Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Ai Humanizers, Pragmatists, Skeptics: A Cluster Analysis Of Normative Attitudes For Ai’S Capabilities And Roles, Kate K. Mays, Ekaterina Novozhilova

Human-Machine Communication

This study explores people’s attitudes about artificial intelligence’s (AI) capabilities through a normative lens. Drawing from literature on phenomenological, ontological, and heuristic judgments about machines, we aim to better understand what capabilities people think AI should be able to have and how that relates to enthusiasm about having AI take certain roles in their lives. Survey participants (N = 601) were grouped via two-step clustering based on their attitudes, revealing three clusters: AI humanizers, who expect empathy and social interaction from AI; AI pragmatists, who expect cognitive capabilities; and AI skeptics, who prefer AI with limited human-like traits and emphasize …

Explain. Write. Edit. Summarise: An Exploratory Study On Agency Negotiations In Student-Chatbot Conversations, Árni Már Einarsson Mr, Ekaterina Pashevich

Human-Machine Communication

LLM-based chatbots such as ChatGPT have given technologies that traditionally operated on the back end a user-friendly, conversational interface. Their rapid adoption among students has prompted universities worldwide to issue guidelines and re-examine existing practices. Supplementing prior research based on discourse analysis and self-reported measures (e.g., surveys and interviews), we propose an approach for analyzing naturally occurring student–chatbot interactions, rooted in conversation analysis of chats (n = 503) donated by eight current Danish university students. The analysis identifies conversational patterns across three main types of activities and examines how agency is negotiated across the structural dimensions of signification, domination, and …

Two Years To Madness: A 30-Month Journal Of Human–Machine Communication And Second-Hand Reality, Andrew Prahl

Human-Machine Communication

Drawing on a 30-month analytic-autoethnography of the first author’s journal as an earlyaccess OpenAI user, this study examines how sustained communication with generative AI affects everyday lived experience and identity. Inductive content analysis of 166 entries by independent coders is followed by theory-driven coding with the extended-mind and sensemaking frameworks. Three interlocking themes emerge. Enabled and Degraded captures the tension between new capabilities and efficiency versus creeping skill atrophy. Scary New World charts rising anxiety as productivity gains erode competitive and relational distinctiveness. The findings also show a growing, pervasive doubt about the human authorship of texts, images, and other …

The Material Condition: A Practice Theory-Oriented Infrastructural Turn To The Ethics Of Human-Ai Communication, Anne Mollen, Sigrid Kannengießer

Human-Machine Communication

This paper calls for an infrastructural turn in human–AI communication, centered on the materiality of generative AI. We argue that a nuanced understanding of ethical implications of generative AI necessitates examining the socio-technical infrastructures that constitute these systems. These infrastructures encompass not only technological artifacts but also human actors (developers, users, data subjects, etc.) and their practices as well as social contexts in designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining AI. Therefore, we propose to adopt a practice theory approach, to analyze how ethical concerns materialize within these infrastructures. This perspective reveals how infrastructures are contested spaces in global production chains, highlighting …

Whole Earth Machines: Human-Machine Communication For A Green Transition, Klaus Bruhn Jensen

Human-Machine Communication

The climate crisis of the 21st century represents an existential risk to humanity and biodiversity, posing essential questions of how communication may serve to coordinate mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. One recent response has been massive investments by governments and corporations in systems providing feedback on the state of Earth— Whole Earth Machines (WEMs). For human-machine communication (HMC) studies, WEMs invite sustained engagement with communication infrastructures as a key constituent of research agendas, beyond the interface encounters at the center of many HMC studies to date. The article presents a conceptualization and operationalization of WEMs as critical infrastructures …

Critical Design And The Robotic Imaginary: Design Criticism And Critical Robots, Jörgen Behrendtz

The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique

This paper brings critical design and design criticism to critical robot studies. Critical design can be described as an umbrella term for approaches making use of speculative designs to highlight and challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions or even taken-for-granted truths about the role products play (in a wide sense) in everyday life. Design criticism refers to a reasoned procedure that investigates emancipatory and/or limiting potentials of designs, theorizes the roles of affordances, materials and embodied perception as epistemological resources in media interaction, and clarifies connections between specific design choices and their associated experiential qualities, seductive powers, ideological underpinnings, material operations, and …

