Feeling (Dis)Connected

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest

While most research on the e-diaspora focuses on connections within heterosexual families and communities, this paper explores the transnational connections and digital media uses of LGBTQ migrants. Based on semi-structured interviews with 23 LGBTQs living in Belgium, two groups are distinguished: voluntary migrants, who chose to move, and forced migrants, who (felt they) had to leave their country because of their sexual orientation. Comparing their familial and ethno-cultural connections, it becomes clear that both groups – for varying reasons and to varying degrees – feel disconnected from their countries of origin, families, and ethno-cultural communities in Belgium. For all participants, digital media are a key tool to maintain some connections, but particularly for the forced migrants ‘context collapse' on social media leads to a sense of insecurity. Overall, this research illustrates the importance of intersecting variables in research on the e-diaspora, as well as the impact of ‘offline' legal and material conditions on online media uses.

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 641-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Leurs

Digital migration scholarship has foregrounded how migrants (refugees, forced migrants, expatriates among others) use smartphones and social media to technologically mediate co-presence with loved ones and friends abroad. Aural, visual and haptic affordances give shape to feelings of co-presence, triggering various affects. Affectivity refers here to bodily sensations like joy which can be circulated among migrant families and friendship groups, through digital networks. Paradoxically, maintaining bonds as well as keeping face can be felt as emotionally taxing, triggering negative affective intensities such as fear, anxiety, shame and guilt. Still, the young refugees I have interviewed feel strongly compelled to transnationally connect because they strongly care. Therefore, this research note proposes the notion of digital care labour to attend to the emotional, digital labour involved in maintaining transnational connections between people living at distance, in starkly diverging material conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Romauli Nainggolan ◽  
Hanna Tabita Hasianna Silitonga ◽  
Etha Rambung

Penelitian ini meneliti dampak pelatihan pada penciptaan bisnis online untuk pemula dengan peserta yang berasal dari ibu rumah tangga yang terpajan HIV. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian kualitatif. Informan dalam penelitian ini adalah 5 ibu rumah tangga. Data dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan teknik wawancara terstruktur langsung dengan metode pre-test dan post-test sesudahnya. Semua informan tidak pernah melakukan bisnis menggunakan media online atau mengetahui cara berbisnis menggunakan media online. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan (1) peningkatan pengetahuan dan keterampilan 50% menggunakan media situs web Facebook. (2) Ada peningkatan dan keterampilan 83% menggunakan media sosial WhatsApp. (3) Aspek komparatif dari pemasaran dan penjualan produk menggunakan media sosial WhatsApp memiliki hasil yang lebih tinggi daripada media situs web Facebook. Ini karena waktu yang terbatas untuk menguasai semua fitur di media online.This research examines the impact of training on online business creation for beginners with the participants coming from HIV-exposed housewives. The method used in this research is the qualitative research method. Informants in this research are 5 housewives. The data was collected using direct structured interviews technique with pre-test and post-test methods afterwards. All informants have never done business using online media nor knowing how to do business using online media. The results showed (1) an increase in knowledge and skills of 50% using the Facebook website media. (2) There was an increase and skills of 83% using WhatsApp social media. (3) Comparative aspects of marketing and product sales using WhatsApp social media have higher results than the Facebook website media. This is due to limited time to master all the features in online media.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6581
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Hwang ◽  
Anita Eves ◽  
Jason L. Stienmetz

Travellers have high standards and regard restaurants as important travel attributes. In the tourism and hospitality industry, the use of developed tools (e.g., smartphones and location-based tablets) has been popularised as a way for travellers to easily search for information and to book venues. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews based on the face-to-face approach was adopted for this study to examine how consumers’ restaurant selection processes are performed with the utilisation of social media on smartphones. Then, thematic analysis was adopted. The findings of this research show that the adoption of social media on smartphones is positively related with consumers’ gratification. More specifically, when consumers regard that process, content and social gratification are satisfied, their intention to adopt social media is fulfilled. It is suggested by this study that consumers’ restaurant decision-making process needs to be understood, as each stage of the decision-making process is not independent; all the stages of the restaurant selection process are organically connected and influence one another.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Nixon

