Archive of posts tagged Social Media

Issue-Specific Activism on Climate Issues on Facebook

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Even as scholars discuss changes in the ways in which young adults approach politics – and particularly their focus on specific issues and social concerns rather than dutiful political participation – a lot of what we know about political engagement via social media focuses on politics proper: political candidates and campaigns. While this research is largely promising …

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Dealing with Draco: Twitter and holiday travel woes

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This saga begins with an all-too-common experience: Trying to get a relative home for Christmas. But for me, this became a cautionary tale on how companies can fail using social media, particularly Twitter, to help out stranded customers – or how they can succeed. My sister Amanda was supposed to be coming home to Madison …

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Multi-modality debating: How social media (especially Twitter) are changing the presidential debates

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How we choose to watch political debates changes what we get out of them. That’s not really news: scholars have been discussing this effect since the first televised presidential debates in 1960. Popular wisdom suggested Nixon’s poor appearance (“death-like”) on TV hurt his standing compared to Kennedy’s vitality, later supported by finding that people who …

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Misery loves company: Colbert’s new drinking buddy

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The South Carolina primaries are over and the victory – seemingly impossible only a week ago yet surprising no one tonight – went to Mr. Gingrich. But if Mr. Romney needs someone to commiserate with over a glass of beer, he has a most unlikely partner: Stephen Colbert. Colbert flirted with the idea of a …

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Engagement: What Klout gets right

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There’s been a lot of debate about Klout and its success in achieving its goal of measuring social media influence. Some people are openly critical, arguing that it lacks transparency or is a superficial way of measuring expertise that promotes false self-confidence. Klout has its defenders also – those who point out no service measures offline influence and …

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