Chad Edwards

Is that a bot running the social media feed? Testing the differences in perceptions of communication quality for a human agent and a bot agent on Twitter

Due to the growth and popularity of Twitter, automated programs that can tweet are increasingly developed and employed. In line with the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm (Reeves & Nass, 1996), findings suggest that Twitterbots are perceived as credible, attractive, competent in communication, and interactional. Additionally, there were no differences in the perceptions of source credibility, communication competence, or interactional intentions between the bot and human Twitter agents. However, the source of the human Twitter agent was rated higher in attraction (social and task) than was the Twitterbot. Results are discussed in light of CASA. Implications for organizations that might employ Twitterbots are also addressed.

The Relationship Between Perceived Instructor Aggressive Communication and College Student Involvement

This study investigated the link between college students’ perceptions of instructors’ aggressive communication and students’ involvement in and out of the classroom. Participants were 218 students enrolled in introductory communication courses. Results indicated that students’ reports of instructor argumentativeness were not positively associated with their motives to communicate, question asking, overt information seeking, interaction involvement, or out-of-class communication. Students’ reports of instructor verbal aggressiveness were negatively associated with their use of the relational, participatory, and functional motives to communicate as well as question asking, overt information seeking, interaction involvement, and out-of-class communication. Future research should consider the role students’ aggressive communication plays in their perceptions of their instructors, learning outcomes, and perceptions of the learning environment.

How much Klout do you have ... A test of system generated cues on source credibility

Abstract Social media provides a great deal of information about the users; whether it is personal likes or dislikes, social connections and networks, or general emotional states in ways not previously available to others. As a result, judgments and perceptions of a person’s credibility can be made from examining posts, tweets, or other indicators on social media ( Westerman, Spence, & Van Der Heide, 2012 ). Because social media users create their own content, the question of how others make judgments about credibility is important ( Haas & Wearden, 2003 ). However, until recently, a single indicator of a person’s influence on social media networks did not exist. Klout.com developed an popular indicator of this influence that creates a single score based on the idea that “everyone has influence—the ability to drive action”. The purpose of the study is to determine whether and to what degree a Klout score can influence perceptions of credibility. Results demonstrated that the mock Twitter page with a high Klout score was perceived as higher in dimensions of credibility than the identical mock Twitter page with a moderate or low Klout score.

The Influence of Computer-Mediated Word-of-Mouth Communication on Student Perceptions of Instructors and Attitudes Toward Learning Course Content

The purpose of this study was to experimentally test the influence of computer-mediated word-of-mouth communication (WOM) on student perceptions of instructors (attractiveness and credibility) and on student attitudes toward learning course content (affective learning and state motivation). It was hypothesized that students who receive positive computer-mediated WOM about an instructor would perceive the instructor as more credible and attractive than students who receive no information or negative information. It was further hypothesized that students who receive positive computer-mediated WOM about an instructor would report greater levels of affective learning and state motivation to learn than students who receive no information or negative information. All hypotheses were supported. Results are discussed in light of the heuristic–systematic processing model, and the implications for instructional communication are addressed.

Welcoming Our Robot Overlords: Initial Expectations About Interaction with a Robot

Because robots and other electronic agents perform increasingly social functions, people will soon face the possibility of more frequent human–robot interactions. But what kinds of expectations do people bring with them into these potential interactions? Based on the possibility of a human-to-human interaction script, the current research hypothesized that people will be more uncertain about, anticipate less social attraction to, and expect less social presence when they expect to interact with a robot as opposed to another human. An experiment was designed in which people were told they would interact with either a robot or another person, and each of these three expectations was measured. The data were consistent with each of three hypotheses. These findings are discussed, as are avenues for future research.

Initial Interaction Expectations with Robots: Testing the Human-To-Human Interaction Script

As social robotics becomes more utilized and routine in everyday situations, individuals will be interacting with social robots in a variety of contexts. Centered on the use of human-to-human interaction scripts, the current study hypothesized that individuals would be more uncertain, have less liking and anticipate less social presence when they are told that they will be interacting with a social robot as opposed to another person. Additionally, the current study utilized a two-time measurement model experiment to explore perceptions of interacting with either a robot or human. Data were consistent with hypotheses. Research questions examined perceptions from Time 1 to Time 2 for the robot condition on the dependent variables. Findings are discussed in light of future research studies.

Perceived instructor credibility and teaching philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived instructor credibility (i.e., competence, character, caring) differs based on instructor teaching philosophy. Participants were 244 students who read a short vignette describing an instructor with either a transmissive or a progressive teaching philosophy and completed the Measure of Source Credibility in reference to the vignette. Results indicate instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy or a progressive teaching philosophy did not differ in their perceived competence, but instructors with a progressive teaching philosophy were rated higher in both perceived character and caring than instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy. Future research should examine whether student philosophies toward education impact perceived instructor credibility.

Tweeting Fast Matters, But Only if I Think About It: Information Updates on Social Media

Social media have emerged as increasingly important sources through which the public seeks information concerning crises or risks. Despite this increased dependence, little is known about the psychological processes associated with perceptions of source credibility or the desire to seek additional information related to the risk. The current study investigates the role of speed of updates in credibility perceptions and information seeking using Twitter. The results do not provide evidence of a direct relationship between update speed and the outcomes under consideration. They do, however, consistently support a mediation model in which cognitive elaboration mediates the relationship between update speed and perceptions of sender competence, goodwill, trustworthiness, and reader (follower/audience/rater/target) desire for additional information. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications and applied use.

If you are quick enough, I will think about it: Information speed and trust in public health organizations

Social media continues to gain prominence as an information resource. However, little is known about how people perceive trust and credibility in social media messages, particularly in terms of abstract dispositions toward organizations. The current experiment examines the role of speed of updates on a twitter feed with perceptions of trust. The experiment is also used to address the convergent validity of the RAND Public Health Disaster Trust Scale. The results do not provide evidence of a direct relationship between speed of twitter feed updates and trust, but do support a mediation model in which cognitive elaboration mediates the relationship. Further, the convergent validity of the RAND Public Health Disaster Trust Scale is discussed, along with its utility for future studies of this type.

Computer-Mediated Word-of-Mouth Communication: The Influence of Mixed Reviews on Student Perceptions of Instructors and Courses

The purpose of this experiment was to test the influence of mixed reviews appearing as computer-mediated word-of-mouth communication (WOM) on student perceptions of instructors (attractiveness and credibility) and attitudes toward learning course content (affective learning and state motivation). Using the heuristic-systematic processing model, it was hypothesized that students who received positive valence computer-mediated WOM about an instructor would perceive the instructor as more credible and attractive and would report greater levels of affective learning and state motivation to learn than students who received negative information, mixed-valence information, or no information (control). It was further hypothesized that students who received mixed-valence information would not differ significantly in their ratings of instructors or courses when compared to the control group. Both hypotheses were supported. Results are discussed in light of the heuristic-systematic processing model. The implications for instructional communication and online rating systems are addressed.