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While both the journalism industry and journalism studies research have long celebrated engagement as both a normative goal and a potential revenue source, scant evidence exists illustrating how an organization can turn engagement into profit. This study, utilizing a case study of the sports and culture news organization Defector, examines how one newsroom monetizes engagement. Through the lens of market theory for news production, the study examines what engagement practices Defector enacts, and how those successfully catalyze subscribers to pay almost 50% more annually for the ability to engage with the organization. Lastly, the study introduces, to journalism studies, the concept of market alignment, a necessity for monetizing engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract While peer-editing is considered an important part of developing students’ academic writing, questions remain about how different types of peer-editing affect subsequent student performance. The present study looked at a group of university students (N = 149) engaged in peer editing of one another’s essays in an online security studies course. The analysis was conducted from two perspectives: feedback givers and feedback receivers. More specifically, the relationships between the giving of comments and tracking changes in peer’s work and writing score on essays were explored. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the total number of received comments and the student's writing score, whereas there was no correlation for the number of tracked changes (neither words deleted, nor words added). Surprisingly, students who assume that peers provide high quality tracked changes demonstrate worse writing performance. This research shows the importance of nuance in understanding peer editing types and their influence on students’ performance, as well as highlighting potential complexities of the interplay between students’ collaborative activities, their performance, and their attitudes.

While peer-editing is considered an important part of developing students' academic writing, questions remain about how different types of peer-editing affect subsequent student performance. The present study looked at a group of university students (N = 149) engaged in peer editing of one another's essays in an online security studies course. The analysis was conducted from two perspectives: feedback givers and feedback receivers. More specifically, the relationships between the giving of comments and tracking changes in peer's work and writing score on essays were explored. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the total number of received comments and the student's writing score, whereas there was no correlation for the number of tracked changes (neither words deleted, nor words added). Surprisingly, students who assume that peers provide high quality tracked changes demonstrate worse writing performance. This research shows the importance of nuance in understanding peer editing types and their influence on students' performance, as well as highlighting potential complexities of the interplay between students' collaborative activities, their performance, and their attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastronomic tourism is a developed research stream in tourism studies. Previous literature, however, has mainly shed light either on the micro-context of food itself or on meso-contexts such as heritage and regional food sourcing. Given this situation, previous research has called for examining this aspect of food tourism, aptly named the 'cultural turn' in food tourism. This paper adds to extant theoretical conversations by studying popular international gastronomic tourism videos. As the world becomes increasingly globalized and cultural products suffuse across borders, travellers, particularly those from the Global North, sample and judge local cuisine and this incurs reactions from onlookers. Watched by millions of people, vlogs provide a virtual immersive socio-cultural experience to a tourist site. In this regard, this article asks the following research question: how does the Global North-South divide manifest in vlogged gastronomic tours and what responses do such phenomena provoke among international audiences? Using the approaches of textual analysis, content analysis and sentiment analysis, this study explores the afore-mentioned research question using the canvas of nine gastronomic vlogging tours as played out on YouTube. The authors analyse the most popular food vlogs of all time and use a gamut of more than three hours of video (with more than 215 million views) and more than 128,000 comments. The results show how vlogs may provide authentic cultural experiences and how the Global North-South divide is ameliorated through vlogging gastronomic tours. The question is important not only helpful for guiding destination marketers and tourism service providers about the multifaceted aspects of a destination, but also for understanding how particular social phenomena can foster connections among different peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate public opinion and understand the social consequences in the digital sphere after banning the movie "Zindagi Tamsha" (Circus of Life). It is a sad story of a character named "Rahat Khawaja", a practising Muslim who accidentally faces ridicule because of a viral video in which he dances at a wedding reception. The study utilizes quantitative and qualitative methodology, employing computational linguistic tools and psychoanalysis to analyze sentiments conveyed in the comments on YouTube. The feelings represented in the comments are quantitatively classified into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative. The breakdown indicates that out of 3,885 comments, 1,921 are categorized as positive, 1,737 as neutral, and 227 as negative. According to qualitative analysis, banning the movie has emerged as a significant subject of disagreement, eliciting diverse opinions encompassing endorsement and censure. Policymakers and cinema regulators should promote discourse and interaction to address and reduce sociopolitical tensions indicated by this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User-generated content on social media has led to a new form of communication known as electronic word of mouth, which generates millions of comments about goods and services on the internet every day. This openly accessible content is crucial for prospective consumers as it helps in decision-making, but it is also valuable for product or service providers, as it allows them to improve their businesses based on user reviews, some of which are highly detailed. Another interest group that benefits from these comments are researchers and academics, as it allows them to obtain and analyse information for their studies at a relatively low cost in terms of time and money. The present study aims to perform a sentiment analysis of comments posted by guests staying at a property offered by Airbnb to determine whether their opinions about their experience are positive or negative. However, before doing so, it is necessary to find out the percentage of people who write a review about the service received on Airbnb to verify the representativeness of the reviews on this platform. To achieve this, thousands of comments posted in one year on Airbnb for the four most touristic cities in Spain are analysed: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia. The results show that opinions on Airbnb are much more representative compared to other platforms, as a very high participation rate is calculated. Furthermore, these opinions are predominantly positive, indicating a high level of satisfaction with the service provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates spelling economy and orality in Facebook language among undergraduates by utilizing the Grounded Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1969) and the categories created by Hamzah, Ghorbani, and Abdullah (2009). This study explores spelling economy and orality on Facebook's commentary boxes, contributing to understanding how language learners navigate spelling complexities in the digital realm. The study aims to fill a literature gap by examining the specific types of spelling errors commonly encountered by university-level students on Facebook. Three new spelling types have been added as contribution categories to the existing categories by Hamza et al. (2009). The study suggests that spelling errors have become a new invention as the spelling economy contains oral traits. Non-standard spellings on virtual social networking sites are not considered spelling errors but a new emerging internet language. The study suggests creating a model list based on a new spelling intervention to aid in understanding the new language on social media. This study, focusing on university-level students and Facebook as the analysis platform, has limitations, including potential biases in self-reported language proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we analyze the evolution of local news about COVID-19 by examining news articles in social media. In particular, we focus on the analysis of the differences between traditional and online native local newspapers using a dataset of 278,611 Facebook posts. We study the trends of the interest of these media and the corresponding readers. While the overall interest in COVID-19 of traditional local and native online newspapers were similar and high, some differences were observed. Although both local medias showed some fatigue in the final phases, the interest of digital native local media was greater than that of traditional ones. The opposite happened with readers of traditional local media, who showed slightly more interest. Finally, our results showed that the interest of digital native local media and their readers was significantly more paced and similar than that of traditional ones, where readers showed significantly more interest than the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Herald of Journalism / Habaršy Žurnalistika Seriâsy is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University 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.)

