Making Community Beliefs and Capacities Visible Through Care-mongering During COVID-19

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (GROUP) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Tiffany Knearem ◽  
Jeongwon Jo ◽  
Chun-Hua Tsai ◽  
John M. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Present Design

The COVID-19 global pandemic brought forth wide-ranging, unanticipated changes in human interaction, as communities rushed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In response, local geographic community members created grassroots care-mongering groups on social media to facilitate acts of kindness, otherwise known as care-mongering. In this paper, we are interested in understanding the types of care-mongering that take place and how such care-mongering might contribute to community collective efficacy (CCE) and community resilience during a long-haul global pandemic. We conducted a content analysis of a care-mongering group on Facebook to understand how local community members innovated and developed care-mongering practices online. We observed three facets of care-mongering: showing appreciation for helpers, coming up with ways of supporting one another's needs, and continuing social interactions online and present design recommendations for further augmenting care-mongering practices for local disaster relief in online groups.

Engaging a community through social media-based topics and interactions

First Monday ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Kavanaugh ◽  
Ziqian Song
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Social Graphs ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Small Clusters ◽  
Over Time

Social media collected over time using keywords, hashtags and accounts associated with a particular geographic community might reflect that community’s main events, topics of discussion, and social interactions. We are interested in evidence for the support of community involvement that the aggregated Web pages and social media might help to create. We collected and analyzed Twitter data related to a geographic area over a two-year period to identify and characterize relevant topics and social interactions, and to evaluate the support for community involvement that such Twitter use might indicate. This kind of data collection has built-in biases, of course, just as local print media or online newsgroups do. We analyzed our data using the open source tool NodeXL to identify topics and their changes over time, and to create social graphs based on retweets and @ mentions that suggest interactions around topics. Our findings show: 1) distinct topics; 2) large and small clusters of social interactions around a variety of topics; 3) patterns suggesting what are called ‘community clusters’ and ‘tight crowd’ types of conversations; and, 4) evidence that Twitter supports local community involvement among users. Modeling topics over time and displaying visualizations of social interactions around different topics in a community can offer insights into the important events and issues during a given period. Such visualizations also reveal hidden (or obscure) topics due to a smaller number of participants — whether government representatives, voluntary associations, or citizens. There is clear evidence that Twitter supports social interaction and informal discussion or exchange around local topics among users, thereby facilitating community involvement.

Automatic from the people: Uber’s iconic interface and the automation of sociality

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-273
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Cox
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Patent Application ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Push Button ◽  
Critical Locus ◽  
Mobile Interface ◽  
The People ◽  
Iconic Imagery

This article undertakes a content analysis of the Uber mobile interface as depicted in a patent application for a process that integrates and automates social media information to match potential UberPool riders. As depicted in the patent application, the Uber interface is a critical locus for incorporating social media information and rendering this information usable and palpable for users. By aligning the Uber interface with the communicative and symbolic richness of iconic imagery, I argue for the Uber interface as a juncture for critical abstractions between the manifestation of social interactions appearing to users on the Uber interface and Uber’s techno-economic motivations to shape, configure and guide user enactment of sociality. By designing for simplicity, the Uber interface abstracts between the push-button ease of undertaking sociality and the need to reflect on circumstances giving rise to these prescribed forms of sociality. Through this viewpoint, I specify abstractions between simplified forms of sociality presented to users and Uber techno-economic motivations configuring interfacial sociality, implicating algorithmic objectivity, connective friending and programmed sociality as unseen forces configuring and prescribing social interactions for user engagement.

scholarly journals Médias d’actualité, journalistes et publics sur Twitter : vers un renouvellement des relations ? Résumé de la thèse de doctorat

1970 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Van Hove
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Content

This thesis focuses on the question of the renewal of relations between media actors and audiences in the context of the digital transformation of journalism and the advent of social media. It is based on a qualitative and a quantitative content analysis of tweets related to twelve francophone news threads in 2011 and 2016. The results mainly show a gap between uniform and unidirectional uses of Twitter by media actors and the diversified, personal and interactive uses of news on Twitter by audiences. Findings suggest the persistence of long-standing trends in the relations between media actors and audiences – which remain asymmetrical (and tend to become stronger in this sense) despite the possibilities of social interactions offered by the microblogging tool Twitter – and a “resistance” by media actors, especially journalists, to change institutionalized journalistic practices.