Strategi Personal Branding Youtuber Asian Survivor Dalam Membangun Motivasi Donasi: Studi Analisis Konten Video Youtube, Muhammad Sulthon Asykur, Hasyim Asyari

Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis Terapan

ABSTRACT

Content creators face significant challenges in maintaining audience engagement and social relevance amidst dynamic platform algorithms. This study analyzes YouTuber Asian Survivor's personal branding strategy in building authenticity, engagement, and audience donation motivation using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analysis employed t-tests and binary logistic regression on 101 videos, while qualitative analysis was conducted through in-depth interviews and observation. Results indicate that neither vulnerable nor inspiring narrative types significantly differentiate engagement levels; however, videos that successfully raised donations exhibited significantly higher engagement rates. Regression analysis proved that an increase in engagement rate raises donation probability by 2.5 times. Qualitative findings …

Lindenwood Digest, January 28, 2026, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

• Primary Figures: Drexi (Pharmacy Manager); Workday Performance (Software Platform); Staff Council. 

• Key Events: Transition of pharmacy benefits from Optum to Drexi effective January 1, 2026; Spring 2026 midterm grading deadline set for February 9 at 5 p.m.; Migration of faculty performance management processes to Workday Performance. 

• Date/Location: January 28, 2026; Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri. 

• Archival Significance: Documents the specific group number (76411926) for the new Drexi pharmacy plan; defines administrative grades AF (Attendance Failure) and N (Never Attend) for the 2025-2026 catalog; establishes February 15 as the deadline for performance goal submission in legacy software prior to the Workday …

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Lindenwood Digest, January 21, 2026, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

Primary Figures: Payroll Director Monica Seiter; Elaine Ragland; Staff Council; Lindenwood Learning Academy; the Gender Studies program.

Key Events: Faculty Performance Evaluation sign-offs are due January 22, 2026; nominations for the Sibley and Easton Awards must be submitted by February 20, 2026; paper 2025 W-2 tax forms are scheduled for mailing on January 30, 2025.

Date/Location: The digest covers institutional updates and events occurring between January 21, 2026, and April 29, 2026, at the Saint Charles, Missouri campus and online.

Archival Significance: This document records the Spring 2026 Gender Studies Book Club selection of Ace Voices by Eris Young; the …

Pabrik Gula Di Tangan Netizen: Pemanfaatan User Generated Content (Ugc) Sebagai Mesin Promosi Film, Muthiah Khansa Basyirah, Khairunnisa Devani Aqtus Permana Putri Putri, Peny Meliaty Hutabarat, Yunita Miftahul Jannah

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

Social media continues to drive growing digital trends in Indonesia, including marketing strategies. TikTok has become one of the social media platforms capable of gaining wider exposure due to its ability to create viral content. In line with the increasing use of TikTok, the phenomenon of User Generated Content (UGC) has emerged. This study aims to examine UGC in the marketing strategy of the film Pabrik Gula (Sugar Factory) to improve effective communication, close relationships with audiences, and creative content production strategies. This study uses User Generated Content (UGC) as the research subject and Pabrik Gula as the object, using …

Lindenwood Digest, January 14, 2026, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

Primary Figures: President Porter visits classrooms and convenes with the Hawthorn Foundation; Payroll Director Monica Seiter serves as the contact for tax document inquiries; and MLB Network host Greg Amsinger leads "The Amsinger Series" event.

Key Events: Electronic 2025 W-2 forms became available in Workday on January 12, with paper forms scheduled for January 30; upcoming athletics include matches against UMass, Arkansas, and Delaware between January 15 and 18.

Date/Location: The digest covers institutional updates for the week of January 14, 2026, at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, noting a campus closure for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on …

Crystal Sets And Listening-In: Radio In Ireland Before 2rn, Stephanie Rains

Irish Communication Review

When 2RN began broadcasting from its studios on Henry Street in Dublin on 1 January 1926, it became the first radio station in the Free State. However, it was very far from being the start of radio on the island of Ireland, as there was already a community of amateur operators and engineers conducting technical experiments. This article explores the radio landscape in Ireland which 2RN joined and transformed. The early enthusiasts often not very concerned with programming or with most of radio’s possibilities as a form of entertainment, but did have a very international perspective on the medium’s possibilities. …

One Young World: #Togetherapart (Podcast Review), Talia Agee

Rushton Journal of Undergraduate Humanities Research

A podcast review of the podcast #TogetherApart produced by the London non-profit One Young World.

