Decentralized social media platforms unlock authentic consumer feedback

Washington State University

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PULLMAN, Wash. — Businesses looking for clearer insight into how consumers truly feel about their products, campaigns or brand decisions may find more authentic reactions on decentralized social media platforms, according to new research from Washington State University.

The study, which was published in the European Journal of Marketing, found that people express stronger emotions and engage in less self-censorship on decentralized platforms than on traditional, centralized sites. Centralized platforms — such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, formerly Twitter — are owned and operated by single corporations that control content and user data. Decentralized platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Odysee and Signal offer users greater anonymity and autonomy.

“In many centralized platforms, people think twice before posting because they know their activity is monitored or tied to a public identity,” said Mesut Cicek, scholarly associate professor of marketing in the Carson College of Business and corresponding author. “On decentralized platforms, users feel freer to express their true opinions, and that leads to more candid, emotionally rich reactions.”

Electronic word-of-mouth plays a critical role in how audiences respond to brands, yet people may soften or filter their reactions on platforms where their identity is more visible or tightly monitored. To examine how platform design influences online expression, the research team conducted surveys, controlled simulations and analyzed real-world social media content.

In an initial study, participants assigned to either a centralized or decentralized environment were asked how comfortable they felt sharing honest opinions. Those in the decentralized group reported feeling more autonomous and willing to express their genuine views.

The researchers then tested whether those perceptions would translate into actual behavior. Cicek and his co-authors built a mock social platform that allowed them to manipulate whether participants believed they were posting in a centralized or decentralized space. In this controlled setting, participants responded to identical prompts. Those who believed they were using a decentralized platform wrote comments with stronger emotional intensity and less hesitation, demonstrating how platform structure can directly shape expression.

A third study analyzed more than 26,000 comments posted by the same video creators who shared identical videos on both a centralized platform and a decentralized counterpart. The researchers found that comments on decentralized platforms were more affective, direct and expressive — even when the content and the creators were the same. This pattern suggests that the platform environment, not the message itself, influences how openly people communicate.

“We wanted to see if platform structure truly shapes expression, and it does,” Cicek said. “Even when the content is the same and the audience is similar, decentralization increases emotional expression.”

As decentralized social networks continue to grow in popularity, Cicek said companies, marketers and policymakers may increasingly rely on these environments to anticipate consumer concerns and make more informed decisions about product development and communication strategy.

Additional co-authors include Serdar Yayla, assistant professor at California State University, Los Angeles; Omer Cem Kutlubay, associate professor at the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith; and Kunter Gunasti, associate professor of marketing at Washington State University.
 

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Journal

European Journal of Marketing

DOI

10.1108/EJM-09-2024-0759 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Unchained expressions: how (de)centralization shapes affective expressions on social media platforms

 

Vitamin C may help protect fertility from a harmful environmental chemical

Study suggests a potential safeguard for individuals regularly exposed to fireworks, explosives and related materials.

University of Missouri-Columbia

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image: 

Ramji Bhandari

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Credit: University of Missouri

A new discovery at the University of Missouri reveals that vitamin C may help protect reproductive health from a harmful environmental chemical. Using a fish model, researchers found that exposure to potassium perchlorate, a chemical commonly used in explosives and fireworks, can harm sperm production, potentially reducing fertility.

Led by Mizzou’s Ramji Bhandari, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Science, the team used Japanese rice fish, called medaka, to investigate how the chemical affects reproductive health. Researchers found that male fish exposed to potassium perchlorate alone experienced a dramatic drop in fertility and clear damage to their testes. But fish exposed to vitamin C and the chemical at the same time showed improved fertility and less damage to their testes.

“Exposure to chemicals in the environment can have a big impact on reproductive health, but our discovery with a fish model offers hope that vitamin C may play a powerful role as an antioxidant in protecting sperm health against the harmful effect of potassium perchlorate,” Bhandari said. “While more research is needed, fish are good models for studying reproductive health because their reproductive genes and processes are similar to humans.”

Bhandari’s work centers on understanding how environmental contaminants impact the health of humans and wildlife, as well as finding mitigation strategies to protect against those threats. His interest in potassium perchlorate began 10 years ago after a Society of Toxicology conference, where he learned that military personnel face higher infertility rates than the general public. Evidence showed some service members had higher levels of potassium perchlorate in their blood due to their repeated close proximity to explosives.

“I became curious what impact that exposure may have on reproductive health. In our recent study, we discovered potassium perchlorate exposure causes oxidative stress, which interferes with genes and pathways involved in the sperm production process,” Bhandari said. “The good news is we know vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and we just discovered it can successfully protect the sperm production process against that oxidative stress by restoring molecular pathways involved in male fertility.”

The research underscores both the potential reproductive risks of potassium perchlorate — considered an emerging environmental contaminant — and the promising potential of vitamin C as a protective intervention. The findings could be especially relevant for people in military, industrial or environmental settings, although more research is needed to better understand how preventative treatments could benefit humans.

