Fans as e-participants? Utopia/dystopia visions for the future of digital sport fandom

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damion Sturm
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
New Model ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Fan Communities ◽  
The Future ◽  
Evolution Of Technology ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Carry Over

Media technologies and digital practices are reshaping and redefining the future of sport fandom. This article points to some of the utopian and dystopic transformations for fandom presented by (post)television, digital/social media and the anticipated virtual technologies of the future. Specifically, three distinct phases of fan participation are charted around existing and futuristic visions of technology-as-sport. First are the current televisual technologies that attempt to engage and retain traditionally “passive” viewers as spectators through pseudo-participatory perspectives that will carry over to new screens and technologies. Second, the assumed interactive participation afforded by social and digital media is considered, positing the future amplification of connectivity, personalisation and networking across digital fan communities, albeit undercut by further impositions of corporatisation and datafication through illusory forms of “interactivity”. Finally, the fusion, intensification and continual evolution of technology-as-sport is explored, asserting that forms of immersive participation will be significant for future virtual technologies and may ultimately re-position fans as e-participants in their own media-tech sport spectacles. Collectively, it is anticipated that the creation of new virtual worlds, spaces and experiences will amplify and operationalise forms of immersive participation around augmented spectatorship, virtual athletic replication and potentially constitute the sport itself. Indeed, a new model of the fan-as-immersed-e-participant is advanced as such futuristic virtual sporting realms may not only integrate fans into the spectacle but also project them into the event as participant and as the spectacle.

“Tradition,” Vernacularism, and Learning to Be a Folk Musician With Social Media

2020 ◽  
pp. 442-466
Author(s):  
Simon Keegan-Phipps ◽  
Lucy Wright
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Shaping

This chapter considers the role of social media (broadly conceived) in the learning experiences of folk musicians in the Anglophone West. The chapter draws on the findings of the Digital Folk project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), and begins by summarizing and problematizing the nature of learning as a concept in the folk music context. It briefly explicates the instructive, appropriative, and locative impacts of digital media for folk music learning before exploring in detail two case studies of folk-oriented social media: (1) the phenomenon of abc notation as a transmissive media and (2) the Mudcat Café website as an example of the folk-oriented discussion forum. These case studies are shown to exemplify and illuminate the constructs of traditional transmission and vernacularism as significant influences on the social shaping and deployment of folk-related media technologies. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the need to understand the musical learning process as a culturally performative act and to recognize online learning mechanisms as sites for the (re)negotiation of musical, cultural, local, and personal identities.

Indigenous language newspapers and the digital media conundrum in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692098340
Author(s):  
Kevin Onyenankeya
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
The Future ◽  
Major Factors

The future of journalism is being shaped by the convergence of technology and societal shifts. For indigenous language press in Africa battling to stay afloat amidst stiff competition from traditional media, the pervasive and rapidly encroaching digital transformation holds both opportunities and potential threats. Using a qualitative approach, this paper examined the implication of the shift to digital media for the future of the indigenous language newspaper in Africa and identifies opportunities for its sustainability within the framework of the theories of technological determinism and alternative media. The analysis indicates poor funding, shrinking patronage, and competition from traditional and social media as the major factors facing indigenous newspapers. It emerged that for indigenous language newspapers to thrive in the rapidly changing and technology-driven world they need to not only adapt to the digital revolution but also explore a business model that combines a futuristic outlook with a practical approach.

scholarly journals A new renaissance for creativity in technology and the arts in the context of virtual worlds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Earnshaw
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Diverse Environment ◽  
Research Environments ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaborations ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Ideas

AbstractWhere do new ideas come from and how are they generated? Which of these ideas will be potentially useful immediately, and which will be more ‘blue sky’? For the latter, their significance may not be known for a number of years, perhaps even generations. The progress of computing and digital media is a relevant and useful case study in this respect. Which visions of the future in the early days of computing have stood the test of time, and which have vanished without trace? Can this be used as guide for current and future areas of research and development? If one Internet year is equivalent to seven calendar years, are virtual worlds being utilized as an effective accelerator for these new ideas and their implementation and evaluation? The nature of digital media and its constituent parts such as electronic devices, sensors, images, audio, games, web pages, social media, e-books, and Internet of Things, provides a diverse environment which can be viewed as a testbed for current and future ideas. Individual disciplines utilise virtual worlds in different ways. As collaboration is often involved in such research environments, does the technology make these collaborations effective? Have the limits of disciplinary approaches been reached? The importance of interdisciplinary collaborations for the future is proposed and evaluated. The current enablers for progressing interdisciplinary collaborations are presented. The possibility for a new Renaissance between technology and the arts is discussed.

