scholarly journals Social Media, Interrupted: Users Recounting Temporary Disconnection on Instagram

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630511988169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Jorge

This article looks at the discourses of Instagram users about interrupting the use of social or digital media, through hashtags such as “socialmediadetox,” “offline,” or “disconnecttoreconnect.” We identified three predominant themes: posts announcing or recounting voluntary interruption, mostly as a positive experience associated to regaining control over time, social relationships, and their own well-being; others actively campaigning for this type of disconnection, attempting to convert others; and disconnection as a lifestyle choice, or marketing products by association with disconnection imaginary. These discourses reproduce other public discourses in asserting the self-regulation of the use of social media as a social norm, where social media users are responsible for their well-being and where interruption is conveyed as a valid way to achieve that end. They also reveal how digital disconnection and interruption is increasingly reintegrated on social media as lifestyle, in cynical and ironic ways, and commodified and co-opted by businesses, benefiting from—and ultimately contributing to—the continued economic success of the platform. As Hesselberth, Karppi, or Fish have argued in relation to other forms of disconnection, discourses about Instagram interruptions are thus not transformative but restorative of the informational capitalism social media are part of.

2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932110329
Author(s):  
Paul Dodemaide ◽  
Mark Merolli ◽  
Nicole Hill ◽  
Lynette Joubert

There is a growing body of literature exploring the general population’s use of social media for assistance in dealing with stigmatized health issues. This study presents novel research examining the relationship between social media use and young adults. It utilizes a therapeutic affordance (TA) framework. Quantitative results from this study are complemented by qualitative data. The relationships between distinct social media and their TA (a–b) are presented to highlight their potential to impact positively on social and emotional well-being outcomes. Evidence includes broad support for “connection,” “narration,” and “collaboration” TAs in this context and the relationship between the use of distinct social media and perceived quality of life (QOL) outcomes (a–c). TA provides an appropriate and valuable theoretical framework which is useful for the development of an evidence-base from the analysis of young adult’s social media usage. An analysis of the association between social media and their QOL outcomes is presented according to the TA relationship pathway (a–c–b). The adoption of a TA framework enables a nuanced analysis of significant associations between specific social media, TA, and improved QOL outcomes. This study demonstrates the significant association between social media and perceived QOL outcomes in young adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (39) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Alisar Hudimova ◽  
Ihor Popovych ◽  
Vita Baidyk ◽  
Olena Buriak ◽  
Olha Kechyk

Aim. The present study empirically investigates and theoretically substantiates the results of the impact of social media on young web-users’ psychological well-being during the forced self-isolation caused by the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 254). Materials and methods. Standardized valid psycho-diagnostic methods, the author’s questionnaire (A. Hudimova, 2021), correlation and factor analyses were used to identify young web users’ patterns of social media involvement during the forced self-isolation. Results. The results show that during the global COVID-19 pandemic, young web users give preference for passive social media use rather than for communication. The obtained results showed an expansion in the time spent via social media by young web users. It was found that the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by the participants’ experience of negative emotions and fears of the unknown (r = .204; p <.01). It is substantiated that increasing immersion of young web users in social media is a kind of strategy to escape from bad thoughts (r = .271; p <.01). Significantly, it is stated that uncontrolled use of social media causes sleep disorders during isolation (r = .444; p <.01). Conclusions. The study proves that young people spend almost all day online due to the obsessive pattern of social media involvement and/or procrastination, which often provokes withdrawal syndrome upon the attempt to distract from them. The lack of controlled time spending on social media during self-isolation provokes an exacerbation of anxiety, apathy, depressed mood, and a sense of isolation from social reality. The obtained results provide evidence that the causal relations of passive social media use provoke an exacerbation of feelings of alienation, disrupt the healthy rhythm of sleep, and psychological state of young web-users during the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Isomursu ◽  
Reija Kuoremäki ◽  
Mika Teikari

