scholarly journals The Consciousness-Raising of #MeToo: Mobilizing Political Empathy in the Digital Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allana Graham

The lasting effect of #MeToo’s suggests that we are at a critical moment in the study of communications and media studies. This MRP will be speculative in nature, however, it is my contribution that we must move beyond literature that defends “slacktivism” and the notion that digital mediation is an impoverished form of communication (McCafferty, 2011; Baym, 2017), and instead build upon emerging frameworks that focus on the affordances of the social media age in activism theory by integrating rationality from offline, or “real life”, areas of literature. In the case of #MeToo, the personalization of politics and mobilizing structures share logic with feminism practices that predate the digital age. This indicates that perhaps an effective way to make meaning out of new and complex phenomena like #MeToo is not diminish the human element, but rather acknowledge it as an integral part of online protest. Building on this assumption, this MRP is a commentary that considers the complexity of the events that brought #MeToo to fruition. I will evaluate #MeToo using emerging literature at the intersections of activism and social media, while contextualizing both the viral moment and the continued movement within feminist theory that is grounded in visceral emotions like vulnerability, anger, empathy, solidarity, and catharsis. Combining both literature that focuses on the technological and human elements should be considered in future research in order to develop theoretical frameworks that create a more holistic understanding of the cultural events that occur due to activism in the digital age.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allana Graham

The lasting effect of #MeToo’s suggests that we are at a critical moment in the study of communications and media studies. This MRP will be speculative in nature, however, it is my contribution that we must move beyond literature that defends “slacktivism” and the notion that digital mediation is an impoverished form of communication (McCafferty, 2011; Baym, 2017), and instead build upon emerging frameworks that focus on the affordances of the social media age in activism theory by integrating rationality from offline, or “real life”, areas of literature. In the case of #MeToo, the personalization of politics and mobilizing structures share logic with feminism practices that predate the digital age. This indicates that perhaps an effective way to make meaning out of new and complex phenomena like #MeToo is not diminish the human element, but rather acknowledge it as an integral part of online protest. Building on this assumption, this MRP is a commentary that considers the complexity of the events that brought #MeToo to fruition. I will evaluate #MeToo using emerging literature at the intersections of activism and social media, while contextualizing both the viral moment and the continued movement within feminist theory that is grounded in visceral emotions like vulnerability, anger, empathy, solidarity, and catharsis. Combining both literature that focuses on the technological and human elements should be considered in future research in order to develop theoretical frameworks that create a more holistic understanding of the cultural events that occur due to activism in the digital age.


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Chirag Shah

Purpose People face barriers and failures in various kinds of information seeking experiences. These are often attributed to either the information seeker or the system/service they use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why individuals fail to fulfill their information needs in all contexts and situations. It addresses the limitations of existing studies in examining the context of the task and information seeker’s strategy and seeks to gain a holistic understanding of information seeking barriers and failures. Design/methodology/approach The primary method used for this investigation is a qualitative survey, in which 63 participants provided 208 real life examples of failures in information seeking. After analyzing the survey data, ten semi-structured interviews with another group of participants were conducted to further examine the survey findings. Data were analyzed using various theoretical frameworks of tasks, strategies, and barriers. Findings A careful examination of aspects of tasks, barriers, and strategies identified from the examples revealed that a wide range of external and internal factors caused people’s failures. These factors were also caused or affected by multiple aspects of information seekers’ tasks and strategies. People’s information needs were often too contextual and specific to be fulfilled by the information retrieved. Other barriers, such as time constraint and institutional restrictions, also intensified the problem. Originality/value This paper highlights the importance of considering the information seeking episodes in which individuals fail to fulfill their needs in a holistic approach by analyzing their tasks, information needs, strategies, and obstacles. The modified theoretical frameworks and the coding methods used could also be instrumental for future research.


Author(s):  
Chris Campanioni

Any discussion of the social invisibilities engendered by the Internet necessarily demands further questioning as to how visibility, as an increasing cultural norm, has produced new inequalities in real life. This contribution combines autoethnographic research, social media analysis, and data analytics with theoretical frameworks such as phenomenology and psychology to globally investigate our current culture of AI-catfishing, social media metrics, and metrics manipulation.  My paper raises questions about re-materializing digital divides and inequalities in the “offline world” through citing self-surveillance techniques and algorithmic biases to show how we are both at the whim of these AI-inflected prejudices but also complicit in reproducing them, whether through government coercion or our own cultural norms and rules. I trace our relationship with music technology to outline a trajectory of sensory disconnect and co-produced community — a framework for understanding current cultural phenomena and the ethics of distributed data, privacy, and the rendering of our bodies as a new kind of transaction, and currency. The rise of fake news is re-contextualized within the widespread rise of fake users: the various impersonations of self even and especially through AI.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lysle Hood

