest cities (small, medium, large) over a ten-year period. Community differences in both outcomes narrowed, however. The study suggested that during the 1980s, the sheer amount of information about the topic of heart disease prevention and the proliferation of electronic media reduced typical community system and SES-based differences in exposure. © 1993, Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication. All rights reserved.
Article
Full-text available
Empirical studies of citizen communication networks and participation go as far back as the 1940s, with a bolder focus in political—not civic—activities. A consistent finding reveals that individuals with larger networks are more engaged than those with smaller networks. This article expands this line of work with a number of novel tests. First, it compares the predictive power of online versus offline network size on civic engagement. It then explores the role of strong-tie versus weak-tie discussion frequency and participatory behaviors. Finally, it examines the extent to which the contribution of network size, both online and offline, on civic engagement is mediated by discussion with weak ties. Using original survey data from a large national sample of U.S. adults, results indicate that (1) the relationships between online and offline network size and civic engagement are positive and fairly similar in strength, (2) weak-tie discussion is the strongest predictor of civic behaviors, (3) weak-tie discussion largely mediates the association between participation and network size online and offline, and (4) online networks entail greater exposure to weak ties than offline networks.
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We study several longstanding questions in media communications research, in the context of the microblogging service Twitter, regarding the production, flow, and consumption of information. To do so, we exploit a recently introduced feature of Twitter known as "lists" to distinguish between elite users - by which we mean celebrities, bloggers, and representatives of media outlets and other formal organizations - and ordinary users. Based on this classification, we find a striking concentration of attention on Twitter, in that roughly 50% of URLs consumed are generated by just 20K elite users, where the media produces the most information, but celebrities are the most followed. We also find significant homophily within categories: celebrities listen to celebrities, while bloggers listen to bloggers etc; however, bloggers in general rebroadcast more information than the other categories. Next we re-examine the classical "two-step flow" theory of communications, finding considerable support for it on Twitter. Third, we find that URLs broadcast by different categories of users or containing different types of content exhibit systematically different lifespans. And finally, we examine the attention paid by the different user categories to different news topics.
Article
Informal discussion plays a crucial role in democracy, yet much of its value depends on diversity. We describe two models of political discussion. The purposive model holds that people typically select discussants who are knowledgeable and politically similar to them. The incidental model suggests that people talk politics for mostly idiosyncratic reasons, as by‐products of nonpolitical social processes. To adjudicate between these accounts, we draw on a unique, multisite, panel data set of whole networks, with information about many social relationships, attitudes, and demographics. This evidence permits a stronger foundation for inferences than more common egocentric methods. We find that incidental processes shape discussion networks much more powerfully than purposive ones. Respondents tended to report discussants with whom they share other relationships and characteristics, rather than based on expertise or political similarity, suggesting that stimulating discussion outside of echo chambers may be easier than previously thought.
Article
This study addresses the questions of how individuals use social media (SM) to build awareness of social networks (network perceptions) within and beyond SM, and how motivations and SM behaviors differentiate individuals’ ability to build such awareness. The analysis of the 2017 Taiwan Communication Survey (TCS) identifies three types of users based on their motivations for SM use: omnivores, time-killers, and social-groomers, who are differentiated from one another in terms of different types of SM behaviors as well as perceived network structures on SM and beyond. For example, omnivores, who use SM for diverse purposes, tend to engage in SM browsing and reacting more than time-killers, who use SM to pass time. Compared to time-killers, social-groomers, those who use SM for social purposes, are more likely to perceive that they have a larger SM response network, a response network containing close ties, and that they have maintained diverse social relationships in the form of mixed-media relationships (MMRs). Moreover, SM posting is associated with the size and the diverse composition of the perceived response network on SM. More frequent SM posting is also associated with perceptions of having diverse social contacts maintained through MMRs, but such association depends on the size and composition of the perceived SM response network.
