1,721,149 research outputs found
Fighting an infodemic: managing virtual communities during times of disaster.
No full textNatural disasters pose a significant societal challenge and impact our society at large. People now extensively use social media to create or appropriate existing virtual communities during a disaster. Virtual communities can provide useful information and help victims cope with disaster impacts. However, these self-same virtual communities can worsen a disaster victim’s situation because they can be used to spread falsehoods and irrelevant information, leading to an infodemic (i.e., an overabundance of accurate and inaccurate information). Furthermore, existing practices or policies for managing the community and disseminating information can easily become obsolete during a disaster. This thesis develops a better understating of how virtual communities can be managed to generate and disseminate trusted information when and where it is needed during disasters. Two natural disasters, Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and, The Great Texas Freeze Out 2021, were studied to better understand this subject. Using an interpretive case study approach, digital trace data from a Reddit disaster community were collected and analysed. The research findings are presented as three inter-linked papers. The first paper explores how to foster a sense of community that can help generate trusted information; the second paper explores how to disseminate trusted hyperlocal information, and the third paper explores how and why diversity hinders the spread of trusted information. Collectively, this thesis contributes to a relevant yet relatively underexplored area of research in Information Systems (IS). The thesis makes suggestions for how virtual community leaders, emergency authorities, and system designers can use a virtual community during a disaster
#Fakefamous: how do influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media?
No full textPurpose: credible influencers play a key role in shaping the views and preferences of social media users. However, many influencers intentionally use disinformation (e.g. false narratives) to deceive users and gain their trust. This can have serious repercussions, not only for the firms that associate with these influencers but also for users. Further, and alarmingly, many influencers who use disinformation can sustain their credibility over time. This research explores how influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media. Design/methodology/approach: drawing on self-presentation theory, we use an in-depth qualitative case study to address our research question, primarily relying on archival data obtained from multiple sources. Findings: our findings suggest that three stages of self-presentation are required to establish influencer credibility based on disinformation: backstage (preparing to deceive), experimentation (testing deception), and frontstage (launching deceptive ideas on a large scale). We also find that when fraudulent influencers simultaneously weaponise a counterculture and mindfully encase disinformation, users view them as highly credible. Practical implications: we offer practical suggestions for regulating fraudulent influencers, including enacting fact-checking procedures, using IT artefacts as reliability signals, and building awareness programmes to develop vigilance in social media communities. Originality/value: We contribute to self-presentation theory by adding experimentation as a critical stage in developing disinformation that works for long periods. We also contribute to the literature at the intersection of social media influencers and disinformation research by revealing why social media users believe in fraudulent influencers.</p
Stronger together: cultivating a sense of community in virtual communities during disasters
Get PDFPurpose – The presence of unverifiable, inaccurate, and irrelevant information during disasters can encourage people to withdraw from virtual communities. One way to combat this problem is to cultivate a sense of community. However, little is known about how a sense of community can be fostered quickly in virtual communities during a disaster. Our study addresses this limitation of prior research work.Design/methodology/approach – We conducted an in-depth qualitative case study of a Reddit community during Hurricane Harvey. The main sources were archival data, including community threads and associated comments. Data from newspapers, magazine reports, and government websites were also collected to capture contextual information about the disaster.Findings – Our findings indicate that socialisation and formal control can foster a sense of community. This is made possible through the strategic use of social media, which involves (i) endorsing emergent norms and (ii) enforcing those norms through a disciplining process.Practical implications – We offer practical suggestions for virtual community moderators and members on strategically using social media features to create, enforce and institutionalise emergent norms. We recommend that system designers develop adaptable social media features that can be reconfigured according to the context.Originality/value – We show how socialisation and formal control must coexist in virtual communities to foster a sense of community, rather than prioritising one over the other. We also unpack how the strategic use of social media can inform this process. We argue that social media features should be adaptable, rather than pre-set, to meet emergent needs
How do influencers use falsehoods to establish credibility on social media?
