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The purpose of this study is to explore wine consumer appreciation towards terroir-based communication in the social media context. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach was applied to elicit consumer preferences for alternative Instagram posts including image-based and text-based signals about wine terroir. An online survey was administered to a sample of Italian wine consumers who use social media. Results showed that image-based posts were largely preferred to text-based posts. Among image posts, the visual appearance of the grape variety and the natural label, which means a combination of an intrinsic cue with an extrinsic one, gains higher user attention in comparison with the other signals. Among text posts, posts proposing a 'terroir association' received higher priority than those explaining a 'terroir concept'. These results were tested analysing real Instagram posts of an Italian winery. The number of likes received by the different terroir-related posts reflected the AHP-estimated global priority weights highlighting that actual consumer appreciation agreed with the evaluation determined by using the proposed AHP model. The study revealed that the AHP was a useful approach to evaluate wine consumer engagement with digital communication. It contributed to understanding how wineries can effectively convey wine terroir meanings via social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to its political appropriation, “groomer” characterized adults earning children's trust, so they can manipulate and sexually exploit them. Conservative activists have recently transformed “groomer” into an anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) slur. This critique of anti-“groomer” rhetoric examines an organization called Gays Against Groomers (GAG). GAG's website, which is presumably run by “gays,” depicts children as especially vulnerable to queer “indoctrination” and “mutilation.” Investigative probes recently conducted by The Advocate, the Anti-Defamation League (“Online Amplifiers,” 2023), and Media Matters revealed that far-right hate groups and anti-LGBTQ conservative media strategists are largely responsible for the group's genesis. GAG participates in a duplicitous online discourse I call digital ventriloquism. In this context, digital ventriloquy describes online communication where anti-LGBTQ cadres throw their voices into a “dummy” organization that seemingly operates from a divergent social location. GAG's homonormative cooptation of the groomer pejorative results in a dangerous paradox of speaker location, or social identity, that virtually erases child molestation from anti-“grooming” speech, and recasts transgender people and progressive gender education as child pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this special issue, the authors theoretically, methodologically, and empirically address challenges and opportunities associated with comparative social media analysis in political contention. Actors from civil society, media, and institutional politics use social media to coordinate, mobilise, and communicate, turning public online communication into an arena of conflict that offers researchers valuable windows of observation. In this introduction to the special issue, we systematise comparative perspectives on social media and political contention. We outline the traditional comparative dimensions of space, time, platform, and case; and suggest an approach for comparison within dimensions that are less dependent on the rapidly changing social media environment and more attuned to the interconnection between social media and political contention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequently referred to as 'sexting' or 'amateur pornography', digital sexual images and videos form an increasingly common part of adult sexual relationships. However, the vocabulary available to speak about these practices is limited, with 'sexting' often associated with young people in negative terms. This study is based on 23 interviews with adults in Australia who are 25 years and older. It explores the language adults employ to discuss and comprehend the creation and sharing of sexualised images and videos. Findings show that negative or positive connotations associated with the terms used to discuss sexual images and videos influenced the ways participants drew on, or rejected, terms to align digital practices with their sexual subjectivity. Reticence to engage in active communication about digital sexual practices, and participant's distancing of their own practices from the terms commonly understood to refer to such practices, made it difficult to engage in conversations about consent or desire in the context of digitally mediated sex. Findings provide insight into the ways that -digital sexual subjectivities are discursively framed and extend these implications for sexual health promotion with respect to how to frame messages of digital sexual safety in a sex-positive and open way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital communication has generated forms of written speech that may deviate from standard ones, such as Greeklish (a Latin-alphabet-based script) vs. Greek. The question of interest is how different orthographic representations of the same referent (e.g. petaloyda, “butterfly”, in Greeklish vs. πϵταλούδα “butterfly” in Greek) may influence word processing, particularly visual word recognition and access to affective connotations. 120 Greek native speakers were tested on a lexical decision task, in which script (Greeklish vs. Greek) and valence (positive vs. negative vs. neutral) were manipulated within participants. Words were matched for word class, frequency, concreteness, length, number of syllables and orthographic neighbourhood. Emotional words differed from neutral ones in valence and arousal. Results yielded faster response times for words written in the standard script (Greek) than the non-standard script (Greeklish). Moreover, regardless of script, response times were negatively correlated with the words’ valence, with slowest responses for negative words and fastest for positive ones, suggesting that positive content accelerates lexical access, whereas negative content slows it down. To sum up, although script type was found to affect word recognition, activation of and access to emotional content seemed to resist non-standard characteristics of visual word processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How often do political elites in the U.S. share low-quality news sources? Are there differences between the parties? While past work has investigated individuals sharing low-quality news sources, there are few large-scale analyses of the quality of information shared by political elites. As individuals rely on elite cues to inform their decision-making, officials sharing low-quality sites may increase polarization while providing legitimacy to low-quality outlets. We fill this gap by collecting more than 300,000 links shared on Facebook by U.S. members of Congress