Social Media and Elections in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iginio Gagliardone
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global North ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

The analysis of the diffusion of social media in Africa and its relevance for politics has been caught in a paradox. On the one hand, social media have been saluted for their newness and for their ability, especially in connection with increasingly accessible portable tools such as mobile phones, to offer a level playing field for individuals to participate in politics and speak to power. On the other hand, this very enthusiasm has evoked relatively tired tropes used to frame the advent of other “new” technologies in the past, stressing what they could do to Africa, rather than exploring what they are doing in Africa. Early research on the relationship between social media and elections in Africa has tended to adopt normative frameworks adapted from the analysis of electoral contests in the Global North, presupposing unfettered citizens using social media to root for their leaders or demand accountability. A more recent wave of empirically grounded studies has embraced a greater conceptual and methodological pluralism, offering more space to analyze the contradictions in how social media are used and abused: how humor can be turned into a powerful tool to contest a type of power that appears overwhelming; or how armies of professional users have exploited people’s credulity of new media as “freer” from power to actually support partisan agenda. Interestingly, this latter approach has brought to light phenomena that have only recently caught global attention, such as the role of “fake news” and misinformation in electoral contests, but have played a determinant role in African politics for at least a decade.

scholarly journals Stable association of a Drosophila-derived microbiota with its animal partner and the nutritional environment upon transfer between populations and generations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélisandre A. Téfit ◽  
Benjamin Gillet ◽  
Pauline Joncour ◽  
Sandrine Hughes ◽  
François Leulier
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Stable Association ◽  
Feeding Substrate ◽  
The One ◽  
Reciprocal Transfer ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn the past years, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively used to study the relationship between animals and their associated microbes. Compared to the one of wild populations, the microbiota of laboratory-reared flies is less diverse, and comprises fewer bacterial taxa; nevertheless, the main commensal bacteria found in fly microbiota always belong to the Acetobacteraceae and Lactobacillaceae families. The bacterial communities associated with the fly are environmentally acquired, and the partners engage in a perpetual re-association process. Adult flies constantly ingest and excrete microbes from and onto their feeding substrate, which are then transmitted to the next generation developing within this shared habitat. We wanted to analyze the potential changes in the bacterial community during its reciprocal transfer between the two compartments of the niche (i.e. the fly and the diet). To address this question, we used a diverse, wild-derived microbial community and analyzed its relationship with the fly population and the nutritive substrate in a given habitat. Here we show that the community was overall well maintained upon transmission to a new niche, to a new fly population and to their progeny, illustrating the stable association of a Drosophila-derived microbiota with its fly partner and the nutritional environment. These results highlight the preponderant role of the nutritional substrate in the dynamics of Drosophila/microbiota interactions, and the need to fully integrate this variable when performing such studies.

scholarly journals Countering the New Media Podia: Youth and ‘Fake News’ in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-12
Author(s):  
Oloo Ong’ong’a
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Structures ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
The Media

The rise of fake news into the new media platform has raised significant concern in Africa and Kenya in recent years. The new media has embedded itself with fake news, which sometimes has led to the misunderstanding and misinformation of particular events that might be of the public interest. The general public, policymakers, and scholars, as well as the media, have found this as a very challenging issue. The upsurge of the new technologies, mainly social media, has posed challenges as youth immerse themselves in utilizing these social media for their own benefits. This is coupled with the creation and spreading of fake news, which sometimes when it goes viral; they lead to stress, panic and uncertainty to the individuals that come across them. The ability of users’ exceptional capacity to produce, reproduce, and distribute their information to a broad audience makes social media, an essential tool in the information age. The article critically reviews the literature on fake news and recommends for media literacy, strengthening the legal structures and use of sophisticated technologies as a strategy to fight fake news in the social media in Kenya.

scholarly journals Are New Technologies an Aid to Reputation as a Disciplinarian?

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 238-241
Author(s):  
Lorna McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Public Pressure ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Relationship

Kristina Daugirdas offers a different vantage point from most scholarship on the accountability of international organizations (IOs) by examining whether a focus on reputation can address accountability deficits. In this regard, reputational concerns could pressure international organizations to act by, for example, waiving immunity. In this essay, I explore the relationship between reputation and accountability through the prism of new technologies. Koettl, Murray, and Dubberley highlight four technological developments—“satellite imagery, camera-enabled portable phones, digital social networks and publicly accessible data”—that underpin “human rights investigations in the digital age.” This essay focuses on two of these technologies in particular: the use of new technologies to capture voice and image recordings of potential violations and the role of social media in amplifying allegations. I suggest that they can open routes to accountability in three ways. First, they expose and document claims of wrongdoing. Second, they provide corroborating evidence and thereby encourage victims to come forward. Third, they amplify claims and build public pressure and campaigns for accountability through social media. All three routes, individually or collectively, may lead to direct accountability as well as a structural analysis of how to prevent violations in the future. I then identify the factors that may elevate or reduce the levels by which an IO deems its reputation to be at risk and therefore responds, rather than deciding to “ride out” damage stemming from allegations of wrongdoing and a failure to act on them.

