scholarly journals Collective identity changes in far-right online communities: The role of offline intergroup conflict

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 1770-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Bliuc ◽  
John Betts ◽  
Matteo Vergani ◽  
Muhammad Iqbal ◽  
Kevin Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Collective Beliefs ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Identity Changes

Despite the increasing citizen engagement with socio-political online communities, little is known about how such communities are affected by significant offline events. Thus, we investigate here the ways in which the collective identity of a far-right online community is affected by offline intergroup conflict. We examine over 14 years of online communication between members of Stormfront Downunder, the Australian sub-forum of the global white supremacist community Stormfront.org . We analyse members’ language use and discourse before and after significant intergroup conflict in 2015, culminating in local racist riots in Sydney, Australia. We found that the riots were associated with significant changes in the collective beliefs of the community (as captured by members’ most salient concerns and group norms), emotions and consensus within the community. Overall, the effects of the local riots were manifest in a reinvigorated sense of purpose for the far-right community with a stronger anti-Muslim agenda.

scholarly journals Collective Identity Changes in Far-right Online Communities: The Role of Offline Intergroup Conflict

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Bliuc ◽  
John Betts ◽  
Matteo Vergani ◽  
muhammad iqbal ◽  
Kevin Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Identity Changes

The role of online communities in shaping behaviours ‘in real life’ (IRL) is well-established, however, less is known about how such communities are affected by offline events. Thus, we investigate here the ways in which the collective identity of a far-right online community is affected by offline intergroup conflict. That is, we examine over 14 years of online communication between members of a national division of the global white supremacist community Stormfront.org. We analyse members’ language use and discourse before and after significant intergroup conflict in 2015, that is, local racist riots in Sydney, Australia. We found that the riots were associated with significant changes in the collective beliefs of the community (as captured by members’ most salient concerns and group norms), emotions and consensus within the community. Overall, the effects of the local riots were manifest in a reinvigorated sense of purpose for the far-right community with a stronger anti-Muslim agenda.

scholarly journals Online Communities and Open Innovation

Economics ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 652-666
Author(s):  
Alberto Francesconi ◽  
Riccardo Bonazzi ◽  
Claudia Dossena
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Innovation Approach

Online communities are becoming an important way to support firms towards an open innovation approach. However, knowledge shared in an online community represents only a potential for firm's innovation aims. The effectiveness of exploration and exploitation of this knowledge depends on firm's absorptive capacity. In this work the authors focus on the time an idea, shared within an online community, takes to be transformed from a ‘potential' into a ‘realized' innovation by a firm. In particular, conceiving knowledge as a trajectory across pole of attraction rather than a linear process, the authors develop a model inspired by the solar system metaphor. Preliminary results from a case study are presented. They suggest firms may improve the effectiveness of absorptive capacity exploiting the mediation role of a software tool.

Motivations for and outcomes of participating in research online communities

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juyoung Bang ◽  
Seounmi Youn ◽  
James Rowean ◽  
Michael Jennings ◽  
Manila Austin
Keyword(s):  
Community Service ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Market Research ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Identification ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

This study examined consumers’ motivations for participating in market research online communities (MROCs) and an integrative role of community identification in explaining its motivational antecedents and consequences. Online survey data ( n = 1,461) were collected from various company-sponsored MROCs, which were run by a leading online community service provider in the United States. The findings showed that several motivations underlying MROC participation had an influence on members’ sense of identification with MROCs. Furthermore, members’ identification with MROCs was found to contribute to enhancing their feeling heard by the sponsoring company, which in turn affected their intention to continually participate in communities and trust in the sponsoring company’s brand. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed in relation to the value that listening to consumers has for market research.

scholarly journals Developing Online Communities for Librarian Researchers: A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Lili Luo ◽  
Marie Kennedy ◽  
Kristine Brancolini ◽  
Michael Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Conference Attendance

This study examines the role of online communities in connecting and supporting librarian researchers, through the analysis of member activities in the online community for academic librarians that attended the 2014 Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL). The 2014 IRDL cohort members participated in the online community via Twitter and a Facebook group page. A content analysis of their posts and an online survey among them identified different patterns of engagement and four primary types of content—posts related to completing the IRDL research project required for each cohort member, announcements about research-related resources and opportunities, posts reminiscing about the IRDL experience, and arrangements of conference attendance and meetups. Implications for successfully designing online communities for librarian researchers are discussed.

scholarly journals Political Memes and Fake News Discourses on Instagram

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 276-290
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Us ◽  
Insight Into

Political memes have been previously studied in different contexts, but this study fills a gap in literature by employing a mixed method to provide insight into the discourses of fake news on Instagram. The author collected more than 550,000 Instagram posts sent by over 198,000 unique users from 24 February 2012 to 21 December 2018, using the hashtag #fakenews as a search term. The study uses topic modelling to identify the most recurrent topics that are dominant on the platform, while the most active users are identified to understand the nature of the online communities that discuss fake news. In addition, the study offers an analysis of visual metadata that accompanies Instagram images. The findings indicate that Instagram has become a weaponized toxic platform, and the largest community of active users are supporters of the US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, mostly trolling liberal mainstream media especially CNN, while often aligning themselves with the far-right. On the other hand, a much smaller online community attempts to troll Trump and the Republicans. Theoretically, the study relies on political memes literature and argues that Instagram has become weaponized through an ongoing ‘Meme War,’ for many members in the two main online communities troll and attack each other to exert power on the platform.

