scholarly journals Media and Mapping Practices in the Middle East and North Africa

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cultural Engagement ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Clear Point ◽  
Social Media Platforms

A few months into the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (2009-2001), the promises of social media, including its ability to influence a participatory governance model, grassroots civic engagement, new social dynamics, inclusive societies and new opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs, became more evident than ever. Simultaneously, cartography received new considerable interest as it merged with social media platforms. In an attempt to rearticulate the relationship between media and mapping practices, whilst also addressing new and social media, this interdisciplinary book abides by one relatively clear point: space is a media product. The overall focus of this book is accordingly not so much on the role of new technologies and social networks as it is on how media and mapping practices expand the very notion of cultural engagement, political activism, popular protest and social participation.

scholarly journals Online Temptations: COVID-19 and Religious Misinformation in the MENA Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512094825
Author(s):  
Mahsa Alimardani ◽  
Mona Elswah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Social Media Platforms

During the coronavirus pandemic, religious misinformation has been found on social media platforms causing fear, confusion, and polluting the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s online sphere. Exploring cases of religious clickbait in the form of false hadiths and viral religious advice from religious figures entrenched in the MENA’s political elite, this essay discusses how new dynamics for religion in the age of the Internet are contributing to a uniquely regional and religious form of misinformation. This essay looks at how the phenomenon of religious misinformation is a defining characteristic of the MENA’s online sphere, becoming even more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Role of Social Networks in the Spread of the Arabic Revolutions

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (SE) ◽  
pp. 309-317
Author(s):  
Ehsan Madmalil ◽  
Hamed Mohagheghnia
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
New Media ◽  
North Africa ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Recent political developments in the Middle East and North Africa have been occurred in the globalization era. With the advent of globalization and the information revolution, human relations have been greatly altered. The impact of these developments is in such a way that the policy can be analyzed and classified into the periods of before and after the advent of the information technology. Accommodating a wide range of social and political actors in cyberspace, internet and social networks are means to advertise and promote political, social and cultural entities on the one hand and provide a source of political and social awareness on the other hand. They link the political activists to people, and finally provoke the actions of protest and mobilize protests. Hence, the role of the new social media such as the internet and social networks in the acceleration and continuity and expansion of the revolutionary developments in the Middle East and North Africa cannot be ignored. The role of the internet and new media in these revolutions has been so strong that some of them are called revolutions of Facebook and Twitter. Thus, in order to access the right results, you should understand the features and functions of social media, analyze their role in the development of revolutionary upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa. The current study is trying to explain the effect of social networks in the context of globalization on the formation and expansion of recent political developments in the Middle East and North Africa, for instance, in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain.

Bedouin Poetry in Personal and Public Spheres

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Hailey Hahn
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Reality Tv ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Bedouin herders continue to practice their oral tradition of Nabati poetry. This chapter examines the ways that Nabati poetry is produced and shared across social media platforms. The chapter focuses on a Nabati poet, Hissa Hilal, who performed her work on the Million’s Poet reality TV competition show. Her work sparked new debates about the work of women Nabati poets as well as Bedouin women’s rights throughout the region.

Transitions Within Queer North African Cinema

Screen Bodies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter S. Temple
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Film Festivals ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
North African ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
Queer Cinema

In recent years, North African queer cinema has become increasingly visible both within and beyond Arabo-Orientale spaces. A number of critical factors have contributed to a global awareness of queer identities in contemporary Maghrebi cinema, including the dissemination of films through social media outlets and during international film festivals. Such tout contemporain representations of queer sexuality characterize a robust wave of films in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, inciting a new discourse on the condition of the marginalized traveler struggling to locate new forms of self and being—both at home and abroad.

Coming out of the closet? Audience reactions to the heteronormative disruptive advertising

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-102
Author(s):  
Ramasela Semang L. Mathobela ◽  
Shepherd Mpofu ◽  
Samukezi Mrubula-Ngwenya
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media

An emerging global trend of brands advertising their products through LGBTIQ+ individuals and couples indicates growth of gender awareness across the globe. The media, through advertising, deconstructs homophobia and associated cultures through the use of LGBTIQ+s in commercials. This qualitative research paper centres the advancement of debates on human rights and social media as critical in the interaction between corporates and consumers. The Gillette, Chicken Licken‘s Soul Sisters and We the Brave advertisements were used to critically analyse how audiences react to the use of LGBTIQ+ characters and casts through comments posted on the brands‘ social media platforms. Further, the paper explored the role of social media in the mediation of significant gender issues such as homosexuality that are considered taboo to engage in. The paper used a qualitative approach. Using the digital ethnography method to observe comments and interactions from the chosen advertisement‘s online platforms, the paper employed queer and constructionist theories to deconstruct discourses around same-sex relations as used in commercials, especially in quasiconservative. The data used in the paper included thirty comments of the brands customers and audiences obtained from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The paper concludes there are positive development in human rights awareness as seen through advertisements and campaigns that use LGBTIQ+ communities in a positive light across the world.

