Pauline Hope Cheong | Arizona State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Pauline Hope Cheong

Recent debates on the use of technology in classrooms have highlighted the significance of regula... more Recent debates on the use of technology in classrooms have highlighted the significance of regulating students' off-task and multitasking behaviors facilitated by digital media. This paper investigates the communication practices that constitute professorial authority to manage college students' digital distractions in classrooms. Findings from interviews with American professors illustrate how they constitute their authority through distinct communication strategies including the enactment of codified rules, strategic redirection, discursive sanctions, and deflection. Furthermore, results highlight the multiple constraints and tensions in instructor communication to manage digital distractions in everyday and routine interventions. Insights generated in this paper contribute to deepening understanding of the (re)construction of contemporary pedagogical authority in times of digital hyperconnectivity, as well as its adaptions and challenges.

It is significant that we are witnessing the growth of a distinct subfield focusing on new media ... more It is significant that we are witnessing the growth of a distinct subfield focusing on new media and religion as the relationship between the two is not just important, it is vital. I discuss in this article how this vitality is both figurative and literal in multiple dimensions. Mediated communication brings forth and constitutes the (re)production of spiritual realities and collectivities, as well as co-enacts religious authority. In this way, new mediations serve as the lifeblood for religious organizing and activism. Further research in religious communication will illuminate a richer understanding of digital religion, especially as a globally distributed phenomenon.

Religious believers have historically adapted Scripture into brief texts for wider dissemination ... more Religious believers have historically adapted Scripture into brief texts for wider dissemination through relatively inexpensive publications. The emergence of Twitter and other
microblogging tools today afford clerics a platform for real time information sharing with its interface for short written texts, which includes providing links to graphics and sound recordings that can be forwarded and responded to by others. This paper discusses emergent practices in
tweet authorship which embed and are inspired by sacred Scripture, in order to deepen understanding of the changing nature of sacred texts and of the constitution of religious authority as pastors engage microblogging and social media networks. Drawing upon a Twitter feed by a prominent Christian megachurch leader with global influence, this paper identifies multiple ways in which tweets have been encoded to quote, remix and interpret Scripture, and to serve as
choice aphorisms that reflect or are inspired by Scripture. Implications for the changing nature of sacred digital texts and the reconstruction of religious authority are also discussed.

Journal of Communication, 2011

The mediation of communication has raised questions of authority shifts in key social institution... more The mediation of communication has raised questions of authority shifts in key social institutions. This paper examines how traditional sources of epistemic power that govern social relations in religious authority are being amplified or delegitimized by Internet use, drawing from in-depth interviews with protestant pastors in Singapore. Competition from Internet access is found to delocalize epistemic authority to some extent; however, it also re-embeds authority by allowing pastors to acquire new competencies as strategic arbiters of religious expertise and knowledge. Our study indicates that while religious leaders are confronted with proletarianization, deprofessionalization and potential de-legitimization as epistemic threats, there is also an enhancement of epistemic warrant as they adopt mediated communication practices that include the social networks of their congregation.

Information, Communication and Society , Feb 2014

Information and communication technologies are often cited as one major source, if not the causal... more Information and communication technologies are often cited as one major source, if not the causal vector, for the rising intensity of transnational practices. Yet extant literature has not examined critically how digital media appropriation plays into the constitution of transnational organizations, particularly Chinese spiritual ones. To address the lack of theoretically grounded, empirical research on this question, this study investigates how the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation (Tzu Chi), one of the largest Taiwan-based civil and spiritual nonprofit organizations among the Chinese diaspora, is co-constituted by various social actors as an operationally closed system through their mediated communication. Based on an innovative theoretical framework that combines Maturana and Varela’s notion of “autopoiesis” with Cooren’s ideas of “incarnation” and “presentification,” we provide a rich analysis of Tzu Chi’s co-constitution through organizational leaders’ appropriation of digital and social media, as well as through mediated interactions between Tzu Chi’s internal and external stakeholders. In so doing, our research expands upon the catalogue of common economic and relational behaviors by overseas Chinese, advances our understanding of Chinese spiritual organizing, and reveals the contingent role of digital and social media in engendering transnational spiritual ties to accomplish global humanitarian work.

