title: Khalifa

text: Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalifa is sometimes also pronounced as "kalifa". There were four khalifas after Muhammad died, beginning with Abu Bakr. This was a difficult decision for the people to make, for no one except Muhammad had ever thought with foresight about who would rule after he would die. The "Khilaafat" (or Caliphate) was then contested and gave rise to the eventual division of the Islamic Umma into two groups, the Sunni and the Shi'a who interpret the word "Khalifa" in differently nuanced ways.


title: Khalifa

text: The earliest Islamic uses include "'Khaleefa(ḥ)"' in The Qur'an, 2:30, where Allah commands the angels to bow down to Adam which more clearly guides to the root Classical Arabic meaning of the word as "Vicegerent", or divinely connected representative of Allah in the human form as a mercy to mankind. See also how this meaning interacts with the word, Shirk (associating a partner or partners to Allah ) by (for example) bowing down to them (in this case, Adam) with reverence. "Vicegerent", therefore, is more at "divinely-guided spokesman" than "deputy" in this context and leads to the discovery of the role of Imam in Islam, from the "Shi'i" or Shi'a point of view where, it is claimed, the spiritual "Khilaafat" or designation of "Khaleefa" in this meaning of spiritual and temporal guide falls upon the first Imam, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, "the favourite" (who received his mission from his cousin Muhammed himself but who also conceded the "Khilaafat" to the election and claim of the politically more powerful and more popular leader and his senior, Abu Bakr). In the Shi'i tradition, however, the dissolved claim to the "Khilaafat" by Shi'i thereafter crystallised into Imamat which continued with his descendants after him through appointment by "nass", or designation).


title: Sam Milby

text: Samuel Lloyd Milby (; born May 23, 1984) is a Filipino-American actor, musician, guitarist, model, recording artist, and businessman. In 2005, Milby decided to seriously pursue a career in show business and modeling.


title: Sam Milby

text: Samuel Lloyd Milby was born on May 23, 1984 in Troy, Ohio, the youngest child of Elsie Ronquillo Lacia (born March 15, 1958, Tago, Surigao del Sur), and Lloyd William Milby (born October 21, 1934, Dayton, Ohio – died November 1, 2021, Tipp City, Ohio), an entrepreneur.


title: Sam Milby

text: Milby was raised in Tipp City, Ohio. At age 9, he trained and lived with his ice-skating coach, and was home schooled until he was 15. He competed in numerous major ice skating competitions, including the Junior Nationals. He and his skating partner of four years won silver and other awards in the course of his serious skating stint.


title: Sam Milby

text: Returning to the Philippines in 2005, Milby decided to seriously pursue a career in show business and modeling. He landed bit roles in some ads before obtaining a lead role in Close Up's TV commercial with Barbie Almalbis. He subsequently joined "Pinoy Big Brother", which featured 12 men and women from different walks of life; Milby was not one of the original 12, but joined the cast when one of the contestants left the house. After this, he became an actor and recording artist and signed a contract with ABS-CBN. His first major film debut was "Close to You", produced by ABS-CBN subsidiary Star Cinema and co-starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo.


title: Sam Milby

text: In early 2006, Milby released a self-titled debut album. His concert, titled "Heartthrobs", was performed at the Music Museum on February 2 and 3, 2007. It was repeated on March 17, 2007 following the big success of the first concert. His first major solo concert, "Sam Milby: Rockoustic Heartthrob", occurred at the Aliw Theater on October 25, 2008. He also performed in several concerts in USA, Canada, Asia, and Europe.


title: Sam Milby

text: In 2012, Milby spent three months in the United States, taking part in auditions in New York. He also performed in concerts and tours, playing Lazarus for one night in the Broadway musical "Godspell", and guest-starring in Anna Maria's Benefit Concert in New York with Anna Maria's "Godspell" costars Corbin Bleu, Wallace Smith, Nick Blaemire, Eric Krop, and George Salazar.


title: Sam Milby

text: In 2013 Milby joined PETA campaign to remove Mali, the only captive elephant in the Philippines, from the Manila zoo, and have her transferred to Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand.


title: Sam Milby

text: Milby took part in the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, where the Adolfo Alix Jr. movie "Death March", in which he had acted, was screened in Un Certain Regard section.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: The Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha's House; ) is a building adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Completed in 1996, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, it is named after Martha of Bethany, who was a sibling to Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. The building functions as a guest house for clergy having business with the Holy See, and as the temporary residence of members of the College of Cardinals while participating in a papal conclave to elect a new pope.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: Pope Francis has lived in a suite in the building since his election in March 2013, declining to use the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: Pope John Paul II, after participating in two conclaves, decided to make the process more comfortable and less strenuous on the elderly cardinals, and commissioned the construction of Domus Sanctæ Marthæ. He specified it would serve for conclaves and at other times be available to "ecclesiastical personnel serving at the Secretariat of State and, as far as possible, at other Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, as well as to cardinals and bishops visiting Vatican City to see the Pope or to participate in events and meetings organized by the Holy See." Laymen have stayed there as well.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: Italian environmental groups, joined by Italian politicians, protested against the construction because it would block the view of St. Peter's Basilica enjoyed from some nearby apartments. The head of the Vatican's Department of Technical Services contended that it would be lower in height than many neighborhood buildings and rejected challenges to the Vatican's right to build within its borders.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: The hotel cost $20 million, with $13 million initially pledged by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, casino owner John E. Connelly, who later received a contract to sell copies of Vatican art in the United States. Connelly did not fulfill his initial financial commitment after his business encountered financial setbacks. His art contract was also rescinded after he failed to extend his marketing efforts beyond Pittsburgh. Connelly proposed Louis D. Astorino, a Pittsburgh-based architect, to design the building. When his design was rejected, Astorino remained to design the adjacent Chapel of the Holy Spirit while the Italian architect Giuseppe Facchini, former deputy director of the technical services of the governorate of the Vatican, designed the new building. The chapel occupies a site between the Leonine Wall and the guesthouse proper.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: The five-story building contains 106 suites, 22 single rooms and one apartment. It is run by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Its amenities include furnished bedrooms, lavatories, and studies for each occupant. Dining facilities and personal services are also offered. Mary Ann Glendon, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See from 2008 to 2009, described the accommodations as "comfortable, but by no means deluxe".


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: Pope Leo XIII had the St. Martha Hospice built in 1891, on the site now occupied by the Domus, when it was feared that the cholera epidemic of that time might reach Rome. After it did not, the building was used to provide services to the sick of Rome's Borgo and Trastevere neighborhoods and as a hospice for pilgrims. Electricity was provided in 1901, and a chapel added in 1902. Medical services expanded to cover priests and Swiss Guards. During World War II the building was used by refugees, Jews, and ambassadors from countries that had severed diplomatic relations with Italy. At the end of the war, Pope Pius XII greeted 800 Roman children who breakfasted at St. Martha Hospice after receiving their First Communion. It served as a home where senior clerics could live their last years. Increasingly it served as a residence for clerics assigned to Vatican offices.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution "Universi Dominici gregis" of 22 February 1996 changed the rules governing papal conclaves to house the cardinal electors and certain staff at the Domus Sanctae Marthae and it has been used for the conclaves of 2005 and 2013. As at previous conclaves, the cardinal electors were assigned rooms by lot. All radios, television sets and telephones were disconnected, in accordance with regulations which call for the cardinals to be secluded from the outside world. In earlier conclaves they lived in the Apostolic Palace, sleeping on cots in makeshift spaces throughout the palace, some within hallways and offices, often divided from one another by a sheet hanging on a rope. They shared common bathrooms, often with ten cardinals assigned to each.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: On 26 March 2013, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis would not move into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. He is the first pope not to live in the Papal Apartments on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace since Pope Pius X occupied them in 1903. He uses the palace suite there as his office. He remained for a time in the room he was assigned by lot at the start of the conclave that elected him and then moved to Suite 201 of Domus Sanctae Marthae. He celebrates morning Mass and takes communal meals in the residence. Pope Francis explained his decision saying: "The residence in the Apostolic Palace is ... large and made with good taste, but not luxurious... It is large, but the entrance is narrow. Only one person at a time can get in and I cannot live alone. I must live my life with others."


