scholarly journals “Streets of menace”: Constructing and deconstructing youth “gangs” in two Australian cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1114-1132
Author(s):  
Murray Lee ◽  
Mark Halsey ◽  
Asher Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Youth Gangs ◽  
Youth Gang ◽  
Gang Activity

This paper explores the symbolic and instrumental impacts associated with labelling particular groups of young people as perpetrators of organised “gang” activity. Using case studies from two Australian cities, we point primarily to the constitutive and damaging nature of much media and public discourse about youth gang crime and show how young offenders’ disadvantage and disenfranchisement is rendered largely invisible or immaterial to understanding the causes and solutions to such problems. In an era of “fake news”, social media “echo chambers”, civil conflict, mass international migration/forced diasporas, as well as the reassertion of strong sovereign borders, we ask: how might one de-escalate the “monstering” of young people whose identity (and presence and place in society) is known primarily, if not exclusively, through the “noise” and visibility of their offending?

scholarly journals Towards Combating Pandemic-Related Misinformation in Social Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
Isa Inuwa-Dutse
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Toxic Impact ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Conventional preventive measures during pandemics include social distancing and lockdown. Such measures in the time of social media brought about a new set of challenges – vulnerability to the toxic impact of online misinformation is high. A case in point is COVID-19. As the virus propagates, so does the associated misinformation and fake news about it leading to an infodemic. Since the outbreak, there has been a surge of studies investigating various aspects of the pandemic. Of interest to this chapter are studies centering on datasets from online social media platforms where the bulk of the public discourse happens. The main goal is to support the fight against negative infodemic by (1) contributing a diverse set of curated relevant datasets; (2) offering relevant areas to study using the datasets; and (3) demonstrating how relevant datasets, strategies, and state-of-the-art IT tools can be leveraged in managing the pandemic.

scholarly journals Citizen Perceptions of Fake News in Spain: Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Ideological Differences

Publications ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
David Blanco-Herrero ◽  
Javier J. Amores ◽  
Patricia Sánchez-Holgado
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Ideological Differences ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Citizen Perceptions ◽  
And Gender

Although the phenomenon of disinformation and, specifically, fake news has become especially serious and problematic, this phenomenon has not been widely addressed in academia from the perspective of consumers, who play a relevant role in the spread of this content. For that reason, the present study focuses on determining how this phenomenon is perceived by citizens, as the strategies to counteract fake news are affected by such opinions. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify in which media the perception and experience of fake news is greatest and thus determine what platforms should be focused on to counteract this phenomenon. A survey was conducted in October 2020, among the Spanish adult population and was completed by a total of 423 people (with 421 valid answers). Among its main findings, this study determined that social media platforms are the type of media in which the greatest amount of fake news is perceived, which confirms the suggestions of previous studies. Furthermore, the experienced presence of fake news seems to be primarily affected by age and gender, as there was a higher level of skepticism observed among young people and women. Additionally, the use of media seems to be positively correlated with the perceived and experienced presence of fake news.

scholarly journals Fake News

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
False Information ◽  
The Subject

