scholarly journals The political affordances of the ‘coconut wireless’: Rotumans on social media in the 2018 Fiji elections

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Rufino Varea ◽  
Jason Titifanue ◽  
Romitesh Kant ◽  
Renata Varea
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Online Engagement ◽  
Indigenous Ethnic Group ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
General Elections

As a unique group of people, Rotumans make up less than two percent of Fiji’s population, and as a minority Indigenous ethnic group in Fiji, they have remained relatively hidden and silent in political affairs. Outmigration from the island has led to more than 80 percent of Rotumans residing outside of Rotuma. In recent times, the Rotuman diaspora has heavily relied on the use of ICTs and new media technologies as crucial tools for the reinvigoration of Rotuma’s culture. This in itself poses an intriguing paradox as internet connectivity on Rotuma is quite limited. However, social media platforms have been increasingly used by Rotumans outside of Rotuma, and have enabled increased connectivity and greater dissemination of information among the Rotuman diaspora. Recently, the primary purpose of such social media groups has evolved from merely being a tool for rekindling familial ties, to being a platform for political discourse on Rotuman issues. In essence, despite the scattered nature of the Rotuman population, digital technologies are offering Rotumans the affordance of being able to inform and educate themselves and their networks on political issues of Rotuman interest. By employing ethnography and netnography principles and through in-person and online engagement with Rotumans within and outside of Rotuma, this article examines the affordances that digital technologies offer Rotumans concerning national political discourse. This is carried out with a specific focus on the 2018 general elections in Fiji.

scholarly journals Between opportunities and threats – an analysis of Brazilian Landless Workers’ movement experiences with new media technologies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Madrid Sartoretto
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Clear Separation ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Landless Workers Movement ◽  
And Control ◽  
Communicative Processes

Recent discussions and research about the uses of digital social media platforms by social movements and protest organizations have raised questions about threats and challenges represented by these technologies. There is also a debate on whether digital social media platforms can contribute to establish and strengthen long-standing oppositional groups and structural change. In this context, this article analyses how the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) experiences and views the use of digital social media platforms in its communicative processes. Based on interviews and observations, the article shows how MST militants present ambivalent views towards platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and towards the dynamics of digital communication. Conclusions point that the main concern is threat to the organic collective character of the movement posed by individualistic digital social media platforms. Different from contemporary protest organisations, MST sees a clear separation between the movement and its media. The goal is to appropriate of and control media technologies, which brings many difficulties when dealing with digital social media platforms.

Illusions of Empowerment

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Weisgerber
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Digital Democracy ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Attention Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Systems

This article calls into question the social media empowerment narrative and the underlying idea that social media platforms are empowering everyday netizens to have their voices heard. The author argues that social media technologies may simply privilege only those Internet users who are new media savvy and have leisure time to participate in the so-called digital democracy. While social media systems might have lowered the entrance threshold for civic engagement, hurdles such as the growing competition in an attention economy, the odds of standing out amidst millions of other individual voices, knowledge of new media technologies required to achieve visibility, and time demands make the social media empowerment vision more difficult to attain than the architects of the empowerment ideology have made the public to believe.

scholarly journals Language, Social Media and Political Identity (Re)presentation: A New Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Social Media Political Discourse

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Farhat Sajjad ◽  
Mehwish Malghnai ◽  
Durdana Khosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Political Ideologies

As language is central to all social processes and practices, so it is considered as the most effective tool for (re)shaping and (re)constructing the social realities and political identities as they are negotiated, (re)constructed and thus projected in the broader social and cultural contexts. Since the advent of new media technologies, particularly social media, the forms and modes of political identity construction and (re)presentations are also transformed. As debated earlier that language enables its users, specifically political actors, to exhibit the political ideologies and identities effectively, so the political actors frequently exploit these platforms to achieve their pre-defined political agendas. Within the same context the political rhetoric, specifically the ones that is generated and exhibited on social media network sites, offers a new visibility for the researchers to explore and predict how ideologies and perceptions can be achieved, advocated, altered and rebuilt through discursive discourse strategies on these networking sites. Providing the power of social media for political participation, political engagement and political activism, there is a need to design such framework that can offer a different lens for the analysis of critical yet sensitive issue of political identity (re)presentation beyond the textual level. To address the above debated issue a new theoretical framework is presented in this paper that enables to analyse the text with special reference to the context in which the political identities are negotiated, (re)constructed and (re)presented. This framework is designed by collaborating the approaches of CDA, Political Identity theory, Social Media theory and Political Discourse theory that enables to explore the interrelationship between the “language in use” and the context in which it is created and consumed. 