and measuring how often each party shares information from known low-quality news sources. We find that members of Congress share more links to low-quality sites than the public, that Republican members share considerably more than Democrats, and that this gap has increased over time. Finally, we investigate the potential mechanisms underlying this partisan gap and find that only Republicans receive increased engagement when sharing low- quality sites, suggesting asymmetric incentives to share low-quality news sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore how caseworkers in the Norwegian Child Welfare Services and their clients use digital and social media in information sharing. By applying Foucault's description of Bentham's Panopticon as an analytical tool, we show how caseworkers' use of digital and social media without the client's knowledge, while making themselves invisible, contribute to increase the power asymmetry of a professional–client relationship. The clients, on the other hand, have less possibilities of making themselves invisible. If they discover that caseworkers have invaded their private information, this is experienced as a breach of trust. While some studies discuss the equalising potential of using digital and social media in welfare communication, this study reveals some of the pitfalls in using these medias for communication and information exchange. Regardless of the type of media in question, their use becomes vital for visibility, trust and power. Our findings underscore that it is not only the digital tools that needs regulation. Regulations should address the participation of clients in deciding on communication tools and the all-important openness and non-covert practices necessary to build and maintain trusting relationships between caseworkers and clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined how early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers supported families during the Covid-19 lockdown and whether the extent and type of support were associated with parental burnout. An online survey was filled out by 521 Finnish parents (88% mothers), and the data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). A total of 81% of the parents were contacted by ECEC personnel during lockdown, and 19% were not contacted at all, although 9% would have wished for contact. The support consisted mainly of guidance for the child’s daily activities and communication via letters and greetings. Out of the parents, 33% found the support helpful, 36% sometimes helpful, and 31% nonhelpful. The more support the parents received, the less burned out they were. Particularly, food aid and advice to contact the ECEC centers, if needed, were negatively connected to parental burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phones have become an essential part of modern family life. Their proliferation has been accompanied by a diverse range of apps, including apps for separated parents. Family law professionals are increasingly being asked about post-separation parenting apps by clients. Yet the empirical evidence about their potential benefits and risks is sparse. The present study draws on qualitative data from an online survey of 344 family law professionals in Australia and New Zealand about their attitudes to co-parenting apps. Three broad potential benefits of co-parenting app functions were identified: accountability, convenience and containment. Drawing on a realist evaluation framework, we find that the same app functions were identified as posing a variety of potential risks, including technology-facilitated abuse, depending on context. We argue that family law professionals need a good understanding of the potential benefits and risks of co-parenting apps, along with the contextual factors that can determine outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two chambers of the French parliament are known to be among the weakest in Europe since the Constitution of the Fifth Republic restricts their role. This weakness is an incentive for MPs to go local and adopt the constituency representation model. However, the magnitude of parliamentary renewal (416 newly elected members) following the 2017 elections combined with the entry into force of the law of 14 February 2014 prohibiting the combination of a deputy's mandate with a local executive function disrupt, at least circumstancially, the rules of the game. Have these changes contributed (or not) to transform the style of representation of current deputies, especially online? In this article, we identify two opposing styles of representation used online by the deputies elected in 2017: the constituency model and the trustee model (coupled with the representation of self-model). These results are discussed according to the French context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, being actively present on social networks promotes visibility in the digital environment. Active Presence requires choosing the platforms that best suit the communication needs of the audiences, developing a frequent activity (Activity) and disseminating a certain type of publications (Presence). This study defines and evaluates the level of the main dimensions of Active Presence in social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) of 70 universities (Europe, the United States and Latin America). The results show an adequate frequency of publications with mainly own content, although with considerable differences between institutions, regions and platforms. Regarding activity, Facebook is above the daily average and among regions Latin America stands out over the United States and with greater distance over Europe. Regarding the type of presence, universities tend to use their own content on Facebook and LinkedIn, while on Twitter there is a combination of own, hybrid and shared content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology has significantly facilitated the development of the cultural industry, and the cultural industry has also become one of the most important fields to which digital technology is applied. Conducting an analysis of how digital technology empowers consumers, creators, producers, social interaction and cultural communication can help us understand how it has improved the efficiency of the cultural industry, propelling digital contents into becoming the mainstay of the cultural industry and making digital communication the principal channel of cultural transmission. Digital technology has reshaped the structure of the cultural industry, leading to marked changes in the structure of cultural consumption, cultural production, the cultural market, and the proportion of domestic to foreign culture. However, whether this powerful digital technology will result in impressive technological results but lackluster cultural content remains a question. In fact, creative people's pursuit of cultural content and consumers' desire for such content will constantly give rise to outstanding cultural works with rich connotations and lasting influence in the digital era. The integration