Weaponizing Online Spaces

2022 ◽  
pp. 138-160
Keyword(s):  
Online Spaces

scholarly journals “Crazy Jack” and the “Gay CEO”: Visions, Entrepreneurship, and the Chinese State in the New Digital Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-85
Author(s):  
Marina Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Business Leader ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Chinese State ◽  
To Receive

This article analyses the visions, careers, and companies of Jack Ma of Alibaba and Geng Le of Blue City. Jack Ma is a well-known business leader and visionary, whereas the less well-known Geng Le only began to receive more attention since launching a successful gay dating app in 2012. The article focuses on the personal narratives and visions of these two IT entrepreneurs. It provides new perspectives on the role of individual entrepreneurs in relation to the Chinese state’s global ambitions and vision of creating a “strong internet country.” It argues that the commercialisation and platformisation of the Chinese internet, and the growing transnational nature of Chinese IT companies, serve to make them more, not less, co-dependent of the state and its visions. The internet’s emancipatory potential is today increasingly conflated with consumption, and online spaces and social relations are subject to both commodification and datafication.

scholarly journals “We’re a Part of This City, Too”: An Examination of the Politics of Representation of D.C. Native via #DCNativesDay

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 205630512098444
Author(s):  
Loren Saxton Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Politics Of Representation ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Movie Theaters ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
The City

This cultural analysis explores how D.C. natives represented themselves on Twitter via #DCNativesDay. The analysis found that Twitter users engaged in hashtag activism to share stories about their connection to place(s) (e.g., movie theaters, neighborhoods, public schools) in the city that were integral in the construction of their individual and collective Black D.C. native identities. Constructed identities were not monolithic, and users engaged in some self-reflexivity. The users’ emphasis on place seemed to signify reclamation of changing city landscapes and legitimacy in the city. Ultimately, this research raises questions about how alternative representations that map marginalized communities onto city spaces in online spaces can create possibilities of transformation for Black communities during gentrification in offline spaces.

scholarly journals Taking Watsuji online: betweenness and expression in online spaces

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Osler ◽  
Joel Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Communication Technology ◽  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Contemporary Context

AbstractIn this paper, we introduce the Japanese philosopher Tetsurō Watsuji’s phenomenology of aidagara (“betweenness”) and use his analysis in the contemporary context of online space. We argue that Watsuji develops a prescient analysis anticipating modern technologically-mediated forms of expression and engagement. More precisely, we show that instead of adopting a traditional phenomenological focus on face-to-face interaction, Watsuji argues that communication technologies—which now include Internet-enabled technologies and spaces—are expressive vehicles enabling new forms of emotional expression, shared experiences, and modes of betweenness that would be otherwise inaccessible. Using Watsuji’s phenomenological analysis, we argue that the Internet is not simply a sophisticated form of communication technology that expresses our subjective spatiality (although it is), but that it actually gives rise to new forms of subjective spatiality itself. We conclude with an exploration of how certain aspects of our online interconnections are hidden from lay users in ways that have significant political and ethical implications.

Facework on Social Media in China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Tian ◽  
Qian Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Interpersonal Interactions ◽  
The World ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
The Face ◽  
Different Parts

With more social interactions shifting to online venues, the different attributes of major social media sites in China influence how interpersonal interactions are carried out. Despite the lack of physical co-presence online, face culture is extended to online spaces. On social media, Chinese users tend to protect their own face, give face to others, and avoid discrediting the face of others, especially when their online and offline networks overlap. This chapter also discusses the different methods used to study facework online and offline and how facework is studied in different parts of the world. It concludes with a brief discussion of how sociological research has contributed to the study of social media in China and directions for future research.

Friend or Foe? Regional Newspapers and the Power of Facebook

2015 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy Hess ◽  
Kathryn Bowd
Keyword(s):  
Digital World ◽  
Comparison Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Regional Newspapers ◽  
Case Comparison ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Access Information ◽  
The One ◽  
Digital Landscape

This article examines how some regional newspapers in Australia are engaging with the social media juggernaut Facebook, and looks at the effects of this on their relationships with audiences in a digital world. We highlight how terms such as friend' and ‘community’ mask complex power struggles taking place across these two media platforms. On the one hand, Facebook can facilitate public conversation and widen the options for journalists to access information; on the other, it has become a competitor as news outlets struggle to find a business model for online spaces. We suggest that newspapers and journalists are facing challenges in navigating the complexities of a platform that crosses public/private domains at a time when the nature of ‘private’ and ‘public’ is being contested. The article adopts a ‘pooled case comparison’ approach, drawing on data from two separate Australian studies that examine regional newspapers in a digital landscape. The research draws on interviews with journalists and editors in Australia across three states, and on focus groups and interviews with newspaper readers in Victoria.

