Can Indian journalism survive the onslaught of social media?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha M Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Effective Use

In recent times, researchers have examined the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s use of social media to directly connect with his followers, while largely shunning the mainstream media. This strategy of direct communication with their constituents has been adopted by other political parties too, with opposition party leaders hosting ‘Facebook Live’ sessions and tweeting their messages. A large proportion of Indian voters, who increasingly own mobile phones, are enjoying being part of the ‘like’ and ‘share’ online networks. What does this effective use of social media by Indian political parties mean for the public discourse in India? This article presents the view that this phenomenon is more than Modi’s ‘selfie nationalism’ or his attempt to marginalize the news media. The article argues that there is a structural shift in the Indian public sphere, which might prove to be the greatest challenge to Indian journalism.

Social Media

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manpreet Kaur ◽  
Rajesh Verma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advanced Analysis ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Internet usage has shown drastic growth in the initial half of the year 2015 in India. The user base has increased over 354 million and with this India has become the top second country after China in terms of internet usage. Facebook is the prime social networking site which is used by 96% of urban users, followed by Google Plus (61%), Twitter (43%) and LinkedIn (24%). This extensive use of social media by the public had attracted the attention of the politicians to use it for election campaigns and has given researchers a reason to find out how politicians are engaging the public through this platform. Influence of Social media on the electorate has been proved from its successful use in the US presidential election in 2008 and by political parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India. This paper intends to explore the use of social media and its effectiveness in political elections through an extensive literature review. Social media has become an effective tool for political engagement and political participation as it is a low cost media as compared to traditional media. The low cost of this media has made it one of the main source to get information for advanced analysis and in-depth understanding of the electoral process. This paper will provide an insight to politicians, political analysts, journalists and electoral candidates regarding social media usage. The paper will also present a future research agenda to study how political parties can benefit from use of social media and change their strategies to engage workers and the voters.

The Role of Twitter in Opening New Domains of Discourse in the Public Sphere

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Badreya Nasser Al-Jenaibi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Flow Of Information

The use of Twitter to coordinate political dialogue and crisis communication has been a vital key to its legitimization. In the past few years, the users of Twitter were increased in the GCC. Also, the use of social media has received a lot of ‘buzz' due to the events that unfurled in the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt during the Arab Spring. Although not as dramatic as overthrowing a regime, the use of social media has been revolutionary in most areas of the Middle East, especially in the most conservative societies that have been relatively closed to the flow of information. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for example, now have the largest-growing Twitter community of all the nations in the Arabian Gulf. Known for its tight rein on public discourse and the flow of information, even elements of the current regime are opening doors to a new public discourse, due in large part to the influence of social media. This paper explores the social media phenomenon that has had such an impact on the relatively closed societies of the Arab world, examining how it has changed the nature of the public sphere. The researcher used content analysis of four GCC journalists' accounts for four months. The paper concludes that the use of Twitter is shifting the Arab public's discourse and opinions in the region because those opinions are being heard instead of censored. Social media is having a major impact on the conservative Saudi, Qatar, and UAE societies.

Social Media

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Manpreet Kaur ◽  
Rajesh Verma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
The Public ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Internet usage has shown drastic growth in the initial half of the year 2015 in India. The user base has increased over 354 million and with this India has become the top second country after China in terms of internet usage. Facebook is the prime social networking site which is used by 96% of urban users, followed by Google Plus (61%), Twitter (43%) and LinkedIn (24%). This extensive use of social media by the public had attracted the attention of the politicians to use it for election campaigns and has given researchers a reason to find out how politicians are engaging the public through this platform. Influence of Social media on the electorate has been proved from its successful use in the US presidential election in 2008 and by political parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India. This paper intends to explore the use of social media and its effectiveness in political elections through an extensive literature review. Social media has become an effective tool for political engagement and political participation as it is a low cost media as compared to traditional media. The low cost of this media has made it one of the main source to get information for advanced analysis and in-depth understanding of the electoral process. This paper will provide an insight to politicians, political analysts, journalists and electoral candidates regarding social media usage. The paper will also present a future research agenda to study how political parties can benefit from use of social media and change their strategies to engage workers and the voters.

scholarly journals Examining the populist communication logic: Strategic use of social media in populist political parties in Norway and Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Kalsnes
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
News Media ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
Social Media Strategy