Article
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are affecting ways of networking in advanced societies. This study analyzes the interaction of face-to-face social networks and digital social networks in Spain, a Mediterranean country characterized by significant sociability in every social sphere. Our aim is to contrast this with the hypothesis that new forms of networking can lead to isolation or individualization. This study uses two surveys carried out by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas [Center for Sociological Research] in 2014 and 2016, involving 4922 people over 18 years of age who were asked about these two types of networks (face-to-face and digital) and other topics related to demographics, family, social position, and personality traits. The results indicate complementarity between networks: digital networks served to enrich face-to-face networks, especially when people described themselves as extraverted. However, nuances were observed in relation to rural or urban habitat and forms of coexistence among those interviewed.
Article
With social networking site (SNS) use now ubiquitous in American culture, researchers have started paying attention to its effects in a variety of domains. This study explores the relationships between measures of Facebook use and political knowledge levels using a pair of representative samples of U.S. adults. We find that although the mere use of Facebook was unrelated to political knowledge scores, how Facebook users report engaging with the SNS was strongly associated with knowledge levels. Importantly, the increased use of Facebook for news consumption and news sharing was negatively related to political knowledge levels. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.
Article
With the migration from traditional news media to social media, understanding how citizens learn about politics and current affairs from these sources has become increasingly important. Based on the concept of network media logic, distinct from traditional mass media logic, this study investigates whether using social media as a source of political news compensates for not using traditional news media in terms of political and current affairs learning. Using two panel studies conducted in two different political contexts—an election setting and a nonelection setting—the results show positive learning effects from using traditional news media and online news websites, but not from using social media. Taken together, the findings suggest that using social media to follow news about politics and current affairs does not compensate for not using traditional news media in terms of learning a diverse and broad set of general political news.
Article
The growing reliance on social media as news platforms may lead to more passive news consumption, but also offers greater potential for engaging in news. This study investigates the role of engagement with news content on Facebook and Twitter between news exposure and current events knowledge. An online survey (N = 400) tests the relationships between social media news seeking, incidental exposure to news on social media, engagement in shared news content, cognitive elaboration, and current events knowledge. The results show that both active seeking of and incidental exposure to news on both sites are linked to engagement, which is linked to greater cognitive elaboration about the content. Furthermore, engagement mediates the relationship between both types of news exposure and cognitive elaboration. However, engagement and elaboration are not related to knowledge. These results indicate that the key role of social media in news content is not knowledge gain, but the ability to engage users who may be passively receiving news on these sites. This study extends the cognitive mediation model of learning from the news in the context of current social media, with updated news consumption norms such as engagement with news on these sites, and incidental news exposure.
Article
Introduction Our study evaluated the electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, knowledge, and perceptions of health professional students enrolled in one of five colleges at a single academic health center. Methods A 56-item survey was conducted to examine the use, knowledge, and perceptions of e-cigarettes among health professional students. An e-cigarette knowledge score was calculated according to correct responses to eight true-false survey items, with possible scores ranging from zero to eight points. Regressions were used to determine associations between students’ enrolled college/discipline and e-cigarette knowledge scores and to identify associations between three perception domains (smoking cessation, harm reduction, and enhanced regulation) and e-cigarette use. Results Of the 853 students responding, 24.2% reported e-cigarette ever-use. Of e-cigarette ever users, 85.5% had used within the past year, and 23.1% used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. Participants from the colleges of public health, pharmacy, and nursing had significantly higher knowledge scores, compared to those in allied health. Knowledge scores from college of medicine participants did not differ significantly compared to scores from allied health. Perceptions of using e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, reduced harm compared to tobacco, and reduced e-cigarette regulation were significantly associated with using e-cigarettes. Discussion and conclusions Self-reported ever-use of e-cigarettes among health professional students in this sample was 3.5–6 times higher than previously reported among medical and nursing students. Substantial gaps in e-cigarette knowledge exist. Enhancing health professionals’ preparedness to effectively advise patients about the benefits and harms of e-cigarettes is crucial. Keywords Electronic cigarettesStudents, health occupationsKnowledgeTobacco useSmoking cessation
Article
Social relationships unfold face-to-face and across an increasingly diverse set of mobile, Internet-based media. Research on these mixed-media relationships (MMRs) offers a unifying focus for understanding of how media use reflects and drives social relationships. Impediments to research on mixed-media interaction include an over-reliance on research focused on a single medium, incomplete and conceptually problematic classifications of media, and limited theoretic approaches. An alternative approach to understand MMRs, grounded in the challenges of managing complex, recurring interpersonal demands, is proposed. These demands include social coordination, impression management, regulating closeness and distance, and managing arousal and anxiety. Implications of MMRs for mediatization and mass communication are briefly examined.