Revolutionizing Mental Health with Social Media

2019 ◽  
pp. 259-284
Author(s):  
Munmun De Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Linguistic Expression ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Tailored Interventions ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms have emerged as rich repositories of information relating to people’s activities, emotions, and linguistic expression. This chapter highlights how these data may be harnessed to reason about human mental and psychological well-being. It also discusses the emergent role of social media in providing a platform of self-disclosure and support to distressed and vulnerable communities. It reflects on how this new line of research bears potential for informing the design of timely and tailored interventions, provisions for improved personal and societal well-being assessment, privacy and ethical considerations, and the challenges and opportunities of the increasing ubiquity of social media.

A market-based rationale for the privacy paradox

2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372110158
Author(s):  
Opeyemi Akanbi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Market Structures ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Privacy Paradox ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Privacy Risks ◽  
Social Collective

Moving beyond the current focus on the individual as the unit of analysis in the privacy paradox, this article examines the misalignment between privacy attitudes and online behaviors at the level of society as a collective. I draw on Facebook’s market performance to show how despite concerns about privacy, market structures drive user, advertiser and investor behaviors to continue to reward corporate owners of social media platforms. In this market-oriented analysis, I introduce the metaphor of elasticity to capture the responsiveness of demand for social media to the data (price) charged by social media companies. Overall, this article positions social media as inelastic, relative to privacy costs; highlights the role of the social collective in the privacy crises; and ultimately underscores the need for structural interventions in addressing privacy risks.

scholarly journals Influence of COVID-19 on lifestyle behaviors in the Middle East and North Africa Region: a survey of 5896 individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abouzid ◽  
◽  
Dina M. El-Sherif ◽  
Nael Kamel Eltewacy ◽  
Nesrine Ben Hadj Dahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected health and lifestyle behaviors of people globally. This project aims to identify the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle behavior of individuals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during confinement. Methods We conducted an online survey in 17 countries (Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, and Sudan) from the MENA region on August and September 2020. The questionnaire included self-reported information on lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity, eating habits, smoking, watching television, social media use and sleep before and during the pandemic. Logistic regression was performed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle behaviors. Results A total of 5896 participants were included in the final analysis and 62.8% were females. The BMI of the participants was 25.4 ± 5.8 kg/m2. Around 38.4% of the participants stopped practicing any physical activities during the confinement (P < 0.001), and 57.1% reported spending more than 2 h on social media (P < 0.001). There were no significant changes in smoking habits. Also, 30.9% reported an improvement in their eating habits compared with 24.8% reported worsening of their eating habits. Fast-food consumption decreased significantly in 48.8% of the study population. This direct/indirect exposure to COVID-19 was associated with an increased consumption of carbohydrates (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02–1.17; P = 0.01), egg (OR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.02–1.16; P = 0.01), sugar (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.02–1.16; P = 0.02), meat, and poultry (OR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.06–1.20; P < 0.01). There was also associated increase in hours spent on watching television (OR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.02–1.12; P < 0.01) and social media (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.01–1.18; P = 0.03). However, our results showed a reduction in sleeping hours among those exposed to COVID-19 infection (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.77–0.94; P < 0.01). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in food consumption and sedentary life. Being exposed to COVID-19 by direct infection or through an infected household is a significant predictor of amplifying these changes. Public health interventions are needed to address healthy lifestyle behaviors during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Us Mob Online: The Perils of Identifying as Indigenous on Social Media

Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Carlson ◽  
Tristan Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Insight Into

Social media is a highly valuable site for Indigenous people to express their identities and to engage with other Indigenous people, events, conversations, and debates. While the role of social media for Indigenous peoples is highly valued for public articulations of identity, it is not without peril. Drawing on the authors’ recent mixed-methods research in Australian Indigenous communities, this paper presents an insight into Indigenous peoples’ experiences of cultivating individual and collective identities on social media platforms. The findings suggest that Indigenous peoples are well aware of the intricacies of navigating a digital environment that exhibits persistent colonial attempts at the subjugation of Indigenous identities. We conclude that, while social media remains perilous, Indigenous people are harnessing online platforms for their own ends, for the reinforcement of selfhood, for identifying and being identified and, as a vehicle for humour and subversion.

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