scholarly journals Mourning the Nightingale’s Song: The Audibility of Networked Performances in Protests and Funerals of the Arab Revolutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-111
Author(s):  
Shayna M. Silverstein
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Social Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Technological Condition ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Sound Objects ◽  
Syrian Revolution ◽  
Physical Spaces

Given the salient role of embodied tactics in contemporary networked protests in performance, in this essay I listen for how the embodied sonic praxis of protests during the Arab revolutions translates into the audio, visual, and text modalities of digital media. I propose audibility, or the appearance and perceptibility of sound objects, as that which translates the “live” sound that occurs in physical spaces into representational spaces, and, in so doing, alters the temporality and spatiality of the sonic experience. Interrogating who and what are rendered audible as part of the political contestations that drive protest actions, I demonstrate how audibility is a technological condition, sensory force, and social process through which affective publics emerge in networked spaces. I begin with social media posts from the first months of non-violent protest actions in 2011, in Egypt and Syria, analyzing the translation of sonic objects into written texts that narrativize the subjects and spaces of the Arab revolutions. I then shift to the sonic praxis of revolutionary mourning in a discussion of the audibility of the crowd in footage of protest funerals that reclaimed martyrs of the Syrian revolution in 2018 and 2019, interrogating how the sounds of the crowd enable the mythologization of the martyrs’ bodies and help mobilize the cause for which they died. Both approaches to audibility – as expressing voice and documenting sounds – underscore how audibility, I argue, is crucial for understanding the affect-rich intensities that drive networked protest performances, and that forge political possibilities as imaginable, sensible, and perceptible.

scholarly journals The Ambivalent Potentials of Social Media Use by Unaccompanied Minor Refugees

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 205630511876443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Kutscher ◽  
Lisa-Marie Kreß
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Ethical Reflection ◽  
Mobile Media ◽  
Unaccompanied Minor Refugees ◽  
Minor Refugees ◽  
Transnational Social Networks

In 2015, an unprecedented number of unaccompanied minor refugees came to Europe. To verify reports in mass media as well as professionals’ and volunteers’ impressions regarding the importance of digital media, this empirical study was conducted in the summer of 2015 in cooperation with the “Children’s Charity of Germany” (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e.V.). The study focused on the question of how unaccompanied minor refugees use digital (social and mobile) media in the context of their forced migration to Germany. It explored how they use these media to stay in contact with family and friends in their country of origin and beyond, to establish new relationships, to orientate themselves in the receiving country, and to search for (professional) support. Thus, the role of digital media in maintaining transnational social networks and enabling participation in a receiving society is investigated. This article presents key findings and their theoretical implications as well as a methodological and ethical reflection on this research.

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT IN RESTAURANT PRODUCT PURCHASE DECISIONS MAKING

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Suci Sandi Wachyuni ◽  
Tri Kuntoro Priyambodo
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Purchase Decisions ◽  
Celebrity Endorsement ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
Word Of Mouth Communication

Purpose of the study: The phenomenon of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) or word of mouth communication in marketing activities on digital media is one of the most important things in improving the purchasing decision of a product or services. This study aims to analyze the effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchase decisions, case studies at Nona Judes Restaurant. Methodology: This research is mixed-method, both qualitative and quantitative. Data collection techniques in this study were interviews and questionnaires that were measured using a Likert scale. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 respondents who were consumers of the Nona Judes restaurant. The data were analyzed using simple linear regression analysis. Main Findings: The results of this study indicate that celebrity endorsement influences product purchase decisions. The contribution of celebrity endorsement variables to product purchase decisions is 25.9%. Researchers concluded that there are several factors considered in selecting endorsers. These factors include big names and experiences, appearance, social media strength of endorsers, and communication skills. Implications: This study is offering suggestions for company management in determining celebrity for product endorsement. The orders of indicators to consider are (1) Power, (2) Credibility, (3) Attraction. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research specifically addresses the role of celebrity endorsement in product purchase decisions in restaurants. This study also produced endorser selection criteria and their indicators, i.e. 1) Power (fame, strengths on social media); 2) Credibility (the truth of information, endorser information skills); 3) Attractiveness (physical appearance, endorser’s characters).

