scholarly journals Techno-emotional mediations of transnational intimacy: social media and care relations in long-distance Romanian families

2020 ◽  
pp. 016344372097231
Author(s):  
Donya Alinejad

The transnational circulation of intimate care is increasingly mediated by digital communications. Research conceptualizing long-distance emotional intimacy in terms of ‘care chains’ has been influential in understanding international care economies. Yet, this framework has limitations for theorizing the role of media in communications of care. With a focus on the ‘left-behind’ family members of Romanian economic migrants, this paper investigates how the use of social media apps and mobile devices within the context of a major intra-EU labor migration phenomenon helps people stay in touch with their transnationally mobile loved ones. It draws on interview material elicited among the close family members of Romanian labor migrants living in Bucharest and surrounding areas. The analysis focuses on the sensory role of social media platforms and the materiality of smartphones in shaping relations of long-distance emotional care. Showing how video calling and photo sharing practices produce emotional experiences that are specific to contemporary combinations of platform-device technicity and social sensitization, the paper argues for conceptualizing transnational care as a mediated emotional experience. By theorizing the role of media in how care is not merely transferred but felt through mediation, the paper demonstrates how media practices produce a techno-emotional mediation of transnational care.

Author(s):  
Oren Golan ◽  
Noam Tirosh

The use of social media in the Arab world has drawn an increasing amount of scholarly attention. Research addressing ‘Arab Spring’ upheavals and Islamic military movements has demonstrated grassroots level and often spontaneous uses of social media platforms. However, little attention has been paid to political apps as an emergent means of communication. Specifically, this study asks how users and developers view the use of political apps within the Israeli–Palestinian context by focusing on iNakba – an app that enables users to navigate Palestinian villages that were destroyed during the 1948 war and its aftermath. Ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative analysis of interviews with iNakba users and developers uncover three key facets of the app: (1) crowd mobilization, (2) educational tool that reanimates the invisible landscape of pre-1948 Palestine, and (3) promoting the Palestinian narrative. The study illuminates the role of political apps as agents of change for identity building and shaping users’ political consciousness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 338 ◽  
pp. 363-379
Author(s):  
Nemer Aburumman ◽  
Róbert Szilágyi

Social media has become a new revolution in communications and most governments around the world use these platforms as two-way communication between them and the citizens. The Jordanian government started using these platforms early, so this paper came to examine the Jordanian's practice on these platforms. The paper use two way of analysis, the first one was a systematic literature review in the largest two databases (Scopus and Web of Science). After the literature has been analysed and the paper found the best practices for governments around the world, three main determinants were identified for any government to start the use of social media (presence, up to date information and interaction). The most popular Jordanian's social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) have been selected to start the analyses and 52 Jordanian governmental institutions (all the 25 ministries and 27 institutions belong to the prime ministry) have been analysed. After the institutions' websites and their pages or accounts on social media platforms scanned and analysed, most of the institutions have fulfilled the first two criteria (presence) and 77% shows that they have appearances on social media and (up to date information) 67% of the institutions regularly updated their information. But for the last criteria (interaction) we have found that the institutions still need to improve their interactions with the citizens since the results showed only 38% of these institutions have interaction on their pages or accounts on social media.


2015 ◽  
pp. 55-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Alkhouja

This chapter discusses the role of social media in the uprisings of the Arab world. It argues that the seemingly democratizing impact of online activism is not due to the inherent nature of social media as a tool for democracy but rather an outcome of the equilibrium of forces that shaped the use of social media platforms by all three main players. Activists, governments, and social media firms formed a triangle of powers that influenced the use of social media during the Arab movements. In a different context, the outcome of such power balance can arguably inhibit citizens' rights and empower governments. To this end, the chapter first explores the use of social media platforms from the perspective of activists, governments, and social media firms, then presents a framework to understand the impact of all three in shaping the use of social media during the uprisings. The chapter then concludes that the projections of the role of social media on other movements in the world must not be made without understanding the underlying complexities and dynamics of these movements.


Author(s):  
Mohamad Alkhouja

This chapter discusses the role of social media in the uprisings of the Arab world. It argues that the seemingly democratizing impact of online activism is not due to the inherent nature of social media as a tool for democracy but rather an outcome of the equilibrium of forces that shaped the use of social media platforms by all three main players. Activists, governments, and social media firms formed a triangle of powers that influenced the use of social media during the Arab movements. In a different context, the outcome of such power balance can arguably inhibit citizens' rights and empower governments. To this end, the chapter first explores the use of social media platforms from the perspective of activists, governments, and social media firms, then presents a framework to understand the impact of all three in shaping the use of social media during the uprisings. The chapter then concludes that the projections of the role of social media on other movements in the world must not be made without understanding the underlying complexities and dynamics of these movements.


