Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life

Social network analysis

Some argue that any effort to limit capitalist domination of media is an underhanded backdoor effort to eliminate capitalism. It is true that for those who are socialists or who are critical of capitalism, having a commercial media system is problematic; the track record is that such a system will not have much enthusiasm for hard-edged social criticism, especially from the Left. But even those who believe in the legitimacy of capitalism need not believe that media should be the sole province of capitalists. Indeed, they should not, if they value democracy. Market economies can survive, arguably even prosper, without having U.S.-style commercial media systems. The real question is whether democracy can survive as anything more than a fig leaf covering concentrated private power. As for the argument that new digital technologies render regulation-!J meaning regulation that might impede private interests, not regulation that assists them-obsolete, it does not even pass rudimentary analysis. Merely being able to launch a Web site is wonderful and it has opened up the media system, but what is striking is how little effect it has had on the commercial media system so far. Not a single new commercially viable media content concern has been introduced on the Internet. The power of the market trumps the magic of the technology. If we want the Internet to spawn a new generation of viable media content providers, we cannot look to the market to produce that outcome. It will require explicit policies to generate such an outcome. Moreover, however one might want the Internet to develop, policy decisions will go a long way in pointing it in its ultimate direction. Global trade agreements, intellectual property laws and regulations, traditional media subsidies and regulations, and the like will be decisive in ,determining the future of the Internet. As with media writ large, the question is not whether we want regulation, but what type of regulation we want. It is worth noting as an addendum, that the Internet itself is a tremendous testament to public sector policymaking and cooperative economic and social activity. The Internet would never have developed if left to the market. The same is true of many other innovations in communication. in short, the public sector has a cornerstone role in communication, and fundamental interests to protect. This also suggests that the positive economic benefits from devel~ oping the media-information sector can, shou.ld, and do come from signifi~t public sector involvement. 20

Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times

Communicating on Twitter during a disaster

Campaigning Online: The Internet in U.S. Elections. By Bruce Bimber and Richard Davis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 240p. 17.95 paper.With the advent of graphic browsers for the World Wide Web, users have surged onto the Internet. Jupitermedia's network user address estimates show that the number of U.S. residents online jumped from fewer than 18 million in 1994 to more than 164 million in December 2000 (www.nua.com/surveys/how_many_online/n_america.html). Such rapid change makes the assessment of the Internet's impact on American elections a precarious undertaking.

Campaigning Online: The Internet in U.S. Elections

A comprehensive review of online, official, and scientific literature was carried out in 2012-13 to develop a framework of disaster social media. This framework can be used to facilitate the creation of disaster social media tools, the formulation of disaster social media implementation processes, and the scientific study of disaster social media effects. Disaster social media users in the framework include communities, government, individuals, organisations, and media outlets. Fifteen distinct disaster social media uses were identified, ranging from preparing and receiving disaster preparedness information and warnings and signalling and detecting disasters prior to an event to (re)connecting community members following a disaster. The framework illustrates that a variety of entities may utilise and produce disaster social media content. Consequently, disaster social media use can be conceptualised as occurring at a number of levels, even within the same disaster. Suggestions are provided on how the proposed framework can inform future disaster social media development and research.

Social media and disasters: a functional framework for social media use in disaster planning, response, and research

When Rush Limbaugh made his now famous remarks about Sandra Fluke's Congressional testimony he set off a social media firestorm. The ensuing backlash cost Limbaugh many prominent advertisers and damaged his public image. In this study, we examine the characteristics that motivated some to engage in the social media conversation while others remained on the sidelines. We find that political information efficacy, or confidence that one has the knowledge and skills necessary to participate, dictate political engagement online. We discuss the implications of this finding for radio, communication and media scholars, and healthy democratic deliberation among young Americans.

Sarah E. Turner McGowen

Papers

Social media and disasters: a functional framework for social media use in disaster planning, response, and research

Limbaugh's Social Media Nightmare: Facebook and Twitter as Spaces for Political Action