Fostering an Ecology of Openness: The Role of Social Media in Public Engagement at the Open University, UK

In this study, we explore how a social movement organization ( Sunrise.org ) and its autonomous public community advocated for the Green New Deal on social media. An autonomous public community is a group of publics that initially connect with each other through their engagement with a focal organization. Then, they go on to develop ties among themselves that go beyond simply responding to organizations’ messages. Autonomous public communities are ubiquitous on social media. Our research identifies unique patterns of interactions in an autonomous public community and finds that the Tertius Iungens orientation brings the network together. We also find that while the focal organization is not centralized in an autonomous public community, it still significantly affects tie formation and discourse as the networks evolve. Our study reveals a nuanced understanding of networked organization–public engagement where network structure and discourse are co-created by the organizations and the communities that they engage.

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Public communication and the role of social media in enhancing democratic innovation: the case of the City of Bologna

SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE ◽

10.3280/sc2021-061008 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 109-126

Author(s):

Giulia Allegrini ◽

Stefano Spillare

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Public Administration ◽

Public Engagement ◽

Public Communication ◽

The Public ◽

Substantial Form ◽

Communication Practices ◽

The City

Social media represents for public administration an important area to experi-ment forms of democratic innovation, however this potentiality is often unex-plored. This article, with a focus on the case of the city of Bologna aims to explore 1) whether and how public communication practices enhanced in local participa-tory processes can support a substantial form of participation; 2) which roles so-cial media specifically play in enhancing a participatory environment; 3) which kind of dynamics of interaction emerge between public administration and citizens and the challenges which need to be addressed by a public communication orient-ed to the public engagement.

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The Application of Social Movement as a Form of Digital Advocacy: Case of #TolakRUUPermusikan

Journal of Government and Civil Society ◽

10.31000/jgcs.v5i1.2991 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Muhammad Ananda Alifiarry ◽

Bevaola Kusumasari

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Social Movement ◽

Public Engagement ◽

Policy Making ◽

Comprehensive Understanding ◽

The Public ◽

Media Usage ◽

Policy Failure ◽

Draft Bill

Most of the research on social movement and digital advocacy through hashtags is concentrated on the identifications of social media usage. There is limited research concerning the comprehensive understanding and analysis on how it can develop and interact with social networks. This research aims to further identify the process of the successful social movement that has been mobilized by Indonesian’s musicians and public by using a hashtag as a form of advocacy in thwarting the Music Draft Bill and in understanding the role of the actors and public engagement behind this social movement. We have analyzed #TolakRUUPermusikan as a social movement that formed into digital advocacy by referring to the literature review that was conducted by the previous studies. This research will map out the actors and public engagement behind the movement. In each criterion, the result has been aligned with the conceptual framework in application of #TolakRUUPermusikan as a social movement, the use of online petition as a digital advocacy tool, and the network structure of #TolakRUUPermusikan to find the actors and understanding the engagements of the public. The implication of this study is to show the success of a social movement to assess policy making and policy failure. Sebagian besar penelitian tentang gerakan sosial dan advokasi digital melalui tagar terkonsentrasi pada identifikasi penggunaan media sosial. Penelitian kecil mempertimbangkan pemahaman dan analisis yang komprehensif tentang bagaimana hal itu dapat berkembang dan berinteraksi dengan jaringan sosial. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk lebih mengidentifikasi proses keberhasilan Gerakan sosial yang telah dimobilisasi oleh musisi dan masyarakat Indonesia, dengan menggunakan tagar sebagai bentuk advokasi dalam menggagalkan RUU Permusikan dan memahami peran para actor dan keterlibatan publik di balik gerakan sosial ini. Kami telah menganalisis #TolakRUUPermusikan sebagai gerakan sosial yang terbentuk menjadi advokasi digital dengan mengacu pada tinjauan literatur yang telah dilakukan oleh penelitian sebelumnya. Penelitian ini akan memetakan aktor dan keterlibatan publik di balik gerakan tersebut. Pada setiap kriteria, hasilnya telah diselaraskan dengan kerangka konseptual dalam penerapan #TolakRUUPermusikan sebagai gerakan sosial, penggunaan petisi online sebagai alat advokasi digital, serta struktur jaringan #TolakRUUPermusikan untuk menemukan para pelaku dan memahami keterlibatan para pelaku. masyarakat. Implikasi dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menunjukkan keberhasilan suatu gerakan sosial dalam menilai pembuatan kebijakan dan kegagalan kebijakan.

