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Session Submission Type: Panel
Studies of the user comments 'below the line' on websites and social media sites of news organizations, companies, and other public figures/institutions continue to grow, though these studies are scattered across various disciplines. One reason for this situation is that comments are analyzed using different theoretical and empirical approaches. First, user comments are of interest to journalism and public relation scholars because they affect professional work routines and induce a change in the relationships between professional mass communicators and audiences. Second, because user comments often have persuasive intent and potentially reach the same audience as the (news) content to which they are attached, comments are researched by mass communication and media effect scholars in diverse contexts (e.g., perceptions of public opinion, persuasion research, and health communication). Third, scholars studying political communication investigate the quality of user-generated public discussions and analyze comments through the lens of normative theories. Fourth, scholars in cultural studies and discourse analysts are interested in how commenters appropriate news and other content formats as well as how they use language to construct subjective social realities, to disclose their identities and values, and to engage in discussions with others. Fifth, computer scientists develop new methods of collecting and automatically analyzing large datasets of user comments.
This list could easily be continued, but it already illustrates that user comments are researched by scholars from numerous disciplines. The results of these various research efforts are, however, mainly communicated and recognized within the boundaries of the specific disciplines. Moreover, the validity of research on user comments is often limited to single countries and specific cultures. The preconference therefore aims at synthesizing multidisciplinary and international research on online user comments. Scholars from various disciplines are invited to present and discuss their current work on user comments with a focus on how this research can cross the boundaries of single research divisions. Additionally, the preconference will host two workshops with a focus on 'meta issues' in user comment research, such as new theoretical approaches, methodological obstacles, and lessons to be learned from comparative investigations.
The preconference will take place on 25 May 2017 (9am to 5.30pm) in the ICA conference hotel (Hilton San Diego Bayfront). The preconference fee will be $50 and includes coffee breaks. We expect 20 to 50 participants. Please find the Call for Papers online: https://goo.gl/TgGR9T
Nina Springer, LMU Munich
Marc Ziegele, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
Pablo B. Jost, U of Mainz
Scott Wright, University of Melbourne
Antonis Kalogeropoulos, University of Oxford
Wiebke Loosen, Hans-Bredow Institute
Mario Häring, U of Hamburg
Zijad Kurtanović, U of Hamburg
Lisa Merten, Hans Bredow Institute, U of Hamburg
Julius Reimer, Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung
Lies van Roessel, Hans-Bredow-Institute/Leuphana University
Walid Maalej, U of Hamburg
Ori Tenenboim, U of Texas at Austin
Slgi Sage Lee, U of Michigan
Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan
Karin Boczek, TU Dortmund
Gerret von Nordheim, Technical U Dortmund
Lars Koppers, TU Dortmund
Patricia G. C. Rossini, School of Information Studies, Syracuse U
Feifei Zhang
Lauren Bryant, U at Albany, SUNY
Kate Kenski, U of Arizona
Sam Jackson, Syracuse U
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Syracuse U
Dhiraj Murthy, The University of Texas at Austin
Sanjay Sharma, Brunel U
Laura H Marshall, U of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Jakob Jünger, University of Greifswald
Hanna Marzinkowski, Friedrich Schiller U Jena
Ines Engelmann, FSU - U of Jena
Scott Wright, University of Melbourne
Todd Graham, U of Groningen
Dan Jackson, Bournemouth U
Michael Johann, University of Passau
Thomas Knieper, U of Passau
Gina Masullo Chen, The U of Texas at Austin
Victoria Y Chen
Paromita Pain, The U of Texas at Austin
Anders Sundnes Løvlie
Karoline Andrea Ihlebaek, University of Oslo
Anders Olof Larsson, Westerdals Oslo ACT
Yomna Elsayed
Andrea B. Hollingshead
Cornelius Puschmann, Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research
Julian Ausserhofer, FH JOANNEUM U of Applied Sciences
Oren Soffer, The Open U of Israel