Ruth Avidar

Information, Interactivity, and Social Media

The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual theoretical framework to the term “social” in a social media context. This is done by exploring the relationship between three central terms in a social media environment: information, interactivity, and sociability. We suggest a model that describes the relations between these terms in a social media context. As the model suggests, information is the basic unit of a communication process, but social media users are the ones that decide whether and how much information to share, and when and whether to comment on a social media platform. Hence, not solely the technological features of a platform determine its level of interactivity and sociability, but the actual performances of its users.

Fighting, worrying and sharing: Operation ‘Protective Edge’ as the first WhatsApp war:

This study looks at the roles that WhatsApp, the popular smartphone application, played in the lives of Israeli citizens, who were exposed to war menaces during July 2014. During the war, WhatsApp became the subject of public, media, and political discourse, especially within the context of disseminating information related to combat – ‘authentic’ news items (before they were published in the media) alongside rumors that were devoid of factual basis. Research questions focused on the ways in which citizens used the application, the attributed effects of that usage on their lives, and the possible connections between proximity of residence to combat areas, patterns of usage, and perceived implications. Data are based on a representative survey of 500 Israeli citizens aged 16–75, all of whom are smartphone users (maximum sample error 4.5%). The survey was conducted during the third week of the military operation ‘Protective Edge’, which took place between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014. The authors’ findings suggest that WhatsApp played a central multi-functional role in the lives of its users during the wartime, functioning as a mass as well as interpersonal communication channel. Participants used the application on a daily basis for various purposes: getting news and updates regarding the war; checking on their loved ones; delivering humorous satirical messages; spreading war-related rumors; and helping to promote voluntary aid initiations. Users expressed their beliefs that the application enabled them to stay updated and ‘in the know’, helped them calm down, and deepened their communal and national sentiments. While findings regarding WhatsApp and similar applications usages have been collected for the last few years, this research exposes its centrality under extreme circumstances. Further on, this work suggests that WhatsApp may be thought of as a unique combination of mass and interpersonal communication channels.

Israeli public relations and the Internet

This paper explores Israeli online public relations practice, including Web 1.0, and social media usage among Israeli public relations practitioners and organizations. The paper demonstrates a gap between the dialogic potential of the Internet and its actual utilization by Israeli practitioners and organizations. Still, it is expected that Internet usage, and mainly social media usage among Israeli practitioners will grow as well as their awareness to the dialogic and interactive potential of social media.

Smartphone usage among young Israeli adults: a combined quantitative and qualitative approach

Abstract The aim of this article is to map smartphone usage among young Israeli adults. Data were gathered using a combined methodological approach, comprising a representative survey of 550 young Israeli adults (21–31 years old), followed by interviews with 60 undergraduate students. Five functions of gratification clusters were analysed. The highest gratification function was the integrative, followed by the cognitive, diversion, emotional, and environmental functions. Our findings indicate that cognition- and interaction-related applications, not stimulation- or escapism-related applications, are the primary characteristics of smartphone usage.

Trends in public and media agenda-setting during the 2015 Israeli elections

Abstract The emergence of new media, primarily social networks, raises questions about the interactions at play between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media in terms of the media and the public agendas. This topic is particularly relevant during elections. By analysing news from three Israeli television channels and using an online monitoring system to analyse user discourse over six weeks preceding Election Day, this article seeks to trace the shaping processes of the media agenda and public agenda along the axes of ‘new media/old media’ and ‘free user discourse/professional media discourse’.