scholarly journals The Impact of digitization on the religious sphere: televangelism as an example

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Shaimma El Naggar
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
First Century ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Impact

<p>Over the past few decades, televangelism has emerged as one important media phenomenon, inter alia, among Muslim communities. As a phenomenon, televangelism is interesting in many respects; it is a manifestation of the phenomenon of "info-tainment" as televangelists integrate entertainment features such as sound effects and music in their sermons. It is also a manifestation of the rise of the celebrity culture as televangelists have become 'media celebrities' with thousands of hundreds of fans and followers on social media networks.</p><p> </p><p>Thematically, this study is divided into two main sections. First. I delineate the characteristics of televangelism as a novel form of religious expression in which televangelists adopt a modern style and use colloquial language; and in which televangelists present religion as a source of individual change. I have argued that these features seem to have granted televangelists popularity particularly among Muslim youth who view televangelism as a new form of religious expression that is modern in appearance and relevant to their everyday lives.</p><p>The study has further highlighted the importance of digital media technologies in popularizing televangelists' programmes and sermons. Drawing on two case studies of popular televangelists, namely Amr Khaled and Hamza Yusuf, the study has shown that televangelists draw on a plethora of digital media tools to extend the visibility of their programmes including websites and social media networks. The study has found that televangelists' fans play an important role in popularizing televangelists' programmes. Moreover, the study relates televangelism to the rise of digital Islam. The study has argued that digitization and the increase of literacy rates have changed the structure of religious authority in the twenty first century, giving rise to new voices that are competing for authority. </p><p>Having provided an explanatory framework for the phenomenon of televangelism, the study moves in the second section to critique televangelism as an 'info-tainment' phenomenon.</p>Drawing on Carrette and King's <em>Selling Spirituality, </em>one issue that the study raises is the extent to which televangelism fits into the modern form of 'spiritualities'. Rather than being a critical reflection of the consumer culture, modern spiritualities seem to 'smooth out' resistance to the hegemony of capitalism and consumerism. I have proposed that it is through a content-related analysis of televangelists' sermons that one can get a nuanced understanding of how the discourses of particular televangelists can possibly relate to dominant (capitalist) ideologies, how structures of power are represented in their discourses and what their texts may reveal about the socio-historical contexts of Muslims in the twenty first century.

Social Media in DMSS System Development and Management

2013 ◽  
pp. 104-116
Author(s):  
Daniel E. O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Support System ◽  
System Development ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Project Development ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Project History ◽  
Development And Management

This paper surveys and extends the use of social media technologies as part of decision making support system (DMSS) development and management. In particular, this paper investigates how social media technologies, such as wikis, blogs, micro-blogs and tagging, have been and can be used to facilitate development and management of DMSS, through communication and collaboration. However, the author suggests going beyond simply communication and collaboration. The particular focus is on using an analysis of digital media content to address a range of issues, including using social media content to facilitate capturing project history, doing an analysis of that content to facilitate documentation development, and monitoring content from social media to provide insights into project development. Domain-based characteristics of the text are investigated to discover meaning in social media content.

Embodied well-being through two media technologies: Virtual reality and social media

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 1734-1749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaylee Payne Kruzan ◽  
Andrea Stevenson Won
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Embodied Experiences

How the body is perceived through media is key to many well-being interventions. Researchers have examined the effects of platforms on users’ self-perceptions, including immersive virtual reality, nonimmersive virtual worlds, and social media such as Facebook. In this article, we use several conceptions of levels of embodiment to compare empirical work on the effects of virtual reality and social media as they relate to perceptions and conceptions of the self and body. We encourage social media researchers to utilize research on embodiment in virtual reality to help frame the effects of social media use on well-being. Similarly, researchers in immersive media should consider the opportunities and risks that may arise as embodied experiences become more social. We conclude our discussion with implications for future applications in mental health.

