scholarly journals Paradigms of the Religious Network Society

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Adam Bajan
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Network Society ◽  
The Media ◽  
Individual Self

Beginning in the early 1970’s with the invention of the microprocessor, mass use of information technologies worldwide coincided with the appearance of a nodally-linked network of digital interconnectivity, or ‘network society’ (Castells, 1996). The network society’s exponential growth correlates with a rise in use of digital networking media by various sects and denominations of the Christian religion. Today, growing numbers of Christian organizations integrate digital media into both their approach to worship and the dissemination of the Holy Scriptures. This paper argues that the use of digital media by these organizations is indicative of the creation of a “religious network society” exhibiting identical structural paradigms to Castells’ (1996) network society. By virtue of the media deployed within it, the ‘religious network society’ fosters a mass culture of digital participation characterized by a rapid fragmentation of religious messaging and an over-sharing of personal religious beliefs. However, the religious network society also erodes Christianity’s hierarchical structures of authority (Turner, 2007). It is argued that these structures are being replaced with a banal form of religion emphasizing spirituality and individual self-expression at the expense of tradition (Campbell, 2012; Hjarvard, 2013). Moreover, purpose alterations to Christianity’s authority structures and approach to worship are indicative of a much larger shift in the religion, in which rising digital media use may in fact imply a decline in Christianity’s societal influence.

scholarly journals Call for Research – The Consuming Child-in-Context in Unhealthy and Unsustainable Times

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Skouteris ◽  
Michael Do ◽  
Leonie Rutherford ◽  
Amy Cutter-Mackenzie ◽  
Susan Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Commercial Television ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Consumer Choices ◽  
The Media

AbstractChildhood obesity is a highly complex issue with serious health and environmental implications. It has been postulated that young children (preschool-aged in particular) are able to internalise positive environmental beliefs. Applying a socioecological theoretical perspective, in this discussion paper we argue that although children may internalise such beliefs, they commonly behave in ways that contradict these beliefs as demonstrated by their consumer choices. The media directly influences these consumer choices and growing evidence suggests that media exposure (particularly commercial television viewing) may be a significant “player” in the prediction of childhood obesity. However, there is still debate as to whether childhood obesity is caused by digital media use per se or whether other factors mediate this relationship. Growing evidence suggests that researchers should examine whether different types of content have conflicting influences on a child's consumer choices and, by extension, obesity. The extent to which young children connect their consumer choices and the sustainability of the produces they consume with their overall health and wellbeing has not previously been researched. To these ends, we call for further research on this socioecological phenomenon among young children, particularly with respect to the influence of digital media use on a child's consumer behaviours.

scholarly journals Project (I)solation – Everyday Life and Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Ádám Guld
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Constant Factor ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research Project ◽  
The Media ◽  
New Applications ◽  
The University ◽  
Short Time

Abstract The pandemic has placed our relationship with digital media in a new context. Regardless of age, the isolation had significant impact on our everyday routines, of which media use has become a constant factor in one form or another. We may have never tried to use so many new applications in such a short time before, as for many of us media was the only connection to the outside world. However, after the quarantine, there are several questions that may arise following the extreme situation. Were we captured or rather liberated by the online media? What did we learn about online life and our relationship with the media during the epidemic? How could the digital generation adapt itself to the new circumstances? What challenges and problems did Generation Z face during the quarantine? How have young people’s daily routines, media use patterns, news consumption, learning and/or working habits changed? How about their general attitudes towards the media and their effects on them? In the study below, I seek answers to these questions based on the results of an international, interdisciplinary research project called TOGETHER initiated by the University of Pécs (Pécs, Hungary) and Hochschule für Kommunikation und Gestaltung (Stuttgart, Germany).

scholarly journals Health literacy and digital media use: Assessing the Health Literacy Skills Instrument – Short Form and its correlates among African American college students

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 205520761877076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith E. Rosenbaum ◽  
Benjamin K. Johnson ◽  
Amber E. Deane
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
African American ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
African American College Students ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media

Improving health literacy is increasingly seen as a solution to health problems and inequalities. This study assesses how one of the more recent measures of health literacy, the Health Literacy Skills Instrument – Short Form, performs among African American college students, and ascertains if and how media use relates to health literacy. Results indicate that both the use of health-related websites and apps as well as overall time spent with the media were positively, but conditionally, linked to health literacy. However, findings also pointed to the need for further test development.

scholarly journals Digital Media Use of Older Adults in Mureş County, Romania

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-146
Author(s):  
András Vajda ◽  
Gyöngyvér Erika Tőkés
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Media Use ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Practices ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract This paper analyses the media practices of older adults from Mureş County (village and small town). The first part of this paper examines the integration of digital media into current society and everyday life along with the characteristics of the knowledge and skill acquisition related to digital media. The second half, grounded on empirical qualitative data, offers insight into the digital media practices of older people in Mureş County, Romania, as well as into their opportunities and the contexts regarding the knowledge and skill acquisition necessary for the use of digital media. The paper is based on an exploratory qualitative research aimed at offering insight into the Romanian situation, identifying the obstacles to the digital media use of the older people living in rural areas, and laying the groundwork for a more extended study.

