Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    Diversity by Choice : Applying a Social Cognitive Perspective to the Role of Public Service Media in the Digital Age
    (The Annenberg Center for Communication, 2015-04-30) ; ; ;
    Hopes for a new abundance of diverse media content have long been tied to the rise of the Internet. Ensuring diversity remains a fundamental objective of media policy. However, media policy is still largely focused on public service media. In this article, we introduce a new theoretical perspective to inform media policy, focusing on the concept of diversity experience and users' motivation, awareness, and ability to seek diverse content in a transforming media environment. We argue that our understanding of and regulatory approaches to media pluralism must be adapted to technological advances. Based on social cognitive theory, we propose an extension of the diversity debate by considering user cognition. We analyze challenges to users' diversity experiences on a motivational, perceptual, and capability level. Given the (over)abundance of content available online, users must be willing and able to seek out diverse and serendipitous information. We derive a user-centric approach to media pluralism and diversity. Based on this framework, we outline criteria for changing the role of public service media in the digital age to focus on empowering users to actually experience media diversity.
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  • Publication
    Stress 2.0 : Social Media Overload among Swiss Teenagers
    Technostress and information overload are serious challenges of the information age. An alarming number of people exhibit dangerously intensive media consumption, while Internet and mobile phone addictions are a widespread phenomenon. At the same time, new media overexposure among young people is understudied, even more so when social network sites are concerned. Our study explores how feelings of overexposure and stress relate to the self-expressive needs of teenagers, made explicit through their digital interactions. It presents and discusses the results of a large-scale survey conducted during an exhibition on media overload in Berne, Switzerland. A total of 6989 adolescents provided answers on their media overload and stress. Through a quantitative analysis, significant factors fostering and inhibiting SNS overload are found.
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  • Publication
    I'll be your mirror : Identity reflections on the two sides of a computer screen
    (University of South Florida, 2014-04-30)
    Digital communication, and social media in particular, have brought enormous changes in the way we establish connections and maintain relationships. At the same time, providing us with a space that is entirely constructed around us, social networking sites have also introduced a new way of representing and making sense of ourselves. Through online profiles, in fact, as well as usernames, or avatars, we can give birth to true digital identities, allowing us to circulate our private informa-tion and fulfil our needs for self-expression. However, given the complete interde-pendence of the 'real world' with the Web, exemplified by the overwhelming pres-ence of connected devices in our daily lives, reflections on our identities online be-come urgent and necessary. In fact, as the boundary between online and offline grows thinner and more penetrable, it might be useful to think of the interplay between our digital and physical selves as two sides of the same mirror, each one in-fluencing and reflecting elements of the other. The scope of this paper, therefore, is to explore the concept of digital identities, focusing in particular on what might drive self-representation on the Internet, con-sidering both strategic objectives and spontaneous, emotional needs. In order to provide a stronger conceptual framework, the first section of the paper will provide an introduction to how identities have been studied in the social sciences, before the Internet. In the second section, rational and emotional elements within digital identities will be presented, aiming to provide an overview of why online action is so important to make sense of ourselves today. In the conclusion, digital identities will be contextualised in the broader field of Digital Humanities, expanding the re-flection on how we relate to, and through technology.
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