Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Essay about The Negative Effect of Television on American...

During the 20th century, the literacy rate in America has begun to fall at an alarming rate. A factor contributing to the problems in the literacy rate includes children’s exposure to television which has resulted in a shortened attention span during other activities. Today, children are less active because of technology such as television and video gaming and, as a result more children are suffering from obesity. Television has been in American Society since 1920’s and has gradually been spreading around the world. Television is like a drug in American Society, it is addictive to all ages including children. It has the most effect on children that are young and do not know anything about television. As children grow older they focus†¦show more content†¦This is going to later show up in their life either by having to wear glasses or become obese. It’s going to show up as being obese in their life because as children watch TV they forget everything going around them and will be absorbed in TV. Children will soon withdraw from playing sport and to watching sports because it’s easier for them and takes less effort. Although, television has many consisting of shows with violence and swearing it also has shows that can be education for young children, which may help them in the future. Now a day on television there is too much violence on TV that is causing children to imitate violence from Television into reality. â€Å"The National Institute on Media and the Family says that young children are more vulnerable than adults to media violence because they are more impressionable, have more difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality, and learn by observing and imitating.† (Nakaya, SIRS) Due to the lack of understanding reality and fantasy children try to do what they see on TV which will sometimes lead to a problem in the early on a child’s life because they imitate what they like in TV and don’t comprehend that the principles between reality and fantasy aren’t the same. As a result of this children will soon make their own decisions about what is right and what is wrong based on what they see through television. Children will soon differentiate between good and bad on their principle and will notShow MoreRelated The Effects Of Television Essay784 Words   |  4 PagesThe television has been commercially ava ilable in America since the 1930’s. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. In a sixty-five year lifespan, that person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. This constant attention to programming can cause positive and negative effects. The negative effects on an average American family can be explained psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Television affects the psyche of childrenRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Television1297 Words   |  6 PagesTelevision has been a means of entertainment, a way to learn new things, a means in which people can explore the world, and learn about other cultures for many years. Children watch television approximately three to four hours a day on average. By their teenage years, they will have watched more television than their time spent in school. The content watched and the excessive time spent in front a TV during early childhood can prove to have negative effects later in their lives. There has to be aRead MoreTelevision Is An Essential Means Of Socialization1258 Words   |  6 PagesThe evolution of television, since it was first discovered in 1927, has undoubtedly changed the principal ways of entertainment, and receiving information. The television, when first discovered, covered only a couple programs like sports and news, with very poor quality. Current day and age, television covers thousands of programs with 3D and hi-definition television pictures with screens as big as 75 inches. Television is an essential means of socialization. If used appropriately, it brings familiesRead MoreThe Effects Of Television On Today s Society1550 Words   |  7 PagesTelevision has greatly evolved since the 1950s, and has become a part of most American households over the years. Today’s society has turned to television for a variety of purposes including; entertainment, intellectual growth, and as a way to stay updated with what is going on in our society. While th ese seem like all positive aspects that have come with the progression of television, there are also negative components that have a direct affect on today’s society. Therefore this paper will discussRead MoreIs Television Making Your Child Smart Enough? Essay1501 Words   |  7 PagesIs television making your child smart enough to read this research paper? Is Sesame Street teaching Little Tommy how to spell â€Å"dog†? When you watch a children s television program you understand most of the content and lessons. Good for you. It’s made for children and you’re an adult. However, are the children able to grasp these lessons and is it affecting their social behaviors? The history of children s programming shows an increase in quality programming and new content for children is constantlyRead More The Negative Impact of Exposing Children to Media Violence Essay1448 Words   |  6 PagesThe Negative Impact of Exposing Children to Media Violence On April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School, 13 people were killed and another 23 were wounded in one of the worst school killing incidents ever (Skeesis). Since the 1980s, overall homicide rates in the U.S. have declined. However, homicide rates for ages 14-17 have increased quite dramatically during this time period (Fox). Among other numerous potential causes, violence in the media may play a role in this increase in youth violenceRead MoreEssay Television and Media - TV Violence is Ruining Children842 Words   |  4 PagesTV Violence is Ruining Children    A young child sits in front of a television watching cartoons while his mother runs around the house doing various chores.   The mother passes the room the child is in and glances at the television each time she passes.   The child is watching Sesame Street.   Then, a half an hour later, Mr. Rogers is on. The mother walks into the room a half an hour later and stops in horror at what is on the television.   