Commenting on the work of other authors is justified when there are serious concerns related the scientific content, and the authors do not respond with valid arguments so that such concerns cannot be addressed. It should not be used to advertise one’s own work.

This research aims to explain and describe expressive speech acts in the comment section of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s YouTube account “Peel Through the Issue of Teacher Welfare in the Sisdiknas Bill”. The comment section contained seventy examples of expressive speaking activities which analyzed using qualitative approach. Results indicate the presence of 70 instances of expressive speech acts within the comment column, categorized as follows: expressions of gratitude (36), apologies (1), praise (16), complaints (5), and expressions of happiness or pleasure (12). The present study provides significant contributions to the understanding of the many forms and functions of expressive speech acts in virtual communication environments. Through the exploration of the diverse range of expressive speech acts observed inside the comment part of this renowned YouTube account, this study enhances our comprehension of contemporary communication dynamics. Moreover, the conducted research not only paves the way for future inquiries but also holds significant practical consequences for instructional practices in educational settings. Promoting digital literacy and effective communication skills in kids requires an understanding of how people express themselves in digital spaces. Educators have the opportunity to integrate these research findings into their instructional programs and facilitate debates regarding internet communication etiquette, thereby cultivating a generation that is more equipped with knowledge and skills in the digital realm. In summary, this study provides light on the nuances of expressive speech acts in digital contexts and establishes the groundwork for future research in this dynamic field of communication.

