Social Sciences

Abstract: This article examines how Spanish rural cinema functions as a media dispositif — understood, following the Foucauldian concept as operationalised in media studies, as an apparatus of heterogeneous practices, discourses and institutional arrangements that produces and governs representations — for the construction and circulation of territorial imaginaries, thereby participating in the media ecosystem of public debates on depopulation, migration and multicultural coexistence. Through a diachronic and sociodemographic comparison of La piel quemada (Josep Maria Forn, 1967) and Suro (Mikel Gurrea, 2022) — two feature films set in the province of Girona (Catalonia, Spain) but separated by 55 years and opposing migratory pressures — the study analyses how audiovisual fiction produces, challenges and renegotiates the dominant sociodemographic imaginaries of two distinct historical conjunctures: the developmentalist boom of late Francoism and the neo-rural turn of the early twenty-first century. A qualitative chronotopic methodology is applied to 18 systematically selected sequences from both films, organised around three contextualising axes (historical, territorial, sociodemographic). The central original contribution is the concept of the media-geographic diptych as an instrument for diachronic comparative analysis of rural cinema as a media form. Secondary contributions include evidence of the structural continuity of xenophobia in the rural territorial media discourse of Girona over five decades and a theoretical proposal on cinematic multilingualism as an undertheorised territorial media practice. The discussion situates these findings within current debates on rural cosmopolitanism, overtourism and the media construction of la España vaciada, and offers preliminary evidence that audiovisual fiction occupies a differentiated position in the media ecology of territorial public discourse that merits systematic attention in future studies.

Abstract: International communication scholarship has undergone a paradigmatic reorientation since 2000, yet the field’s conceptual repertoire has expanded more rapidly than it has been theoretically integrated. This systematic literature review interrogates that fragmentation by mapping the trajectory of the field across the period 2000–2026 and assessing the extent to which its proliferating frameworks—cultural imperialism, hybridization, network society, platform imperialism, data colonialism, computational propaganda, sharp power, and algorithmic governance—constitute cumulative theoretical advancement or analytically incommensurable parallel vocabularies. Following PRISMA 2020 procedures (Page et al., 2021) and a thematic synthesis design (Thomas & Harden, 2008), the review consolidates peer-reviewed scholarship across seven major communication databases into seven thematic clusters: cultural globalization and media flows; comparative journalism and cross-national media systems; de-Westernization and decolonial currents; platformization, digital sovereignty, and media infrastructures; disinformation, computational propaganda, and information disorder; soft power, public diplomacy, and affective strategic communication; and the integration of generative artificial intelligence into transnational communication. Three theoretical findings emerge. First, the apparent succession of paradigms from broadcast-era to platform-era frameworks is better understood as conceptual layering, in which power-asymmetric models persist in modified form rather than being displaced by network-based alternatives. Second, the field’s longstanding tension between structural and agentic accounts has been reconfigured—but not resolved—by the platform turn, with infrastructural analysis emerging as a potential synthesizing register (Parks & Starosielski, 2015; Plantin & Punathambekar, 2019). Third, the persistent disjuncture between the field’s de-Westernization commitments and its bibliometric realities (Demeter, 2020) is theoretically consequential, indicating that epistemic asymmetries function not as residual artifacts but as constitutive features of contemporary international communication knowledge production. A seventh identified gap—the under-theorization of affective dimensions of international communication—extends the review’s analytic horizon to include emergent comparative work on emotion, civilizational rhetoric, and cross-border public engagement (Çelik, 2025; Hameleers & Garnier Ortiz, 2024; Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019). The review proposes a future research agenda centered on epistemic pluralism, methodological diversification, infrastructural and material analysis, and sustained engagement with planetary-scale technological change.