scholarly journals Positivity, critical fan discourse, and "Humans of New York"

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paromita Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
White Men ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Right

"Humans of New York" (HONY) is a popular photography project, with a global fandom and great outreach on social media platforms like Facebook. However, the creator of HONY has placed heavy restrictions on political discourse within the fan page in order to maintain the spirit of goodwill and positivity for which the fandom has come to be renowned. Yet the culture of positivity on HONY may be problematized: two case studies show that positivity was utilized to protect white men at the expense of women of color. HONY fans have pushed back against the culture of positivity by reclaiming the right to engage in political discourse or by creating alternate spin-off groups that engage with local political issues. Case studies of HONY provoke questions about what it means to engage in political discourse in a fandom that is premised on lying outside the realm of politics.

scholarly journals Russian-Speaking Digital Buddhism: Neither Cyber, nor Sangha

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 449
Author(s):  
Timur Badmatsyrenov ◽  
Elena Ostrovskaya ◽  
Fyodor Khandarov ◽  
Innokentii Aktamov
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Graph Model ◽  
Social Shaping Of Technology ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Modeling Techniques ◽  
Social Shaping ◽  
Key Issues

The paper presents the results of a study that implemented a mixed methods approach to explore the question of correlation between online and offline activities of Buddhist organizations and communities in Russia. The research was carried out in 2019–2020 and addressed the following key issues: How do Buddhist websites and social media communities actually interact with offline organizations and Russian-speaking Buddhist communities? How do the ideological specifics of Buddhist organizations and communities influence their negotiations with the Internet and strategies towards new media technologies? Within the methodological frame of the religious–social shaping of technology approach by Heidi Campbell, we used the typology of religious digital creatives to reveal the strategies created by the Russian-speaking Buddhist communities developing their own identity, authority, and boundaries by means of digital technologies. In the first stage, we used quantitative software non-reactive methods to collect data from social media with the application of mathematical modeling techniques to build a graph model of Buddhist online communities in the vk.com social network and identify and describe its clusters. The second stage of the research combined biographical narratives of Buddhist digital creatives and expert interviews.

Is Social Media a Digital Pulpit? How Evangelical Leaders Use Twitter to Encourage the Faithful and Publicize Their Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Burge ◽  
Miles D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Natural Extension ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Commentary ◽  
Religious Communication ◽  
Theories Of Religion ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Social media is altering how some religious leaders communicate with their followers and with the public. This has the potential to challenge theories of religious communication that have been developed through the study of traditional modes such as sermons. This study examines how leaders in U.S. evangelicalism take advantage of the public platform provided by Twitter. Using over 85,000 tweets from 88 prominent evangelical leaders, we find that these leaders often use their social media platforms as a natural extension of their current modes of communication. More specifically, evangelical leaders use their account to encourage and inspire their followers, while also conveying information about upcoming personal projects such as tours and book releases. In a small number of cases, evangelical leaders do make reference to political issues, but those individuals are ones who have already built a brand based on political commentary. Speaking broadly, the usage of political language by evangelical leaders is rare. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this analysis advances theories of religion and communication.KeywordsTwitter – social media – evangelicals – leaders

scholarly journals CHANGING FACE OF ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR: ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA -GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (03) ◽  
pp. 118-121
Author(s):  
Archana Sawshilya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
General Elections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Electoral Behaviour

