Commentary: the internet, social media, relationships and sex

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Thompson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use Bates’ paper as a springboard to consider the potential impact of the internet on the personal and intimate lives of people with learning disabilities including opportunities to gain support. Design/methodology/approach Key literature is reviewed alongside the author’s experiences in working with people with learning disabilities on sexual issues. Findings The literature prioritises internet safety for people with learning disabilities. There is limited attention to how people can be supported to use social media to enhance their social and/or sexual lives. Originality/value The commentary challenges the reader to consider how the internet and social media can be used to help people with learning disabilities develop and maintain relationships including sexual relationships.

2016 ◽  
Vol 117 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 289-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Massis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the Internet of Things (IOT) and its potential impact on libraries. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a literature review and a commentary on this topic that have been addressed by professionals, researchers and practitioners. Findings – In communicating the issues when comprehending the scope of the IOT, libraries need not succumb to the sometimes near-hysteria that surrounds the rhetoric regarding security and privacy. But, librarians must actively engage in the conversation and its subsequent actions to respond to patrons who use library networks and devices with calm, logical and transparent answers to those questions concerning what they are doing to ensure that security and privacy vulnerabilities are regularly addressed. Originality/value – The value in concentrating on this topic is to provide background and suggest several approaches to security and privacy concerns regarding the IOT.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Bates ◽  
Louise Terry ◽  
Keith Popple

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand some of the barriers people with learning disabilities experience with regards to relationships and consider the possible changes professionals could make to address these. Design/methodology/approach The current paper will draw on case studies extracted from Bates et al. (2016), using them to illustrate a number of themes/issues that relate to the support that people with learning disabilities received and needed from staff to develop and maintain relationships. Findings People with learning disabilities continue to experience barriers with regards to relationships. Their rights and choices are not always respected and a climate of risk aversion persists in areas such as sexual relationships. The research highlighted the balancing act staff must engage in to ensure that they remain supportive without being controlling or overprotective of individuals in relationships. Research limitations/implications Professional/support provider views were not included but these could have lent an additional perspective to the issues discussed. Practical implications An increased understanding of human rights entitlements should be encouraged among people with learning disabilities so they know when their freedom is being unlawfully restricted. Sexuality and relationship training would be beneficial for support staff. This could cover a wider range of areas such as contraception and supporting individuals who have experienced sexual/domestic abuse in starting new relationships. Originality/value This paper explores the barriers to relationships from the perspective of people with learning disabilities and offers practical solutions to address them.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidhi Chaudhri ◽  
Tessa Oomen ◽  
Jason Pridmore ◽  
Alexandra Joon

PurposeGuided by the growing importance of social-mediated organisational communication, this study examines how communication professionals within healthcare organisations perceive and respond to the reputation impacts of social media on the organisation’s reputation. Although the healthcare sector finds itself in the midst of a (continually) transforming landscape characterised by large amounts of digital health (mis)information and an empowered “patient-as-consumer”, little is known about how professionals in this sector understand the changes and respond to them. Moreover, much extant scholarship on the topic is published in specialised health or medical journals and does not explicitly address the communication implications for healthcare organisations.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with communication professionals responsible for social media across eight hospitals in the Netherlands. The sample included two participants working as communication consultants/social media advisors for healthcare organisations. In all, 15 interviews were conducted.FindingsBuilding on interviewee perspectives, the authors advance the CARE (Control, Access(ability), Responsive(ness) and Engagement) model of social-mediated communication, highlighting the dualistic characteristics of each dimension. This model is built upon a careful analysis of healthcare professional responses. In an always-on environment, understanding and managing the tensions within the authors’ model may be decisive to the reputation implications of social media use.Originality/valueUnderstanding the tensions within each dimension lends a more nuanced perspective on the potential impact(s) of social media as experienced by professionals in the field. In shifting away from a binary, either/or approach, the paper contributes to explicating the complexities of a pervasive phenomenon (i.e. social-mediated communication) and its multifaceted impacts on the healthcare sector.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – Business success today depends to a considerable extent on creating positive relationships with customers and the wider public. Consumers are more informed and knowledgeable than ever before. Long gone are the days where they meekly accepted the passive role in their associations with firms. Belief in organizational omniscience has consequently become something of a rarity too. The Internet bears much responsibility for this shift in the balance of power. And the advent of social media (SM) and other Web 2.0 technologies has served to accelerate the trend further. To certain organizations, such developments will be seen as a challenge to their traditional dominance. But prudent operators invariably think more in terms of opportunity rather than threat when change occurs. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Katie Elson Anderson

