Research on the processes of mediatization aims to explore the mutual shaping of media and social life and how new media technologies influence and infiltrate social practices and cultural life. We extend this discussion of media's role in transforming the everyday by including in the discussion the mediatization of emotion and discuss what we conceptualize as digital affect culture(s). We understand these as relational, contextual, globally emergent spaces in the digital environment where affective flows construct atmospheres of emotional and cultural belonging by way of emotional resonance and alignment. Approaching emotion as a cultural practice, in terms of affect, as something people do instead of have, we discuss how digital affect culture(s) traverse the digital terrains and construct pockets of culture-specific communities of affective practice. We draw on existing empirical research on digital memorial culture to empirically illustrate how digital affect culture manifests on micro, meso, and macro levels and elaborate on the constitutive characteristics of digital affect culture. We conclude with implications of this conceptualization for theoretical advancement and empirical research.

The authors selected 8 ordered quantities from smallest (1st) to largest (8th) from each of 36 domains, such as population of countries and production of commodities. Given the 1st and 8th (broad domain boundaries), 2nd and 7th (medium boundaries), 3rd and 6th (narrow boundaries), 2nd and 3rd, 6th and 7th, or none of the quantities, participants estimated the 4th and 5th quantities from each domain. They then repeated the estimations as 3-person groups or individuals. The groups performed at the level of their best members and better than the independent individuals. All 5 domain boundaries improved estimation for both groups and individuals. Estimations were most accurate given the narrow (3rd and 6th) boundaries, suggesting processes of assimilation rather than averaging.

Estimation tasks typically fall between the extremes of the intellective-judgmental task continuum. To the extent that these tasks are intellective, models predicting intragroup influence on the basis of the accuracy of proposed alternatives should provide better fit (analogous to the "truth wins" social decision scheme). To the extent that these tasks are judgmental, models predicting influence on the basis of the centrality (i.e., intragroup "averageness") of alternatives should provide better fit. Thus 2 competing hypotheses are plausible. Findings from 2 studies indicate support for the latter hypothesis. For both studies, both a median-based model and an exponentially weighted centrality model adequately fit the obtained group judgments.

The impact of message abstractness on recipients is controversial. Research on person perception suggests that abstract messages are more influential, whereas research on communication and its outcomes suggests that concrete, vivid communication has greater impact. It was predicted that the latter also applies to the domain of person perception if the message contains unexpected (i.e., stereotype inconsistent) information. This prediction was tested experimentally. It was found that a message about a target person with unexpected content exerts more influence when it is concrete than when it is abstract. This effect generalized across different sources of communication (mass media and interpersonal communication). In line with earlier findings, messages from the media had a somewhat stronger effect than interpersonal communication. Implications for optimal message composition for the communication of knowledge about people are discussed.

Media coverage contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudice. So far, research has focused on biased content rather than style in reporting about minorities. One such stylistic dimension is the so-called linguistic intergroup bias: The tendency to describe positive behavior of members of one’s own group and negative behavior of other groups’ members in a more abstract way (compared to the same behavior of the respective other group). Recipients of communication biased in this way judge the described individuals in line with abstract descriptions (i.e., own-group members more positively than members of other groups). The current study demonstrates that linguistically biased news reports about minorities lead to higher levels of prejudice. Hence, media coverage does not only affect attitudes about minorities by what is reported, but also by how it is presented.