Kerk F Kee
Biographic Data
| ID | 4044235 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kerk F Kee |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kerk F |
| FAMILY NAME | Kee |
| SIGNATURE | KEE K F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Texas Tech University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0543-5009 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 200 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Original Sins of Algorithmic Authenticity Verification: Provenance Neglect and Model Collapse in AI-Mediated News and Information
This conceptual and prescriptive study identifies a foundational vulnerability in AI-mediated source and information verification systems, especially for journalism: provenance neglect, the systematic failure to weight evidence by source credibility, traceable origin, and institutional accountability. Grounded in source credibility theory, we demonstrate how this design flaw produces circular reasoning, synthetic content amplification, weakness t…
From digital divide to equity-enhancing diffusion: Generative AI and writing quality
This study investigates whether generative AI can narrow the gap between stronger and developing writers and explores the mechanisms underlying these effects. In a within-subject experiment, students wrote two essays, with and without AI assistance. Computer-aided analysis of the writing quality confirmed that while all students benefited from AI, that less skillful writers gained more. There was also no evidence of skillful writers using AI in m…
Can Visuals Facilitate or Detract Attention to Text? Examining the Effects of the Amount and Type of Visuals on Attention to Digital Longforms
Digital longforms have been viewed as more engaging and pushing the boundaries of digital journalism by including a large amount of visuals, yet it remains unclear whether the inclusion and placement of visuals in digital longforms attracts or diverts attention to textual information. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the Cognitive Load Theory, two eye-tracking experiments were conducted to examine the effects of the number of visuals, the …
Testing a dynamic model of trust in AI: How trust develops and affects critical thinking in the American workforce
What influence virtual workers’ communication: Exploring network inertia and media affordance theories
The COVID-19 pandemic has made virtual work more prevalent than ever. Building on the theoretical frameworks of network inertia and media affordances, this paper examines how network characteristics (tie strengths and heterogeneity), and media affordances (persistence and social presence) jointly influence virtual workers’ intention to communicate with colleagues. Data from a U.S. nationally representative sample (N = 389) provided partial suppor…
Examining the Diffusion of Innovations from a Dynamic, Differential-Effects Perspective: A Longitudinal Study on AI Adoption Among Employees
This study extends the diffusion of innovations theory by considering the threat of technology and examining the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace over time from a dynamic, differential-effects perspective. Findings from a three-wave survey study reveal an association between the threat of AI (i.e., job security concerns) and increasingly negative attitudes toward AI adoption among employees over time. Relative advantage, …
The Nudging Effect of Accuracy Alerts for Combating the Diffusion of Misinformation: Algorithmic News Sources, Trust in Algorithms, and Users’ Discernment of Fake News
Research has revealed that the diffusion of misinformation online can be attributed to inaccuracies in human cognitive reasoning. We examine the nudging effect of Accuracy Alerts on users’ ability to discern misinformation and how their trust moderates this effect. The results from a 2 (accuracy nudge: with nudge vs. no nudge) × 2 (news source type: algorithmic news vs. legacy non-algorithmic news) experiment showed significant main and interacti…
The reciprocity of social media engagement and collective actions: A longitudinal study on Ukrainian refugees
Interactive mediated contact on social media: Mechanisms and effects on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees
This study examined the effects of interactive mediated contact, intergroup contact enabled by social media engagement, on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, as well as the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects, such as empathy and perceived threat. A three-wave longitudinal survey of 555 US adults was conducted in March and May 2022. The results of a cross-lagged panel model showed that interactive mediated contact predicted greate…
The Role of Vidura Chatbot in the Diffusion of KnowCovid-19 Gateway
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global emergency. Clinicians and medical researchers are suddenly thrown into a situation where they need to keep up with the latest and best evidence for decision-making at work in order to save lives and develop solutions for COVID-19 treatments and preventions. However, a challenge is the overwhelming numbers of online publications with a wide range of quality. We explain a science gateway platform des…
Multitasking and Work-Life Balance: Explicating Multitasking When Working from Home
The present study explicates four types of multitasking when working from home according to their medium and social interactivity, and further explores the antecedent and consequences of different types of multitasking. A total of 429 U.S. employees who worked from home participated in an online survey in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated that a balance between work and life identities was positively associated with tech…