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate how teaching the discourse of critique, an integral part of the video production process, can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills helping more young people become producers rather than consumers of digital media. Design/methodology/approach This paper describes an instrumental qualitative case study (Stake, 2000) in two elective high school video production classrooms in the Midwestern region of the USA. The author conducted observations, video and audio recorded critique sessions, conducted semi-structured interviews and collected artifacts throughout production including storyboards, brainstorms and rough and final cuts of videos. Findings Throughout critique, young video producers used argumentation strategies to cocreate meaning, multiple methods of inquiry and questioning, critically evaluated feedback and synthesized their ideas and those of their peers to achieve their intended artistic vision. Young video producers used feedback in the following ways: incorporated feedback directly into their work, rejected and ignored feedback, or incorporated some element of the feedback in a way not originally intended. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how teaching the discourse of critique can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills. Educators can teach argumentation and inquiry strategies through using thinking guides that encourage active processing and through engaging near peer mentors. Classroom educators can integrate the arts-based practice of the pitch critique session to maximize the impact of peer-to-peer learning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Shaimma El Naggar

<p>Over the past few decades, televangelism has emerged as one important media phenomenon, inter alia, among Muslim communities. As a phenomenon, televangelism is interesting in many respects; it is a manifestation of the phenomenon of "info-tainment" as televangelists integrate entertainment features such as sound effects and music in their sermons. It is also a manifestation of the rise of the celebrity culture as televangelists have become 'media celebrities' with thousands of hundreds of fans and followers on social media networks.</p><p> </p><p>Thematically, this study is divided into two main sections. First. I delineate the characteristics of televangelism as a novel form of religious expression in which televangelists adopt a modern style and use colloquial language; and in which televangelists present religion as a source of individual change. I have argued that these features seem to have granted televangelists popularity particularly among Muslim youth who view televangelism as a new form of religious expression that is modern in appearance and relevant to their everyday lives.</p><p>The study has further highlighted the importance of digital media technologies in popularizing televangelists' programmes and sermons. Drawing on two case studies of popular televangelists, namely Amr Khaled and Hamza Yusuf, the study has shown that televangelists draw on a plethora of digital media tools to extend the visibility of their programmes including websites and social media networks. The study has found that televangelists' fans play an important role in popularizing televangelists' programmes. Moreover, the study relates televangelism to the rise of digital Islam. The study has argued that digitization and the increase of literacy rates have changed the structure of religious authority in the twenty first century, giving rise to new voices that are competing for authority. </p><p>Having provided an explanatory framework for the phenomenon of televangelism, the study moves in the second section to critique televangelism as an 'info-tainment' phenomenon.</p>Drawing on Carrette and King's <em>Selling Spirituality, </em>one issue that the study raises is the extent to which televangelism fits into the modern form of 'spiritualities'. Rather than being a critical reflection of the consumer culture, modern spiritualities seem to 'smooth out' resistance to the hegemony of capitalism and consumerism. I have proposed that it is through a content-related analysis of televangelists' sermons that one can get a nuanced understanding of how the discourses of particular televangelists can possibly relate to dominant (capitalist) ideologies, how structures of power are represented in their discourses and what their texts may reveal about the socio-historical contexts of Muslims in the twenty first century.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 744-755
Author(s):  
Olga A. Vazhenina ◽  
Lidiya K. Lobodenko

The authors investigate the process of humanization of society in relation to people with autism spectrum disorders and its relationship with the reception of problems of this category of population by society. The authors based on the descriptors of messages in social media published in the digital media space. The article reveals the relationship between the content of messages in social media, as well as the tools of this type of media and the overall degree of humanization of society at both social and political levels. The typological features of such a social media tool as a hashtag, when covering the problems of people with autism spectrum disorders, as well as the impact of these features on the reception of messages on this topic by both domestic and English-speaking users are noted.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 2675-2695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceridwyn King ◽  
Hyemi Lee