Her young son is watching the same station as beforeRead MoreTelevision And Its Effects On Children1673 Words   |  7 PagesTelevision is one of the biggest influences in the lives of most people. People spend hours every day watching television programming, so of course this will affect their behavior. Television is like a window to the modern world. Many people view the programs that are aired on television; they can gain a lot of information and knowledge. Most programming like the National Geographic and Discovery Channels can be used as an educational tools in scho ols and at home to teach our children to learn insteadRead More Television and Censorship - Violence Rating System Needed for TV1130 Words   |  5 Pagesrecognizes the detrimental effects of general television on children, parents and other child advocacy groups dont feel as though there is an adequate rating system. Consequences of ineffective rating systems are that childrens personalities are being negatively affected. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made legislation to address this issue, but the childrens advocacy community is still dissatisfied. This community includes The National PTA, the American Psychological AssociationRead More Television and Society Essay763 Words   |  4 PagesTelevision and Society In Marie Winn’s Essay â€Å"Television: The Plug In Drug,† she states, â€Å"Television’s contribution to family life has been an equivocal one.† Winn focuses on the issue of televisions influence in the lives of American families. Her emphasis is on the mediums influence on children. Although she makes a strong case for the negative influence of television, she fails to consider all of the benefits television has brought to American families. On its own, the television is neither

Monday, December 23, 2019

Inner Journey and Beniginis Life is Beautiful Essay example

Inner Journey and Beniginis Life is Beautiful All of life is a journey. All Journeys have a beginning and an end. All the outcomes that are associated with journey are the results of the choices that we make in out daily lives, good or bad that have to be lives with. In the Macquarie dictionary journey is defined as: - The exploration into one’s self. It offers growth development through emotional pilgrimage and provides new insights for the mind and spirit. Throughout this essay I will be referring to our prescribed text ‘Life is Beautiful’ by Roberto Benigini, an image about reconciliation†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœLife is Beautiful’ revolves around four characters: - Guido, Dora, Joshua and Dr Lessing but it mainly revolves around Guido and his inner journey from an innocent, carefree existence to life. Guido character is established right from the beginning, by his cheeky face and his hand and body movement. Then later on in the film Guido is forced to go to war and to fight for his country. Guido is very resourceful and a great opportunist. He is always ready to take advantage of any situation and use it to the benefit his aims at that particular moment. Guido’s inner journey could be seen to be directed by the events that occur in the film. But Guido’s cleverness in using situations for his own end implies that he is an individual who is challenged and inspirited by the situation that he find himself in. For example: - when Dora falls into his arms, when he is crashes into her in the streets and meets her with a friend. In the camp, Guido is not only concerned to protect Joshua, he also tries to reassure Dora that everything is ok by playing her favourite song over the loud speaker Guido also lets Dora hear Joshua’s voice as another reassures that they are both

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Social Media Use in the United States Free Essays

string(46) " social media use and health-related factors\." Social Media Use in the United States: Implications for Health Communication Wen-ying Sylvia Chou1,2, PhD, MPH; Yvonne M Hunt1, PhD, MPH; Ellen Burke Beckjord3, PhD, MPH; Richard P Moser4, PhD; Bradford W Hesse2, PhD 1Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA? 2Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA? 3RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA? 4Behavioral Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USACorresponding Author: Wen-ying Sylvia Chou, PhD, MPH National Cancer Institute Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch 6130 Executive Blvd (EPN), 4051A Bethesda, MD 20892-7365 USA Phone: +1 301 435 2842 Fax: +1 301 480 2669 Email: chouws [at] mail. nih. gov ABSTRACT Background: Given the rapid changes in the communication landscape brought about by participative Internet use and social media, it is important to develop a better understanding of these technologies and their impact on health communication. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Media Use in the United States or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first step in this effort is to identify the characteristics of current social media users. Up-to-date reporting of current social media use will help monitor the growth of social media and inform health promotion/communication efforts aiming to effectively utilize social media. Objective: The purpose of the study is to identify the sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with current adult social media users in the United States. Methods: Data came from the 2007 iteration of the Health Information National Trends Study (HINTS, N = 7674).HINTS is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey on health-related communication trends and practices. Survey respondents who reported having accessed the Internet (N = 5078) were asked whether, over the past year, they had (1) participated in an online support group, (2) written in a blog, (3) visited a social networking site. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of each type of social media use. Results: Approximately 69% of US adults reported having acces s to the Internet in 2007. Among Internet users, 5% participated in an online support group, 7% reported blogging, and 23% used a social networking site. Multivariate analysis found that younger age was the only significant predictor of blogging and social networking site participation; a statistically significant linear relationship was observed, with younger categories reporting more frequent use. Younger age, poorer subjective health, and a personal cancer experience predicted support group participation. In general, social media are penetrating the US population independent of education, race/ethnicity, or health care access.Conclusions: Recent growth of social media is not uniformly distributed across age groups; therefore, health communication programs utilizing social media must first consider the age of the targeted population to help ensure that messages reach the intended audience. While racial/ethnic and health status–related disparities exist in Internet access, among those with Internet acc ess, these characteristics do not affect social media use. This finding suggests that the new technologies, represented by social media, may be changing the communication pattern throughout the United States. (J Med Internet Res 2009;11(4):e48)? doi:10. 196/jmir. 1249 KEYWORDS Internet; social media; social networking; demography; population surveillance; eHealth, new technologies; health communication |Introduction | From 2005 to 2009, participation in social networking sites more than quadrupled [1]. In the health communication community, there is a widespread assumption that recent advances in Internet technologies (Web 2. 0), particularly the participative Internet (known as social media), have transformed the pattern of communication, including health-related communications [2].For example, social scientists observed that social media have increased individuals’ connectivity and enabled users’ direct participation. This observation is believed to have direct implications for health communication programs, prompting efforts to identify new opportunities of using social media to impact population health [3-6]. While these observations on the impact of social media are important in public health, little of the research in this area has been based on large-scale population data, partly due to the rapidity of technological changes.The key questions that remain unanswered include the following: (1) What is the true reach and impact of social media among the current US population? (2) What are the user characteristics of the different types of social media currently being used? Although market research has previously reported on the overall prevalence of Internet and social media use, with the exception of online support group use, user characteristics of social media have not been comprehensively examined using a nationally representative population sample [7].Developing an empirically based understanding of these behaviors and their implications has become a key priority in current health communication research. Given that key aims of social media research are to monitor its growth and to in form health promotion efforts aiming to utilize new communication technologies, it is important to explore the relationship between social media use and health-related factors. You read "Social Media Use in the United States" in category "Papers" Current research on the relationship between social media and health has produced conflicting results.On the one hand, studies have found that social media may bear health-enhancing potential through several mechanisms. First, the Internet-based social networks may increase perceived social support and interconnectivity among individuals [8,9]. Second, with the increase of user-generated content, information sharing is seen as more democratic and patient controlled, enabling users to exchange health-related information that they need and therefore making the information more patient/consumer-centered [10]. Third, n recent times, public health programs have demonstrated success in adapting social media as a communication platform for health promotion efforts such as smoking cessation and dietary interventions, increasing their reach through cyberspace [3,4,6,11-13]. Yet, indirect and sometimes unintended negative health impacts of social media have also been identified. First, the participatory nature of social media entails an open forum for information exchange, therefore increasing the possibility of wide dissemination of noncredible, and potentially erroneous, health information [14,15].Second, health scientists exploring the issue of the digital divide have found evidence of a double divide. Specifically, those without Internet access (a large portion of whom may be without adequate health care access) are prevented from gaining health information available on the Internet [16-20]. In sum, given the direct and indirect health impacts and the wide range of and divergent results, the current study will offer an opportunity to disentangle aspects of the complex relationship between social media use and health-related factors. The most recent iteration of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2007) is an ideal data source to provide an in-depth examination of the prevalence and user characteristics of social media. This nationally representative survey is uniquely positioned to study social media because this new iteration contains specific follow-up questions for all Internet users, allowing us to separately estimate and compare the use of different types of social media.Another distinct advantage of the HINTS 2007 is its inclusion of many health-related questions, enabling us to comprehensively examine the association between social media use and several important health proxies. Our primary research aims are to (1) report on the prevalence of three forms of social media use in 2007: online support group participation, blogging, and social networking site participation; and (2) identify the sociodemographic and health-related predictors of the use of these three forms of social media. Meth ods | Data Source The data for this study were drawn from HINTS 2007, developed by the National Cancer Institute in 2007 with data collected from January 2008 through May 2008. Publicly accessible on the Internet, the HINTS is a biennial national survey of the US civilian noninstitutionalized adult population designed to assess the American public’s use of health- and cancer-related information and to assess other cancer-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.The