Social Networking & Social Media

The Mum effect is the natural human reluctance to share bad news with others, due to a desire to avoid a range of negative consequences, consequences affecting both self and the recipient of the bad news. Although the gospel is good news to those who believe, it may be viewed negatively by those who do not believe. Thus, Christians may be hesitant to share the gospel because of the negative consequences associated with the Mum effect. Because of the anonymity of the internet, social media is often filled with unre-strained criticism of Christianity. This may amplify the perceived negative consequences of sharing the gospel with unbelievers. In light of this cultural evolution, found now in the global north and increasingly present in the global south, Christian leaders can lead more effective ministries by distinguishing between outreach (building relationships in a way that makes the gospel attractive), witnessing (explaining how one has experienced God), and evangelism (sharing all that is necessary to make a decision for Christ), and by ensuring that all three occur in culturally relevant ways, carried out by individuals best equipped to do each, in a way consistent with the New Testament teaching on spiritual gifts. Specifically, outreach and witnessing can be done by all Christians who interact with non-Christians, whereas evangelism may be carried out, both on the individual level and in large groups, by those who are appropriately gifted. By addressing large groups in a more impersonal way, those gifted in evangelism may reduce the negative consequences of the Mum effect and build upon the outreach and witnessing done by others.

The semiotics of the face studies the meaning of the human face in contemporary visual cultures. There are two complementary research foci: widespread practices of face exhibition in social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tinder; and minority practices of occultation, including the mask in anti-establishment political activism (Anonymous) and the veil in religious dressing codes. The meaning of the human face is currently changing on a global scale: through the invention and diffusion of new visual technologies (digital photography, visual filters, as well as software for automatic face recognition); through the creation and establishment of novel genres of face representation (the selfie); and through new approaches to face perception, reading, and memorization (e.g., the ‘scrolling’ of faces on Tinder). Cognitions, emotions, and actions that people attach to the interaction with one’s and others’ faces are undergoing dramatic shifts. In the semiotics of the face, an interdisciplinary but focused approach combines visual history, semiotics, phenomenology, visual anthropology, but also face perception studies and collection and analysis of big data, so as to study the social and technological causes of these changes and their effects in terms of alterations in self-perception and communicative interaction. In the tension between, on the one hand, political and economic agencies pressing for increasing disclosure, detection, and marketing of the human face (for reasons of security and control, for commercial or bureaucratic purposes) and, on the other hand, the counter-trends of face occultation (parents ‘hiding’ their children from the Internet, political activists concealing their faces, religious or aesthetic veils, writers and artists like Bansky or Ferrante choosing not to reveal their identity), the visual syntax, the semantics, and the pragmatics of the human face are rapidly evolving. The semiotics of the face carries on a comprehensive survey of this socio-cultural phenomenon.

This dissertation analyzes the postfeminist tendencies and biopolitics in contemporary media practices by considering the pop culture exemplar, the Kardashian-Jenner family.

This dissertation received First Class Honors from Trinity College Dublin.
Vanessa graduated with Distinction in B.A. English Literature and Media Studies.

The technological change that was faced in the world caused many changes for
every market. Especially the improvement of Web 2.0 created a new way of
communication which was called as Social media. Social media first accepted by
the common people, in the second step the companies start using social media for
their corporate reputation. The final step was the use of countries, the
governments, the politicians and politic institutions. These three steps caused
social media platforms to be accepted officially by the world. The politics adapted
to social media very quickly. They start using it not only for elections in their
marketing campaigns but in their common life as a communication tool. After
politics started using Facebook and Twitter which are the most popular social
media platforms in the world the communication of politicians had a turn point.
Especially in the 2010s the usage of social media had a tremendous increase around the world. The number one social media platform Facebook, increased its reach to billion, Twitter became the second most important global social media platform in the world. This paper made a descriptive research on the social media usage of Turkey and Greece with a comparison of two countries most popular Facebook and Twitter platforms. The paper will give a look to the social media term and its global usage through politicians for Facebook and Twitter in the first part. In the second part of the paper there will be a research about the most popular Facebook and Twitter accounts of Turkey and Greece. The research will include the quantitative analysis of the highest ten accounts of two countries by June 2018.
The second part of the paper which is the main part of the research made an analysis for the Greek leader Alexis Tsipras and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s way of communication on their Twitter accounts. There would be a content analysis for the two leaders Twitter accounts for May 2018 and
interpretations will be made.