Applying the communication theory of Diffusion of Innovations to economic sciences: A response to the ‘ Using gossips to spread information ’ experiments conducted by the 2019 Nobel Laureates
Drs Abhijit Banergee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their remarkable series of large-scale field experiments to lessen global poverty. The main theoretical framework that they employed was the diffusion of innovations research and practice paradigm (DOI) which has had a long presence in communication research dating back to the 1940s. Here, we reviewed the Nobel laureates’ article, ‘Using gossi…
How journalists and experts metaphorically frame emerging information technologies: The case of cyberinfrastructure for big data
Journalists and experts contribute to the creation of frames (frame-building) of innovations. However, little is known about the specific contribution of these different societal actors to the frame-building of emerging information technologies. This article focuses on a specific emerging information technology – cyberinfrastructure for big data. In particular, we investigated the role of metaphors in the frame-building of cyberinfrastructure dur…
Running Out of Water! Developing a Message Typology and Evaluating Message Effects on Attitude Toward Water Conservation
In three phases, this study identifies and evaluates the major messages being used in communication campaigns focused on the ongoing drought in California. A literature review in Phase 1 resulted in a typology of 12 message strategies. Following this typology, trained coders in Phase 2 evaluated water conservation messages (N = 100) to determine whether each message utilized one or multiple strategies. The results revealed various frequencies of …
Developing and validating the A-B-C framework of information diffusion on social media
This research addresses the problem of promoting information diffusion, the extent to which information spreads, on social media platforms. Utilizing the number of views, comments, and shares as indicators of diffusion, we developed and validated an original research framework based on the big data approach (using all the blog posts in a university in the year 2013; N = 4120). This A-B-C framework (1) analyzes the textual features of blog posts u…
Information diffusion, Facebook clusters, and the simplicial model of social aggregation: A Computational Simulation of Simplicial Diffusers for Community Health Interventions
By integrating the simplicial model of social aggregation with existing research on opinion leadership and diffusion networks, this article introduces the constructs of simplicial diffusers (mathematically defined as nodes embedded in simplexes; a simplex is a socially bonded cluster) and simplicial diffusing sets (mathematically defined as minimal covers of a simplicial complex; a simplicial complex is a social aggregation in which socially bond…
Social Groups, Social Media, and Higher Dimensional Social Structures: A Simplicial Model of Social Aggregation for Computational Communication Research
By building on classical communication network literature, we present a computational approach to modeling tightly bound groups and social aggregations as higher dimensional social structures. Using the mathematical theory of simplicial complexes, these groups can be represented by geometric spatial elements (or simplexes) and a social aggregation a collection of simplexes (i.e., a simplicial complex). We discuss the uniting conditions that defin…
The Dialectical Tensions in the Funding Infrastructure of Cyberinfrastructure
Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment: Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Outcomes
A Web survey of 1,715 college students was conducted to examine Facebook Groups users' gratifications and the relationship between users' gratifications and their political and civic participation offline. A factor analysis revealed four primary needs for participating in groups within Facebook: socializing, entertainment, self-status seeking, and information. These gratifications vary depending on user demographics such as gender, hometown, and …
Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation
This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college students in the U.S., is related to attitudes and behaviors that enhance individuals' social capital. Using data from a random web survey of college students across Texas (n = 2,603), we find positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation. While these fin…
Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation
This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college students in the U.S., is related to attitudes and behaviors that enhance individuals' social capital. Using data from a random web survey of college students across Texas (n = 2,603), we find positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation. While these fin…
Information diffusion, Facebook clusters, and the simplicial model of social aggregation: A Computational Simulation of Simplicial Diffusers for Community Health Interventions
By integrating the simplicial model of social aggregation with existing research on opinion leadership and diffusion networks, this article introduces the constructs of simplicial diffusers (mathematically defined as nodes embedded in simplexes; a simplex is a socially bonded cluster) and simplicial diffusing sets (mathematically defined as minimal covers of a simplicial complex; a simplicial complex is a social aggregation in which socially bond…
Social Groups, Social Media, and Higher Dimensional Social Structures: A Simplicial Model of Social Aggregation for Computational Communication Research
