{"title":"Retire or get retired: Stocks, memes, and desperation capitalism on r/WallStreetBets","authors":"Albi Nani, Keegan McBride","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102195","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102195","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is growing discontent with the financial services industry. The roots of these feelings are old but have expanded during the 2008 financial crisis and were enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated cost of living crisis. This has given rise to the concept of “desperation capitalism”, where individuals are resorting to high-risk measures to try to achieve economic security. This research paper presents new insights into desperation capitalism and its participants through an exploratory case study of the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit. The case study asks: how does social media impact the behaviour of retail investors? Drawing on multiple sources of primary and secondary empirical evidence, the paper makes two core contributions. First, the paper offers an initial conceptualization and model for understanding the phenomenon of “desperation capitalism”. Second, the paper demonstrates how the decision-making processes of retail investors can be influenced by social media.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102195"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nenagh Kemp , Rebecca Kovacic , Elisabeth Beyersmann
{"title":"Is the period really “pissed”? The effect of punctuation and message length on perceptions in digital communication","authors":"Nenagh Kemp , Rebecca Kovacic , Elisabeth Beyersmann","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Including a period at the end of a one-word text message (“yes.”) can elicit perceptions of insincerity and negativity. We assessed whether these negative perceptions would hold in longer messages. Australian undergraduates (<em>N</em> = 200) read 30 fictitious message exchanges; positive, neutral, or negative in valence. Exchanges ended in a short (one word), medium (three to four words), or long (six to eight words) message; half with a final period, half without. Participants rated how they thought the friend felt about their message, on a 7-point scale. Across valences, messages with a period were rated more negatively than those without, as were both short and medium messages. In long messages, the period’s presence or absence did not significantly affect ratings. The results imply that this punctuation mark can convey emotional or grammatical information, depending on message length. The findings have implications for the way people compose and interpret digital messages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102241"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143183161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Huiqian Sun, Peng Jing, Yaqi Liu, Daoge Wang, Jie Ye, Wanru Du, Hongyu Ma, Can Wang, Shuang Zhang
{"title":"How do older adults cross the digital divide and enjoy the benefits of ride-hailing services with the collision of the aging and digital society in China?","authors":"Huiqian Sun, Peng Jing, Yaqi Liu, Daoge Wang, Jie Ye, Wanru Du, Hongyu Ma, Can Wang, Shuang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous scholarly endeavors to examine the digital divide about using ride-hailing services among older adults from a macro perspective fail to delve into the specific challenges within each operational step. This study aims to investigate ride-hailing services among older adults in China, focusing on the digital divide in using processes from a micro perspective. We used the face-to-face survey data of older adults (<em>N</em> = 811) to conduct a step-by-step analysis to explore the digital divide in ride-hailing app operations among older adults by dividing it into nine steps. Next, the diffusion of innovation theory was extended and applied to investigate how innovative and digital factors influence older adults’ intention to use ride-hailing services. The results show that older adults faced a great “using divide” in operating the ride-hailing apps, especially in the following three steps: Step 6: Choose a suitable ride-hailing model, Step 2: Sign up and log in to a ride-hailing account, Step 5: Locate my current location. Considering user characteristics, the structural equation modeling further revealed the differential effect of variables on the intention of ride-hailing among two age groups by dividing older adults into those aged 50–64 s and over 64 s. Theoretically, this study contributes to the existing research by providing one of the pioneering endeavors to comprehend the digital divide in ride-hailing service usage among older adults. Practically, our study holds considerable utility for policymakers, investors/the private sector, the end users (older adults), and their families to help bridge the digital divide of older adults using ride-hailing services. For example, policymakers could consider enhancing public Wi-Fi connectivity in communal spaces (community centers, parks, senior centers) and advocating for subsidized or specialized data plans tailored to the older population’s needs. Our study underscores the need for more considerable attempts among each stakeholder to bridge the digital divide for older adults in ride-hailing services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102239"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143183160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond the screen: Exploring pathways to reduce SNS dependency","authors":"Pedro Nascimento, Tiago Oliveira, Joana Neves","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102224","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102224","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research investigates the factors impacting the reduction and discontinuation of social networking site (SNS) usage, employing the situation-organism-behavior-consequence (S-O-B-C) framework. Previous research on reducing SNS use has primarily focused on the factors that lead to such behavior, with limited attention to the behavioral consequences of this reduction. Furthermore, there is a gap in understanding how a dynamic interplay of situational and internal factors drives these behavioral changes and transitions. The validity of the proposed S-O-B-C framework was assessed empirically, drawn