Previous research has demonstrated that right-wing populist parties are particularly successful in gaining engagement and interaction on social media, but less is known about how rightwing populist parties use social media strategically, both in relation to voters and news media. By focusing on two Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden, this paper addresses the strategic use of social media within the Sweden Democrats and the Progress Party based on three different data sets: interviews, content analysis of Facebook posts, and engagement data from the parties’ Facebook pages. This study finds that the two populist parties basically follow up their social  media strategy in practice, and the Sweden Democrats are more closely following a populist communication logic in their Facebook posts. The article argues that right-wing populist parties’ social media strategy and communication style must be understood in relation to their position in the political system and the parties’ different phases in the life cycle model of populist parties.

scholarly journals How can social media analytics assist authorities in pandemic-related policy decisions? Insights from Australian states and territories

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tan Yigitcanlar ◽  
Nayomi Kankanamge ◽  
Alexander Preston ◽  
Palvinderjit Singh Gill ◽  
Maqsood Rezayee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Social Media Analytics ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Study Context ◽  
Public Consultations

Abstract Background and objectives: Due to COVID-19, various countries introduced lockdowns and limited citizen movements. These restrictions triggered an increased use of digital technologies and platforms by the public. This provides an opportunity for the authorities to capture public perceptions on COVID-19 from social media channels to make informed decisions. The use of social media analytics during pandemics for decision-making, however, is an understudied area of research. Thus, this study aims to generate insights into how social media analytics can assist authorities in pandemic-related policy decisions.Methods: This study involved a social media analysis approach—i.e., systematic geo-Twitter analysis—that contains descriptive, content, sentiment, and spatial analyses. Australian states and territories are selected as the case study context for the empirical investigation. This study collected 96,666 geotagged tweets (originated from Australia between 1 January and 4 May 2020), and analysed 35,969 of them after data cleaning.Results: The findings disclose that: (a) Social media analytics is an efficient approach to capture the attitudes and perceptions of the public during a pandemic; (b) Crowdsourced social media data can guide interventions and decisions of the authorities during a pandemic, and; (c) Effective use of government social media channels can help the public to follow the introduced measures/restrictions.Conclusion: The findings are invaluable for authorities to understand community perceptions and identify communities in needs and demands in a pandemic situation, where authorities are not in a position to conduct direct and lengthily public consultations.

Determinants of a political party’s social media strategy: A comparative analysis of Tanzania’s opposition political parties’ Twitter practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110410
Author(s):  
Aikande Clement Kwayu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opposition Parties

The impact of political context on a political party’s organizing and mobilizing strategies has been noted in the literature. Opposition political parties operating in autocratic contexts look for different ways in which they can communicate, organize, and mobilize their members. Advances in digital technology and, in particular social media, have created such spaces in which political parties can communicate and mobilize their members. In Tanzania, the state has imposed repressive political restrictions against opposition parties. In this context, it would be assumed that opposition political parties would turn to social media as an alternative means for mobilization and communication due to restrictions in traditional spaces such as mainstream media and rallies. This article argues that, in Tanzania, the opposition political parties’ levels of institutionalization and resources determine their use of social media more than the repressive political context. The study compares the Twitter use of two opposition parties—Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo—in two periods between 2016 and 2020, which is the period of increasing authoritarian tendencies in the country. The study deploys a qualitative research methodology using a case study approach and collection of data from the parties’ practices in their official Twitter accounts as well as key informant interviews.

scholarly journals Investigative journalism in a socially networked world

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Gearing
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Online Networks ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Use Of Social Media

This article explores how investigative journalists can join the network society by moving online, collaborating with other reporters and media outlets across regions and across national borders, yet publishing in newspapers which arguably remain the central stage of the public sphere (Carson, 2013). A better understanding of the potential of social media and web-based communications for undertaking journalistic investigations can lead to the adoption of a global perspective, enriching local, regional and national stories (Berglez, 2013). The research and collaboration for a transnational story published simultaneously in The Australian and collaboration in London in 2013 may provide insights into the potential for the use of social media platforms and web-based communications for finding stories, collaborating and following stories into the social media to find leads to follow-up stories. This article questions whether the synergies between mainstream media and social media platforms may yield potentially high impact stories for major masthead newspapers and thus contribute to their sustainability. Connectivity with news sources has always been an important resource for journalists. Online networks may have the potential to expand the range of voices that can be heard and the issues that can be covered.

scholarly journals Framing of and Attention to COVID-19 on Twitter: Thematic Analysis of Hashtags (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Tahamtan ◽  
Devendra Potnis ◽  
Ehsan Mohammadi ◽  
Laura E Miller ◽  
Vandana Singh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public

