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This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms through which social media news consumption across different platforms leads to opinion polarization in society. To this end, the authors draw from cultivation theory to examine whether social media news consumption imparts a mainstreaming or resonance effect. Media consumption imparts a mainstreaming effect if frequent users, regardless of their social identity, develop homogenous attitudes about issues, whereas resonance is at play if there is a differing cultivation effect on various social groups depending on their relatability of life experiences.

The authors conduct the study in the developing context of India, using a population survey dataset from 2019. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that resonance is the most prominent mechanism through which social media news consumption cultivates opinion polarization, contrary to the mainstreaming effect imparted by television. Further, WhatsApp use was found to strengthen the polarizing effect of overall social media news consumption, while YouTube use weakened the cultivation of polarization.

The paper unearths how social media news consumption influences the opinion polarization of various social groups differently. The authors also find the differential effect of specific platform use. These findings have the potential to inform policymakers and developers about how to mitigate the detrimental effects of platform-based political persuasion.

This study offers significant contributions. First, the authors explain social media-induced polarization using the novel theoretical lens of cultivation. Second, the authors find that social media and television news consumption differ in their polarizing effects. Third, the authors find that while WhatsApp use amplifies the polarizing effect of social media news consumption, YouTube use weakens it.

Sports leagues have stood out in the entertainment industry due to their great economic value and cultural impact. This is the case of the American sports leagues, with emphasis on the National Basketball Association (NBA), whose largest Latin American market lies on Brazil. The aforementioned league’s audience is constantly growing, a fact that can be partially explained by the encouragement provided for its viewers to interact through social media, in a phenomenon called social TV. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to investigate how social TV works as a means for Brazilian fans to coproduce their NBA broadcasting enjoyment through social media interactions.

The authors conducted a netnography on the community of fans engaged in Twitter hashtag #NBAnaESPN, which was released by ESPN to promote audience integration during NBA games' broadcasting.

A theorization about the role played by social TV in the way fan culture articulates through social media to enjoy broadcasting media products was herein presented. The findings of this study have evidenced three categories concerning the role played by television broadcasting, social media and the fandom in NBA consumption by Brazilian fans. Based on these findings, the authors got to the conclusion that social TV establishes a mediatized environment where fan culture can be articulated through social media to enable interactions about television broadcasting.

The study was limited to members of the Brazilian NBA audience who engage in the official social media of the league’s broadcasting.

The study heads toward a theoretical generalization based on the research results.

Aiming to explore how audience consume and produce media events in the digital, distributed and social era we live in, the paper analyzes the viewing patterns of video news items during a media event (the week of Donald Trump's presidential visit to Israel, the first to a country outside the US), compared to a parallel comparable “ordinary” period (two weeks later, in which no inordinacy events occurred). The comparison focused on simultaneous activities of audiences engaged with the event, with either related (i.e. second screening) or unrelated (i.e. media multitasking).

The research is a diary study based on a dedicated mobile app in which respondents reported their news-related behavior during two periods: a media event period and comparable “ordinary” period.

Participants reported watching significantly more news video items in the first day of the media event week compared to the first day of the “ordinary” week. More than half of the viewing reports of the media event were not on TV. In the media event week, there were significantly higher percentages of viewing reports on smartphones/computers and significantly higher percentages of second-screening reports.

This is the first study that empirically explores the viewing patterns of video news items during a media event, compared to an “ordinary” period, focusing on media second screening of audiences engaged with the event. This comparison may reveal whether (1) media events still retain their centrality in a multi-screen era and (2) the role of the internet and online social media in the experience of media events.

This chapter discusses the significance and effectiveness of communication strategies in empowering marginalized communities. With a specific focus on reproductive health, this chapter examines the diverse scope of these strategies and their transformative potential. It explores the use of mass media as a dynamic tool for information dissemination and the adoption of information, education, and communication (IEC) approaches to enhance knowledge and awareness. Furthermore, this chapter highlights the catalytic role of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) in driving substantial transformations in behaviors and attitudes. An integral part of the discussion is the customization of communication strategies to effectively reach and empower marginalized communities in Bangladesh. Through these strategies, this chapter illuminates the path toward empowering marginalized communities.

This scoping review aims to explore how “food media”, “food messages” and “food content” are referred to in scholarly writing to enhance a shared understanding and comparability.

Following the PRISMA, ScR-guidelines, four scientific databases were screened on published manuscripts in academic journals, books and doctoral theses mentioning food media, content and messages within the prevalent meaning as in human communication.

Of the 376 included manuscripts, only a small minority (n = 7) provided a conclusive definition of at least one of the three earlier-mentioned concepts; 40 others elucidated some aspects of food media, messages or content; however, they emphasized different and, sometimes even, contrasting aspects. In addition, the review explores in which disciplines the manuscripts mentioning food media, messages or content occur, which methodologies are used and what target groups and media are most common.

Based on this aggregated information, a definition of food media, messages and content is proposed, aiming to enhance the comparability of diverse academic sources. This contribution invites scholars to critically reflect on the included media and content types when comparing studies on food media, messages or content.

This chapter demonstrates a parallel between the presidential campaigns of Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil, 2018) and Donald Trump (United States, 2016) regarding their use of social media. Specifically, tweets from the former candidates on the social network sites were analyzed during a one-month timeframe before their respective presidential elections. Tweets were selected for analysis based on the fact that Twitter was the main platform used by both former presidential candidates. The analysis of the data reveals considerable similarities between the communication strategies of the two candidates. This research enlists McCombs and Shaw (1972) agenda setting theory based on their study of media during North American presidential campaigns in 1968 and Lippmann’s (2008) concept of public opinion. The methodology employed is based on Bardin (2011).

The research goal is to understand what factors affect users' knowledge and information learning and sharing on social media platforms. This study focuses on the impact of platform characteristics on users' behavior. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to investigate (1) what factors affect users' learning and dissemination of knowledge and information on social media platforms, (2) whether knowledge and information learning behavior will have a positive effect on sharing behavior and (3) try to establish an impact model of users' learning and sharing behavior about knowledge and information.

This study proposes an impact mechanism model to test these hypotheses. To achieve this, the authors collected data from 430 users who have used the social media platforms to acquire and share knowledge and information to test the hypothesis. The tools SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0 were used to analyze the reliability, validity, model fits and structural equation modeling.

The results show that the learning of knowledge and information can influence the sharing behavior on social media platforms. Users' platform-based trust and platform-based satisfaction affect their knowledge and information learning and sharing on the platform. Factors affecting users' trust in social platforms include privacy protection effectiveness and network effects. And, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are related to users' satisfaction with social media platforms.

This study constructs an impact model on the learning and sharing of knowledge and information. The model takes the information system continuance model as the theoretical framework and integrates other factors, including the network effect, the effectiveness of privacy protection and trust. Most of the hypotheses of this research were confirmed. The conclusions provide practical guidance for the dissemination of knowledge information and platform management.