Article
Using data from a national survey of South Koreans, this study explores the role of science communication in enhancing three different forms of scientific knowledge ( factual, procedural, and subjective). We first assess learning effects, looking at the extent to which citizens learn science from different channels of communication (interpersonal discussions, traditional newspapers, television, online newspapers, and social media). We then look into the knowledge gap hypothesis, investigating how different communication channels can either widen or narrow the gap in knowledge between social classes. Television was found to function as a "knowledge leveler," narrowing the gap between highly and less educated South Koreans. The role of online newspapers in science learning is pronounced in our research. Reading newspapers online indicated a positive relationship to all three measures of knowledge. Contrary to the knowledge-leveling effect of television viewing, reading online newspapers was found to increase, rather than decrease, the gap in knowledge. Implications of our findings are discussed in detail.
Article
The present study focuses on how different features of discussion networks and the contexts in which they reside are related to political ambivalence, participation, and knowledge. Using full sociometric network data derived from 25 different student activity organizations, we reveal complex implications of various facets of discussion networks and their contextual settings. Ambivalence is amplified by being highly central within a discussion network and a political minority within the group. Diversity of one’s egocentric discussion network increases participation, whereas closeness centrality was negatively correlated with participation. High levels of betweenness centrality were most positively associated with knowledge in groups that were relatively political in their orientation compared to those that were apolitical. The results support the argument that communication networks and the contextual settings in which they are situated should be more fully considered in the study of political communication effects.
Article
Social networking sites such as Facebook provide new ways of sharing news stories that allow users to act as opinion leaders in their networks, encourage discussion, and potentially increase their involvement in current events. This study identifies the particular features of Facebook that facilitate the discussion of news and tests their effects on involvement and feelings of influence. Participants (N = 265) in a 3 (Broadcast level: news feed vs. wall post vs. direct message) × 3 (Elaboration: opinion vs. question vs. no comment) × 2 (Involving-friends: tag vs. no tag) between-subjects factorial experiment were randomly assigned to share a story from a news website on Facebook. Results show that user involvement in the news content depends on the social affordances of the site, particularly those that allow for audience customization and those that drive network feedback. Asking the network’s opinions and targeting specific friends led to greater involvement in the news content. Discussion through comments led to a greater sense of influence and greater involvement for those sharing the news story. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging individuals to act as sources of information in their networks to drive engagement in current events in the changing news landscape.
Article
This article focuses on the degree to which friends' influence on substance use is conditioned by the consistency between their behavior and that of schoolmates (individuals enrolled in the same school, but not identified as friends), contributing to the literature on the complexity of interactive social influences during adolescence. Specifically, it hypothesizes that friends' influence will diminish as their norms become less similar to that of schoolmates. The authors also propose that this conditioning relationship is related to the density of the friendship group. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) (n ~ 8,000, 55 % female) to examine the interactive relationship between friend and schoolmate influences on adolescent substance use (smoking and drinking). The sample contains students ranging from age 11 to 22 and is 60 % White. The findings demonstrate that, as the substance use of the friendship group becomes more dissimilar from schoolmates' substance use, the friendship group's influence on adolescent substance use diminishes. Further, the results demonstrate that this conditioning relationship does not emerge when the friendship group is highly dense.