of digitization and technology can not only foster an open cultural plain filled with diverse and vibrant cultures, but can also create cultural peaks that will exhibit profound thought and superb artistic expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As is the case in many other countries, Spain faces the challenge of drastically reducing the presence of gender violence. In this paper, we analyse how public digital debate in Spain gives insight into this topic. Specifically, we are interested in analysing the ways in which processes such as polarization or incivility are manifested on social networks. Our thesis is that, in addition to the central role played by structural machismo, there are particular characteristics of online debate that regulate the presence of polarization and incivility. In order to assess this, we analyse two case studies on Twitter, 'La Manada' and 'Cuéntalo'. We demonstrate how spontaneous digital debates favour the emergence of negative behaviours, while those that, as is the case with 'Cuéntalo', are organized and structured, favour more respectful, less polarized communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language & Intercultural Communication is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Computer-based communication (CBC) has become an inevitable aspect of our communication infrastructure and a lasting alternative to face-to-face conversations. Yet, CBC (e.g. video conferencing) is not common practice for victim-offender mediation (VOM). Based on eighteen semi-structured interviews with adult victims, offenders and mediators, we provide a heuristic assessment of CBC applicability in VOM. Interviewees associated CBC with higher environmental safety compared to face-to-face mediation, and with richer emotional information compared to indirect VOM (e.g., letter exchange). Risks comprised technical and privacy concerns. Our findings provide insight into stakeholder perceptions of the usability of CBC-VOM and thus directions for effective employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely communications are important in enabling young people with long-term conditions to stay engaged with their health and manage their condition successfully. This study considers the role of digital communication in helping young people engage with services and the clinical teams providing their care. Data are drawn from 165 young people and 173 NHS staff across 20 clinical settings in the UK treating a variety of long-term conditions. Although not the focus of the main study the intersection of digital technologies and timely communication in keeping young people engaged was apparent. We drew on theories of time to understand how time was conceptualised and used in the digital communications between young people and their clinical teams. Through the lens of time we show that digital communications are valued differently by young people with long-term conditions and their clinical teams. In the current policy landscape where there is an emphasis on digital technology understanding the temporalities of different groups will help in the introduction of appropriate digital communications channels. Done well digital communications have the potential to improve young patients' autonomy but this must be balanced with the needs of clinical teams, particularly loss of control over work patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract It is well known that teachers’ feedback plays an important role in students’ learning, as it enhances learners’ cognitive development; yet there has been little research on how positive feedback given in the form of emojis works in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) courses. In this study, an experiment was designed to clarify how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ emotions are affected when such feedback is presented (no feedback vs. supraliminal feedback vs. subliminal feedback) and to examine how the feedback correlates with their learning effectiveness. A within-subject experiment with 33 participants was designed and administered to examine three proposed research hypotheses. Participants’ frontal asymmetry alpha (FAA) and their recollection of the learning contents were used as the index of their emotional valence and learning effectiveness. The results revealed that positive feedback given in the form of emojis generated a positive/approach emotion when it was shown subliminally. Furthermore, a significant relationship was seen between EFL learners’ positive emotion and their learning effectiveness; such a finding was supported by the significant relationship between the modes of emoji presentation and the participants’ learning effectiveness. This study’s originality and value lies in the innovative research method that was adopted and the interesting findings that it yielded. The limitations of this study such as research design and sampling are reported. The study also has practical and theoretical implications for practitioners and scholars of CALL for praxis and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the use of a popular online expression 'skr' by Chinese micro-blogging users on Weibo. Used originally as a hip-hop term for the sound of cars drifting tires, 'skr' was exploited by Chinese micro-blogging users for other meanings and functions. Data were collected from Weibo users' postings over a month. Using the Search function, we examined micro-blogs with 'skr' embedded in the text of the Weibo postings. A total of 1,861 instances of 'skr' were collected. Based on linguistic and communicative functions, the analysis identified eight types of literacy practices of 'skr'. In the decreasing order of frequency, these eight types include phonetic substitution of Chinese, affective exclamation, adjective as appreciation, hip-hop element, intensification device, searchable hashtag, metonymy, and onomatopoeia. The results of the present study suggest that the relocalisation of 'skr' demonstrates Chinese online users' creative and discursive literacy practices, and how the meaning and functions of an American hip-hop oriented term may shift when the expression enters a different lingua-culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the role of digital communication in the lives of migrants in Asia has greatly expanded, becoming integral to the decision to migrate, earning a living, and the practice of keeping in touch with left-behind families and friends. The papers in this Special Issue foreground how gender structures and practices within migrant households and the wider political economy shape migrants' digital communications. They expand the breadth of our thinking about the interlinkages among gender, migration and digital communication from a range of new subject positions including transnational families, international students, and marginalized minorities in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore how digital communication relates to worker health and wellbeing within Australian universities prior to COVID-19. To investigate effects of digital