Most systems can be represented as networks that couple a series of nodes to each other via one or more edges, with typically unknown equations governing their quantitative behaviour. A major question then pertains to the importance of each of the elements that act as system inputs in determining the output(s). We show that any such system can be treated as a 'communication channel' for which t...

This article describes the theory of parental mediation, which has evolved to consider how parents utilize interpersonal communication to mitigate the negative effects that they believe communication media have on their children. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this theory as employed in the sociopsychologically rooted media effects literature as well as sociocultural ethnographic res...

The study of mass communications is a broad, multidisciplinary field to which sociology has made major contributions. Some of these contributions have been reviewed in earlier works by Riley & Riley (1959), Larsen (1964), Janowitz (1968), McQuail (1969), Davison & Yu (1974), & Ball-Rokeach (1975), and Wright (1975a). Several chapters in Annual Review of Psychology, although not explicitly socio...

Media range from entertainment to news media, spanning traditional or mass media such as television, films, books, flyers, newspapers, magazines, and radio, as well as new media such as the Internet in general, Web 2.0, and social media. Traditional media rely on one-to-many (often monodirectional) communications and are sometimes referred to as “mass media,” whereas new or social media involve...

Due to the increasing demand of various internet applications such as voice over IP (VOIP), audio conferencing etc. it is required that the data is transmitted in a more secure and robust manner. Direct transmission of data over the communication channel is not secure as it can be easily manipulated and is prone to interception by eavesdroppers. So as an attractive solution to these issues, var...

Relationship marketing suggests a need to better understand and more actively involve consumers in the marketing process. This is especially the case with the Internet channel, because of its unique capability for two-v\/ay communication compared with traditional mass media. Existing research, however, has paid limited attention to consumers' general tendency to engage in online interaction. Th...

Social media has deeply penetrated workplace, which has affected multiple aspects of employees’ lives. This paper aims to investigate the influence of social media on employees’ work performance and the underlying mechanism for how they create value at work. Based on media synchronicity and social capital theories, we propose that social media can promote work performance by stimulating trust a...