scholarly journals Piracy and the Politics of Social Media

Author(s):  
Martin Fredriksson Almqvist

Since the 1990s, the understanding of how and where politics is made has changed radically. Scholars such as Ulrich Beck and Maria Bakardjieva have discussed how political agency is enacted outside of conventional party organizations, and political struggles increasingly focus on single issues. Over the past two decades, this transformation of politics has become common knowledge, not only in academic research but also in the general political discourse. Recently, the proliferation of digital activism and the political use of social media is often understood to enforce these tendencies. This article analyzes the Pirate Party in relation to these theories, relying on almost 30 interviews with active Pirate Party members in Sweden, the UK, Germany, the USA, and Australia. The Pirate Party was initially formed in 2006, focusing on copyright, piracy, and digital privacy. Over the years, it has developed into a more general democracy movement, with an interest in a wider range of issues. This article analyses how the party’s initial focus on information politics and social media connects to a wider range of political issues and to other social movements, such as Arab Spring protests and Occupy Wall Street. Finally, it discusses how this challenges the understanding of information politics as a single issue agenda.

Author(s):  
Ivan K. Cohen ◽  
Julie Salaber

The constant rise in tuition fees has created increasing pressure for British universities to augment the range of marketing tools used to attract students in competition with both domestic and overseas institutions. This chapter investigates the role of social media as a communication and marketing tool for Higher Education Institutions in the UK. Social media is a powerful tool for both direct and indirect marketing, and is highly relevant for universities targeting youngsters who belong to the so-called Generation Y. After presenting the background for social media marketing and higher education, we investigate whether the use of social media as a marketing tool has been effective in raising awareness of British universities. To do so, we collect data on the use of social media by HEIs (in the UK and in the USA for comparison), as well as data on students' response to these new marketing strategies. Unlike many other organisations, it seems that social media play a positive role in promoting British Universities, although the evidence suggests that they still tend to use social media too much like more traditional forms of marketing and PR.


Author(s):  
Kirsten Forkert ◽  
Ana Lopes

This article examines unwaged posts at UK universities, using recent examples of advertised job posts. While unpaid work is common in the UK higher education system, unwaged posts are not. The posts under scrutiny in this article differ from traditional honorary titles as they target early career academics, who are unlikely to have a paid position elsewhere, rather than established scholars. The article contextualizes the appearance of these posts in a climate of increasing marketization of higher education, entrenching managerialism in higher education institutions, and the casualization of academic work. We also discuss resistance to the posts, arguing that the controversy surrounding unpaid internships in the creative industries created a receptive environment for resisting unwaged posts in academia. We analyze the campaigns that were fought against the advertisement of the posts, mostly through social media and the University and College Union. We explore the tactics used and discuss the advantages and limitations of the use of social media, as well as the role of trade unions in the campaigns against these posts, and we reflect on what future campaigns can learn from these experiences.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charline Bour ◽  
Susanne Schmitz ◽  
Adrian Ahne ◽  
Camille Perchoux ◽  
Coralie Dessenne ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND As social media are increasingly used worldwide, more and more scientists are relying on them for their health-related projects. But so far, social media features, methodologies and ethical issues are unclear with no overview of this relatively young field of research. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aimed to provide an evidence map of the different uses of social media for health research purposes, their fields of applications and their analysis methods. METHODS We followed the scoping review methodologies developed by Arksey and O’Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute. After developing search strategies based on keywords (e.g., Social media, health research), comprehensive searches were conducted in Pubmed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. We limited the search strategies to documents written in English and published between 2005/01/01 and 2020/04/09. After removing duplicates, articles were screened at title/abstract and at full text level by two independent reviewers. One reviewer extracted data that were descriptively analyzed to map the available evidence. RESULTS After screening 1237 titles and abstracts and 407 full-texts, 268 unique papers were included, dating from 2009 to 2020 with an average annual growth rate of 32.71% for the 2009-2019 period. Studies mainly came from America (64.55%, N=173/268, including 151 from the USA). Articles used machine learning or data mining techniques (N=60/268) to analyze the data, discussed opportunities and limitations of the use of social media for research (N=59/268), assessed the feasibility of recruitment strategies (N=45/268) or discussed ethical issues (N=16/268). Communicable (e.g., influenza, N=122/268) and then chronic (e.g., cancer, N=40/268) diseases were the two main areas of interest. CONCLUSIONS Since their early days, social media have been recognized as a resource of high potential for health research purposes but yet the field is still suffering from a strong heterogeneity in the methodologies used, which prevents the research from comparison and generalisability. For the field to be fully recognized as a valid, complementary approach to more traditional health research study designs, there is now a need for more guidance by types of applications of social media for health research, both from a methodological and an ethical perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 64-82
Author(s):  
Dr. Qasim Mahmood ◽  
Dr. Kasim Sharif ◽  
Zarmina Gull

