The Problem of Polarization

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-128
Author(s):  
Robert B. Talisse
Keyword(s):  
Polarization Effect ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Polarization Phenomenon ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Polarization Dynamic ◽  
Belief Polarization

This chapter completes the diagnostic argument by showing how the political saturation of social space contributes to our vulnerability to belief polarization. Belief polarization is the phenomenon by which like-minded individuals transform into more extreme versions of themselves in the wake of group interactions. It is argued that as the belief polarization effect can be prompted by mere corroboration of one’s views (rather than by face-to-face group discussion), politically saturated social environments can generate within us extremity shifts simply in the course of everyday activities. The belief polarization phenomenon initiates a broader polarization dynamic that dissolves citizens’ democratic capacities.

Turkish Youth’s (Re)Construction of their Political Identity in Social Media, before “Resistanbul”

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tüge T. Gülşen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
High Sense

This chapter explores the political potential of social media widely used as a means of communication by Turkish young people and examines how they perceive social media as alternative social environments, where they can manifest their political identities. In addition, the study conducted aims at understanding whether the political situation in Turkey before the “Resistanbul” events, beginning toward the end of May 2013, created fear among young people that could cause them to hesitate to express their political thoughts or feel the need to veil their political identities. The results of the survey reveals that Turkish young people, despite having a high sense of freedom, tend to be politically disengaged in social media, and they seem to be hesitant to reveal their political identities in this alternative democratic social space, but they do not mind “others” manifesting their political identities.

Turkish Youth's (Re)Construction of their Political Identity in Social Media, before “Resistanbul”

2015 ◽  
pp. 1227-1248
Author(s):  
Tüge T. Gülşen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
High Sense

This chapter explores the political potential of social media widely used as a means of communication by Turkish young people and examines how they perceive social media as alternative social environments, where they can manifest their political identities. In addition, the study conducted aims at understanding whether the political situation in Turkey before the “Resistanbul” events, beginning toward the end of May 2013, created fear among young people that could cause them to hesitate to express their political thoughts or feel the need to veil their political identities. The results of the survey reveals that Turkish young people, despite having a high sense of freedom, tend to be politically disengaged in social media, and they seem to be hesitant to reveal their political identities in this alternative democratic social space, but they do not mind “others” manifesting their political identities.

Caring for Others: Internet Health Care Support Intervention for Family Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer's, Stroke, or Parkinson's Disease

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsa Marziali ◽  
Peter Donahue ◽  
Gillian Crossin
Keyword(s):  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Clinical Intervention ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Response Data ◽  
Participant Response

The purpose of the project was to emulate face-to-face psychosocial support group process in an Internet videoconferencing environment and explore the benefits for 34 family caregivers of persons with neurodegenerative disease. Caregivers were provided with computer equipment and trained to access a password-protected Web site. Using videoconferencing software, each group of 6 members met with a facilitator online weekly for 10 weeks. Each caregiver was interviewed at 6-month follow-up. Participant response data were generated through qualitative analysis of group process and follow-up interviews. The analysis showed that the virtual group process closely paralleled face-to-face group interactions. At follow-up, 90% of the caregivers reported that the online group experience had been “very” or “overall” positive and that the group had helped them cope with the stresses of caregiving. The professional and ethical implications of providing a clinical intervention using the Internet are discussed.

‘Story of one’s life and a tree of friends’ – understanding millennials’ information behaviour in social networks

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Read ◽  
Chirag Shah ◽  
Lupita S-O’Brien ◽  
Jaqueline Woolcott
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Space ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
Work Supports

Exploring ways in which new technology impacts adolescents’ information behaviours and creates a social space requires holistic investigation. A qualitative study of 21 seniors in an upper-middle-class suburban high school revealed highly individualized use of Facebook and its features. These included: (i) Friends groups of 50—3700 members, with even the largest groups representative primarily of face-to-face connections, and (ii) a clear articulation within those groups of various categories, each with its own distinct communicative channel and style. A meaningful connection was found between the social value of various social network (SN)-mediated relationships and the communicative modes used to maintain and enhance them. Through a comprehensive literature review and clearly grounded analysis of rich data, this work supports the contention that adolescent social groups in which SNs are embedded form a distinct domain, and establishes a rationale for further investigation of adolescents’ contextualized use of SNs within social relationships.

Group Discussion in a Blended Environment in Engineering Education

TEM Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 508-516
Author(s):  
Deepti Mishra ◽  
Gonca Gokce Menekse Dalveren ◽  
Frode S. Volden ◽  
Carly Grace Allen
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Verbal Cues ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Seating Arrangement ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Group Members

Group work is a necessary element of engineering education and group members need information about one another, group process, shared attention and mutual understanding during group discussions. There are several important elements for establishing and maintaining a group discussion such as participant’s role, seating arrangement, verbal and non-verbal cues, eye gaze, gestures etc. The present study investigates these elements for identifying the behavior of group members in a blend of traditional face-to-face discussion along with computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) setting. The results of this study have shown that, speaking duration is the key factor for identifying the leadership in a group and participants mostly used eye gazes for turn taking. Although this study is a mix of face-to-face and CSCW discussion setting, participants mostly behave like faceto- face group discussion. However, unlike the previous studies involving face-to-face discussion, the relation between seating arrangement and amount of attention is not apparent from the data during this study.

scholarly journals Time-Space Analysis of Facebook News Feeds

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Felix Lo
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Social Space ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constant Acceleration ◽  
Space Analysis ◽  
Time Compression ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Temporal Object

