Imagining the Web: the social construction of the Internet in Italy

Modern Italy ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Francesca Pasquali

SummaryThe article analyses social discourses about the Internet in Italy from the mid-1990s onwards, taking its examples from advertising. Beyond the individual campaigns and their subjects there have been two distinct trends in Internet advertising. The first has made an effort to build the Internet as a cognitive object, the second has presented the Internet as a ‘possible world'. The article aims to account for the ways in which the Web has been thematized in Italy: its fields of reference, and how its possible social and personal uses have been anticipated.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 370
Author(s):  
Ramón Abraham Mena Farrera

Resumen: No podemos soslayar que las experiencias humanas están vinculadas a la vigorosa expansión tecnológica de los medios electrónicos de comunicación. Por tanto, el presente artículo presenta una revisión teórica que permite formular una estrategia en la metodología cualitativa para producir, ordenar y analizar nuevos datos empíricos que nos den cuenta del fenómeno de la interacción humana en la red de internet. La estrategia metodológica propuesta se sostiene en las tradiciones filosóficas y sociológicas de la construcción social de la tecnología (WINNER, 1993; BIJKER, 1987; PINCH; BIJKER, 1987), la teoría del actor-red (LAW, 1992; CALLON, 1998), y el modelo de los sistemas (HUGHES, 1983), usados para la comprensión de los sistemas socio tecnológicos. Se concluye con algunos posicionamientos renovadores para la metodología cualitativa y su presencia para analizar fenómenos de internet inspirados en la fenomenología, enfatizando el rol concreto del individuo en sus experiencias (mundos vividos y significativos) y el hecho de la acción intencional que tiene el interlocutor de internet para compartir sus vivencias.Palabras clave: Relaciones socio técnicas; Fenomenología tecnológica; Etnometodología; Internet. Methodological proposal to analyze sociotechnical phenomena on the internet Abstract: We cannot argue that human experiences are linked to the vigorous technological expansion of electronic means of communication. Therefore, this article presents a theoretical review that allows the formulation of a strategy in the qualitative methodology for producing, ordering and analyzing new empirical data that denounce the phenomenon of human interaction on the Internet. The methodological strategy proposed is based on the philosophical and sociological traditions of the social construction of technology (WINNER, 1993; BIJKER, 1987; PINCH; BIJKER, 1987), the actor-red theory (LAW, 1992; CALLON, 1998). , and the model of systems (HUGHES, 1983), used for the understanding of socio-technological systems. It concludes with some renewing positions for the qualitative methodology and its presence to analyze internet phenomena inspired by the phenomenology, emphasizing the concrete roll of the individual in his experiences (lived and significant worlds) and the closing of the intentional action that he has the interlocutor of internet to share your experiences Keywords: Sociotechnical relations; Technological phenomenology; Ethnomethodology; Internet. Proposta metodológica para analisar fenômenos sociotequínicos na internet Resumo: No podemos saslayar que as experiencias humanas estão vinculadas à expansão vigorosa tecnológica dos meios eletrónicos de comunicação. Por tanto, o presente artigo apresenta uma revisão teórica que permite formular uma estrategia na metodologia de cotagem para produzir, ordenar e analizar novos dados empíricos que n'água cuenta do fenómeno da interacção humana no vermelho de internet. A estrategia metodológica propôs-se sostiene nas tradições filosóficas e sociológicas da construção social da tecnologia (WINNER, 1993; BIJKER, 1987; PINCH; BIJKER, 1987), la teoría del actor-red (LAW, 1992; CALLON, 1998). O modelo dos sistemas (HUGHES, 1983), usado para a compreenção dos sistemas sócio-tecnológicos. Conclui com algumas posições os renovadores da metodologia qualitativa e sua presença para analisar fenômenos da Internet inspirados na fenomenologia, enfatizando ou papel dos indivíduos em seus experimentos (mundos e estados vividos) e realizou ações intencionais que os medos ou o interlocutor da Internet compartilham suas informações e experiências.Palavras-chave: Relações sociotécnicas; Fenomenologia tecnológica; Etnometodologia; Internet.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Brigo ◽  
Simona Lattanzi ◽  
Giorgia Giussani ◽  
Laura Tassi ◽  
Nicola Pietrafusa ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The Internet has become one of the most important sources of health information, accessed daily by an ever-growing number of both patients and physicians, seeking medical advice and clinical guidance. A deeper insight into the current use of the Web as source of information on epilepsy would help in clarifying the individual attitude towards this medium by Internet users. OBJECTIVE We investigated views towards the Internet in a sample of Italian healthcare specialists involved in epilepsy field, to explore factors which explained the influence of information found on the internet. METHODS This study was a self-administered survey conducted in a group of members of the Italian Chapter of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in January 2018. RESULTS 184 questionnaires were analyzed. 97.8% of responders reported to seek online information on epilepsy. The Internet was most frequently searched to obtain new information (69.9%) or to confirm a diagnostic or therapeutic decision (37.3%). The influence of consulting the Internet on clinical practice was associated with registration to social network(s) (OR: 2.94; 95%CI: 1.28-6.76; p=0.011), higher frequency of Internet use (OR: 3.66; 95%CI: 1.56-9.21; p=0.006) and higher confidence in reliability of online information (OR: 2.61; 95%CI: 1.09-6.26; p=0.031). No association was found with age, sex, years in epilepsy practice or easiness to find online information. CONCLUSIONS Internet is frequently used among healthcare professionals involved in the epilepsy to obtain information about this disease. The attitude of being influenced by the Internet for diagnostic and/or therapeutic decisions in epilepsy is independent on age and years of experience in epilepsy, and probably reflects an individual approach towards the Web.


