Social Influence and Media Dynamics Quiz

Week 1

• Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is the exchange of meaning between two or more people through digital channels.
• Technological determinism suggests technology drives societal change.
• Social determinism argues that technology is shaped by society.
• Social realism posits that technology and society mutually shape each other.
• CFO argues that CMC hinders rich exchanges compared to face-to-face communication.
• CFI argues that CMC fosters rich exchanges because people use it without relying on solely social cues.
• Electronic propinquity is the perception of psychological closeness.
• Social information processing theory states that users form impressions regardless of the medium.
• The hyperpersonal model suggests CMC can be even more personal than face-to-face interactions.
• Features of a social media platform (not the platform itself) are important.
• Social media is internet-based, persistent and disentrained, masspersonal communication, and facilitates perceived interaction.

Week 2

• The first social media website was SixDegrees, launched in 1997.
• Social media platforms have distinguishing features.
• Research focuses on platform features, not just the platforms themselves.
• Temporality and accessibility of messages are key differences.
• Social media is internet-based, persistent, disentrained, masspersonal communication facilitating interaction, and deriving value from user-generated content.
• Social media allows for communication when others aren't online, enabling selective self-presentation.
• Social media allows for interpersonal and mass communication.
• Social media influences anxiety and amusement, increasing virality potential.
• Users interact with social media for various reasons, including maintaining relationships and finding social support.

Week 3

• Actual self, ideal self, and ought self are different conceptualizations of self.
• Identity shift occurs when a claim is made about oneself and acts as a seld-fulfilling prophesy.
• CMC has changed social relationships by speeding up communication, and influencing deliberateness and effort in message delivery.
• CMC facilitates lightweight and phatic interaction along with dyadic interaction.
• Paralinguistic digital affordances like emojis, likes, and comments shape communication.
• Walther et al.'s experiment shows other-generated statements influence impressions but are not as impactful as self-generated information.
• CMC usage increases as geographical distance between individuals increases.

Week 4

• Uncertainty Reduction Theory posits people seek information about others to reduce uncertainty.
• People gather information passively (observing), actively (proactively gathering info without approaching person), and interactively (proactively gathering info while approaching person).
• Friendship quality is based on similarity, proximity, and social attraction.
• Social influence is symbolic efforts to influence behavior/thoughts.
• Persuasion involves intentional effort to influence mental states.
• Principles like reciprocity and authority influence persuasion.
• Social norms and conformity are integral aspects of social influence.

Week 5

• Attractiveness of friends, posting valence, and number of friends influence perception of attractiveness.
• People prefer maintaining ties with existing contacts.
• Uncertainty reduction theory explains why people want to reduce uncertainty.
• Friendship quality improves over time.
• Social influence involves symbolic efforts, which encompass persuasion.
• Persuasion relies on principles like reciprocity, authority, scarcity, liking, consistency, and social proof.
• Social norms guide behavior, while conformity describes a change in behavior, and compliance is agreement to a request.

Week 6

• One-way advertising involves communication from an organization to audience.
• Targeted advertising on social media uses information about the recipient to increase relevance.
• Tailoring in advertising involves adapting messages based on recipient characteristics.
• Social media fosters interactivity with people co-creating and responding to messages.
• The two-step flow theory of mass media suggests media influences opinion leaders who influence the masses.
• Word-of-mouth is personal communication without commercial intent, while electronic WOM is similar online.
• Influencer marketing involves sponsored content in social media to increase exposure.

Week 7

• Social media are internet-based, persistent, and disentrained.
• Social media use is mostly driven by social interaction, info seeking, and passing time.
• Exposure to information can be incidental or selective.
• Negative bias and cognitive dissonance can influence what people see on social media.
• Third spaces, such as chatrooms and online forums, are disappearing from physical settings.
• People are affected by their group associations; these groups influence risky behaviors.
• Social norms, conformity, and compliance are important concepts in social influence.

Week 8

• The common understanding is that online political discussions are toxic.
• Participants in online political discussions may feel disinhibited due to a lack of authority.
• Slacktivism is political actions that require minimal effort.
• Filter bubbles or echo chambers occur when you only encounter viewpoints aligned with your own.
• Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has different properties than other communication mediums.
• Technological determinism posits that technology shapes society, while social determinism argues that society shapes technology.

Week 9

• Identity Shift and the Proteus effect occur when people change their behavior based on self-representation.
• Intrapersonal communication is communication with oneself.
• Identifying individuals and connecting messages to senders is key to understanding CMC.
• Pseudonymity can be a way of experimenting with identity.
• Pseudonymity can lead to more disinhibition.
• Anonymity means the sender cannot be visually identified.

Week 10

• Social media is disentrained due to its asynchronous nature.
• Cyberbullying is a significant concern in masspersonal communication.
• UGC (user-generated content) is a crucial aspect of social media value
• Virality refers to content that spreads widely. Positive and engaging content is more likely to be viral.
• Social networking sites facilitate establishing connections.
• Social support involves helping others through verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

Week 11

• Social influence involves efforts to preserve or change behavior.
• Persuasion encompasses the intent to influence another's mental state.
• Social norms guide group behavior, while conformity describes adjusting behaviors, and compliance occurs when a request is granted.

Week 12

• Conformity results from real or perceived peer pressure to adjust behavior.
• Compliance occurs when a request is followed.
• Memes are units of culture transferred through copying or imitation.
• Advertising is nonpersonal communication intended to promote products or ideas.
• Online advertising can take different forms, including advergames and astroturfing.
• Third spaces are locations where individuals engage in social interaction beyond work and homes.

Week 13

• Group centrality refers to how individuals perceive the importance of a group.
• Deindividuation is a loss of self-awareness in groups, often leading to risky behaviors.
• Social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) examines how individuals affiliate and interact in groups.

Week 14

• Risk behaviors can be viewed as reasoned or socially reactive choices.
• Social reactive pathways use emotional responses and impulses to drive risk behavior decisions.
• Perceived prototype characteristics of a risk behavior influencer can motivate engagement in the behavior.
• Media literacy, news literacy, and social skepticism can moderate interactions.

Test your knowledge on social influence theories and the dynamics of media in consumer behavior. This quiz covers topics such as normative conformity, compliance, influencer marketing, and online communication characteristics. Explore the intricacies of how social groups and digital advertising shape our perceptions and interactions.