communication we sought perspectives of senior Human Resource and wellbeing personnel for semi-structured interviews. Analyses revealed that digital communication creates both negative and positive aspects of work, leading to differing effects and outcomes of health and wellbeing. Themes that emerged included flexibility, collaboration and access to resources, a sense of continual accessibility and connectivity to work, information overload and interpersonal relationships. Depending on how digital communication is managed, we found each aspect has the capacity to be simultaneously positive (i.e., resourceful) or negative (e.g., demanding). Drawing on organisational theory, we propose new ways to conceptualise workplace digital communication and propose practical management approaches. Future research should continue to unpack the relationship between digital communication and work practices, while considering potential management and policy strategies to protect worker health and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily emptied museums and drawn attention to an aspect of these cultural institutions that is often seen as secondary and subordinate to their physical presence: the digital dimension. Having been forced to close their doors, museums have sought to boost their online activity through a range of different initiatives. The most notable actions undertaken in terms of frequency are related to social networks. This situation obliges us to ask the question: have museums succeeded in achieving a meaningful online presence in their communities via social media? In terms of marketing and digital communication, content is understood as meaningful when it provides value to the audience. This value arises from the alignment of the objectives of the institution with those of the target audience; this makes it essential to understand the profile of users who comprise the communities of different digital channels. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the profiles of museum visitors and those of social media users, this paper addresses the challenges of connecting on social media with the generation known as Generation Z (a population currently between 14 and 24 years of age). To do so, it attempts to define this generation and determine how it uses social media, taking advantage of the work already carried out by Spanish museums on their social media profiles during lockdown to establish how museum institutions can make themselves more relevant to this demographic segment in Spain and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern day use of emojis and emoticons has become so prevalent that it is now a new language and form of communication which must be legally acknowledged and integrated into our legal system. Our failure to anticipate and incorporate new modes and methods of communication will ultimately make our legal system less responsive to our society's needs and further the divide between our society and legal norms. The question we must be able to answer is: 'How about Dinner?' Answer: ' '. Is there a consensus on what we just agreed to? If we are to acknowledge this new language, how are we to deal with the fact that the meanings of emojis and emoticons can differ between individual, context and country? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global mobility literature almost exclusively focuses on the traveller, neglecting the experiences of the family. This is particularly the situation with families who stay behind. Using the Job Resources-Demand Model, this study seeks to address this issue. We concentrate on the partners and children of professional sailors, in order to develop insight into how the stay behind family adjusts to the demands created by international travel. The findings enhance knowledge of the demands borne by those who stay behind, and the resources they utilise to manage their ever-evolving situation. The recurring departures and repetitive repatriations of the traveller create the greatest stress. In the absence of organisational support, the partners relied on extended family and empathetic friends. Contemporary digital communication technologies serve to buffer the demands and facilitate the re-integration of the traveller into the family home. The enduring absence of formal organisational support for globally mobile employees and their families has been attributed to a lack of understanding of the ramifications of this mobility, and in this study, respondents provide suggestions of support from the organisations that would assist in work–home balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of police trustworthiness are linked to citizens' willingness to cooperate with police. Trust can be fostered by introducing accountability mechanisms, or by increasing a shared police/citizen identity, both which can be achieved digitally. Digital mechanisms can also be designed to safeguard, engage, reassure, inform, and empower diverse communities. We systematically scoped 240 existing online citizen-police and relevant third-party communication apps, to examine whether they sought to meet community needs and policing visions. We found that 82% required registration or login details, 55% of those with a reporting mechanism allowed for anonymous reporting, and 10% provided an understandable privacy policy. Police apps were more likely to seek to reassure, safeguard and inform users, while third-party apps were more likely to seek to empower users. As poorly designed apps risk amplifying mistrust and undermining policing efforts, we suggest 12 design considerations to help ensure the development of high quality/fit for purpose Police/Citizen apps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I discuss the conceptualization of movement parties and bridge it with that of communication practices. In particular, I show how the analysis of communication practices within movement parties allows going beyond the technological determinism implicit in concepts such as online populism or digital parties. At different moments in history, social movements entered institutions by forming political parties. When this happened with progressive movements, movement parties were characterized by an appeal to broaden participation through the inclusion of new groups among the population within representative institutions. This general trend is to be kept in mind when addressing the latest wave of movement parties, in particular, the progressive ones, that build upon the history of left-wing party families. Based on these reflections, I critique analyses that, with a specific focus on the core subject of this special issue, have addressed communication strategies, depicting movement parties – including those on the Left – as online populist parties or digital parties. Considering alternative (less technological and more political) explanations, I suggest instead that the effects of the technology are filtered through activists' agency, the movement parties' evolution being influenced by movements' dynamics and competition in the party system. In particular, the