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Anticapitalist Dystopias in Streaming Serials

This article explains how the series Squid Game embodies an anticapitalist dystopia through a combination of aestheticized violence, allegorical storytelling, and mainstream appeal. According to the research by Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, the success of this Korean series reflects a broader cultural fascination with cruelty and systemic critique in streaming content.
Persona sujetando una tablet en las manos, mostrando su pantalla

Streaming Audiences and Political Sentiments in Spain and Mexico

This article explains how streaming platforms influence the political efficacy, alienation, and cynicism of millennial and centennial viewers in Spain and Mexico. According to the research by Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and Belén Puebla-Martínez, these two Spanish-speaking nations rank among the top ten globally for streaming consumption.
Plato con alimentos variados para una dieta saludable y equilibrada

Fad Diets and Apomediation on YouTube: Public Health Risks

As a result of the confinements of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sedentary lifestyle due to teleworking, there is an increase in weight gain and dietary carelessness in the population, which leads to an increase in offers of fad diets based on recommendations made by digital influencers. The aim of the study was to examine the characteristics of dietary recommendation videos made by non-health professional prescribers in Spanish and English to understand what patterns are followed by the productions of this type of content and what effects they have on the interaction they receive. An exploratory walkthrough method analysis was applied to define the variables of a codebook, followed by a content analysis of a sample of 50 videos published between January 2020 and July 2021. Most of the videos are published in the first months of the year, probably aimed at users seeking to reduce the weight gained during Christmas. The productions were characterized by having a very personal tone, informative and with relatively plural information, sometimes addressing the risks of diets or slimming products, and, although recommendations abound, the voices of experts are not frequent. The products and diets addressed in the videos often have a high health risk and do not involve practices recommended by experts, so although sometimes their contraindications or associated risks are pointed out, the promotional component and the search for traffic to the channel seem to be more relevant factors than public health in these videos.
Televisor moderno de pantalla plana en un salón

Millennials, Centennials, and Media Effects in Streaming

Viewers are increasingly used to the link between entertainment and technology in the current media ecosystem. The success of consuming streaming platforms when watching movies and series shows how the audience is more involved in new forms of viewing, at any time, at any moment, and with any content. This research aimed to examine the perception of millennial and centennial audiences in Spain and Mexico, the two Spanish-speaking countries with the highest streaming consumption, about audiovisual content producers for entertainment. Three theories on public perception (spiral of silence, bandwagon effect, and third-person effect) were used as the basis of the research questions to unravel the extent to which younger audiences in these countries consider that production companies are, or are not, ethical in the representation of what may be labeled as "sensitive topics". The results show that centennials are more confident in their critical perceptions of controversial issues in movies and series, while, on the other hand, millennials approach their perceptions with more cautiousness and confusion.
Cartel contra el discurso de odio y la intolerancia

From Hate Speech to Polarization: How It Spreads

We are living through a time of major political changes due to the rise of populist leaders and the resurgence of extreme ideological movements. The emergence of this phenomenon is due, to a large extent, to the ease with which these political actors can disseminate and spread their messages without any limits through social networks, leaving aside the former “fourth power” of the media as filterers and reinterpreters of information. Generally, the formula used by these leaders and movements is usually based on symbolic social division and polarization through hate speeches that allow demonizing their adversaries while antagonizing the issuers: a discursive “us” against “them” based on verbal violence to dehumanize an “exogroup.” We want to discuss the importance of understanding the process of communicational transfer—which begins with hate speech and evolves into demonization and social polarization—as a strategic basis for creating an ideal scenario for the growth and strengthening of populist discourse, which is reductionist and simplifying in nature.

