Social media and the demotic turn in Africa's media ecology

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farooq A. Kperogi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Ecology

scholarly journals Medieøkologien i SKAM

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Ruth Grüters ◽  
Knut Ove Eliassen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
The Media ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Practices

AbstractTo understand the success of SKAM, the series’ innovative use of “social media” must be taken into consideration. The article follows two lines of argument, one diachronic, the other synchronic. The concept of remediation allows for a historical perspective that places the series in a longer tradition of “real time”-fictions and media practices that span from the epistolary novels of the 18th century by way of radio theatre and television serials to the new media of the 21st century. Framing the series within the current media ecology (marked by the connectivity logic of “social media”), the authors analyze how the choice of the blog as the drama’s media platform has formed the ways the series succeeded in affecting and mobilizing its audience. Given the long tradition of strong pedagogical premises in the teenager serials of publicly financed Norwegian television, the authors note the absence of any explicit media critical perspectives or didacticism. Nevertheless, the claim is that the media-practices of the series, as well as the actions and discourses of its followers (blogposts, facebook-groups, etc.), generate new insights and knowledge with regards to the series’ form, content, and practices.

scholarly journals Of lizards and ideological entrepreneurs: Alex Jones and Infowars in the relationship between populist nationalism and the post-global media ecology

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-59
Author(s):  
H Van den Bulck ◽  
A Hyzen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Global Media ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Political Alliances ◽  
The Relationship

This contribution analyses the nexus between contemporary US populist nationalism and the post-global media ecology through the case of US radio show host and ‘most paranoid man in America’ Alex Jones and his Infowars. It evaluates the role of Alt Right alternative/activist media and global digital platforms in the success of Jones as ideological entrepreneur. To this end, it looks at Jones’ and Infowars' message (mostly Falls Flag conspiracy theories and pseudo-science-meets-popular-culture fantasy), persona as celebrity populist spectacle, business model, political alliances with Alt Right and Trump, audience as diverse mix of believers and ironic spectators and, most of all, media. In particular, we analyse the mix of legacy and social media and their respective role in his rise and alleged downfall. We evaluate Jones’ efforts as effective ideological entrepreneur, pushing his counter-hegemonic ideology from the fringes to the mainstream.

Greta Thunberg’s iconicity: Performance and co-performance in the social media ecology

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482097541
Author(s):  
Thomas Olesen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Limited Experience ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Greta Thunberg’s meteoric rise from lonely school striker in August 2018 to global icon is one of the most remarkable political phenomena in recent decades, and one full of paradoxes. Thunberg started out with no resources, a child of 15 with limited experience and a history of Asperger’s. Thunberg’s iconic performance seems to have been able to turn these weaknesses into strengths. To understand how this happened, we must situate her analysis within the social media ecology. Two things distinguish this environment from previous phases: iconic protagonists now have wide degrees of control over their own performance, and audiences are no longer mere receptors of iconic performance, but active co-performers. Greta Thunberg is one of the first major political icons to have been fully formed within the new social media ecology. This article provides the first systematic analysis of this dynamic.

scholarly journals Regulating terrorist content on social media: automation and the rule of law

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Macdonald ◽  
Sara Giro Correia ◽  
Amy-Louise Watkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Human Conduct ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Displacement Effects

AbstractSocial-media companies make extensive use of artificial intelligence in their efforts to remove and block terrorist content from their platforms. This paper begins by arguing that, since such efforts amount to an attempt to channel human conduct, they should be regarded as a form of regulation that is subject to rule-of-law principles. The paper then discusses three sets of rule-of-law issues. The first set concerns enforceability. Here, the paper highlights the displacement effects that have resulted from the automated removal and blocking of terrorist content and argues that regard must be had to the whole social-media ecology, as well as to jihadist groups other than the so-called Islamic State and other forms of violent extremism. Since rulebylaw is only a necessary, and not a sufficient, condition for compliance with rule-of-law values, the paper then goes on to examine two further sets of issues: the clarity with which social-media companies define terrorist content and the adequacy of the processes by which a user may appeal against an account suspension or the blocking or removal of content. The paper concludes by identifying a range of research questions that emerge from the discussion and that together form a promising and timely research agenda to which legal scholarship has much to contribute.

scholarly journals The Mediatisation of MFAS: Diplomacy in the New Media Ecology

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 66-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilan Manor ◽  
Rhys Crilley
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
New Media ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
The Press ◽  
Online Audiences

Summary The proliferation of social media has had a profound impact on the practice of diplomacy; diplomats can bypass the press and communicate their messages directly to online audiences. Subsequently, ministries of foreign affairs (MFAS) are now mediatised; they produce media content, circulate content through social media and adopt media logics in their daily operations. Through a case study of the Israeli MFA during the 2014 Gaza War, this article explores the mediatisation of MFAS. It does so by analysing how the Israeli MFA crafted frames through which online audiences could understand the war and demonstrates that these frames evolved as the conflict unfolded. It then draws attention to the important way in which MFAS are now media actors through a statistical analysis, which demonstrates that the use of images in tweets increased engagement with the Israeli MFA’s frames. Finally, the article illustrates how these frames were used to legitimize Israel’s actions, and delegitimise those of Hamas.

