scholarly journals The Commodification of Body Positivity: Constructing a Neoliberal Fat Citizenship

Author(s):  
Rhiannon Sian Downey

From inspirational messages to celebrated pictures of cellulite and belly rolls, body positive content has become increasingly popular on social media platforms, particularly on image-based networking sites. With the rapid growth of communication technology, it is not surprising that social networking sites, such as Instagram, have become one of the most dominant and influential mediates to cultivating awareness, foster community, and advocate for social change. Instagram’s transition to an advertising platform, however, has introduced a consumerist structure to user activity for corporations to better direct advertisements at target audiences. A once social movement advocating for the rejection of thin beauty ideals in favour of a more inclusive and positive conception of body image has felt the impact of commoditization on its message and advocates. Through Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, this research study seeks to analyze the impact of Instagram’s transition to a commercialization platform on the self-representation of body positive advocates to better understand the influence of neoliberal and capitalist structures on social resistance movements and strategies.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhiannon Sian Downey

From inspirational messages to celebrated pictures of cellulite and belly rolls, body positive content has become increasingly popular on social media platforms, particularly on image-based networking sites. With the rapid growth of communication technology, it is not surprising that social networking sites, such as Instagram, have become one of the most dominant and influential mediates to cultivating awareness, foster community, and advocate for social change. Instagram’s transition to an advertising platform, however, has introduced a consumerist structure to user activity for corporations to better direct advertisements at target audiences. A once social movement advocating for the rejection of thin beauty ideals in favour of a more inclusive and positive conception of body image has felt the impact of commoditization on its message and advocates. Through Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, this research study seeks to analyze the impact of Instagram’s transition to a commercialization platform on the self-representation of body positive advocates to better understand the influence of neoliberal and capitalist structures on social resistance movements and strategies.


10.28945/3767 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sagrario Resurreccion Simbulan

Aim/Purpose: The study focuses on how 107 third and fourth year college students use social networking sites to communicate, to coordinate activities, and to collaborate with family members, classmates, and friends. Background This research study looks at the students’ social networking site usage patterns, their frequency of use, online social behavior as well as awareness of risks relating to privacy and unsolicited attention from strangers. Methodology: This study used a questionnaire to elicit business management students’ perception of social networking’s impact on learning, on relationships with peers, and on the development of critical social and business skills. Contribution: This research study seeks to explore students’ perception of the importance of social networking sites in their lives as students. This offers an insight to how the respondents use social networking sites, who they interact with on these sites, and how it impacts their family life and academic life. Findings: The study finds that overall, the impact of social networking among these respondents has been positive though it has yet to help all of the students to find a balance between their personal and academic lives. Recommendations for Practitioners: Studying the social networking usage behavior of students can help teachers assist and guide them, even beyond class hours, on academic, personal, and career matters. Impact on Society: While focused on a very small sample of third and fourth year students in the Philippines, the study hopes to offer parents, elders, faculty, and school administrators an insight into the impacts of social networking sites on the lives of students, and to present possible ways to help these young people cope with the pressures of living in a networked, totally connected, 24/7 world. Future Research: Instances and responses to cyberbullying; the possibility of self-harm or feelings of isolation stemming from unrestricted social networking site use; the role of self-discipline in limiting use of social networking sites during school days.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Xue ◽  
Sajid Hassan ◽  
Sher Bahader ◽  
Shazia Habib

The current study investigates the impact of fear related to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease on situational humor, and also on social networking sites (SNS) usage as a mediator. Furthermore, this study investigates the impact of fear-related COVID-19 disease on situation humor via SNS usage, focusing on the gender perspective of university students. This study also examined the impact of fear related to COVID-19 disease on situational humor in students from various degree programs, such as BS and MS. For this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 24 different Pakistani universities using purposive sampling between December 2020 and May 2021. This study used social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (and also email) to collect data online. According to the findings of this study, fear related to COVID-19 disease was found to be significantly negatively related to situational humor and SNS usage, whereas SNS usage was positively related to situational humor. The findings also revealed that SNS usage is a key mediator in the relationship between fear related to COVID-19 disease and situational humor. In addition, male university students used more SNS and had a higher situational humor response than female university students, and female university students reported a higher fear related to COVID-19 disease. This study provided useful findings of the impact of fear related to COVID-19 disease on situational humor among students in various academic programs, such as bachelor's program and master's program.