Social media has become a central component of modern society and politics around the world including Pakistan. The paper attempts to examine the influence of political activism among social media-savvy youth in highlighting the political issues of Pakistan. This paper examines how Pakistani youth’s political activism via social media gives rise to an emergent-networked public sphere. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 403-university students aged 18-29 to examine their social media use and political engagement. Findings of the survey show that public discourse on social media, driven by Pakistan’s networked youth, is a growing force that political players and pundits must reckon with. The paper concludes that politically active youth make use of social media to discuss political issues, highlight problems besetting the country, which generates a public discourse, put pressure on government and politicians to take action that ultimately bears influence upon politics and governance in Pakistan.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marios D. Sotiriadis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to perform a synthesis of academic research published between 2009 and 2016 regarding the changes in tourism consumer behavior brought about by the use of social media (SM); and to suggest a set of strategies for tourism businesses to seize opportunities and deal with resulting challenges. Design/methodology/approach A volume of 146 peer-reviewed journal articles were retrieved from two major databases. Content analysis of this academic research has been performed, exploring the effects of online reviews on tourism consumers and providers. Findings The content analysis identified three main research themes that were investigated by scholars and classified into two major categories, namely, consumer perspective and provider perspective: the antecedents (factors motivating and influencing tourists); the influence of online reviews on consumer behaviour; and the impact of these reviews on tourism businesses (providers’ perspective). Research limitations/implications This study is based on a literature review and outcomes reported by previous studies; hence, the suggestions are indicative rather than conclusive. Some publication sources were not included. Practical implications This paper suggests a range of adequate strategies, along with operational actions, formulated for industry practitioners in the fields of management and marketing. Originality/value It provides an update of the state of published academic research into SM and an integrated set of management and marketing strategies for tourism providers in seizing the opportunities and dealing with the challenges raised in a digital context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Sporer

PurposeThis study was designed to examine burnout in US emergency medical services (EMS) providers. It examined burnout scores measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on a convince sample of US EMS providers as well individual variables associated of burnout in this population.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a convince sample, recruited using social media, of EMTs and paramedics and engaged them in an online survey to obtain information on burnout in this population. The responses were analyzed using stand statistical approached in order to determine MBI burnout scores, as well as which individual variables were influential in contributing to burnout in EMS.FindingsThis study found that most EMS providers had high levels of depersonalization and medium levels of personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion. Gender differences were found as they were differences based on agency type and response area.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is the nature of sample recruitment. The use of social media for the recruitment of this type of study has not been done before. Furthermore, it is a convince sample. This issue has limited impact on the results and the ability to apply them more generally because despite the convince nature of this sample, the sample is similar to those used in other studies as well as reflect that national statistics on the make of this population. The second major limitation of this study is that it does not include job specific and organization specific factors that may contribute to burnout. The findings for the variables used in this study suggest that future works should encompass these variables as well.Practical implicationsThis study sets a clear foundation for further examination of US EMS providers and burnout. It helps to establish key ideas that can be followed up. Difference and key issues among US EMS providers need to be understood on a more comprehensive level before the assertion that they are similar to EMS providers worldwide. Ultimately, there is a need to develop better screening tools to assess burnout in EMS as well as to develop prevention and intervention programs based on clear empirical data.Social implicationsBurnout EMS provides are a harm to themselves as well as the organization that employ them. The cost of burnout EMS provider crosses over to patient care and provision of care.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to examine such a large US-based sample of EMS providers using the MBI. Other studies have used smaller sample or other tools to assess burnout in providers