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: He occupies a bedroom furnished with basic necessities, a wooden standing Crucifix, along with a small statue of Our Lady of Luján, the Marian patroness of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Outside his bedroom are two Pontifical Swiss Guards who work day and night shifts, and a statue of Saint Joseph under which the pontiff places prayer requests.


title: Domus Sanctae Marthae

text: The Santa Marta Group, a Catholic leadership group combatting modern slavery, takes its name from the papal residence.


title: Mauro Fiore

text: He attended Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois, and graduated in 1982. He started off pursuing a career in sociology but was captivated by photography and art. He went on to receive his B.A. from Columbia College Chicago in 1987 and moved to Los Angeles to jumpstart his career.


title: Mauro Fiore

text: Fiore won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 82nd Academy Awards for his work on the 2009 film "Avatar". Previously, he worked on the films "Training Day", "The Hire: Ticker", "Tears of the Sun", "Smokin' Aces" and "The Kingdom". He also worked as cinematographer for the television series "Tracey Takes On...". His most recent work was as the director of photography for "".


title: Lardon

text: A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threading them with a needle into meats that are to be braised or roasted. Lardons are not normally smoked, and they are made from pork that has been cured with salt.


title: Lardon

text: In French cuisine, lardons are served hot in salads and salad dressings, as well as on some tartes flambées, stews such as beef bourguignon, quiches such as Quiche Lorraine, in omelettes, with potatoes, and for other dishes such as coq au vin.


title: Lardon

text: The "Oxford English Dictionary" defines "lardon" as "one of the pieces of bacon or pork which are inserted in meat in the process of larding", giving primacy to that process. According to the "Middle English Dictionary", the earliest occurrence of the word is in 1381, in the work "Pegge Cook"; it advises to insert lardons in cranes and herons.


title: Lardon

text: Lardons may be prepared from different cuts of pork, including pork belly and fatback, or from cured cuts such as bacon or salt pork. According to food writer Regina Schrambling, when the lardon is salt-cured but not smoked in the style of American bacon, "the flavor comes through cleanly, more like ham but richer because the meat is from the belly of the pig, not the leg". The meat (fat) is usually cut into small strips or cubes about one centimeter ( inch) wide, then blanched or fried.


title: Lardon

text: It is common for the lardons to be used for two distinct purposes in the same dish. The fat rendered from the cubed pork is good for sautéing vegetables or meat during the early stages of a recipe, and the crisp browned pork cubes can be added as a garnish or ingredient just before serving: "the crispy bits are used to add a smoky, salty flavor and a pleasant crunch to all kinds of dishes". The rich flavor pairs well with cheeses and sturdy leaf vegetables like spinach and frisée, for which the hot rendered fat can be used as part of the salad dressing.


title: Lardon

text: Lardons are frequently used in French cuisine to flavor salads, stews (such as beef bourguignon and coq au vin), quiches (quiche Lorraine), potatoes, omelettes and other dishes. A particular Parisian use of lardons is in the "salade aux lardons", a wilted salad (often made with frisée (endive) lettuce) in which the lettuce leaves are wilted slightly by the addition of still-hot lardons and hot vinaigrette. A nineteenth-century recipe for a "pie à la chasse" calls for beef to be larded with lardons made of ham and bacon. A traditional dish from the Alsace region is the tarte flambée, a thin pizza-like bread covered with crème fraîche, onion, and lardons. A regional specialty from the Savoie is tartiflette, which is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, cream, and lardons.


title: Lardon

text: A traditional use for lardons is in a technique called "larding", in which long strips of chilled pork fat are threaded (with the use of a needle) into meats that are to be braised or roasted, such as beef filets or veal (especially lean cuts), poultry, and lean fish such as tuna. These lardons are to be cut in strips about 3 mm thick and 3 mm wide, and it is essential that the fat be chilled before cutting and threading. The technique is explained at length in the classic book of French cuisine "La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange", which details two techniques: surface larding, or "studding", in which the lardons are threaded onto the surface, and interior larding, in which the lardons are left in a channel (made with a larger-sized needle than is used for studding) inside the meat. Madame St. Ange recommends larding for braised calf's sweetbreads (as does the French Laundry cookbook) and for a specific style of cooking hare. American food writer James Peterson specifically recommends using fatback for larding; salt pork, he says, "has a funny taste and won't work". Julia Child recommends using lard or porkbellies (pancetta); she too thinks that neither salt pork nor bacon work, and suggests blanching these first, to get rid of the overwhelming cured or smoked flavors. The origin of larding is in the Middle Ages, when hunting game was a popular activity amongst the upper classes and the meat acquired from it was often too lean and tough because of the animal's natural physical activity; larding provided the equivalent of today's marbling.


title: Lardon

text: The needle used is a larding needle (also "barding needle" or "lardoir"). There are two basic kinds of larding needle, hollow and U-shaped.


title: Lardon

text: Hollow larding needles are about 5 mm in diameter with some sort of teeth or hook to keep the lard strip attached; they are passed completely through the meat.


title: Lardon

text: U-shaped larding needles, often called by the French name "lardoir", are long needles with a "U" cross-section.


title: Lardon

text: Four larding needles, accompanied by two crossed turning spits, are found in the coat of arms of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a French gastronomic society.


title: Lardon

text: In many cuisines around the world, pork fat is used as a flavoring, and lardons are found in various other cultures. In Puerto Rico, they are called tocino and are added to dishes such as arroz con gandules.


title: Lardon

text: In Dutch cuisine lardons are used in many traditional dishes such as stamppot, and the split pea soup snert.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose as maintaining and extending "the institutions of American freedom, an appreciation for true patriotism, a respect for our national symbols, the value of American citizenship, [and] the unifying force of 'e pluribus unum' that has created, from the people of many nations, one nation and one people."


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The members of the society are male descendants of people who served in the American Revolutionary War or who contributed to establishing the independence of the United States. It is dedicated to perpetuating American ideals and traditions, and to protecting the Constitution of the United States; the official recognition of Constitution Day, Flag Day, and Bill of Rights Day were established through its efforts. It has members in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The organization is distinct from the Sons of the Revolution, a separate descendants heritage organization founded on February 22, 1876, by businessman John Austin Stevens and members of The Society of the Cincinnati. SAR Founder William Osborn McDowell disagreed with the Sons of the Revolution requirement at that time that all state societies were to be subordinate to the New York society.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The first organization of descendants of Revolutionary War patriots was established in San Francisco, California, in 1876. A group of men who were descendants of Revolutionary War veterans gathered to celebrate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States. They also wanted to honor the men and women who pledged their lives, fortunes, and livelihood to the striving for independence from Great Britain. This group formed an organization called the Sons of Revolutionary War Sires (SRWS). There is, however, no direct link between the SRWS and the SAR except that members of the SRWS were permitted to join the SAR after its founding in 1889.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The history of the SAR can be traced to the founding of the Sons of the Revolution, the New York Society which was organized in 1876. The SR was founded by John Austin Stevens who envisioned an aristocratic social and hereditary organization along the lines of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1889 William Osborn McDowell, a New Jersey financier and businessman, organized the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the Revolution but was unwilling to accept the SR's requirement that other state societies be subordinate to the New York society. Furthermore, McDowell wanted the society to become more of a mass movement of descendants of Revolutionary patriots rather than an exclusive social club. As a result, McDowell organized the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) at Fraunces Tavern in New York on April 30, 1889. This was the centennial for the inauguration of George Washington as the First President of the United States of America in 1789. SAR membership number 1 was assigned to McDowell. In addition to organizing the SAR, McDowell worked with six women to organize the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution on July 29, 1890.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The SAR was formally granted a congressional charter by an act of Congress under Title 36 of the United States Code on June 9, 1906. The act was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a member.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: Membership in the society is open to any male of "good repute" who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who actively supported the American Revolution. Acceptable ancestors include:


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: No state society or chapter may discriminate against an applicant on the basis of race or creed. The SAR claims a membership of over 37,000 members in over 550 chapters representing all 50 states in the United States, as well as societies in Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Overall, about 200,000 descendants have been admitted since the founding of the S.A.R. in 1890.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The governance of the Sons of the American Revolution is made up of 10 National (General) Officers, 15 Vice-Presidents that preside over separate geographical regions and a Trustee elected from each state and international society. These officers meet several times over the year to discuss business pertaining to the society. The National Officers meet at least four times during their term of office, unless special meetings are called. The Trustees meet twice each year at the Society's Headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. These meetings, known as the Fall and Spring Leadership Meetings, are normally held in late September and early March. During the Leadership Meetings committee recommendations and the society's budget are approved. While only the National Officers, Vice-Presidents and Trustees have the right to vote on the floor, all SAR members are welcome to attend and may request appointment to committees. The National Officers and Trustees also meet during the National Congress held in late June or early July of each year. Unlike the Leadership Meetings which always take place at the Society's National Headquarters, the National Congress is held in different locations throughout the United States. Locations are often selected in order to honor a historical event in United States history or in the history of the SAR, and there is an effort to alternate the meetings between the Eastern and Western United States. The National Congress is responsible for electing the National Officers and approving changes to the Society's constitution, along with any other motions brought before it. In addition to the National Officers, Vice-Presidents and Trustees, State and International Society Presidents and specially elected delegates from each society also attend with voting privileges. The number of delegates are determined by each State or International Society's membership size.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: In addition to the larger meetings previously listed, there are over 60 standing and special committees that SAR members are appointed to in order to oversee the Society's welfare. Some of these committees include: facilities, insurance, genealogy, library, merchandise, medals and awards. All SAR members are welcome to participate on committees and are appointed by the Society's President General for a one-year term. There are no term-limits and all committee members have the right to vote on the committee's decisions.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The President-General for 2020-2021 is Davis Lee Wright, of Delaware. He was sworn in as President-General at the 131st National Congress in Renton, WA. The executive director is Don Shaw of the Kentucky Society.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has held a collection of genealogical reference dating back to 1889. Materials were originally kept by the Secretary General or Registrar General up until 1926, when the materials were moved to the Registrar General's office in Washington, D.C., in 1927, this collection was moved to the recently purchased Sixteenth Street Headquarters Building, and the collection had grown to 914 books by 1933. From this point until the move of Headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Louisville, Kentucky, the book collection grew at a rapid pace, growing to approximately 25,000 items by 1988. At this point, the Library was on the Second floor of the Headquarters building on South Fourth Street, and possessed a 544-square-foot vault for books not out in the library due to space.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: Because of continuing growth, the SAR Library was moved in 2010 to a renovated building on West Main Street in the heart of the Historic Museum District of downtown Louisville. By this point, the Library collection had grown to over 58,000 items, mostly covering the Revolutionary War period, but also containing other genealogical materials. The library collection includes family histories, state genealogy materials, federal censuses, Revolutionary War pension applications, and CD collections, and the library separates materials based on State. The library also provides access to online research databases, including Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, and Heritage Quest Online.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The society operates a merchandise department that sells items intended for both SAR members and the general public. Among the products available to the general public are: clothing apparel for men and women, Revolutionary War replicas such as Liberty Bells and field cannons, jewelry for men and women such as lapel pins and cuff links, along with cups, mugs, key-chains, books, CDs, videos and knickknacks. Items intended for SAR members only include: clothing, decals, license plate holders and frames, certificates and medals corresponding to SAR activities, medals designed to reward active and retired military personnel, firefighters, EMS, JROTC and ROTC, individuals involved in education, Eagle Scouts and many others.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The merchandise department is located on the lower level of the SAR Genealogical Library, located at 809 West Main Street, just across the street from the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The society is involved in historical research, raising funds for local scholarships and educational awards, and preservation of sites and documents related to the American Revolution. The SAR petitioned Congress to store Revolutionary era documents in a fire-proof area and make them available to the public, leading to the creation of the National Archives. It is also active in cataloging and marking Revolutionary War patriot graves and conducts an annual Eagle Scout scholarship program. The society is active in promoting "patriotism," and was instrumental in the establishment of Constitution Day. Several SAR societies and chapters have active color guard groups that appear in various public and private venues as a means of community outreach.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The Sons of the American Revolution hosts two Leadership Meetings and one National Congress every year. The two leadership meetings are held in the Spring and Fall in Louisville, KY at the Brown Hotel. The National Congress is held at a different location every year during the Summer. The 2017 National Congress took place in Knoxville, Tennessee, while the 2018 Congress will take place in Houston, Texas.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The SAR's national headquarters, located along Museum Row in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, contains the organization's administrative staff offices, SAR Genealogical Research Library, and the future site of an American Revolutionary War Education Center. The SAR is currently raising funds to finish the center's development. The building houses original and copied art that commemorates important people and events of the Revolutionary War, as well as historical uniforms, flags, documents, and other colonial era pieces.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The SAR insignia consists of a Maltese cross surrounded by a garland, with a relief of George Washington in a center circle.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The cross's vertical bar represents the commandment "You Shall Love Your God"; the horizontal bar represents the commandment "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself." The four limbs are a reminder of the four cardinal virtues; its eight points represent eight spiritual injunctions:


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: Surrounding the relief of Washington in the center are the words "LIBERTAS ET PATRIA," a reminder of the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: The insignia is normally worn suspended by a ribbon of blue, white and gold (buff) on the wearer's left breast. National officers and former state and chapter presidents wear the insignia suspended from a neck ribbon of the Society's colors.


title: Sons of the American Revolution

text: This is an incomplete list of the presidents-general of the Sons of the American Revolution. The first President General was Lucius Deming. There have been three Honorary President Generals named. Four President Generals have died in office.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The spiral of silence theory is a political science and mass communication theory proposed by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. It states that an individual's perception of the distribution of public opinion influences that individual's willingness to express their own political opinions. The main idea is that people influence each other's willingness to express opinions through social interaction. According to the spiral of silence theory, individuals will be more confident and outward with their opinion when they notice that their personal opinion is shared throughout a group. But if the individual notices that their opinion is unpopular with the group they will be more inclined to be reserved and remain silent. The individual "not isolating himself is more important than his own judgement". This is a self-expressive act that can change the "global environment of opinion", shifting the perceptions of others and the willingness of individuals to express their own opinions.


title: Spiral of silence

text: According to Glynn (1995), "the major components of the spiral of silence include (1) an issue of public interest; (2) divisiveness on the issues; (3) a quasi-statistical sense that helps an individual perceive the climate of opinion as well as estimate the majority and minority opinion; (4) 'fear of isolation' from social interaction; (5) an individual's belief that a minority (or 'different') opinion isolates oneself from others; and (6) a 'hardcore' group of people whose opinions are unaffected by others' opinions."


title: Spiral of silence

text: In 1974, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, a German political scientist, created the model called "Spiral of Silence". She believed that an "individuals willingness to express his or her opinion was a function of how he or she perceived public opinion." In 1947, Neumann and her husband founded the "Public Opinion Organization" in Germany. She was also a President of the "World Association for Public Opinion Research" from 1978 to 1980.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Noelle-Neumann evolved the spiral of silence theory from research on the 1965 West German elections. The research, according to Noelle-Neumann, "measured a lot more than we understood." The two major parties were locked in a dead heat from December until September, with a series of questions of public perception of the election winner was showing steady, independent movement. During the final days of the election, 3 to 4% of the voters shifted in the direction of the public's perception of the winner. A similar theme happened in the 1972 election, which began the development of the spiral of silence as a theory of public opinion.


title: Spiral of silence

text: According to Shelly Neill, "Introduced in 1974, the Spiral of Silence Theory [...] explores hypotheses to determine why some groups remain silent while others are more vocal in forums of public disclosure." The spiral of silence theory suggests that "people who have believed that they hold a minority viewpoint on a public issue will remain in the background where their communication will be restrained; those who believe that they hold a majority viewpoint will be more encouraged to speak." The spiral of silence theory arose from a combination of high public uncertainty about a topic with an increase in the flow of communication.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The theory explains the formation of social norms at both the micro and macro level. "As a micro-theory, the spiral of silence examines opinion expression, controlling for people's predispositions – such as fear of isolation, and also demographic variables that have been shown to influence people's willingness to publicly express opinions on issues, such as agricultural biotechnology." The spiral of silence occurs on a macro level if more and more members of the perceived minority fall silent. This is when public perceptions of the opinion climate begin to shift. "In other words, a person's individual reluctance to express his or her opinion, simply based on perceptions of what everyone else thinks, has important implications at the social level." As one opinion gains interest, the amount of exposure it receives increases, leading the public to believe it to be the majority. The perceived minority then faces the threat and fear of isolation from society unless they conform. As the opinion gains momentum, the perceived minority falls deeper into their silence. This continues until the perceived minority no longer speaks out against it, either by presenting an image of agreement or actually conforming, and the opinion of the perceived majority ultimately becomes a social norm.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Since then, a large amount of research has been done by Glynn (1983, 1989), Glynn and McLeod (1985), Katz (1983), LaSora (1991), Price and Allen (1990), Salmon and Kline (1985), Taylor (1982), and Kennamer (1990). There also has been more recent research by Hampton et al. (2014), Chen (2018), and Drew (2022).


title: Spiral of silence

text: The spiral model is used to visually describe the theory. An individual is more likely to go down the spiral if his or her opinion does not conform with the perceived majority opinion. The following steps summarize how the process works:


title: Spiral of silence

text: This is a process of formation, change, and reinforcement of public opinion. The tendency of the one to speak up and the other to be silent starts off a spiraling process which increasingly establishes one opinion as the dominant one. Over time, these changing perceptions establish one opinion as predominant one and they change from the liquid state to a solid norm.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Further, Noelle-Neumann describes the spiral of silence as a dynamic process, in which predictions about public opinion become fact as mass media's coverage of the majority opinion becomes the status quo, and the minority becomes less likely to speak out.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The basic ideas for the spiral of silence is not unique. In 1987, Kerr, MacCoun, Hansen and Hymes brought to light the idea of the "momentum effect". The momentum effect states that if some members of a group move toward a particular opinion, others will follow. Others have described similar "gain-loss effect" (Aronson & Linder, 1965), and "bandwagon effect" (Myers & Lamm, 1976).


