Representative Democracy as Kitsch, and Artificial Intelligence’s Promise of Emancipation

Author(s):  
Marius C. Silaghi

The chapter explores relations between modernity and the decentralization of authority, kitsch and partial centralization, the avant-garde and social media. Decentralization is identified as an important expression of modernist philosophy in current technology. As a characteristic of current directions of social progress, authority-opposing trends of modernism and post-modernism find significant support in new technology via less falsifiable decentralization based on crypto-currencies, blockchain, social media, search engines, and other products of the internet era. The scalability of classic athenian democracy to large societies is not yet accomplished by technology. Against the early modernity tendency to cheaply give the masses an almost effortless sense of participation (features associated with kitsch), the system of representative democracy promises to become more genuine through opportunities for electronic civic involvement.

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Alok Gupta

It is a well known fact that natural disasters strikes countries, both developed and developing, causing enormous destruction and creating human sufferings and producing negative impacts on national economies. Due to diverse geo-climatic conditions prevalent in different parts of the globe, different types of natural disasters like floods, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes, etc. strikes according to the vulnerability of the area. India is considered as the world's most disaster prone country. It has witnessed devastating natural disasters in recent past like droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, etc. Social media is strongly influencing our life. There are several social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and types of communication technologies are constantly changing our habits of communication. We do not only share information in face to face contacts, but also via a multitude of new forms of social media. New technologies like smart phones comprise diverse sensors, such as cameras, microphones and GPS, which enable a new level of information distribution. This new technology combined with social media allows the user to share information with a huge and growing community. There is not just the information we knowingly share, but also metadata about location, time and so forth. Within these new forms of communication and hidden data lies a big opportunity for crisis mapping and disaster management. These new types of information-usage and new technology can be useful for situational awareness, the distribution of alerts and further functions of disaster management. In this paper an attempt has been made to throw light on some aspect of social media in creating awareness related to the disaster among the masses. Moreover, use of social media during a disaster or emergency management is an entirely new outlook..


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110302
Author(s):  
Nor Hasliza Md Saad ◽  
Zulnaidi Yaacob

Social media is a new platform for CEOs to build their image and create a strong personal brand to represent themselves and their company. This research examines an outstanding Malaysian fashion icon and social media–savvy businesswoman with over a million followers on Instagram, Vivy Yusof, the youngest Malaysian e-commerce mogul and an example of a successful CEO who has used personal branding to build an empire in the fashion industry. The objectives of this research are to identify the type of messages Vivy Yusof communicates to her audience through her personal Instagram posts and to identify the ways Vivy Yusof’s audience engages with her posts on Instagram. Her Instagram post content is classified using the Honeycomb framework that comprises seven functional building blocks, namely, presence, relationships, reputation, groups, identity, conversations, and sharing. In this study, the content of Vivy Yusof’s Instagram posts is categorized by how she focuses on the various functional building blocks in her posts and the implications these blocks have on how her audience interacts with the posts. Her social media presence confirms the importance of CEO personal branding because of her role and influence on the masses evidenced by the willingness of her followers to interact (through likes and comments) and engage with her posts on any subject matter, relating either to her business or personal life. The study contributes to a growing body of literature on personal branding strategies by shedding light on the association between content strategies and engagement with social media content.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 718-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Gainous ◽  
Andrew Segal ◽  
Kevin Wagner