“Did you feel the earth shake?” An Online Cancer Community Interprets Results of the CARMENA Trial (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Hall ◽  
Ranak Trivedi ◽  
Roni Zeiger ◽  
Douglas Blayney ◽  
Lidia Schapira
Keyword(s):  
Kidney Cancer ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Biological Impact ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Level ◽  
Tumor Debulking

BACKGROUND Patients use online communities to give and receive emotional support and health information. Little is known about the response of online patient communities to dissemination of major research results. OBJECTIVE We aimed to characterize and understand the attitudes of an online kidney cancer community, Smart Patients (https://www.smartpatients.com), before and after the presentation of results of the CARMENA trial (June 3, 2018), a trial examining the role of nephrectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS We analyzed de-identified posts from the Smart Patients kidney cancer online community between May 1, 2018 and July 1, 2018 that related to nephrectomy and/or CARMENA. Smart Patients staff administered two polls (May 29 and June 11) to ask members if and why they would recommend nephrectomy as a treatment for metastatic kidney cancer. Narrative content was independently coded by all investigators for thematic analysis. RESULTS Most members were supportive of nephrectomy both prior to (140 members, 77%) and following (131 members, 68%) the CARMENA presentation. The majority (76%) of the 102 individuals who completed both polls did not change their opinion about nephrectomy after presentation of the results. Qualitative analysis identified several recurring themes in support of nephrectomy including the emotional benefit of feeling the primary tumor was ‘gone,’ perceived favorable biological impact of tumor debulking, positive personal experience with surgery, and reduced potential for additional metastases. CONCLUSIONS In an online kidney cancer community, there was brisk activity following high-profile research reflecting a high level of patient engagement and familiarity with the trial. Most members continued to support nephrectomy and reported both biological and psychological benefits to surgery despite the trial results suggesting that forgoing surgery leads to noninferior outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

Negotiating the Ethics of Representation in RHM Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Carrion
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Practice Level ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Valuable Role

Drawing from my experience conducting an interview-based study on vaccine hesitancy, this essay explores the ethical negotiations RHM researchers face when recruiting participants from online communities, and especially communities that are stigmatized or otherwise distrustful of researchers. I discuss the specific challenges I faced during this process, and offer four suggestions for researchers engaged in this work. These include the valuable role of reflexive journaling, the need for participant input in the distribution of recruitment messages, the importance of accounting for the dynamic nature of online communication, and the ways that participant communication online may shape off-line interactions. This essay can offer guidance to RHM scholars facing similar situations, and contribute to the broader conversation about practice-level ethical concerns in RHM research involving online communities

scholarly journals Online communities and their contribution to local heritage knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manal Ginzarly ◽  
Jacques Teller
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the potential of social media as a framework for people-centered heritage. With a focus on the interpretation and display of heritage by online communities, this paper aims at providing insights into the social production of heritage – the social co-construction of meanings of everyday landscape and the making of the collective and local identity.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a methodological roadmap for the digital ethnography of everyday heritage. It reveals (1) the fundamental principles according to which people make value judgments and associate meanings to the urban landscape, and (2) the role of online communities in conveying collective identity and heritage values within the community realm. As a case study area for the implementation of the proposed method, three Facebook community group pages for Tripoli, Lebanon were chosen. The posts and comments were translated into English and uploaded to NVivo 12 plus and a deductive thematic approach to qualitative data analysis was applied. The data was coded into three main nodes: the actors, the tangible assets and the value registers.FindingsResults show that Facebook users are concerned with environmental equality, common interests, utility, right to the city and representativeness, while the beautification of heritage is often perceived as a threat to these values.Originality/valueThis investigation goes beyond heritage attributes (what) and values (why) to examine how values are assigned by local communities. It provides a comprehensive understanding of value judgment and the rationale and arguments used to justify positions and mobilize online community members in order to contribute to the digital co-construction of everyday heritage.

scholarly journals From protest to parliament: The role of digital technologies within an online community

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Øystein Sæbø ◽  
Tommaso Federici ◽  
Alessio Maria Braccini
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
Five Star Movement ◽  
Italian Politics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Decisions

Our teaching case introduces the story of how the Italian Five Star Movement used digital technologies in the growth from a personal blog discussing politics back in 2005 to the most voted party in the Italian election in 2018, becoming part of the government. The Italian Five Star Movement is among the largest eParticipation initiatives globally. It is (almost) totally organized through the use of digital platforms. Members form online communities and are continuously invited to discuss and make decisions that end up into Italian politics. Adopting a chronological perspective, we describe the development of the Italian Five Star Movement, focusing on their use of digital technologies at various stages and for various purposes. The case illustrates the growth of online communities and the advent of a social movement organization within the political sphere, and how to organize for members to discuss and make political decisions online. Furthermore, it demonstrates the growth of online communities and opportunities and challenges faced with such a quick progress.

scholarly journals Extraludic narratives: Online communities and video games

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sky LaRell Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Narrative Theory ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Convergence Theory ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Community Construction ◽  
Rhetorical Dimension

The role of online community is central to the process of understanding game narratives. Given a tension in game narrative theory, a solution to that tension is the stories that players tell of their own game-play experiences. This analysis of the rhetorical dimension of telling game-play stories as part of a communal experience seeks to illuminate the intersections of game narrative, community, and rhetoric. The rhetorical dimensions of players' personal game narratives and online community building coalesce as a phenomenon unique to how video games influence community construction through the sharing of personal game-play experiences. Using symbolic convergence theory, I examine the personal game-play experiences found on an online community for the game Dark Souls (From Software, 2011), revealing how extraludic narratives function rhetorically to solve the tension between player agency and game narrative.

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