Abstract: As the information environment evolves, social media has become the primary channel through which the public accesses and shares information, and perceived credibility has emerged as a critical influence on how users evaluate the credibility of information. Existing research suggests that heuristic credibility cues can enhance users’ perceived credibility, yet the findings remain inconsistent. Consequently, it is necessary for researchers to systematically examine whether heuristic credibility cues can effectively enhance perceived credibility. This study employed a meta-analysis to analyse 18 studies meeting the selection criteria, involving a total sample size of 14,188 participants. The aim was to assess the overall effect of social media heuristic credibility cues on perceived credibility and to explore the influence of potential moderating mechanisms on perceived credibility. The results indicate that manipulating source cues and social cues which serve as heuristic credibility cues on social media significantly increased perceived credibility (g = 0.307, p = 0.000). Effect sizes varied across moderating variables such as the type of heuristic credibility cue, participant type, method of measuring perceived credibility, experimental design, sample size, and year of publication. Among these, the type of heuristic cue and participant type as significant moderators, specifically, authoritative sources were more effective than other types of information sources in enhancing perceived credibility; the impact of different types of social cues on perceived credibility was also significant to varying degrees. Furthermore, student groups were more susceptible to the influence of heuristic credibility cues than non-student groups. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights for the design of information dissemination and the construction of perceived credibility on social media. It should be noted that, given the limited number of studies included in this meta-analysis and the restricted range of moderator variables, the above conclusions require further empirical research to be tested and confirmed.

Abstract: This study presents a comprehensive qualitative synthesis and critical analysis of how foundational mass communication theories have been transformed across the digital media age, spanning the period from 2000 to 2025. Drawing on a systematic integrative review of 23 scholarly manuscripts that collectively engage more than 600 peer-reviewed sources, the investigation examines how ten canonical theories—Agenda Setting, Cultivation, Framing, the Two-Step Flow of Communication, the Spiral of Silence, Uses and Gratifications, Media Dependency, Gatekeeping, Diffusion of Innovation, and Technological Determinism—have evolved, converged, and been reconceptualized in response to the affordances and constraints of digital platforms, algorithmic mediation, and networked communication environments. Employing reflexive thematic analysis grounded in a critical-realist epistemology, the study identifies five overarching meta-themes: (a) the emergence of algorithmic agency as a structural force reshaping every theoretical paradigm; (b) the dialectical tension between expanded user agency and platform-imposed constraint; (c) the increasing platform specificity of communication effects; (d) the convergence and theoretical integration of formerly discrete paradigms; and (e) persistent global inequities in digital communication power structures. The findings indicate that although the core premises of classical theories retain explanatory value, their operative mechanisms, boundary conditions, and societal implications have undergone fundamental transformation. To capture this transformation, the study advances an integrative framework—the Algorithmic Communication Ecology Model (ACEM) that synthesizes insights across all ten theories to account for the recursive, multidirectional, and structurally mediated character of contemporary communication. Significant research gaps are identified, including the scarcity of longitudinal and cross-cultural scholarship, the limited investigation of emergent technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and immersive virtual environments, and the need for methodological innovation that couples computational scales with interpretive depth. The manuscript contributes to communication scholarship by offering a unified analytical lens for understanding how digital transformation has simultaneously preserved, disrupted, and reconstituted the theoretical foundations of the field.

Abstract: This integrative review traces the evolution of journalism in Saudi Arabia from its origins in early state communication to a contemporary, digitally networked media ecosystem. Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarships, official documentation, and verifiable industry data, the study situates the Kingdom’s media transformation within the wider programme of socio-economic reform associated with Vision 2030 and interrogates the interaction among regulatory governance, cultural continuity, economic diversification, and technological innovation. Using Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) integrative method and a comparative media-systems lens (Hallin & Mancini, 2004, 2012), the analysis synthesises historical milestones, current connectivity indicators, and market estimates, and it corrects several errors that recur in secondary accounts—most notably the dating of the first radio (1949) and television (1965) services and the institutional lineage of contemporary media regulation. By January 2025, internet and social-media penetration had reached approximately 99% of the population (Kemp, 2025), reshaping production, distribution, and consumption of news, while female labour-force participation rose from 23.2% in 2016 to roughly 35% by 2023, surpassing the Vision 2030 target ahead of schedule (World Bank, 2026). The findings describe a model of managed modernisation in which media reform is deliberately sequenced to align with national development while preserving social cohesion. The review contributes to scholarship on media development in non-Western contexts and offers evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, media organisations, educators, technology developers, and international partners.

