Rethinking Digital Media and Citizenship: Conditions, Contexts, and Consequences

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1019-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seungahn Nah ◽  
Masahiro Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Entire Collection ◽  
Scholarly Attention

This special issue presents a total of seven articles concerning digital media and citizenship in various political, civic, and cultural contexts. Specifically, the entire collection investigates how digital media use and civic engagement can be conceptualized, operationalized, and theorized in the current digital media environment. The seven studies further examine how the use of traditional and newer forms of media influences civic engagement across communities of places, interests, and practices as well as different social groups at the local and global levels. With an interest in social conditions and contexts surrounding the civic utility of digital media, this special issue brings a unique perspective to the existing scholarship and provides new venues for continued scholarly attention to this important subject.

Exploring ‘digital placemaking’

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-578
Author(s):  
Germaine Halegoua ◽  
Erika Polson
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Broad Framework ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Control ◽  
Connected Spaces

This brief essay introduces the special issue on the topic of ‘digital placemaking’ – a concept describing the use of digital media to create a sense of place for oneself and/or others. As a broad framework that encompasses a variety of practices used to create emotional attachments to place through digital media use, digital placemaking can be examined across a variety of domains. The concept acknowledges that, at its core, a drive to create and control a sense of place is understood as primary to how social actors identify with each other and express their identities and how communities organize to build more meaningful and connected spaces. This idea runs through the articles in the issue, exploring the many ways people use digital media, under varied conditions, to negotiate differential mobilities and become placemakers – practices that may expose or amplify preexisting inequities, exclusions, or erasures in the ways that certain populations experience digital media in place and placemaking.

scholarly journals Social Media Use and Innovations: Introduction to the Special Issue

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petter Bae Brandtzaeg ◽  
Asbjørn Følstad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Media Use

This special issue on "Social media use and innovations" of the Journal of Media Innovation provides an engaging view into innovative uses of social media as well as approaches for utilizing social media in innovation.  With three papers included, we cover experiences with an online social network for children (Stephanie Valentine and Tracy Hammond), design by youth for youth in projects on social media for civic engagement (Henry Mainsah, Petter Bae Brandtzaeg, and Asbjørn Følstad), and social platforms for corporate and community innovation (Marika Lüders).

Special issue on English intensifiers

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
BELÉN MÉNDEZ-NAYA
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Grammatical Change ◽  
Degree Modifiers ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Degree modifiers, degree words or intensifiers are linguistic elements which convey the degree or the exact value of the quality expressed by the item they modify. They are typically adverbs, as in very hot, really interesting, greatly appreciate or completely absurd, but adjectives may also fulfil this function, as in utter nonsense. As noted by Bolinger (1972: 18), degree words offer a picture of ‘fevered invention’, and without any doubt constitute one of the major areas of grammatical change and renewal in English (Brinton & Arnovik 2006: 441), especially from the Early Modern English period onwards (Peters 1993). It is therefore no surprise that degree modifiers have attracted so much scholarly attention from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Pioneering studies, such as those by Stoffel (1901), Borst (1902) and Fettig (1934), provide comprehensive inventories of intensifying adverbs in both modern and earlier English, as well as valuable insights into how they originated. In the last decade, however, intensifiers have become the object of renewed interest; this can be attributed in part to the development of computerized corpora, and also to advances in theoretical linguistics, more specifically in the study of semantic change and of grammaticalization processes. This renewed interest has focused, for example, on the individual histories of particular degree items as seen from the perspective of grammaticalization, on the competition of different intensifiers within a given period and across time, and on their distribution across different social groups, varieties or registers.

On the social construction of geomedia technologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Fast ◽  
Emilia Ljungberg ◽  
Lotta Braunerhielm
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Lives ◽  
And Control

Geomedia technologies represent an advanced set of digital media devices, hardwares, and softwares. Previous research indicates that these place contingent technologies are currently gaining significant social relevance, and contribute to the shaping of contemporary public lives and spaces. However, research has yet to empirically examine how, and for whom, geomedia technologies are made relevant, as well as the role of these technologies in wider processes of social and spatial (re-)production. This special issue contributes valuable knowledge to existing research in the realm of communication geography, by viewing the current “geomediascape” through the lens of social constructivist perspectives, and by interrogating the reciprocal shaping of technology, the social, and space/place. Scrutinizing the social construction of geomedia technologies in various empirical contexts and in relation to different social groups, the essays deal with important questions of power and control, and ultimately challenge the notion of (geo)mediatization as a neutral process.