Author(s):  
Anthony McCosker

In a postdemographic world, characterized by the continuous production and calculation of social data in the form of likes, comments, shares, keywords, locations or hashtags, social media platforms are designed with techniques of market segmentation in mind. “Datafication” challenges the agency of participatory social media practices and traditional accounts of the presentation of self in the use of social media. In the process, a tension or paradox arises between the personal, curative or performative character of social media practices and the calculative design and commercial usefulness of platforms and apps. In this paper I interrogate this paradox, and explore the potential role of metrics and analytics for emergent data literacies. By drawing together common self-oriented metrics across dominant platforms, the paper emphasizes analytics targets around a) profile, b) activity, c) interactivity and d) visibility, as a step toward developing new data literacies.


Author(s):  
Ugochi Chioma Ekenna ◽  
Leonard Anezi Ezema

The COVID-19 outbreak opened a new scenario where social media use for school educational activities became imperative to teach online and to implement a current and innovative educational model. This chapter provides the most relevant information on types of social media, social media effect of COVID-19 on education, educational social networking, student privacy issues and education technology, safety measures for the use of social media in schools, role of social media and its importance in teaching and learning, application of social media platforms to education, numerous opportunities that social media offer to both students and educators, and challenges of social media in education.


Author(s):  
Senjooti Roy ◽  
Liat Ayalon

Abstract Objectives The first Covid-19 lockdown in India was announced on March 24, 2020, with less than 4 hours’ notice, leaving older adults without access to domestic help and paid caregivers. As traditional caregiving models ceased to function in the new setup, relatives of older adults turned to strangers and volunteers in an effort to provide urgent care to their older family members. This study explores the role of volunteers in meeting the immediate needs of older adults during the lockdown. Methods A pan-India group of volunteers was formed during the lockdown on a popular social media website to connect people of all ages in need of help with those able to offer assistance. A sample of 242 messages pertaining to older adults was extracted for quantitative content analysis. Results All but 2 requests were placed by adult relatives of older adults. Requests covered a number of needs, some of which were directly tied to the pandemic and lockdown, while others were general in nature but were greatly exacerbated by recent events. Discussion The use of social media to encourage acts of kindness at a time of crisis was an innovative attempt to meet the immediate needs of older adults. The lockdown, however, exposed the lack of dedicated supports and services for older adults in India.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Late ◽  
Sanna Kumpulainen ◽  
Sanna Talja ◽  
Lisa Christian ◽  
Carol Tenopir

The use of social media in scholarly communication has grown in recent years, and consequently, scholars’ uses of social media has gained importance as a research topic.The aim of this article is to shed light on the role of social media in scholars’ work. The research presents findings from a survey (N=528) conducted in Finland in late 2016. There exists no prior research on the role and uses social media among Finnish scholars. This research specifically focuses on the perceived role of social media in information seeking and sharing. We also study the differences between disciplines, age groups, and positions. Results show that scholars do not perceive social media as being central for their or information seeking and sharing, and that social media services are not replacing traditional publishing forums. Scholars do appreciate the social media services intended and developed for academic use, and find them as having value for their work than general social media services. However, according to our results, social media services have a marginal role in scholars’ information seeking and scholars infrequently share their readings in social media platforms. Some disciplinary differences existed, but there was no connection between scholars’ age or position and the role of social media. Our study shows that the role of social media in academic work and scholarly communication is still rather small. Further research is needed to find out what are the reasons for scholars lack of interest towards social media.


2021 ◽  
pp. 137-153
Author(s):  
Francesca Rizzuto ◽  
Lucia D’Ambrosi ◽  
Gea Ducci ◽  
Alessandro Lovari

This article argues that in Italy there is a new problematic relationship among journalism, politics, and public sector organizations due to the permanence of some traditional features in the informative context as well as to the success of infotainment logic and to the pervasive use of social media. In the new hybrid digi-tal ecosystem, a redefinition of the social role of information is necessary to un-derstand the perspectives for journalism and public sector communication. Info-tainment and politainment enhance the hybridization of Italian public sector communication formats and styles mainly on social media platforms. This process has consequences on interactions and overplays between information and com-munication areas in public organizations, redefining the evolution of professional roles.


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