title: Spiral of silence

text: Scholars have long argued over the concept of "public" within "public opinion". The use of "public" and "the public" betrays multiple competing meanings. There are three meanings of public. One meaning is the legal sense of public that focuses on openness. For example, a public place or path. A second meaning for the term emphasizes public rights. Lastly, within the phrase public opinion, public is said to have a related but different definition. Public, in this sense, could be characterized as social psychology. Scholars have marveled in amazement at the power public opinion has in making regulations, norms, and moral rules triumph over the individual self without ever troubling legislators, governments, or courts for assistance.


title: Spiral of silence

text: "Common Opinion" is what the Scottish social philosopher David Hume called it in his 1739 published work "A Treatise of Human Nature". Agreement and a sense of the common are what lay behind the English and French "opinion." In researching the term opinion, "Meinung" in German, researchers were led back to Plato's "Republic". In Plato's "Republic", a quote from Socrates conclude that opinion takes the middle position. Immanuel Kant considered the opinion to be an "insufficient judgment, subjectively as well as objectively." How valuable opinion may be was left out; however, the fact that it is suggested to be unified agreement of a population or segment of the population, was still considered.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The term public opinion first emerged in France during the eighteenth century. The definition of public opinion has been debated over time. There has not been much progress in locking in one classification of the phrase "public opinion." Hermann Oncken, a German historian, stated Whoever desires to grasp and define the concept of public opinion will recognize quickly that he is dealing with a Proteus, a being that appears simultaneously in a thousand guises, both visible and as a phantom, impotent and surprisingly efficacious, which presents itself in innumerable transformations and is forever slipping through our fingers just as we believe we have a firm grip on it... That which floats and flows cannot be understood by being locked up in a formula... After all, when asked, everyone knows exactly what public opinion means. It was said to be a "fiction that belonged in a museum of the history of ideas; it could only be of historical interest."


title: Spiral of silence

text: In contradiction to that quote, the term public opinion seemed to not cease. During the early 1970s, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann was creating the theory of the spiral of silence. She was attempting to explain why Germans who disagreed with Hitler and the Nazi's (many did) remained silent until after his regime ended. This "two-faced" behavior has come to be known as the spiral of silence theory. Noelle-Neumann began to question if she was indeed grabbing a handle on what public opinion actually was. "The spiral of silence might be one of the forms in which public opinion appeared; it might be a process through which a new, youthful public opinion develops or whereby the transformed meaning of an old opinion spreads."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The American sociologist Edward Ross described public opinion in 1898 using the word "cheap". "The equation of 'public opinion' with 'ruling opinion' runs like a common thread through its many definitions. This speaks to the fact that something clinging to public opinion sets up conditions that move individuals to act, even against their own will."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Many possible meanings and definitions of the term have been explored. Scholars have considered the content of public opinion, assumed to consist of public affairs issues. Scholars point out that the emergence of the public opinion depends on an open public discourse rather than "on the discipline imposed by an apparent majority dominant enough to intimidate but whose views may or may not support actions that are in the common interest."


title: Spiral of silence

text: They have also considered whose opinion establishes public opinion, assumed to be persons of a community who are ready to express themselves responsibly about questions of public relevance. Scholars have also looked into the forms of public opinion, said to be those that are openly expressed and accessible; opinions that are made public, especially in the mass media. Controversy surrounding this term spiraled around both words combining to form the phrase.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Public Opinion as Rationality: The public opinion or "dominant view" comes after conscious rational public discussion. Childs (1965) and Wilson (1933) believe that "the rational model is based on the notion of an enlightened, rational public that is willing to and capable of participating in political processes." In all, it is political and necessary for generating social change.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Public Opinion as Social Control: This is at the root of the Spiral of Silence Theory. It means that "opinions that can be expressed without risking sanctions or social isolation, or opinions that have to be expressed in order to avoid isolation (Noelle-Neumann 1983). Social systems require cohesion. To achieve this, individuals are threatened with social isolation.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Mass media's effects on both public opinion and the perception of the public opinion are central to the Spiral of Silence Theory. One of the earliest works that called attention to the relationship between media and the formation of public opinion was Walter Lippmann's book "Public Opinion," published in 1922. Ideas of Lippmann regarding the effects of media influenced the emergence of the Spiral of Silence Theory. As she is building the spiral theory, Noelle-Neumann states "the reader can only complete and explain the world by making use of a consciousness which in large measure has been created by the mass media."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Agenda-setting theory is another work that Noelle-Neumann builds on as she is characterizing media's effect on the public opinion. Agenda-setting theory describes the relationship between media and public opinion by asserting that the public importance of an issue depends on its salience in the media. Along with setting the agenda, the media further determine the salient issues through a constant battle with other events attempting to gain place in the agenda. The media battle with these news alternatives by creating "pseudo-crises" and "pseudo-novelties."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Media's characteristics as a communication tool further affect people's perception of their own ideas in regard to the public opinion. According to Noelle-Neumann, the media are a "one-sided, indirect, public form of communication, contrasting threefold with the most natural form of human communication, the conversation." When an issue hits the media and proves salient, a dominant point of view usually emerges. These characteristics of the media in particular further overwhelm one's individual ideas.


title: Spiral of silence

text: While some media communication theories assume a passive audience, such as the Hypodermic Needle model, the spiral model assumes an active audience "who consumes media products in the context of their personal and social goals." Knowledge "gained from the mass media may offer ammunition for people to express their opinions and offer a rationale for their own stance." Ho et al. point out that "among individuals who paid high amount of media attention, those who have a low fear of isolation were significantly more likely to offer a rationale for their own opinion than were those who have a high fear of isolation."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Noelle-Neuman regards media central to the formulation of the Spiral of Silence Theory, whereas some scholars argue whether the dominant idea in one's social environment overwhelms the dominant idea that media propose as the perceived social norm. Some empirical research align with this perspective; suggesting that the "micro-climate" of an individual overwhelms the effects of the media. Other articles further suggest that talking with others is the primary way of understanding the opinion climate.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Social Media has contributed to the Spiral of Silence Theory. Researchers, found that social media actually weakens this theory. This theory suggests that the minority are uncomfortable expressing their opinions because of the fear of isolation, but, "the vocal minority are comfortable expressing unpopular views, questioning the explanatory power of this popular theory in the online context."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The Spiral of Silence Theory rests on perception as individuals constantly scan their environment to assess the climate to possibly find the dominant point of view. Perception matters because these opinions influence an individual's behavior and attitudes. How can individuals do this? Sherif (1967) believes individuals use frames of reference based on past experience -- "social environment as a frame of reference for interpreting new information has important implications for public opinion research." According to Gestalt psychology, when individuals are presented with information with "an appropriate frame of reference by which to interpret it" they are uncomfortable in the social environment (e.g. behavioral influence).


title: Spiral of silence

text: The spiral of silence can lead to a social group or society isolating or excluding members due to the members' opinions. This stipulates that individuals have a fear of isolation. This fear of isolation consequently leads to remaining silent instead of voicing opinions. Media are an important factor that influence both the dominant idea and people's perception of what the dominant idea is. The assessment of one's social environment may not always correlate with reality.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The fear of isolation is the "engine that drives the spiral of silence". Essentially, people fear becoming social isolates and thus take measures to avoid such a consequence, as demonstrated by psychologist Solomon Asch in the Asch conformity experiments. People feel more comfortable agreeing with the dominant opinions instead of expressing their own ideas.


title: Spiral of silence

text: An underlying idea of the spiral of silence theory is that public opinion acts as a form of social control. According to Noelle-Neumann's definition this key concept describes "opinions on controversial issues that one can express in public without isolating oneself". This assumption supposed that public opinion is governed by norms and conventions, the violation of which will lead to sanctions against those individuals. Going off of this assumption that going against public opinion will lead to social sanctions, Noelle-Neumann assumes that human beings have an inherent fear of isolation and will adapt their behavior so that they will not be isolated from others. This “fear of isolation” is so strong that people will not express opinions if they assume that these opinions differ from public opinion.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Based on this assumption it follows that people will constantly monitor their social environment in order to assess whether their opinion diverges from public opinion and will decide whether or not to voice their opinion based on their assessment of the public opinion on an issue. Noelle-Neumann attributed this ability of assessing opinion climate on an issue to the so-called "quasi-statistical organ", which refers to how individuals unconsciously assess the distribution of viewpoints and the chances that certain viewpoints will succeed over others. According to Noelle-Neumann everyone is affected by this fear of isolation and the ensuing self-censoring except for about 15% of the general population which she refers to as “hardcores” who are assumed to be immune to this social pressure. "Hardcores" are individuals who do not care what others think of them and will express whatever belief/opinion they have, even if is an opinion that goes against the majority, and do not care about the consequences. Additionally, "hardcores" have an unusually high amount of interest in issues, and their views always remain relatively unchanged.