“Mizzou is a leader in reproductive biology research, and the opportunities here for interdisciplinary collaboration, especially at the NextGen Precision Health building, set Mizzou apart from other universities,” Bhandari said. “Mizzou’s Advanced Technology Core Facilities and the significant number of experts here in reproductive biology support our efforts to improve human health.”

“Vitamin C mitigates potassium perchlorate exposure-induced disruption of spermatogenesis in medaka” was published in Environmental Science and Technology.

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Journal

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.5c09514 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Vitamin C Mitigates Potassium Perchlorate Exposure-Induced Disruption of Spermatogenesis in Medaka

 

University of Tennessee receives DOE Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Award

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville Nuclear Engineering Associate Professor Khalid Hattar

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Credit: University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the recipient of a $251,650 nuclear energy infrastructure award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy that will be used to establish an in-situ scanning electron microscopy platform for irradiated materials.

The high resolution and environmental scanning electron microscope with chemical mapping will be used for three purposes:

• the evaluation of small scale, low activity radioactive samples
• post irradiation examination
• in-situ thermal, mechanical, and irradiation experiments

The microscope will be housed in the Tennessee Ion Beam Materials Laboratory (TIBML), which is under the direction of Nuclear Engineering Associate Professor Khalid Hattar. Upon Hattar’s hiring in 2023, the vision for the TIBML was to realize a world-leading capability for evaluating and studying materials performance in extreme environments.

“This DOE infrastructure award represents another step on that journey by providing funds to connect a scanning electron microscope to one of the irradiation beam lines,” said NE Department Head Brian Wirth. “This will add capability to visualize the damage processes occurring in real time, improving knowledge, and providing data to validate models, ultimately leading to improved structural and functional materials to enable significant advancements in nuclear fission and fusion energy production.”

UT was one of 15 university-led infrastructure projects that received DOE awards totaling $5.3 million that are aimed at strengthening America’s nuclear energy workforce, research capabilities, and restoring American’s position as the world’s leading energy producer.

Since 2009, DOE has awarded more than $95 million for university nuclear energy infrastructure projects and upgrades through the DOE’s Infrastructure Program, which is managed by the Nuclear Energy University Program with support from Nuclear Science User Facilities.

 

Why we talk to people who think differently – or why we don’t

University of Basel

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“Democracy thrives on political discourse,” says Dr Melissa Jauch, a research associate in the Department of Social Psychology at the University of Basel. “It is therefore essential in a democracy that people talk to each other. This helps to understand the other side better and, in the best case, to bridge political divides. On the other hand, it’s also a chance to critically examine one’s own views.”

At the same time, increasing political polarization means that many people shy away from confrontation with those who think differently, whether out of fear of conflict or out of a need to protect their self-esteem. “It is therefore important to understand the circumstances under which people are willing to talk to people who think differently,” says Jauch.

The postdoc investigated this question together with other researchers in social psychology and recently published the results in the journal Political Psychology. A total of four studies were conducted with students from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel and with sample groups in the US and the UK.

Interest in other opinions

To measure willingness to engage in discussion, the Basel research team has developed its own measuring tool called WEDO (Willingness to engage with differently minded others). The way it works is simple: using predefined hypothetical scenarios, the study participants first indicate their attitude towards a certain topic – such as sustainability or immigration – on a multi-point scale.

In a second step, they are asked to put together a hypothetical discussion group. In doing so, they define the range of opinions that they consider acceptable in this group. For example, a participant may exclude people with extremely different opinions, but allow moderately different positions. WEDO therefore does not just measure whether someone is in favor of dialog or rejects it. Rather, the tool captures the full range of opinions that a person is willing to accept.

What distinguishes open-minded people

The study shows that people who are open to those with different opinions tend to think more analytically and have a general need to get to the bottom of things. “People who tend to think in black and white and rely more on their gut feeling, however, are less willing to engage in dialog,” reports Jauch.

The social psychologist was surprised to find that, according to the studies, it does not matter whether a topic is politically controversial when it comes to people’s willingness to engage in dialog. “We assumed that differing opinions would tend to be avoided when it came to controversial topics. This did not prove to be the case; on the contrary: according to one study, people are more willing to engage with other opinions when it comes to controversial issues.”

Studies continue

The studies are not yet complete, says Melissa Jauch. There are still a number of open questions that need to be investigated in more detail: why are people sometimes more willing to engage in dialog when it comes to controversial topics? What context is conducive to political discussion? Are there other personality traits besides analytical and intuitive thinking styles that influence people’s willingness to engage in dialog? And what role do stereotypes play?

However, WEDO already offers several advantages. Compared to behavioral studies, the measuring tool saves time and money and can be easily adapted to different topics and contexts. It also allows for a nuanced assessment of the range of opinions that people are willing to engage with – thus helping to identify the factors that can bridge political divides.

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Journal

Political Psychology

DOI

10.1111/pops.70086 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

How deep a divide do we tolerate? Measuring the willingness to engage with differently minded others (WEDO)