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2010

Emerging media affords netizens the opportunities to participate in critical civic discourse by c... more Emerging media affords netizens the opportunities to participate in critical civic discourse by collaboratively constructing and sharing previously inaccessible information across multiple platforms. This paper examined the communicative behaviors constituting the recent phenomenon of cyber vigilantism (human flesh search) in China, particularly how emerging media have been appropriated for online humanistic searches to hunt for personal information of social deviants to restore public morality. Our findings suggest that the identification of corrupt officials and circulation of their private data online amplified attention upon their abuse of power and pressured the authorities toward greater accountability. Blogs, forums and social networking sites helped support the expression of alternative public opinions from official discourse. Novel mash-ups further stimulated the transmediation of political parodies that challenged state discourse across video sharing sites. This article concludes with implications and recommendations for critical and comparative research toward a broadened and culturally nuanced notion of civic participation.

Information, Communication & Society

In light of expanding epistemic resources online, the mediatization of religion poses questions a... more In light of expanding epistemic resources online, the mediatization of religion poses questions about the possible changes, decline and reconstruction of clergy authority. Distinct from virtual Buddhism or cybersangha research which relies primarily on online observational data, this paper examines Buddhist clergy communication within the context of established religious organizations with an integrationist perspective on interpersonal communication and new and old media connections. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Buddhist leaders in Singapore, this paper illustrates ways in which priests are expanding their communicative competency, which we label ‘strategic arbitration’ to maintain their authority by restructuring multimodal representations and communicative influence. This study expands upon previous research by Cheong et al. (in press, Journal of Communication) and finds that constituting Buddhist religious epistemic authority in wired organizational contexts rests on coordinating online–offline communicative acts. Such concatenative coordination involves normalizing the aforementioned modality of authority through interpersonal acts that positively influences epistemic dependence. Communicative acts that privilege face-to-face mentoring and corporeal rituals are optimized in the presence of monks within perceived sacred spaces in temple grounds, thereby enabling clergy to perform ultimate arbitration. However, Buddhist leaders also increase bargaining power when heightened web presence and branding practices are enacted. The paper concludes with limitations and recommendations for future research in religious authority.

Critical Social Policy, 2007

While processes of immigrant integration and management of diversity have been of longstanding in... more While processes of immigrant integration and management of diversity have been of longstanding interest dating back to the post-1945 period, attention has only recently been turned to the role that social capital may play in the promotion of social cohesion. This paper proposes a critical framework for assessing the posited links between immigration, social cohesion and social capital. In this paper we first discuss the resurgent discourse on integration and social cohesion as the backdrop for social capital promotion in the United Kingdom and abroad. Following that, we
present alternative perspectives on social capital and social cohesion. We argue that the concept of social capital is dynamic and itself value-based. Categories of good or bad social capital are socially constructed; which ethnic groups fill each of them changes over time and is dependent on the prevailing ideological climate. The meanings of solidarity and integration are often loaded and sometimes ambiguous, and in this context we conclude our discussion with the need for caution in seeing social capital as an unalloyed positive resource for new immigrants, and in assuming that consensus should be the main goal for social cohesion.

Management Communication Quarterly , 2013

"This article examines how those who hold leadership positions in an internationally renowned Tai... more "This article examines how those who hold leadership positions in an internationally renowned Taiwanese Buddhist humanitarian organization establish themselves as legitimate authors of their organization by invoking a spiritual leader in their daily interactions and use this invocation to author their organization with a shared sense of compassion and wisdom. In so doing, this paper extends the literature on mindfulness and mindful organizing and offers practical insights into the cultivation of mindfulness in an organizational setting. In particular, this study underscores the importance of understanding how a spiritual organization is communicatively constituted by voicing a revered figure into everyday situations, illustrating the profound connections between voice, invocation, and vocation.
"

Environment & Planning A, 2012

In this paper we suggest that the exchange of communication in a mediatized environment is transf... more In this paper we suggest that the exchange of communication in a mediatized environment is transforming the nature of transactions in the religious marketplace. In this economy of religious informational exchanges, digitalization facilitates a process of mediatization that converts religious performance into forms suitable for commodification and commoditization. The intersection of digital media, religion, and the marketplace is demonstrated in the context of mega Protestant and Buddhist organizations in Singapore. We show how these large organizations embed media relations in their sacred spaces through a process of hybridization. In turn, hybrid spaces are converted into material outputs that may be readily transacted in real and virtual spaces. Hybridization attends to a postmodern audience and consumers who value experience and sensorial stimulations. It integrates retail, entertainment, and the aesthetics into a space of ascetic performance that is digitally transportable. Digital transactional spaces thrive on the abundance of information, and information multiplies when communication is unfettered by the absence of proprietary safeguards. The religious marketplace may therefore be understood as a medially driven performance space where points of interaction are digitally convertible for further reproduction, reconsumption, and redistribution in media form.

Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society, 2010

Death and bereavement are human experiences that new media helps facilitate alongside creating ne... more Death and bereavement are human experiences that new media helps facilitate alongside creating new social grief practices that occur online. This study investigated how people’s postings and tweets facilitated the communication of grief after pop music icon Michael Jackson died. Drawing upon past grief research, religion and new media studies, a thematic analysis of 1,046 messages was conducted on three mediated sites (Twitter, TMZ.com, and Facebook). Results suggested that social media served as grieving spaces for people to accept Jackson’s death rather than denying it or expressing anger over his passing. The findings also illustrate how interactive exchanges online helped recycle news and “resurrected” the life of Jackson. Additionally, as fans of deceased celebrities create and disseminate web-based memorials, new social media practices like “Michael Mondays” synchronize tweets within everyday life rhythms and foster practices to hasten the grieving process.

Journal of international and intercultural communication, 2009

"Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between new media use and international communica... more "Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between new media use and international communication that addresses religiosity and affirms users’ standpoints occupied by transmigrants that are marginalized in dominant societal structures. Drawing from focus group interviews among recent Chinese Protestant immigrants in Toronto, we argue that new media ‘use’ is broadened by users’ cultural appropriation in situational contexts to include proxy Internet access as accommodative communication given the political and legal constraints in their home country. Chinese transmigrants not only re-interpret and alter semantic associations that spiritualize the Internet, they also engage in innovative strategies that involve the intertwining of offline and online communicative modes. These include deploying complementary media forms or communicating in codes that are mutually understood among participating members to facilitate intragroup networking among Chinese religious communities. Implications are discussed with regard to the importance of cultural norms (religious guanxi) and situational context in shaping mediated international communication.

Keywords: New media and religion, Transnational religious communication, cultural appropriation of technology, religious guanxi, global communication and social change.

American Behavioral Scientist, 2012

Terrorism is a mounting global threat for national security yet the rise of social media facilita... more Terrorism is a mounting global threat for national security yet the rise of social media facilitates prosumption and the spread of alternative grassroots stories in response to civic militarization and state propaganda. This article discusses the structural and cultural conditions underlying the production and spread of online user-generated content as radical media tactics. By presenting a case study on the escape and man-hunting of a key terrorist in Southeast Asia, the paper examines prosumption and transmediation practices whereby official stories of the terrorist escape are appropriated, remediated, and virally disseminated across different social media-- including blogs, vlogs and digital games-- to help clarify how new media supports critical citizen engagement.

Journal of Applied Communication Research, 2011

This essay discusses the relationships between mediated religious authority and social change, in... more This essay discusses the relationships between mediated religious authority and social change, in terms of clergy's social media negotiation and multimodal communication competence, with implications for attracting attention and galvanizing active networks and resources for social initiatives.

Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2011

Identity has a profound influence on intercultural communication, yet its implications for online... more Identity has a profound influence on intercultural communication, yet its implications for online communities, particularly virtual gaming worlds, are less understood. This essay offers and applies a critical conceptual framework to articulate the multiple links between new media and identities and identifies gaps for future research. Attention to virtual identity perceptions and performances enrich our understanding of the connections between new media and intercultural communication. Correspondingly, advertence to mediated intercultural dialectics can help unpack the tensions and rewards in virtual world encounters and other related forums.

Journal of Media and Religion, 2008

Blogs represent an especially interesting site of online religious communication. Analysis of the... more Blogs represent an especially interesting site of online religious communication. Analysis of the content of 200 blogs with mentions of topics related to Christianity, as well as interviews of a subset of these bloggers, suggests that blogs provide an integrative experience for the faithful, not a “third place,” but a melding of the personal and the communal, the sacred and the profane. Religious bloggers operate outside the realm of the conventional nuclear church as they connect and link to mainstream news sites, other nonreligious blogs, and online collaborative knowledge networks such as Wikipedia. By chronicling how they experience faith in their everyday lives, these bloggers aim to communicate not only to their communities and to a wider public but also to themselves. This view of blogging as a contemplative religious experience differs from the popular characterization of blogging as a trivial activity.

