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Social television (TV) engagement has become more commonplace as viewers seek alternative ways of engaging with TV shows and other viewers. This is especially true with televised professional wrestling; 119,506 tweets were analyzed using social network analysis during the four World Wrestling Entertainment telecasts. Results show that brand-affiliated users primarily interact among one another and not the fans themselves, despite fans reaching out to the brand, resulting in significant social stratification and low interactivity within the community. The findings suggest that when fans think they are able to join and contribute to the brand's ongoing conversation, those fans might still be highly motivated to communicate with the brand, even if the brand does not reciprocate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically, the Internet allows news organizations to overcome geopolitical hierarchies in international news flow. Practically, do they? Guided by three perspectives--preferential attachment, world system, and triadic world--this study examines patterns of information flow in online news media. Findings from 223 news Web sites in seventy-three countries show that traditional network structures and world hierarchies are reproduced in online media. In cyberspace, news flow takes place predominantly among core countries and from core countries to the periphery. Geography has no predictive power over news flow. News organizations use the Internet to reinforce old practices, perpetuating existing order among nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]