Diffusion Research Symposium

You are invited to the inaugural

Diffusion Research Symposium

Hosted by the Innovation Diffusion Lab at Texas Tech University.

Date: April 22, 2023, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Place: TTU College of Media & Communication, Rm 265

Co-Sponsors: Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication, Department of Professional Communication, Innovation Diffusion Lab, and College of Media & Communication.

Open Invitation:

Regardless of if you are presenting or not, all are invited to attend the symposium either face-to-face or online. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. The symposium will include 2 keynote speakers (Dr. Do Kyun Kim and Dr. Lyombe Eko) in addition to research panels (see the full program below).

If you're attending in-person, please RSVP by April 13, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. If you're attending online, please RSVP by April 20, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.

RSVP Form: https://forms.gle/3A7RwJivmZKZyPgG6

Program

Diffusion Research Symposium

April 22, 2023 (Saturday)

10 AM - 5:30 PM Central Time

Main Room: MCOM 265

Lunch Room: MCOM 154

Zoom Link: https://texastech.zoom.us/j/97085894075?pwd=R1Y1dzhSWUlBNTZqMERVUmtrVmE2Zz09

Schedule

9:30-10 AM Registration desk opens outside of MCOM 265

10-10:05 AM Welcome by Eric Milman

10:05-10:10 AM Brief Introduction of IDL by Kerk Kee

10:15-11:15 AM Keynote Presentation by Dr. David Kim (via Zoom): Harnessing opinion leaders to prevent recurrence of the COVID-19

pandemic: A diffusion and implementation strategy

11:15-12:15 PM Panel 1- Group Diffusion in Organizations & Families

12:15-12:30 PM Transition to Lunch in MCOM 154

12:30-1:30 PM Keynote Presentation by Dr. Lyombe Eko (in-person with Lunch):

The diffusion and reinvention of the internet and social

media platforms in Africa: Same technologies, different

ideologies

1:30-1:45 PM Transition Back to Main Room MCOM 265

1:45-2:45 PM Panel 2 - Politics & Social Movements

2:45-3 PM Group Photo (including Zoom participants)

3-4 PM Panel 3 - Misinformation & Censorship

4-4:15 PM Coffee Break

4:15-5:15 PM Panel 4 - Diffusion in Journalism & the Mind

5:15-5:30 PM Closing Remarks

5:30 PM Symposium Concludes

Panel 1 - Group Diffusion in Organizations & Families

Let me share my screen: Exploring factors that impact virtual teams’ diffusion and adoption by Chaitra Kulkarni
Strike a pose: How organizational opinion leaders model innovation change by Joni Litsey
Having lunch/dinner with strangers to enlarge social networks in Lubbock area: Introducing a new social media app, “Let’s Eat” by Julia Cui
Live long and prosper: The impact of familial upbringing on fandom diffusion by Eric Milman

Panel 2 - Politics & Social Movements

The linguistic and message features driving information diffusion on Twitter: The case of #RevolutionNow in Nigeria by Oluwabusayo Okunloye
Technology changemakers: A visual and textual analysis of how selected magazine covers represented the diffusion of information and communication technology innovations from 1955 to 2020 by Sadia Afrin
Using multiple social identities to communicate across party lines by Patti Douglass
Winning the media game: How media framing shapes the legitimacy and diffusion of esports in colleges and universities by Noah Getachew

Panel 3 - Misinformation & Censorship

How emotional reactions fuel conspiracy theory adoption and diffusion by Dr. Alex Olshansky
Going beyond censorship: Third-person effect increases potential diffusion of innovations? by Bruce Wang
“There are worms inside me”: The factors of diffusion of health misinformation on social media that lead to behavioral change in the case of parasite Facebook groups by Autumn Bippert

Panel 4 - Diffusion in Journalism & the Mind

Just ask them: Benefits of including interviews with journalists in framing research by Dr. Bethany Pitchford
A historical-philosophical approach to the mind-body duality by Marina Petric
Are you ready for the era of Chat GPT? A study on Chat GPT adoption among local journalists by Ashraful Goni

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Do Kyun David Kim

TITLE

Harnessing Opinion Leaders to Prevent Recurrence of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Diffusion and Implementation Strategy.

Dr. Kim is Professor and Richard D'Aquin / BORSF Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette. Based on his theoretical expertise in the diffusion of innovations, he has conducted research on attitude and behavior change motivated through diverse types of communication. Dr. Kim is an interdisciplinary scholar whose works are often conducted with scholars, practitioners, and governmental agencies for various communication issues, including public health promotion, risk and crisis preparation, organizational and social change, and advancing technologies for a desirable future. He has published his research, practice, opinions, and insights through many books, academic journals, and other publication outlets and presented at numerous conferences, educational institutions, and professional organizations. As a diffusion scholar, Dr. Kim continuously strives to advance the theory of innovations to make it relevant to changing social and technological environments.

Dr. Lyombe Eko

TITLE

The Diffusion and Reinvention of the Internet and Social Media Platforms in Africa: Same Technologies, Different Ideologies.

Lyombe Eko is a professor at the College of Media and Communication. He is a RaiderReady Teaching Fellow at Texas Tech University. He teaches courses in media law and ethics, communication theory, comparative and international communication. He earned his Ph.D. in Journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. His research interests are in comparative and international communication law and policy, visual communication. He is an award-winning author who has published four books including: The Charlie Hebdo Affair and Comparative Journalistic Cultures: Human Rights Versus. Religious Rites (Winner, International Book Awards, Multicultural Non-Fiction Category, and Winner, Texas Tech University President’s Faculty Book Award (2002); Case Studies in Comparative Communication Law and Policy (2012) (Winner, Gold Medal, Independent Publisher Book Awards, New York); The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery: From Clay Tablets to Tablet Computers (2016) and American Exceptionalism, The French Exception and Digital Media Law (2013). He has also published articles in numerous refereed law review and communication studies journals. and articles. He has also published numerous book chapters on comparative and international communication, and contributed entries to numerous encyclopedias including the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award at the University of Iowa and Texas Tech University.