Social Media has undoubtedly become a powerful tool among the students. Social Media provides them the freedom to do whatever they want, to find new friends, to interact with people, to share information and knowledge and to create profile or identities. Social networking sites provide students with a new platform for learning but it also has a darker side of which if one is not aware of can bring potential dangers. The youth spent long hours on different social media platforms which has affected their academics, impaired their sleep patterns ,missed out their schools and meals and often produces stress, anxiety and fear about their identities. Students are also entrapped by the ploys of social networking. This happens when it develops an addiction in them that inculcates bad habits. So the students should be educated properly regarding the usage of Social Media and develop the cognitive and intuitive ability to analyze how much they want to spend on the different platforms in Social Media. Most of the studies conducted examine the impact of social networking sites on the academic performance of students. This study focuses on the usage of Social Media and its perceived impact on the social life of students in Kerala.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Abdulelah A. Alghamdi ◽  
Margaret Plunkett

With the increased use of Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) in Saudi Arabia, it is important to consider the impact of this on the social lives of tertiary students, who are heavy users of such technology. A mixed methods study exploring the effect of SNSAs use on the social capital of Saudi postgraduate students was conducted using a multidimensional construct of social capital, which included the components of life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation, and political engagement. Data were collected through surveys and interviews involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students from Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings show that male and female participants perceived SNSAs use impacting all components of social capital at a moderate and mainly positive level. Correlational analysis demonstrated medium to large positive correlations among components of social capital. Gender differences were not evident in the life satisfaction and social trust components; however, females reported more involvement with SNSAs for the purposes of political engagement while males reported more use for civic participation, which is an interesting finding, in light of the norms and traditional culture of Saudi society.


Author(s):  
Abdulelah A. Alghamdi ◽  
Margaret Plunkett

This paper outlines a study exploring the perceptions of Saudi male and female postgraduate students regarding the impact of using Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) on their academic engagement and academic relationships. While research on SNSA use within the higher education environment does exist, mixed gender research has often presented challenges in Saudi Arabia, due to the educational segregation. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data through surveys, individual interviews and focus groups involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings illustrated that both males and females engaged with SNSAs at a moderate level of use for academic purposes, and they perceived more positive than negative impacts associated with the academic use of SNSAs. Correlational analysis demonstrated a large positive correlation between academic engagement and academic relationships. Gender differences were not extensive however, the quantitative analysis highlighted more prominent involvement with SNSAs by females which is interesting, in light of social restrictions experienced by females in Saudi society.


Author(s):  
Maryam Salahshour ◽  
Halina Mohamed Dahlan ◽  
Noorminshah A. Iahad

Social networking tools have become an integral part of our daily lives. Recently, a new type of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) namely Academic Social Networking sites (ASNSs) has attracted global users. There is perceived usefulness on the impact of ASNSs on patterns of academic research activities. However, it remains unclear why some researchers do not use ASNSs at all. The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore the ASNSs usage among Malaysian academic researchers and to investigate benefits, specific purpose, drivers and barriers of using ASNSs. A total of 210 completed cases were collected through paper-based and online-based questionnaire. In order to show the outcome of the research, descriptive interpretation of data is performed. The overall findings of this research indicate that there is low rate of ASNSs usage among researchers. In addition, the results show that colleagues, attitude toward technology and communication benefits are the drivers to use ASNSs and trust, privacy and security are the common barriers regarding to use ASNSs.