concept of communication practices, as developed in social movement studies, will be referred to in order to move beyond some stereotypes coming from either mass media or digital media studies, and so allowing for an historical account of the evolution of movement parties' communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study of five Polish multicultural and multilingual families in Finland, and their engagement in digitally mediated family communication. Explored through an ethnographic inquiry into the in-app communication practices of Polish migrant mothers and children, the study contributes to the body of research at the intersection of new media and communication, transnational family and migration studies, and family multilingualism. Building on the concept of virtual proximity, which refers to the emotional closeness between individuals afforded by digital technologies and mobile communication, the study identifies four thematic patterns in participants' practices in digital habitats: (i) children's agency in creating family WhatsApp groups, (ii) the use of family in-app communication for language learning purposes, (iii) digital caregiving strategies and arrangements, and (iv) the use of digital photo-sharing as a form of visual co-presence. Children's and mothers' practices in digitally mediated communication differ from each other, but they lead to the formation of transnational familyhood in digital habitats. In this context, achieving virtual proximity by digital means helps to fulfil aspirations to remain a family across distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to critically reflect on why scholars need to reevaluate the definition of intelligence practices in the 21st century. Our assessment starts with digital communication advancements and their progressive appropriation by power agents to the benefit of propaganda, disinformation, and political manipulation. While analyzing the very nature of intelligence as being 'institutionally' and 'nationally' constructed, the paper advances a new, deeply societal model in which intelligence is de-reified and approached as key instrument in diverting the use of digital communication to de-construct polarizing narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the excellent research on incivility in social spaces, it is unclear if this pattern of meanness holds true in more personal communication such as email. Drawing on an original sample of 2,509 e-mails sent to Florida Governor Jeb Bush in response to his efforts to reinsert the hydration and nutrition tubes of Terri Schiavo, we analyze how individuals differentially use (in)civility and emotional expression in their claimsmaking. We find that emails sent to Bush about the Schiavo case are largely polite, even when individuals' disagreed with Bush's intervention on Terri's behalf. At the same time, we find a lot of emotional expression in the emails, and that the first emotional expression typically was negative. In order to better understand the relationship between (in)civility and emotion, we qualitatively analyze the 383 emails containing incivility, and find that individuals directed their negative emotional expressions at different targets. Additionally, we see different patterns in how negative emotional expressions are paired with uncivil communication according to the target. Emailers expressing negative emotions and incivility at Bush largely criticize him for violating individual rights, and, nearly half, blast him for prioritizing the Schiavo case over other problems facing the state. In contrast, emailers using uncivil language and negative emotional expressions at Terri's husband and a prominent judge try to persuade Bush to hold one or both of these men accountable for Terri's death. We conclude the paper by underscoring the utility in analytically distinguishing emotional expression from (in)civility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What factors influence users to believe the stories they find in social media, and what role do emotions play for users in concluding that a particular fact is 'true'? This article examines one aspect of emotionalized communication in social networks in an information war context, namely, how social network users make decisions about the reliability of the information they receive. We employ a qualitative study of a single case – a discussion among Russian-speaking Livejournal.com and Facebook.com users of a tragic incident in Ukraine – the deadly fire that took place in the Odessa Trade Union House on 2 May, 2014. The relevancy of this case consists in how, for all its uniqueness as a tragic event, the communications by users in its immediate aftermath typify important features of social media discussions of 'shocking events'. This article considers a general model of behavior of users who must try to comprehend the tragic news and are caught in a state of uncertainty amid acute confrontation between actors in an information conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into further crisis the contemporary global university. By focusing on the UK this article examines how this crisis has manifested itself in UK universities, with an increasingly problematic reliance on online teaching and learning. Further, simultaneously universities are being challenged by demands for racial justice and decolonisation following the Black Lives Matter global protests after the police killing of George Floyd. The article argues that the crisis is an opportunity to rework the relationship between pedagogy, technology, race, and cultural studies in local and transnational digital and cultural networks to resist the exploitation of global info-capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Iberian & Latin American Research is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The heightened securitisation of Islamic terrorism has received significant attention in Western countries, but little is known about the extent to which netizens in centralised political systems such as China have responded to this threat. This article seeks to address this gap by examining the localisation of the globalised fear of terrorism in China. It analyses online posts about international terrorism that appeared on Sina Weibo in China between 2011 and 2016, and shows how the opinions about terrorism expressed in the Chinese digital media sphere are strongly polarised. We argue that in China's online sphere the localisation of the "war on terror" frame generates two key polarised public responses – "negotiated acceptance" and "negative re-utilisation" – and that this polarisation of opinions about terrorism stems, in part, from China's stability-oriented approach to managing terrorism. These findings point to both an acceptance of and a resistance to the securitisation of terrorism and the globalised fear that it (re)produces. Moreover, the findings offer insights into the extent to which local security concerns and beliefs in the Chinese political system can create a divergence between the local perspectives on terrorism and