Political Communication in the Digital Age: Algorithms and Bots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hikmet Tosyalı
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere

Technology is one factor that has formed the basis for change in the media throughout history. Analog data and information shared by verbal, visual or written methods are now stored, processed, reproduced and shared in digital format due to developments in information technologies. On the other hand, social media, which is an important part of the digital media system, has become an important medium for political communication studies due to its prevalence and big data. As political actors better understand the value of data sets of millions of users, their interest in social media has also increased. However, this growing interest has also brought concerns such as digital profiling, informatics surveillance, systematic disinformation, and privacy violations. It has long been discussed that the practices of governments and technology companies for creating a structure similar to the gatekeeping in traditional media by taking social media under control. In recent years, some of these discussions are (ro)bot accounts on social media because online social networks are no longer just connecting people. Machines talk and interact with people, and even machines do this with other machines. Automatic posts made by bot accounts through algorithms to imitate people’s behavior on social media are liked, reposted or commented on by people and other bots. Bots that make political shares are also used by political actors worldwide, especially during election periods. Politicians use political bots to appear more popular on social media, disrupt their rivals’ communication strategies, and manipulate public opinion. This study aimed to reveal the effects of bots on political communication. After explaining the concepts of propaganda, algorithm, bot and computational propaganda, how political bots could affect the public sphere and elections were discussed in the light of current political communication literature.

scholarly journals From Autonomy to Anonymity: Information Technology Policy and Changing Politics of the Media System in Indian Democracy

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-425
Author(s):  
Aasim Khan
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Satellite Networks ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Media System ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
The Media

The prominence of information and communications technology (ICTs) in defining India’s media modernity can be gauged by the growing reach of online social media as well as continuing expansion of digital media channels and satellite broadcasting even in the early 21stCentury. Policies concerning information technologies, from telegraph to satellite networks, have also been central to media politics and with the rise of new media, internet related policies have similarly become pivotal to the interaction between the state and media system. Drawing from a comparative media system perspective, this paper argues that while there has been no major constitutional or legal overhaul, as yet, new ideas and information technology policy activism are reshaping the contours of state action and ‘autonomy’ of the press in India’s democracy. Comparing technology debates in an earlier era, when satellite networks swept across the media system, with the more recent deliberations around liabilities for digital intermediaries, the paper unpacks the nature of change and locates its origins in the revival of discursive institutions (Schmidt 2002, 2008) of technology policy since the early 2000s. Technology related ideas, I argue, now serve as institutions, able to function as a ‘coordinating discourse’ (ibid) that have revived ideals of an autonomous media. Technology inflected ideals of ‘anonymity’ also counter the ‘communicative discourse’ (ibid) of Hindutva and cultural nationalist politics of media which framed the issue of autonomy in the ascendant phase of print and electronic media capitalism until the 1990s.

scholarly journals A systematic review and meta-analysis of discrepancies between logged and self-reported digital media use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Parry ◽  
Brittany I. Davidson ◽  
Craig J. R. Sewall ◽  
Jacob T. Fisher ◽  
Hannah Mieczkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Meta Analysis

scholarly journals “As quiet as a mouse”: Media use in Azerbaijan

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (s1) ◽  
pp. 893-911
Author(s):  
Ilgar Seyidov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Supportive Role ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One

AbstractDuring the Soviet period, the media served as one of the main propagandist tools of the authoritarian regime, using a standardized and monotype media system across the Soviet Republics. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, 15 countries became independent. The transition from Soviet communism to capitalism has led to the reconstruction of economic, socio-cultural, and political systems. One of the most affected institutions in post-Soviet countries was the media. Media have played a supportive role during rough times, when there was, on the one hand, the struggle for liberation and sovereignty, and, on the other hand, the need for nation building. It has been almost 30 years since the Soviet Republics achieved independence, yet the media have not been freed from political control and continue to serve as ideological apparatuses of authoritarian regimes in post-Soviet countries. Freedom of speech and independent media are still under threat. The current study focuses on media use in Azerbaijan, one of the under-researched post-Soviet countries. The interviews for this study were conducted with 40 participants living in Nakhichevan and Baku. In-depth, semi-structured interview techniques were used as research method. Findings are discussed under six main themes in the conclusion.

Exploring ‘digital placemaking’

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-578
Author(s):  
Germaine Halegoua ◽  
Erika Polson
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Broad Framework ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Control ◽  
Connected Spaces

This brief essay introduces the special issue on the topic of ‘digital placemaking’ – a concept describing the use of digital media to create a sense of place for oneself and/or others. As a broad framework that encompasses a variety of practices used to create emotional attachments to place through digital media use, digital placemaking can be examined across a variety of domains. The concept acknowledges that, at its core, a drive to create and control a sense of place is understood as primary to how social actors identify with each other and express their identities and how communities organize to build more meaningful and connected spaces. This idea runs through the articles in the issue, exploring the many ways people use digital media, under varied conditions, to negotiate differential mobilities and become placemakers – practices that may expose or amplify preexisting inequities, exclusions, or erasures in the ways that certain populations experience digital media in place and placemaking.

scholarly journals Digital Media Use and Suicidal Behavior in U.S. Adolescents, 2009-2017

2021 ◽  
pp. 101497
Author(s):  
Adam M. Leventhal ◽  
Junhan Cho ◽  
Katherine M. Keyes ◽  
Jennifer Zink ◽  
Kira E. Riehm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Media Use
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document