In the 20th century, several scholars across different disciplines have explored the relations between sociality and the associated perceptions of time and space. This paper draws on their theories to study how the Facebook News Feed feature inscribes users with a certain kind of temporality and spatiality. Building on Manual Castells' characterization of online activities as a "temporal collage" it argues that, through the interactions with News Feeds, users encounter the desequencing of the temporality of their social space. It further analyzes a News Feed page as a temporal object as defined by Bernard Stiegler, and adopts his critique of cinematic time to reveal how this feature inscribes an "always on" behavior for users even when they are offline. It concludes by discussing the political significance of this temporality and spatiality in two different senses: the constant acceleration in the pace of life and online surveillance. It draws on David Harvey's concept of space-time compression to discuss the relations between the temporality of Facebook and capitalism, and on Anthony Gidden's time-space distantiation to discuss the power relations of online surveillance.

scholarly journals E-Mail Usage in South Pacific Distance Education

2005 ◽  
pp. 1034-1039
Author(s):  
Jonathan Frank ◽  
Janet Toland ◽  
Karen D. Schenk
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Web Based Learning ◽  
Active Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
E Mail ◽  
Active Research Area

The impact of cultural diversity on group interactions through technology is an active research area. Current research has found that a student’s culture appears to influence online interactions with teachers and other students (Freedman & Liu, 1996). Students from Asian and Western cultures have different Web-based learning styles (Liang & McQueen, 1999), and Scandinavian students demonstrate a more restrained online presence compared to their more expressive American counterparts (Bannon, 1995). Differences were also found across cultures in online compared to face-to-face discussions (Warschauer, 1996). Student engagement, discourse, and interaction are valued highly in “western” universities. With growing internationalization of western campuses, increasing use of educational technology both on and off campus, and rising distance learning enrollments, intercultural frictions are bound to increase.

scholarly journals Fostering Self and Peer Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom through the Flipped Classroom Approach for Postgraduate Students

10.28945/4212 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Face To Face Learning

[This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the 2019 issue of the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, Volume 16] Aim/Purpose: The flipped classroom approach is one of the most popular active learning approaches. This paper explores the effectiveness of a new pedagogy, known as FOCUSED, for postgraduate students. Background: The flipped classroom approach is a trendy blended learning pedagogy which capitalizes on the flexibility of online learning and the stimulating nature of face-to-face discussion. This article describes a pilot study involving post-graduate students who experienced the flipped classroom approach in one of their courses. Methodology: In additional to online activities, students adopted a newly learned approach to solve a related problem that was given by another group of students during classes. Quantitative data were collected from pre- and post-tests for both self-learned online materials and group discussion during classes so that the effectiveness of the flipped classroom pedagogy could be examined from the perspective of a holistic learning experience. Findings: It was found that the average scores for the post-test for the self-learned online video were much higher than for pre-test, even though the post-tests for both online and face-to-face learning were higher than the respective pre-tests. The qualitative data collected at the end of the flipped classroom activities further confirmed the value of the flipped classroom approach. Even though students could self-learn, more students valued peer interactions in the classroom more than the flexibility of online learning.

scholarly journals E-Mail Usage in South Pacific Distance Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 2325-2332
Author(s):  
Jonathan Frank ◽  
Janet Toland ◽  
Karen D. Schenk
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Web Based Learning ◽  
Active Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
E Mail ◽  
Active Research Area

The impact of cultural diversity on group interactions through technology is an active research area. Current research has found that a student’s culture appears to influence online interactions with teachers and other students (Freedman & Liu, 1996). Students from Asian and Western cultures have different Web-based learning styles (Liang & McQueen, 1999), and Scandinavian students demonstrate a more restrained online presence compared to their more expressive American counterparts (Bannon, 1995). Differences were also found across cultures in online compared to face-to-face discussions (Warschauer, 1996). Student engagement, discourse, and interaction are valued highly in “western” universities. With growing internationalization of western campuses, increasing use of educational technology both on and off campus, and rising distance learning enrollments, intercultural frictions are bound to increase.

scholarly journals Deconstructing Social Unrest as a Response to Redefine Strained Relationships between Students and University Authorities

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Dr Bunmi I Omodan
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Student Leaders ◽  
University Management ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Security Personnel ◽  
The Social ◽  
Goals And Objectives ◽  
Student Unrest

University system in Nigeria has been characterised by persistent social unrest majorly traceable to strained relationships between students and university authorities. Observations, experiences and literature confirmed that student unrest in the universities had become a compulsory devil affecting the speedy actualisation of university goals and objectives. The need to dismantle the social space for relative peace and tranquillity thereof become expedient. The study aims to redefine students-university authority relationships as a tool to deconstruct social unrest in Nigeria universities. Human Relations Theory of Management (HRTM) was used to theorise the study. Transformative paradigm as a stance to emancipate the existing unrest situation was used to lens the study. Participatory Action Research (PAR) was adopted as a research design for the study. The sample size for this study consists of 10 participants, namely, three students' leaders; one past student leaders, three university management members, two lecturers and two security personnel selected using expert sampling techniques. The Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was used to collect data from the participants, and the data collected were analysed using Socio-thematic Analysis. The study revealed that inadequate funding was a significant challenge resulting in student unrest. In contrast, the provision of Students' Personnel Services coupled with modern maintenance culture, transparency and accountability were found to be the dimension of peaceful university operation devoid of social unrest and therefore becomes a tool to deconstruct the strained relationship between students and university authorities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document