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2010

Asian youths are embracing communication technologies at a burgeoning rate, yet interesting diffe... more Asian youths are embracing communication technologies at a burgeoning rate, yet interesting differences in Internet access and use exist among this younger generation. Our empirical investigation provides a rich and comparative look into what Asian youths do online, with an emphasis on an understudied area: their civic uses of new media. Data collected among 1,875 youths aged between 12 and 17 in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo in 2007 show that the 'digital generation' has grown up with computers and the Internet, with 96% of them being internet users, and having 6 years of computer experience on average. Our results suggest that the Internet may facilitate citizenship among Asian youths although entertainment related activities such as downloading music or playing games remain the most popular activities online. Sixty-five percent of them read online news, almost half of them have ever cast a vote on the Internet, and every one in five has signed an online petition. Differences in Internet usage and civic behaviors among youths in five cities are presented, suggesting the contextual nature of Internet use influenced by civic culture. The paper concludes with a discussion of differences in Internet use among Asian youths between 2001 and 2007, together with research implications for better understanding this understudied population.

Information, Communication and Society , 2008

This paper examines the relationships between Internet and social capital building within religio... more This paper examines the relationships between Internet and social capital building within religious organizations, which are relatively understudied foci. Building upon theoretical insights provided by new institutionalism and recent research on the Internet, social capital and religion, this article explores the ways in which religious organizations have (re)structured their norms, values, and practices of religious community in light of the incorporation of the Internet into their congregational life. Drawing from interviews conducted with Christian and Buddhist religious leaders in Toronto, this article discusses three major relationships in which the effects of the Internet on social capital may be understood, that is, complementary, transformative, and perverse relationships. Religious organizations are traditionally associated with relatively high stocks of social capital, yet findings here suggest that their communicative norms, values, and practices are changing to a varying extent. The results also indicate that the relationship between the Internet and social capital building is largely complementary; however, the Internet is perceived by some to be a 'mixed blessing', facilitating the potential transformation of organizational practices that affect community norms while leading to the dispersion of religious ties that could undermine community solidarity. Thus, contrary to earlier studies that have documented no evidence of innovations involving the reconfiguration of organizational practices and the adjustment of mission or services, findings here illustrate how some religious organizations have expanded the scope of their calling and restructured their communicative practices to spur administrative and operational effectiveness. Like other organizations, religious organizations are not insulated from technological changes including those associated with the Internet. This study clarifies and identifies key ways in which the distinct spirituality, cultural values, and institutional practices and norms of religious organizations influence communication processes that constitute bridging and bonding forms of social capital in this dot.org era of faith.

The Information Society, 2009

"We examine “religion-online,” an underrepresented area of research in new media, communication, ... more "We examine “religion-online,” an underrepresented area of research in new media, communication, and geography, with a multilevel study of the online representation and (re)presentation of Protestant Christian organizations in Singapore, which has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world and also believers affiliated with all the major world religions. We first critically discuss and empirically examine how online technologies are employed for religious community building in novel and diverse ways. Then we investigate the role religious leaders play through their mental representations of the spatial practices and scales through which their religious communities are imagined and practiced online. We show how churches use the multimodality of the Internet to assemble multiple forms of visible data and maps to extend geographic sensibilities of sacred space and create new social practices of communication.

Keywords: community, geographic information system communication, Internet, new media, public participation, religion

Journal of Communication, 2011

Information, Communication and Society , Feb 2014

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2010

Information, Communication & Society

Critical Social Policy, 2007

Management Communication Quarterly , 2013

Environment & Planning A, 2012

Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society, 2010

Journal of international and intercultural communication, 2009

Keywords: New media and religion, Transnational religious communication, cultural appropriation of technology, religious guanxi, global communication and social change.

