Research Podcast

     The podcast, "Use Online Nonverbal Communication" by Modern Mentor is about the use of nonverbal communication in online settings. More specifically, the podcast spoke on how nonverbal communication in online settings can affect how people see you. This idea ties in very well with multiple sections of the textbook for this class. One way this tied into class was that it explained how everything you do online can be seen and make people perceive you in a certain way. This was very similar to what was explained on page 93 of Human Communication, Seventh Addition when Green said, "From these nonverbal cues we make judgments about others. Research suggests that our brains process a great amount of verbal and nonverbal cues when we meet someone, or simply look at the person’s photo on Instagram, and we make fairly accurate first impressions based on this limited information." (Green, 2017) Also, the podcast explained how poor grammar affects how people will perceive you. Stever Robbins, the person leading the podcast, explained that this happens because people see poor grammar as a lack of care and as not worthy of being paid attention to. This idea aligns well with a point from section 7.2 Professional Use of Social Media Profiles, from the textbook. This point is, "Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Make sure your profile is 100 percent error-free." (Green, 2017) If you want to learn more about nonverbal communication online, you can listen if you follow the link below. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-mentor/id268557178?i=1000447891297

Sources:

Green, J. M. (2017a). Communicating online. McGraw Hill Education Create. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781307876413/pageid/0 

Mentor, M. (2019, August 26). Modern mentor: 562 - use online nonverbal communication on Apple Podcasts. Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-mentor/id268557178?i=1000447891297

The Online Battle for Public Opinion

    The online landscape has allowed anyone to post their opinion, whether or not that opinion has evidence to back it up. This has then made an online battle for public opinion since there are so many diverging opinions. One of the largest key factors contributing to the online battle for public opinion is social media. If you have any form of social media, you will have seen someone at some point trying to make their opinion known. Having all of these opinions has led to opinions being spread that have no real backing. One example of this is the false information and opinions that were spread from the Russian Internet Research Agency's Facebook page. According to the article, Why do people spread false information online? The effects of message and viewer characteristics on self-reported likelihood of sharing social media disinformation by The National Library of Medicine, "over 30 million users shared and otherwise interacted with the IRA’s Facebook and Instagram posts, propagating them to their families and friends." (Buchanon, 2020) This shows that not only can the spread of false opinions affect society and democracy, but interpersonal relationships as well. They are affected since the majority of shares were between people in interpersonal relationships.

Here is the link to that article in case you want to look more into it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7541057/

    The IRA was so successful in spreading false information since the used the tactic of having people act as other people. They would have people make fake accounts acting like someone they were not so that people wouldn't be able to see that it was false information being spread. An ethical consideration someone should take when looking at the posts by IRA is to see who they might be hurting. If they notice it's hurting someone or something, they should consider not interacting with the post. Also, they could try to find another source on a similar topic and see how the opinions and information diverge. 

Sources:

Buchanan T. "Why do people spread false information online? The effects of message and    viewer characteristics on self-reported likelihood of sharing social media disinformation." PLoS One. 2020 Oct 7;15(10):e0239666. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239666. PMID: 33027262; PMCID: PMC7541057.

“Public Opinion and Polls in the 2020 Presidential Election.” CJMD, 4 Nov. 2020, cjmd.com.uw.edu/public-opinion-and-polls-in-the-2020-presidential-election/. 

Online Communication, Business Assessment

 Assessing the Online Communication of Honda Racing Corporation U.S. (HRC U.S.)

   

    Honda Racing Corporation U.S., formally named Honda Performance Development, is the racing division of Honda for the United States. While they do not have a strong website solely focusing on HRC U.S., they have a powerful social media presence. For example, they use known meme formats on their Instagram profile which leads to them connecting with a younger audience. As mentioned previously, they don't have a website that solely focuses on HRC U.S., but HRC has a section for it. At the top of this section, they show the latest news from racing in the United States. In the middle of the page, they show the recaps of all of the past year's races going from most recent to oldest. Towards the bottom, there are links that go to HRC-related topics such as their social media pages. The page is organized in this way so that viewers of the site can see the latest news first and then see what was recent before that. To see how it is organized, you can view the section here: IMSA | Honda.Racing. HRC U.S. has a clear identity that can be seen through its Instagram profile. As mentioned earlier, part of their identity is posting memes that go along with their racing programs. This is a large part of their identity since it helps them to stick out and followers come to expect those types of posts. While they have a strong identity on social media, they could definitely improve on their website. Instead of just being a section in the HRC website, HRC U.S. should have a website that solely focuses on themselves. This would improve their identity since it would separate them from HRC.  

Sources:

Honda by CPTN Apparel Company, LLC. “HRC by CPTN Apparel.” Honda by CPTN Apparel Company, LLC, hondabycptn.com/pages/hrc. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.

“IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.” Honda.Racing, honda.racing/imsa. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

 According to Prensky, what category do you fall into, and how has this affected your learning?

    In his paper Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Marc Prensky explains what each of those terms mean. I most definitely fall under the first term, digital native. A digital native is someone who grew up with technology and never had to adapt to technology coming out. I fall under this term since I was born in 2003 when many types of electronic technology existed. Being born in this time has affected how I've learned since technology played an important role in my learning. For instance, I was using iPads in school as early as third grade. Most paper assignments were also replaced with digital assignments that would be submitted online. I think being a digital native has increased my learning ability since I can find information easily. I don't have to go looking in textbooks but instead do a quick Google search and find what I'm looking for. Being a digital native also has had somewhat of a negative impact on my learning as well. I have bad handwriting that I think can be somewhat attributed to typing more than having to handwrite.  

What are some other myths Kirschner associated with Prensky's findings from 2001?

    Prensky's ideas on digital natives and digital immigrants were shown to be flawed by Paul Kirschner. One myth that Kirschner brought up in his paper is that there is no such thing as a digital native. He said this reasoning that a student is not "informational skilled" only for the fact that they were born in a digital world. Another myth brought up in the paper is that all students will be skilled in technology. A myth brought up that I have noticed myself is that digital natives can multitask well. I've found that other than listening to music while working, I'm not a good multitasker even though I'm a digital native. 

Sources:

“Comments on Marc Prensky’s Article ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.’” Comments on Marc Prensky’s Article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” 11 Dec. 2015, innovsmslu.blogspot.com/2015/11/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x.html.

Flaherty, Casey. “The Myths of the Digital Native (Part 1).” 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, 6 Mar. 2018, www.geeklawblog.com/2015/10/the-myths-of-digital-native-part-1.html.

Kirschner, Paul  A. “The Myths of the Digital Native and the Multitasker.” Teaching and Teacher Education, Pergamon, 15 June 2017, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X16306692.

Prensky, Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Oct. 2001, marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.