Abstract: Academic discourse on artificial intelligence (AI) philosophy is produced pre-dominantly within elite institutional settings, leaving the global public’s philosophical en-gagement patterns empirically underexplored. This exploratory observational study ana-lyzes a closed 38-day behavioral analytics corpus from Human Error, a YouTube Shorts channel releasing 351 serialized philosophical episodes across 12 thematic series (16 April–23 May 2026; Nviews = 11,634; nunique viewers = 1,514; 13 countries). Per-episode YouTube Studio analytics were integrated with two-coder thematic title classification (κ > 0.81) and national-level contextual variables. Five exploratory, descriptive findings emerge. First, episodes addressing biological embodiment and grief were associated with higher aver-age views than those addressing consciousness and identity themes (series means: 366.3 vs. 43.2 views per episode, respectively); this descriptive contrast should not be interpreted causally. Second, the 38-day audience distributed across three generational cohorts—13–17 years (10.9%), 25–34 years (58.2%), 35–44 years (30.9%)—with the 25–34 cohort appearing at approximately 2.7 times the YouTube global baseline. Third, behavioral engagement was recorded organically across 13 countries, including unexpected presence from Malaysia and Bangladesh, providing preliminary evidence that challenges a narrow Western-only interpretation of interest in AI irreducibility discourse. Fourth, direct philosophical claims in episode titles were associated with substantially higher average views (M = 237) com-pared with urgency-coded titles (M = 31). Fifth, adults aged 45+ registered no measurable engagement in either analytical window; the Thumb Exclusion Cascade (TEC) is proposed as a plausible theoretical hypothesis for this pattern pending future empirical validation. Three constructs are introduced as analytical tools for future research: the Impression-to-View Conversion Ratio (IVCR), the Completion Surplus Index (CSI), and the Thumb Exclusion Cascade (TEC). All findings are interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating; the observational design does not support causal inference.

Abstract: The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithmic governance, and digital platform infrastructures has fundamentally transformed communication systems, public participation, and information accessibility across technologically advanced societies. In Japan, the emergence of a platform-centered digital environment has intensified debates surrounding media governance, digital citizenship, data ethics, and communication inequality, particularly among socially vulnerable populations. Despite Japan’s global reputation for technological innovation and smart society initiatives, significant disparities remain in terms of digital inclusion, algorithmic fairness, accessibility, and participatory communication. Vulnerable citizens—including elderly populations, migrant workers, and women subjected to online harassment, persons with disabilities, and socially isolated youth— frequently encounter structural barriers within AI-mediated communication ecosystems. These challenges raise critical concerns regarding media policy adequacy, platform accountability, and democratic communication rights in contemporary Japanese society.This study critically examines the interrelationship between AI-driven digital platforms, vulnerable citizens, and emerging media policy concerns in Japan. Drawing upon theories of platform society, surveillance capitalism, digital citizenship, and social vulnerability, the article explores how algorithmic systems reproduce communication inequalities and reinforce forms of digital exclusion within everyday media environments. The research adopts a qualitative interpretative methodology using critical discourse analysis and policy analysis to examine Japanese media governance documents, AI ethical guidelines, digital platform regulations, governmental reports, and public communication frameworks. The study further incorporates interdisciplinary perspectives from communication studies, political economy of media, digital sociology, and technology governance.The findings indicate that while Japan has advanced significantly in technological modernization and AI integration, media policy frameworks remain fragmented and insufficiently responsive to the needs of vulnerable communities. Algorithmic visibility inequalities, multilingual accessibility limitations, digital literacy gaps among elderly citizens, AI-assisted discriminatory moderation systems, and unequal access to digital public services contribute to new forms of communication precarity. The study also demonstrates that platform governance structures frequently prioritize technological efficiency and data-driven optimization over communication justice, inclusivity, and democratic participation. Moreover, AI-based communication systems in disaster management, smart city governance, and automated information dissemination often fail to adequately address the socio-cultural realities of marginalized populations.The article argues that vulnerability in contemporary Japan must be understood not merely as an economic or social condition, but increasingly as an algorithmically mediated and platform-produced phenomenon. Consequently, existing media policy paradigms require substantial transformation toward more inclusive, rights-based, and ethically accountable governance frameworks. The study proposes policy recommendations emphasizing transparent algorithmic governance, accessibility-centered platform regulation, multilingual digital communication policies, AI literacy initiatives, and strengthened public service media infrastructures.By situating Japan within broader global discussions on AI governance and digital inequality, this research contributes to emerging scholarship on media policy and vulnerable populations in platform societies. The article advances theoretical debates concerning communication rights, digital citizenship, and algorithmic power while offering policy-oriented insights applicable to technologically advanced democracies confronting the social consequences of AI-mediated communication systems.

