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Citizens’ levels of mistrust toward the media, as well as their perception of media bias, have increased in past years in most Western democracies. This study explores how these negative observations on journalism may influence their use of traditional, citizen, and social media for news. Drawing on two-wave U.S. panel data, results suggest that media trust and perceived bias relate to media consumption differently. Trust in social and citizen media positively predicts use of news via social media, but has no effect on traditional or citizen news use. By contrast, perceived media bias is associated with decreased news use overall.

Extant research suggests that digital stress (DS) and its various components (Hall et al. in Psychol Assess 33(3):230–242, 2021) may mediate the association between social media use and psychosocial distress among adolescents and young adults. Yet no systematic review and meta-analysis has been conducted to examine the direct associations among DS components (i.e., approval anxiety, availability stress, fear of missing out [FOMO], connection overload, and online vigilance) and psychological outcomes. Thus, we aimed to comprehensively synthesize and quantify the association between these five DS components and psychosocial distress, and to examine whether these associations were statistically different from one another. Our search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Communication and Mass Media Complete yielded a wide range of article abstracts across the five DS components. After reviewing inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7, 73, 60, 19, and 16 studies were included for availability stress, approval anxiety, FOMO, connection overload, and online vigilance, respectively. The results suggested that all five digital stress components had significant medium association with psychosocial distress (r = .26 to .34; p < .001). Age and sex did not significantly moderate the association between most digital stress components and psychosocial distress. However, age moderated the association between connection overload and psychosocial distress. Our findings further suggested no statistical differences among the associations between the five digital stress components and psychosocial distress. Notwithstanding its limitations, our outcomes help integrate the disparate effect sizes in the literature, indicate the strength of associations, and suggest directions for clinical intervention and future research.

PurposeInformed by the third-person effects (TPE) theory, this study aims to analyze restrictive versus corrective actions in response to the perceived TPE of misinformation on social media in the USA.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an online survey among 1,793 adults in the USA in early April. All participants were randomly enrolled in this research through a professional survey company. The structural equation modeling via Amos 20 was adopted for hypothesis testing.FindingsResults indicated that individuals also perceived that others were more influenced by misinformation about COVID-19 than they were. Further, such a perceptual gap was associated with public support for governmental restrictions and corrective action. Negative affections toward health misinformation directly affected public support for governmental restrictions rather than corrective action. Support for governmental restrictions could further facilitate corrective action.Originality/valueThis study examined the applicability of TPE theory in the context of digital health misinformation during a unique global crisis. It explored the significant role of negative affections in influencing restrictive and corrective actions. Practically, this study offered implications for information and communication educators and practitioners.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0386

This study examines the potential for alternative and social media to stimulate the core antecedents of protest participation (identity, efficacy, and anger) in the context of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Findings from a representative sample supported the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA), such that all antecedents predicted intended protest participation. Identity and anger mediated the relationship between online alternative news and protest intention, while anger and efficacy mediated the relationship between social media news and protest intention. The findings demonstrate the benefits of theoretical integration from related disciplines to better understand the mobilizing potential of collective action through news media use.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism by which uses and gratification (U&G) constructs predict continuance intention to play (ContInt) the augmented reality game Pokémon Go (PG), through multiple serial mediation technique, with enjoyment and flow as mediators. The model also integrates other motivational factors specific to PG, namely, network externality and nostalgia and investigates the process by which they influence ContInt through players’ inherent need-to-collect animated monsters and online community involvement, respectively. Design/methodology/approach The model was tested using 362 validated responses from an online survey of PG players in Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyse the data. The predictive relevance of the model was tested via partial least squares-Predict. Findings ContInt is influenced through various mechanisms. Enjoyment is the most important mediator, mediating three U&G predictor constructs (achievement, escapism, challenge and social interaction) and the outcome ContInt. Flow did not have any influence on ContInt unless coupled with enjoyment as a serial mediator. Network externality and nostalgia were found to only influence ContInt through mediators, online community involvement and need-to-collect Pokémon Monsters, respectively. Overall, the results show evidence of four indirect-only mediation paths and one complementary partial mediation path. Originality/value Provides support for an integrated model incorporating psychological, social and gaming motivational factors. While most other studies focus on direct relationships, we focus on indirect relationships through multiple sequential mediation analysis, following the recent modern mediation analysis guidelines. Contrary to previous findings, flow was not an important factor in predicting ContInt for gaming and nostalgia does not link directly to ContInt.