the Western experiences and practices of security labelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how postgraduate students make course selection decisions in the digital era. An exploratory study with seven postgraduate student focus groups (UK, EU and International) gained a detailed insight into this important change. The availability of information, from an increased use of digital media had a significant impact on Higher Education postgraduate decision-making. The results found a circular decision-making approach with evidence of rational and emotional decisions where students do not always commence with a wide choice set. Online forums, Word-of-Mouth/electronic Word-of-Mouth from past/existing students, family and friends are important influencers, as students considered postgraduate study from one month to four years prior to starting a course. We identified 5 different application pattern categories, together with highlighting the importance of evaluating the students' pre-purchase experience during the application process. The research highlights the need for universities to continually engage during the decision-making process and to evaluate pre-purchase experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to examine the role of digital communication in the making of cosmopolitan spaces by immigrants in the city of São Paulo. Particularly, the uses of the digital social media Facebook by these individuals are analyzed, in order to reveal the specific mediations through the diverse uses of immigrants living in São Paulo of this platform. São Paulo's migrants' communities – established and new –, face uncertainty about their identity formation, as well as about the viability of social formation and multicultural discourses. Hence, we analyze how immigrants in São Paulo mobilize digitally to make cosmopolitan spaces in the city, from the development of local networks in support of migrants, to training into digital skills and the production of visibility within digital media. This study uses a multimethod approach, by investigating digital practices to build cosmopolitan spaces in São Paulo, and by examining the lives of individuals of different migrants' communities in the city. This discussion aims to dialogue with the perspectives of 'vernacular cosmopolitanism' and 'cosmopolitanism of liberation' (Georgiou, M. 2013. Media and the city: cosmopolitanism and difference. Cambridge, MA: Polity), of valorization of cultural identities of migrants groups, as well as of dispositions from an ethical and political perspective to openness and recognition of the migrants within the local society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study makes a systematic effort to connect digital communication research with comparative political analysis. It explores the concurrence of global influence and national resilience in digital spheres, integrating the homogenizing tendencies of networked connectedness and globalization with heterogeneous configurations of national political communication spaces, which are strongly influenced by enduring social contexts. Drawing on the process-oriented actor-connector-interlocutor model, this study uses three sets of indicators to classify national political communication spaces. It conceptualizes three distinctive types of political communication spaces – "symmetrical and fully-fledged," "vigorous but censored," and "infertile and unresponsive" – and identifies their characteristics, internal logics, and their linkages to other communication spaces. It offers a systematic and applicable framework that may be used in future studies on cross-national comparisons of political communication processes in digital spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay puts to doubt the supposed ephemerality of social movements in Mediterranean cities, focusing on Greece and discussing Spain as well. During the aftermath of anti-austerity mobilizations international networking expands, the change in values affects society, and diverse economies emerge. A new generation of digitally literate and highly educated millennials, instead of lingering in unemployment and precarity or succumbing to the brain drain, are involved in alternative and creative ventures and the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). On the basis of a map of solidarity structures in Attica and a two-dimensional typology of initiatives in Greece we argue that, though these ventures are vulnerable, they transform urban public spaces. Hybrid hubs of solidarity and creativity add up to affect urban landscapes towards a grassroots version of the 'smart city'. In the 2010s, despite the crisis, and with a short-lived positive role of the state when the Left was in power, geographies of hope have been emerging in Mediterranean Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Texts and e-mails can create treatment dilemmas. This is especially the case when impulsively employed by patient and/or therapist, constituting an enactment. The opportunities for miscommunication are rife because of the lack of opportunity to converse in person and because tone of voice, body language, and other nonverbal cues are missing. They can also have a depersonalizing effect on sender and receiver. This article addresses how these problems occur and ways to deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is drawn from the authors' first experience as school ethnographers who gathered data on eleven- and twelve-year old children in a Moscow school. The focus is on data processing in ethnographic writing. The paper addresses the challenges of making field notes in a collective consisting of researchers with different professional and personal backgrounds. Based on the theories of digitally mediated communication and the accounts of qualitative research as assemblage it examines how collaboration emerges through joint electronic creation of ethnographic field notes. The notion of artefact stemming from theories of computer-aided communication comprises the nature of field notes as complex objects, documenting both the field and the process of collaborative writing. Examples of artefacts and respective reporting strategies are provided. The authors conclude with a discussion of sequences of their approach for further development of the practices of digitally mediated collaborative writing in ethnography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital communication technologies (DCTs) introduce new opportunities and challenges for diaspora to advance transitional justice. This article proposes three DCT-enabled mechanisms that shape diaspora engagement with transitional justice politics and processes, developed through an analysis of diaspora responses to rights violations in Syria. First, diaspora can promote transitional justice aims through connective action: loosely-coordinated, transnational mobilizations using social media. Second, DCTs enable diaspora to contribute to crowdsourced documentation of rights violations. Third, diaspora seeking to advance transitional justice may face digital