Abstract: Comparative research on digital social influence and sustainable food consumption has grown substantially; however, most transnational studies do not verify measurement invariance nor assess whether observed structural differences reflect genuine cultural variation or measurement artifacts. This study addresses this gap by applying the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) model to examine whether Social Media Content (SMC) and Online Member Group Support (OMGS) influence Organic Product Purchasing Behavior (OPPB) through Environmental Attitude (EA) and Subjective Norms (SN) in Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. A cross-sectional quantitative design was implemented with 809 organic consumers, analyzed using PLS-SEM in two stages: assessment of compositional invariance via the MICOM procedure and multigroup analysis (MGA) based on permutations. Full compositional invariance was confirmed across the three national groups, validating transnational structural comparability. The SOR model held consistently, with EA emerging as a stable predictor of OPPB. Significant structural differences were identified: the SMC→SN path was significantly stronger in Chile (β = .671 vs. β = .558 in Peru; p <.01), whereas the OMGS→EA path was stronger in Peru (β = .284 vs. β = .211 in Chile; p < .05). These findings underscore the need to formally verify invariance before drawing transnational conclusions and highlight the cultural contingency of sustainable digital marketing strategies in Andean emerging markets.

Abstract: The connectivity paradox of contemporary platforms — unprecedented technical connectivity alongside rising loneliness, passivity, and erosion of deliberative public space — has been diagnosed as a problem of attention, design, or scale. We argue it is a symptom of a more fundamental shift: the architectural removal of the human social other from communicative circuits. This paper introduces directionality as a formal variable that captures the presence, absence, and configuration of the human other, and traces its variation from bidirectional social graphs through unidirectional interest graphs to Zero-Directionality, where the user interacts with a synthetic partner alone. Drawing on Luhmann’s social systems theory, Simmel’s analysis of dyadic and triadic forms, and the Latour–Verbeek tradition of technological mediation, we show that zero-directionality is a structural threshold rather than a point on a continuum. When the human other is removed, the Luhmannian third selection collapses, the Simmelian dyad faces a binary choice, and the social form bifurcates into two divergent trajectories. In the Inverted Loop (−1SC), the machine absorbs the structural position of the other, the user becomes operand in a self-referential circuit, and agency contracts from authorial to inhibitory. In the Triadic Mesh (3SC), AI mediates between humans rather than replacing them, preserving human connection while transforming its operation. We propose three diagnostic tests: Adaptation Loop, Agency Topology, Bounding Variable. These tests determine which regime a given system instantiates, and apply them across major consumer platforms. The framework reframes contemporary debates about AI and democracy, autonomy, and the right to the future tense as questions about which directionality regime a given AI-mediated environment instantiates — a question of design, not destiny.

Abstract: This integrative review examines the theoretical evolution and empirical applications of three interconnected media dependency frameworks: the foundational Uses and Dependency Model, Internet Use and Dependency adaptations, and the New Media Uses and Dependency Effect Model. Drawing on 30 peer-reviewed studies spanning five decades, the review traces how dependency theory has evolved from explaining mass media effects in centralized broadcast systems to accounting for interactive, ubiquitous, and habitual digital media use. The foundational model established that media effects emerge from goal-directed dependency relations embedded in tripartite audience–media–society relationships, with understanding, orientation, and play as primary audience goals. Internet adaptations extended these principles to digital affordances—interactivity, comprehensiveness, and perpetual availability—while shifting the unit of analysis from media systems to specific platforms.The New Media Uses and Dependency Effect Model further refined causal mechanisms by integrating habitual use as a precursor to dependency and specifying mediation pathways linking habit to cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes through dependency intensity. This review synthesizes theoretical continuities, identifies key innovations across models, presents comparative analyses, and discusses empirical evidence, critical limitations, and future research directions. The analysis demonstrates that while all three frameworks retain the core logic of goal-oriented dependency, they progressively incorporate finer-grained mechanisms—platform attributes, perceived utility, and habitual patterns—that enable more precise operationalization and testing in contemporary digital environments.