PurposeDrawing on the moral foundations theory (MFT), we examine what nonprofit organizations (NPOs) discuss and how NPOs engage in gun-related issues on Twitter. Specifically, we explore latent topics and embedded moral values (i.e. care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity) in NPOs’ tweets and investigate the effects of the latent topics and moral values on invoking public engagement.Design/methodology/approachData were retrieved by the Twint Python and the rtweet R packages. Finally, 5,041 tweets posted by 679 NPOs were analyzed via unsupervised topic modeling and the extended moral foundations dictionary (eMFD). Negative binomial regression analysis was employed for statistical analysis.FindingsNPOs’ engagement in gun-related issues mainly focuses on laws and policies, calling for action and collaborations, and school safety. All five moral foundations are more salient in the cluster of laws and policies. When NPOs discuss the above-mentioned three topics, the public is less likely to like or retweet NPOs’ messages. In contrast, NPOs’ messages with the sanctity foundation are most likely to receive likes and retweets from the public. The fairness foundation interacts with Cluster 3 of school safety on the number of likes.Originality/valueThis study enhances the understanding of gun-related social media discussions by identifying the crucial involvement of NPOs as major stakeholders. In addition, our study enriches the existing literature on NPOs’ social media communication by including moral values and their moral-emotional effects on public engagement. Finally, our study validates the eMFD dictionary and broadens its applicability to gun-related topics.

Youth today spend a tremendous amount of time with digital media. The purpose of the present study was to estimate developmental associations between screen media use between the ages of 15 and 17 and corresponding changes in prosocial behavior. Participants (N = 1,509) were part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a population-based study of children born in the province of Quebec, Canada. Youth self-reported internet and video game use and television or movies/DVD viewing, as well as prosocial behavior at the ages of 15 and 17. Analyses were conducted using multilevel linear modelling to account for between-, within-, and lagged-person effects. Internet and video game use accounted for less prosocial behavior at the within-person and lagged-person levels. Television use also accounted for lagged-person effects in prosocial behavior. Finally, internet use and television viewing contributed to between person differences in prosocial behavior. Our study presents strong statistical evidence that media use during adolescence can undermine the development of prosocial behavior.

Public communication about science faces novel challenges, including the increasing complexity of research areas and the erosion of traditional journalistic infrastructures. Although scientists have traditionally been reluctant to engage in public communication at the expense of focusing on academic productivity, our survey of highly cited U.S. nano-scientists, paired with data on their social media use, shows that public communication, such as interactions with reporters and being mentioned on Twitter, can contribute to a scholar’s scientific impact. Most importantly, being mentioned on Twitter amplifies the effect of interactions with journalists and other non-scientists on the scholar’s scientific impact.

This study aimed to explore the digital environments of 3–6-year-old children within the home setting. A total of 537 children aged 3–6 years and their parents participated in the study. The results of the study revealed that the children live in digitally rich home environments. Parents usually limited the screen time of the children, or accompanied them during the use of digital technologies. The total screen time of the children was more than 3 h, whilst the parents’ total screen time was around four and a half hours. The results also indicate the influence of family income and parents’ screen time on children’s screen time. Parents and home settings play a key role in their children’s interaction with digital technologies. Therefore, the familial context should be taken into consideration for supporting young children’s learning and development through digital technologies.

American youth are awash in media. They have television sets in their bedrooms, personal computers in their family rooms, and digital music players and cell phones in their backpacks. They spend more time with media than any single activity other than sleeping, with the average American eight- to eighteen-year-old reporting more than six hours of daily media use. The growing phenomenon of \"media multitasking\"--using several media concurrently--multiplies that figure to eight and a half hours of media exposure daily. Donald Roberts and Ulla Foehr examine how both media use and media exposure vary with demographic factors such as age, race and ethnicity, and household socioeconomic status, and with psychosocial variables such as academic performance and personal adjustment. They note that media exposure begins early, increases until children begin school, drops off briefly, then climbs again to peak at almost eight hours daily among eleven- and twelve-year-olds. Television and video exposure is particularly high among African American youth. Media exposure is negatively related to indicators of socioeconomic status, but that relationship may be diminishing. Media exposure is positively related to risk-taking behaviors and is negatively related to personal adjustment and school performance. Roberts and Foehr also review evidence pointing to the existence of a digital divide--variations in access to personal computers and allied technologies by socioeconomic status and by race and ethnicity. The authors also examine how the recent emergence of digital media such as personal computers, video game consoles, and portable music players, as well as the media multitasking phenomenon they facilitate, has increased young people's exposure to media messages while leaving media use time largely unchanged. Newer media, they point out, are not displacing older media but are being used in concert with them. The authors note which young people are more or less likely to use several media concurrently and which media are more or less likely to be paired with various other media. They argue that one implication of such media multitasking is the need to reconceptualize \"media exposure.\"