This study examines how information and communication technologies – mobile phone, social networking websites, blogging, instant messaging, and photo sharing – are related to the diversity of people’s social networks. We find that a limited set of technologies directly afford diversity, but many indirectly contribute to diversity by supporting participation in traditional settings such as neighborhoods, voluntary groups, religious institutions, and public spaces. Only one internet activity, social networking websites, was related to lower levels of participation in a traditional setting: neighborhoods. However, when direct effects were included, the total influence of social networking services on diversity was positive. We argue that a focus on affordances of new media for networked individualism fails to recognize the continued importance of place for the organization of personal networks: networks, that as a result of the persistent and pervasive nature of some new technologies, may be more diverse than at any time in recent history.

Previous studies on public attitudes toward emerging technologies have treated cognitive and affective influences on public opinion as distinct, with little attention to the possible interaction between the two. Directly addressing this issue, we argue that cognitive and affective factors not only have important separate effects on public attitudes but also work in tandem to produce effects. In particular, it may be that affective variables shape the impact of cognitions and vice versa. We use data from a national telephone survey to test this interactive model of decision making about emerging technologies. Our analyses show that emotional heuristics moderate the effect that knowledge about nanotechnology has on people's overall attitudes toward nanotechnology, with knowledge having a weaker effect on attitudes for people who do show strong emotional reactions to the topic. The implications of these findings for future research and policy making in this area are discussed.

Scholars have paid close attention to the effects of the rapidly changing health information environment. The issue of how Internet use for health information affects the frequency of contact with health professionals, however, has not been examined. Directly addressing this issue, a two wave panel dataset is used with a U.S. national representative sample gathered in 2005 and 2006. Overall, the results show that Internet use at Wave 1 positively predicts health professional contact at Wave 2, controlling for Wave 1 health professional contact and other potential confounders. The implications that these findings can have for future research in this area are discussed.

Consumers frequently encounter competing health information comprised of accurate and erroneous messages about different diseases. This longitudinal study examined the lagged associations between young adults' exposure to health (mis)information about 4 cancer‐related risk factors (indoor tanning, e‐cigarette use, reusing plastic bottles, and artificial sweeteners), beliefs, intentions, and behaviors as informed by theories of persuasion and behavior change. We found significant lagged associations between health (mis)information exposure and beliefs for three topics; beliefs predicted subsequent intentions for 2 topics; and intentions predicted subsequent behaviors for 4 topics. The hypothesized pathway of effects was supported for 2 topics. These findings provide insights for developing theory in the area of (mis)information effects and for designing interventions that mitigate the adverse consequences of misinformation.

Previous research suggests both cognitive and affective variables can impact how the public thinks about new scientific developments such as nanotechnology. Most studies have not explored the origins of these variables or their simultaneous, interactive infuences on public opinion. Using national telephone survey data (N=706), we examine the pathways between different types of media use and attitudes toward nanotechnology, particularly potential mediating roles of nanotechnology knowledge and deference toward scientific authority. People relying on newspapers and the Internet for science information report higher levels of nanotechnology knowledge, while respondents using science TV showed higher levels of deference toward scientific authority.Previous studies have reported that public attitudes toward nanotechnology are positive or neutral at this point,' which is consistent with general attitudes toward science and technology in the United States.2 Moreover, some studies on public opinion toward nanotechnology have also found that both cognitive and affective variables have important impacts on how the public thinks about this new scientific de~elopment.~ These studies, however, have paid little attention to the interplay of cognitive and affective factors and their potential interactive influences on public opinion about nanotechnology. Even though a few researchers4 examined basic pathways to public attitudes toward emerging technologies, their studies are limited in two respects. First, Scheufele and Lewenstein5 did not explore the specific roles that different types of science media play in this process. To address this limitation, we disaggregate media use for science into three categories: television science use, newspaper science use, and Web science use.