BACKGROUND Covid-19 pandemic has boosted digitalization in healthcare, as mobility restrictions and social distancing rules have made healthcare providers to adopt digital tools to replace or complement face-to-face interactions. OBJECTIVE In this paper, we discuss results of a survey study about the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on physician’s use of digital media. We examine whether Covid-19 conditions have changed how physicians use internet resources for information search, how they engage in social media, and how they participate in online events. METHODS The study compares a survey conducted in Finland in spring 2020 with two identical surveys done in 2019 and 2018. Spring 2020 was the time when Finland executed mobility restrictions and re-organization of healthcare because of pandemic. Comparing results of this survey with the results of two previous years gives us a unique opportunity to do comparative analysis if the results of Covid-19 spring are different from earlier years. RESULTS Our results show that the use of digital media for information search did increase, but not more than the steadily rising trend of previous years. Use of print media was still strong, and complementary digital media sources had already been relatively high prior 2020 and continued to stay in that level. Use of social media had also been steadily rising among physicians, and this steady rise continued in 2020. However, our results indicate that Covid-19 situation had an effect on physician’s participation in online events organized by healthcare ecosystem stakeholders. There was a rise in numbers in participation to online congresses, symposia and training, and physicians took part in more eDetailing organized by healthcare ecosystem actors. CONCLUSIONS As use of digital media including social media was already high prior Covid-19 in Finland, our results do not show significant change because of special circumstances in 2020. However, our results show increased participation in online events. With increased participation, also the attitudes towards organized online events had changed more positive, which could indicate that the higher participation numbers could continue also when pandemic related restrictions will be removed.


Author(s):  
Daniel E. O’Leary

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.


Author(s):  
Daniela Stockmann

In public discussions of social media governance, corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter are often first and foremost seen as providers of information and as media. However, social media companies’ business models aim to generate income by attracting a large, growing, and active user base and by collecting and monetising personal data. This has generated concerns with respect to hate speech, disinformation, and privacy. Over time, there has been a trend away from industry self-regulation towards a strengthening of national-level and European Union-level regulations, that is, from soft to hard law. Hence, moving beyond general corporate governance codes, governments are imposing more targeted regulations that recognise these firms’ profound societal importance and wide-reaching influence. The chapter reviews these developments, highlighting the tension between companies’ commercial and public rationales, critiques the current industry-specific regulatory framework, and raises potential policy alternatives.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-462
Author(s):  
Gal Yavetz ◽  
Noa Aharony

PurposeThe current study seeks to present and examine the strategies, management and dissemination of information on social media platforms by Israeli government organizations and agencies.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses the “Case Study” approach, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with directors in charge of the use of social media in government departments.FindingsThe findings indicate that government agencies tend to favor Facebook over other social network platforms, in order to reach the widest possible audience. They do this by adhering to the platform's limitations, such as regularly using sponsored advertising to increase reach and visibility, and also by publishing visual content, such as videos and images, at the expense of text. In addition, the impact of respondents to adopt social media outweighs the use and importance awarded to traditional government websites. A clear preference is evident toward cultivating and strengthening existing information on social media at the expense of further developing official websites.Originality/valueFindings and conclusions from this type of research can help digital media directors and content editors in government agencies, to improve the quality of their content and improve the accessibility of the information they share online. In addition, the findings of the study strengthen the growing body of knowledge focused on the relationship between government ministries and social media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland ◽  
Viktor Schønning ◽  
Randi Træland Hella ◽  
Marius Veseth ◽  
Jens Christoffer Skogen

Abstract Background During the last decade, social media has permeated most parts of society. Adolescents are particularly active users of social media, and their use has been suggested as a contributing factor to mental health issues in this group. Quantitative studies have found associations between the frequency and/or duration of social media use and more mental health issues. However, most studies are cross-sectional and the identified associations are weak and of questionable practical significance. The aim of this study was to investigate adolescents’ lived experiences of using social media, focusing on both negative and positive aspects, using a qualitative approach. Qualitative research enables in-depth explorations of the experiences of individuals, nuance quantitative findings, and offer the perspective of adolescents into policies regarding social media use. Methods Experiences and perspectives of 27 adolescents from two senior high schools in Norway were gathered using focus group interviews (mean age 16.8, range 15–18). The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results According to the participants, social media use catalyse changes to how people communicate and relate to each other (theme 1). Some changes were positive, in terms of facilitating social connectedness, while others were negative, such as people behaving worse than in face-to-face interactions. Further, social media use affected the participants at the individual level (theme 2); positively in terms of a sense of belonging and social support, and negatively in terms of perceived stress, body pressure, and displacing other activities such as sleep and homework. The motivations for using, or not using, social media were multifaceted (theme 3), reflecting the positive and negative aspects of social media in terms of interpersonal and personal consequences. Conclusion Social media was described as an important part of the participants’ everyday life, with both a positive and negative impact on their mental health and well-being. Considering the compelling nature of social media and adolescents’ relatively limited self-regulatory capacities, efforts to modify social media use should avoid relying on self-regulation, while also recognizing the importance of social media as an arena for peer interaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
Festy Rahma Hidayati