ABSTRACT: Since the eighteenth century, the feeling of guilt has been as tied to motherhood as the ideals of dedication and love. Recently, discussions concerning motherhood have increased, including on social networking sites. These debates seek, among other goals, to rethink values traditionally associated with maternal activity. The article explores the historical and subjective changes that allowed women to talk about an intimate issue (motherhood) in a shared environment. To reach such goal, the paper analyzes some comments made by mothers on the social network site Facebook reporting their maternal experiences, based on the concepts of Nietzsche’s rumination (19th century) and Freud’s guilt (20th century). By triggering two of the most influential modern thinkers to reflect on contemporary manifestations, it is perceived that the speeches produced by the mothers stray from the feeling of maternal guilt in a process that approaches what Nietzsche classifies as a rumination of experiences.

RESUMO: Desde o século XVIII, o sentimento de culpa esteve tão atrelado à maternidade quanto os ideais de dedicação e amor. Recentemente, discussões sobre ela têm aumentado, sobretudo nos sites de redes sociais. São debates que buscam, entre outros objetivos, repensar valores tradicionalmente associados à atividade materna. O artigo explora as modificações históricas e subjetivas que permitiram que mulheres falassem sobre uma questão íntima (a maternidade) em um ambiente compartilhado. Para isso, analisa alguns comentários feitos por mães no site de rede social Facebook sobre suas vivências maternas, tomando por base os conceitos de ruminação de Nietzsche (século XIX) e de culpa de Freud (século XX). Ao acionar dois dos mais influentes pensadores modernos para refletir sobre manifestações contemporâneas, percebe-se que os discursos produzidos pelas mães procuram se afastar do sentimento de culpa materna, em um processo que se aproxima do que Nietzsche classifica como ruminação das experiências.

This is Damian Radcliffe’s fifth annual study on the state of social media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), following previous publications covering developments in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.


The slides - presented at a conference hosted by the BBC in December 2015 - highlight the key themes from his report including: the continued rise of visually orientated social networks, the dominance of Middle East social media by Facebook and the wider Facebook family, and continued tensions between telecoms providers and services which allow free internet calls, are all charted in a new report from the journalist and academic Damian Radcliffe. The study offers an up-to-date analysis of how people across the Middle East use social media.

Mobile operators currently prefer optimizing their radio networks via re-homing or cutting over the cell sites in 2G
or 3G networks. The core network, as the parental part of radio network, is inevitably impacted by the re-homing in radio domain. This paper introduces the cell site re-homing in radio network and analyzes its impact on the performance of GSM/UMTS core network. The possible re-homing models are created and analyzed for core networks. The paper concludes that appropriate re-homing in radio domain, using correct algorithms, not only optimizes the radio network but also helps improve the QoS of the core network and saves the carriers’ OPEX and CAPEX on their core networks

Social media is increasingly important in daily life and is an especially important social interaction mechanism for young people. Although research has been conducted evaluating user types based on motives for using social media, no such framework has been extended to social media websites. We extend previous research by evaluating the underlying structure of social media website usage motivations using a 13 item survey and evaluations from 19 different social media websites administered to 1686 young Americans. Using a multidimensional scaling approach, we uncover 2 major motive dimensions underlying social media website use: fun-related and content-specific. Based on the derived dimensions, we generate a graphical “quadrant” system for classifying social media websites and depict all 19 social media sites based on their quadrant. We propose that our quadrant system can be used by other researchers to further refine understanding of social media website usage motives.