survey’s primary goal is to inform social scientists and program planners about current health communication usage across populations and to assist in developing effective health communication strategies in an age of rapid communication changes. Comprehensive reports on the conceptual framework and sample design of HINTS are published elsewhere [21,22].Note that while the conceptual framework and most survey content remained consistent across the three iterations of HINTS (2003, 2005, and 2007), the newest iteration (HINTS 2007) contains some changes. Detailed information about HINTS 2007 scope and methodology can be found in a comprehensive report [23]. Specifically, in addition to the inclusion of new survey items (such as items concerning blogging and social networking site participation), a new sampling method was adopted for HINTS 2007 to increase response rates and reduce bias.Two modes were used for data collection: (1) a random digit dial telephone survey, using a computer-assisted telephone interview, of representative samples of US households with land-line telephones (N = 4092); and (2) a pencil-and-paper questionnaire mailed to representative US postal addresses that oversampled for minorities (N = 3582). The us e of the dual sampling frames was a response to the recent dramatic decrease in telephone survey response rates and is a method currently being utilized by other government agencies. Response rates were 24% for the random digit dial survey and 31% for the mail survey. Complete surveys were obtained from 7674 adults. Only Internet users (N = 5078; approximately 68% of the population) were asked about social media use, and they form the sample for the current study. HINTS contained both final sample weights that helped obtain population-level estimates and a set of 50 replicate sampling weights to obtain the correct standard errors; both of these were included in the present analysis. Detailed descriptions of how the sample and replicate weights were calculated can be found in the HINTS 2007 Final Report [23]. Study VariablesWe selected the following sociodemographic variables to be included in the study: age, gender, education, and race/ethnicity. Age was categorized into six groups: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 and above. Education was categorized as high school degree or less, some college, or college graduate. Race/ethnicity was coded into one of the following four categories: non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black (black/African American), Hispanic, and non-Hispanic other. In addition to the sociodemographic variables, three health-related variables were examined.The first is self-described health status, including overall health and distress level(measured by a summed score of six-item assessment of depressive symptoms borrowed from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997, Adult Core Questionnaire [24]). The second is the respondent’s cancer experience, coded into three categories: (1) having had a personal diagnosis of cancer, (2) having had a family member diagnosed with cancer, or (3) having had no personal experience or family member with cancer.Note that the categories are mutually exclusive: individuals with a personal diagnosis of cancer are automatically categorized as (1) regardless of their status in (2). The final health-related variable is health care access, measu red by whether the respondent reports having a regular health care provider or not. Internet status was measured by response to the following question: â€Å"Do you ever go on-line to access the Internet or World Wide Web, or to send and receive an email? Among Internet users, social media use was assessed by responses to the following three questions: â€Å"In the past 12 months, have you done the following while using the Internet: (1) participated in an on-line support group for people with a similar health or medical issue? (2) wrote in an online diary or blog? (3) visited a social networking site, such as ‘My Space’ or ‘Second Life’? † Data Analysis To accommodate the complex sampling design of HINTS, analyses were conducted using SUDAAN, version 10 (Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA). Missing data (with responses of â€Å"refuse† or â€Å"don’t know†) were recoded as missing for all analyses. Bivariate analyses (chi-square) were conducted to estimate the prevalence of social media use and associations between study variables and each of the three types of social media. To address potential differences in responses due to the dual frames of the 2007 survey, we tested for potential mode differences and found no differential responses by mode to any of the social media use outcomes of interests; thus, a combined sample was used for subsequent analysis.Separate multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to estimate the odds of writing a blog, participating in an online support group, and participating in a social networking site, while including a set of demographic and health-related predictors. Finally, given the overwhelmingly significant contribution of age in all three models, each outcome was tested using age-stratified analyses by running separate models within each of the three age categories of 18-34, 35-54, and 55 and above. |Results |Sample Characteristics In 2007, approximately 69% of the US population reported having access to the Internet. This estimate is consistent with other prevalence estimates of Internet use in the same period [1]. Table 1 displays the weighted sample characteristics of non-Internet users and Internet users. ? | |Table 1. Weighted sample characteristics: proportion of non-Internet and Internet users in each category | |[view this table] | |Bivariate analyses revealed a number of significant differences between Internet users and non-Internet users. Consistent with prior results, non-Internet users were more likely to be ethnic minorities, older, less educated, less healthy, more distressed, and to report a history of a cancer diagnosis. Further, as Table 2 below shows, among Internet users, approximately 27% reported using at least one form of social media.We used chi-square tests to compare those who reported using social media (as defined by individuals who responded â€Å"yes† to at least one of the three questions on social media) to Internet users who reported not using social media. ? | |Table 2. Weighted sample characteristics of Internet users (N = 5078, 68. 