Initial Validation Of The Teleoperator-Avatar Robot Interaction Scale (Tarx), Nicholas Bowman, Rio Harper, Jaime Banks

Media Studies - All Scholarship

Extant work on human-machine relations indicates humans experience variably social relations with machines. However, there is yet no systematic framework for considering the potential sociality of relations between teleoperators and controlled robots, in addition to their functional associations. We bridge that gap by initially validating a proposed-butuntested measurement model of teleoperator/avatarrobot interaction (the TARX scale) inspired by gamebased player-avatar relations. In a lab-based study of human operators’ subjective experiences in remotecontrolling a robotic arm, we find support for the hypothesized factor structure comprising four dimensions: Relational closeness, anthropomorphic autonomy, critical concern, and sense of control. Results demonstrate the coherence of …

Simulated Intimacy, But Real Connection: Perceived Reciprocity And Romantic Closeness Make Otome Fun To Play, Nicholas Bowman, Elena Yifei Zhao

Media Studies - All Scholarship

Otome games offer players the opportunity to form romantic relationships with NPCs. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory, we proposed that, in the context of otome game, reciprocity enhances the sense of romantic closeness with NPCs, which in turn lead to greater enjoyment and appreciation. Survey data from 293 Chinese otome players supported the model, suggesting that at least one of the reasons that otome gaming is so entertaining is that they provide players with relationships that those players engage as if they were authentically social. Descriptive results revealed high reciprocity scores and strong romantic connection with NPCs, which players feeling …

An Eye For An Eye And A Smile For A Smile: Examining Aggressive And Supportive Behavioral Alignment Among Taiwanese Adolescence Who Play Video Games, Nicholas Bowman, Chrissy Cook, Chingching Chang

Media Studies - All Scholarship

The social dynamics of video games, especially those played online, are one of the primary motivators for gaming. Unfortunately, while there are numerous benefits to online gaming, there is also potentially harmful toxic and aggressive behavior. Prior research has investigated toxicity, but most studies rely on convenience samples, typically from WEIRD populations. The current study extends this scholarship with a nationally representative sample of Taiwanese adolescents who are frequent gamers, (a) quantifying their experiences with aggressive and supportive behaviors in games and (b) investigating personological-level variables that might explain reciprocating (referred to as “behavioral alignment”). Key findings were (1) aggressive …

Impact Of Instagram Flyers In Higher Education: Within Resident Assistant Program Attendance Marketing, Mary J. Mcdonald

Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays

This exploratory pilot study examines whether posting Instagram digital flyers affects Resident Assistant (RA) program attendance in the higher-education Housing and Residence Life (HRL) context. Instagram has emerged as a dominant channel of communication among Generation Z (1997-2012). As a result, higher education institutions have increasingly used social media to prompt student engagement and foster belonging, in hopes of strengthening retention. Using a quasi-experimental matched comparison design, attendance data from the 2024 academic year without Instagram flyers were compared to the 2025 academic year with Instagram flyers. The independent variable was the implementation of Instagram digital flyers, and the dependent …

The Transforming Image | Wintersession 2026 Syllabus, Hunter Whitaker-Morrow, Movement Lab

Course Materials

This studio course engages the contemporary digital moving (and sounding) image as a medium undergoing rapid development. Advancing the exploratory ethos of early video art, participants will probe new possibilities for experimentation against the contemporary backdrop of ubiquitous access to smartphones and production capabilities as well as the proliferation of tools for digital signal manipulation, media recycling, and image sequencing.

Coursework will center on a variety of hands-on creative exercises that challenge predominant conceptions of the moving image and engage with medium-specific approaches including video installation, desktop performance, generative cinematics, recycling media, realtime audio-visual performance, and notions of digital materiality. …

The Transforming Image | Class 1.1, Hunter Whitaker-Morrow, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

The Transforming Image | Class 1.2, Hunter Whitaker-Morrow, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.