Fandomization of online video or television in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 995-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony YH Fung
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Online Video ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Television Production ◽  
Production Company ◽  
Television Market

In this article, I explain a new media ecology for online television in which the online audience or fans and their participation play a stronger role in swaying the online video content or production. I call it fandomization of online television. Dependent on the number of online users and the viewership, online television platforms have to produce programs that align with the fans’ discourse and emotions to maximize their viewership. This results in a fan-discourse-led production, as in the case of China’s huge online video or television market. Based on my study of the top online television production company, Tencent Video, and its top television program, as well as ethnographic observations of their productions, I illustrate how Tencent Video manages fans by establishing a fan-based platform that works in tandem with its television platform. The dual television and fan-based platform of the television industry forms an interlocking web of the network of fans, their idols, and social media, with the consequences that social and political public discourse are highly synchronized in China’s extremely controlled Internet.

scholarly journals Contextualizing Social Media Ecology and Its Pedagogical Affordances: The Perspective of High School Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. pp471-489
Author(s):  
Wilson O. Otchie ◽  
Margus Pedaste ◽  
Emanuele Bardone ◽  
Irene-Angelica Chounta
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Technology In The Classroom ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Latent Content

The potential of social media technology has made its use a daily habit among individuals, institutions, and communities. However, several studies on technology adoption, especially social media use in education, focus more on its impact on the student than the teacher, who is generally perceived as a key stakeholder. This study used purposive sampling to select teachers who taught grades 7–10 and had used social media in their teaching activities. In-depth interviews were carried out with participating teachers to get their opinions and perspectives about how they used social media in their teaching activities (N=11). Inductive and deductive coding were used for the latent content analysis and four categories emerged: (1) SM technology in the classroom, (2) positive perceived contextual affordances, (3) negative perceived contextual affordances, and (4) support for social media. Results of the study show that, besides the schools’ learning management systems, YouTube was the major SM app that was regularly used by participants in their lessons. Also, all participating teachers expressed their interest in teaching with social media. However, they cited some challenges as weaknesses towards social media use in teaching.

scholarly journals A Turning IR Landscape in a Shifting Media Ecology: The State of IR Literature on New Media1

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan T Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Structural Aspects

AbstractEach year the prevalence of digitized information becomes more entrenched, not least with the amount of activity on social media. Yet, new media studies pose a number of challenges to international relations scholarship, which are only beginning to be addressed. With some exceptions IR scholars who conduct this research tend to rely on traditional qualitative methods and have been hesitant to embrace interdisciplinary collaboration—especially with those disciplines outside of the social sciences—as well as methodological pluralism across interpretive and quantitative approaches within the social sciences. This tendency shows a general lack of understanding of what new/social media might mean, not only as a source of and tool for generating information but also as a structural factor in how we conduct IR research and practice international relations. In this way, social media can provoke IR scholars to ask questions about their own discipline. This article aims to address these challenges and to provide suggestions on how to bring structural aspects of new media into IR research. In particular, it incorporates ideas centered on the shifting media ecology as fundamental to examining these structural challenges in terms of practicing international relations and in the visual turn in IR.

Brand yourself, design your future: Portfolio-building in the social media age

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1891-1909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Scolere
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Graphic Design ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
The Self ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Depth Interviews

While the portfolio-building narrative has long been established as central to work in the creative industries, the evolving form of the creative portfolio as a key component of the self-brand and the implications on creative work in the age of social media have been comparatively underexplored. This empirical project draws on a year-long qualitative study composed of in-depth interviews of 56 graphic design professionals about their use of social media platforms that cater to creative professionals. This study identifies the social media logics of the design portfolio as multi-platformed, connected, and temporally dynamic, suggesting a new pace, constancy, and subjectivity of what it means for cultural producers to build, maintain, and distribute their portfolio of projects to sustain their creative careers. As the portfolio becomes digitally distributed across a social media ecology, the labor of portfolio production for creative aspirants becomes never-ending and requires an intensified performative of “always designing.”

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