Computational modeling and brain imaging studies suggest that sensitivity to rewards and behaviorist learning principles partly explain smartphone engagement patterns and potentially smartphone dependence. Responses to a questionnaire, and observational measures of smartphone use were recorded for 121 university students. Each participant was also tested with a laboratory task of reward sensitivity and a test of verbal operant conditioning. Twenty-three percent of the sample had probable smartphone addiction. Using multivariate regression, smartphone use, particularly the number of instant messenger services employed, was shown to be significantly and independently predicted by reward sensitivity (a positive relationship), and by instrumental conditioning (a negative relationship). However, the latter association was driven by a subset of participants who developed declarative knowledge of the response-reinforcer contingency. This suggests a process of impression management driven by experimental demand characteristics, producing goal-directed instrumental behavior not habit-based learning. No other measures of smartphone use, including the self-report scale, were significantly associated with the experimental tasks. We conclude that stronger engagement with smartphones, in particular instant messenger services, may be linked to people being more sensitive to rewarding stimuli, suggestive of a motivational or learning mechanism. We propose that this mechanism could underly problem smartphone use and dependence. It also potentially explains why some aspects of smartphone use, such as habitual actions, appear to be poorly measured by technology-use questionnaires. A serendipitous secondary finding confirmed that smartphone use reflected active self-presentation. Our ‘conditioning’ task-induced this behavior in the laboratory and could be used in social-cognition experimental studies.

Framing studies remain a powerful line of research in political communication. However, in recent years, coinciding with the emergence of social media, theoretical and operational advances have been detected, as well as a significant reorientation of its research agenda. The interaction between media and platforms such as Twitter or Facebook has built a clearly hybrid communica- tive environment and profoundly transformed the organization of public debate. This is the case, especially, with processes such as the setting of the public agenda or the construction of interpretive frames. Based on a systematic review of the international reference literature (2011–2021), this article analyses the influence of social media on the evolution of framing studies. Moreover, specifically, the beginning of a new stage of digital development is contextualized, and a triple research impact is explored. The main contributions of the text are that it (1) identifies advances in the theoretical and empirical organization of these studies; (2) explores its reorientation of content towards a greater balance between the analysis of media and political frames; and (3) reviews the recent experimental development of effects studies. Finally, the main challenges for future research in this field are detailed.

Social media data possess the characteristics of Big Data such as volume, veracity, velocity, variability and value. These characteristics make its analysis a bit more challenging than conventional data. Manual analysis approaches are unable to cope with the fast pace at which data is being generated. Processing data manually is also time consuming and requires a lot of effort as compared to using computational methods. However, computational analysis methods usually cannot capture in-depth meanings (semantics) within data. On their individual capacity, each approach is insufficient. As a solution, we propose a Conceptual Framework, which integrates both the traditional approaches and computational approaches to the mining and analysis of social media data. This allows us to leverage the strengths of traditional content analysis, with its regular meticulousness and relative understanding, whilst exploiting the extensive capacity of Big Data analytics and accuracy of computational methods. The proposed Conceptual Framework was evaluated in two stages using an example case of the political landscape of Botswana data collected from Facebook and Twitter platforms. Firstly, a user study was carried through the Inductive Content Analysis (ICA) process using the collected data. Additionally, a questionnaire was conducted to evaluate the usability of ICA as perceived by the participants. Secondly, an experimental study was conducted to evaluate the performance of data mining algorithms on the data from the ICA process. The results, from the user study, showed that the ICA process is flexible and systematic in terms of allowing the users to analyse social media data, hence reducing the time and effort required to manually analyse data. The users’ perception in terms of ease of use and usefulness of the ICA on analysing social media data is positive. The results from the experimental study show that data mining algorithms produced higher accurate results in classifying data when supplied with data from the ICA process. That is, when data mining algorithms are integrated with the ICA process, they are able to overcome the difficulty they face to capture semantics within data. Overall, the results of this study, including the Proposed Conceptual Framework are useful to scholars and practitioners who wish to do some researches on social media data mining and analysis. The Framework serves as a guide to the mining and analysis of the social media data in a systematic manner.