Abstract: Climate change poses existential threats to rural agrarian communities across the Global South, necessitating deeper understanding of how climate communication correlates with adaptive capacity. This study explores associations between perceptions of radio message framing and cognitive-affective pathways among rural Ghanaian farmers. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the study collected data from 384 smallholder farmers in coastal Ghana's Ada East District who reported their exposure to different types of radio messaging, threat appraisal, self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and adaptation intentions. The data was analysed using PLS-SEM to examine correlational patterns among these variables. The findings reveal patterns that differ from predictions of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) in high-vulnerability contexts. Perceived exposure to threat-focused frames showed strong positive associations with adaptation intentions through both direct relationships and positive correlations with self-efficacy patterns; this study termed it the "productive fear association." This finding contradicts EPPM's prediction that threat messages without explicit efficacy-building content reduce self-efficacy. The study hypothesise this correlational pattern may reflect experiential validation processes, whereby messages acknowledging farmers' lived climate realities may resonate differently than messages introducing novel threats. Perceived exposure to culturally narrated frames showed no significant associations with any outcomes, and collective efficacy did not moderate intention formation pathways. This study proposes the "Authenticity Primacy hypothesis", a tentative framework suggesting that perceived message resonance with lived experience may be more strongly associated with adaptation intentions than abstract framing taxonomies.

Abstract: Humor and media effects research have a long history together, but there have been few broad-based reviews of that research. A review of 34 experimental research studies was undertaken. Though two-thirds of the studies were guided by theory, only around 21% included a humor theory. Humor was often operationalized using traditional media content, with the humor itself being disparaging humor or satire. Using some measure of humor as a manipulation check was common. However, few studies assessed positive emotion as a response to the humor content at post-exposure. A majority of studies assessed perceived funniness of humor content. Attitudinal and affective outcomes were used frequently, and moderation was included more frequently than mediation. The discussion highlights avenues for greater integration of these research areas.

Abstract: The traditional assumption that formal journalism education is a prerequisite for practicing journalism has increasingly been challenged in the contemporary media environment. Historically, many influential journalists entered the profession without formal academic training in journalism, relying instead on diverse intellectual backgrounds, experiential learning, and multidisciplinary knowledge. This study explores the argument that journalism is fundamentally a knowledge-driven profession rather than a degree-dependent one. Drawing upon historical analysis, professional case studies, and theoretical insights from communication studies, knowledge sociology, and media professionalization theory, the article examines whether journalism education is essential for journalistic practice or whether multidimensional knowledge—including political, economic, technological, cultural, and ethical literacy—is the more critical requirement.The article situates journalism within broader debates about professionalization, epistemic authority, and the transformation of media institutions in the digital era. It argues that journalism education contributes valuable methodological and ethical frameworks; however, the profession itself historically evolved from individuals possessing wide-ranging knowledge rather than narrow vocational training. In the digital age, journalists increasingly operate at the intersection of multiple disciplines such as data science, international relations, sociology, environmental studies, and digital technologies. Consequently, multidimensional knowledge and intellectual curiosity may provide stronger foundations for journalistic excellence than formal training alone.Using qualitative historical review and comparative analysis of global media systems, the study evaluates the career trajectories of prominent journalists and analyzes how interdisciplinary knowledge shapes journalistic credibility, investigative capacity, and interpretive reporting. The findings suggest that journalism education should not be viewed as a gatekeeping requirement but rather as one of several pathways into the profession. The article proposes a reconceptualization of journalism education that prioritizes interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition, critical thinking, and epistemic diversity rather than purely technical training.This research contributes to ongoing debates on journalism professionalization, media education reform, and the evolving epistemology of news production. The study concludes that the future of journalism lies not in strict academic credentialism but in the cultivation of multidimensional knowledge ecosystems capable of addressing complex global realities.