Fake news has been the subject of a rapid research response, from a range of fields, given its impact on multiple sectors, the public sphere, and everyday life. The most prominent areas and disciplines contributing research and academic writing on fake news have been journalism, media and cultural studies, media literacy, politics, technology, and education. Whilst the concept is part of a broader concern with misinformation, the term “fake news” came to widespread public attention during the 2016 US presidential election. During the campaign, inaccurate social media posts were spread to large groups of users, a form of “viral” circulation found most prominently on the Facebook platform. A subsequent investigation discovered a large quantity of the posts were generated in the town of Veles in Macedonia, leading to concerns about the automated factory production of messages, including by “bots.” A key development in the use of the term “fake news” was Donald Trump’s adoption of it, following his election, as a negative description of unfavorable media coverage, going so far as to respond to unwanted questions from reporters in press conferences with “you’re fake news.” Fake news is a recent development in a long-established area of persuasive, misleading, or disproportionate mass communication. Research into fake news and analysis of it can be broken down into a set of categories. Political fake news is intended to misinform and influence (a contemporary form of propaganda). Strategic “cyberwarfare” by one nation on another may include spreading false information through fake social media accounts, authored by “bots.” Commercial fake news operates in the form of “clickbait,” whereby advertising revenue is attracted and combined with the economic affordances of user data trading. It is important to recognize that multinational digital corporations integrate this kind of communication into their business models. The distinctive impact of fake news has been to destabilize mainstream news media and provoke a crisis of trust in journalism, contributing to polarized public discourse and an increase in discriminatory communication. Research into fake news and the broader “information disorder” has explored fake news as propaganda, the role of technology, algorithms, and data harnessing in the spreading of fake news; fake news as an existential threat to journalism; fake news as part of the process of undermining or challenging democracy; protection from fake news through verification or “fact-checking” tools and more sustainable, longer term educational approaches to developing resilience to misinformation through media literacy. The term “fake news,” however, has been the subject of disagreement, with journalists, policymakers, educators, and researchers arguing either that it presents an oxymoron as false information cannot be categorized as news as defined by journalistic codes of practice (and thus plays into the hands of those who wish to undermine mainstream media) or that it assumes a “false binary” between real and fake, ignoring the gatekeeping agendas at work in all news production.

Weaponized iconoclasm in Internet memes featuring the expression ‘Fake News’

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Small Pool ◽  
Online Culture

The expression ‘Fake News’ inside Internet memes engenders significant online virulence, possibly heralding an iconoclastic emergence of weaponized propaganda for assaulting agencies reared on public trust. Internet memes are multimodal artifacts featuring ideological singularities designed for ‘flash’ consumption, often composed by numerous voices echoing popular, online culture. This study proposes that ‘Fake News’ Internet memes are weaponized iconoclastic multimodal propaganda (WIMP) discourse and attempts to delineate them as such by asking: What power relations and ideologies do Internet memes featuring the expression ‘fake news’ harbor? How might those manifestations qualify as WIMP discourse? A multimodal critical discourse analysis of a small pool of ‘fake news’ Internet memes drawn from four popular social media websites revealed what agencies were often targeted and from what political canons they likely emerged. Findings indicate that many Internet memes featuring ‘fake news’ are specifically directed, revealing an underlying hazard that WIMP discourse could diminish democratic processes while influencing online trajectories of public discourse.

Gangs, music and the mediatisation of crime: expressions, violations and validations

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Pinkney ◽  
Shona Robinson-Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Music Videos ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gang Activity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Disorganisation ◽  
Form Of Expression

Purpose The way in which criminologists understand, contextualise and theorise around the mediatised world has raised some critical new questions. The purpose of this paper is to report on qualitative research which looks at the ways in which some forms of social media are utilised by gang members. Gang research in the main is predicated on the notion that gangs are deviant products of social disorganisation; however, there is little written on the “specific” forms of expression used by those associated with gangs. Design/methodology/approach The lyrical content of three music videos has been analysed using narrative analysis. Findings Music videos have been used as a form of expression for decades. More recently in some cases they have been used as a tool to send threats, promote gang culture and flaunt illegal substances, which is fairly a new concept, in the UK at least. Social media and music videos are not the sole reason why there has been a rise in violence amongst young people; however, this paper aims to further explore some of these notions. Originality/value The authors suggest that this form of expression presents challenges in the understanding of gang activity in a mediatised world. The intention is not to further criminalise young people, but to seek understanding and explore the phenomenon of music videos and its position their gang research.

scholarly journals The Macedonian Fake News Industry and the 2016 US Election

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
Heather C. Hughes ◽  
Israel Waismel-Manor
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Economic Motivation ◽  
Expert Teacher ◽  
English Fluency ◽  
News Industry ◽  
Us Presidential Election

