SCM Associate Professor Joel Penney was recently awarded with two literary awards for his book, \u201cThe Citizen Marketer: Promoting Political Opinion in the Social Media Age,\u201d which was published by Oxford University Press in May 2017.<\/p>\n
Penney\u2019s work has garnered two book awards — the 2018 Best Book in Information Technology and Politics award, given out by the American Political Science Association, a group of professional political science academics in the United States.<\/p>\n
The second award is the 2018 Roderick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award, sponsored by the National Communication Association\u2019s Political Communication Division. According to the award committee, \u201cThe Citizen Marketer was commended based on its relevance, broad spectrum of research, and its seasoned message.\u201d\u00a0 Penney will be presented this award during National Communication Association\u2019s annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Citizen Marketer\u201d explores recent social and political trends with a direct emphasis on social and online medias such as hashtag activism and \u2018slacktivism,\u2019 political memes, information and news sharing, and grassroots marketing, especially fueled by the 2016 U.S Presidential Election. \u00a0Penney analyzes how everyday people become \u2018citizen marketers,\u2019 or people who actively utilize media outlets to advance their political views or voice protests, and how these behaviors ultimately become a source of personal identity.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Social] media is powerful in terms of political influence, and now people have the ability to be a part of that,\u201d Penney says. \u201cWith great power comes great responsibility. That was the message of the book.\u201d<\/p>\n