scholarly journals Researching Digital Sociality

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hany Zayed
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Educational Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Global South ◽  
Anthropology Of Education ◽  
Data Collection Instrument ◽  
Media Research ◽  
Digital Landscape

Digital technologies have become deeply implicated in and constitutive of contemporary social life. They are reshaping who we are and how we associate with one another, and are profoundly reconfiguring social relations, processes, and practices in a host of social spheres, particularly education. With Covid-19 further entrenching this implication and accelerating those changes, we are forced to rethink what research is and how it is done. This article presents a step towards researching a changing sociality using social media. Drawing on fieldwork on the digital transformation of Egyptian education, it argues that and showcases how WhatsApp can be systematically used as a qualitative data collection instrument to examine educational change. This article also situates WhatsApp research within digital ethnographic traditions, unpacks emergent methodological challenges and ethical quandaries, and presents potential ways to manage them. In so doing, it problematizes extant methodological categories (such as participation), entrenched dichotomies (such as private/public space), and epistemological questions (such as research temporality). Using a unique case from the Global South at an exceptional time of (educational) change, this article can help researchers as they think about their questions, design their research, conduct their fieldwork, and maneuver an elusive digital landscape. It informs broader methodological discussions within digital sociology and anthropology (of education), digital ethnography, and social media research. It also informs research in other domains like healthcare, geographies beyond the Global South, and platforms with similar affordances like Telegram.

scholarly journals Conviviality as a Spatial Planning Goal for Public Open Spaces

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 4382-4387
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Tendency ◽  
Public Open Spaces

Conviviality is a popular concept in urban design while referring to the good qualities of public spaces. This concept is the need for current times when social life in physical public spaces is declining away largely to forces like social media and the virtual world. The human tendency to feel satisfied and happy exists in existence with others. The social media has taken away the role that established Greek agora as the first centre of public interaction which initiated the concepts of modern democracy. Where popular public spaces have big roles to perform, the small public spaces in the neighbourhood and markets perform an important role to stage the everyday local nuisance in people's life. Even If public space is satisfactory enough to take away the loneliness and boredom of everyday course of modern living a lot can be achieved. Conviviality is one such factor which helps to elevate the satisfaction of spending time with others. This paper is an attempt to understand conviviality and relate it to public open spaces from the physical planning point of view.

scholarly journals Social consequences of the 2020 regional elections in Indonesia under the covid-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 536-542
Author(s):  
V. L. Muzykant ◽  
M. A. Muqsith
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
Regional Elections

The article considers the relationship between the 2020 regional elections in Indonesia under the covid-19 pandemic, public space, and political activism in the social media. The covid-19 pandemic has changed the social, political and cultural fabric of the contemporary world. First, the covid-19 threatened the countrys healthcare system, then it affected other aspects of social life, including the political sphere. The pandemic has been exacerbated by the spread of misinformation about the covid-19, which is also known as the infodemic. Thus, the covid-19 pandemic influenced the choice of holding elections or delaying it until the situation is under control. The development of the social media encourages political activism in the political public sphere and makes it more diverse in the sphere of egalitarianism. The political public sphere becomes increasingly dynamic and critical to various policies. Indonesia did not postpone the 2020 regional elections under the covid-19 crisis. According to the health protocol, this decision had its pros and cons in the digital space. The authors show that political activists in the social media called for prioritizing health rather than the process of democratization through elections, while the government supporters insisted on having elections even in the covid-19 pandemic situation. Finally, the 2020 regional elections were held but were followed by various incidents. The question is whether the governments argument to hold elections under the covid-19 pandemic was reasonable or, on the contrary, contributed to the wider spread of the covid-19 in Indonesia. Deliberative democracy should consider civil participation as the main pillar of the political system, which is relevant for the new social reality as based on the new social media technologies.

scholarly journals Death and the Spectacle in Television and Social Media

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Stratton
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Violent Death ◽  
Natural Death ◽  
Jean Baudrillard ◽  
Society Of The Spectacle ◽  
Symbolic Exchange

