Using tweets posted with #SOPA and #PIPA hashtags and directed at members of Congress, we identify six strategies constituents employ when... Show moreUsing tweets posted with #SOPA and #PIPA hashtags and directed at members of Congress, we identify six strategies constituents employ when using Twitter to lobby their elected officials. In contrast to earlier research, we found that constituents do use Twitter to try to engage their officials and not just as a “soapbox” to express their opinions. Show less
Through analyzing data from posts and about users, we describe how one particular Facebook group helps immigrants to the U.S. use social media... Show moreThrough analyzing data from posts and about users, we describe how one particular Facebook group helps immigrants to the U.S. use social media to build a local community. As a preliminary study in intercultural communication through social media, we analyze one case, the Asian American Chicago Network (AACN) Facebook group, and uncover common topics users discuss and relationships between user tenure and various indicators of leadership and interaction. Our small finalized results from this preliminary project suggest that members of AACN likely use it (1) to build a professional network in the U.S.A., and (2) to reinforce and affirm their Asian culture and identities. Sponsorship: National Science Foundation Award Number 1525662 Rao, X., & Hemphill, L. (2016). Asian American Chicago Network: A Case Study of Facebook Group Use By Immigrant Groups. In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (pp. 381–384). New York, NY, USA: ACM. http://doi.org/10.1145/2818052.2869077 Show less
Twitter is increasingly becoming a medium through which constituents can lobby their elected representatives in Congress about issues that... Show moreTwitter is increasingly becoming a medium through which constituents can lobby their elected representatives in Congress about issues that matter to them. Past research has focused on how citizens communicate with each other or how members of Congress (MOCs) use social media in general; our research examines how citizens communicate with MOCs. We contribute to existing literature through the careful examination of hundreds of citizen-authored tweets and the development of a categorization scheme to describe common strategies of lobbying on Twitter. Our findings show that contrary to past research that assumed citizens used Twitter to merely shout out their opinions on issues, citizens utilize a variety of sophisticated techniques to impact political outcomes. Show less