Online Sisterhood

Across developing countries, the role of social networks and social capital in facilitating women's access to income is well documented. However, less is known about how networks facilitated by social networking sites (SNS) may transform women's economic opportunities in these regions. In this chapter, I draw upon a relatively recent phenomenon of the use of SNS as a medium of trade in urban Indonesia. In 2010, I conducted preliminary interviews to examine the dynamics of Facebook-facilitated trade among urban middle-class married women residing in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The interviews highlighted beneficial links between social media, social capital, and productivity – by means of increased personal income. However, this effective link between SNS and income-generating social capital is likely to be a rather distinctive example, as it depends largely on the class, gender, and cultural specificities that shape the nature of online and offline social interactions among my target group.

How Movember's Online Community Influences Australia's Men's Health Debate

Contemporary research indicates hegemonic masculinity negatively impacts on the recognised global male health treatment gap, spurring debate around the promotion of male health conversation. Through a case study, this chapter explores how Movember Australia, a global NPO dedicated to raising awareness of and funds for male health illness, has utilised principles of value co-creation in its online campaign to promote conversation around men's health in Australia. Movember's facilitation of online community conversation, engagement and its utilisation of hegemonic masculinity to promote online male solidarity and resultant health conversation is investigated. Research references previous online male health research indicating effectiveness of three themes for health communication and conversation facilitation: personalisation, environment and trust.

Techno Teacher Moms

Home education is on the rise in Australia. However, unlike parents who choose mainstream schooling, these parents often lack the support of a wider community to help them on their educational and parenting journey. This support is especially lacking as many people in the wider community find the choice to home education confronting. As such, these parents may feel isolated and alienated in the general population as their choice to home educate is questioned at best, and ridiculed at worst. These parents often find sanctuary online in homeschool groups on Facebook. This chapter explores the ways that Facebook Groups are used by marginalized and disenfranchised families who home educate to meet with others who are likeminded and aligned with their beliefs and philosophies. It is through these groups that parents, in relation to schooling it is especially mothers, are able to ask for advice, to vent, to explore options and find connections that may be lacking in the wider community.

The Role of Women from a Social Media Jihad Perspective

Female roles in online social media forums are continually changing and often reflect the global social and political context. In addition, the security context also plays an important part in the role of females online. Social media evidence suggests that females are very active online in terms of recruitment. This chapter looks at two case studies focusing on the roles of women as wives and warriors and the changing dynamic between the two roles. Overall, women demonstrate a high level of gender utility and can change roles as required by the security and political context.

Looking At the Other Side

The choice to vaccinate or not to vaccinate a child is usually an ‘informed decision', however, it is how this decision is informed which is of most importance. More frequently, families are turning to the Internet, in particular social media, as a data source to support their decisions. However, much of the online information may be unscientific or biased. While issues such as vaccination will always see dissenting voices, engaging with that ‘other side' is difficult in the public policy debate which is informed by evidence based science. This chapter investigates the other side in light of the growing adoption and reliance on social media as a source of anti-vaccine information. The study adopts a qualitative approach to data collection and is based on a critical discourse analysis of online social media discourse. The findings demonstrate the valuable contribution this approach can make to public policy work in vaccination.

Social Media

This chapter investigates the positive role social media can play in education. It looks at the various formats in which the tool can be used and how it can enhance the learning experience of all students. The chapter analyses the ability for social media to act as a communication channel as well as an educational interface where every student can learn through their peers and through their educator. It also discusses the need for further research as to how this increasingly popular tool can be successfully integrated into educational environments.

Blogging Their Way Out of Disadvantage

The ways that blogs are used to improve the lot of the disenfranchised is an area that is increasingly gaining research traction. This chapter presents a literature review of the recent literature in to the ways that minority groups are using blogs to tell their story to a wide audience. It looks at the ways that human rights bloggers have used Web 2.0 platforms to express themselves. It then applies Foucault's (1988) work on self-expression to other groups who are also heavy users of blogs to express themselves in new ways. The chapter looks at poverty, at those who identify as LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) and women. It suggests that there is much research that still needs to be undertaken to properly examine the role of blogs in the lives of increasing numbers of groups who are not able to express themselves in mainstream media, and to explore the ways that these blogs render mainstream media irrelevant in connected times.

Gender Differences in Motivations to Use Social Networking Sites

This chapter investigates gender differences in motivations to use social networking sites (SNS), a subset of social media. The present research focuses on Facebook given its prominence among currently available SNS. Analysing a survey of university students in Australia, the results indicate that female consumers are more likely than male consumers to use Facebook to seek information (to research and learn new things and to discuss products and brands) and for convenience (to obtain things with little effort). Both of these reasons in turn relate positively to their degree of engagement on Facebook, where engagement is operationalized as cognitive absorption which is a state of deep involvement with an activity.

Increasing Value of a Tangible Product through Intangible Attributes

As researchers seek to understand value co-creation in more detail, it is essential to explore both tangible and intangible products in more depth. This case study provides an understanding of the intangible value created with a tangible product. The Thermomix is a high-end multi-purpose cooking device and through social media, communities of users have increased the value of the device. This article argues that value can be created through the intangible offerings, even when a physical product exists.

Gender and Other Factors That Influence Tourism Preferences

The consumption process of travel decision making, is influenced by a number of factors and a substantial body of decision making literature in the form of the broader ‘models of consumer behaviour' has been adapted to attempt to describe this process. Existing ‘foundation models' present variables such as personal characteristics and attitudes as factors that affect the vacation decision making process, but fail to discuss the extent to which gender and technology preferences influence decisions and destination choice. Economic models are based on utility theory as a decision making framework, however, they do not allow for the other consumer oriented variables. Current models (economic or otherwise) focus on individuals and their decision making process without a combined consideration of information search and technology gendered preferences and the impact they have on choosing a destination for a vacation.