“The Factory Of The Revolution”

Women Rising ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 354-362
Author(s):  
Layla Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Women's Rights ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Political ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Syrian Revolution ◽  
The Revolution

Giving a personal voice to the role of women in the Syrian revolution, Layla Saleh places the account of one Syrian woman, Um Ibrahim, exiled in the second year of the uprising, in the larger context of women’s participation in the revolutionary popular mobilization, after the Assad regime’s “women’s rights” proved unsatisfactory and insufficient. The narrative culminates in Um Ibrahim’s own participation in the protests in Damascus before the full-fledged war took hold. Um Ibrahim recounts how women took on a central role in the Syrian revolution, hiding protesters, cooking, delivering food and weapons, and serving in the political and armed opposition. However, they have been victimized by the war, their activist role has been diminished, and their security and physical well-being have become precarious as the country is bloodily entrenched in civil and proxy warfare.

scholarly journals The threat of surveillance capitalism

Teknokultura ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-276
Author(s):  
Chris H. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Important Addition ◽  
The Early 21St Century

Using Shoshana Zuboff’s 2019 book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, the essay explores this latest form of capitalism and Zuboff’s claims about its organization. Her arguments are compared and contrasted with David Eggers novel, and the movie that came out of it, called The Circle, as well as other perspectives on capitalism (Marx, Barry Unsworth’s Sacred Hunger) and the current dominance of social media companies (especially Alphabet/Google, Facebook, and Amazon) from Evgeny Morozov, Natasa Dow Schüll, Zeynep Tufekci, Steve Mann and Tim Wu. Zuboff’s description and critique of Surveillance Capitalism is a convincing and important addition to our understanding of the political economy of the early 21st Century and the role of giant monopolistic social media companies in shaping it.

scholarly journals Quasi-Gatekeeping and Quasi-Gatewatching: The Dual Role of Public Relations Practitioners in the Social Media Domain

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Princewell Nwanganga Achor ◽  
Justie O. Nnabuko
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
Public Relations Practitioners ◽  
Médias Sociaux ◽  
The Social ◽  
Il Y A ◽  
Medias Sociaux

Background  Existing literature depicts public relations practitioners as gatekeepers. Despite this, limited research exists on how much of a gatekeeping role public relations practitioners play in their organizations’ communication with the publics in the social media domain. Analysis  This article bridges the research gap by examining the dual role of quasi-gatekeeping and quasi-gatewatching performed by public relations practitioners in their attempt to communicate, regulate, and manage information in the social media domain and market-space media environment. Conclusion and implications  Discussion of these two distinct roles expands the frontiers of gatekeeping studies in public relations practice and communication studies, through the introduction of a new mixed-flow model of the gatekeeping function of public relations practitioners in the digital media landscape.RÉSUMÉContexte  En dépit de la littérature existante montre que les spécialistes des relations publiques en tant que gardiens, cependant, il y a peu de recherches sur la quantité de rôle de surveillance les spécialistes en relations publiques jouent dans leurs organisations la communication avec le public dans le domaine des médias sociaux. Analyse  Par conséquent, cet article se ferme cette lacune en examinant le rôle de la dualité de pouvoirs quasi-control et quasi-gatewatching effectuée par le spécialistes des relations publiques dans leur tentative de communiquer, réglementer et gérer l’information dans le domaine des médias sociaux. Conclusion et implications  La discussion sur ces deux rôles distincts a enrichi la compréhension et les frontières d’un contrôle dans la pratique des relations publiques par l’introduction d’un nouveau modèle de flux mixtes de contrôle dans le paysage médiatique numérique.

scholarly journals The symbol of social media in contemporary protest: Twitter and the Gezi Park movement

2020 ◽  
pp. 135485652093374
Author(s):  
Olu Jenzen ◽  
Itir Erhart ◽  
Hande Eslen-Ziya ◽  
Umut Korkut ◽  
Aidan McGarry
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Main Emphasis ◽  
Media Practices

This article explores how Twitter has emerged as a signifier of contemporary protest. Using the concept of ‘social media imaginaries’, a derivative of the broader field of ‘media imaginaries’, our analysis seeks to offer new insights into activists’ relation to and conceptualisation of social media and how it shapes their digital media practices. Extending the concept of media imaginaries to include analysis of protestors’ use of aesthetics, it aims to unpick how a particular ‘social media imaginary’ is constructed and informs their collective identity. Using the Gezi Park protest of 2013 as a case study, it illustrates how social media became a symbolic part of the protest movement by providing the visualised possibility of imagining the movement. In previous research, the main emphasis has been given to the functionality of social media as a means of information sharing and a tool for protest organisation. This article seeks to redress this by directing our attention to the role of visual communication in online protest expressions and thus also illustrates the role of visual analysis in social movement studies.