We are currently seeking theoretical and research papers dedicated to: Social media and networks, smartphones and their users from a psychological, social or pedagogical perspective Topics of interest include but are not limited to:  Social media/networks literacy (e.g., critical thinking, scams, phishing)  Social media/networks users (e.g., QOL, FOMO, addiction, cyberbullying, trolling, social distancing, loneliness, anxiety, depression, children, older adults...)  Ethical and privacy concerns  Social identity and social polarization (e.g., populism, democracy, social identity frames, catfishing)  Social media/networks marketing (e.g., social media influencers)  Social media/networks as a tool for misinformation (e.g., Fake news, hoaxes, conspiracies, trustworthiness)  Social media/networks sentiment, public opinion (e.g. hate speech, immigration, COVID-19, policy issues, elections, climate crisis)  Unconventional views on social networks (e.g., historical ...) The Special editor of this issue is Marek Malůš, PhD. (University of Ostrava) Submissions need to be sent by July 15, 2022, to: [email protected]

Exploit kits are becoming frequently used to generate attacks against systems and software components. These exploit kits are really popular among the non-expert community (script kiddies) and are publicly available on Social Medias. In this paper we demonstrate how this popularity of such exploit kits on social media can impact the severity of the attacks generated from these tools. We propose we propose a new predictive model to estimate in advance the possible attacks that could be generated from trendy kits.

This article shows how the presence of an election campaign affects the way in which the main political leaders of 18 countries communicate on Facebook. Findings indicate the presence of robust qualitative and quantitative differences between campaign and peace-time periods. More specifically, this comparative analysis points out that election campaigns have a positive effect on the frequency with which political leaders update their Facebook pages and on the personalization of political communication, while a negative effect is associated with the publication of posts about policy issues and with a negative rhetorical strategy. No effect has been discovered concerning the privatization of political communication on Facebook. Finally, independent t-test analyses and bivariate correlations denote a generalized process of homogenization, whereby there is no single main impulse which governs the different communicative choices taken by political leaders on Facebook as an Election Day approaches.

This study explores the differences between Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter in terms of intensity of use and use motivations. Grounded in the theory of Uses and Gratifications, the current research compares the three platforms with exploratory factor analysis. A cross-sectional survey methodology of college students in Kuwait (N=692) asked respondents to identify the time they spend using social media, satisfaction with social media content, the intensity of using Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter as well as seven use motivations. The analysis of the data indicated that Instagram is the most popular platform among social media users, while Snapchat intensity of use is the highest. Based on the factor analysis results, motivations to use Snapchat are passing the time, self-expression, selfpresentation, and entertainment. While the motivations to use Twitter are selfpresentation, entertainment, and social interaction. Finally, passing time, social interaction, self-presentation, and en...

Social media, understood as a means of communication as well as a space to socialise and interact, has become a common source for people to look for health information. Rather than consulting a single, authoritative source, they usually want a variety of opinions. At the same time, people are often exposed to information about vaccination online without necessarily looking for it.

The associated amplification of risk and risk perception through social media, has led some countries and health authorities to start monitoring social media platforms in order to counter the spread of misinformation and rebuild public trust in vaccination.

The purpose of this systematic scoping review was to analyse the social media monitoring techniques and interventions with the following objectives:

- identify preferences: which social media platforms do users choose as a source of information on vaccination and how does that influence their perceptions of vaccination?
- identify different methods and tools for social media monitoring in the context of vaccination including their strengths and weaknesses.
review how such monitoring and information gathered from social media monitoring can be used to inform communication strategies around immunisation.
- identify the uses, benefits and limitations of social media as an intervention tool in relation to vaccination (i.e. how effective social media is as an intervention tool for increasing vaccination).

An extensive database search led to the inclusion of 115 scientific articles in the review, looking at the use of social media, social media monitoring and (public health) interventions.

The review results show for example that between 4 and 62% of various study populations in different countries use social media as a source of information on vaccination, with results varying by type of social media platform. Overall, Facebook was the most common social media resource for information on vaccination.

Today, the number of social networks in which communications are made is increasing rapidly, and most teenagers and adults, as part of everyday life, use the benefits of knowing others and introducing themselves to others from social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Weblogs and Wikiquote. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of advertising on social networks on the marketing of sports services. Methodologically, this descriptive study was of correlational type and its statistical community was formed by active users in social sports networks. The statistical sample was available (from users who were active social sports networks). In this research, social networking was measured using the scale of Soleimani-Bashli and Talibi (2010) and marketing mix of sport services using Yaghoobi et al. (2011) scale. To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used. The results of the research showed that advertising in social networks has a positive and significant effect on marketing of sports services. As a result, the greater the amount of advertising on social networks, the more likely it is that customer satisfaction, attracting new customers, and increasing investment in sports services will increase. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the aspect of advertising in these networks and to be taken into consideration in strategic strategies of sports providers.