American Behavioral Scientist, 2012

Journal of Applied Communication Research, 2011

Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2011

Journal of Media and Religion, 2008

Journal of Adolescent Research, 2010

Information, Communication and Society , 2008

The Information Society, 2009

Keywords: community, geographic information system communication, Internet, new media, public participation, religion

This anthology—the first of its kind in eight years—collects some of the best and most current re... more This anthology—the first of its kind in eight years—collects some of the best and most current research and reflection on the complex interactions between religion and computer mediated communication (CMC). The contributions cohere around the central question: how will core religious understandings of identity, community and authority shape and be (re)shaped by the communicative possibilities of Web 2.0? The authors gathered here address these questions in three distinct ways: through contemporary empirical research on how diverse traditions across the globe seek to take up the technologies and affordances of contemporary CMC; through investigations that place these contemporary developments in larger historical and theological contexts; and through careful reflection on the theoretical dimensions of research on religion and CMC. In their introductory and concluding essays, the editors uncover and articulate the larger intersections and patterns suggested by individual chapters, including trajectories for future research. Foreword by Stewart Hoover & Contributors include Daniel Arasa, Lynne Baab, Heidi Campbell, Lorenzo Cantoni, Sam Han, Bernie Hogan, Peter Horsfield, Tim Hutchings, Mark Johns, Stine Lomberg, Knut Lundby, Bala Ahmadu Musa, Ibrahim Ahmadu Musa, Emanuele Rapetti, Jørgen Straarup, Stefano Tardini, Sara Vannini, and Barry Wellman.

At the start of the second decade of the new millennium, there is increasing awareness of the dev... more At the start of the second decade of the new millennium, there is increasing awareness of the development of newer ‘smart’ and more interactive media in precipitate speed in many parts of the world. The concept of change – in contrast to continuity – is central to the increasing interest in digital media. This focus has not, however, been vigorously matched by substantive theoretical discussions, or by extensive empirical examinations of computer-mediated communication and intercultural communication.

Against such a backdrop, contributors to this volume offer theoretical insights, fresh evidence and rich applications in assessing the nature of digital culture(s) in order to address assumptions about the present state of mediated global society(ies) and the trajectory into the future. Chapters explore what happens in praxis when digital media are implemented across cultures and are contested and negotiated within complex local and political conditions.

Special attention is given to showcasing prominent interpretative and critical research from diverse voices in multiple locations across the world and with varying backgrounds. As such, this volume presents a rich and colorful tapestry that offers opportunities for comparative analyses and deepened international understandings of digital media connections, particularly in the areas of identity, community and politics.

Praise for New Media and Intercultural Communication

"...Human dependency on an ever-adaptive yet consumer-practical digital communication infrastructure is deepening....Tried and true intercultural communication theories are not easily retrofitted to address new media contests and environments. Nor do theories of the Internet alway recognize just how fundamental culture is to communication. But this book does...It transports us into a twenty-first century way of thinking about culture, communication and new media." --- Kent A.Ono, Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Islamic extremism is the dominant security concern of many contemporary governments, spanning the... more Islamic extremism is the dominant security concern of many contemporary governments, spanning the indus-trialized West to the developing world. Narrative Landmines explores how rumors fit into and extend narrative systems and ideologies, particularly in the context of terrorism, counter-terrorism, and extremist insurgencies. Its concern is to foster a more sophisticated understanding of how oral and digital cultures work alongside economic, diplomatic, and cultural factors that influence the struggles between states and non-state actors in the proverbial battle of hearts and minds. Beyond face-to-face communication, the authors also address the role of new and social media in the creation and spread of rumors.

As narrative forms, rumors are suitable to a wide range of political expression, from citizens, insurgents, and governments alike, and in places as distinct as Singapore, Iraq, and Indonesia—the case studies presented for analysis. The authors make a compelling argument for understanding rumors in these contexts as "narrative IEDs," low-cost, low-tech weapons that can successfully counter such elaborate and expansive government initiatives as outreach campaigns or strategic communication efforts. While not exactly the same as the advanced technological systems or Improvised Explosive Devices to which they are metaphorically related, narrative IEDs nevertheless operate as weapons that can aid the extremist cause.

Praise for Narrative Landmines:

"A strong and useful contribution to the field, Narrative Landmines makes important points about the relevance of rumor to counterinsurgency theory and operations."
—Philip Seib, University of Southern California

"Narrative Landmines is a goldmine of insights. It shows how pervasive and persistent rumors profoundly shape the strategically criical social realities and perceptions of vast cultures vulnerable to Islamist extremism." —Nicholas DiFonzo, author of The Watercooler Effect