In the digital age, technology and digital media shapes virtually every aspect of our lives. Poetry, which has seen a surprising revival in recent years, is no exception. One of the most popular contemporary poets today is Rupi Kaur, made famous for her verse posted on the social media platform Instagram. This MRP seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) In what ways has the digital age effected contemporary poetry? 2) What role has digital media played in shaping the success and formal elements of Rupi Kaur’s body of work? This MRP begins by offering a brief history of poetry’s relationship with media and an account of how poetry is produced and consumed in the digital age. The core of the MRP is a case study of contemporary Insta-poet Rupi Kaur. Through qualitative visual and textual analysis, the case study considers: 1) Kaur’s poetry, 2) her Instagram content, 3) her readership, and 4) the criticisms of her work. As to the discussion, the analysis of the four categories reveals that Kaur’s rise to Instagram fame is due to three factors: 1) Kaur’s use of social media, 2) her readership’s values, and 3) the publisher’s motives. To conclude, this MRP offers some suggestions for future research, including identifying poets suitable for additional case studies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lysle Hood

In the digital age, technology and digital media shapes virtually every aspect of our lives. Poetry, which has seen a surprising revival in recent years, is no exception. One of the most popular contemporary poets today is Rupi Kaur, made famous for her verse posted on the social media platform Instagram. This MRP seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) In what ways has the digital age effected contemporary poetry? 2) What role has digital media played in shaping the success and formal elements of Rupi Kaur’s body of work? This MRP begins by offering a brief history of poetry’s relationship with media and an account of how poetry is produced and consumed in the digital age. The core of the MRP is a case study of contemporary Insta-poet Rupi Kaur. Through qualitative visual and textual analysis, the case study considers: 1) Kaur’s poetry, 2) her Instagram content, 3) her readership, and 4) the criticisms of her work. As to the discussion, the analysis of the four categories reveals that Kaur’s rise to Instagram fame is due to three factors: 1) Kaur’s use of social media, 2) her readership’s values, and 3) the publisher’s motives. To conclude, this MRP offers some suggestions for future research, including identifying poets suitable for additional case studies.


Author(s):  
Changwon Son ◽  
Farzan Sasangohar ◽  
S. Camille Peres ◽  
Jukrin Moon

Investigating real-life disasters and crises has been challenging due to accompanying difficulties and risks posed by these complex phenomena. Previous research in the emergency management domain has largely relied on qualitative approaches to describe the event after it occurred. To facilitate investigations for more generalizable findings, this paper documents ongoing efforts to design an emergency management simulation testbed called Team Emergency Operations Simulation (TEOS) in which an incident management team (IMT) is situated. First, we describe the design process based on our previous work. Next, we present the overall description of TEOS including representative roles, tasks, and team environments. We also propose measures of team performance of the IMT and propose future research that can be realized through TEOS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
Eko Kuntarto

This research aimed to explain the model of writen conversationin the social media era, such presence of WhatsApp (WA) as well as to explore some of the positive contributions of WA used in building the Real Life Communication. By applying the Exploratory design, this research involved 4 participants as a purposively selected data source with indicators as WA users. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion, Interview, and Observation and analyzed by several stages i.e. data reduction, displaying data, categorizing, and verifying and concluding. The results showed that Indonesia writen conversationcan decrease as the dominant use of WA was not wise. Nevertheless, the use of WA applications also had some positive contributions in building a real relationship. Finally, the assumption that the negative impact of using the WA application should be able to change the mindset and positive attitude in initiating and defending an oral interaction.


Author(s):  
Johannes Knoll ◽  
Jörg Matthes ◽  
Raffael Heiss

Although studies suggest that the use of social media can promote political participation (PP), there is a lack of theorizing about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. This article attempts to fill this gap by suggesting a social media political participation model. Taking a goal systemic perspective, the model specifies a set of interrelated processes that need to be realized so that social media use affects PP. Furthermore, key contingent conditions are outlined and insights into fostering PP are offered. The article explains ways of testing the model with surveys and experiments. Implications for future research are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372110453
Author(s):  
Alexander Lewis Passah

The paper is rooted in the observations from the two internet blackouts witnessed in Meghalaya in 2018 and 2019. The state is located in the North Eastern region of India and this study focuses on the Khasi population residing in the East Khasi Hills District. The study explores the complex role social media has played in information dissemination in the digital age. India currently leads the world in terms of internet blackouts and it has been imposed 538 times in the country. This phenomenon has become a reoccurring trend over the last few years with the rise in digital communications and technological affordances. The paper addresses the dualistic nature of social media and how it can be empowering on the one hand, and can also be a key contributor to mis(dis)information on the other. The study offers a non-digital centric approach by adopting digital ethnographic methods and offers insights into the social media practices and experiences of the Khasi participants as well as delving into the problematic nature of internet blackouts with respect to Meghalaya. Evidently, social media has become a space in which most individuals carry their identity, aspirations, views, history, and opinions.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hall ◽  
Lucy Bush

Mobile technology integration in educational settings is becoming an increasingly important topic as information technology continues to improve, prices decrease, and mobile devices proliferate. Geocaching, a high-tech scavenger hunt played with mobile GPS devices, is a significant example of a mobile technology-based activity that can be incorporated into educational practice. The history and implications of geocaching and its technological contributions are explored, while numerous theoretical frameworks for implementing geocaching in educational settings are discussed. Existing research on educational geocaching is presented, and the social effects of this unique mobile technology activity are examined. Pedagogical applications and best practices are detailed across the spectrum of curricular areas—informed, in part, by the personal teaching experiences of the two authors. Ideas for future research regarding geocaching and other forms of mobile technology-based educational practices are developed. Finally, selected texts for additional reading are provided.


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