Across the international higher education sector, existing studies highlight that student evaluations of courses and teaching are biased and prejudiced towards academics and can cause mental distress. Yet student evaluation data is often used as part of faculty hiring, firing, promotion, award and grant decisions. That a data source known to be prejudiced and biased is used for employment and career decisions raises questions around whether these university policies are discriminatory towards university staff. This paper investigates these questions via an analysis of: a) what are the common university policies relating to evaluation data collection and its use, b) are these policies leaving academics exposed to discrimination, and c) what types of policies may be leaving universities liable to legal ramifications due to non-compliance with anti-discrimination and workplace health and safety laws? The work demonstrates why most institutions are operating outside the bounds of the law, highlights to academics what types of policies may fail to meet discrimination and workplace laws, and informs university leaders of the actions that may be exposing their universities to legal implications for failing to protect their staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to investigate positive politeness strategies used by Jordanian males and females through their Facebook comments on the Roya news page. It further aims to explore the effects of gender and news topics on the use of these strategies. Analysis of 389 comments is drawn - in light of Brown and Levinson's (1987) theory. The results reveal a better understanding of the use of positive politeness strategies by Jordanians in their Facebook comments on four news topics: education, crime, economy, and weather. Further, gender seems to affect the way Jordanians use politeness strategies in their online comments. For instance, a statistically significant correlation between gender and strategy type shows that the most frequently used strategy by Jordanian males is asserting common ground while their female counterparts tend to use joking as their predominant strategy. The news topic appears not to affect the use of politeness strategies by both genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study determined the degree to which students used peer feedback from Facebook to revise their writing papers and explored the students' perspectives on a framework of using a social network for peer commentaries. The study enrolled two intact groups, 40 students in the control group and 32 students in the experimental group, at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The student's initial and final drafts, peer reviews, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The results indicated that 45% of changes were made in response to peer reviews, while 55% were made solely on the basis of the student's own judgments. Additionally, the overall number of revisions made by students was greater than the number of revisions caused by comments at higher levels such as "Clause,""Sentence," and "Paragraph." Numerous previous studies refuted the current study's results, raising questions for researchers/instructors considering using Facebook as a forum for their writing classes because the students become more responsible for developing their writing skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the traditional news publishing policies, news agencies now share news over the internet since people nowadays prefer reading news online. Moreover, news media maintain YouTube channels to publish visual stories. Readers comment to share their opinions below the corresponding news item. These news and comments have been a great source of information and research. However, there is a lack of research in the Bengali news context. This article presents a dataset containing 7,62,678 public comments and replies from 16,016 video news published from 2017 to 2023 from a renowned Bengali news YouTube channel. The data withholds 15 properties of news that include video URL, title, likes, views, date of publishing, hashtags, description, comment author, comment time, comment, likes in the comment, reply author, reply time, reply, and likes in the responses. To ensure privacy, the commentator's name is encoded in the dataset. The dataset is open to use for researchers at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/3c3j3bkxvn/4. A translated file for the raw dataset is also included. This data may help scholars to identify patterns in public opinion and analyze how public opinion changes over time.

Dear COP28 President-Designate Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, This year, world leaders gathering in the UAE to take stock of their climate commitments will for the first time engage in official programming focused on health. We, the signatories of this letter, support your leadership in bringing health to the forefront at COP28. As global health leaders, we are committed to achieving health and well-being for all; this is not possible without a safe and stable climate. The Paris Agreement enshrined the “right to health” as a core obligation for climate action. Yet, communities, health workers and health systems around the world already face the alarming impacts of a changing climate. Climate change-induced extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe; many countries are grappling with the health consequences of extreme heat, unprecedented storms, floods, food and water insecurity, wildfires and displacement. For COP28 to truly be a “health COP”, it must address the root cause of the climate crisis: the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas. We call on the COP28 Presidency and the leaders of all countries to commit to an accelerated, just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels as the decisive path to health for all. Read more in the PDF.

Commenting on the work of other authors is justified when there are serious concerns related to the scientific content, and the authors do not respond with valid arguments to address such concerns. It should not be used to advertise one's own work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors used the method of quantitative and qualitative content analysis to study the online discourse of students in order to classify the elements of the commentary text. The analysis revealed certain cases, patterns, and phenomena that could be described as regular. The research featured several communities in the VKontakte social network connected with the Kemerovo State University. The online discourse demonstrated some linguistic peculiarities. The main discussion topics differed in values, judgments, emotional tone, creativity, and self-expression: academic process, life management, relationships (friendship, love, and family), health, existential issues (social role and future), and social criticism. The functions involved identification, information, affiliation, psychotherapy, and creativity. By learning the features of online communication, academic staff can develop effective and consistent communication with students. The informal linguistic environment of social nets contains extralinguistic factors that manifest themselves in online discourse and reveals the ideology of young people, their values, attitudes, and opinions on important matters.