By building on classical communication network literature, we present a computational approach to modeling tightly bound groups and social aggregations as higher dimensional social structures. Using the mathematical theory of simplicial complexes, these groups can be represented by geometric spatial elements (or simplexes) and a social aggregation a collection of simplexes (i.e., a simplicial complex). We discuss the uniting conditions that defin…
Testing a dynamic model of trust in AI: How trust develops and affects critical thinking in the American workforce
Interactive mediated contact on social media: Mechanisms and effects on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees
This study examined the effects of interactive mediated contact, intergroup contact enabled by social media engagement, on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, as well as the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects, such as empathy and perceived threat. A three-wave longitudinal survey of 555 US adults was conducted in March and May 2022. The results of a cross-lagged panel model showed that interactive mediated contact predicted greate…
Developing and validating the A-B-C framework of information diffusion on social media
This research addresses the problem of promoting information diffusion, the extent to which information spreads, on social media platforms. Utilizing the number of views, comments, and shares as indicators of diffusion, we developed and validated an original research framework based on the big data approach (using all the blog posts in a university in the year 2013; N = 4120). This A-B-C framework (1) analyzes the textual features of blog posts u…
Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment: Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Outcomes
A Web survey of 1,715 college students was conducted to examine Facebook Groups users' gratifications and the relationship between users' gratifications and their political and civic participation offline. A factor analysis revealed four primary needs for participating in groups within Facebook: socializing, entertainment, self-status seeking, and information. These gratifications vary depending on user demographics such as gender, hometown, and …
Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation
This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college students in the U.S., is related to attitudes and behaviors that enhance individuals' social capital. Using data from a random web survey of college students across Texas (n = 2,603), we find positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation. While these fin…
The Dialectical Tensions in the Funding Infrastructure of Cyberinfrastructure
Social Groups, Social Media, and Higher Dimensional Social Structures: A Simplicial Model of Social Aggregation for Computational Communication Research
By building on classical communication network literature, we present a computational approach to modeling tightly bound groups and social aggregations as higher dimensional social structures. Using the mathematical theory of simplicial complexes, these groups can be represented by geometric spatial elements (or simplexes) and a social aggregation a collection of simplexes (i.e., a simplicial complex). We discuss the uniting conditions that defin…
Information diffusion, Facebook clusters, and the simplicial model of social aggregation: A Computational Simulation of Simplicial Diffusers for Community Health Interventions
By integrating the simplicial model of social aggregation with existing research on opinion leadership and diffusion networks, this article introduces the constructs of simplicial diffusers (mathematically defined as nodes embedded in simplexes; a simplex is a socially bonded cluster) and simplicial diffusing sets (mathematically defined as minimal covers of a simplicial complex; a simplicial complex is a social aggregation in which socially bond…
Developing and validating the A-B-C framework of information diffusion on social media
This research addresses the problem of promoting information diffusion, the extent to which information spreads, on social media platforms. Utilizing the number of views, comments, and shares as indicators of diffusion, we developed and validated an original research framework based on the big data approach (using all the blog posts in a university in the year 2013; N = 4120). This A-B-C framework (1) analyzes the textual features of blog posts u…
Running Out of Water! Developing a Message Typology and Evaluating Message Effects on Attitude Toward Water Conservation
In three phases, this study identifies and evaluates the major messages being used in communication campaigns focused on the ongoing drought in California. A literature review in Phase 1 resulted in a typology of 12 message strategies. Following this typology, trained coders in Phase 2 evaluated water conservation messages (N = 100) to determine whether each message utilized one or multiple strategies. The results revealed various frequencies of …
Applying the communication theory of Diffusion of Innovations to economic sciences: A response to the ‘ Using gossips to spread information ’ experiments conducted by the 2019 Nobel Laureates
Drs Abhijit Banergee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their remarkable series of large-scale field experiments to lessen global poverty. The main theoretical framework that they employed was the diffusion of innovations research and practice paradigm (DOI) which has had a long presence in communication research dating back to the 1940s. Here, we reviewed the Nobel laureates’ article, ‘Using gossi…
How journalists and experts metaphorically frame emerging information technologies: The case of cyberinfrastructure for big data
Journalists and experts contribute to the creation of frames (frame-building) of innovations. However, little is known about the specific contribution of these different societal actors to the frame-building of emerging information technologies. This article focuses on a specific emerging information technology – cyberinfrastructure for big data. In particular, we investigated the role of metaphors in the frame-building of cyberinfrastructure dur…