54% of US population) who use and do not use social media | |[view this table] | |Among Internet users, use of social media was not uniformly distributed across the age strata. The largest proportion of social media use occurred among Internet users between the ages of 18 and 24 (65%) and decreased thereafter with each subsequent age group. In addition, patterns of social media use varied by race. Non-white Americans who accessed the Internet were more likely to use social media than white Americans. The potentially different user characteristics among different types of social media prompted separate analyses by each type of media.Table 3 summarizes the bivariate associations between each type of social media (not mutually exclusive) and the study variables. ? | |Table 3. Bivariate associations between three types of social media use and study variables: weighted results | |[view this table] | | Among the three forms of social media included in the survey, social networking received the most utilization (23% of Internet users), followed by blogging (7% of Internet users) and, finally, participation in online support groups (5% of Internet users).Blogging and social networking site participation showed the expected inverse linear relationship with age (ie, increased use across decreasing age strata). Partially because of the younger age, users tend to not have personal experience with cancer and not have a regular health care provider. The user characteristic profile of online support group participation was distinct from the other two forms of social media.Use of online support groups was rarely seen in the youngest age group (18-24) and was uniquely associated with several health-related factors, including rating general health as poor and reporting psychological distress. In contrast, blogging and social networking site participation were not associated with measures of self-reported health status. Finally, we found an unexpected education and racial/ethnic breakdown among social networking site users: less-educated individuals and racial/ethnic minorities were more likely to use this form of social media.However, these differences disappeared in subsequent regression analyses (below), suggesting that the differences observed here are likely explained by age. Multivariate Analyses The three separate multivariate regressions estimated the odds of using a particular form of social media in HINTS 2007. Given that gender was not associated with social media use at the bivariate level, we dropped it from the regression models. Table 4 displays the results of the analysis. Among Internet users, online support group participation was predicted by age, education, as well as several health-related factors.Compared with people 65 and over, those aged 25-44 were three to five times more likely to use support groups. Compared with college graduates, those with some college were more likely to use support groups. Moreover, consistent with the bivariate-level observations, those who regarded themselves as less healthy, more distressed, and who had a personal cancer experience were more likely to have used online support groups, confirming that health status is an important determinant of support group participation.In contrast to the model for support group participation, age emerged as the only significant predictor in the models of blogging and social networking site participation. A statistically significant linear effect of age on the two outcome variables was observed (P ;lt; . 001). Among individuals aged 55 and below, we observed a strong linear age effect, with each decreasing age stratum, in the odds of blogging. Participation in social networking sites shared similar user characteristics, except the odds ratios were even larger, with the age effect encompassing every age stratum. In addition, among Internet users, African Americans were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to use a social networking site (OR = 1. 51, 95% CI 1. 01-2. 24). ? | |Table 4. Multivariate logistic regressions of three types of social media use among Internet users | |[view this table] | | Age-Stratified Multivariate AnalysesGiven the central role of age in predicting social media use, and the significant interactions found between age and race/ethnicity, we conducted age-stratified logistic regressions to see whether adjusting for specific age strata would illuminate other important variables associated with social media use. Age was stratified into three categories for multivariate logistic regression models: 18-34 (younger group), 35-54 (middle-age group), 55 and older (older group). In general, the stratified models confirmed age to be the single most important predictor of social media use.Significant predictors within each type are summarized below. Note that all results reported are significant at P ;lt; . 05. Online Support Group In the youngest group, higher education (OR = 6. 33, 95% CI 2. 10-19. 10) and higher distress level (OR = 5. 56, 95% CI 1. 65-18. 76) explained the outcome. Among the middle-age group, female gender (OR = 2. 04, 95% CI 1. 20-3. 46) and higher education (OR = 2. 13, 95% CI 1. 21-5. 12) were significant predictors. In the oldest group, poorer self-reported health (OR = 3. 39, 95% CI 1. 38-8. 4) explained support group use. Blogging In all three age categories, the age-stratified models found no significant predictors of blogging. Social Networking Sites In the middle-age group, having no personal experience with cancer predicted social networking site participation (OR = 0. 39, 95% CI 0. 18-0. 86). For the oldest group, male gender was the sole predictor of social networking site use (OR = 1. 87, 95% CI 1. 28-2. 