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Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster are still in the recovery process. Though buildings and infrastructure have been reconstructed, socio-psychological recoveries have been ongoing and indefinite. Residents from coastal villages along Fukushima Prefecture have dealt with mass deaths, loss of land, high exposure to radioactive nuclides, and forced evacuations, while communities across the entire prefecture have been altered by global perceptions and demographically with an influx of evacuees. This qualitative study examines long-form survey answers from 123 respondents from eight different areas of Fukushima. Findings suggest that in post-nuclear Fukushima, connection to individuals in the changed community environment, community support, and the ability to confide in neighbors about experiences has been hindered. In addition, a presence of internal stigma, tensions concerning unfair compensation, uneasiness about a lack of information from media, a hesitation to talk about the disaster, and continued indicators of PTSD remain. Though past research has examined a global Fukushima stigma and the effects it has on residents, until now none has examined the internal stigmas residents have toward each other and the effects they have on the community. Through examining the social situation in post-nuclear Fukushima, this research stands as an important contribution to better understanding the social and socio-psychological strains that may be hindering a full recovery from disaster.

The purposes of the current study are (1) to conceptualize and test a social networking service (SNS) dependency measure and (2) to propose and test a general model of the effect of SNS dependency on online and offline interpersonal storytelling. This study is theoretically guided by media system dependency theory and communication infrastructure theory. Computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) were conducted with 477 SNS users aged 19–59 in Seoul in October of 2012. Confirmatory factor analyses results showed that our SNS dependency measure was valid and reliable. The results also confirmed that SNS dependency had direct effects on individual users' levels of engagement with interactive activities on SNSs and indirect effects on offline interpersonal storytelling.

This study revisits concepts of opinion leadership and followership in the current social and media environment and proposes that the two concepts should be reexamined as complementary and interactional rather than as competing. Based on survey data collected in Seoul, Korea, the study proposes four types of individuals depending on how they manage and form opinions on issues: opinion givers/seekers, opinion givers, opinion seekers, and nondiscussants. The study result indicates that those who both give and seek opinions are more connected to various types of media, have higher curating skills, and are more likely to participate in offline and online political activities than others. The implication of opinion givers/seekers in relation to the traditional meaning of opinion leadership will be further discussed.

The existence of a digital divide between old and young Americans has been well documented. It is usually defined as access or lack of access to the Internet. This study adds context to the understanding of the digital divide by demonstrating differenes in Internet connectedness, a multidimensional concept that includes consideration of the scope and intensity of the relationship that people develop with the Internet. Age is shown to be significantly associated not just with access, but with a tendency to pursue a more narrow range of personal goals online and with a pattern of connecting to the Internet from a smaller range of places. Nonetheless, older respondents evaluate the Internet to be as central to their lives as younger people do. Some support is offered for the idea that the digital divide is not merely a generational effect.

Residents of Fukushima Prefecture continue to face trauma after Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster. While there remains a substantial presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the prefecture, and the majority of literature tends to view PTSD as an individual psychological disease that can be ameliorated; there is little understanding about how individuals experiencing PTSD influence their communities over time. The present research employs Barton's collective stress theory and Ball-Rokeach et al.'s communication infrastructure theory to examine multilevel effects of individual-level trauma and offers a new term, long-term socio-psychological disaster impact (LTSDI). LTSDI modifies pre-existing notions of persistent PTSD to a neutral understanding of experiences of symptomology and various levels of individuals' impacts on their communities. Survey research conducted in Fukushima eight years after the disaster and analyses employing structural equation modeling found individuals experiencing LTSDI can positively contribute to their communities through community connectedness, a measure of interpersonal storytelling, collective efficacy, and civic participation. Implications of the study are discussed.

We recently developed an autotrophic biofloc technology (ABFT) system entailing simultaneous microalgae co-culturing with juvenile-farming-stage fish and shrimp in aquaculture and microalgae-based water treatment. The present study was conducted to confirm the potentialities of the ABFT system at the remaining stages (seedling to adult farming, Nile tilapia) for industrial-level implementation. In the results at the seedling stage, an excellent water-purification effect and significant water conservation (97% reduction) by microalgae were verified. Indeed, among the fish, there were not any significant differences, either in growth performance or in body composition, and the wastewater from this system was recycled by use for the growth of various plants. Further, the ABFT system was demonstrated to have a positive effect on production economics by simplifying the production process steps (simultaneous fish breeding and wastewater treatment) and providing for a natural hatching environment. In summary, the ABFT system can be integrated with existing systems on an industrial level as an effective and efficient means of achieving sustainable aquaculture.

We examined the internet connectedness of adolescents in relation to their use of traditional media, including television, radio and newspapers, as well as their goals when going online. The study was based on a survey of 1874 adolescents in five East Asian cities – Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo. We first identify three types of internet connectedness: communication/entertainment; expression/participation; and information/research. We then examine how each type of internet connectedness relates to adolescents' use of other media. Finally, we examine how different types of internet connectedness and other media uses are shaped by 'internet-related goals'. Our research results indicate that the use of the internet together with other media such as television, radio and newspapers differs depending on the type of internet connectedness, and that adolescents use not only the internet but other types of media to fulfill specific internet-related goals.

This article presents the Internet Connectedness Index (ICI), a measure for monitoring long-term inequalities in the quality of Internet connections among users, especially in terms of whether Internet connections will enhance the chances of people's upward mobility. This index is preferable to more established digital divide measures (e.g., gadgetry ownership or time online) for research on how the Internet is being incorporated into a world of structural inequalities. The ICI utilizes conventional time, history, and context measures, but goes beyond them to capture the scope and centrality of Internet incorporation into the everyday lives of diverse social groups. The validity and robustness of ICI vis-á-vis conventional ownership and time online measures are demonstrated in this article. In addition, the authors discuss theoretical, methodological, and policy implications based on the results. The analytical data are drawn from the Communication Technology and Community Program's Metamorphosis Project, an inquiry into the communication infrastructures of seven ethnically marked residential areas in Los Angeles.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the unique effect of ethnicity on people's internet connectedness. Internet connectedness is a multi‐dimensional relationship that individuals form with the internet.Design/methodology/approachSurvey findings from a study of four ethnic groups living in seven residential areas within ten miles from the Los Angeles Civic Center indicate that ethnicity has a significant unique effect not only on the rate of people's internet access, but also on the three dimensions of the internet connectedness index: context and history; scope and intensity; and centrality, after controlling for individual socio‐economic factors.FindingsThe results indicated that African‐Americans lagged behind other ethnic groups in all three dimensions of their internet connectedness. This suggests that the ways in which the internet is incorporated into people's everyday lives are likely to differ by geo‐ethnic areas.Originality/valueImplications of these results are discussed from a "communication infrastructure framework," which provides an ecological framework to interpret the ethnic differences in the multiple dimensions of internet connectedness.