Joshua M. Scacco

Changing Deliberative Norms on News Organizations' Facebook Sites

Comments posted to news sites do not always live up to the ideals of deliberative theorists. Drawing from theories about deliberation and group norms, this study investigates whether news organizations can affect comment section norms by engaging directly with commenters. We conducted a field study with a local television station in a top-50 Designated Market Area. For 70 political posts made on different days, we randomized whether an unidentified staff member from the station, a recognizable political reporter, or no one engaged with commenters. We assessed if these changes affected whether the comments (n = 2,403) were civil, were relevant, contained genuine questions, and provided evidence. The findings indicate that a news organization can affect the deliberative behavior of commenters.

The Presence and Use of Interactive Features on News Websites

Although interactive features, such as comment sections, used to be rare on news websites, they are now the norm. Based on theoretical concepts of interactivity and convergence, we analyze whether diverse sites are similar in the provision and use of interactive features online. We conduct a content analysis of 155 news websites to examine the presence and use of social media buttons, lists of hyperlinks, polls, comment sections, and mobile sites. Television news and newspaper websites are compared, as are local and more broadly targeted news sites. The findings provide little evidence for interactive convergence. Rather, results reveal many differences in the adoption and use of interactive features based on medium and target. Reasons for differences across these sites are discussed.

The worker as politician: How online information and electoral heuristics shape personnel selection and careers

Employers’ use of increasingly visible online information extends when, where, and in what role contexts personnel selection—and correspondingly career management—occurs. Data from 59 employers suggest the use of a new lens to evaluate workers: the worker as politician. By appropriating strategies from electoral contexts to “vote” on job candidates, employers are (unintentionally) reimagining personnel selection. Participants report seeking appropriately endorsed workers with electable personalities, who demonstrate commercially “sanitized” public images and reflect the “right” kind of private life and mainstream values. Results contribute to research on how new technologies and information visibility affect personnel selection, career management, and reputation management.

Like, recommend, or respect? Altering political behavior in news comment sections

Drawing from the stereotype content model, we examine how people respond to likeminded and counter-attitudinal political comments appearing after a news article. We experimentally test how citizens behave when they are able to click on one of three different buttons posted next to others’ comments—“Like,” “Recommend,” or “Respect.” In the experiment, political attitudes predicted button clicking, but the button label affected the strength of the relationship. In some instances, people clicked on fewer buttons associated with likeminded comments and more buttons associated with counter-attitudinal comments when the button was labeled with “Respect” as opposed to “Like” or “Recommend.” The pattern of results for the “Recommend” button differed across two issues. The results suggest that political comments can trigger stereotypical reactions. Although the “Like” button is well known, news organizations interested in promoting less partisan behaviors should consider using a “Respect” button rather than the “Like” or “Recommend” button in comment sections.

Storying the digital professional: how online screening shifts the primary site and authorship of workers’ career stories

ABSTRACT Employers’ use of online information increases the communicative demands and complexity of employability. For employers, gathering online information for personnel selection—a process called cybervetting—supplements or augments existing information acquisition processes. For workers, cybervetting’s extractive processes require considering potential and possible career stories employers might construct. Workers increasingly need to engage in prospective and retrospective storying to communicate and maintain employability and employment. Drawing on exemplars from employers’ reports, this essay highlights: (a) how employers report assembling and making sense of workers’ information during personnel selection; (b) the limitations of existing employability strategies; as well as (c) the increased and unequally distributed uncertainty and risk; and (d) the associated and different work expected of workers as the primary site and authorship of career stories shift.

Talk This Way: The Ubiquitous Presidency and Expectations of Presidential Communication

The American presidency is evolving, and with it public expectations of how often and where the president should communicate. The rhetorical presidency, characterized by inclusive public appeals broadcast in a few media venues, has transitioned to a ubiquitous presidency wherein accessible, personal, and pluralistic communications are the norm. Despite these changes in communication style at the presidential level, scholars have yet to document formally how individuals’ expectations might be changing accordingly. Specifically, what do individuals expect of the frequency of and venues for presidential communication? We investigate established and emergent expectations of presidential communication via a field survey completed in the lead up to the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. The findings indicate that while expectations of presidential communication are shifting with executive behavior, beliefs remain moored to foundational notions of the informational, transparent, and dignified presidency. These shifts have democratic repercussions for the institutional presidency and for citizens.

The influence of online quizzes on the acquisition of public affairs knowledge

ABSTRACT Drawing from a “mix of attributes” approach, this study analyzes whether interactive online news quizzes engage site visitors and help individuals acquire news knowledge. Results of a nationwide experiment (n = 456) indicate that online quizzes, whether using a multiple-choice or slider format, help citizens acquire public affairs knowledge and lead them to spend more time with public affairs information relative to presenting information without a quiz. Two field tests show that news site visitors engage with slider and multiple-choice quizzes at similar rates, and engage more and for longer amounts of time if two different interactive quiz formats are available on a Web page.

Presidential Communication in Tumultuous Times: Insights into Key Shifts, Normative Implications, and Research Opportunities

ABSTRACT Scholars have long been interested in the communication of America’s chief executive, but the context in which that communication takes place has undergone dramatic changes over the past several decades. Given this, the present review aims to provide a foundation for new thinking about presidential communication in the contemporary environment. We attend to presidential communication in transition—to the uncertain paths that scholars have walked as they have sought to make sense of executive communication practices in a time of dramatic change. Building from this review, we explore the normative implications for American democracy of this evolving context. We conclude by suggesting new intradisciplinary avenues for future research on presidential communication.

The Deliberative Influence of Comment Section Structure

Online news comment sections are a ubiquitous presence across media outlets. Although research has assessed both the content and effects of these comment spaces, little is known about how the structure of comment spaces influences news users’ online commentary. As democratic theorists argue, the structure of a communicative space can influence its deliberative quality. We conducted two separate experiments to determine how news comment section structure affects online commentary. We found that both comment section structure and the structure of pre-comment information enhanced both the quantity of comment engagement and its deliberative quality.