scholarly journals Digital (dis)connectivity in fraught contexts: The case of gay refugees in Belgium

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 784-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Mobile Media ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
The Family ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Depth Interviews

The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also acknowledge limitations. Thus, the focus on the creation and maintenance of connections through digital media may obscure experiences and practices of disconnection. This is certainly the case for forced migrants with non-normative sexual orientations, for whom experiences of homophobia within the family and ethno-cultural community in the country of origin may extend to fraught situations in the country of residence. As with digital media in general, it is important to consider the ‘offline’ social and cultural conditions determining online media uses. This article focuses on the specific challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer refugees, both in general and in Belgium, drawing on desk research and expert interviews, as well as nine in-depth interviews with gay-identifying male refugees. While the refugees are relatively positive about the Belgian situation, they do identify a number of challenges. They use digital media to stay connected to family and other people in the country of origin, but often this connection has become difficult. Social media and dating sites also offer a way to connect to other gay men, but these connections can be equally fraught, particularly in the country of origin for danger of exposure but also in Belgium as social media transcend national boundaries. For this reason, some participants created new or parallel profiles, to keep their gay lives disconnected from their family lives. Overall, then, digital media are a tool not only of connection but also of strategic disconnection for gay refugees.

‘To activists: Please post and share your story’: Renewing understandings on civic participation and the role of Facebook in the Indignados movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 583-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venetia Papa
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
International Financial Crisis ◽  
Online Social Media

The global upsurge in protest, which has accompanied the current international financial crisis, has highlighted the extensive use of online social media in activism, leaving aside the extent to which citizenship is enacted, empowered and potentially transformed by social media use within these movements. Drawing on citizenship and communication theories, this study employs a cross-country analysis of the relationship between citizenship, civic practices and social media within the Indignados movement in Greece and France. By the use of semi-structured interviews, we attempt to discern the degree of involvement of actors with the political community in question and explore the complex layers of their motivations and goals around participation. Content analysis employed in the movement’s Facebook groups allows us to critically evaluate the potential of social media in (re)defining the meaning and practice of civic participation. Findings indicate that the failure of traditional forms of civic participation to attain and resolve everyday political issues becomes its potential to transfer the political activity in other sites of struggle. The role of Facebook is double: it can reinforce civic talk and debate through activists’ digital story telling (around shared feelings and personal stories) significant for meaningful activist participation online and offline. Second, it can support new forms of alternative politics inspired by more participatory modes of engagement.

scholarly journals Digital Media and Perceptions of Source Credibility in Political Communication

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Flanagin ◽  
Miriam J. Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Information Consumers

The rich research heritage on source credibility is fundamentally linked to processes of political communication and the provision of political information. Networked digital technologies, however, have recently complicated the assessment of source credibility by modifying people’s ability to determine source expertise and trustworthiness, which are the foundations upon which credibility evaluations have traditionally rested. This chapter explores source credibility in online contexts by examining the credibility of digital versus traditional channels, the nature of political information conveyed by social media, and the dynamics of political information online. In addition, this chapter considers related research concerns, including the link between credibility and selective exposure, the potential for group polarization, and the role of social media in seeking and delivering credible political information. These concerns suggest challenges and opportunities as information consumers navigate the contemporary information environment in search of the knowledge to make them informed members of a politically engaged citizenry.

Digital media communication, intellectual property, and the commodification of language

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-266
Author(s):  
Joseph Sung-Yul Park
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
For Profit ◽  
A Site ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Focusing on fansubbing, the production of unauthorized subtitles by fans of audiovisual media content, this paper calls for a more serious sociolinguistic analysis of the political economy of digital media communication. It argues that fansubbing’s contentious position within regimes of intellectual property and copyright makes it a useful context for considering the crucial role of language ideology in global capitalism’s expanding reach over communicative activity. Through a critical analysis of Korean discourses about fansubbing, this paper considers how tensions between competing ideological conceptions of fansub work shed light on the process by which regimes of intellectual property incorporate digital media communication as a site for profit. Based on this analysis, the paper argues for the need to look beyond the affordances of digital media in terms of translingual, hybrid, and creative linguistic form, to extend our investigations towards language ideologies as a constitutive element in the political economy.

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