Purpose Early information technology scholarship centered on the internet’s potential to be a democratizing force was often framed using an equalization/normalization lens arguing that either the internet was going to be an equalizing force bringing power to the masses, or it was going to be normalized into the existing power structure. The purpose of this paper is to argue that considered over time the equalization/normalization lens still sheds light on our understanding of how social media (SM) strategy can shape electoral success asking if SM are an equalizing force balancing the resource gap between candidates or are being normalized into the modern campaign. Design/methodology/approach SM metrics and electoral data were collected for US congressional candidates in 2012 and 2016. A series of additive and interactive models are employed to test whether the effects of SM reach on electoral success are conditional on levels of campaign spending. Findings The results suggest that those candidates who spend more actually get more utility for their SM campaign than those who spend less in 2012. However, by 2016, spending inversely correlates with SM campaign utility. Research limitations/implications The findings indicate that SM appeared to be normalizing into the modern congressional campaign in 2012. However, with higher rates of penetration and greater levels of usage in 2016, the SM campaign utility was not a result of higher spending. SM may be a greater equalizing force now. Practical implications Campaigns that initially integrate digital and traditional strategies increase the effectiveness of the SM campaign because the non-digital strategy both complements and draws attention to the SM campaign. However, by 2016 the SM campaign was not driven by its relation to traditional campaign spending. Originality/value This is the first large N study to examine the interactive effects of SM reach and campaign spending on electoral success.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-176
Author(s):  
Lisa Gardiner

SUMMARYSexual and relationships difficulties are not uncommon among psychiatric patients. A presenting complaint of anxiety or depression may relate to an underlying sexual or relationship difficulty; commonly used psychotropic medications cause sexual side-effects that can have a significant impact quality of life, relationship maintenance and treatment adherence; patients may exhibit unusual or excessive sexual behaviours when acutely unwell, including risky use of apps to meet sexual partners and accessing online pornography in unsafe ways; patients may have used technology such as the internet to harm others or they may be victims of such harm; the internet and social media might even be influencing sexual expression, for example gender identity. Therefore, psychosexual history-taking remains a key competency for psychiatrists. They must also understand the new language used to describe sexuality, sexual behaviours and the use of social media, apps and so on to form relationships. This article outlines the key areas to consider in carrying out a structured psychosexual assessment. It also gives an overview of current sexual terminology, observed influences of the internet on sexuality and sexual behaviour, and its implications for mental health and potential sexual offending.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to: •outline a framework for psychosexual history-taking•recognise emerging terminology relating to sexual behaviours and identity•understand the relevance of the internet, social media and technology-based apps to human relationships, including the use of technology in sexual offendingDECLARATION OF INTERESTNone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-226
Author(s):  
Abdul Rouf ◽  
Fouzia Nazir ◽  
Muneer Ahmad Masoodi

COVID-19 Pandemic has severely affected the health care delivery system, economic and social progress since its inception. Although COVID-19 vaccines have given, a new hope but Vaccine hesitancy has been recognized as a serious public health problem that needs extensive research among different population groups. This study was aimed to assess awareness, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 vaccination and its association with Sociodemographicvariables among social media users in Jammu and Kashmir, India.The Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Anantnag conducted this cross-sectional study in June 2021, among social media users, 18 and above years of age, using online questionnaire through Google Forms. The questionnaire comprised of four segments, sociodemographic details, awareness, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19 vaccination, ten questions from each segment.In this study, although the calculated sample size was 423, a total of 425 respondents were included. The mean scores of awareness, regarding COVID-19 disease and its vaccination, was 3.68 ± 0.44, with overall awareness was 73.6%, positive attitude 3.53 ± 0.41, with an overall positive attitude of 70.6%, and good practice towards adopting COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and vaccination was 3.43 + 0.71 with an overall good practice of 68.6% respectively. Participants with higher awareness regarding COVID-19 disease and its vaccination were 9.1 times (95% C.I = 5.16-14.32) more likely to have a positive attitude towards using COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and its vaccination and 7.8 times (95% C.I = 4.62-13.83) adopting good practice than with the low level of awareness.In Jammu and Kashmir, social media users are having good awareness toward COVID-19 disease and its vaccination. Awareness generation seems to be a good tool for bringing behavioural changes and this platform should be used to disseminate information regarding COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and its vaccination. 