Purpose This paper aims to review the literature on assistive technologies used in libraries and in schools, as portrayed on blogs, wikis and the internet, in the past year to highlight new trends. Design/methodology/approach Reports from blogs, internet sources and databases in the past year on the topic were read dealing with practical examples of assistive technologies in libraries and the education sector. Findings Assistive technologies are used to aid persons with disabilities, to make them more productive. The technologies can be low- or high-tech, depending on use and information available on new improvements and augmentative technologies being used. Originality/value This paper presents an overview of the past year and the current trends in the use of assistive technologies in libraries and schools worldwide.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 35-38

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – The arrival of Web 2.0 represents one of the more striking technological developments of the new century. Social media has taken the Internet to new heights by enabling users to exploit different platforms to generate and share content. Business organizations have wisely become attuned to this trend. An increasing number are thus exploiting the scope of social media platforms as a means to target customers effectively. The ability of such media to transform the way information is exchanged furthers their appeal. Consumers are now able to actively engage with one another and also communicate more productively with firms. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs ◽  
Daniel Trottier

Purpose This paper aims to present results of a study that focused on the question of how computer and data experts think about Internet and social media surveillance after Edward Snowden’s revelations about the existence of mass-surveillance systems of the Internet such as Prism, XKeyscore and Tempora. Computer and data experts’ views are of particular relevance because they are confronted day by day with questions about the processing of personal data, privacy and data protection. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted two focus groups with a total of ten experts based in London. As London is considered by some as the surveillance capital of the world, and has a thriving Internet industry, it provided a well-suited context. Findings The focus group discussions featured three topics that are of crucial importance for understanding Internet and social media surveillance: the political economy surveillance in general; surveillance in the context of the Snowden revelations; and the question what the best political reactions are to the existence of a surveillance-industrial complex that results in political and economic control of the Internet and social media. The focus groups provided indications that computer and data experts are pre-eminently informed on how Internet surveillance works, are capable of critically assessing its implications for society and have ideas about on what should be done politically. Originality/value Studies of privacy and surveillance after Edward Snowden’s revelations have taken on a new dimension: Large-scale covert surveillance is conducted in a collaborative endeavour of secret services, private communications corporations and security companies. It has become evident that a surveillance-industrial Internet surveillance complex exists, in which capitalist communications and security corporations and state institutions collaborate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Spear