title: Spiral of silence

text: This fear of social isolation is a central concept in Noelle-Neumann's theory but throughout different studies on the theory it has been conceptualized in many different ways. Some researchers have considered fear of social isolation to be transitory and triggered by the exposure to a situation in which an individual is expected to express an opinion. In this conceptualization an individual's perception of the opinion climate in a specific situation would trigger the fear of isolation in that moment.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Other researchers have argued that instead of a situation specific reaction, fear of social isolation can be viewed as individual characteristic that varies between people and leads individuals to continuously monitor their environment for cues about the opinion climate. While there are individuals who generally do not suffer from a fear of isolation (what Noelle-Neumann referred to as Hardcores, others are constantly aware of their social environment and faced with a constant fear of isolation. Individuals who bear this characteristic of fear of social isolation and at the same time perceive their opinion to be incongruent with the majority opinion climate are less likely to be willing to voice their opinion. Similar to the previously described conceptualization of fear of social isolation, in this line of spiral of silence research fear of social isolation is a key concept in formation of public opinion, however research has often assumed this conceptualization as a fact without empirical proof or been inconsistent in the empirical measurement of this phenomenon.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Recent research has been able to capture the concept of fear of social isolation in a more reliable and consistent way. One example is research conducted by in which the researchers used an individual differences approach based on individual's character traits and measured individual's fear of social isolation using psychometric properties. , as well as other researchers, considers fear of social isolation to be a subsequent reaction to encountering a perceived hostile opinion climate which in turn leads the individual to not voice their own opinions and therefore sets in motion the spiral of silence.


title: Spiral of silence

text: This assumption proposes that in order to avoid becoming isolated and in order not to lose popularity and esteem, people constantly observe their environment very closely. They try to find out which opinions and modes of behaviour are prevalent, and which opinions and modes of behaviour are becoming more popular. They behave and express themselves accordingly in public. Then, they try to determine whether they are in the majority: whether the public opinion tends to agree with them. If they feel they are in the minority, they tend to remain silent.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Described as a "sixth-sense," individuals use what is described as "an innate ability" or quasi-statistical sense to gauge public opinion. People assume they can sense and figure out what others are thinking.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Pluralistic ignorance may occur in some cases, leading to the minority opinion to be accepted as a norm. Group members may be privately rejecting a norm, but may falsely assume that other group members accept it. This phenomenon may cause a group to hold on to a norm.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Our evaluation of a public opinion has an effect on our decision to speak up. Where opinions are relatively definite and static – customs, for example – one has to express or act according to this opinion in public or run the risk of becoming isolated. In contrast, where opinions are in flux, or disputed, the individual will try to find out which opinion he can express without becoming isolated. Individuals tend to publicly express their opinions and attitudes when they perceive their view to be dominant or on the rise. Conversely, when individuals perceive that their opinion is less popular or losing popularity, they are less likely to voice it in public. What one individual decides to do affects all of society around them.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The theory explains a "vocal minority" (the complement of the "silent majority") by stating that people who are highly educated, or who have greater affluence, and the few other cavalier individuals who do not fear isolation, are likely to speak out regardless of public opinion. It further states that this minority is a necessary factor of change while the compliant majority is a necessary factor of stability, with both being a product of evolution. There is a vocal minority, which remains at the top of the spiral in defiance of threats of isolation.


title: Spiral of silence

text: This theory calls these vocal minorities the hardcore nonconformist or the avant-garde. Hardcore nonconformists are "people who have already been rejected for their beliefs and have nothing to lose by speaking out." The hardcore has the ability to reconfigure majority opinion. While the avant-garde are "the intellectuals, artists, and reformers in the isolated minority who speak out because they are convinced they are ahead of the times."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The spiral of silence has brought insight regarding diverse topics, ranging from speaking about popular culture phenomena, to smoking. Considering that the spiral of silence is more likely to occur in controversial issues and issues with a moral component, many scholars have applied the theory to controversial topics, such as abortion, affirmative action, and capital punishment. Mandatory Covid vaccines and masking.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Existing literature prior to the spiral of silence theory suggest a relationship between social conformity and culture, motivating communication scholars to conduct cross-cultural analysis of the theory. Scholars in the field of psychology in particular previously addressed the cultural variance involved in the conformity to the majority opinion. More recent studies confirm the link between conformity and culture: a meta-analysis regarding Asch conformity experiments, for example, suggest that collectivist cultures are more likely to exhibit conformity than the individualistic cultures.


title: Spiral of silence

text: "A Cross-Cultural Test of the Spiral of Silence" by Huiping Huang analyzes the results of a telephone survey done in Taiwan and the United States. The hypotheses tested were the beliefs that the United States is an "individualistic" society, while Taiwan is a "collectivist" society. This suggested that the spiral of silence is less likely to be activated in the United States, because individuals are more likely to put emphasis on their personal goals. They put the "I" identity over the "we" identity, and strive for personal success. Therefore, it was hypothesized that they would be more likely to speak out, regardless of if they are in the minority. On the other hand, it was predicted that individuals in Taiwan put more emphasis on the collective goal, so they would conform to the majority influence in hopes of avoiding tension and conflict. The study also tested the effect of motives, including self-efficacy and self-assurance.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Telephone surveys were conducted; the citizens of the United States were questioned in regard to American involvement in Somalia, and the citizens of Taiwan about the possibility of a direct presidential election. Both issues focused on politics and human rights, and were therefore comparable. Respondents were asked to choose "favor," "neutral" or "oppose" in regard to the categories of themselves, family and friends, the media, society, and society in the future about the given issue. Measurements were also taken regarding the individualism and collectivism constructs, and the "motives of not expressing opinion" based on a 1–10 and 1–5 scale respectively, in approval of given statements.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Results showed support for the original hypothesis. Overall, Americans were more likely to speak out than Taiwanese. Being incongruous with the majority lessened the motivation of the Taiwanese to speak out (and they had a higher collectivist score), but had little effect on the Americans. In Taiwan, future support and belief of society played a large role in likeliness to voice an opinion, and support that the activation of the spiral of silence is in effect. In the United States, it was hypothesized that because they were more individualistic, they would be more likely to speak out if in the minority, or incongruous group. However, this was not true, but Huang suggests that perhaps the issue chosen was not directly prevalent, and therefore, they found it "unnecessary to voice their objections to the majority opinion." Lack of self-efficacy led to lack of speaking out in both countries.


title: Spiral of silence

text: "Basque Nationalism and the Spiral of Silence" is an article by Spencer and Croucher that analyzes the public perception of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, a militant separatist group) in Spain and France. This study was conducted in a similar way as above, with Basque individuals from Spain and France being questioned about their support of ETA. They were asked questions such as "How likely would you be to enter into a conversation with a stranger on a train about ETA?" Taken into consideration were the cultural differences of the two different regions in which ETA existed.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The results supported the theory of the spiral of silence. While there was a highly unfavorable opinion of the group, there was a lack of an outcry to stop it. Individuals claimed that they were more likely to voice their opinions to non-Basques, suggesting that they have a "fear of isolation" in regard to fellow Basques. Furthermore, the Spanish individuals questioned were more likely to be silent because of their greater proximity to the violent acts.


title: Spiral of silence

text: One study by Henson and Denker "investigates perceptions of silencing behaviors, political affiliation, and political differences as correlates to perceptions of the university classroom climates and communication behaviors." They looked at whether students' view of the classroom changes whether they perceive the instructor and other classmates with a different political affiliation, with the instructor and other classmates communicating using silencing behaviors. The article stated that little has been investigated into student-teacher interactions in the classroom, and how the students are influenced. The goal of the article was to "determine how political ideas are expressed in the university classrooms, and thus, assess the influence of classroom communication on the perceptions of political tolerance."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The article claimed that university classrooms are an adequate place to scrutinize the spiral of silence theory because it is a place that has interpersonal, cultural, media, and political communication. Henson and Denker said, "Because classroom interactions and societal discourse are mutually influential, instructors and students bring their own biases and cultural perspectives into the classroom."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The study researched whether there was a correlation between students' perception that they were being politically silenced and their perceived differences in student-instructor political affiliation. The study also questioned whether there was any connection between the perceived climate and the similarity of the student and instructor on their political affiliations. The researchers used participants from a Midwestern university's communication courses. The students answered a survey over their perceptions of political silencing, classroom climate, and the climate created by the instructor. The results of this research found that there is a positive relationship of the perceived similarities in a political party and ideological differences of the student and instructor to perceived greater political silencing.