Role of Social Media Use in Democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Neelam Kumari ◽  
Joginder Singh Malik ◽  
Dangi Pooja Arun
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Government ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google hold the potential to alter civic engagement, thus essentially hijacking democracy, by influencing individuals towards a particular way of thinking. Today, social media plays a crucial role in facilitating and transmitting content related to all the matters that have larger effect on public opinions and democracy. Due to higher use of social media among new generations, they are exposed to politics more frequently, and in a way that is integrated into their social lives. New media hailed as vehicles for providing a voice to the voiceless. But the restrictions imposed by the government on social media sites and internet services, while allowing only that content that are government friendly amounts to compelled speech. This paper explores how social media have become a platform for fake news and propaganda to influence certain audiences towards a particular way of thinking. When it comes to healthy democratic networks, it is important that the news remains true so it doesn’t affect people levels of trust. A certain amount of trust is very crucial for healthy and well-functioning democratic systems.

scholarly journals About communication in social media – an analysis of the Polish PresidencyFacebook Profile from a perspective of social communication theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-60
Author(s):  
MARTYNA TOMICZEK
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The One

The half year of the Polish Presidency on the one hand was a great challenge but from the other hand a tremendous chance to promote the country and society. Activities were taken up in many different areas – using new technologies was an important part of the project, including new media which by the creation of the Polish Presidency FacebookProfi leturned out to be an integral part of Presidency. Using the possibility of providing a two--way communication proved that the potential of Facebook was understood. Running the fan page also showed a new face of diplomacy putting it in the area of public diplomacy.

scholarly journals New technologies, Social Media and Democracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (41) ◽  
pp. 253-274
Author(s):  
Edilene Lôbo ◽  
José Luis Bolzan de Morais
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Free Thought ◽  
The Impact

This article aims to consider the impact of new technologies in the Brazilian elections of 2018, questioning about the possibilities of its transformation with the prominent use of social networks to directly connect citizens and candidates, without the customary intervention of political parties and traditional media. It also aims to discuss the role of fake news in the electoral process and the means to fight it, so it does not denature the free thought formation as a human right essential to the practice of citizenship in the new digital age.

Social Media Archeology and Poetics

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Electronic Network ◽  
The Past ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Work Community ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
Web Social

Focusing on early social media in the arts and humanities and on the core role of creative computer scientists, artists, and scholars in shaping the pre-Web social media landscape, Social Media Archeology and Poetics documents social media lineage, beginning in the 1970s with collaborative ARPANET research, Community Memory, PLATO, Minitel, and ARTEX and continuing into the 1980s and beyond with the Electronic Café, Art Com Electronic Network, Arts Wire, The THING, and many more. With first person accounts from pioneers in the field, as well as papers by artists, scholars, and curators, Social Media Archeology and Poetics documents how these platforms were vital components of early social networking and important in the development of new media and electronic literature. It describes platforms that allowed artists and musicians to share and publish their work, community networking diversity, and the creation of footholds for the arts and humanities online. It invites comparisons of social media in the past and present, asking: What can we learn from early social media that will inspire us to envision a greater cultural presence on contemporary social media? Contributors: Madeline Gonzalez Allen, James Blustein, Hank Bull, AnnickBureaud, J. R. Carpenter, Paul E. Ceruzzi, Anna Couey, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Steve Dietz, Judith Donath, Steven Durland, Lee Felsenstein, Susanne Gerber, Ann-Barbara Graff, Dene Grigar, Stacy Horn, Antoinette LaFarge, Deena Larsen, Gary O. Larson, Alan Liu, Geert Lovink, Richard Lowenberg, Judy Malloy, Scott McPhee, Julianne Nyhan, Howard Rheingold, Randy Ross, Wolfgang Staehle, Fred Truck, Rob Wittig, David R. Woolley

scholarly journals Relationship of Social and Behavioral Characteristics to Suicidality in Community Adolescents With Self-Harm: Considering Contagion and Connection on Social Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice Seong ◽  
Gahye Noh ◽  
Kyung Hwa Lee ◽  
Jong-Sun Lee ◽  
Sojung Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