Article
The findings of this study support the significance of motivational variables and media use in modifying the relationship between education and knowledge acquisition. People's behavioral involvement in the 1992 presidential campaign influenced the knowledge gap between education groups such that the gap was significantly smaller among those with a higher level of involvement. Also, respondents' television news viewing during the campaign significantly reduced the knowledge gap between education groups; thus, the more frequently people watched news stories on television, the smaller the impact of education on knowledge acquisition. The results also showed that there was a significant three-way interaction among education, campaign interest, and newspaper news attention, which indicates that the contribution of newspaper news attention to the knowledge gap between education groups differed depending on respondents' campaign interests.
Article
Explanations of why people use various types of media content have been limited mainly to demographic location and self-interested motivational variables. The authors present an alternative, sociotropic source of influence on communication patterns: judgments of how the world works (worldviews), what societal values ought to be pursued (materialism vs. postmaterialism), and what normative roles the news media should play. A well-fitting structural equation model is used to account for substantial amounts of variance in entertainment television viewing, newspaper public affairs reading, and discussion of controversial issues. Sociotropic judgments mediate much of the influence of demographics and ideology on patterns of communication. Diversity in the composition of personal discussion networks has a strong and direct influence on communication patterns.
Article
Data on social networks may be gathered for all ties linking elements of a closed population (“complete” network data) or for the sets of ties surrounding sampled individual units (“egocentric” network data). Network data have been obtained via surveys and questionnaires, archives, observation, diaries, electronic traces, and experiments. Most methodological research on data quality concerns surveys and questionnaires. The question of the accuracy with which informants can provide data on their network ties is nontrivial, but survey methods can make some claim to reliability. Unresolved issues include whether to measure perceived social ties or actual exchanges, how to treat temporal elements in the definition of relationships, and whether to seek accurate descriptions or reliable indicators. Continued research on data quality is needed; beyond improved samples and further investigation of the informant accuracy/reliability issue, this should cover common indices of network structure, address the conseque...
Article
The purpose of this article is to examine research evidence on knowledge gaps and to ask how strong this evidence is, particularly when amount of mass media publicity is taken into account. Many varying characteristics of 58 studies with relevant data are analyzed. Theoretical and methodological differences among the studies are pointed out, and some conclusions drawn about media effects on knowledge disparities and conditions under which knowledge gaps may or may not occur. Some reasons for conflicting results in the literature are explained, and suggestions are made for future research on knowledge differentials.
Article
This paper explores the impact of communication media and the Internet on connectivity between people. Results from a series of social network studies of media use are used as background for exploration of these impacts. These studies explored the use of all available media among members of an academic research group and among distance learners. Asking about media use as well as about the strength of the tie between communicating pairs revealed that those more strongly tied used more media to communicate than weak ties, and that media use within groups conformed to a unidimensional scale, showing a configuration of different tiers of media use supporting social networks of different ties strengths. These results lead to a number of implications regarding media and Internet connectivity, including: how media use can be added to characteristics of social network ties; how introducing a medium can create latent tie connectivity among group members that provides the technical means for activating weak ties, and also how a change in a medium can disrupt existing weak tie networks; how the tiers of media use also suggest that certain media support different kinds of information flow; and the importance of organization-level decisions about what media to provide and promote. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for Internet effects.
Article
Research consistently finds that we discuss politics most often with our strong ties (i.e., our close, intimate others). As our strong ties tend to be more politically similar to us than not, the conclusion is that everyday political discussions are overwhelmingly characterized by real or perceived political agreement. However, this scenario may paint only a partial portrait of everyday political discussion. Neglected is the distinction between politically similar discussion partners, on the one hand, and similarity of views expressed during conversation, on the other. Although our strong ties may be more politically similar to us than not, they may, paradoxically, be just the people with whom we are likely to express disagreement. Indeed, this study illustrates that although discussion with strong ties increases the probability of agreement, it simultaneously increases the likelihood of discussing disagreement.