Abstract: The parallel evolution of gatekeeping and agenda-setting theory constitutes one of the most consequential intellectual trajectories in communication studies, yet the two traditions have developed largely in isolation from one another despite their deep functional interdependence. This paper undertakes a critical, integrative review of both theoretical traditions across the period 2000 to 2025, a quarter-century defined by the migration of public discourse from institutionally controlled media environments to algorithmically mediated digital platforms. Drawing on a structured synthesis of peer-reviewed scholarship, the paper traces the transformation of gatekeeping from a process enacted by identifiable human decision-makers within institutional hierarchies to a distributed, computationally governed phenomenon in which algorithms, platform architectures, and user behaviors collectively determine the visibility of information.Simultaneously, it examines the reconfiguration of agenda-setting from a linear transfer of salience between media institutions and mass publics to a recursive, networked process shaped by personalization technologies, platform-specific affordances, and the fragmentation of formerly unified audiences into algorithmically constituted micro-publics. The paper introduces the concept of "salience agency" as an integrative meta-theoretical framework capable of capturing the convergence of gatekeeping and agenda-setting within contemporary communication systems. It argues that the algorithmic mediation of information visibility represents not merely a technological augmentation of existing communicative processes but a structural transformation that demands new theoretical vocabularies, new empirical methodologies, and new normative commitments. Implications for communication scholarship, media management, regulatory policy, and democratic governance are discussed, and priorities for future research are identified.

Abstract: This comprehensive literature review examines the evolution of the Spiral of Silence Theory from 2005 to 2025, a period marked by the transformative impact of digital communication technologies on public discourse. Originally conceptualized by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1974, the theory posits that individuals' fear of isolation leads them to silence their opinions when they perceive themselves to be in the minority. This review synthesizes two decades of scholarship investigating how the theory operates in digital contexts, revealing both its continued relevance and fundamental challenges to its core assumptions. The analysis explores theoretical foundations, methodological innovations, platform-specific manifestations, cross-cultural perspectives, algorithmic influences, political polarization effects, psychological mechanisms, and implications for democratic discourse. Key findings indicate that digital environments have created qualitatively different spiral of silence phenomena characterized by algorithmic curation, fragmented public spheres, multiple simultaneous opinion climates, and complex patterns of selective expression across platforms.The review identifies how perceived anonymity, platform affordances, echo chambers, and surveillance concerns reshape traditional spiral of silence dynamics. Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchain-based networks present new frontiers for spiral of silence research. The analysis reveals implications for democratic deliberation, including the systematic exclusion of marginalized voices, degradation of argumentative quality, and decreased civic engagement. However, it also identifies potential mitigation strategies through platform design, moderation practices, and educational interventions. The review concludes by outlining critical methodological challenges and future research directions necessary for understanding opinion expression and suppression in increasingly mediated societies.

Abstract: Proposed is a soft systems model of how grey zone military and cyber operations interact with coupled traditional and social media to condition alliance instability. Focusing on the media-mediated translation of physical signaling and digital narratives, the model shows how recursive feedback can stabilize interpretations of ambiguous events without persuasion, coercion, or attribution. Considering Greenland as an illustrative case, the framework highlights how localized epistemic instability within a single member state can propagate across NATO through horizontally coupled policy–media networks. The analysis highlights alliance vulnerability driven by mediated salience and performative discourse rather than force, and identifies key interfaces requiring further interdisciplinary investigation.

Abstract: This study investigates how immersive journalism delivered through virtual reality can shape audience attitudes toward refugees by activating affective and cognitive mechanisms associated with behavioral response. Drawing on two focus group sessions with sixteen participants in Northern Cyprus, the research compares the empathetic engagement and evaluative shifts generated by a 360 degree VR documentary with those produced through a traditional 2D viewing format. Participants who experienced the content in VR reported a heightened sense of presence, emotional proximity, and perspective taking, which corresponded with a positive change in their views toward refugees. In contrast, those who watched the same content in 2D expressed emotional discomfort yet demonstrated no notable attitudinal change, suggesting that non-immersive viewing maintains psychological distancing and reinforces pre existing beliefs. The findings indicate that immersive journalism can operate as a technological catalyst for short-term attitudinal reorientation in politically sensitive contexts, particularly by eliciting embodied emotional responses that traditional formats struggle to generate. Although the study is limited by its small sample size and reliance on self reported reflections, it contributes to the growing body of evidence that immersive media hold behavioral and perceptual relevance for journalism practice, audience engagement, and the broader public understanding of marginalized populations.