Author(s):  
Djeboub Walid

This study aimed to show the extent of teenagers who represent students Tèbessa University contents of violence and crime that is seen or published or traded them through the media and communication affected, especially through social networking sites and networks, such as Facebook and stringing YouTube and Skype, etc., which may contribute to the formation and strengthening of behaviors negative in these through the following problem: Do you contribute to social networking sites through the implications of violence and crime in a negative impact on the behaviors of the students within the university community ?, also deliberately researcher to sample the estimated inventory of 50 students schooled at the Faculty of Economics and Commercial Sciences and Management Sciences of each section by an estimated 10% of the study population as a whole's (2000) the adoption of simple random sampling technique, the results have also been addressing the adoption system (SPSS) , Which resulted in the results: the presence of a statistically significant correlation between the students' use of social networking sites and the spread of deviant behavior within the university community?, And no statistically significant differences in the adverse effects of the use of social networking sites on the behavior of students depending on the sex variable, the largest of any female average for the benefit of, No statistically significant differences in the adverse effects of the use of social networking sites on the behavior of students depending on the variable physical level ?,No statistically significant differences in the adverse effects of the use of social networking sites on the behavior of the students due to the level of scientific student ?,The study also called attention to the recent media study the impact of the implications of violence and crime across social networking on the behavior of young people and adolescents sites, spreading awareness programs to help solve the problems of this phenomenon.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Wayne W. L. Chan ◽  

The legal authorities, particularly the police force, have been increasingly facing challenges given the popularity of social media [1, 2]. However, we know very little about how public perceptions of the police are being shaped by social media. In this context, this study attempted to investigate the impact of social media on young people’s perceptions of the police in Hong Kong. The focus of this study was placed on Facebook since it was one of the most popular social media platforms in the city. Facebook was not only conceptualized as a communication medium but also a social networking arena. In this connection, qualitative individual interviews were conducted to explore the online social networking on Facebook and its relation to the perceptions of police force. It was found that the Facebook users who were more likely to stay closely connected with other users with similar views would tend to form the politicized perception of police force. On the other hand, the Facebook users who were to be networked with some other users or real persons with dissimilar views would hold more neutral perceptions of the police. This study was the first of its kind to investigate the role of online social networking in the perceptions of the police, thus filling an important gap in our knowledge of the increasing impact of social media. Therefore, the results of current study were expected to contribute to society by avoiding the disproportionate public discourse about law and order. Keywords: Social Media, Online Social Networking, Public Perception, Police Force.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 150-161
Author(s):  
G. Nchabeleng ◽  
CJ. Botha ◽  
CA Bisschoff

Social media can be a useful tool in public relations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but do NGOs make use of social media in their quest for service delivery in South Africa? Social networking sites, blogging, email, instant messaging, and online journals are some of the technological changes that changed the way interaction between people and how they gather information. Although social media is mainly used for interactive dialogue and social interaction, the private sector soon realised that the web-based technologies (especially Facebook and Twitter) could also be a competitive business tool. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) soon followed suit however at a slower pace than the general communication growth rate of social media in South Africa. This article examines if social networking sites have any impact on public relations practices of NGOs in South Africa – an environment where both customers and employees still struggle to take full advantage of social media. The critical literature findings increase the understanding of the current and future challenges of social media use in public relations at NGOs in South Africa. The study explores the main differences between traditional and social media, how social media is redefining public relations role, and shed some light on defining public relations practices, identify the uses, limitations and benefits of social media by public relations practitioners in NGOs. Recommendations for future communication research are given. Based on the literature, a qualitative research design collected data using semi-structured, individual interviews. The results revealed that social media platforms such as Facebook do have an effect, and even changed the way in which NGOs communicate. The study also revealed that social media certainly has an impact on public relations relationships. This means that it has become crucial that public relations practitioners at NOGs embrace and take advantage of social media, and that they should also invest in proper electronic platforms to reap the benefits of improved communication internally and externally.


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