Social media are pervaded by death. This article utilizes ideas drawn primarily from the work of Guy Debord—the society of the spectacle—and Jean Baudrillard—his discussion of death in Symbolic Exchange and Death, to think through the significance of death on social media. Debord argued that the consequence of the ubiquity of the mass media, and television in particular, and their increasing imbrication with consumption capitalism, was that social relations are increasingly lived as spectacle. At the same time, in the modern world, death has become increasingly separated from life. No longer integrated into social life, death has become the feared and meaningless end of life, which is to be preserved at all costs. The death that is now meaningful is not “natural” death but violent death. Social media is full of unnatural deaths including beheadings and suicide. This article discusses the pervasiveness of these on social media.

scholarly journals Social relations in virtual world and social media aggression

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-149
Author(s):  
Levent Eraslan ◽  
Ahmet Kukuoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Virtual Communication ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Social

Living in the age of constant technology developments shifted social communication patterns and shifted social relations to virtual environments. The socialisation process that takes place in digital platforms also transferred many negative elements experienced in social life to the virtual environment. That is, the aggression behaviours concerning these negative processes have also been transferred to the virtual communication. The current study examines the effects of social media aggression (SMA) regarding digital platforms on the social relations in human life in the context of various variables. Results of the study revealed that the counter-comments towards participants’ values have a significant effect on participants’ demonstration of aggressive tendencies. In other notable finding participants reported that they aware of their rights f=75 (33%) against negative SMA, while f=150 (67%) of participants do not know them.  Keywords: Virtual communication, social media, aggression.

Navigating Shomoyscapes: Time and faculty life in the urban Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 0961463X2110580
Author(s):  
Riyad A Shahjahan ◽  
Nisharggo Niloy ◽  
Tasnim A Ema
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Global South ◽  
Temporal Constraints ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
University Politics ◽  
Global North ◽  
Faculty Experience ◽  
Temporal Agency

We aim to decenter the Global North knowledge production about time in higher education (HE) by introducing and applying a culturally sustaining concept of shomoyscapes. While the Bengali word “shomoy” literally means “time,” it goes beyond “clock time” and also refers to memories, present moments, feelings, a particular duration, and/or signifier for a temporal engagement. A shomoyscape entails a complex temporal landscape of different temporal categories, constraints, agencies, and to various degrees, embodies hybrid times (i.e., modern time coexisting with non-linear local/traditional time). Drawing on interviews and participant observations with 22 faculty in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we demonstrate the efficacy of shomoyscapes by illuminating how faculty experience, contest, and manipulate their time(s) amid rapid socio-economic transformations of Dhaka, an urban, Global South mega city. We show how shomoyscapes manifest as faculty experience temporal constraints, such as (a) traffic, (b) party-based university politics, and (c) caring for others. We suggest that Bangladeshi faculty experience and navigate shomoyscapes that are constituted by both larger temporal constraints (spatial, structural, or relational) and their temporal agency in response to these same constraints. Using a temporal lens, we contribute to a more in depth understanding of the experiences of faculty working and living in an urban, Global South context, highlighting how life “outside the academy” spills over into working “inside the academy,” rather than vice versa. We argue that shomoyscapes offer a useful temporal heuristic to help contextualize human/social relations in different arenas of social life that would otherwise remain invisible.

scholarly journals Mobile technology: private talk, public life and the shrinking commons.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savi Pannu
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Political Action ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
The Way

"In the field of Communication studies, mobile technology is still a relatively new area of study with scholarly research just beginning to address this rapidly growing field. Because this technology is continually evolving, as is the way in which people are starting to use it, much of the research remains inconclusive as to any predictions of how this technology will to be used. In the meantime, much has been made about mobile technology's potential to change the way we interact and communicate with one another, and how these changes might have the ability to alter social relations forever. What I would like to examine are the locations where mobile technology and social relations intersect, and the manner in which the two inform each other. More specifically, I would like to focus on the areas where mobile technologies (cell phones, Blackberries, text messaging) affect social life, such as collective behaviour, political action, as well as public sphere and public space issues. Much has been made about the supposed benefits of technology and its potential to collectivize, politicize and, above all, mobilize our society. However, is this constant telephony really living up to this potential? In an environment already saturated with communication technology, billion-dollar advertising expenditures and media multinationals, will the addition of new technologies benefit those seldom heard or only add to the white noise?"--Pages 2-3.

