Joel Rasmussen

During a pandemic, the advice issued by public health authorities undergoes significant scrutiny, potentially affecting public adherence to recommended measures. Trust and trustworthiness become key. This book analyses the rhetorical strategies of the Norwegian public health authorities as the COVID-19 pandemic moved through phases that presented different rhetorical problems and challenges. Many consider the Norwegian response successful, making it a particularly interesting case. Adopting an organisation-focused viewpoint, the analysis examines communication strategies through a dataset collected as the pandemic evolved. This included observations within communication departments of the main public health agencies during March and April 2020. The study offers five key insights: 1) A pandemic rhetorical situation has changing constraints and opportunities that influence the agency of the rhetor and necessitates bottom-up, continuing situational analysis and attention to perceptions; 2) The notion of “the rhetorical situation” conceptualises different phases that “bleed” into each other; 3) Trust and trustworthiness are negotiated through specific rhetorical strategies; 4) Transparency is the most crucial strategy; 5) Authorities used a combination of invitational rhetoric, providing a role for the citizens to willingly contribute to curbing the virus, and imperative form through simple directives that citizens were expected to follow. The primary audience for this book is scholars and practitioners within crisis communication. The book is written by a team from the “Pandemic Rhetoric” project, financed by the Research Council of Norway, consisting of Øyvind Ihlen (University of Oslo), Sine Nørholm Just (Roskilde University), Jens E. Kjeldsen (University of Bergen), Ragnhild Mølster (University of Bergen), Truls Strand Offerdal (University of Oslo), Joel Rasmussen (Örebro University), and Eli Skogerbø (University of Oslo).

Do you want to study influencers? Opinions and comments on a set of posts? Look at collections of photos or videos on Instagram? Qualitative Research Using Social Media guides the reader in what different kinds of qualitative research can be applied to social media data. It introduces students, as well as those who are new to the field, to developing and carrying out concrete research projects. The book takes the reader through the stages of choosing data, formulating a research question, and choosing and applying method(s). Written in a clear and accessible manner with current social media examples throughout, the book provides a step-by-step overview of a range of qualitative methods. These are presented in clear ways to show how to analyze many different types of social media content, including language and visual content such as memes, gifs, photographs, and film clips. Methods examined include critical discourse analysis, content analysis, multimodal analysis, ethnography, and focus groups. Most importantly, the chapters and examples show how to ask the kinds of questions that are relevant for us at this present point in our societies, where social media is highly integrated into how we live. Social media is used for political communication, social activism, as well as commercial activities and mundane everyday things, and it can transform how all these are accomplished and even what they mean. Drawing on examples from Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Weibo, and others, this book will be suitable for undergraduate students studying social media research courses in media and communications, as well as other humanities such as linguistics and social science-based degrees.

Do you want to study influencers? Opinions and comments on a set of posts? Look at collections of photos or videos on Instagram? Qualitative Research Using Social Media guides the reader in what different kinds of qualitative research can be applied to social media data. It introduces students, as well as those who are new to the field, to developing and carrying out concrete research projects. The book takes the reader through the stages of choosing data, formulating a research question, and choosing and applying method(s). Written in a clear and accessible manner with current social media examples throughout, the book provides a step-by-step overview of a range of qualitative methods. These are presented in clear ways to show how to analyze many different types of social media content, including language and visual content such as memes, gifs, photographs, and film clips. Methods examined include critical discourse analysis, content analysis, multimodal analysis, ethnography, and focus groups. Most importantly, the chapters and examples show how to ask the kinds of questions that are relevant for us at this present point in our societies, where social media is highly integrated into how we live. Social media is used for political communication, social activism, as well as commercial activities and mundane everyday things, and it can transform how all these are accomplished and even what they mean. Drawing on examples from Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Weibo, and others, this book will be suitable for undergraduate students studying social media research courses in media and communications, as well as other humanities such as linguistics and social science-based degrees.

Was nineteenth-century philosophy merely a substitute for religion? The American philosopher Richard Rorty once argued precisely that. Rorty saw intellectuals of the long nineteenth-century (c 1789-1914) as being preoccupied by secular concerns: and at first his assertion does seem plausible. From Immanuel Kant and G W F Hegel to F H Bradley and Charles Peirce, philosophers of the period attempted to discuss knowledge, morality, freedom and ethics on terms that made no appeal to any special revelation or divinity beyond reason. But this lively survey argues otherwise: that Rorty's claim is not only an over-simplification, but wrong. The ideas of the leading nineteenth-century thinkers were not mere substitutions for religion: they were motivated by deep religious concerns. Soren Kierkegaard famously grappled with God, truth and doubt even as he lambasted the Danish church. If Nietzsche is the notable exception then he proves the rule since, as he remarked himself, one saw 'the theologian instinct' everywhere in the spirit of his age. Joel Rasmussen deftly charts the key discussions of an era when the problem of God refused to die.

Was nineteenth-century philosophy merely a substitute for religion? The American philosopher Richard Rorty once argued precisely that. Rorty saw intellectuals of the long nineteenth-century (c 1789-1914) as being preoccupied by secular concerns: and at first his assertion does seem plausible. From Immanuel Kant and G W F Hegel to F H Bradley and Charles Peirce, philosophers of the period attempted to discuss knowledge, morality, freedom and ethics on terms that made no appeal to any special revelation or divinity beyond reason. But this lively survey argues otherwise: that Rorty's claim is not only an over-simplification, but wrong. The ideas of the leading nineteenth-century thinkers were not mere substitutions for religion: they were motivated by deep religious concerns. Soren Kierkegaard famously grappled with God, truth and doubt even as he lambasted the Danish church. If Nietzsche is the notable exception then he proves the rule since, as he remarked himself, one saw 'the theologian instinct' everywhere in the spirit of his age. Joel Rasmussen deftly charts the key discussions of an era when the problem of God refused to die.

Converting residential property to vacation rentals is the great secret to creating real estate wealth, and you can learn how Short term rentals can profoundly change the math of real estate investing, and author and successful owner Joel Rasmussen will show you the way. As the President and founder of one of North American's largest vacation rental owners associations, Rasmussen has seen the best and worst practices first hand, and condenses that knowledge into a no-nonsense book "packed with advice from some of the smartest people in our industry. Joel is a seasoned guide who is ready and willing to show you the way", - Brian Sharples, CEO and co-founder of HomeAway, Inc. the world's largest online vacation rental site. Joel will help you get in on the ground floor of an industry that is growing exponentially every year. Vacation Rental Success is the definitive handbook for those who are considering short-term property rentals either as an additional source of income, or the platform to redesign your lifestyle. This first book in the Vacation Rental Success series shows you everything you need to know to go 'From Start to Profit'.