BACKGROUND Although past research has focused on COVID-19–related frames in the news media, such research may not accurately capture and represent the perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, research on the public attention to COVID-19 as reflected through frames on social media is scarce. OBJECTIVE This study identified the frames about the COVID-19 pandemic in the public discourse on Twitter, which voices diverse opinions. This study also investigated the amount of public attention to those frames on Twitter. METHODS We collected 22 trending hashtags related to COVID-19 in the United States and 694,582 tweets written in English containing these hashtags in March 2020 and analyzed them via thematic analysis. Public attention to these frames was measured by evaluating the amount of public engagement with frames and public adoption of those frames. RESULTS We identified 9 frames including “public health guidelines,” “quarantine life,” “solidarity,” “evidence and facts,” “call for action,” “politics,” “post-pandemic life,” “shortage panic,” and “conflict.” Results showed that some frames such as “call for action” are more appealing than others during a global pandemic, receiving greater public adoption and engagement. The “call for action” frame had the highest engagement score, followed by “conflict” and “evidence and facts.” Additionally, “post-pandemic life” had the highest adoption score, followed by “call for action” and “shortage panic.” The findings indicated that the frequency of a frame on social media does not necessarily mean greater public adoption of or engagement with the frame. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to framing theory and research by demonstrating how trending hashtags can be used as new user-generated data to identify frames on social media. This study concludes that the identified frames such as “quarantine life” and “conflict” and themes such as “isolation” and “toilet paper panic” represent the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences could be (1) exclusively related to COVID-19, such as hand hygiene or isolation; (2) related to any health crisis such as social support of vulnerable groups; and (3) generic that are irrespective of COVID-19, such as homeschooling or remote working.

scholarly journals Temporal and textual analysis of social media on collective discourses during the Zika virus pandemic

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
May Oo Lwin ◽  
Jiahui Lu ◽  
Anita Sheldenkar ◽  
Ysa Marie Cayabyab ◽  
Zi Han Yee Andrew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Health Event ◽  
The Government

Abstract Background While existing studies have investigated the role of social media on health-related communication, little is known about the potential differences between different users groups on different social media platforms in responses to a health event. This study sets out to explore the online discourse of governmental authorities and the public in Singapore during the recent Zika pandemic in 2016. Methods Social media data were extracted from Facebook and Twitter using retroactive keyword sourcing of the word “Zika” to search for posts and a location filter of “Singapore”. Government posts, public posts, and replies to these original posts were included in the temporal and textual analysis. Results Overall, Facebook contained more government and individual content whereas Twitter had more content from news media accounts. Though the relative volume of Zika content from different data sources paralleled the peaks and troughs of Zika activities across time, discourses from different data sources differed in their temporal patterns, such that the public discourse died down faster than the government discourse after the outbreak was declared. In addition, the content of discourses differed among data sources. While government discourse included factual information of the disease, public discourse contained more elements of care such as worry about the risks to pregnant women, and elements of community such as well-wishes to each other. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the temporal and content differences between user groups and social media platforms in social media conversations during the Zika pandemic. It suggests that future research should examine the collective discourse of a health event by investigating social media discourses within varied sources rather than focusing on a singular social media platform and by one particular type of user.

scholarly journals Temporal and textual analysis of social media on collective discourses during the Zika virus pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
May Oo Lwin ◽  
Jiahui Lu ◽  
Anita Sheldenkar ◽  
Ysa Marie Cayabyab ◽  
Andrew Yee Zi Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Health Event ◽  
The Government

Abstract Background: While existing studies have investigated the role of social media on health-related communication, little is known about the potential differences between different users groups on different social media platforms in responses to a health event. This study sets out to explore the online discourse of governmental authorities and the public in Singapore during the recent Zika pandemic in 2016. Methods: Social media data were extracted from Facebook and Twitter using retroactive keyword sourcing of the word “Zika” to search for posts and a location filter of “Singapore”. Government posts, public posts, and replies to these original posts were included in the temporal and textual analysis. Results: Overall, Facebook contained more government and individual content whereas Twitter had more content from news media accounts. Though the relative volume of Zika content from different data sources paralleled the peaks and troughs of Zika activities across time, discourses from different data sources differed in their temporal patterns, such that the public discourse died down faster than the government discourse after the outbreak was declared. In addition, the content of discourses differed among data sources. While government discourse included factual information of the disease, public discourse contained more elements of care such as worry about the risks to pregnant women, and elements of community such as well-wishes to each other. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the temporal and content differences between user groups and social media platforms in social media conversations during the Zika pandemic. It suggests that future research should examine the collective discourse of a health event by investigating social media discourses within varied sources rather than focusing on a singular social media platform and by one particular type of users.

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