Purpose This paper aims to analyze some of the epistemically pernicious effects of the use of the internet and social media. In light of this analysis, it introduces the concept of epistemic pornography and argues that epistemic agents both can and should avoid consuming and sharing epistemic pornography. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on research on epistemic virtue, cognitive biases, social media use and its epistemic consequences, fake news, paternalistic nudging, pornography, moral philosophy, moral elevation and moral exemplar theory to analyze the epistemically pernicious effects of the internet and social media. Findings There is a growing consensus that the internet and social media activate and enable human cognitive biases leading to what are here called “failures of epistemic virtue.” Common formulations of this problem involve the concept of “fake news,” and strategies for responding to the problem often have much in common with paternalistic “nudging.” While fake news is a problem and the nudging approach holds out promise, the paper concludes that both place insufficient emphasis on the agency and responsibility of users on the internet and social media, and that nudging represents a necessary but not sufficient response. Originality/value The essay offers the concept of epistemic pornography as a concept distinct from but related to “fake news” – distinct precisely because it places greater emphasis on personal agency and responsibility, and following recent literature on moral elevation and moral exemplars, as a heuristic that agents might use to economize their efforts at resisting irrational cognitive biases and attempting to live up to their epistemic duties.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nory Jones ◽  
Richard Borgman ◽  
Ebru Ulusoy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and economic impact that the internet, specifically websites and social media, have on small businesses. It aims to investigate the benefits available from the use of the internet and social media sites for small businesses that operate in underserved regions. Design/methodology/approach – The research utilizes a case study methodology based on two surveys and semi-structured interviews with the owners or managers of five small companies in the western mountain region of Maine, a region described as underserved by the state departments of tourism and economic development – generally economically depressed, where the businesses are often struggling to survive. Findings – Benefits from the use of websites and social media sites include an increase in awareness and inquiries, enhanced relationships with customers, an increase in the number of new customers, enhanced ability to reach customers on a global scale, and co-promotion of local businesses that enhance the image of small businesses in the region. Research limitations/implications – The small number of firms from a specific region in the USA limits generalizations from this study’s findings. However, the findings offer preliminary insights for future studies on the use of the internet and social media sites for small businesses. Practical implications – The research provides evidence of potential advantages of utilizing web pages and social media sites for small businesses in underserved locations. The findings show that a web presence integrated with meaningful and sustained social media promotion can have a positive impact on business success in terms of increased traffic, awareness and revenues. This study has the potential to shed light on how internet technologies and social media can help struggling small businesses to communicate cost effectively with customers on a global scale, opening new opportunities for sales and growth. Social implications – By exploring the value of social media to small businesses, the authors hope to contribute to enhancement of the quality of life in small business and society as a whole. Originality/value – This paper is among the few reports on how small businesses learn about, utilize, and benefit from the web pages and social media sites.


Author(s):  
Habibolah Khazaie ◽  
Javad Yoosefi Lebni ◽  
Jaffar Abbas ◽  
Behzad Mahaki ◽  
Fakhreddin Chaboksavar ◽  
...  

Background In recent years, Internet and social media technology use have emerged as an integral tool of human society, and the evolution of technological integration, cyberspace, and web-technology has become a common practice in educational institutions. Internet usage among students has played an indispensable role in learning behavior; however, the excessive usage of the internet and social media leads to internet addiction. This original study has performed a focalized scrutiny on revealing relationships between internet addiction and associated factors among the students of medicine, dentistry, and pharmaceutical departments. Methods This descriptive and analytical study recruited medical students from the Self-governing Education Incubator of Kermanshah. This survey distributed questionnaires among the respondents’ three departments, and this statistical data reported on 420 valid responses of the respondents. They represent first and second-semester medical students of the academic year 2017–2018. The study selected medical students by applying Cochran's Sample Size Formula through Stratified Random Sampling and cross-sectional research design. The survey has utilized a demographic questionnaire of Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) for the data collection. The study analyzed received data by using SPSS version 23 and performed the descriptive statistics, and analytical statistics (t-test and ANOVA). Results The results of the present study established that the majority of subjects were female students (53.3%), and the average age was 23.84 ± 2.14, including the students of all departments. Besides, findings specified that the overall mean and standard deviation scores were 3.34 and ±0.88. Internet addiction revealed mean and the standard deviation score measured for all students 3.29 ± 0.73, 3.17 ± 0.92, and 3.57 ± 0.64 correspondingly. The survey results illustrated that medical students’ internet addiction substantially correlated with demographic variables, such as age, marital status, the field of study, academic term, significant time of consuming the internet, the key reason of utilizing the internet, and daily usage of the internet ( p < .05). Conclusion The results of the study specified that 25% of medical students showed internet addiction. The students are increasingly using the internet, and it has penetrated among students. The design and implementation of adequate educational programs and the application of internet-based efficiency interventions are essential for both knowledge acquisition and medical students’ healthy behavior.


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