No full textCredible influencers play a key role in shaping people’s views, preferences, and purchase decisions. However, many influencers use falsehoods to gain followers’ trust. This can have serious repercussions not only for firms but also consumers. To this end, the purpose of this developmental paper is to explore how do influencers use falsehoods to establish credibility on social media. Drawing on self-presentation theory, we use a qualitative case study to address our research purpose. Our preliminary findings suggest three categories (i.e., backstage, experimentation, and frontstage) of self-presentation strategies that establish credibility based on falsehoods. We contribute to self-presentation theory by adding the experimentation stage as the critical link for self-presentation to work
Together We Survive: Constructing a Sense of Community in Virtual Communities during Times of Disaster
Get PDFDuring disasters, people visit virtual communities to find verifiable, accurate, and reliable (VAR) information. However, the presence of unverifiable, inaccurate, and unreliable (UIU) information can encourage people to withdraw from the community. One way of combating UIU information is cultivating a sense of community (SoC). However, little is known of how SoC can be quickly constructed in virtual communities during a disaster. We conducted a qualitative case study of a virtual community and its response to a disaster. Our findings indicate that socialization and formal control can work together to foster a SoC during disasters. Prior IS research argues that isolating users and sanctioning uncivil behavior can erode an individual’s SoC in virtual communities. However, we discovered that when the formal controllers (i.e., moderators) impose emergent group norms, sanction uncivil behavior and isolate problematic users, they improve SoC at the group level, especially when isolated users enact uncivil behavior
A new species of genus Hoplobatrachus (Anura, Dicroglossidae) from the coastal belt of Bangladesh
No full textHasan, Mahmudul, Kuramoto, Mitsuru, Islam, Mohammed Mafizul, Alam, Mohammad Shafiqul, Khan, Mukhlesur Rahman, Sumida, Masayuki (2012): A new species of genus Hoplobatrachus (Anura, Dicroglossidae) from the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Zootaxa 3312: 45-48, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.28106
Mahmudul Hasan, Mitsuru Kuramoto, Mohammed Mafizul Islam, Mohammad Shafiqul Alam, Md Mukhlesur Rahman Khan & Masayuki Sumida (2012) A new species of genus Hoplobatrachus (Anura, Dicroglossidae) from the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Zootaxa, 3312, 45-48.
No full textHASAN, MAHMUDUL, KURAMOTO, MITSURU, ISLAM, MOHAMMED MAFIZUL, ALAM, MOHAMMAD SHAFIQUL, KHAN, MD. MUKHLESUR RAHMAN, SUMIDA, MASAYUKI (2012): Mahmudul Hasan, Mitsuru Kuramoto, Mohammed Mafizul Islam, Mohammad Shafiqul Alam, Md Mukhlesur Rahman Khan & Masayuki Sumida (2012) A new species of genus Hoplobatrachus (Anura, Dicroglossidae) from the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Zootaxa, 3312, 45-48. Zootaxa 3354 (1): 88, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3544.1.8, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3544.1.
Can Blockchain Fly the Silver Fern?
No full textBlockchain is an emerging technology perceived as ground-breaking. Yet, technology service providers are not realising the untapped market potential as quick as it was predicted. New Zealand is not any different. Currently, the number of blockchain-based solutions available in the country is rather limited. A clear understanding of the market of blockchain is critical for service providers to recognise the opportunities and the challenges. It has been suggested that multiple industries could utilise blockchain technology to attain numerous benefits. The primary industries of New Zealand will be one of them that remains underexplored. Therefore, in this study, we use total addressable market (TAM), a technique to estimate the market size, to explore the available economic opportunity of blockchain-based solutions in New Zealand’s primary industries. Our estimation suggests that it may be close to NZ496 million per year, excluding self-employed enterprises. Besides, our review of secondary sources indicates that blockchain technology could tackle some of the challenges the primary industries are facing like food fraud and foodborne illness. However, lack of strong and practical use cases, lack of streamlined practice for data management, lack of understanding of the technology and its implication to business, and lack of regulation and legislation are the major impediments to blockchain adoption
FIGURE 5 in Description of two new species of Microhyla (Anura: Microhylidae) from Bangladesh
No full textFIGURE 5. Holotype (IABHU 4116) of M. mymensinghensis sp. nov. in life. (A) Dorsal view. (B) Ventral view. Scale bar = 10 mm.Published as part of Hasan, Mahmudul, Islam, Mohammed Mafizul, Kuramoto, Mitsuru, Kurabayashi, Atsushi & Sumida, Masayuki, 2014, Description of two new species of Microhyla (Anura: Microhylidae) from Bangladesh, pp. 401-418 in Zootaxa 3755 (5) on page 412, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/22445
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