As an integration of translation studies with audience research in media studies, this paper explores how English readers react to the translated Chinese classic novel Hong Lou Meng. This exploration is primarily based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of a tagged corpus of digital reader reviews of four English translations of the novel by Hawks & Minford, the Yangs, Wang, and Joly. This study reveals that English versions of Hong Lou Meng have small readership, despite receiving generally positive evaluations. Readers appreciate the novel's setting and poetry in all of the English versions, although the sporadic plot is not highly valued. The myriad character names that are mostly Romanised pose a notable challenge for English readers. In relation to the circulation of novels across languages and cultures, this study underlines the importance of a focused storyline and readable exotic cultural and literary elements to attract a large readership to translated literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A few comments on the study "Identification of micro‐failure processes of HDPE‐henequen fiber composite material by using acoustic emission monitoring: Effect of fiber surface modification," have been argued in this research article. These comments are mostly focused on the method exploited for fracture toughness assessment. The fracture toughness of all compounds was utilized via essential work of fracture (EWF), but several specimens did not consider the EWF prerequisites. These requirements are that the ligament shall be fully yielded previous to the onset of crack growth and the fracture takes place under plane‐stress circumstances. Consequently, the data that the writers acquired are questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facebook is the most popular social media platform and often used by news organizations to distribute content to broad audiences. Features of this online news environment, especially user-generated comments shown to news consumers, have the potential to induce audience perceptions of hostile media bias. This study furthers investigation into the influence of exposure to Facebook comments and news topics on consumers. Using a sample of U.S. adult Facebook users (N = 1,274), this work utilized a 2 (likeminded comments or disagreeable comments) × 2 (story topic of requiring COVID-19 vaccines to receive a monetary bonus or maintain employment) between-subjects experimental design. While controlling for the influence of partisanship, this work further proves that features of the Facebook environment uniquely influence news audience perceptions of neutral news content. Specifically, findings indicate that news story topic can influence perceptions of bias. Further, topic and comment exposure interacted, demonstrating the intensity of story topic and likeminded comments enhance hostile media perceptions.

Abstract While the use of collaborative peer editing is widespread in some online learning contexts, little is known about how constituent editing behaviours impact student writing quality when using shared online documents as the mediating tool. Therefore, the present study (n = 176) examines the effects of English language learners’ peer editing behaviours (comments and track changes) within the Google Docs platform on their subsequent academic writing quality at both individual and group levels. To better understand peer editing, the current study further divided track changes into either adding words or deleting words. Given the data’s complexity, a two-level correlation analysis was used. The results showed that, at the individual level, words deleted by editors were positively associated with students’ individual writing quality in the Introduction section. Further, words added by editors in the Introduction section were negatively associated with student individual writing. At the level of the peer editing group, there was a positive statistically significant correlation between words added and student writing quality in the Introduction and Discussion sections. Interestingly, comments had little association with student writing at the individual or group level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used shell noun as the starting point to analyze language activities that used the word shì shí shàng 'in fact' by Internet users on PTT, to understand the truth event that this empty shell noun signifies; and to identify the characteristics of pragmatic practice in the texts screened by the shell noun. Through the PTT Tool, posts with more than 100 comments on the PTT Gossip board during the level 3 alert were first screened out, after which comments that used the word "in fact" were identified. A total of 867 comments contained the word "in fact". Next, content analysis was applied to classify these comments according to their literal themes. The author discovered that the functional word "in fact" was a word used to provide multiple evidence and create words with 'objective' effects. When used to express dissenting opinions, "in fact" enables netizens to use it for shifting their tone, willingly abandoning the responsibility for the speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the ratio of centripetal and centrifugal tendencies in comments to online news. The authors focused on the consistency of commenting and the centrifugal aspect. The hypothesis proved in this article refers to the self-developing nature of communication in social networks. It makes it possible to assess the extent of subjectivity of news discussion transmitted to the dialogue through the comments. Any online text becomes a basis for comments, which are also independent texts. The text that triggers further discussion is heterogeneous and ambiguous in its topics, issues, accents, and modalities. This heterogeneity is the source and potential of the centrifugal nature of further discussion. Comments to the original text form chains and branches of discussions. They are analyzed according to criteria that demonstrate a centrifugal tendency. The research featured an Internet text from the Vkontakte social network, comments to this message, and a mental map of the discussion. The analysis proved the consistency of the original text and the comments, as well as the consistency of the two opposing trends. This article continues the topic started in the publication on the Centripetal Trend in News Comments in Social Networks. It will be of interest to a wide range of readers, especially those engaged in social network studies and Internet linguistics.