title: Spiral of silence

text: While the studies regarding the spiral of silence theory focused on face-to-face interaction before 2000, the theory was later applied to a computer-mediated communication environment. The first study in this context analyzed communication behaviors in online chat rooms regarding the issue of abortion, and revealed that minority opinion holders were more likely to speak out, whereas their comments remained neutral. Another study focused on the Korean bulletin board postings regarding the national election, and found a relationship between online postings and the presentation of candidates in the mainstream media. The third study focuses on the online review system, suggesting that the fear of isolation tend to reduce the willingness of members to voice neutral and negative reviews. The Spiral of Silence Theory is extended "into the context of non-anonymous multichannel communication platforms" and "the need to consider the role of communicative affordances in online opinion expression" is also addressed.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Current literature suggests that the spiral model can be applied to the social media context. Gearhart and Zhang conduct a study to examine whether or not the use of social media will increase people's motivation to express their opinions about political issues. The results suggest that social media users "who have received a strong negative reaction to their politically related posts are likely to censor themselves, exemplifying the spiral of silence effect". Another study found that the fear of isolation causes people to not want to share their opinion on social media. Similar to the Gearhart and Zhang study, results from this study showed that people are more likely to self-censor information on social media by not posting some things that are political, choosing what and what not to follow or like, etc.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Another research confirms the positive relationship between speaking out and issue importance on the social media context as well: individuals who view gay bullying as a significant social issue are more likely to comment on Facebook. As social media becomes more and more important in our daily lives, Deceptive social bots have been successfully applied for manipulating online conversations and opinions. Current research shows that "social bots" are being used on a large scale to control the opinion climate to influence public opinion on social media. Social bots are social media accounts managed by computer algorithms. They can automatically generate content and interact with human users, often impersonating or imitating humans. Research shows that a small number of social bots can easily direct public opinion on social media and trigger a spiral of silence model. For example, scholars find out that social bots can affect political discussion around the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the 2017 French presidential election.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The spiral of silence theory can be also applied to social capital context. Recent studies see social capital as "a variable that enables citizens to develop norms of trust and reciprocity, which are necessary for successful engagement in collective activities". One study examines three individual-level indicators of social capital: civic engagement, trust and neighborliness, and the relationship between these indicators and people's willingness to express their opinions and their perception of support for one's opinions. The results suggest that civic engagement has a direct effect on people's willingness to express their opinions and neighborliness and trust had direct positive effects on people's perception of support for one's opinions. Also, the study shows that "only a direct (but not indirect) effect of civic engagement on opinion expression further highlights a potential difference between bonding and bridging social capital".


title: Spiral of silence

text: The concept of isolation has a variety of definitions, dependent upon the circumstances it is investigated in. In one instance the problem of isolation has been defined as social withdrawal, defined as low relative frequencies of peer interaction. Other researchers have defined isolation as low levels of peer acceptance or high levels of peer rejection. Research that considers isolation with regard to the Internet either focuses on how the Internet makes individuals more isolated from society by cutting off their contact from live human beings or how the Internet decreases social isolation of people by allowing them to expand their social networks and giving them more means to stay in touch with friends and family. Since the development of the Internet, and in particular the World Wide Web, a wide variety of groups have come into existence, including Web and Internet Relay Chat (IRC), newsgroups, multiuser dimensions (MUDs), and, more recently, commercial virtual communities. The theories and hypotheses about how Internet-based groups impact individuals are numerous and wide-ranging. Some researchers view these fast growing virtual chat cliques, online games, or computer-based marketplaces as a new opportunity, particularly for stigmatized people, to take a more active part in social life.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Traditionally, social isolation has been represented as a one-dimensional construct organized around the notion of a person's position outside the peer group and refers to isolation from the group as a result of being excluded from the group by peers. From children to adults, literature shows that people understand the concept of isolation and fear the repercussions of being isolated from groups of which they are a member. Fearing isolation, people did not feel free to speak up if they feel they hold dissenting views, which means people restrict themselves to having conversation with like-minded individuals, or have no conversation whatsoever. Witschge further explained, "Whether it is fear of harming others, or fear to get harmed oneself, there are factors that inhibit people from speaking freely, and which thus results in a non-ideal type of discussion, as it hinders diversity and equality of participants and viewpoints to arise fully."


title: Spiral of silence

text: The medium of the Internet has the power to free people from the fear of social isolation, and in doing so, shuts down the spiral of silence. One article proves out the social media can weaken the fear of isolation. The research shows that the vocal minority who hold racist viewpoints are willing to expressing unpopular views on Facebook. The Internet allows people to find a place where they can find groups of people with like mindsets and similar points of view. Van Alstyne and Brynjolfsson stated that "Internet users can seek out interactions with like-minded individuals who have similar values, and thus become less likely to trust important decisions to people whose values differ from their own." The features of the Internet could not only bring about more people to deliberate by freeing people of psychological barriers, but also bring new possibilities in that it "makes manageable large-scale, many-to-many discussion and deliberation." Unlike traditional media that limit participation, the Internet brings the characteristics of empowerment, enormous scales of available information, specific audiences can be targeted effectively and people can be brought together through the medium.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The Internet is a place where many reference and social groups are available with similar views. It has become a place where it appears that people have less of a fear of isolation. One research article examined individuals' willingness to speak their opinion online and offline. Through survey results from 305 participants, a comparison and contrast of online and offline spiral of silence behaviors was determined. Liu and Fahmy stated that "it is easy to quit from an online discussion without the pressure of complying with the majority group." This is not to say that a spiral of silence does not occur in an online environment. People are still less likely to speak out, even in an online setting, when there is a dominant opinion that differs from their own. But people in the online environment will speak up if someone has a reference group that speaks up for them.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Online, the presence of one person who encourages a minority point of view can put an end to a spiral of silence. Studies of the spiral of silence in online behavior have not acknowledged that a person may be more likely to speak out against dominant views offline as well. The person might have characteristics that make them comfortable speaking out against dominant views offline, which make them just as comfortable speaking out in an online setting.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Although research suggests that people will disclose their opinions more often in an online setting, silencing of views can still occur. One study indicates that people on Facebook are less willing to discuss the Snowden and NSA stories than an offline situation such as a family dinner or public meeting. Another research article examined the influence of different opinion climates in online forums (opinion congruence with the majority of forum participants vs. website source) and found personal opinion congruence was more influential than the online site in which the forum is situated in. Nekmat and Gonzenbach said it might be worth researching whether the factors in these studies or other factors cause people to be more comfortable when it comes to speaking their mind while online.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The nature of the Internet facilitates not only the participation of more people, but also a more heterogeneous group of people. Page stated, "The onward rush of electronic communications technology will presumably increase the diversity of available ideas and the speed and ease with which they fly about and compete with each other." The reason people engage in deliberations is because of their differences, and the Internet allows differences to be easily found. The Internet seems the perfect place to find different views of a very diverse group of people who are at the same time open to such difference and disagreement needed for deliberation. Noelle-Neumann's initial idea of cowering and muted citizens is difficult to reconcile with empirical studies documenting uninhibited discussion in computer-mediated contexts such as chat rooms and newsgroups.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The Internet provides an anonymous setting, and it can be argued that in an anonymous setting, fears of isolation and humiliation would be reduced. Wallace recognized that when people believe their actions cannot be attributed to them personally, they tend to become less inhibited by social conventions and restraints. This can be very positive, particularly when people are offered the opportunity to discuss difficult personal issues under conditions in which they feel safer.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The groups' ability to taunt an individual is lessened on the Internet, thus reducing the tendency to conform. Wallace goes on to summarize a number of empirical studies that do find that dissenters feel more liberated to express their views online than offline, which might result from the fact that the person in the minority would not have to endure taunts or ridicule from people that are making up the majority, or be made to feel uncomfortable for having a different opinion. Stromer-Galley considered that "an absence of non-verbal cues, which leads to a lowered sense of social presence, and a heightened sense of anonymity" frees people from the psychological barriers that keep them from engaging in a face-to-face deliberation.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The crux of the spiral of silence is that people believe consciously or subconsciously that the expression of unpopular opinions will lead to negative repercussions. These beliefs may not exist on the Internet for several reasons. First, embarrassment and humiliation depends on the physical presence of others. In computer-mediated communication, physical isolation often already exists and poses no further threat. Second, a great deal of normative influence is communicated through nonverbal cues, such as eye contact and gestures, but computer-mediated communication typically precludes many of these cues. Third, Kiesler, Siegel, and McQuire observe that nonverbal social context cues convey formality and status inequality in face-to-face communication. When these cues are removed, the importance of social status as a source of influence recedes. Group hierarchies that develop in face-to-face interaction emerge less clearly in a mediated environment. The form and consequences of conformity influence should undergo significant changes given the interposition of a medium that reduces the social presence of participants. Social presence is defined as the degree of salience of the other person in the interaction or the degree to which the medium conveys some of the person's presence.