Author(s):  
Mariya М. Odintsova ◽  

A lot of modern psychological studies point to the inextricable link between the real and the Internet space in the context of the process of socialization of the individual, structuring the life scenario, in particular in the field of professional development. However, the integration of various predictors associated with the characteristics of the modern labor market and, as a consequence of career planning, life scenario is a methodological problem. To solve it, research design was applied, based on a combination of theoretical and empirical, quantitative and qualitative analysis. The aim of the study was the desire to clarify the role of the content of social networks in the formation of the life model of the professional sphere in the personal life space. It is suggested that the components of life models in the field of the profession broadcast on the Internet may be similar to the constructs already available in young people. The empirical research was carried out in several stages. At the first stage, semantic and content analysis of more than 170,000 posts over the past 2 years from the 20 most popular communities of the social network was carried out using special computer programs. The results of the analysis were the identified features of the components of the life model in the field of the profession, broadcast in the information space. At the second stage, the peculiarities of personal ideas of young people about building their own professional path, as well as the perception of the experience of parents’ professional activities were investigated. The sample consisted of 166 respondents; the average age was 21 years. The results obtained confirm the assumption about the similarity of the characteristics of the components of life models in the field of the profession, presented in the posts of Internet communities and the characteristics of the constructed life scenario in the field of the profession by the respondents themselves. The ideas about professional life and its further construction are probably associated with intergenerational transmission and traditional family values, the personal interests of a young person, his/her abilities, as well as with the tendencies learned in the process of intergenerational transmission of values and certain ideas in the circle of contemporaries presented on the Internet.


Author(s):  
Konstantin S. Sharov

The paper is concerned with a study of the changing content and style of non-canonical Christian religious preaching in the digital age. Special attention is paid to the analysis of modern rhetoric Christian preachers practice in their Internet channels, forums and blogs. It is shown that the content of the Internet sermon is largely determined by the Internet users themselves and the topics of their appeals. The fundamental characteristics of the content of the Internet sermon are: 1) focus on the individual, their private goals and objectives, not just on theological problems; 2) rethinking the phenomenon of the neighbour; 3) a shift from the Hesychast tradition of preaching the importance of inner spiritual concentration to the preaching of religious interactivity. The observed stylistic features of the digital preaching can be summarised as follows: 1) moving away from simple answers to the rhetoric of new questions addressed to the audience; 2) empathy, co-participation with a person in his/her life conflicts and experiences; 3) desire to share religious information, not to impose it; 4) resorting to various rhetorical techniques to reach different audiences; 5) a tendency to use slang, sometimes even irrespective of the audience’s language preferences and expectations. It should be pointed out that the Orthodox Internet sermon in the Russian Internet space has a dual and contradictory nature. On the one hand, this phenomenon can be regarded as positive for the Orthodox preaching in general, since it is a means of spreading Christian ideas in the social groups that do not constitute a core of parishioners of Orthodox churches, for example, schoolchildren, students, representatives of technical professions, etc. On the other hand, the effectiveness of such preaching is still unclear. Lack of reliable statistics as well as the results of the survey related to the Orthodox Internet preaching gives us no opportunity to judge about effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the phenomenon at this stage of its development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Jordan

