The bureaucratic reputation literature stipulates that bureaucracies strategically aim to maximize reputational benefits and minimize reputational damages through targeted communication strategies... Show moreThe bureaucratic reputation literature stipulates that bureaucracies strategically aim to maximize reputational benefits and minimize reputational damages through targeted communication strategies. Departing from this assumption and using an extensive dataset on the media coverage of 54 legislative acts, we examine the conditions under which commissioners appear in the news and which communication strategies they pursue. Our analyses show that commissioners are more likely to appear in news coverage in the context of technically complex issues. We find that if a regulation is less politically conflictual, they are more likely to promote the commission's policy preferences, whereas they adopt a more passive style of communication in the face of political conflict. The findings further our understanding of regulatory policymaking by explaining bureaucratic behaviour through a communicational lens. Show less
Gaining an audience on social media is an important goal of contemporary policy advocacy. While previous studies demonstrate that advocacy-dedicated nonprofit organizations—what we refer to as... Show moreGaining an audience on social media is an important goal of contemporary policy advocacy. While previous studies demonstrate that advocacy-dedicated nonprofit organizations—what we refer to as advocacy groups—use different social media tools, we still know little about what specific audiences advocacy groups set out to target on social media, and whether those audiences actually engage with these groups. This study fills this gap, deploying survey and digital trace data from Twitter over a 12-month period for the Australian case. We show that while groups target a variety of audiences online, there are differences between group types in their strategic objectives and the extent to which particular audiences engage with them. Business groups appear to target elite audiences more often compared with citizen and professional groups, whereas citizen groups receive more online engagement from mass and peer audiences. Show less
Varady, N.H.; Chandawarkar, A.A.; Kernkamp, W.A.; Gans, I. 2019
Twitter is one of the most popular social media networks that, in recent years, has been increasingly used by researchers as a platform to share science and discuss ongoing work. Despite its... Show moreTwitter is one of the most popular social media networks that, in recent years, has been increasingly used by researchers as a platform to share science and discuss ongoing work. Despite its popularity, Twitter is not commonly used as a medium to teach science. Here, we summarize the results of #EUROmicroMOOC: the first worldwide Microbiology Massive Open Online Course taught in English using Twitter. Content analytics indicated that more than 3 million users saw posts with the hashtag #EUROmicroMOOC, which resulted in over 42 million Twitter impressions worldwide. These analyses demonstrate that free Microbiology MOOCs shared on Twitter are valuable educational tools that reach broad audiences throughout the world. We also describe our experience teaching an entire Microbiology course using Twitter and provide recommendations when using social media to communicate science to a broad audience. Show less
‘Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!’ Three years ago, on 20 December 2013, these 53 characters where the only thing Justine Sacco needed to cause commotion in Twitter,... Show more‘Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!’ Three years ago, on 20 December 2013, these 53 characters where the only thing Justine Sacco needed to cause commotion in Twitter, gain unwanted fame in social media, appear on newspapers like The New York Times and The Guardian and, not surprisingly, loose her job the next day she tweeted that message. Just 10 years ago, it was hard to think that a text written in a platform as ephemeral and constantly updated as Twitter could have such consequences. Only few people had an account, even fewer knew how to use it and its function was not yet clear to everybody. As any new technology, Twitter –and social media in general- has unseen consequences and uses, which have appeared and changed throughout the years. One of them, with arousing popularity during the last three years, comes directly from the sixteenth century: public shaming as a penalty for a crime. But in a world that is connected in real time every minute of every day, the degree of the sanction can get out of proportion easily. Show less