The Integrated Media Effect: Rethinking the Effect of Media Use on Civic Participation in the Networked Digital Media Environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1061-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seungahn Nah ◽  
Masahiro Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Media Effect ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Integrated Media ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
News Use

Based on an integrated approach to media use, this study examines the association between integrated news use and civic participation in the networked digital media environment. Data from a web survey of a national online panel demonstrate that integrated news use, or the degree to which various media platforms are integrated for news consumption, is positively associated with civic participation. Data also show that integrated political discussion and integrated political information seeking mediate the relationship between integrated news use and civic participation. This study discusses theoretical and methodological implications.

Community Storytelling Network, Expressive Digital Media Use, and Civic Engagement

2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022110196
Author(s):  
Seungahn Nah ◽  
Sangwon Lee ◽  
Wenlin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Practical Applications

Grounded in Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT), this study tests the moderating roles of expressive digital media use through the Internet, social, and mobile media between community storytelling network and civic engagement. Based on online survey data of U.S. adults in an ethnically homogenous metropolitan area, this study finds that community storytelling network and expressive digital media use significantly predict the level of civic engagement. In particular, expressive digital media use serves as a necessary condition for community storytelling network to further promote online civic participation and collective efficacy among community residents. This study thus advances CIT with an integrated approach to expressive digital media use by testing the extended theoretical framework in a different local community context. Findings offer practical applications and policy implications regarding communication, citizenship, and civic community.

Rethinking Ethnography: An Introduction

2012 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Horst ◽  
Larissa Hjorth ◽  
Jo Tacchi
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Media Environment

This special issue of Media International Australia seeks to ‘rethink’ ethnography and ethnographic practice. Through the six contributions, the authors consider the variety of ways in which changes in our media environment broaden what we think of as ‘media’, the contexts through which media are produced, used and circulated, and the emergent practices afforded by digital media.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing media users across media

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ike Picone
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Audience Studies ◽  
Cross Media ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Made In

Many academic works and authors have added to our understanding of the changing audience dynamics that emerged with the wide adoption of digital media by exploring audiences turning into prosumers, producers, pro-ams and so on. Gradually, and rather unnoticed, another denominator seems to have entered our academic vocabulary: the user. Although widely adopted, many media scholars remain wary of this notion, as it would undermine theoretical advancements made in audience studies. At the same time, the almost natural adoption of the term in media studies indicates that ‘user’ is at least intuitively better suited than ‘audience’ to address people in relationship with media today. The article makes the case for ‘media user’ and ‘media use’ as not merely suitable terms but also as more encompassing analytical concepts, especially in light of understanding cross-media use. First, an argumentation is developed for adopting these terms by showing the analytical benefits of talking about media users when addressing people ‘floating’ across media. Subsequently, the notion of media use is grounded in both traditional approaches and recent advancements in media studies. Special attention is given to the notion of audience activity and how it translates into a cross-media environment. The article concludes with a critical reflection on both terms in relation to notions such as participation and user empowerment.

scholarly journals Digital Natives? New and Old Media and Children's Outcomes

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bittman ◽  
Leonie Rutherford ◽  
Jude Brown ◽  
Lens Unsworth
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Parental Mediation ◽  
Current Generation ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Time Diaries

The current generation of young children has been described as ‘digital natives’, having been born into a ubiquitous digital media environment. They are envisaged as educationally independent of the guided interaction provided by ‘digital immigrants’: parents and teachers. This article uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to study the development of vocabulary and traditional literacy in children aged from 0 to 8 years; their access to digital devices; parental mediation practices; children's use of digital devices as recorded in time-diaries; and, finally, the association between patterns of media use and family contexts on children's learning. The analysis shows the importance of the parental context in framing media use for acquiring vocabulary, and suggests that computer (but not games) use is associated with more developed language skills. Independently of these factors, raw exposure to television is not harmful to learning.

Digital Sovereignty of Adolescents

MedienJournal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Jane Müller ◽  
Mareike Thumel ◽  
Katrin Potzel ◽  
Rudolf Kammerl
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Eighth Graders ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Competent Self

This paper takes up the approach of individual Digital Sovereignty and develops a first systematization of the concept. It defines it as all the abilities and opportunities a person possesses to realize his/her own plans and decisions in dealing with or depending on digital media in a competent, self-determined and secure manner and against the background of individual, technical, legal and social conditions. The significance of individual Digital Sovereignty for adolescents is illustrated by the results of an exploratory study in which we conducted group discussions with 106 eighth-graders of different school types. Results show that most adolescents have only a vague notion about their own data traces and the use they are put to. Only a small number of seven pupils – the whizzes – stood out due to their extraordinary understanding and deep reflections on digital media.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document