Active audience perspectives in usenet soap opera newsgroups: A preliminary investigation of agenda-setting, opinion leadership, and flow theories.

摘要

The efficacy of traditional communication models as a tool for studying the Internet has been questioned in the scientific literature. This dissertation served as an exploratory comparative analysis of messages posted on three recreational Usenet newsgroups devoted to the soap opera genre—rec. arts. tv. soaps. abc, rec. arts.tv.soaps. cbs, and rec.arts.tv.soaps.misc. The purpose of this content analysis was two-fold: (1) to assess whether newsgroups messages suggest that traditional mass media theories, such as the two-step flow model, opinion leadership, and agenda setting theory, may be productive in exploring electronic bulletin boards, and, (2) to describe and note changes in the topics of soap opera messages written by active audience members in 1997 and 2001. Findings are preliminary but suggest that these communication theories have been too long ignored in respect to the Internet and merit more careful study.; Moreover, a significant aspect of this study is step toward examining soap opera newsgroups messages from a wider context than has been accomplished heretofore. Unlike previous soap opera research, this investigation examined messages posted to Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless newsgroups by examining and describing differences among as well as within groups over time. A significant decrease in the number of newsgroup messages was observed in all three newsgroups, which has been attributed to the proliferation of Internet web sites and chat groups devoted to the genre in the mid-1990s. The preponderance of messages were devoted to discussions of storylines and characters, and most were written in a matter-of-fact or witty tone. The study revealed distinct posting patterns among the newsgroups according to the day of the week.; The results of this study pave the way for communication researchers who wish to more thoroughly examine active audience theories on the Usenet and serve as a starting point for those who wish to better explain the online communicative behavior of soap opera fans.