Abstract:

For over 50 years, Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory has been a cornerstone of understanding how new ideas and technologies spread through social systems. The period of 2000-2025 has ushered in an unprecedented revolution in communication brought about by the explosion of digital media, the emergence of social networking platforms, and the proliferation of mobile connectivity, which has fundamentally altered our human communications, social systems, and behaviors. This critical literature review investigates how DOI theory has been applied, adapted, and remains relevant in the digital media age. This paper utilizes a systematic review method to collect academic literature published in this time frame while synthesizing how the basic constructs of DOI theory—such as adopter categories, innovation attributes, communication channels, and the S-shaped adoption curve—have been developed, amended, or referenced. While DOI theory's tenets are surprisingly resilient, the digital media age has shifted dynamics and introduced substantial theoretical modifications. Digital platforms have collapsed distinctions between mass and interpersonal communication, diffusion processes have rapidly increased adoption, and network effects have increased social influence's role in adoption decisions. The rise of the digital influence altered what it means to be an opinion leader, and the algorithmic curation of content can even represent a robust non-human actor in generating diffusion. This review also identifies some critical limitations of the classic DOI model relating to the digital divide, complexities of information overload, and adoption dynamics associated with purely digital innovations, such as cryptocurrencies and AI/predictive services. Additionally, this review revealed some key gaps in the respective literature establishing the relationship between algorithmic influence and human social networks, and the long-term societal implications of algorithmically driven diffusion. This review concludes that although DOI theory is useful, it needs to be combined with network theory, technology acceptance models, and critical media studies to better grasp innovation diffusion today.

Abstract: This paper extends Cultivation Theory—a theoretical framework developed by George Gerbner to explain television's influence on social perception—to the medium of filmmaking. Cultivation Theory proposes that prolonged, cumulative exposure to media narratives shapes audiences' perceptions of social reality. While television has dominated cultivation research, this analysis applies the theory's core principles to cinema's unique characteristics, including concentrated narrative structures, immersive experiences, and global cultural reach. Employing qualitative discourse analysis of filmmaking practices and narrative forms, this paper examines how cinema contributes to shaping social beliefs and attitudes regarding crime, cultural norms, and social reality.The analysis addresses how filmmaking operates within an evolving digital environment characterized by streaming platforms and algorithmic curation, while also examining the interplay between filmmaker intentionality and audience interpretation. This paper concludes that filmmaking represents a significant yet underexplored mechanism for cultivating social perceptions, with substantial implications for understanding how individuals and communities construct their worldviews in contemporary media environments. Based on these findings, the paper offers comprehensive recommendations for future research directions that address methodological innovations, cross-cultural investigations, and emerging technological contexts.

Abstract: The proliferation of short-form social media content, particularly reels on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels, has transformed digital media consumption patterns among children globally. In Bangladesh, where smartphone penetration is rapidly increasing, children under 10 are increasingly exposed to high-intensity visual content, yet empirical evidence on its psychological impact remains scarce. This study investigates the association between reel exposure and mental health outcomes—specifically attention problems, emotional dysregulation, behavioral imitation, and dependency-like use patterns—among children aged 4–9 years in urban and semi-urban Bangladesh. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey design (n = 412) and structural equation modeling (SEM), the study also examines the moderating roles of parental mediation and socio-cultural context. Results indicate that higher reel exposure is significantly associated with increased attention deficits (β = 0.41, p < .001), emotional dysregulation (β = 0.36, p < .001), behavioral imitation (β = 0.29, p < .01), and dependency-like behaviors (β = 0.44, p < .001). Parental mediation significantly attenuated these negative effects across all outcomes, while socio-cultural context provided partial protective moderation. Multi-group analyses reveal that younger children (4–6 years) are more vulnerable to reel-induced cognitive and emotional challenges than older children are (7–9 years). These findings highlight developmental vulnerability, the role of the family microsystem, and contextual influences on digital media effects. Policy implications include the development of age-appropriate digital guidelines, parental training, school-based interventions, and platform-level content management, tailored to the Bangladeshi context. The study contributes to theoretical understanding by integrating Developmental Cognitive, Social Cognitive, Attention Economy, and Ecological Systems perspectives, offering a framework for research and policy in low- and middle-income countries experiencing rapid digital transformation.