The presence of digital media, such as social media allows us to connect without any limitations of space and time. Consumption of social media brings changes in various aspects of life, including the habits of communicating and interacting in today's network society. In the political field, social media creates opportunities for political leaders to carry out political communication. As a strategic political communication channel, social media plays a role in receiving and responding to public aspirations. In fact, the use of social media for campaigns by political leaders shows a trend of increasing popularity and electability due to the influence of branding on social media. The use of social media by political leaders in building specific branding is at the core of this article. Political leaders optimize their personal social media accounts for political communication. The positive perception of the public allows for an increase in popularity and electability which brings to the national political stage. This article is a conceptual paper that analyzes the concept of branding in politics in the era of digital political communication by utilizing social media. The author uses relevant literature reviews from previous studies. This article reveals that several political leaders that have been studied have optimized social media to carry out political communication to their citizens. They display digital content to gain public support and trust, and display branding as a populist, professional, humanist, and responsible political leader.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
Christine W Njuguna ◽  
Joyce Gikandi ◽  
Lucy Kathuri-Ogola ◽  
Joan Kabaria-Muriithi

There is a rise in unprecedented political infractions, disturbances and electoral violence in Africa with the youth playing a significant role. Thus, the study broadly investigated social media use and electoral violence among the youth in Kenya using two objectives that were to assess the use of social media platforms among the youth and to investigate the relationship between social media use and electoral violence among the youth. Guided by the Dependency Theory and the Social Responsibility Theory, the study was carried out in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County, Kenya. Data collection involved questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Analysis of quantitative data was by descriptive statistics and regression while qualitative data was analyzed through transcription. The study findings showed that the use of social media platforms in communication has been growing with WhatsApp becoming the most ‘preferred’ platform in Kenya. The study outcome exposed the fact that social media had an important and positive effect on electoral violence among the Kenyan youth in Mathare (R = .812). On the other hand, social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram) had a strong explanatory strength on electoral violence among the Kenyan youth in Mathare (R2 = .659). This means that social media accounts for 65.9 percent of electoral violence among the Kenyan youth in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County. The study, therefore, concluded that there is a relationship between social media and electoral violence among the Kenyan youth in Mathare. The study finally recommends that the government should embrace and enforce self-regulation mechanisms by Internet service providers to deter incitement. In addition, there should be increased efforts to educate and inform Internet users on the importance of assessing the credibility of information. Promotion of productive engagement as an effective instrument of dealing with online hatred is key.


Author(s):  
Andrea Svicher ◽  
Giulia Fioravanti ◽  
Silvia Casale

AbstractBackgroundProblematic social media use (PSMU) has received growing attention in the last fifteen years. Even though PSMU has been extensively studied, its internal structure is not fully understood. We used network analysis to evaluate which symptoms and associations between symptoms are most central to PSMU – as assessed by the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 adapted for PSMU – among undergraduates.MethodNetwork analysis was applied to a large gender-balanced sample of undergraduates (n = 1344 participants; M = 51.9%; mean age = 22.50 ± 2.20 years).ResultsThe most central nodes in the network were the difficulty of controlling one’s own use of social media, the tendency to think obsessively about going online, the difficulties in resisting the urge to use social media and the preference for communicating with people online rather than face-to-face. This last element was strongly associated with a general preference for online social interactions and the feeling of being more comfortable online. The network was robust to stability and accuracy tests. The mean levels of symptoms and symptom centrality were not associated.ConclusionsDeficient self-regulation and preference for online communication were the most central symptoms of PSMU, suggesting that these symptoms should be prioritized in theoretical models of PSMU and could also serve as important treatment targets for PSMU interventions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document