In this contribution to a phenomenology of social network sites (SNS), we see how the share button brings about an alteration in our being-with others. On the side of the sharer, we see an experience of the world in a mode of possible retroactive sociality, creating an enigma in the constitution and attention of the subject of a given experience. On the side of the receiver, we see how being shared with creates sometimes unwelcome retrospective ideation of the sharer’s experience, and requires a choice whether, by liking or commenting, to bring the sharer into retroactive awareness of having been experiencing the shared alongside the receiver. Only if and when the shared has been received and the reception has been shared is asynchronous being-with at a distance constituted.

Die Ökonomisierung des Social Networking und die Kommerzialisierung
des Teilens in der Share Economy haben den Stellenwert und den
Umgang mit Bildern im Netz weitreichend verändert. Die Einsicht,
dass auf den Aufmerksamkeitsmärkten der Online-Kommunikation
audiovisuellen Inhalten eine wachsende kommunikative und ökonomische
Bedeutung zukommt, wurde bereits in der Ära des Web 1.0
formuliert. (Goldhaber 1997) Der Aufstieg der Sozialen Medien Facebook
(2004), YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006) und Instagram (2010)
wurde begleitet von Visionen einer partizipatorischen, herrschaftsfreien
Vernetzung. Heute befinden wir uns in einer postpartizipatorischen
Umbruchphase und können die Ausbildung von Professionalisierungstendenzen
und Klassenstrukturen auf Community-Portalen
beobachten. Eine neue Repräsentationskultur des sozialen Aufstiegs
und der Macht des Geldes ist entstanden, die sich von den Visionen eines
alternativen Wirtschaftssystems des kostenfreien Gemeinguts und
der ehrenamtlichen Zusammenarbeit distanziert. Vor diesem Hintergrund
bildet der Ausgangspunkt meiner Überlegungen die Annahme,
dass Bilder bei der medialen Vermittlung von sozialem Status einen
großen Stellenwert einnehmen. Auch in der vernetzten Gesellschaft
der Gegenwart bestimmen materielle Werte den sozialen Status, erfahren
mediale Inszenierungen von monetärem Reichtum und sozialem
Prestige eine hohe Aufmerksamkeit. Welche Kommunikationsfunktionen
übernehmen Bilder in Online-Communities, wenn sie als Mittel
für die Repräsentation von Sozialprestige eingesetzt werden?

Purpose – This paper’s research objective is to contribute to a growing body of research on cloud computing, by studying the SME adoption process. If SMEs have access to scalable technologies they could potentially deliver products and services that in the past only large enterprises could deliver, flattening the competitive arena. Design/methodology/approach – By adopting the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) as a theoretical base, this qualitative exploratory study used semi-structured interviews to collect data in fifteen different SMEs and service providers in the North East of England. The North East of England was selected as it is a region that aspires to become home to innovative digital firms and most of the companies in the region are SMEs. Findings - The main factors that were identified as playing a significant role in SME adoption of cloud services were: relative advantage, uncertainty, geo-restriction, compatibility, trialability, size, top manageme...

While there has been concern regarding the effects of social networking system usage on wellbeing, results of empirical studies have been mixed. This study compared the effects of four SNSs popular among Japanese university students, Line, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, on multiple measures of psychological wellbeing, and also the effects of fear of missing out on SNS usage and wellbeing using a questionnaire survey. The relationship between SNS usage and wellbeing was mixed, with both positive and negative effects. Moreover, all effects were weak and there were few significant effects, suggesting that amount of SNS usage has little impact on psychological wellbeing. Additionally, contrary to findings in the UK, FOMO had no effect upon SNS usage.

En los últimos años, diversos estudios han comprobado que los medios sociales pueden motivar a los ciudadanos a participar en la vida pública. En el caso de México, la consolidación de este proceso pudo observarse en las elecciones presidenciales del 2018. Mientras que es claro que los medios digitales han tenido un efecto en la vida política mexicana, su aportación real en el fortalecimiento de la democracia resulta un tema polémico. Un año después del histórico proceso electoral, se realizó un estudio cualitativo en el que se entrevistó a 35 especialistas de las ciencias sociales de universidades públicas y privadas en seis estados del país. La investigación demuestra que los académicos consideran que existen tanto avances, como riesgos, en un proceso de cambio que continúa durante el presente.