Hate speech should be tackled and prosecuted based on how it is operationalized. However, the existing theoretical definitions of hate speech are not sufficiently fleshed out or easily operable. To overcome this inadequacy, and with the help of interdisciplinary experts, we propose an empirical definition of hate speech by providing a list of 10 hate speech indicators and the rationale behind them (the indicators refer to specific, observable, and measurable characteristics that offer a practical definition of hate speech). A preliminary exploratory examination of the structure of hate speech, with the focus on comments related to migrants (one of the most reported grounds of hate speech), revealed that two indicators in particular, denial of human rights and promoting violent behavior, occupy a central role in the network of indicators. Furthermore, we discuss the practical implications of the proposed hate speech indicators—especially (semi-)automatic detection using the latest natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) methods. Having a set of quantifiable indicators could benefit researchers, human right activists, educators, analysts, and regulators by providing them with a pragmatic approach to hate speech assessment and detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The institutional ethics committees (IECs) raise queries following protocol reviews. The quality of these queries would be a useful metric to assess how well the IEC executes its fundamental role of protecting participants. Methods: Queries received after the initial review and replies sent by a single research department were evaluated. A content analysis was done to identify the domains and categories of queries. We categorized these queries as administrative, ethics related, and scientific. The impact of each query in improving the science or safeguarding the rights and safety of research participants (ethics) was evaluated by two authors of this manuscript: one affiliated and the other nonaffiliated to the institute. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate for agreement between the two. Results: A total of 13 studies (investigator-initiated studies [IISs]: 7 and pharmaceutical industry-sponsored studies [PSSs]: 6) formed the final sample size for analysis. The total number of queries was 364 (IIS: 106 and PSS: 258; P < 0.001). With regard to the categories, we found n = 42 (11.54%) to be irrelevant at that stage of the review process; n = 51 (14.01%) were about information already available which the IEC had missed; n = 67 (18.41%) queries where the IEC needed paraphrasing; n = 50 (13.74%) were entirely relevant with the need for further clarification; and n = 154 (42.31%) had been missed by the investigator during the initial submission. The overall agreement between the affiliated and unaffiliated investigators was just 12.9% (P < 0.001). Conclusions: We found that approximately 25% of the queries raised by the IEC were redundant. It is our opinion that this redundancy could have been channeled into greater focus on scientific and ethical aspects of the protocol. Ongoing dialog between investigators and ethics committees may help address this. Perspectives between the affiliated and the unaffiliated investigators with regard to the relevance of queries were grossly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Al-Anbar University for Islamic Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 article considers the ratio of centripetal and centrifugal tendencies in online commenting. The research objective was to describe the consistency of comments to news texts published in social networks. This article focuses on the results obtained on the centripetal trend. The approach and methodology were based on the scientific hypothesis about the self-developing nature of communication in social networks. According to this hypothesis, the degree of subjectivity of online news discussion can be transmitted to the dialogue through the text of its comments. The original news text becomes the basis for comments, which are independent texts focused on the original news. As a result, the original text turns into a complex branched network. Comments develop as chains or branches of discussion responses, which can be analyzed. This research featured an Internet text from the Vkontakte social network, its comments, and their mental map. The ratio of centripetal and centrifugal tendencies revealed a certain pattern: the consistency of the original text determined the consistency of comments. The patterns of their correlation showed how the self-developing nature of communication created new linguistic phenomena. The article is of interest to specialists in Internet communication and social networks.