71). |Discussion |The current study examined sociodemographic and health-related predictors of the use of three forms of social media in an effort to better understand who is accessing and being reached through these emerging communication channels. The results showed that these three forms of social media have distinctly different use patterns and user characteristics, hence different health communication implications. Among the three forms of social media considered in this study, social networking sites by far attract the most users, making them an obvious target for maximizing the reach and impact of health communication and eHealth interventions.Furthermore, with increasing prevalence of personal wireless devices, communication scientists unanimously anticipate the popularity of social networking applications to continue to grow worldwide [2,25-27]. Compared to social networking sites, a much smaller percentage of Internet users reported writing in a blog, suggesting a lower prevalence of blogging. However, reading and commenting on a blog may have been a more reliable measure of blogosphere penetration due to its lower intensity than actively keeping a blog.Moreover, the blogosphere presents a tremendous opportunity for health communication. Particularly so, because bloggers have been observed to act as important communication stakeholders—not only are they information disseminators, but they play a crucial role in directing Internet traffic through opinions and hyperlinks [28]. Online support group participation was the only survey item included in the present study that was assessed throughout the three iterations of HINTS, and the weighted prevalence estimates suggest a minor increase: in 2003 and 2005, 3. % of Internet users had participated in online support groups compared to 4. 6% in 2007. User characteristics of support groups differed from blogging and social networking site participation, suggesting that online support group participation is driven by health status. This disease-focused medium may be gradually replaced by more interactive, patient-directed social networking sites and blogs, such as CaringBridge and Patientslikeme. These forms of social media have the potential to serve the social support and empowerment functions previously identified for online support groups [29].Apart from the patterns described above, the results of the study underscore the extent to which age determines who among US adult Internet users are engaging with social media. In this nationally representative sample, age emerged as the single strongest predictor of both social networking and blogging. In light of these findings, it seems reasonable to conclude that health communication efforts utilizing social media will have the broadest reach and impact when the target population is the younger generation.The relatively low penetration in the older population of 55 and older suggests that it is not yet an opportune time to utilize social media in communication with this age group. While this is true currently, we predict a continuing increase in utilization across all generations and groups in the next few years, and it remains a key health communication priority to continue tracking the sociodemographic trends of social media use to be sure that health communicators leverage these dissemination channels most effectively. Finally, for cancer communication efforts, this study found a igh prevalence of Internet and social media use among individuals with family members who have/had cancer (see Table 1 and Table 2), suggesting the potential effectiveness of social media cancer communication efforts targeting â€Å"secondary audiences,† that is, caregivers, family, and friends of cancer patients. A key finding of this study offers new and important implications for health communication in this digital age: among Internet users, social media are found to penetrate the population regardless of education, race/ethnicity, or health care access.In particular, t he multivariate analyses showed that having access to a regular health care provider did not predict social media use, suggesting that its significance in the bivariate analyses was primarily due to the effect of age. Specifically, younger individuals are less likely to have a regular health care provider. Considering implications of health communication efforts, the results of this study suggest that in the future, social media promise to be a way to reach the target population regardless of socioeconomic and health-related characteristics.If we can enable broader and more equitable Internet access (eg, increasing broadband access or wireless mobile access), thus reducing the digital divide, the potential for impacting the health and health behavior of the general US population through social media is tremendous. Furthermore, the results showed social networking sites are being utilized by African Americans at a higher rate than by non-Hispanic whites.Given the continuing increase in Internet penetration, these findings suggest a potential systematic shift in the communication pattern that transcends the traditional digital divide. Future studies should continue to examine the impact of changing technologies on patterns of health disparities. On the practice side of health communication, social media outlets may represent an excellent opportunity to reach traditionally underserved members of the population. LimitationsThe nature of self-report and the current low survey response rates present two major challenges to the generalizability of the results. First, the accuracy of self-reports of specific Internet usage may be affected by recall bias and respondents’ comprehension of survey items. In spite of this issue, this study’s prevalence estimates on Internet and social media penetration are in agreement with the published literature and are the first to be drawn from a nationally representative sample. One aspect to note is that compared to market surveys such as the Pew and Manhattan Research reports, the HINTS estimates are generally more conservative. This is in part attributable to the higher sampling precision mandated for federal surveys. Second, low response rate being a challenge facing all current survey research, HINTS 2007 attempted to boost response rates and extend coverage (especially to cell phone–only households) by adapting a dual sampling frame.As a result, the addition of the mail survey helped remedy the low response rate, to increase the generalizability of the data. An additional limitation concerns the instrumentation and questions related to blogging and social networking site participation: since neither question asked specifically about health-related use of these