from 802 responses collected from Instagram users. The findings indicate that higher levels of perceived severity and vulnerability amplify feelings of fear and exhaustion, subsequently fostering users’ intentions to reduce SNS usage. Additionally, the reduction in SNS usage correlates with discontinuation, a relationship that is positively moderated by cognitive dissonance. This study explores the transitions from overuse to reduction and from reduction to discontinuation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102224"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143183158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From adoption to continuance: Stablecoins in cross-border remittances and the role of digital and financial literacy","authors":"Lennart Ante","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102230","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102230","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the adoption and continuance intentions of blockchain-based stablecoins for cross-border remittances. Relying on survey data from 866 U.S.-based adults engaged in remittance activities, our findings reveal that digital and financial literacy independently increase the likelihood of stablecoin adoption, while their interaction synergistically enhances predictive accuracy. Demographic analysis indicates that stablecoin remittance users tend to be younger, more educated, and involved in higher-value transactions. Among the 26% of remittance users who adopted stablecoins, continuance intentions are primarily driven by satisfaction and perceived usefulness. This points to a cyclical dynamic, where meeting user expectations leads to greater satisfaction, which in turn reinforces the perceived usefulness of stablecoins. The results underscore the importance of promoting both digital and financial literacy, improving user experience, and effectively communicating tangible benefits to encourage the continued adoption of stablecoins for remittance transactions. Ultimately, these efforts could contribute to a more efficient and cost-effective remittance market that aligns with the 10th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to reduce transaction costs of remittances to less than 3 percent by 2030.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102230"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143183156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hollow infrastructures: The case of Facebook and Israeli civil society","authors":"Shaul A. Duke","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102246","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102246","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent scholarship has shown that digital infrastructures most often have a very slow demise and linger on for years after they start deteriorating. Moreover, this perplexing endurance comes despite apparent acts of erosion in the value they offer to groups of users. How can we understand the long tail of digital infrastructures in decline? How do digital infrastructures manage to retain groups of users despite deterioration in the utility that the platform provides them? This paper offers the term ‘hollow infrastructures’ as a partial explanation to these questions, and will suggest that certain groups of users and third parties are complicit in keeping a façade of functionality, and thus unintentionally confuse those who encounter these declining platforms. Yet the end result is a lack of efficiency and a drain on resources for those using these hollow infrastructures. This will be done by analyzing the case study of Facebook and Israeli civil society organizations. This analysis is based on a qualitative research project that included content analysis of website and Facebook pages, and 31 interviews.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102246"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143135887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in China: A text mining analysis","authors":"Xuefan Dong , Chen Wang , Ying Lian","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102243","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2025.102243","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates how Weibo serves as a symbolic space for Chinese public opinion on the October 2023 Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a text mining analysis of Weibo posts. Using Named Entity Recognition, emotion analysis, topic clustering, and opinion mining, the study reveals key themes, entities, and emotional responses among Chinese netizens. The analysis shows that Chinese netizens express views on humanitarian concerns, calls for peace, support for Palestinian national liberation, and demands for accurate information. Emotion-opinion cross-analysis reveals that their responses are shaped by a mix of emotions, including anger towards external geopolitical forces, fear and sadness regarding humanitarian impacts, and hope for peace and resolution. These emotions illustrate the complex interplay between humanitarian concerns, political stances, and support for diplomacy, demonstrating Weibo’s role as a platform for amplifying public sentiment. The study also examines how Chinese public opinion aligns with the Chinese government’s stance on international affairs. Findings indicate broad support for the government’s diplomatic efforts, such as calls for ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and mediation. This alignment reflects an expectation for China to actively contribute to global peace and stability. Additionally, the study uncovers critical perspectives on external influences, with many netizens criticizing perceived biases in international responses and advocating for a balanced, multilateral diplomatic approach. Overall, this research highlights how a distant geopolitical crisis is understood in China’s socio-political context, revealing an emerging global consciousness among Chinese netizens. This shift, facilitated by Weibo, reflects a movement from a state-centric narrative to an active public engagement with global issues.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102243"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jie Xu , T. Ramayah , Muhammad Zulqarnain Arshad , Adibah Ismail , Jamilah Jamal