This chapter focuses on the role of social media in galvanizing street protests, demonstrations, and other forms of democratic participation associated with the Iranian Green Movement, and examines how Iranian activists framed relevant events, norms, values, ideologies, issues, narratives, and symbols on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other websites.  The political, social, economic, and technological circumstances in Iran that triggered the Green Revolution and eventually contributed to its apparent demise are investigated.  In particular, the chapter explores how movement activists utilized social media to enunciate their political demands and mobilize supporters – both within Iran and around the world.  Attempts by activists to achieve a frame alignment between the Green Movement and relevant indigenous (national) and transnational discursive concepts are examined.  The chapter proposes that the use of collective action frames in social media was instrumental initially in mobilizing the Green Movement and contesting the dominant frames of the regime, but ultimately proved to be insufficient and even counterproductive at times in sustaining the necessary levels of popular support to topple the regime from power.

Since the 1990’s the digital revolution has inspired the prophecies of Silicon Valley pundits that we are about to enter a leaderless society. Yet, the cyberutopian excitement about the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ has given way to an unprecedented disillusionment since 2016 at the latest. If we want to learn from this sobering experience, we must face the decisive problem: Every democracy is founded on practices of acclamation and praise. Social networks like Facebook have turned such practices into a manipulative tool that undermines the democratic pursuit of the true and the good. What can we learn from the premodern cultivation of practices of worship and praise if we want to overcome the life-threatening crisis of contemporary democracies?

VIRTUAL LIFE AFTER DEATH. EXPERIENCE OF DEATH AT FACEBOOK Experiencing death is one of the elements of life that has found its place on the Net. Elements of social life published on the Internet are repeatedly interpreted and read by their users. The world of the Internet exists parallel to the real world. Death has its virtual representations. There are voices saying that the Internet, which is an electronic form of commemorating people, is " better than a material form of commemorating the deceased, because (...) it will survive as long as the Internet survives ". Experiencing, commemorating and celebrating one's own and someone else's death on the Internet in the face of the " virtual presence of others " is no longer just reserved for Blog or virtual cemeteries but has moved to the Facebook platform. The accounts of the deceased on this platform are in the form of virtual tombstones, often run by people closely associated with the account owner. The subject of my analysis was content (moderator posts, guest posts posted in the comments) posted on the Facebook social network, assigned to an active account called " Anna Przybylska ". I have reduced the analysis to the interpretation of images, signs and photographs to show how these contents (representations of death) influence the way Facebook experiences them. This analysis was used to find the answer to the question: How and to what extent Facebook allows Internet users to experience (through the interpretation of someone else's death and accompanying images) mourning. The text takes the form of research investigations combined with multi-faceted considerations about death in contemporary culture, in particular manifested by mass communication.

Στον παρόντα τόμο περιέχονται κείμενα τα οποία πραγμα-
τεύονται διαστάσεις και εξελίξεις στη μελέτη του κυβερ-
νοχώρου σε πολλαπλά πεδία έρευνας όπως η κοινωνία, η
οικονομία, το δίκαιο, η πολιτική, η εκπαίδευση και η υγεία.
Οι συμμετέχοντες, μέσα από την βιβλιογραφική ή εμπει-
ρική τους αναζήτηση, εστιάζουν σε πτυχές επί των ρα-
γδαίων πολιτισμικών, πολιτικών και κοινωνικών εξελίξεων
εντός του διαδικτύου κατά τον 21ο αιώνα και παρουσιά-
ζουν τόσο ποσοτικές όσο και ποιοτικές έρευνες των τε-
λευταίων ετών, αλλά και θεωρητικά επιχειρήματα, κριτικές
μελέτες και συγκριτικές έρευνες αναφορικά με τη σχέση
κοινωνίας και κυβερνοχώρου.
Ο τόμος έρχεται να καλύψει μια αχαρτογράφητη ακαδη-
μαϊκά και ερευνητικά περιοχή στην ελληνική βιβλιογραφία
και απευθύνεται σε πανεπιστημιακούς, φοιτητές, ερευνη-
τές, αλλά και σε κάθε αναγνώστη, οι οποίοι ενδιαφέρο-
νται να ενημερωθούν για το πώς ο κυβερνοχώρος απο-
τελεί πλέον συστατικό στοιχείο της καθημερινότητας των
υποκειμένων.