Article
Data from four types of research—news diffusion studies, time trends, a newspaper strike, and a field experiment—are consistent with the general hypothesis that increasing the flow of news on a topic leads to greater acquisition of knowledge about that topic among the more highly educated segments of society. Whether the resulting knowledge gap closes may depend partly on whether the stimulus intensity of mass media publicity is maintained at a high level, or is reduced or eliminated at a point when only the more active persons have gained that knowledge.
Article
This article focuses on audience-related factors such as ability, motivation, and media use as well as "ceiling effects" that act as contingent conditions for understanding the "knowledge gap." Ability deficits, individual differences, and ceiling effects, true or imposed, are examined to attempt a clarification of how knowledge gaps are widened or narrowed.
Article
Recent work on message effects theories offers a fruitful way to systematically explore how features, formats, structures of messages may attract audience attention and influence the audience and is of great relevance to public health communications. Much of this work, however, has been pursued primarily at the individual level of analysis. It is our contention that message effects on health outcomes could potentially be moderated and mediated by social contextual factors in public health such as social class, social organizations and neighborhoods among others, leading to differential effects among different audience sub-groups. This essay, through a selective review of literatures in communication and social epidemiology, will explore how major message effects may moderate and mediate the role of social determinants of health on cancer control, specifically cancer-related health disparities.
Article
This study explores the role of urban public spaces for democratic and social engagement. It examines the impact of wireless Internet use on urban public spaces, Internet users, and others who inhabit these spaces. Through observations of 7 parks, plazas, and markets in 4 North American cities, and surveys of wireless Internet users in those sites, we explore how this new technology is related to processes of social interaction, privatism, and democratic engagement. Findings reveal that Internet use within public spaces affords interactions with existing acquaintances that are more diverse than those associated with mobile phone use. However, the level of colocated social diversity to which Internet users are exposed is less than that of most users of these spaces. Yet, online activities in public spaces do contribute to broader participation in the public sphere. Internet connectivity within public spaces may contribute to higher overall levels of democratic and social engagement than what is afforded by exposure within similar spaces free of Internet connectivity.
Article
This article examines the relative size of gaps in knowledge and participation between the more and less educated as they vary by the quantity and type of news media use. We predicted that the gap between high and low education groups would be smaller among heavy television news users than among light users, whereas the gap between high and low education groups would be larger among heavy newspaper users than among light users. We also predicted that the gap in general political participation-but not voting-would be greater among both heavy television news users and heavy newspaper users than among light news users. These predictions were based on logic derived from the communication effects gap hypothesis, the cognitive psychology of learning, and research on political behavior. Analyzing data collected as part of the American National Election Study during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, we found that gaps in knowledge between higher and lower education groups were greater among light than heavy users of television news. A similar pattern was found for knowledge gaps across levels of newspaper use, but this pattern was weaker and may possibly be attributed to ceilings imposed by the nature of the test or a natural ceiling in the information domain. By contrast, neither television news use nor newspaper use was related to gaps in voting; however, newspaper use, but not television news use, was related to gaps in general political participation.
Article
This study explores the direct and indirect links between structural heterogeneity, network heterogeneity, and political participation. We review the often conflicting scholarship on discussion network heterogeneity and political participation and place it within a multilevel conceptual framework of heterogeneity. Based on this integrated theoretical model, our study uses a combination of macro-level and individual-level survey data from various sources. First, we use a cross-sectional national data set, based on a telephone survey with a probability sample of almost 800 adults. Second, we combine these individual-level data with county-level data on religious, political, and racial heterogeneity. Based on these data sets, we develop a path model linking structure, context, and networks into an integrated pathway to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of heterogeneity on political participation. Our results show positive links between structural and network heterogeneity that are both direct and indirect, that is, mediated through various communication processes.