scholarly journals "Yes, the Evil Queen is Latina!": Racial dynamics of online femslash fandoms

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rukmini Pande ◽  
Swati Moitra
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Multiple Loci ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Cultural Texts ◽  
Queer Spaces ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Communicative Space

Online media or participatory fandom has long been theorized as a unique creative and communicative space for women. Further, scholarly work has highlighted the possibility of it functioning as a space that is conducive to the articulation of queerness—both through transformative work and participant identity. However, this theorization has failed to account for the differential operations of these spaces when they are forced to deal with issues of race and racism. This essay argues that this is a significant blind spot as fannish spaces cannot but negotiate with the multiple loci of privilege and intersectional concerns that underpin their functioning. It therefore proposes a significant intervention in the study of the same, drawing our attention to the historically queer and oft-sidelined fannish spaces of femslash fandoms. This analysis seeks to locate the ways in which such queer spaces grapple with critiques of misogyny and homophobia in popular cultural texts and online spaces, as well as the problematics of race and racial identity within such spaces, focusing on the queer fan community built around the relationship of Regina Mills and Emma Swan, eponymously known as Swan Queen, in the television show Once Upon a Time (2011–).

scholarly journals Social Media, Peer Surveillance, Spiritual Formation, and Mission: Practising Christian Faith in a Surveilled Public Space

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-532
Author(s):  
Bex Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Spiritual Formation ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
The Individual

Social media has become a part of everyday life, including the faith lives of many. It is a space that assumes an observing gaze. Engaging with Foucauldian notions of surveillance, self-regulation, and normalisation, this paper considers what it is about social and digital culture that shapes expectations of what users can or want to do in online spaces. Drawing upon a wide range of surveillance research, it reflects upon what “surveillance” looks like within social media, especially when users understand themselves to be observed in the space. Recognising moral panics around technological development, the paper considers the development of social norms and questions how self-regulation by users presents itself within a global population. Focusing upon the spiritual formation of Christian users (disciples) in an online environment as a case study of a community of practice, the paper draws particularly upon the author’s experiences online since 1997 and material from The Big Bible Project (CODEC 2010–2015). The research demonstrates how the lived experience of the individual establishes the interconnectedness of the online and offline environments. The surveillant affordances and context collapse are liberating for some users but restricting for others in both their faith formation and the subsequent imperative to mission.

scholarly journals #RESISTHUDUMANAMBA: KENYAN GOVERNMENT AT A CROSSROAD

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Job Mwaura
Keyword(s):  
Identity Management ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Biometric Data ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Identity Management System ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Government

In the past few years, Kenya’s digital landscape has transformed and this has been made possible by proliferation of the usage of digital technologies, particularly - mobile phones. Due to increased access to digital technologies, faster internet speeds, increased securitization among other issues, data on individuals in online spaces has also increased. Recently, the government rolled out a National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) which is meant to capture biometric data but this has generated a huge debate online in Kenya under the hashtag #ResistHudumaNamba. This paper will therefore examine the following issues: What has contributed to the decline of trust between the government and its citizens when it comes to internet technologies? What are the actual sentiments given for and against in the introduction of Huduma Number? What are the underlying reasons for continued registration of individuals in Kenya? This research will be a qualitative research study. Data will be generated from social media sites (Twitter and Facebook), as well as blog posts and newspaper articles. A discourse analysis of the events around #ResistsHudumaNamba in these sources will be done so as to answer the research questions. This research has the potential to contribute to literature on trust in sub-Saharan Africa as well as establish trust issues between government and citizens when digital technologies are involved.

scholarly journals Trends in Online Religious Processes during the Coronavirus Pandemic in Hungary—Digital Media Use and Generational Differences

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 808
Author(s):  
Andok Mónika
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Real Presence ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
New Type ◽  
The One

The present study shows how Hungarian churches and religious communities responded to the physical closure and relocation to online spaces in the spring of 2020, since while physical gates became closed, digital gates became opened. In the churches, work began in two directions with particular intensity. On the one hand, they organized their online appearance. On the other hand, they began to rethink their theological reflections on the possibilities of digital technology. The study also analyses both the event- and community-based presence of the churches as well as what they broadcast to their believers. The intention was to find the answer to what the presence of the camera meant in the process of live broadcasting, with a special focus on the visual elements and procedures that differed from the visual perception of real presence during streaming: the camera movement, the different viewing angles, the location of the cameras, the cut, and the sound quality. In other words, the believers had a new visual experience, an optical representation of reality, which afforded them a new type of interactivity and participation. In addition, the study highlights the generational differences that can be explored in digital transitions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document