technologies, we cannot precisely estimate the prevalence of health-related social media use using HINTS data. Given the growing role of social media in health, future iterations of HINTS may specifically capture health-related social media use [10].As well, the question on blogging does not capture individuals who view and comment on blogs and thus may underestimate the degree to which the American public is engaged with this activity. Finally, with new technologies and social media continuing to evolve rapidly, these data, despite being the most updated national survey data available, may not have been able to capture some emerging social media forms (eg, Twitter and Wikipedia) and rapid changes brought on by the increasing use of personal wireless devices [27].In order to track the public’s use of new media, future research should track different age groups’ social media adoption while identifying new forms of social media. Given that the younger age groups are likely to continue their use of social media, we would expect to see a persistent increase across the middle-age population in the near future. Conclusions With the goal to develop a better understanding of social media use in the current US population, we have reported on the prevalence and user characteristics of three types of social media using the 2007 HINTS survey.While observations and theories about communication changes brought abou t by new technologies abound, little is supported by empirical evidence based on nationally representative data. The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge base to inform future programs aiming to utilize social media. As we have seen, forms of social media present different opportunities for health communication efforts. In particular, social networking sites attract the largest portion of Internet users and are likely to continue to grow, making them an obvious target for maximizing the reach and impact of health communication and eHealth interventions.In addition, recent growth of social media is not uniformly distributed across age groups. New health communication programs aiming to utilize social media must first consider the age of the targeted population. The data also prompt a rethinking of the connection between technologies and health disparities since the findings point to the fact that social media are penetrating individuals of different demographics at the same rate.Opportunities for narrowing the health disparities gap exist through effective use of social media as communication and health promotion platforms. These media will not enable targeted communication messages but may have the capacity to reach a wider audience than traditional media have been able to reach. Finally, while sur veillance research such as the present project is useful for determining the reach of social media, it is less useful for assessing the impact of participation in social media use on health. To assess the multiple levels of social media impact on health, future studies need to bring in diverse disciplines and methods, including intervention studies, longitudinal cohort studies, as well as ethnographic/qualitative observations to examine the effect of the social media–driven changing communication patterns on health. Acknowledgments This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Conflicts of Interest None declared. How to cite Social Media Use in the United States, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Adaptive Challenges Of Cultural Crisis In Nepal †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Adaptive Challenges Of Cultural Crisis In Nepal. Answer: Introduction Globalization has been an effective force which has brought significant changes in the past decade. Globalization has practically affected each and every persons in the world in some way or the other. The following report is based on the study of the adaptive challenges of Cultural Crisis in Nepal. The Nepalese are a friendly and curios bunch of people and enjoy providing hospitality to the vast number of visitors that come every year especially to conquer Mount Everest. People are not generally fond of politics and racist class difference and during any casual conversation with the people of Nepal such topics must6 be avoided. The Adaptive Challenge of Cultural Crisis in Nepal Emergence of the Challenge Nepal has been edging closer to a humanitarian crisis and it is believed to be much bigger than the earthquake that rocked the country and destructed its economy badly. The earthquake has damaged closed to 70% of the cultural heritage of the country. The rich cultural art pieces, the temples and the historical sites were all destroyed to a great extent (Satyal et al. 2017). After the devastating earthquakes it was the turn of the Government to clear the destruction and start from the beginning. However as time went by it was found out that most of the countries natural heritage were damaged and devastated to a large extent. It is a difficult task for Nepal to overcome such a deep crisis as because tourism forms the main backbone of Nepals Economy. Globalization Globalization is a potent force and turns every people slaves under its rule. Nepal is totally affected by globalization (Upadhyay 2017). The NGOs, Government institutions, internet, information centers, schools, colleges all are dependent on technological advances of globalization. It dominates the localization which is purely based on the economic profit. Globalization emerged as a hot trend in the 90s and since then it has undergone a major transformation. Using the latest and improved technologies to tackle globalization has been a successful venture which has helped to attract more and more tourists to the country. It has also helped in bringing forth the cultural qualities of Nepal in front of the whole world. Therefore the potential force of globalization lies in the spread of the cultural and social values of the country in the whole world. Challenge being Addressed To ensure sustainability the government must address the issues on an urgent basis. Restoring the sites and the monuments will be the key to the future of the country. The hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu Temples that was the main focal point of the Kathmandu valley were damaged either