Article
The development and diffusion of innovations involves groups of organizations with many different roles, who interact with each other (suppliers, adopters, third parties, etc.). This paper examines the nature of the communication networks that exist between adopting organizations, and from third parties and suppliers to adopters. Quantitative models of diffusion often assume that information about innovations flows along pre-existing links, that this information flows from adopters to non-adopters directly, and that there is perfect mixing in the population (i.e. every actor has an equal chance of communicating with every other actor). These are strong assumptions which should be subject to testing. We investigate the impact of differing network topologies of communications and alternative models of social contagion on observed adoption patterns. Network topologies are also extended beyond the focal industry to include suppliers, consultants and other customers. We use a simulation model to test the effect of departures from traditional assumptions on the diffusion pattern and undertake an empirical field study to examine the prevalence of those departures in one specific industry. Our simulation findings suggest that network structure can have a substantial effect on the manner in which innovations diffuse, while innovation-specific communication links, and communication through third parties does not change the shape of the penetration trajectory as much as it alters the places in the process where salesforce effort can offer the most leverage. The empirical study shows strong evidence of imperfect mixing, that both pre-existing and innovation-specific communication links are used, and that communication through third parties may be as important to the diffusion process as direct links from adopters to potential adopters.
Article
Recent events indicate that sharing news in social media has become a phenomenon of increasing social, economic and political importance because individuals can now participate in news production and diffusion in large global virtual communities. Yet, knowledge about factors influencing news sharing in social media remains limited. Drawing from the uses and gratifications (U&G) and social cognitive theories (SCT), this study explored the influences of information seeking, socializing, entertainment, status seeking and prior social media sharing experience on news sharing intention. A survey was designed and administered to 203 students in a large local university. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that respondents who were driven by gratifications of information seeking, socializing, and status seeking were more likely to share news in social media platforms. Prior experience with social media was also a significant determinant of news sharing intention. Implications and directions for future work are discussed.
Article
Part I. Introduction: Networks, Relations, and Structure: 1. Relations and networks in the social and behavioral sciences 2. Social network data: collection and application Part II. Mathematical Representations of Social Networks: 3. Notation 4. Graphs and matrixes Part III. Structural and Locational Properties: 5. Centrality, prestige, and related actor and group measures 6. Structural balance, clusterability, and transitivity 7. Cohesive subgroups 8. Affiliations, co-memberships, and overlapping subgroups Part IV. Roles and Positions: 9. Structural equivalence 10. Blockmodels 11. Relational algebras 12. Network positions and roles Part V. Dyadic and Triadic Methods: 13. Dyads 14. Triads Part VI. Statistical Dyadic Interaction Models: 15. Statistical analysis of single relational networks 16. Stochastic blockmodels and goodness-of-fit indices Part VII. Epilogue: 17. Future directions.
Book
Experience and Educationis the best concise statement on education ever published by John Dewey, the man acknowledged to be the pre-eminent educational theorist of the twentieth century. Written more than two decades after Democracy and Education(Dewey's most comprehensive statement of his position in educational philosophy), this book demonstrates how Dewey reformulated his ideas as a result of his intervening experience with the progressive schools and in the light of the criticisms his theories had received. Analysing both "traditional" and "progressive" education, Dr. Dewey here insists that neither the old nor the new education is adequate and that each is miseducative because neither of them applies the principles of a carefully developed philosophy of experience. Many pages of this volume illustrate Dr. Dewey's ideas for a philosophy of experience and its relation to education. He particularly urges that all teachers and educators looking for a new movement in education should think in terms of the deeped and larger issues of education rather than in terms of some divisive "ism" about education, even such an "ism" as "progressivism." His philosophy, here expressed in its most essential, most readable form, predicates an American educational system that respects all sources of experience, on that offers a true learning situation that is both historical and social, both orderly and dynamic.