Browsing by Author "Koivula, Aki"

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    Changing patterns of social media use? A population-level study of Finland
    (SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2020-08) Koiranen, Ilkka; Keipi, Teo; Räsänen, Pekka; Koivula, Aki; University of Turku; Design Factory
    This article examines the changing patterns of Finnish social media use during the years 2008–2016. This is the first temporal look at changes in Finnish social media use with representative population-level data. We assess how social media use has evolved between socio-economic and demographic groups in advanced information societies, with a focus on Finland. We also look at how demographic factors associate with use purposes of social media. The target of empirical analysis is on social media use and use purposes by gender, age, education level and area of residence. The data come from nationally representative and temporally comparable surveys focusing on adult populations. Findings show that the effect of socio-demographic factors on overall use and different use purposes of social media persists. Furthermore, the results seem to show a diminishing of the socializing impact of social media; on the other hand, individual, commercial and goal-oriented use practices seem to have become a major focus of social media use.
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    Ideological Motives, Digital Divides, and Political Polarization: How Do Political Party Preference and Values Correspond with the Political Use of Social Media?
    (Elsevier Science Publishers BV, 2020-03-01) Koiranen, Ilkka; Koivula, Aki; Saarinen, Arttu; Keipi, Teo; Design Factory; University of Turku
    Social media provides new platforms for political participation and ideological categorization. However, little research has been done on how party preference is related to politically active social media use. We begin with a consideration of how political participation on social media has evolved between various socio-economic and demographic groups in advanced information societies and especially in Finland. In our empirical analysis we examine the general use of social media as well as its use for political purposes with the aid of a nationally representative dataset, collected in 2017–2018 from 3724 Finnish citizens. We argue that there are notable differences between parties when examining their supporters’ social media use for political purposes. The differences are related to the digital divides and political extremes. The results confirmed the idea that new political movements made up of younger and more educated supporters have been successful by leveraging social media. The study also revealed that the ideological gap between party supporters is greater in social media especially when examining new kinds of politics based on cultural questions, identity issues, and post-materialist values.
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    Online information seeking patterns and social inequality in a digital economy
    (Routledge, 2020-12-24) Rasanen, Pekka; Koivula, Aki; Keipi, Teo; Department of Mechanical Engineering; University of Turku
    This article aims to map the information-seeking habits of population groups in a digital economy. The growing use of technologies in the modern online era has increased the availability of information regarding services and items through user-generated content and applications. However, the potential for leverage through ICTs may not be evenly distributed across different consumer segments. We use population-level survey data used as the basis for the official statistics in Finland to find differences according to gender, age cohort, education, income and residential area. The results show that Finns are active in using different channels of information acquisition. We found significant differences in how information is obtained between population groups. Men and younger cohorts are more accustomed to using a variety of services and sources for seeking out information. The results also highlighted educational differences that have been rooted in the Finnish information society. Using a nationally representative data, the article points out digital inequalities linked to potential differences in consumer benefits.
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    Shedding Light on People’s Social Media Concerns Through Political Party Preference, Media Trust, and Immigration Attitudes
    (2022-11-11) Malinen, Sanna; Koivula, Aki; Keipi, Teo; Saarinen, Arttu; University of Turku; Department of Mechanical Engineering
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    Undercurrents of echo chambers and flame wars: party political correlates of social media behavior
    (Routledge, 2022-04-03) Koiranen, Ilkka; Koivula, Aki; Malinen, Sanna; Keipi, Teo; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Product Development; University of Turku
    In this study, we examine how political party preference and politically active social media use associate with social media behaviors - namely, conformist, provocative, and protective - in the context of the current political sphere in Finland. In our empirical analysis, we use a nationally representative dataset collected from 3,724 Finnish citizens in 2018. Our research confirms the assumption that there are notable differences in the social media behaviors of the supporters of different political parties. Additionally, our research shows that politically active social media use increases the occurrence for all three aforementioned behaviors. The study's results also confirm that major differences in online behavior exist among the new identity parties' supporters, who rely heavily on post-materialist and neoconservative political values.