scholarly journals Mobile technology: private talk, public life and the shrinking commons.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savi Pannu
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Political Action ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Communication Studies ◽  
The Way

"In the field of Communication studies, mobile technology is still a relatively new area of study with scholarly research just beginning to address this rapidly growing field. Because this technology is continually evolving, as is the way in which people are starting to use it, much of the research remains inconclusive as to any predictions of how this technology will to be used. In the meantime, much has been made about mobile technology's potential to change the way we interact and communicate with one another, and how these changes might have the ability to alter social relations forever. What I would like to examine are the locations where mobile technology and social relations intersect, and the manner in which the two inform each other. More specifically, I would like to focus on the areas where mobile technologies (cell phones, Blackberries, text messaging) affect social life, such as collective behaviour, political action, as well as public sphere and public space issues. Much has been made about the supposed benefits of technology and its potential to collectivize, politicize and, above all, mobilize our society. However, is this constant telephony really living up to this potential? In an environment already saturated with communication technology, billion-dollar advertising expenditures and media multinationals, will the addition of new technologies benefit those seldom heard or only add to the white noise?"--Pages 2-3.

Social characteristic of religious rituals

1997 ◽  
pp. 8-12
Author(s):  
Valentyna Bodak
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social System ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Social Characteristic ◽  
Religious Rituals

Society is a person in its social relations. If the term "society" is used to determine reality as a system of interconnections and relationships between people, then its social system appears as an entity in which human societies are diverse in character and social role. Social life is expressed in the grouping of members of society on the basis of certain objectively predetermined types of relations between them. The integrity and unity of religious communities, their qualitative specificity determines the content of the doctrine and cult, on which they grow.

EFFECT OF DIGITAL COMMUNITY TOWARDS DEMOCRACY PROCESS: DIGITAL PARTISIPATION ANALYSIS IN INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alih Aji Nugroho
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Digital Society ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Digital Community ◽  
The Government

The world is entering a new phase of the digital era, including Indonesia. The unification of the real world and cyberspace is a sign, where the conditions of both can influence each other (Hyung Jun, 2018). The patterns of behavior and public relations in the virtual universe gave rise to new social interactions called the Digital Society. One part of Global Megatrends has also influenced public policy in Indonesia in recent years. Critical mass previously carried out conventionally is now a virtual movement. War of hashtags, petitions, and digital community comments are new tools and strategies for influencing policy. This paper attempts to analyze the extent of digital society's influence on public policy in Indonesia. As well as what public policy models are needed. Methodology used in this analysis is qualitative descriptive. Data collection through literature studies by critical mass digital recognition in Indonesia and trying to find a relationship between political participation through social media and democracy. By processing the pro and contra views regarding the selection of social media as a level of participation, this paper finds that there are overlapping interests that have the potential to distort the articulation of freedom of opinion and participation. - which is characteristic of a democratic state. The result is the rapid development of digital society which greatly influences the public policy process. Digital society imagines being able to participate formally in influencing policy in Indonesia. The democracy that developed in the digital society is cyberdemocracy. Public space in the digital world must be guaranteed security and its impact on the policies that will be determined. The recommendation given to the government is that a cyber data analyst is needed to oversee the issues that are developing in the digital world. Regulations related to the security of digital public spaces must be maximized. The government maximizes cooperation with related stakeholders.Keywords: Digital Society; Democracy; Public policy; Political Participation

Occupy Movement, Religion and Social Formations

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Matt Sheedy
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Occupy Movement ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

The Occupy movement was an unprecedented social formation that spread to approximate 82 countries around the globe in the fall of 2011 via social media through the use of myths, symbols and rituals that were performed in public space and quickly drew widespread mainstream attention. In this paper I argue that the movement offers a unique instance of how discourse functions in the construction of society and I show how the shared discourses of Occupy were taken-up and shaped in relation to the political opportunity structures and interests of those involved based on my own fieldwork at Occupy Winnipeg. I also argue that the Occupy movement provides an example of how we might substantively attempt to classify “religion” by looking at how it embodied certain metaphysical claims while contrasting it with the beliefs and practices of more conventionally defined “religious” communities.

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