{"title":"Decoding digital dependency: Flow experience and social belonging in short video addiction among middle-aged and elderly Chinese users","authors":"Jie Xu , T. Ramayah , Muhammad Zulqarnain Arshad , Adibah Ismail , Jamilah Jamal","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102222","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102222","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rising prevalence of mobile short video (MSV) addiction among middle-aged and elderly individuals poses a significant threat to their well-being, yet there is a notable paucity of research addressing this critical issue. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework and flow theory, this study examines the relationships between mobile short video characteristics (interactivity, recommendation, and entertainment) and addiction behaviors among middle-aged and elderly users. The research model considers perceived belonging and flow experience as mediating variables, with user habits as a moderating variable. Data were gathered through an online self-administered questionnaire, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results indicate that recommendation, interactivity, and entertainment are positively related to flow experience, while recommendation and interactivity are positively associated with social belonging. Both flow experience and social belonging are significant determinants of addictive behaviors, with flow experience mediating the relationship between short video characteristics and addictive behaviors, and social belonging mediating the relationship between recommendation, interactivity, and addictive behaviors. Additionally, user habits strengthen the relationships between social belonging and addictive behaviors, as well as between flow experience and addictive behaviors. These findings provide essential insights for designing effective strategies and interventions to prevent and reduce MSV addiction among middle-aged and elderly individuals, ultimately enhancing their digital literacy and quality of life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102222"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143148109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Muhammad Ittefaq , Ali Zain , Rauf Arif , Mohammad Ala-Uddin , Taufiq Ahmad , Azhar Iqbal
{"title":"Global news media coverage of artificial intelligence (AI): A comparative analysis of frames, sentiments, and trends across 12 countries","authors":"Muhammad Ittefaq , Ali Zain , Rauf Arif , Mohammad Ala-Uddin , Taufiq Ahmad , Azhar Iqbal","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102223","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102223","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examined the coverage of artificial intelligence (AI) in newspapers from 12 countries by analyzing news articles (<em>N</em> = 38,787) collected from 12 mainstream English newspapers, between 2010 and 2023. We used LDA topic modeling to identify prevalent frames in the news articles and SentiStrength to examine sentiments in the news headlines. Framing theory was applied in interpreting our results. Our analysis identified nine frames across newspapers: AI impacts on businesses, economy, and jobs (37.40 %), AI transformations in education and research (17.70 %), AI in national security and global partnerships (11.20 %), AI disruptions in media and creative industries (9.6 %), AI-based innovative solutions (7.30 %), AI regulations, ethics, and data privacy (6.40 %), AI competition and market dynamics in tech industries (4.90 %), AI in healthcare and climate change (3.47 %), and AI in politics, elections, and public opinion (2.03 %). A comparative analysis suggested that the Global North newspapers gave relatively lower coverage to AI-based innovative solutions and AI in healthcare and climate change while AI regulations, ethics, and data privacy and AI disruptions in media and creative industries received minimal coverage from the Global South newspapers. Our overall sentiment analysis indicated that 21.04 % of news headlines evoked negative, 13.33 % positive, and 65.63 % neutral sentiments. The Global North newspapers such as <em>The Guardian</em> and <em>The NYT</em> framed AI negatively in the 24 % of their news headlines, while the Global South newspapers such as <em>China Daily</em> and <em>Bangkok Post</em> framed AI positively in the 14.5 % of their news headlines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102223"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143148107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Political trolling on TikTok","authors":"Pnina Fichman , Shohana Akter","doi":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102226","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tele.2024.102226","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Political discourse on TikTok is on the rise, but research on the extent and nature of political trolling on the platform is lagging. Addressing this gap, we examine political trolling on TikTok by and towards Democrats and Republicans. Based on content analysis of over 8000 comments and posts, we found that trolling comments on TikTok are more humoristic than malevolent, particularly on Democrats’ posts, and that more trolling comments target posts by Democrats than posts by Republicans. We also found that trolling comments target their own party and politicians more often than they target their political opponents, and that more trolling comments that target such posts are humoristic, while more trolling comments that target their opponents are malevolent. Even though the extent of trolling comments on Republicans’ posts is higher than on Democrats’ posts, Democrats are the target of trolling more often, both on their own posts and on Republicans’ posts. Furthermore, Republicans’ posts target Democrats more often than they promote their own agenda, but Democrats’ posts promote their own agenda more often than they target Republicans. We contribute evidence of political trolling on TikTok that reflects the US’ asymmetric politics and politainment, and that raises the need to conduct more nuanced research on the relationships between trolling perpetrators and their targets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48257,"journal":{"name":"Telematics and Informatics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102226"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143148108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}