Tried and True (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Discerning "Detox": Evaluations of Information and Expertise within Unregulated Health Movements View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jaclyn Carroll
My mixed-methods study examines the unregulated realm of "health & wellness advice" as it is disseminated, evaluated, and consumed by American practitioners and consumers. While the clinical treatment of illness is heavily regulated in the US, counseling geared toward the *enhancement* of health is regulated sparingly (increasingly by niche private agencies). Promoters of "wellness" or "health enhancement" can generally publish, educate, or sell protocols without exposure to clinical scrutiny. "Wellness” now represents a $4.2 trillion global industry, but social scientists have bet to interrogate how information and expertise are evaluated within it. This is a ripe landscape for examining the relationship between regulation and misinformation My project focuses on the proliferation of "detox dieting"; while “detoxes” and “cleanses,” are generally considered to be metabolic redundancies by mainstream medical experts, they remain popular in American markets. My project incorporates three methodologies: (1) A content analysis of bestselling detox guides (in order to evaluate the stylization of these protocols as they are disseminated); (2) An interview analysis of wellness practitioners and promoters at varying levels of expertise who participate in "detox discourse" on social media, and (3) A survey analysis of potential consumers of wellness information (evaluating how different kinds of messages, mediums, and expertise are interpreted by different kinds of consumers). The study synthesizes and evaluates the rules that appear to govern "good information" outside of traditional channels of expertise. Continued empirical work on this subject is crucial as researchers orient to the decision-making of increasingly regulation-wary, authority-wary publics.
Disinformation in the Democratic Process as a Political Strategy: Presidential Elections in the United States of America, 2016 and Mozambique, 2019 and the Inventory of the Manipulation of Organized Media View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Paulo Bruno Alves
Disinformation, as a political strategy, has gained a new role, specially since 2016. The harmful role for democracy’s functioning has been exemplified, for example, by cases such as the 2016 United States elections, Brexit and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica case. The creation of a fake news industry has affected the media’s performance and credibility, mainly over the last years. The informational disorder in the public space served as a lever for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to publish the work ‘Journalism, Fake News and Disinformation’, an education handbook and a journalism training. Fake news is analyzed as a way to influence voters, based on examples from the United States and Mozambican presidential elections and Russia’s alleged interference in it. In parallel, the Oxford University (United Kingdom) e-book ‘Organized Media Manipulation Inventory’ is considered, which has seen an increase in manipulation campaigns in 2019 over the last three years.
Religious Media in Electoral Contexts: Analyzing Costa Rica's 2018 Elections View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gustavo Fuchs
By analyzing content, ratings and electoral results, this paper establishes evidence and makes inferences on the role that religious media play in electoral context. For the case of Costa Rica's 2018 elections, this study finds that religious media correlates weakly with voting preference, however, churches correlate highly, leading us to infer that religious elites are the main consumers of these media outlets and replicate their messaging (acting as a proxy influence). This inference is further backed by evidence of messaging published by these outlets during the electoral campaign and the role taken by churches and religious leaders. Regardless of their audience, these outlets provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and political consensus-building amongst religious denominations. Evidence of this can also be found in the 2022 elections (February).
Leaders, Do You Use Brand Voice During Situational Twitter Crisis? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sati Siroda, Jūlija Surikova
The legitimacy of information is often being questioned in the face of popularism during a situational crisis on Twitter. It reduces the vision with which the brand’s voice was created as Twitteratis can become opinionated in the face of disinformation. The organisational leaders often land up in a challenging position during the Twitter disinformation outrage. This paper reviews the challenges faced by the organisational leaders during a situational Twitter crisis to maintain their brand reputation. The purpose is to explore whether the brand voice of the organization is surpassed by the leadership voices during the crisis. This research is exploratory and based on inductive reasoning with the application of qualitative data analysis. The inferences were drawn after examining two Twitter crises that occurred in the airline industry due to onboard racism incidents. In the conclusions, the reasons for brand voices to give place to leadership voices or even allow silence during situational Twitter crises are summarized. This empirical research has expository implications for leaders and communication professionals. This research anticipates motivating others to continue researching the dependence and vulnerability of brand voice in future. The analysis in the paper suggests a leader decide on a consistent brand voice while creating branding strategies after considering both unforeseen and potential situational crises. This paper also determines that during a crisis when the brand voice is not appropriate, then the leadership voice generally surpasses the brand voice and is often used during critical conditions.