repression by authoritarian governments in their original homelands. The article shows how DCTs may alter the means and opportunities for diaspora to engage in transitional justice activities, including in situations of ongoing conflict or repression in their original homelands. It also demonstrates how digital spaces are strategically engaged by activists, civil society organizations, state governments, and other actors seeking to advance or contest transitional justice aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Arab Spring led to widespread dissent among Saudi citizens, culminating in governmental fear of civil revolt. Thus, the Ministry of Labour introduced many developmental policies such as localisation, women employment that aimed to develop the country and satisfy the needs of citizens to offset rising inflation. These policies were said to be in the best interests of Saudi citizens. This study has therefore intended to investigate the extent to which the Ministry of Labour engaged and consulted with its citizens prior to the introduction of those policies. This study found that Saudi citizens participated via social dialogues, together, social media and digital communication in democratic governance. However, there is a gap in the perceptions of the Saudi elite and citizens regarding the significance of citizen participation in Saudi governance. It was discussed that complete democratic governance cannot be adopted due to autocratic nature of Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the fashion scene becomes progressively digitalised, new dynamics emerge between consumers, content, and fashion professionals. Reflecting on forms of online interaction, this article explores contemporary audience engagement in the context of mainstream androgynous fashion. First, I consider the effects of the digitalisation of fashion communication in terms of the particular role played by sentiments and emotions. Due to the brevity, immediacy and informality of online communication, I argue, affect emerges as an increasingly crucial component of the fashion discourse. I then turn to an assessment of both the dangerous implications and the positive potential of such phenomenon. On the one hand, I explore cases where members of the public interact directly with fashion intermediaries on social media and highlight how direct engagement leads audiences to internalise the scrutiny of professionals and make emotional investments in their implicit promises. On the other, I examine Tumblr blogs as an example of forms of indirect audience engagement with fashion. In this context, acquiring a distance from fashion mediation, consumers are able to engage in practices of creativity and semantic alterations of the dominant aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risks of social isolation and loneliness are becoming emergent issues for older adults (aged 65+) in industrialized countries, particularly for oldest old people (80+) who are frail and institutionalized. Socially isolated and lonely older people are more likely to experience depression, social disengagement, cognitive and physical decline, morbidity, and early mortality. In response to these significant negative health and socioeconomic costs, research suggests using new technologies to enhance opportunities for social connectedness as a strategy to help alleviate both social isolation and loneliness. In this context, following a participatory design method, we developed an accessible communication app with and for frail institutionalized older adults. To test the adoption of this innovative technology and its feasibility to address social isolation and loneliness, we conducted a two-month deployment of the app in a long-term care home with five oldest old and their relatives. Due to access, recruitment, and ethical challenges, the oldest old are a specially understudied group. Using an embedded case study (based on interviews, psychometric scales, field observations, and usability and accessibility testing) and a recursive approach to technology studies, our findings show that technology adoption is based on a complex set of interrelated factors: social, attitudinal, physical, digital literacy, and usability. We also discuss the feasibility of the app to enhance perceived social connectedness amongst our target population, provided that at least one strong tie is involved and communication norms and expectations across generations are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative case study explores the potential of social living labs to foster digital participation and communication among regional and rural communities. The context is Townsville, North Queensland (Australia) - one of the first communities connected to Australia’s National Broadband. The study focuses on two cases: inaugural social living lab events related to social interests identified by local residents. Drawing on interview and observation data, the study’s findings present a snapshot of digital participation and associated learning needs among this community. It also models a novel social living labs approach whose emphasis on informal learning differentiates it from more established living labs models that have a technological or product focus. This social living labs approach could be of interest to community developers, educators and residents. Addressing digital divide, it supports digital capacity building in Townsville and other regional and remote communities around Australia and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the use of sport celebrities in marketing strategies is growing in popularity it is not without risk. The increasing reliance on scandal by the news media to capture audience attention, has accelerated the interest in sport-celebrity transgressions. This research adopts an netnographic method to analyze over seven thousand comments from online forums about sport celebrity transgressions. We found that consumers were more likely to express negative comments in relation to transgressions that violated moral, ethical and/or legal norms and that this in turn was most likely to effect the perceived role model ability of a sport celebrity. We provide evidence that the communication behavior of sport fans in a digital communication medium extends the life of a transgression in the public domain. Finally, we noted sport fans exhibited higher levels of engagement and willingness to participate in debate in these mediums than observed in other types of online communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résonanceswas the first university radio web in France. It was founded at the University of Limoges, in 2010. This article is about the origin and decline of this transmedia project. Two strategies are here unfolded: historical the first one, ranging from the conception of the idea, the vicissitudes experienced by the team for implementing the radio and keeping it alive; the second one, a short semiotical approach. Following the principle according to which is sometimes necessary to move to a higher level of analysis to understand