title: Spiral of silence

text: An important issue in obtaining heterogeneity in conversation is equal access for all the participants and equal opportunities to influence in the discussion. When people believe they are ignorant about a topic, incapable to participate in a discussion or not equal to their peers, they tend to not even become involved in a deliberation. When people do decide to participate, their participation might be overruled by dominant others, or their contribution might be valued less or more, depending on their status. Dahlberg praises the Internet for its possibility to liberate people from the social hierarchies and power relations that exist offline: "The 'blindness' of cyberspace to bodily identity... [is supposed to allow] people to interact as if they were equals. Arguments are said to be assessed by the value of the claims themselves and not the social position of the poster".


title: Spiral of silence

text: Gastil sees this feature as one of the strongest points of the Internet: "if computer-mediated interaction can consistently reduce the independent influence of status, it will have a powerful advantage over face-to-face deliberation". While status cues are difficult to detect, perceptions about the status converge, and this lessens stereotyping and prejudice.


title: Spiral of silence

text: It may be that people do feel more equal in online forums than they feel offline. Racism, ageism, and other kinds of discrimination against out groups "seems to be diminishing because the cues to out-group status are not as obvious". Next to this, the Internet has rapidly and dramatically increased the capacities to develop, share and organize information, realizing more equality of access to information.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The relationship between the perception of public opinion and willingness to speak-up is mainly measured through surveys In surveys, respondents are often asked whether they would reveal their opinions given a hypothetical situation, right after their opinions about the public opinion and their opinion is received. Whether asking hypothetical questions can reflect real life cases was questioned by some communication scholars, leading to a criticism of this methodology as not being able to capture what the respondent would do in a real-life situation. A research study addressed this criticism by comparatively testing a spiral model both in a hypothetical survey and in a focus group. The findings are in line with the critic of hypothetical survey questions, demonstrating a significant increase in the spiral of silence in focus groups.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Among different approaches to survey methodology, cross-sectional study design is the leading method employed to analyze and test the theory. Cross-sectional design involves the analysis of the relationship between public opinion and willingness to speak at one point in time.


title: Spiral of silence

text: While many of the researchers employ cross-sectional design, some scholars employed panel data. Under this methodology, three specific approaches have been used. Noelle-Neumann herself tested the theory from the aggregate level. Using this approach, the change process is "observed by comparing the absolute share of people perceiving a majority climate with people willing to express their views over time." The second approach that has been used in Spiral of Silence research is conducting separate regressions for each panel survey wave. The drawback for this approach is that the individual change of climate and opinions perception is ignored. The last approach a few scholars used in conducting Spiral of Silence researches is to use changed scores as dependent variables. However, as intuitive as this approach may be, it "leads to well-documented difficulties with respect to statistical properties, such as regression to the mean or the negative correlation of the change score with the time one state".


title: Spiral of silence

text: The critics of this theory most often claim that individuals have different influences that affect whether they speak out or not.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Research indicates that people fear isolation in their small social circles more than they do in the population at large. Within a large nation, one can always find a group of people who share one's opinions, however people fear isolation from their close family and friends more in theory. Research has demonstrated that this fear of isolation is stronger than the fear of being isolated from the entire public, as it is typically measured.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Scholars have also argued that both personal characteristics and various culture among different groups will have influences on whether a person will willingly speak out. If one person "has a positive self-concept and lacks a sense of shame, that person will speak out regardless of how she or he perceives the climate of public opinion." Another influence critics give for people choosing not to speak out against public opinion is culture. Open expression of ideas is forbidden in some of the cultures. Some cultures are more individualistic, which would support more of an individual's own opinion, while collectivist cultures support the overall group's opinion and needs. Gender can be also considered as a cultural factor. In some cultures, women's "perception of language, not public opinion, forces them to remain quiet." Scheufele & Moy, further assert that certain conflict styles and cultural indicators should be used to understand these differences.


title: Spiral of silence

text: The nature of issues will influence the dynamic processes of the spiral of silence. Yeric and Todd present three issues type, including enduring issues that will be discussed by the public for a long time; emerging issues that are new to the public but have the potential to become enduring issues; and the transitory issues, which don't stay in the public consciousness for very long but come up from time to time. The research suggests that issues difference affects people's willingness to express. Facebook users are more likely to post their real thoughts on emerging issues such as gay marriage in an incongruent opinion climate.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Another criticism of the spiral of silence research is that the research designs do not observe the movement in the spiral over time. Critics propose that Noelle-Neumann's emphasis on time in the formation of the spiral should reflect on the methodology as well, and the dynamic nature of the spiral model should be acknowledged. They argue that the spiral of silence theory involves a "time factor", considering that the changes in public opinion eventually lead to change in people's assessments of the public opinion. Also, according to Spilchal, the spiral of silence theory "ignores the evidence of the historical development of public opinion, both in theory and practice, through the extension of suffrage, organisation of political propaganda groups, the establishment of pressure groups and political parties, the eligibility of ever wider circles of public officials and, eventually, the installation of several forms of direct democracy."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Some scholars also provide understandings of the theory in the contemporary society by pointing out that "it is not so much the actual statistical majority that generates pressure for conformity as it is the climate of opinion conveyed in large measure by the media." Under the great influence by the media coverage, the climate of opinion "is not invariably an accurate reflection of the distribution of opinions within the polity."


title: Spiral of silence

text: Further, Scheufele & Moy find problems in the operationalization of key terms, including willingness to speak out. This construct should be measured in terms of actually speaking out, not voting or other conceptually similar constructs. Conformity experiments have no moral component, yet morality is a key construct in the model. These conformity experiments, particularly those by Asch, form part of the base of the theory. Scholars question whether these conformity experiments are relevant to the development of the Spiral of Silence.


title: Spiral of silence

text: Research indicates that while the existence of groups with other opinions than those that are supposed to be dominant in a society opens a possibility for some people to express some different opinions, fallacy assumptions in such groups that criticism of particular aspects of that group's program is support for society's mainstream views is a source of false dilemmas. This research indicates that such false dilemmas, especially when there are inconsistencies both in mainstream views and in organized opposition views, causes a spiral of silence that specifically silences logically consistent third, fourth or higher number viewpoint criticism. The research in question does not find a solution in many approaches of "recognizing cognitive bias" but instead indicate that such assumptions are part of the problem by promoting the myth of one's own group having overcome its bias by institutional means and allegations of rational critical arguments being due to bias in the minds of critics, citing evolutionary research that shows that not only would any predisposition for justification of views be selected against due to costing nutrients without improving adaptivity of behavior, but that the claim that most adult humans are irrational due to missing stimulation of rationality in early childhood is also evolutionarily indefensible as genes for potential rationality would have been totally eliminated by selection before reaching significant population fraction if they needed a society already promoting rationality to manifest themselves adaptively. The research indicates that humans are not inherently irrational but are forced to pretend irrationality by false dilemmas that claim rational criticism to be justifications for irrational resentment, and suggest that openly expressed rationality can be promoted by discussions in which no exclusion based on traditional political scales or beneficiary classifications exist but all allegations of irrational motives as well as assumptions that some opinions are linked or that criticism of one view is defence of another specific view are excluded.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The Martin PBM Mariner was an American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with the first example flying on 18 February 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940, with the last of the type being retired in 1964.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: In 1937 the Glenn L. Martin Company designed a new twin-engined flying boat, the Model 162, to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and complement the PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado. It received an order for a single prototype XPBM-1 on 30 June 1937. This was followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM-1 aircraft on 28 December 1937.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a ⅜ scale flying model, the Martin 162A "Tadpole Clipper" with a crew of one and powered by a single Chevrolet engine driving two airscrews via v-belts; this was flown in December 1937. The first genuine PBM, the XPBM-1, flew on 18 February 1939.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The aircraft had multiple gun positions including single mounts at each midship beam and stern above the tail cone. Additional guns were positioned in the nose and dorsal turrets, each fitted with two-gun turrets. The bomb bays were in the engine nacelles. The gull wing was of cantilever design, and featured clean aerodynamics with an unbraced twin tail. The PBM-1 was equipped with retractable wing landing floats that were hinged outboard, with single-strut supported floats that retracted inwards to rest beneath the wing, with the floats' keels just outboard of each of the engine nacelles. The PBM-3 had fixed floats, and the fuselage was three feet longer than that of the PBM-1.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The first PBM-1s entered service with Patrol Squadron Fifty-Five (VP-55) of the United States Navy on 1 September 1940. Prior to the USA's entry into World War II, PBMs were used (together with PBYs) to carry out Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic, including operations from Iceland. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, PBMs were used on anti-submarine patrols, sinking their first German U-boat, "U-158", on 30 June 1942. PBMs were responsible, wholly or in part, for sinking a total of ten U-boats during World War II. PBMs were also heavily used in the Pacific War, operating from bases at Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and the South West Pacific.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The United States Coast Guard acquired 27 Martin PBM-3 aircraft during the first half of 1943. In late 1944, the service acquired 41 PBM-5 models and more were delivered in the latter half of 1945. Ten were still in service in 1955, although all were gone from the active Coast Guard inventory by 1958 (when the last example was released from CGAS San Diego and returned to the U.S. Navy). These flying boats became the backbone of the long-range aerial search and rescue efforts of the Coast Guard in the early post-war years until supplanted by the P5M Marlin and the HU-16 Albatross in the mid-1950s.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: PBMs continued in service with the U.S. Navy following the end of World War II, flying long patrol missions during the Korean War. It continued in front line use until replaced by its successor, the P5M Marlin. The last Navy squadron equipped with the PBM, Patrol Squadron Fifty (VP-50), retired them in July 1956.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The British Royal Air Force acquired 32 Mariners, but they were not used operationally, with some returned to the United States Navy. A further 12 PBM-3Rs were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force for transporting troops and cargo.