The Changing Nature of Socialization among Arab Youth

2018 ◽  
pp. 33-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilhem Allagui
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Online Interactions ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Personal Stories

This article examines online relationship activities among Arab youth, paying particular attention to micro-practices of engagement and the ways on which socio-cultural contexts shape social interactions online. Youth resort to a range of strategies to develop friendship and interact with evolving technologies. In negotiating and managing their relationships, they take into account not only their identities, cultures, and values but also the images they want to project to the users and online groups they interact with. Drawing on narrative analysis and personal stories of informants, this chapter discusses the dynamic relationship between online and offline interactions in relation to socialization. It explores how everyday practices inform the reconfiguration of the culture of connectivity in social media times. The chapter points to the multimodality of social lives and suggests that offline and online interactions are deeply intertwined.

Brands, community and style – exploring linking value in fashion blogging

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christofer Pihl
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Study Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Empirical Context ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – By using the concept of style, the purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the notion of brand community. More specifically, it seeks to explore how style can function as a linking value in forms of communities centred on brands that emerge within the empirical context of fashion and social media. Design/methodology/approach – A netnography of the content produced by 18 fashion bloggers in Sweden was conducted. Content analysis of this material was used to map how consumption objects, in terms of fashion brands, were integrated in activities taking place on blogs, and through these processes, acted as a linking value for community members. Findings – This paper demonstrates how fashion bloggers, together with their readers, constitute a form of community centred on style. It also shows how fashion bloggers, by combining and assembling fashion brands and products, articulate and express different style sets, and how they, together with their followers, engage in activities connected to these style ideals. Research limitations/implications – As this study has been empirically limited to a Swedish setting, future research would benefit from findings of international expressions of communities of style. Practical implications – Based on this study, strategies for managing communities of style is suggested to represent a potential source of competitive advantage for fashion firms. Originality/value – In the context of the conceptual discussion about what brings members of communities together, this study provides evidence of how style can function as a linking value in the setting of consumer communities that emerge within the boundaries of fashion and social media.

scholarly journals #Caremongering: A community-led social movement to address health and social needs during COVID-19

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245483
Author(s):  
Hsien Seow ◽  
Kayla McMillan ◽  
Margaret Civak ◽  
Daryl Bainbridge ◽  
Alison van der Wal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Entire Nation

Background To combat social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions due to COVID-19, Canadian communities began a Facebook social media movement, #Caremongering, to support vulnerable individuals in their communities. Little research has examined the spread and use of #Caremongering to address community health and social needs. Objectives We examined the rate at which #Caremongering grew across Canada, the main ways the groups were used, and differences in use by membership size and activity. Methods We searched Facebook Groups using the term “Caremongering” combined with the names of the largest population centres in every province and territory in Canada. We extracted available Facebook analytics on all the groups found, restricted to public groups that operated in English. We further conducted a content analysis of themes from postings in 30 groups using purposive sampling. Posted content was qualitatively analyzed to determine consistent themes across the groups and between those with smaller and larger member numbers. Results The search of Facebook groups across 185 cities yielded 130 unique groups, including groups from all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. Total membership across all groups as of May 4, 2020 was 194,879. The vast majority were formed within days of the global pandemic announcement, two months prior. There were four major themes identified: personal protective equipment, offer, need, and information. Few differences were found between how large and small groups were being used. Conclusions The #Caremongering Facebook groups spread across the entire nation in a matter of days, engaging hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Social media appears to be a useful tool for spreading community-led solutions to address health and social needs.

scholarly journals Linguistic Humor in Memes to Mitigate Post Covid-19 Severity

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
Asma Zahoor
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
The Face ◽  
Creative Spirit

This paper aims at exploring how the use of humor in memes can serve as a relief therapy in the face of the grave situation of the post-COVID-19 world. The conceptual frameworkor this study is drawn from Sultanoff (1994) theory of humor. He believes in the relieving effect of humor on humans’ psyche. Content analysis was used as a research method to analyze twelve memes shared at WhatsApp, an electronic, social media app for swift human interaction. The study demonstrates that humor is essentially the creative spirit of life that carries on despite hardships. It enables humanity to laugh in order not to cry. The linguistic humor in memes created in the context of the Pandemic Covid-19 serves as a tool to release stress, provide relief and create a sense of well-being.