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Emerson Clarke

Purpose Money laundering and grand business corruption continue to plague the global economy, accounting for 2%-5% of the global gross domestic product. Illicit funds, produced through grand corruption, are laundered using complex layering schemes that cloak them in legitimacy by concealing their origins. Lamentably, weak anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks promote economic instability, unjust commercial advantages and organized crimes. This study aims to highlight the need for comprehensive anti-corruption and AML frameworks by critiquing the exploitable gaps in the global AML regime created by heterogeneous state-level AML regimes to date. Design/methodology/approach This study welcomes the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the financial action task force (FATF) recommendations but underscores the limitations of their effectiveness by investigating state-level enforcement mechanisms to determine these instruments’ true impact or lack thereof. The mutual evaluation reports (MERs) and state-level AML regimes in the UK, the USA and Canada are analyzed to illustrate the distinct implementation of international soft law in domestic legislation. Findings This study finds that UNCAC and the FATF recommendations are pivotal steps towards the establishment of a global AML regime for international business, albeit, one that remains imperfect because of the inconsistency of state-level AML frameworks. Consequently, international cooperation is needed to navigate and improve the discrepancies in varied AML legislation. Originality/value The author provides an in-depth and balanced analysis of current state-level AML developments and relies upon the recent 2016-2018 MERs to indicate the successes and flaws of various AML legislation. Therefore, this critique may guide stakeholders to construct robust AML frameworks and contributes to academic research in AML.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed A.K. Basuony ◽  
Ehab K.A. Mohamed ◽  
Ahmed Elragal ◽  
Khaled Hussainey

Purpose This study aims to investigate the extent and characteristics of corporate internet disclosure via companies’ websites as well via social media and networks sites in the four leading English-speaking stock markets, namely, Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. Design/methodology/approach A disclosure index comprising a set of items that encompasses two facets of online disclosure, namely, company websites and social media sites, is used. This paper adopts a data science approach to investigate corporate internet disclosure practices among top listed firms in Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. Findings The results reveal the underlying relations between the determining factors of corporate disclosure, i.e. profitability, leverage, liquidity and firm size. Profitability in its own has no great effect on the degree of corporate internet disclosure whether via company websites or social media sites. Liquidity has an impact on the degree of disclosure. Firm size and leverage appear to be the most important factors driving better disclosure via social media. American companies tend to be on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to corporate disclosure. Practical implications This paper provides new insights into corporate internet disclosure that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting. Social media is an influential means of communication that can enable corporate office to get instant feedback enhancing their decision-making process. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is amongst few studies of corporate disclosure via social media platforms. This study has adopted disclosure index incorporating social media as well as applying data science approach in disclosure in an attempt to unfold how accounting could benefit from data science techniques.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-284
Author(s):  
Jennifer E Simpson ◽  
Gary Clapton

This article charts the UK history of contact in fostering and adoption as it relates to looked after children and their birth relatives. It builds on a recent publication in this journal by one of the authors based on her research on the use of social media by children in care. Here we look at previous practices relating to the question of whether or not contact ought to be ‘allowed’ in which words such as ‘access’ were used, betokening the child as object. We also come up to date with reference to contemporary efforts to recast contact as ‘family time’ that is significant in the child’s continuation of understanding of self. Other words in the lexicon are problematised, including ‘contact’ itself. Attention is also devoted to the social work profession's conception and management of contact. We argue that a critical history of contact reveals the various ways that formal and informal power operates to both regulate and discipline those involved, most centrally the child and birth family members. Drawing upon emerging research relating to social media and contact, the article concludes with a discussion of how young people’s access to, and use of, social media has altered, how contact is managed and ‘policed’, and how this has shifted the balance of power in contact towards greater egalitarianism.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document