title: Martin PBM Mariner

text: The Royal Netherlands Navy acquired 17 PBM-5A Mariners at the end of 1955 for service in Netherlands New Guinea. The PBM-5A was an amphibian with retractable landing gear. The engines were Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34. After a series of crashes, the Dutch withdrew their remaining aircraft from use in December 1959.


title: Sweetest Pie

text: "Sweetest Pie" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion and English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, released on March 11, 2022 through 1501 Certified and 300 Entertainment. The song serves as the lead single from Megan Thee Stallion's second studio album "Traumazine".


title: Sweetest Pie

text: In June 2021, Megan Thee Stallion expressed her interest in doing a collaboration with Dua Lipa. Lipa responded on Instagram saying she would love to do a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion. Megan Thee Stallion and Lipa began teasing the collaboration in February 2022 after the latter artist addressed the former as "thee sweetest pie" when sending her a pie for her birthday. That same month, Megan Thee Stallion teased that her next single would be with someone her fans might have guessed before and it was a song unexpected for her and "different".


title: Sweetest Pie

text: On March 6, 2022, Megan Thee Stallion and Lipa formally announced their collaboration. The former released a promotional image of the two artists' faces iced onto cakes while the latter shared a 5-second snippet of the track accompanied by a video of a text conversation between the two in which they shared images of them together. They revealed the cover art and title as "Sweetest Pie" the following day. The track was released on March 11, 2022. The remixes EP by David Guetta was released on April 22.


title: Sweetest Pie

text: In the US, "Sweetest Pie" debuted at number 15 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Lipa's highest debut on the chart, her sixth top 20 single and Megan Thee Stallion's eighth. The song also charted in the top 20 in Canada and Ireland. On the


title: Sweetest Pie

text: The music video for "Sweetest Pie" accompanied the song's release and was directed by Dave Meyers, with a concept created by Megan Thee Stallion. The music video is inspired by "Hansel and Gretel" by "welcoming a duo of unsuspecting men into their lair — ultimately luring them to their deaths."


title: Sweetest Pie

text: On March 15, 2022, Lipa brought out Megan Thee Stallion during her Future Nostalgia Tour at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado to perform the collaboration. This marks the first time they performed the song live together. Megan Thee Stallion also performed "Sweetest Pie" at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 22, and at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 16.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: The three-finger salute is a hand gesture made by raising the index, middle and ring fingers, while holding the thumb to the little finger, and raising the hand with the palm facing out in a salute. The gesture has been adopted by pro-democracy protest movements in Southeast Asia, mainly in Thailand and Myanmar, as well as in Hong Kong.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: Variations of the three-finger salute have been used around the world by various separatist and nationalist groups for decades. The three-finger salute has also been used by Girl Scout and Boy Scout organizations since the early 20th century.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: The gesture was used in "The Hunger Games", the series of fiction books and films by Suzanne Collins. In the series, the gesture is made by pressing the three middle fingers of the left hand to the lips and then raising it to the air. It initially appears in the first book and film of the series, when the people of District 12 salute Katniss Everdeen after she volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games in place of her sister. Later, in the second part of the series ("Catching Fire"), an old man in the crowd salutes Katniss this way during a tour by the victors, and the gesture becomes a symbol of the revolution along with the mockingjay song whistled by Katniss in her first games.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: The salute first became a real-world pro-democracy symbol in the aftermath of the 2014 Thai coup d'état. Due to its use, the symbol was made illegal in Thailand. Protesters have since added symbolism to the gesture, stating that the three fingers stand for the French Revolutionary ideal of liberty, equality, fraternity. The gesture was revived by protesters in the 2020 Thai political crisis.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: The salute was used for a time during the Umbrella Movement in 2014 before being revived in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, inspired by its renewed usage in Thailand, and continues to be used to symbolize resistance against the Chinese government.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: Mu Sochua, former vice president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), called on the opposition party's supporters to adopt the symbol as a sign of solidarity with Myanmar and as a protest against the current government of Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). A representative of the CPP condemned these actions, saying that they were undermining the country.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: Before its adoption as a pro-democracy symbol, Philippine senator Miriam Defensor Santiago used it in a 2013 privilege speech in response to then-Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile, criticizing his personal and political conduct dating back to Ferdinand Marcos's regime, in response to his allegations about her mental health. In this context, she deviated from her prepared remarks after declaring, "His mind is sick, sick, sick...[You are] three times sick!" using the language of Katniss Everdeen in "". In 2017, a group of critics of President Rodrigo Duterte also used the salute to express dissent towards his administration and the killings related to the country's war on drugs.


title: Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)

text: The non-profit organization Harry Potter Alliance used the three-finger salute to criticize economic and wage inequality in American companies such as Walmart and McDonald's. The move was supported by the AFL–CIO, who responded by posting pictures of union leaders posing with the symbol.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Shane Beamer (born March 31, 1977) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He is the son of former Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Beamer was born on March 31, 1977 in Charleston, South Carolina to Cheryl (nee Oakley) and Frank Beamer, at the time defensive line coach for the Citadel Bulldogs. In 1987 his father was named head coach of Virginia Tech, and the family moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. He attended Blacksburg High School where he lettered in both football and baseball, was first-team Group AA all-state receiver, and played in the 1995 Virginia high school all-star football game. He and his wife Emily have three children.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Beamer chose to walk on as a wide receiver at Virginia Tech over an offer of a partial scholarship from Division I-AA Charleston Southern. Later, he moved to long snapper, the position he played during the Hokies' 1999 season, in which they played for the national championship.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Following Beamer's playing career, he became a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech under George O'Leary. Beamer's team was scheduled to play against his father in the 2000 Black Coaches Association Classic to open the season, but the game was canceled because of lightning and Georgia Tech refused to reschedule it.


title: Shane Beamer

text: From 2001–2003, Shane served as a graduate assistant under Phillip Fulmer at the University of Tennessee.


title: Shane Beamer

text: In 2004, Beamer was hired by Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State to coach cornerbacks, three of whom earned All-SEC Freshmen honors. In 2006, he assumed the role of recruiting coordinator and brought in a class that included Anthony Dixon, who would go on to play for the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills.


title: Shane Beamer

text: In 2007, Shane was hired by Steve Spurrier at the University of South Carolina to coach outside linebackers and to serve as the special teams coordinator. In 2008, the Gamecock defense finished 2nd in pass defense and 13th in total defense nationally. His 2009 special teams unit blocked five kicks, tying for the SEC lead and ranking eighth in the nation, while the Gamecock defensive unit finished third in the SEC in total defense and fifteenth in the nation.


title: Shane Beamer

text: In his final two years in Columbia, Beamer also served as the recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks. The 2009 class was ranked 12th best in the nation by Scout.com and Rivals.com and included future NFL Draft picks Stephon Gillmore and Alshon Jeffery. Both the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes ranked in the top 25 and included future South Carolina stars and NFL players Marcus Lattimore and Connor Shaw.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Beamer joined his father in Blacksburg in 2011 as the running backs coach. In his first year, he coached the school's single season rushing record holder, All-American and ACC Player of the Year, David Wilson. Wilson was subsequently drafted in the first round by the New York Giants.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Beamer accepted Wake Forest game plan information prior to Virginia Tech's game against the Demon Deacons in 2014. The information was provided by Demon Deacons radio analyst Tommy Elrod, a former Wake Forest player and assistant coach who was at the center of what became the "Wakeyleaks" scandal. Virginia Tech eventually lost the game 6–3 in overtime after a 0–0 tie in regulation. The accusations came to light in 2016 when Beamer had moved on to an assistant coach position at the University of Georgia. Beamer denies providing the information to the coaching staff or players but was fined $25,000 by Georgia for his part in the scandal.


title: Shane Beamer

text: Beamer was hired on January 5, 2016 to serve on Kirby Smart's staff as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. He coached several future NFL talents during his stint in Athens, including placekicker Rodrigo Blankenship and tight end Charlie Woerner.