ABSTRACTDuring the 2016 US presidential election, Americans were exposed to an onslaught of disinformation on social media. Many of the most viral posts originated from Veles, a small town in central Macedonia. During fieldwork in Veles, where we interviewed several residents and disinformation creators, we found that the epicenter of this viral phenomenon was Mirko Ceselkoski, an autodidact social media expert, teacher, and mentor to Veles’ fake news operators. We interviewed Ceselkoski and registered and attended his online course—the same course numerous Veles residents took offline. Our research confirms (1) the pivotal role Ceselkoski had in the creation of this industry; (2) the economic motivation driving the fake news disseminators; and (3) the manner in which the mostly young people in their early twenties with little English fluency were able to generate so much traffic and disseminate so much disinformation.

scholarly journals PERAN KOMUNITAS ONLINE ‘SUARA DISKO’ DALAM MEMBANGUN BRAND AWARENESS MUSIK TAHUN 80AN MELALUI INSTAGRAM THE ROLE OF ONLINE COMMUNITY ‘SUARA DISKO’ IN BUILD A BRAND AWARENESS THROUGH 80’S MUSIC INSTAGRAM

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-184
Author(s):  
Annisa Pramitasari ◽  
Dini Salmiyah Fithrah Ali
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young People ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Brand Awareness ◽  
Brand Recall ◽  
Brand Recognition ◽  
Four Levels

The development of the community is currently getting forward and more of young people who have an interest in a thing that is similar and  they began to build a community. Suara Disko. is a community that has a  purpose to popularize  the  80s music. With the evolve  of social media makes Suara Disko ha s  a media as Instagram to introduce their communities online. The purpose of this research is to find out how the role of online communities ‘Suara Disko ‘ in built a  Brand Awareness through 80s music Instagram.  This research using the qualitative method with approach case studies with indicator consists of four levels of Brand Awareness by Durianto that are Brand Recognition, Brand Unaware, Brand Recall, and Top Of Mind. Results of the study mentioned that the role of the community Suara Disko in built a Brand Awareness is by establishing the identity, provide the education, interaction with the followers, and become catchy by followers when considering which popularized back 80s music. Then to achieve the purpose of Suara Disko to popularize 80s music, Suara Disko is using Instagram to deliver activities in the form of visual and message.  Keywords – Brand Awareness, Community, Instagram, Role, Suara Disko

Says Who? The Effects of Presentation Format and Source Rating on Fake News in Social Media

MIS Quarterly ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 1025-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antino Kim ◽  
◽  
Alan R. Dennis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presentation Format ◽  
Fake News

Identity concerns drive belief: The impact of partisan identity on the belief and dissemination of true and false news

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pereira ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
System P ◽  
False News ◽  
Democrats And Republicans ◽  
The Impact

Political misinformation, often called “fake news”, represents a threat to our democracies because it impedes citizens from being appropriately informed. Evidence suggests that fake news spreads more rapidly than real news—especially when it contains political content. The present article tests three competing theoretical accounts that have been proposed to explain the rise and spread of political (fake) news: (1) the ideology hypothesis— people prefer news that bolsters their values and worldviews; (2) the confirmation bias hypothesis—people prefer news that fits their pre-existing stereotypical knowledge; and (3) the political identity hypothesis—people prefer news that allows their political in-group to fulfill certain social goals. We conducted three experiments in which American participants read news that concerned behaviors perpetrated by their political in-group or out-group and measured the extent to which they believed the news (Exp. 1, Exp. 2, Exp. 3), and were willing to share the news on social media (Exp. 2 and 3). Results revealed that Democrats and Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group, supporting a political identity hypothesis. However, although belief was positively correlated with willingness to share on social media in all conditions, we also found that Republicans were more likely to believe and want to share apolitical fake new. We discuss the implications for theoretical explanations of political beliefs and application of these concepts in in polarized political system.

Fake It “Till You Make It”: Debunking Fake News in a Post-Truth America

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-133
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
American People ◽  
Fake News ◽  
News Sources ◽  
The Media ◽  
The U.S

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, attacks on the media have been relentless. “Fake news” has become a household term, and repeated attempts to break the trust between reporters and the American people have threatened the validity of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In this article, the authors trace the development of fake news and its impact on contemporary political discourse. They also outline cutting-edge pedagogies designed to assist students in critically evaluating the veracity of various news sources and social media sites.

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