scholarly journals Social Work and Digital Activism: Sorority, Intersectionality, Homophily and Polarisation in #MeToo

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Joaquín Castillo de Mesa ◽  
Chaime Marcuello-Servós ◽  
Antonio López Peláez ◽  
Paula Méndez Domínguez

Introduction. Social Work is currently facing the significant challenge of dealing with social networking sites – which have become a parallel universe of socialisation – in which ever-increasing digital activism is taking place. The #MeToo movement stands out as a global benchmark. It has established itself as a digital-global feminist movement, fighting harassment and the abuse of women. Methodology. Adopting a social work perspective, a longitudinal analysis was performed of the #MeToo movement on Twitter between 2018-2019 based on social network analysis and netnography, in conjunction with specific algorithms. Results. The results showed significant patterns of sorority, homophily and affective polarisation through the echo chambers and filter bubbles that were identified in the detected Twitter communities. Furthermore, these online communities reflected real offline characteristics (geographical location, affinities, similarities). Discussion and conclusions. The #MeToo movement’s global effect and durability has led to a new understanding of social movements in the digital era. Social workers must not be blind to the exciting digital opportunities arising from digitalisation. They must combat homophily and the polarisation of global society on social networking sites, promoting values oriented towards tolerance of diversity. Practitioners must show awareness and intervene proactively in global digital spheres to understand, reflect and promote social justice, equality of rights and the empowerment of disadvantaged, vulnerable and oppressed people.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaista Salman Guraya ◽  
Salman Yousuf Guraya ◽  
Muhamad Saiful Bahri Yusoff

Abstract Background Despite a rapid rise of use of social media in medical disciplines, uncertainty prevails among healthcare professionals for providing medical content on social media. There are also growing concerns about unprofessional behaviors and blurring of professional identities that are undermining digital professionalism. This review tapped the literature to determine the impact of social media on medical professionalism and how can professional identities and values be maintained in digital era. Methods We searched the databases of PubMed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and EBSCO host using (professionalism AND (professionalism OR (professional identity) OR (professional behaviors) OR (professional values) OR (professional ethics))) AND ((social media) AND ((social media) OR (social networking sites) OR Twitter OR Facebook)) AND (health professionals). The research questions were based on sample (health professionals), phenomenon of interest (digital professionalism), design, evaluation and research type. We screened initial yield of titles using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria and selected a group of articles for qualitative analysis. We used the Biblioshiny® software package for the generation of popular concepts as clustered keywords. Results Our search yielded 44 articles with four leading themes; marked rise in the use of social media by healthcare professionals and students, negative impact of social media on digital professionalism, blurring of medical professional values, behaviors, and identity in the digital era, and limited evidence for teaching and assessing digital professionalism. A high occurrence of violation of patient privacy, professional integrity and cyberbullying were identified. Our search revealed a paucity of existing guidelines and policies for digital professionalism that can safeguard healthcare professionals, students and patients. Conclusions Our systematic review reports a significant rise of unprofessional behaviors in social media among healthcare professionals. We could not identify the desired professional behaviors and values essential for digital identity formation. The boundaries between personal and professional practices are mystified in digital professionalism. These findings call for potential educational ramifications to resurrect professional virtues, behaviors and identities of healthcare professionals and students.


2014 ◽  
pp. 336-359
Author(s):  
Daniel Xerri

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1694-1717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Xerri

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.


2021 ◽  
Vol volume 05 (issue 2) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Zowaina Azhar ◽  
Dr. Abdul Rehman Qaisar ◽  
Kanza Mahmood

The study attempts to explain the role of social networking sites in bringing social change through youth. The study used cause and effect research design in order to determine how social networking sites are affecting the trend of social protests. Data was collected from different professions, occupations and educational institutions of Punjab, Pakistan, through a well-developed questionnaire. To conduct the study, a sample size of 300 respondents was chosen to get accurate findings. Convenience sampling was used where the respondents were selected according to their availability and ease from a sample size of 300 respondents was selected. The findings of the study revealed that social networking sites are playing a significant role in bringing social change in a society, especially through youth, ranging from 21 to 25 years of age. Males are showing greater support to these protests. Moreover, governments do not get much involved in issues through social media; rather they try to use traditional means of involvement. It was also concluded that people who believe that protesting through social media is non-violent, show greater support in favor of it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Lutvy Arsanti ◽  
Agus Wijayanto ◽  
Suparno Suparno

Flipped learning has developed a particular approach that facilitates the students to acquire new knowledge outside the classroom. In this digital era, it grows as technology does. MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) has a vital role in supporting English language teaching implementation. It has several applications, which can be a tool to teach English. One of the applications is using Social Networking Sites (SNSs), which the students have a high interest in using it in daily life. The research is a case study that aims to investigate the students' perception of flipped learning through Social Networking Sites (SNSs) to develop their writing ability. The participants of the research are 30 English department students in the second semester. There are ten men and 20 women in the class. The data collection was from an interview and a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire. This research indicates that the students have more ideas to write, and they can collaborate with their friends in writing through Social Networking Sites (SNSs). The result shows that the flipped classroom's implementation through SNSs is an alternative way for teachers to facilitate the learning of EFL writing in this digital era.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1563-1587
Author(s):  
Daniel Xerri

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.


Author(s):  
Daniel Xerri

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.


Author(s):  
Daniel Xerri

On the basis of the results of a study conducted amongst secondary school teachers of English in Malta, this chapter explores the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) for professional development purposes. In the digital era, SNS provide teachers with the opportunity of creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which is an increasingly significant way of acquiring new knowledge and enhancing pedagogical skills while also having the capacity of making teachers feel they belong to a Community of Practice (CoP). This chapter shows how despite their regular use of SNS for personal reasons, teachers do not always exploit these sites to achieve professional development. It is argued that training is a necessary means of not only enabling teachers to learn how to use such tools for such a purpose but also of redefining the way they think about the process of acquiring and sharing knowledge and skills in the 21st century.


2020 ◽  
pp. 239490152097742
Author(s):  
Md. Abdul Momen ◽  
Shamsul Huq Bin Shahriar ◽  
Md. Kamrul Hassan ◽  
Seyama Sultana

The study presents the determinants of the usage of social networking sites (SNSs) to accelerate the business potential of young entrepreneurs in a developing nation. It’s a quantitative study that considers 168 young entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. In analyzing the data, exploratory factor analysis has been used to justify the items associated with each variable while using a structural equation modeling approach to test the driven hypothesis. The study reveals that using social media as a promotional tool helps entrepreneurs to hasten their venture. In addition, changing purchasing behavior in this digital era and convenience and speed of Internet access also influence them to use SNSs intensively for growing their business enterprise. The findings of the study will help the key stakeholders to initiate key steps in order to create a more favorable business environment particularly for young entrepreneurs in this digital age of communication.


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