The Role of Vidura Chatbot in the Diffusion of KnowCovid-19 Gateway
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global emergency. Clinicians and medical researchers are suddenly thrown into a situation where they need to keep up with the latest and best evidence for decision-making at work in order to save lives and develop solutions for COVID-19 treatments and preventions. However, a challenge is the overwhelming numbers of online publications with a wide range of quality. We explain a science gateway platform des…
Multitasking and Work-Life Balance: Explicating Multitasking When Working from Home
The present study explicates four types of multitasking when working from home according to their medium and social interactivity, and further explores the antecedent and consequences of different types of multitasking. A total of 429 U.S. employees who worked from home participated in an online survey in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated that a balance between work and life identities was positively associated with tech…
The Nudging Effect of Accuracy Alerts for Combating the Diffusion of Misinformation: Algorithmic News Sources, Trust in Algorithms, and Users’ Discernment of Fake News
Research has revealed that the diffusion of misinformation online can be attributed to inaccuracies in human cognitive reasoning. We examine the nudging effect of Accuracy Alerts on users’ ability to discern misinformation and how their trust moderates this effect. The results from a 2 (accuracy nudge: with nudge vs. no nudge) × 2 (news source type: algorithmic news vs. legacy non-algorithmic news) experiment showed significant main and interacti…
The reciprocity of social media engagement and collective actions: A longitudinal study on Ukrainian refugees
Interactive mediated contact on social media: Mechanisms and effects on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees
This study examined the effects of interactive mediated contact, intergroup contact enabled by social media engagement, on attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees, as well as the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects, such as empathy and perceived threat. A three-wave longitudinal survey of 555 US adults was conducted in March and May 2022. The results of a cross-lagged panel model showed that interactive mediated contact predicted greate…
Examining the Diffusion of Innovations from a Dynamic, Differential-Effects Perspective: A Longitudinal Study on AI Adoption Among Employees
This study extends the diffusion of innovations theory by considering the threat of technology and examining the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace over time from a dynamic, differential-effects perspective. Findings from a three-wave survey study reveal an association between the threat of AI (i.e., job security concerns) and increasingly negative attitudes toward AI adoption among employees over time. Relative advantage, …
Can Visuals Facilitate or Detract Attention to Text? Examining the Effects of the Amount and Type of Visuals on Attention to Digital Longforms
Digital longforms have been viewed as more engaging and pushing the boundaries of digital journalism by including a large amount of visuals, yet it remains unclear whether the inclusion and placement of visuals in digital longforms attracts or diverts attention to textual information. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the Cognitive Load Theory, two eye-tracking experiments were conducted to examine the effects of the number of visuals, the …
Testing a dynamic model of trust in AI: How trust develops and affects critical thinking in the American workforce
What influence virtual workers’ communication: Exploring network inertia and media affordance theories
The COVID-19 pandemic has made virtual work more prevalent than ever. Building on the theoretical frameworks of network inertia and media affordances, this paper examines how network characteristics (tie strengths and heterogeneity), and media affordances (persistence and social presence) jointly influence virtual workers’ intention to communicate with colleagues. Data from a U.S. nationally representative sample (N = 389) provided partial suppor…
The Original Sins of Algorithmic Authenticity Verification: Provenance Neglect and Model Collapse in AI-Mediated News and Information
This conceptual and prescriptive study identifies a foundational vulnerability in AI-mediated source and information verification systems, especially for journalism: provenance neglect, the systematic failure to weight evidence by source credibility, traceable origin, and institutional accountability. Grounded in source credibility theory, we demonstrate how this design flaw produces circular reasoning, synthetic content amplification, weakness t…
From digital divide to equity-enhancing diffusion: Generative AI and writing quality
This study investigates whether generative AI can narrow the gap between stronger and developing writers and explores the mechanisms underlying these effects. In a within-subject experiment, students wrote two essays, with and without AI assistance. Computer-aided analysis of the writing quality confirmed that while all students benefited from AI, that less skillful writers gained more. There was also no evidence of skillful writers using AI in m…
Computer Science (13 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Social media (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Data science (6 works) · Social Media and Politics (6 works) · Complex Network Analysis Techniques (5 works) · Social science (5 works)