Basińska, A., Łuczak, M. J. (2014). Konstrukcja sieci społecznych. Komunikacja w nowych mediach na przykładzie forum internetowego. W: J. Bierówka, K. Pokorna-Ignatowicz (red.), Media – kultura popularna – polityka. Wzajemne oddziaływania i nowe zjawiska (ss. 181-198). Kraków: AFM

The main aim of this paper is an analysis of the construction of social networks based on chosen discussion forums on the Internet. The key issues are: social networks' character, participant/users motivation, communication rules and permanence of these networks. Methodology: In this research we used qualitative methodology (qualitative content analysis of users statements). The character of networks was described by statements of users constructing and reconstructing social networks on the Internet. Results: This research strategy enables treating our paper as part of discussion about the changes of form and character of social relations in our times. These changes are a result of slackening of traditional ties according to B. Wellman. Besides these changes are also a result of developing the network society referring to the concept by M. Castells, in which communication forms and also character of interpersonal ties are determined by information technology.

Nell'era dell'iperinformazione, avviata con lo sviluppo della rete e accentuata dall'utilizzo dei social media, abbiamo accesso a una quantità di notizie pressoché sconfinata. Come reagisce il nostro cervello a questo flusso continuo di stimoli? Per dare una risposta a un quesito così complesso ci viene in aiuto l'economia comportamentale, che integra la teoria economica con le conoscenze della ricerca psicologica.

Social network data mining has a disparate impact through its reliance on predictive analytics, its reproduction of patterns of unfairness, and evasion of privacy protections.  First, this paper will discuss data mining’s disparate impact.  Second, the dangers to consumer privacy when Big Data is used by the private sector and to constitutional norms when used by the government will be identified.  Third, the asymmetric relationship between Big Data and those whom data collection targets will be analyzed through an evaluation of Social Media Data Mining.  The final section of this paper offers recommendations towards a policy framework that ensures all consumers are included in the promise of first class citizenship in the digital age.

Racial hoaxes are becoming a popular discursive strategy to disguise racism, as well as a powerful means for triggering waves of fake news and outraged comments both on mainstream and social media. Built on grounds of plausibility and consistency with existing narratives, racial hoaxes may remain latent for a long time, and periodically emerge when negative stereotypes can be framed as actual news stories. Racial hoaxes have relevant political and social implications: spread across multiple channels, they can foster exclusionary discourse on immigration, migrants , refugees, and other minorities, with concrete consequences on people and policies. In particular, far-right movements embrace hoaxes as a great opportunity to advocate their claims and legitimate their calls for violent action. Theoretical background Racial hoaxes are becoming a popular discursive strategy to disguise racism. This concept has mainly been used in US legal and criminological fijields, aimed at exploring the connection between racial stereotypes and related practices in policing, and shifting criminal responsibility from a white offfender to a fijictional black predator (Russell, 1998). Nonetheless, this concept could be scrutinized from wider social and communicational perspectives, looking at how racial hoaxes are created and circulated, and how they afffect ethnic relations. The concept also provides powerful insights into study how prejudices and stereotypes are objectivized, and how hostility tales turn into social action. Moreover, racial hoaxes should be a relevant matter for communication studies, since they involve both mainstream and digital media, and have relevant consequences on public.