Analysis Model for Digital Native Media Interfaces

In a context marked by the emergence of new platforms and interfaces, digital native media face the challenge of organizing and presenting their content in an effective and eloquent way. This milestone requires ongoing work toward the identification and conceptualization of the dimensions that map the structural and formal requirements necessary for fluid communication with audiences and adequate visibility in the digital ecosystem. This study, which adopts a quantitative–qualitative methodological design, proposes, describes, and applies a taxonomy for the analysis of digital media web interfaces. Based on a review of the literature, two rounds of expert judgment, and a pilot test, the research identifies 14 thematic dimensions, 36 indicators, and 69 variables. The study focuses on the importance of renewing research about taxonomy related to structural dimensions that address narrative, quality, usability, information search, and content redissemination and socialization, among other aspects. The study of web interfaces applied to journalism demands long-term research work with a holistic approach that, at a conceptual and practical level, can offer proposals for analysis and diagnosis on the basis of an integrated method.
Iconos de redes sociales representando la gestión de perfiles y estrategias de marketing digital

OK Boomer: Millennials, TikTok, and New Media Challenges

The popularization of new interaction spaces brings new narratives and social phenomena that merit attention from the scientific community. Based on the existing literature on the new challenges facing the communication discipline with these emerging narratives, this editorial summarizes the empirical and theoretical contributions of the thematic issue entitled “New Narratives for New Consumers: Influencers and the Millennial and Centennial Generations.” The authors emphasize that the studies selected for this thematic issue explore the innovative features and opportunities of the emerging scenarios and offer a cautionary account of their structural problems and the urgency of a new media literacy.
Imagen procedente del Financial Times (FT.com)

Populism, Media, and Youth: Spain vs Colombia

Populism has experienced a worrying growth in the last decade in different locations around the world. This globalizing process has been enhanced by the immediacy, interaction, and participation of social networks, cyber media, and other digital platforms. In this context, the perception that young people give to this type of phenomena constitutes a field of study of great interest for the Social Sciences. This research examines the correlations between populist attitudes, perception of public opinion, and opinions about the media in students of Communication Sciences in Colombia and Spain. Methods: Based on an exploratory-correlational approach and a quantitative design, this research has analyzed the reflections and priorities of a group of n=499 undergraduate and graduate students related to Communication Sciences in Colombia and Spain. Results: The study has confirmed the leading role played by social networks in the formation of radical opinions while detecting a decline in the influence of television among young audiences. In addition, the study establishes that the index of public opinion perception is higher in Spain, while the index of media perception or anti-elitist attitudes is higher in Colombia, and there is no clear link between populist attitudes and a political ideology of extremes. Conclusions: The correlations examined note a tendency towards disaffection and discredit towards politics in general, especially by the young population, which affects actors and institutions. It alludes to the preference of this population group for interacting and informing themselves on digital platforms and presents populist attitudes, without clear ideological identification, but with a clear tendency towards simplification of messages, thus emphasizing the need to educate the critical view of citizens and to work on media literacy as a crucial strategy against the growth and expansion of populism.
Cámara fotográfica antigua con carrete de película

Symbolic Discursive Violence in Digital Media

The following research studies, from a theoretical perspective, the different forms of symbolic and discursive violence and the transmission of hate speech through new media. The main objective is to understand the consequences of symbolic violence through language and how this affects freedom of expression. Reflective and critical argumentation is highlighted through an exploratory analysis carried out by a literature review, where it is determined that the confrontational narrative used by the media contributes to the dehumanization, demonization and polarization of specific collectives.
Fotografía de archivo utilizada como imagen destacada en el blog de Romero Rodríguez

The Ventriloquist Effect: News Agencies and Misinformation

This research reflects, from a theoretical perspective, how most of the international events that reach the rest of the media are disseminated through news agencies, causing the well-known «ventriloquist effect»: multiple media, a single voice; and explores how online platforms have fostered this phenomenon, causing a structural increase in misinformation. In this sense, the research aims to understand the development of the «ventriloquist effect» with the progress of «new media» and, as a consequence, the increase of disinformation. For this grounded theory documentary analysis, the methodological procedure was based on the bibliographic review of the literature in the international reference databases (WoS and Scopus), carrying out an analysis of primary studies to synthesize the information. The results indicate, among other issues, that social networks foster spaces of structural misinformation in the current ecosystem. In conclusion, the relationship between the "ventriloquist effect" and misinformation, which arises from reticularly and information-digital decentralization, is determined.