Author(s):  
Milena Vukić ◽  
Snežana Milićević ◽  
Ksenija Vukić

Purpose of this paper is to determine how students perceive the image of their faculty on social networks, but also to analyse their experience and attitudes towards faculty social media strategy. The research was implemented using descriptive statistic techniques, as well as non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test and Spearman’s Rho. The most common source of information when it comes to enrolment to faculty is word of mouth, while social media have a signifi-cantly lower credibility. During their schooling the respondents have most confidence in the official website, and far less in social networks. Such findings signalize the necessity of creating an adequate digital marketing strategy that can significantly improve the perceived faculty image. Positive perception of the image is fundamental for understanding the process of searching for and selection of the faculty, especially since the results have shown that the students do not value highly the image their faculties have on social networks. Positive perception of faculty image mostly depends on promotion strategy on Facebook and Insta-gram, and far less on LinkedIn and Twitter. In addition, students value more the image of the faculty whose social network pro-file they follow and, in a case, when they are followed back. No correlation was found between faculty image and gender, age or average grade. Therefore, we can conclude that social networks are very important in creating positive image and thanks to new technology, they are a promising solution for differentiation from competition in digital space.


Author(s):  
Fakhra Akhtar ◽  
Faizan Ahmed Khan

<p>In the digital age, fake news has become a well-known phenomenon. The spread of false evidence is often used to confuse mainstream media and political opponents, and can lead to social media wars, hatred arguments and debates.Fake news is blurring the distinction between real and false information, and is often spread on social media resulting in negative views and opinions. Earlier Research describe the fact that false propaganda is used to create false stories on mainstream media in order to cause a revolt and tension among the masses The digital rights foundation DRF report, which builds on the experiences of 152 journalists and activists in Pakistan, presents that more than 88 % of the participants find social media platforms as the worst source for information, with Facebook being the absolute worst. The dataset used in this paper relates to Real and fake news detection. The objective of this paper is to determine the Accuracy , precision , of the entire dataset .The results are visualized in the form of graphs and the analysis was done using python. The results showed the fact that the dataset holds 95% of the accuracy. The number of actual predicted cases were 296. Results of this paper reveals that The accuracy of the model dataset is 95.26 % the precision results 95.79 % whereas recall and F-Measure shows 94.56% and 95.17% accuracy respectively.Whereas in predicted models there are 296 positive attributes , 308 negative attributes 17 false positives and 13 false negatives. This research recommends that authenticity of news should be analysed first instead of drafting an opinion, sharing fake news or false information is considered unethical journalists and news consumers both should act responsibly while sharing any news.</p>


Author(s):  
Damien Huffer ◽  
Cristina Wood ◽  
Shawn Graham

This article represents the next step in our ongoing effort to understand the online human remains trade, how, why and where it exists on social media. It expands upon initial research to explore the 'rhetoric' and structure behind the use and manipulation of images and text by this collecting community, topics explored using Google Inception v.3, TensorFlow, etc. (Huffer and Graham 2017; 2018). This current research goes beyond that work to address the ethical and moral dilemmas that can confound the use of new technology to classify and sort thousands of images. The categories used to 'train' the machine are self-determined by the researchers, but to what extent can current image classifying methods be broken to create false positives or false negatives when attempting to classify images taken from social media sales records as either old authentic items or recent forgeries made using remains sourced from unknown locations? What potential do they have to be exploited by dealers or forgers as a way to 'authenticate the market'? Analysing the data obtained when 'scraping' image or text relevant to cultural property trafficking of any kind involves the use of machine learning and neural network analysis, the ethics of which are themselves complicated. Here, we discuss these issues around two case studies; the ongoing repatriation case of Abraham Ulrikab, and an example of what it looks like when the classifier is deliberately broken.


2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-46
Author(s):  
Barbara Foster

For 20 years, Microscopy/Microscopy Education (MME) has been conducting market surveys for the industry, identifying emerging trends and, even more importantly, giving you, the practicing microscopist and spectroscopist, a chance to impact the direction of instrumentation via your input on our surveys. (Many of you remember us for the M&Ms we used to hand out in exchange for your input at key trade shows). The results of 20 years of your valued participation have been profound: new technology that fits your needs, coming on line faster and more economically.


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