Abstract This paper explores the ritual of the dirbāsha as an extraordinary miracle performance and its role as a bodily practice in the formation of modern Muslim subjectivities among the Qādiriyya-Kasnazāniyya Sufi communities in Iraq. During the climax of collective dhikr gatherings, male Sufi novices perform extraordinary and dangerous acts, perforating parts of their bodies with swords or long skewers without seriously injuring themselves. From the Sufi perspective, this ritual is, first of all, interpreted as the miracle of a Sufi shaykh and not of the performing Sufi novice since it is seen as an expression and proof of God’s power as transmitted through the shaykh. Moreover, it has been argued that the ritual is constitutive for the formation of the religious subjectivity of the performing Sufi novice since it allows the embodiment of mystical concepts as emotional, sensorial and existential realities. For the individual ritual experience to work, the social construction and constant reframing of these “miracles” needs to be taken into account as well, namely the ordinary ethics of the extraordinary which allow the miracles to be perceived as such. The present case of the Kasnazāniyya will show how Sufis combined their pious with a modern, critical and self-reflexive subjectivity and successfully managed to reframe this highly controversial practice – which is criticised by religious reformists and secularists alike – beyond its traditional ritual context with the modern science of parapsychology.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1294-1314
Author(s):  
Keith A. Bauer

The social consequences of the internet are profound. Evidence of this can easily be found in the enormous body of literature discussing its impact on democracy, globalization, social networking, and education. The implications of the internet for medicine have likewise received a great deal of attention from policy makers, clinicians and technology theorists. Medical privacy, in particular, has garnered the lion’s share of attention. Nevertheless, research in this area has been lacking because it either fails to unpack the conceptual and ethical complexities of privacy or overestimates the power of technology and policy to protect our medical privacy. The aims of this chapter are twofold. The first is to provide a nuanced explication of the concept of privacy, and, second, to argue that e-medicine and the policies supposedly designed to protect the privacy and confidentiality of personal health information fail to do so and in some instances make their violations easier to commit.


Author(s):  
Keith A. Bauer

The social consequences of the internet are profound. Evidence of this can easily be found in the enormous body of literature discussing its impact on democracy, globalization, social networking, and education. The implications of the internet for medicine have likewise received a great deal of attention from policy makers, clinicians and technology theorists. Medical privacy, in particular, has garnered the lion’s share of attention. Nevertheless, research in this area has been lacking because it either fails to unpack the conceptual and ethical complexities of privacy or overestimates the power of technology and policy to protect our medical privacy. The aims of this chapter are twofold. The first is to provide a nuanced explication of the concept of privacy, and, second, to argue that e-medicine and the policies supposedly designed to protect the privacy and confidentiality of personal health information fail to do so and in some instances make their violations easier to commit.


Matrizes ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Derrick de Kerckhove

The article metaphorically uses the human limbic system to describe the new system of social interaction created by social networks, exploring the conditions involved in the creation and development of emotions on the Internet, in such a way as to reveal the relation between technology and psychology. In defence of the argument that the immediacy of social media favours reactions to public events, it presents examples such as the individual responses to the financial global crisis and the demand for more transparency in the governments and financial institutions, in cases like WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring. It concludes that the Internet allows individuals to extend their action, that now have a global reach, with possible effects upon citizenship.


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