A close link has been established between self-harm and suicide risk in adolescents, and increasing attention is given to social media as possibly involved in this relationship. It is important to identify indicators of suicidality (i.e., suicide ideation or attempt) including aspects related to contagion in online and offline social networks and explore the role of social media in the relationship between social circumstances and suicidality in young adolescents with self-harm. This study explored characteristics of Korean adolescents with a recent history of self-harm and identified how behavioral and social features explain lifetime suicidality with emphasis on the impact of social media. Data came from a nationwide online survey among sixth- to ninth-graders with self-harm during the past 12 months (n = 906). We used χ2 tests of independence to explore potential concomitants of lifetime suicidality and employed a multivariate logistic regression model to examine the relationship between the explanatory variables and suicidality. Sensitivity analyses were performed with lifetime suicide attempt in place of lifetime suicidality. 33.9% (n = 306) and 71.2% (n = 642) reported to have started self-harm by the time they were fourth- and six-graders, respectively; 44.3% (n = 400) reported that they have friends who self-harm. Having endorsed moderate/severe forms and multiple forms of self-harm (OR 5.36, p < 0.001; OR 3.13, p < 0.001), having engaged in self-harm for two years or more (OR 2.42, p = 0.001), having friends who self-harm (OR 1.92, p = 0.013), and having been bullied at school were associated with an increased odds of lifetime suicidality (OR 2.08, p = 0.004). Notably, having posted content about one’s self-harm on social media during the past 12 months was associated with an increased odds of lifetime suicidality (OR 3.15, p < 0.001), whereas having seen related content in the same period was not. Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results with lifetime suicide attempt, supporting our findings from the logistic regression. The current study suggests that self-harm may be prevalent from early adolescence in South Korea with assortative gathering. The relationship of vulnerable adolescents’ social circumstances to suicide risk may be compounded by the role of social media. As the role of social media can be linked to both risk (i.e., contagion) and benefit (i.e., social connection and support), pre-existing vulnerabilities alongside SH and what online communication centers on should be a focus of clinical attention.

scholarly journals Uwagi etymologiczne w dawnych tekstach użytkowych (na przykładzie Kroniki, to jest historyi świata Marcina Bielskiego, Informacyi matematycznej Wojciecha Bystrzonowskiego i Nowych Aten Benedykta Chmielowskiego)

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-105
Author(s):  
Dorota Kozaryn ◽  
Agnieszka Szczaus
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Entire World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

The subject of the analysis in the article are the etymological explanations presented in the old non-literary texts (i.e. the texts that function primarily outside literature, serving various practical purposes), i.e. in the sixteenth-century Kronika, to jest historyja świata (Chronicle, that is the history of the entire world) by Marcin Bielski and in two eighteenth-century encyclopaedic texts: Informacyja matematyczna (Mathematical information) by Wojciech Bystrzonowski and Nowe Ateny (New Athens) by Benedykt Chmielowski. The review of the etymological comments allows us to take notice of their considerable substantive and formal diversity. These comments apply to both native and foreign vocabulary. On the one hand, they provide information on the origin of proper names (toponyms and anthroponyms), and on the other hand, a whole range of these etymological comments concern common names. A depth of etymological comments presented in non-literary texts is significantly diversified and independent of the nature of the vocabulary to which these comments apply – they can be merely tips on sources of borrowings of foreign words, but they can also constitute a deeper analysis of the meaning and structure of individual words, both native and foreign. These comments are usually implementations of folk etymology. The role of etymological considerations in former non-literary texts is significant. First of all, these texts have a ludic function, typical of popularised texts – they are supposed to surprise, intrigue and entertain readers. Secondly, they serve a cognitive function typical of non-literary texts – they are supposed to expand the readers’ knowledge about the world and language. Thirdly, they have a persuasive function, which is a distinctive feature of both popularised and non-literary texts – they are supposed to provoke the readers’ thoughts on the relationship between non-linguistic reality and the linguistic way of its interpretation, they also stimulate linguistic interests, which was particularly important in the past when the reflection on the native language was poor.

A literature review on firms' internationalisation through e-commerce

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-143
Author(s):  
Riccardo Resciniti ◽  
Federica De Vanna
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
International Business ◽  
Decision Process ◽  
Foreign Markets ◽  
New Markets ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship

The rise of e-commerce has brought considerable changes to the relationship between firms and consumers, especially within international business. Hence, understanding the use of such means for entering foreign markets has become critical for companies. However, the research on this issue is new and so it is important to evaluate what has been studied in the past. In this study, we conduct a systematic review of e-commerce and internationalisation studies to explicate how firms use e-commerce to enter new markets and to export. The studies are classified by theories and methods used in the literature. Moreover, we draw upon the internationalisation decision process (antecedents-modalities-consequences) to propose an integrative framework for understanding the role of e-commerce in internationalisation

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