scholarly journals Digital Media: Empowerment and Equality

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 225
Author(s):  
Magdalena Mądra-Sawicka ◽  
Jeretta Horn Nord ◽  
Joanna Paliszkiewicz ◽  
Tzong-Ru Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Technology ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Technology Platforms ◽  
Social Technologies ◽  
Business Support

This study investigated the use of digital media, specifically social media technologies, in the workplace in Taiwan. The data for this study were collected through an online survey. Participants responded to questions asking whether social technologies could be a source of empowerment, leading to equality. Respondents included female and male employees. The findings reveal that both genders use social technology platforms for business support, experience benefits, and believe that these technologies could provide empowerment for success. Detailed results are reported in this paper, including a comparative analysis. The differences between women and men using Facebook and YouTube were significant. Women in Taiwan have a higher awareness of the benefits of social technologies, specifically Facebook, when used for business support and empowerment. This paper reveals a comparison between the attitudes of women and men when using social technologies and investigates the realization of the economic empowerment component.

scholarly journals Imagining and instituting future media: Introduction to the special issue

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-715
Author(s):  
Christian Pentzold ◽  
Anne Kaun ◽  
Christine Lohmeier
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Networked Services

In our fast-forward times, the special issue ‘Back to the Future: Telling and Taming Anticipatory Media Visions and Technologies’ examines the future-making capacity of networked services and digital data. Its contributions ask about the role media play in forecasting the future and their part in bringing it about. And they are interested in the expectations and anticipatory visions that accompany the formation and spread of new media. Along these lines, the eight articles in this special issue explore the future-making dimension of new media. As a whole, they provide an empirically grounded analysis of the ways media reconfigure the relations and distances among present, past, and future times. The contributions delineate imaginaries of futures related to digital media. Furthermore, they attend to interventions into the plans and efforts of making futures and they inquire about the creation of differently vast and (un)certain horizons of expectation. Together, the articles share the assumption that mediated futures are actively accomplished and enacted; they do not simply appear or wait for us to arrive in them.

Ditching the pack: Digital media in the 2010 Brazilian congressional campaigns

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Original Dataset

Over the past decade Brazil has become well known for its open embrace of new media technologies. In tandem, an increasing number of Brazilian candidates have begun to use web and social media sites as an integral part of their overall campaign efforts. The present study is the first effort at large-scale modeling of these relationships in an emerging Latin American democracy. To explore the relationship between using digital media in a candidate’s political campaign strategy and voter support, I built an original dataset of the 2010 elections for the lower house of the Brazilian Congress. I investigate factors such as a candidate’s use of web and social networking sites in conjunction with other traditional influences such as candidate gender, age, incumbency, party affiliation, coalition membership and campaign spending. I demonstrate that having a robust web presence and using social media, holding other factors constant, can be a significant contribution to the popularity of a candidate on election day in an open-list proportional representation electoral system such as that in Brazil. Additionally, I demonstrate how this digital media campaign tactic might be specifically beneficial to traditionally disadvantaged candidates in bridging the gap of their under-representation in Brazilian politics.

scholarly journals Selling the selling point

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Plesner ◽  
Maja Horst
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Cultural Innovation ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Early Phases

This article explores how virtual worlds are rhetorically constructed as obvious, innovative spaces for communication about architecture. It is argued that the marketization of an innovative use of new media platforms happens in early phases of the innovation processes, and the success of new media technologies such as virtual worlds hinges on the creation of expectations, which are intertwined with the discursive construction of future users. Drawing on the sociology of expectations and the sociology of technology, the article argues that the configuration of expected users is a central part of the communication about the innovation. It is demonstrated that the creation of markets does not begin when innovations such as Virtual Worlds Architecture are settled, but is intertwined with early expectations about their promises and limitations. Rather than seeing virtual worlds as settled and secluded sites for social and cultural innovation in themselves, we have examined how actors involved with them try to sell them as such. A crucial challenge for these actors turns out to be the interpretative flexibility of the innovation, since arguments designed to attract one kind of expected user might problematize the configuration of other types of users.

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