This article contributes to the emergent literature on the use of social media at advocacy organizations. Much of this existing literature focuses on these organizations’ production of social media information; this article, however, explores the complementary and relatively unexamined consumption of social media information that can form part of advocacy work. By drawing parallels between journalism and advocacy, the article develops two theoretical models of how advocacy organizations evaluate social media information as part of this consumption. These models differ according to the information values at their cores and according to how these values are evaluated in practice; correspondingly, the models interact differently with social media’s affordances. The key information value for the evidence model is the veracity of the information’s metadata, and this is largely evaluated through a time-intensive verification process requiring corroboration and drawing on human expertise. In contrast, the key information value pertaining to the engagement model is participation, which is evaluated by measuring the volume of participants in the information’s production and transmission. The affordances of social media are often hindrances for the evidence model, because they can make metadata more difficult to verify. In contrast, the engagement model capitalizes on social media affordances, because these affordances facilitate participation as well as the evaluation of participation volume using digital analytics. In addition to shedding light on approaches to social media information evaluation at advocacy organizations, this article urges researchers and practitioners to be alive to related barriers to pluralism as they study and use these approaches.

This paper critically engages with the role that the minibus taxi industry plays in the broader South African economy. Contemporary, the taxi industry remains the critical pillar of the public transport sector. The industry is considered as a servant for the urban and rural poor. However, there remains a great contestation around the formalisation of the taxi industry – particularly with regards to the taxi recapitalisation programme (TRP). The paper proposes rethinking the formalisation process – studying the industry in its totality as informed by underlying mechanisms that give rise to that which we see in the taxi industry.

Marketing as a field has increased exponentially over the past few years. With social media growth, various businesses and organizations have started looking out for new ways to promote their product or services. Influencer marketing seems to be the latest trend in advertising. Influencers are ordinary individuals who have amassed large followings by demonstrating expertise in various niches on social media sites. This research paper aims to examine the attitude and awareness of young Indian adults between the ages of 18 to 25 regarding influencer marketing. Through that, to find out the influence influencers have on the purchasing decisions among the target group.
We used a quantitative research method in this study and researched it with the help of an internet questionnaire. We aim to find out 1) How aware is the target group about influencer marketing 2) How does the target group perceive influencer marketing on social media and how it affects their buying decision 3) What are the various buying factors involved when taking suggestions from an influencer. The study's findings reveal that the target group is aware of influencer marketing, and they find it useful while making a product buying decision. It also increases the awareness of a product among the consumers. Trust and credibility are important factors while making the purchase based on the recommendation of the Influencer. It can be reasoned that influencer marketing plays an essential role among the target audience. Successful influencer marketing involves identifying the correct type of Influencer who has built a good reputation in a particular niche, and has excellent engagements with the audience.
Keywords: influencer marketing, social media, young Indian adults

Reintroducing the Cyborg Concept to Explain Internet-Related Safety Issues Tommaso Bertolotti ([email protected]) Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section University of Pavia, ITALY Lorenzo Magnani ([email protected]) Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section University of Pavia, ITALY Abstract we will later return on its recent use, it is worth sparing a few words on the Haraway’s contentions. As presented by Haraway herself, the theory is deeply embedded in Feminist arguments. Nevertheless some of her takes may be discussed and accepted regardless of one’s sharing the ideology they are meant to support. Haraway inserted in her definition of cyborg a trait that was seminal (or concerning an elite) at the time of her writing, but that is fully developed now: the strict dependance of our cyborgean nature on social cognition. This paper advocates a re-introduction of the notion of cyborg in order to acquire a new perspective on studies concerning the development of human cogn...

Information flows and communicative interactions on social media, the Web and the expanding Internet of things are changing the possibilities, the actual methods and models of interaction between human beings, objects and life environments. As a result, an unprecedented landscape of structural and functional connections emerge that can be described, at least in part, in terms of connectivity graphs. In borrowing the term «connectome» from the neurosciences, the author suggests that the network-like structure emerging from the combination of the Internet of things and the human usage of social media can be regarded as a third degree connectome (connettoma-3), that is to say as a dynamic and evolutionary system that modifies the organization of the activities in the human nervous system (connettoma-1) and in the social networks defined as connectomes of connectomes (connettoma-2). To regard the infosphere as an expanding third degree connectome means to ask questions about the material structures and the dynamics of the connections to be mapped, in order to study how shared sensemaking and behaviours change or become established. From such a perspective, it is possible to resume, update and reformulate both the actor-network theory, which claims that social actors emerge in the large network of attachments to which they belong, and the question of the alternative between being free from bonds (impossible) and well-attached.