Jeffrey C. Neely

The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students' Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election

This study looks at student Facebook groups supporting the 2008 presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, from largest land-grant universities in seven battleground states. The findings of a content analysis of wall posts show that students are using Facebook to facilitate dialog and civic political involvement. In opposition to pro-McCain groups, pro-Obama groups have wider time frame coverage and demonstrate substantively higher site activity. Political discussions related to the political civic process, policy issues, campaign information, candidate issues, and acquisition of campaign products dominate across groups and election seasons. An examination of the content of wall posts based on the four categories of the Michigan Model of voting behavior (partisanship, group affiliation, candidate image, and political/campaign issues) reveals that in the primary season, pro-Obama groups focus mostly on short-term topics (candidate image and campaign issues), whereas pro-McCain groups focus mostly on long-term topics (partisanship and group affiliation). The overall findings of this study suggest that youth online communities actively follow campaigns and post comments that foster the political dialog and civic engagement.

Plugging In Possibilities For Connecting Teens and Communities Through Scholastic and Nonscholastic Youth Media Websites

Many of today’s youth feel disconnected from their local communities. At the same time, most of them are regularly connected to the Internet and other digital media to gather information and communicate with their peers. This study conducts a qualitative textual analysis of 14 scholastic and nonscholastic youth media websites to derive five emergent themes related to connecting youth and local communities. While some content examined addressed specific community concerns, the strongest current value of these websites is that they serve as a source of diverse peer support and self-expression for local teens as they collectively experience the joys and struggles of adolescence. These sites also promote attachment to local schools, an important community node and social ecology for teens.

Few Top Editors Blog about News Decisions

While many journalists urge the use of online blogs to disclose how news decisions are made as a means to enhance credibility, this analysis of 280 newspaper websites finds that only 39 have a top editor who blogs and only a few ever discuss news decisions.