Purpose Adopting a social capital theoretical (SCT) lens, this study aims to propose a conceptual framework of effective internal communication (IC) for the hospitality industry. The study explores how to enhance current practices and the suitability of social media as an augmentation to traditional IC channels. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research methodology, consisting of 20 semi-structured interviews with hospitality employees, was adopted. Following a “reduction” and “interpretation” process, 16 themes related to effective IC were identified which informed a conceptual framework. Findings Characteristics of effective IC were identified in addition to IC benefits at both employee and organizational levels. Considering the limitations of current practices, the applicability of social media was explored. Requirements of effective IC suggest that new channels (e.g. social media) should be adopted to build social capital. Research limitations/implications The study informs SCT from a meso-level (process) perspective. The articulation of an IC framework informs how social capital can be built through effective IC, providing a foundation for further empirical examination as to the impact of various channels on the IC process. Adoption of a case study design suggests that results and implications can only be generalized to similar environments. Practical implications The study details the characteristics of effective IC and its subsequent benefits, highlighting how social media can augment current IC practices in a hospitality organization. Originality/value Being a 24/7 labor-intensive operation makes employee communication to ensure service excellence challenging in the hospitality industry. Through the application of SCT and the exploration of social media in a workplace setting to enhance IC, significant theoretical and practical insights are realized.


Author(s):  
Iris Klosi

The stress and anxiety resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has lead to a significant increase in escapist media-based coping. This paper examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on social media escapist activities by the students at the State University of Tirana. In total 52 undergraduate and graduate students aged 20-24 were involved in the study. The students reported 39 digital media involved in their escapist activities, with media sharing networks having a dominant role. From the analysis of their discussion of the motivations and different forms of escapist activities using social media, 5 different but interrelated discourses emerged: (1) Social media have both positive and negative aspects; (2) Social media escapism distorts reality; (3) Social media offer easy and affordable ways to escape; (4) Social media escapism needs to be managed to avoid addiction; and (5) Social media escapism enhances English language skills. The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through restrictions on socializing, face-to-face interaction and online teaching were discussed within and across the identified discourses. Increasing their communicative competence in English while interacting with people of different cultural background, including English native speakers was one of most the positive aspects in students’ discussions of social media escapism. The stress and anxiety resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has lead to a significant increase in escapist media-based coping. This paper examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on social media escapist activities by the students at the State University of Tirana. In total 52 undergraduate and graduate students aged 20-24 were involved in the study. The students reported 39 digital media involved in their escapist activities, with media sharing networks having a dominant role. From the analysis of their discussion of the motivations and different forms of escapist activities using social media, 5 different but interrelated discourses emerged: (1) Social media have both positive and negative aspects; (2) Social media escapism distorts reality; (3) Social media offer easy and affordable ways to escape; (4) Social media escapism needs to be managed to avoid addiction; and (5) Social media escapism enhances English language skills. The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through restrictions on socializing, face-to-face interaction and online teaching were discussed within and across the identified discourses. Increasing their communicative competence in English while interacting with people of different cultural background, including English native speakers was one of most the positive aspects in students’ discussions of social media escapism.


Author(s):  
Francis L.F. Lee ◽  
Joseph M. Chan

Chapter 8 discusses the impact of digital media on collective memory. The chapter examines both the positive and negative impact of digital and social media. On the one hand, the analysis notes how digital media provided the channels for memory mobilization and the archives for memory transmission. On the other hand, the analysis examines the problematics of memory balkanization. It explicates how political forces have shaped the development of digital and social media in Hong Kong and how competing representations of the Tiananmen Incident and commemoration activities are articulated and reinforced within distinctive memory silos.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-462
Author(s):  
Gal Yavetz ◽  
Noa Aharony

PurposeThe current study seeks to present and examine the strategies, management and dissemination of information on social media platforms by Israeli government organizations and agencies.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses the “Case Study” approach, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with directors in charge of the use of social media in government departments.FindingsThe findings indicate that government agencies tend to favor Facebook over other social network platforms, in order to reach the widest possible audience. They do this by adhering to the platform's limitations, such as regularly using sponsored advertising to increase reach and visibility, and also by publishing visual content, such as videos and images, at the expense of text. In addition, the impact of respondents to adopt social media outweighs the use and importance awarded to traditional government websites. A clear preference is evident toward cultivating and strengthening existing information on social media at the expense of further developing official websites.Originality/valueFindings and conclusions from this type of research can help digital media directors and content editors in government agencies, to improve the quality of their content and improve the accessibility of the information they share online. In addition, the findings of the study strengthen the growing body of knowledge focused on the relationship between government ministries and social media.


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