the lower one, the thesis of this article is that the suppression ofRésonancescannot be understood either historically or semiotically without adding a higher level of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a considerable body of research has examined the use of digital media communication by Chinese NGOs, no attention has been paid to whether and how NGOs in China evaluate the results of their efforts in digital communication. This study explores the perceptions and practices of individuals who work for NGOs in China with specific regard to the evaluation of their digital media tools. The study also considers the influence of government and both foreign and domestic donors on the digital media use and evaluation capacity of NGOs. The analysis of data collected through interviews with NGO staff in Shanghai and Beijing demonstrated that Chinese NGOs, although they rely on digital media to publicize events, broadcast accomplishments, and deliver services, are less expert in and ascribe relatively less value to the evaluation of their digital communication. The findings of the study suggest that the attention to and organizational capacity for evaluation are influenced by relationships with foreign donors. Based on these findings, it is recommended that Chinese NGOs develop the capacity to measure the offline consequences of their online activity if they are to continue to develop their organizations and demonstrate outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Time modulation provides a simple way to control the power radiation pattern of an antenna array. By appropriately selecting the parameters of a Time-Modulated Array (TMA) it is possible to obtain a reconfigurable pencil beam adequate for wireless communications. This work focuses on the impact of a TMA on the Bit Error Ratio (BER) performance of a wireless communication receiver with a linear digital modulation. We show how the BER of such a receiver is affected by the TMA synthesis variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the sixteenth century, essayists such as Michel De Montaigne have been writing life's minutiae; trying to find words to ‘portray passing … from day to day, from minute to minute’. Even in its earliest articulation the word essay expressed an intention to venture forth into unfamiliar territory. In recent years, blogs have become an avenue for previously silenced writers to publish their personal experiences and perspectives, and no more so than in the ever-growing sphere of ‘mummy bloggers’. Though the term has developed social currency, it has also begun to encompass any and all online writing by mothers and includes a spectrum of styles. This paper suggests a new reading of blogs by mothers, using essayist Vivian Gornick's framework of ‘situation’ and ‘story’. By identifying the online writing which understands ‘why one is speaking’ and ‘who is speaking’, we are able to distinguish blogs that successfully utilise creative non-fiction techniques to articulate and advocate the voice of the mother. The article argues that this approach best enables writers to, as maternal theorist Susan Maushart calls it, ‘unmask motherhood’. In considering further the connections between the texts and life itself, the paper examines how digital representations reflect and help define or (re)shape the realities of women and families, and how mothering and being a mother are political, personal and creative narratives unfolding within the digital world. It aims to illuminate how the writers construct their online maternal identities to subvert the scripts of their families, cultures and nations in their quest for self-knowledge, agency and artistic expression. The paper is therefore interested in the intersection between recent research in creative non-fiction practice and maternal scholarship. It is believed that together these disciplines can provide alternate interpretations of how writing mothers use digital spaces to negotiate, reconcile and resist traditional notions of mothering and maternal roles, and how they offer alternative matrifocal narratives for women and society. Finally the paper argues for a new category of ‘mummy bloggers' – what I term ‘maternal essayists' – to represent writers who engage in the practice of creative non-fiction writing to celebrate the centrality of mothering. Furthermore, it is suggested that these women have been some of the most influential writers of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now common practice, in digital communication, to use the character combination “:-)”, known as an emoticon, to indicate a smiling face. Although emoticons are readily interpreted as smiling faces, it is unclear whether emoticons trigger face-specific mechanisms or whether separate systems are utilized. A hallmark of face perception is the utilization of regions in the occipitotemporal cortex, which are sensitive to configural processing. We recorded the N170 event-related potential to investigate the way in which emoticons are perceived. Inverting faces produces a larger and later N170 while inverting objects which are perceived featurally rather than configurally reduces the amplitude of the N170. We presented 20 participants with images of upright and inverted faces, emoticons and meaningless strings of characters. Emoticons showed a large amplitude N170 when upright and a decrease in amplitude when inverted, the opposite pattern to that shown by faces. This indicates that when upright, emoticons are processed in occipitotemporal sites similarly to faces due to their familiar configuration. However, the characters which indicate the physiognomic features of emoticons are not recognized by the more laterally placed facial feature detection systems used in processing inverted faces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent proliferation of Apple iPods begs the question: what effect does iPod use have on society and social interaction? An experimental research design was utilised to examine iPod use and degree of extroversion on the perception social interaction. At a small Christian university in the south, 105 college students participated in this study, first completing a personality inventory and then answering questions based on one of two scenarios. The first hypothesis was that participants would view iPod users as less likely to engage in social interaction. The second hypothesis was that extroverted participants would perceive iPod users as less socially engaging than would introverted participants. The results support the hypothesis that people view iPod users as less likely to engage in social interaction than non-iPod users. Participants rated iPod users as less likely to engage in social behaviours such as making eye contact. The results did not support the hypothesis that extroverted participants would view iPod users differently than introverted participants. However, this may merely illustrate that the perception of iPod users is more universal than previously thought and transcends personality characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]