The 2019 election witnessed a society that was consuming digital technology .For the first time in the history of India’s political platform the national elections were fought both on the streets and by using the smart phones and social media platforms using the digital technology .The digital media teams of the political parties in the 2019 elections played a very crucial role in trying to tip the scales in the favor of their party .The NaMo app had nearly 10 million downloads while the Shakti app of the Congress had around 70-80 lakh users. But the critics raised the question what if the party that mis-adopted the technology during 2019 is also the majority party in the house that would be responsible for designing the control mechanisms?

scholarly journals Political super branding through the use of social media technology : the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2008

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nadas Ramachandra Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Political Campaigning ◽  
American President ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
Social Media Technology

This study seeks to examine the exponential growth of social media technology as a key component in recent American political campaigning, as well as its use and impact on the larger disciplines of marketing and branding. Adopting the approach of a case study with the focus firmly on the current American president, Barack Obama, the study identifies the key media and technologies used in the build-up to the 2008 American presidential elections in order to unpack and understand how such media channels, technological platforms and patterns were successfully utilised. References are also made to the concepts of ‘branding’ and ‘super branding’ in the discussion, and to the myriad ways in which social media has helped create and roll-out what has since become commonly known as ‘brand Obama’. To provide a framework for the discussion and in order to further understand the rapid growth and proliferation of social media on the political campaigning landscape, a comparison is made with the 2004 American presidential election campaign. This, it is posited, will assist us understand the drivers of new media technologies especially as they are used to create and impact positively on the growth of political super brands.

Designing for Democracy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Forestal
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Democratic Spaces ◽  
Personalization Of Politics

Designing for Democracy addresses the question of how to “fix” digital technologies for democracy by examining how the design of the built environment (whether streets, sidewalks, or social media platforms) informs how, and whether, citizens can engage in democratic practices. “Democratic spaces”—built environments that support democratic politics—must have three characteristics: they must be clearly bounded, durable, and flexible. Each corresponds to a necessary democratic practice. Clearly bounded spaces make it easier to recognize what we share and with whom we share; they help us form communities. Durable spaces facilitate our attachments to the communities they house and the other members within them; they help us sustain communities. And flexible spaces facilitate the experimental habits required for democratic politics; they help us improve our communities. These three practices—recognition, attachment, and experimentalism—are the affordances a built environment must provide in order to be a “democratic space”; they are the criteria to which designers and users should be attentive when building and inhabiting the spaces of the built environment, both physical and digital. Using this theoretical framework, Designing for Democracy provides new insights into the democratic potential of digital technologies. Through extended discussions of examples like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, it suggests architectural responses to problems often associated with digital technologies—loose networks, the “personalization of politics,” and “echo chambers.” In connecting the built environment, digital technologies, and democratic theory, Designing Democracy provides blueprints for democracy in a digital age.

The Effects of Social Media Content Created by Human Brands on Engagement: Evidence from Indian General Election 2014

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakesh R. Mallipeddi ◽  
Ramkumar Janakiraman ◽  
Subodha Kumar ◽  
Seema Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Chief Executive Officers ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Online Engagement ◽  
Social Media Engagement ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Executive Officers ◽  
Human Brands

With human brands or individual celebrities in fields ranging from sports to politics increasingly using social media platforms to engage with their audience, it is important to understand the key drivers of online engagement. Using Twitter data from the political domain, we show that positive and negative-toned content receive higher engagement, as measured by retweets, than mixed or neutral toned tweets. However, less popular human brands generate higher social media engagement from positive-toned content compared with more popular human brands. Therefore, we recommend that popular human brands (e.g., popular politicians or chief executive officers) keep their content objective rather than emotional. Furthermore, the tone of related brands (i.e., human brands who belong to the same political party) has a strong reinforcement effect; that is, social media engagement is higher when the tone of the focal human brand and related brands are the same and lower when the tones are different. Therefore, we prescribe that human brands actively coordinate their social media content with related brands to generate higher engagement. From human brands’ perspective, our findings recommend a comprehensive social media strategy, which takes into account the tone of content, tone of related brands’ content, and human brands’ popularity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document