This paper discusses six vocabularies of motive through which women justify their decision to not have children, by using a case study of comments posted on YouTube. In the sociological sense proposed by Mills (1940), a satisfying or adequate reason is one that satisfies those who ask the question. As a formulation, a reason tends to be an acceptable response to questions about social and linguistic behavior. The research method employed is qualitative content analysis and the analysis consists of 85 comments posted on YouTube in response to three videos from different content creators. In conclusion, two of the vocabularies of motive focused on providing a decent life for the child, three vocabularies of motive prioritized the happiness and well-being of the women involved until the moment of deciding to become a mother, and the last vocabularies focus on the society’s reaction.

In this paper we investigate the comments from the AlgoRythmics YouTube channel using the Comment Term Frequency Comparison social media analytics method. Comment Term Frequency Comparison can be a useful tool to understand how a social media platform, such as a Youtube channel is being discussed by users and to identify opportunities to engage with the audience. Understanding viewer opinions and reactions to a video, identifying trends and patterns in the way people are discussing a particular topic, and measuring the effectiveness of a video in achieving its intended goals is one of the most important points of view for a channel to develop. Youtube comment analytics can be a valuable tool looking to understand how the AlgoRythmics channel videos are being received by viewers and to identify opportunities for improvement. Our study focuses on the importance of user feedback based on ten algorithm visualization videos from the AlgoRythmics channel. In order to find evidence how our channel works and new ideas to improve we used the so-called comment term frequency comparison social media analytics method to investigate the main characteristics of user feedback. We analyzed the comments using both Youtube Studio Analytics and Mozdeh Big Data Analysis tool.

The purpose of this article is to identify the attitude of social media users to the elections to the State Duma in 2021. The research is based on the approaches of leading researchers of political behavior (M. Olson, M. Lipset, Ch. Tilly), as well as domestic scientists who described the trends of political development of modern societies in the context of digital transformation (V.D. Nechaev, S.Yu. Belokonev). The authors applied structural and functional approaches, as well as the method of frames (I.A. Hoffman) and techniques of social-media predictive analytics. The authors conclude that research of the attitude of social media users to elections is quite relevant, especially in the context of the influence of the Internet space on the course and results of election campaigns. The proposed methodology for assessing the degree of public confidence in elections requires further research.

Whereas research has investigated links between personality and commenting behavior on various online platforms, research testing who comments positively, neutrally, or negatively in online scientific studies is missing. Herein, we tackle this gap, considering the HEXACO personality dimensions. Relying on a COVID-19 survey (N = 8,809), we find that, as compared to their counterparts, people high in Openness to Experience comment more; that people high in Extraversion and Openness to Experience commend more; and that those high in Emotionality write both more neutral comments and fewer complaints. Notably, these relations all appear to be modest. Combined, our findings provide novel insights into the relations between personality and commenting behavior in online scientific studies, suggesting that--while people with certain personality characteristics comment more in specific ways than others--researchers need not to worry too much that the comments they receive are overly biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Shenzhen University Humanities & Social Sciences is the property of Journal of Shenzhen University (Humanities & Social Sciences) Editorial Office 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.)

This case study discusses audiences' emotional reactions and convergent alignment in YouTube comment threads observed on four videos of Spanish YouTubers with affective narratives on sensitive topics. The analysis reveals that most single-comment threads are generally positive and that utterances are fairly equally divided in their focus on YouTubers or narratives. The act of taking a stance follow consists of a versatile process in which the convergent alignment or agreement with the YouTubers' stance lead occurs not just by positively evaluating YouTubers or the story, but also by revealing something highly private concerning the stance topic. The four affective narratives evoke not only compliments, but also the convergent alignment the YouTubers presumably seek with their stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the literature about online opinion expression and social influence biases, this study reports the results of a preregistered experiment of 1,225 Danish Facebook users studying how popularity cues and user comments affect people's willingness to like, share, and comment on a social media news post about a controversial topic. Exposure to likeminded user comments triggered a spiral of empowerment making it more likely to share posts one agrees with and to speak out in a user comment. This effect was mediated by perceived support among Facebook users. Contrary to the logic of the spiral of silence, reading a discordant post with high popularity cues made people more willing to speak out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]