totally or partially. The government has to restore all these establishments to return to the old and normal ways and receive the same amount of revenue from foreign money exchange (Thapa et al. 2016). The restoration should be done in a proper and scientific way so that in the future there is no possibility of any further damage from such large scale earthquakes. Organizations like Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust have been appointed by the government to preserve and restore the damaged natural properties of the country. Until now the trust has restored more than 50 such historical sites and buildings and now it has given a keen concentration to restore the Patan Square to its original form. Actions needed to address the challenge As mentioned earlier the government of Nepal has taken some significant steps towards the restoration of the cultural pride of Nepal (Koirala 2017). The appointment of different government sponsored agencies, NGOs, foreign institutions can e said to be a positive effect towards the rebuilding of the country. UNESCO sends an international mission team to assess the damage levels on the international heritage sites of the country. The Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust has restored a lot many buildings that were damaged totally or partially and has now shifted its attention towards the restoration of the Patan Square. The organization has given special care to restore the monuments in such a way that it can resist the natural calamities like earthquakes easily. International Visitors are also providing huge sums of money to rebuild the monastic community which includes the damaged monasteries and temples. Therefore the organization must ensure that they have a perfect answer to stop a ny sort of destruction activities that may cause damage to the buildings in the near future. Boundaries needed to be crossed Nepal is facing a huge crisis and a large threat looms over the country as because it will be impossible for them to restore cultural heritage without a large scale support from different sources around the world. Just minutes after the earthquake both the Indian Army as well as the Chinese Army were the first to react to the situation and went to Nepal to start rescue operations. It is known to all that India and China are at loggerheads but such a situation established a new regional and social cooperation between the countries. Therefore Nepal must take lessons from this and spread out its arms and embrace any sort of help that can restore its cultural heritage. The authorities must train the farmers of the country to practice sustainable forms of agriculture so that it causes no damage to the land patterns (Chase et al. 2013). The country should also follow global specification standards while reconstructing the different heritage sites. Values needed to be shifted Traditional values about culture must be shifted so that the restoration process becomes much faster. The more the process is the faster it will help the country to attract more tourists. The different institutions and organizations that are involved in the restoration process must make it a point to address the issues so that there is a transparency in the total program (Endsley 2016). Collaboration will also make the business more effective and will help to make sure that the restoration works are done without any flaw. It is the task of the Government of Nepal to develop a strategic build up between all the related parties. Therefore adapting such innovative strategies of shifting the values will help Nepal to cope up with the crisis situation. Role of Technology The collection of digital data in social media like facebook and google has been of huge help for gathering information about the missing persons and other key information after the terrifying earthquakes of Nepal (Endsley 2016). Technology has played a great deal of part while restoring the cultural masterpieces of the country (Lama 2016). Skype, Viver and some other telecom and internet call giants decided to make their service free to help the needy that were affected in Nepal during the earthquake. Apart from this there are other considerations like the construction of the buildings and the maintenance of the cultural heritage of the country. Conclusion The aim of the report was to evaluate the main cultural crisis of Nepal. The researcher had been able to attain the aims and objectives of the report. The discussion of the challenges that the country faces and the ways to tackle them will be of immense help to the organizations that are involved in the restoration projects. The report will also be a valuable source of information for future references. References Bhagat, S., Buddika, H.S., Adhikari, R.K., Shrestha, A., Bajracharya, S., Joshi, R., Singh, J., Maharjan, R. and Wijeyewickrema, A.C., 2017. Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake.Journal of Earthquake Engineering, pp.1-20. () Chase, L.E., Welton-Mitchell, C. and Bhattarai, S., 2013. Solving Tension: coping among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care,9(2), pp.71-83. Endsley, T.C., 2016. An Examination Of Cultural Influences On Team Cognition And Information Sharing In Emergency Crisis Management Domains: A Mixed Methodological Approach. Koirala, H.L., 2017. Myth and reality of the eco-crisis in Nepal Himalaya.Geographical Journal of Nepal,10, pp.39-54. Krger, F., Bankoff, G., Cannon, T., Orlowski, B. and Schipper, E.L.F. eds., 2015.Cultures and disasters: understanding cultural framings in disaster risk reduction. Routledge. Lama, A.K., 2016.Understanding Institutional Adaptation to Climate Change: Social Resilience and Adaptive Governance Capacities of the Nature Based Tourism Institutions in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal(Vol. 115). BoDBooks on Demand. Satyal, P., Shrestha, K., Ojha, H., Vira, B. and Adhikari, J., 2017. A new Himalayan crisis? Exploring transformative resilience pathways.Environmental Development. Thapa, B., Scott, C., Wester, P. and Varady, R., 2016. Towards characterizing the adaptive capacity of farmer-managed irrigation systems: learnings from Nepal.Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,21, pp.37-44. Upadhyay, P., 2017. 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