Withshare

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawei Chen ◽  
Benjamin V. Hanrahan ◽  
John M Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Local Community ◽  
User Study ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The Social ◽  
Important Design

Coproductions are reciprocal activities that all parties are actively engaged in and create synergies that cannot be produced by one party alone. Coproduction activities are important for community building, as the social interactions among community members create social values such as new social ties, trust and reciprocal recognition. Mobile technologies bring new opportunity for coproductions by supporting small-scale reciprocal activities that are location and time sensitive. In this article, the authors introduce and study WithShare, a smartphone application that helps people to organize such coproduction activities. A 3-week user study with 38 young adults in a local community of college students shows WithShare facilitates the coordination of opportunistic and lightweight reciprocal activities in their daily life. The results highlight potentials of coproduction activities in strengthening existing social ties, and establishing new weak ties in the local community. The findings suggest important design implications for mobile technologies to support coproduction activities.

scholarly journals #Caremongering: A community-led social movement to address health and social needs during COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsien Seow ◽  
Kayla McMillan ◽  
Margaret Civak ◽  
Daryl Bainbridge ◽  
Alison van der Wal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Entire Nation ◽  
Large Groups

BACKGROUND To combat social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions due to COVID-19, Canadian communities began a Facebook social media movement, #Caremongering, to support vulnerable individuals in their communities. Little research has examined the spread and use of #Caremongering to address community health and social needs. OBJECTIVE We examined the size and speed at which #Caremongering spread across Canada, the main ways the groups were used, and differences in use by membership size and activity. METHODS We searched Facebook Groups using the term “Caremongering” combined with the names of the largest population centres in every province and territory in Canada. We extracted available Facebook analytics on all the groups found, restricted to public groups that operated in English. We further conducted a content analysis of themes from postings in 30 groups using purposive sampling. Group content was qualitatively analyzed to determine consistent themes across the sites and between small and large groups. RESULTS The search of Facebook sites across 185 cities yielded 130 unique groups, including groups from all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. Total membership across all groups as of May 4, 2020 was 194,879. The vast majority were formed within days of the global pandemic announcement, two months prior. There were four major themes identified: personal protective equipment, offer, need, and information. Few differences were found between how large and small groups were being used. CONCLUSIONS The #Caremongering Facebook groups spread across the entire nation in a matter of days, engaging hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Social media appears to be a useful tool for spreading community-led solutions to address health and social needs.

Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao: Content Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang ◽  
Qixin Cai ◽  
Wenjing Jiang ◽  
Kin Sun Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Acute Stage ◽  
Chronic Stage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Entire Duration ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Government social media is widely used for providing updates to and engaging with the public in the COVID-19 pandemic, and Facebook is one of the popular social media platforms used by governments. However, there is only a scant of research focusing on these two areas. As the global pandemic has been easing in some places, users also react differently on social media to the messages from governments, which prompts more research in the post-pandemic time. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand how government social media is used and how its engagement changes in different stages throughout the pandemic. Macao is one of the jurisdictions in the world that has suppressed the transmissions of COVID-19. The case study of Macao can also provide insights for the recovery period after the pandemic. METHODS Posts from the Facebook pages owned by the Macao Government were analyzed. Data were grouped into the prodromal, acute and chronic stages using Fink’s crisis management model, and qualitative content analysis was used to classify data into categories. The average values of the engagement (i.e., the numbers of emotions, comments and shares) were compared. RESULTS 1,664 posts from January 1st, 2020 to October 31st, 2020 were analyzed. The engagement was relatively low at the beginning and then surged in the acute stage, with a decreasing trend in the chronic stage. Information about latest updates, press conferences, community resilience and appreciation could maintain their engagement in the entire duration. Posts for controlling rumors attracted positive engagement and a high number of shares. The focuses of the public changed throughout the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Government social media should be used with different focuses in different stages of the pandemic, for example, increasing vigilance and awareness in the prodromal stage, disseminating updates and seeking feedback in the acute stage, and focusing on mental health support and recovery policies in the chronic stage. Additionally, government social media can be an effective tool for controlling rumors, providing updates and fostering community engagement in massive public health crises.

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