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Blogging Identities on Israel/Palestine: Public Intellectuals and Their Audiences

Political Science and Politics ◽

10.1017/s1049096513001571 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 47 (01) ◽

pp. 177-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mira Sucharov ◽

Brent E. Sasley

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Public Engagement ◽

Interactive Media ◽

Public Intellectuals ◽

Academic Involvement ◽

The Social ◽

Political Literacy ◽

Popular Writing

AbstractDrawing on our research and blogging on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we make three claims about the role of scholar-bloggers in the social media age. First, as scholar-bloggers with some degree of ethno-national attachments related to our area of expertise, we contend that we are well positioned to issue the kinds of critiques that may resonate more deeply due to the very subjectivity that some perceive as a liability. Second, through the melding of scholarly arguments with popular writing forms, scholar-bloggers are uniquely poised to be at the forefront of public engagement and political literacy both with social media publics and with students. Third, the subjectivity hazard is an intrinsic part of any type of research and writing, whether that writing is aimed at a scholarly audience or any other, and should not be used as an argument against academic involvement in social media. Ultimately, subjectivities of both consumers and producers can evolve through these highly interactive media, a dynamic that deserves further examination.

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Una piccola provocazione. La pandemia e i modelli della Nouvelle Muséologie

10.30687/978-88-6969-542-1/006 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antonietta Biondi

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Case Studies ◽

Public Engagement ◽

Social Role ◽

Local Communities ◽

Key Issues

The Coronavirus pandemic has also affected museum organisations and has inevitably brought back some of the strategies proposed by the museography of the 1970s. Methods of access, the ethical value of the museum and its social role involving local communities, have been key issues in the theoretical reflections known as Nouvelle Muséologie. The paper aims at presenting and discussing a number of case studies enhancing storytelling and the role of social media in public engagement during COVID-19 emergency in national and local museums in Canada and Italy.

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The construction of rare disease discourse on YouTube: highlighting a disparity between policy rhetoric and patient practices around public engagement

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17324.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 361

Author(s):

Matthew Hanchard

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Rare Disease ◽

Rare Diseases ◽

Public Engagement ◽

Knowledge Exchange ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Media Interaction ◽

Different Levels ◽

Forms Of Knowledge

Background: Policy rhetoric around the 6,000-8,000 rare diseases affecting 300 million people worldwide often focuses on public engagement. Meanwhile, medical authorities tend either to treat patients with rare diseases as pre-categorised data sources, proffer to them notions of technological self-care as empowerment, or recruit them as advocacy allies. Conversely, people living with rare diseases often mobilise and engage with one another in self-organised communities via social media to share discussion, information, and resources. How rare disease discourse forms on specific social media platforms, the role of different actors (including medical authorities and algorithms), and its relation to public engagement policy are poorly understood. Methods: This paper examines data on YouTube video watching/sharing (gathered from YouTube’s API via DMI’s ‘Data Tools for YouTube’) through social network analysis (read through a controversy analysis lens). Results: The paper identifies eight patterns – each revolving around different levels of: focus on rare disease content; engagement between content and viewers, i.e. through likes, dislikes, and surrounding particular videos; permeability of videos between categories; and repetition in viewers watching the same video. Across six of the patterns, the paper finds a rare disease issue-network forming, where discourse is constructed through three distinct communication strategies, each garnering a different form of engagement. Conclusions: Overall, the paper highlights a disconnect between how rare disease discourse is enacted on YouTube and policy promises of public engagement, with potential spaces for dialogue often closed off by medical authorities. To close, the paper provides recommendations for how policymakers might engage with and facilitate more inclusive forms of social media interaction between specific rare disease related communities and clinicians to develop more meaningful forms of knowledge exchange.

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