Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Walking The Line Between Reality And Fiction In Online Spaces: Understanding The Effects Of Narrative Transportation, Sarah Gretter, Aman Yadav, Benjamin Gleason

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Recent contentions about "fake news" and misinformation online has shed light on the critical need for media literacy at a global scale. Indeed, digital stories are one of the main forms of communication in the 21st century through blogs, videos-sharing websites, forums, or social networks. However, the line between facts and fiction can often become blurry in these online spaces, and being able to distinguish between reality and fantasy can have important consequences in the lives of young Internet users. Using contemporary examples from news stories, fanfiction, advertising, and radicalization, this article outlines the features, affordances, and real-life implications of …

Will Boosting A Post Bring Them In?: Promoting Library Programs With Facebook Advertising, Cary F. Gouldin

JLAMS

Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform. Academic libraries have had some success using it as an outreach and marketing tool. However, few have taken advantage of Facebook’s advertising options, and most have only focused on increasing engagement and page likes. This paper investigates the effectiveness of using Facebook advertising for the promotion of specific library programs and services. The results of two advertising campaigns, one promoting a workshop series, the other promotion a one-on-one reference service, were analyzed to determine if usage of these programs was increased through advertising. While the advertising campaigns did have a …

Are You Really Anonymous Online? Your Friends On Twitter May Give You Away, Jessica T. Su

FDLA Journal

As you browse the internet, online advertisers track nearly every site you visit, amassing a trove of information on your habits and preferences. When you visit a news site, they might see you’re a fan of basketball, opera and mystery novels, and accordingly select ads tailored to your tastes.

Advertisers use this information to create highly personalized experiences, but they typically don’t know exactly who you are. They observe only your digital trail, not your identity itself, and so you might feel that you’ve retained a degree of anonymity.