Social Media Journalism: The Influence of Shared Policing Videos on Perceptions of Legitimacy

• In Event: Posters II

Abstract

Public perceptions of police legitimacy have been shown to be influential in cooperation and compliance with police based on judgments concerning procedural justice. Similarly, other research has indicated that media plays a valuable role in shaping public perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system. Combining these areas with the increase in citizen journalism, a recent phenomenon in the “post-Ferguson era” consists of sharing amateur videos of the police through social media mediums (e.g., Facebook or Twitter). This technological trend has interesting and important implications for public perceptions of police legitimacy. The current study conducts a randomized experiment on a sample of university students. In this experiment perceptions of legitimacy are measured through a pre-test, post-test survey. The groups will be assigned to one of four conditions where they will be exposed to short video clips: (1) negative policing videos (i.e., portraying police in a negative way), (2) positive videos (i.e., portraying the police in a favorable or likable way), (3) mixed (i.e., incorporating positive and negative), or (4) not watch any video. Collection of the post-test measures following the exposure will isolate the influence of social media video clips on changing perceptions and attitudes towards the police.

Author

• Megan Mohler, Portland State University