{"title":"The prospects of Wattpad: Virtual library of the future or a publisher’s submission site?","authors":"E. Poliakova","doi":"10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2725","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2725","url":null,"abstract":"The popularization of the internet has enabled the creation of a number of online publishing outlets. Peer-to-peer platforms allow readers and writers to interact with each other, seemingly eliminating the need for traditional gatekeepers in the form of the editor and publisher. These platforms, however, have been credited with the disturbance of the publishing ecosystem. One popular peer-to-peer site is Wattpad. Conversely, as discussed in this paper, the creators of Wattpad do not want to disrupt the traditional publishing infrastructure but become a part of it. The study analyzes the values incorporated in the design of Wattpad’s website and the mobile app through utilizing the walk-through method of data collection. The researcher outlines how a writer-user and reader-user could potentially be prompted to utilize the platform by analyzing the vision, operating model, and governance of the platform. The study discusses that there are hierarchies at play with the writer-user valued to a greater extent as an individual than the reader-user who is seen by the company as a currency that can be bought and sold. The paper concludes that Wattpad does not want to disrupt the publishing ecosystem because the values incorporated in the design of the platform are similar to the values of traditional publishers.\u0000Keywords: publishing industry, self-publishing, online publishing, Wattpad, peer-to-peer platforms, values in design, online users","PeriodicalId":149149,"journal":{"name":"The McMaster Journal of Communication","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114767113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ready, communicators: Communications and public relations in the Metaverse","authors":"Rita Chen","doi":"10.15173/mjc.v13i1.3054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/mjc.v13i1.3054","url":null,"abstract":"With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Canadians are consuming more media than ever. While this development has allowed us to become more informed about the important issues surrounding us, it does mean we need to give critical thought to how we are perusing different media forms and content. This editorial shares three methods that communicators can consider employing to help avoid unconscious bias when consuming media. The editorial also introduces the five articles being featured in this issue, before closing with acknowledgement and thanks to all the people who made this publication possible. \u0000Keywords: media, unconscious bias, strategy, communication tactics ","PeriodicalId":149149,"journal":{"name":"The McMaster Journal of Communication","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123080328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public relations responsiveness during crime spikes: How and to what extent do social media and news-reporting exacerbate liquor-store thefts in Winnipeg?","authors":"Lin MacKenzie","doi":"10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2841","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2841","url":null,"abstract":"For a period of approximately 18-months, the city of Winnipeg experienced an alarming spike in Liquor Mart thefts, that took a toll on the Winnipeg Police Service workforce because of the sheer number of investigations opened due to these crimes. Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries management were reeling from the impacts of these thefts on customers, employees, and their bottom line. Communications Director Andrea Kowall stated at a news conference on October 28, 2019, that she believed news reporting and social media posts by civilians were factors that contributed to the theft surges. This exploratory, single case study sought to examine how and to what extent social media and news reporting exacerbated liquor-store thefts at Liquor Marts in Winnipeg through the social phenomenon of theft and robbery crime spikes between August 31, 2018, and December 1, 2019. The social phenomenon provided an environment to analyze steps taken by policing organizations in situations impacting public safety. \u0000Interviews and a questionnaire were utilized to explore the Balance Zone Theory as it applied in this situational context. Crisis communications tactics such as social media were explored as well as testing for the presence of news waves by examining published articles in a chronological sequence. This case study could provide valuable insights to policing organizations implicated in media hypes when coupled with incidents of public interference in crime situations through the use of social media. \u0000Keywords: policing, crisis communications, balance zone theory, public relations, stealing thunder, news waves, social media","PeriodicalId":149149,"journal":{"name":"The McMaster Journal of Communication","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128548236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The inclusion of youth with lived experience of homelessness in emerging networked publics: Challenges in online storytelling and allyship","authors":"Jamie Lloyd-Smith","doi":"10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2754","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15173/mjc.v13i1.2754","url":null,"abstract":"There has been considerable debate over the extent to which vulnerable and diverse populations are politically involved in decision-making. Specifically in Canada’s homelessness sector, there is a macro-level push to include individuals with lived experience of homelessness in the policymaking process. This research paper will explore the ways in which youth with lived experience of homelessness and their allies are engaging in online forms of activism and storytelling, and ultimately examine this interaction under the idea that media is both a practice and an imaginary. This study situates this argument in the wide critique of Jürgen Habermas’ exclusionary public sphere. Instead, this paper examines the emerging concepts of “affective publics” and “networked publics” to understand how online marginalized voices are only empowered to the extent to which they perform in mediated spaces to gain visibility. By drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s articulation of social capital, this study examines recent examples of Canadian organizations amplifying youth voices on Instagram to interrogate some of the implications that arise in online allyship and storytelling.\u0000Keywords: affective publics, networked publics, youth homelessness, lived experience, storytelling, allyship, activism, social capital","PeriodicalId":149149,"journal":{"name":"The McMaster Journal of Communication","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123588091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}