Contemporary Shifts
Asynchronous Session
Featured Peace Journalism in Identity Gap Reduction: A Role-Playing Experiment of Sri Lankan Ethnic Identities View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session V Michelle Michael-Kang
Although peace journalism is growing as a field of study, there are only a limited number of empirical studies that have systematically tested its effects. This study attempts to fill this lack by testing the effects of peace journalism interventions. The context for this study comes from Sri Lanka, where the ethnic cleavage between the Sinhala and Tamil people are sustained even after the end of the almost 30-year-long civil war. Media, a political propaganda machine during conflicts continue to hold influence in post-conflict societies with its power to disseminate and sustain narratives. Therefore, this study set out to find whether peace journalism values can help reduce the identity gap, which is operationalized as the distance between in-group and out-group attitudes. This research approaches the question innovatively through a role-playing experiment design. This 2 x 3 (Sinhala and Tamil primes x War, Peace, and Control Treatments) completely between-subjects study primed U.S. participants to take on the role of Sri Lankan ethnic identities. The results show that peace interventions are effective in reducing the identity gap among Tamil-primed participants. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of peace journalism interventions rely on minority-majority relations in ethnic asymmetries with power imbalances. This experiment also advances role-playing experiments as a methodology that opens avenues to explore questions among inaccessible populations and/or volatile environments.
Deepfake Pornography: Attitudes and Behaviors across Seven Countries View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rebecca Umbach
The great strides in artificial intelligence has also resulted in increasingly realistic involuntary synthetic pornographic imagery (ISPI, also known as deepfake porn). While technology companies have increasingly developed policies to address this content, regulations lag behind. There is very little research to indicate how the general public feels about this content, nor information around consumption and creation behaviors. This study aims to fill that gap by surveying over 10,000 participants across Spain, the Netherlands, USA, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, and Poland. As part of a larger study on the phenomenon of image-based abuse (revenge porn), participants were asked about their familiarity with deepfake pornography; their own behaviors related to deepfake pornography, and their attitudes towards whether those behaviors should be criminalized. Additionally, we report on the prevalence of broader victimization and perpetration of image-based abuse, including deepfake pornography. Findings provide insights into the size of this problem across a number of different countries, and help policy-making and technology companies (both those developing the technology, and those where the content may be hosted) recognize and address this problem.
Gender Stereotypes In Advertising: Media’s Influence on the Construction of the Female Identity View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Phyllis Hwee Leng Teo
My paper explores the impact of advertising on the construction of the female identity in Asia by examining various dynamics at play. The intricate interplay between marketing, cultural values and consumer behavior are examined as the research underlines the reciprocal reinforcement between advertising and its embedded media environment. Through a review of existing literature, I point out how advertising constructs and perpetuates particular ideals and norms pertaining to femininity, gender stereotypes as well as beauty standards, such as how women are represented with a strong emphasis on appearance. The impact of advertisements that challenge these stereotypes is also examined and contrasted with the reception of the advertisements that reinforce them.
Changes in the Functions of Global Media in the Era of Modern Technology View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Wael Nel
Modern technology and the growing impact of globalization have greatly transformed news operations, news gathering, and broadcast techniques. When considering the global media, it can be argued that they are one of the main beneficiaries of the technological revolution. This is due to the significant facilitation of a global news media through technology, enabling precise audience targeting. Furthermore, technology supports their ability to employ specific media strategies, such as the framing theory utilized by certain international media organizations, which entails presenting particular aspects of issues to their audiences. Technological advancements have enhanced the concept of newsworthiness in global news organizations by enabling the analysis of digital audience trends and interests. Additionally, the utilization of modern technology has facilitated the expansion of global media coverage to areas where the presence of reporters could be difficult, whether due to financial limitations or logistical barriers. In addition, it allows for the rapid distribution of breaking news from any part of the world. As a result, the incorporation of current communication technologies has had a substantial impact on the functioning and activities of global media entities.
TikTok as eHealth Information Source in the Post COVID-19 Era: The Relationship between TikTok Dependency and Health Information Seeking Mediated by TikTok Trust and eHealth Literacy View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yang Yang
In the recent years, TikTok become increasingly popular among young people in China and there is growing number of people who start to pay great attention to their health. However, TikTok dependency and health information seeking behavior on TikTok among university students in Wuhan of China in the post COVID-19 era remains unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the direct influence of TikTok dependency and health information seeking behavior on TikTok as well as the mediating roles of TikTok trust, eHealth literacy COVID-19 risk perception. The study drew on Media Dependency Theory to understand the influence of TikTok as a social media platform on university students’ health-related behaviors. By cluster sampling, 426 questionnaires were collected from a sample of university students in Wuhan. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted to examine the relationships among the variables. The findings found the positive relationship between TikTok dependency, health information seeking behavior on TikTok. Besides, TikTok trust and eHealth literacy were found to partially mediate the relationship between TikTok dependency and health information seeking behavior separately. The results highlight the role of TikTok as a platform for health information seeking among university students in Wuhan. The findings suggest that TikTok trust and eHealth literacy play significant roles in shaping students’ TikTok dependency and health information seeking behavior. To conclude, these findings contribute to the understanding of how social media, specifically TikTok, influences health-related behaviors. The study provides theoretical insights by demonstrating the mediating role of TikTok trust and eHealth literacy.
