Search Results

Branding potential of online social media

Barrie Gunter

in Kids and Branding In A Digital World

The 21st century has witnessed the rapid rise of online social media. At the forefront of these developments have been popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Young adults and then children ... More

The 21st century has witnessed the rapid rise of online social media. At the forefront of these developments have been popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Young adults and then children adopted these sites first before moving on to other even newer and more fashionable locations such as Instagram, SnapChat and others once their parents made the initial social media less trendy places to hang out. Marketing professionals have not been slow to recognise the popularity of these platforms with children and the centrality they have in young people's lives. Marketers have quickly adopted these sites as branding locations and have even gone as far as developing their own sites. The use of online social media to promote brands to children has raised concerns about whether they are necessarily aware of the marketing use of these sites when in their outward appearance they seem like other social media sites. This chapter examines the way brands have co-opted social media technologies for branding purposes. Sometimes this activity takes the form of brands utilising established independent social media sites and on other occasions brand owners have created their own social media sites. Evidence is reviewed about how these sites can influence children's brand awareness and opinions and even their brand choices.Less

The Origins of Social Media

Judy Malloy

in Social Media Archeology and Poetics

In the formative years of the Internet, researchers collaboratively connected computing systems with a goal of sharing research and computing resources. The model process with which they created the ... More

In the formative years of the Internet, researchers collaboratively connected computing systems with a goal of sharing research and computing resources. The model process with which they created the Internet and its forefather, the ARPANET, was echoed in early social media platforms, where creative computer scientists, artists, writers, musicians educators explored the promise of computer-based platforms to bring together communities of interest in what would be called “cyberspace.” With a focus on the arts and humanities, this introduction traces the development of social media affordances in applications such as email, mailing lists, BBSs, the Community Memory, PLATO, Usenet, mail art, telematic art, and video communication. The author outlines the early social media platforms documented in each chapter in this book and summarizes how the book's epilogues both explore differences between early and contemporary social media and look to the future of the arts in social media.Less

Social media data

Adrian Tear and Humphrey Southall

in Data in Society: Challenging Statistics in an Age of Globalisation

The increasing availability of huge volumes of social media ‘Big Data’ from Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter and other social network platforms, combined with the development of software designed ... More

The increasing availability of huge volumes of social media ‘Big Data’ from Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter and other social network platforms, combined with the development of software designed to operate at web scale, has fuelled the growth of computational social science. Often analysed by ‘data scientists’, social media data differ substantially from the datasets officially disseminated as by-products of government-sponsored activity, such as population censuses or administrative data, which have long been analysed by professional statisticians. This chapter outlines the characteristics of social media data and identifies key data sources and methods of data capture, introducing several of the technologies used to acquire, store, query, visualise and augment social media data. Unrepresentativeness of, and lack of (geo)demographic control in, social media data are problematic for population-based research. These limitations, alongside wider epistemological and ethical concerns surrounding data validity, inadvertent co-option into research and protection of user privacy, suggest that caution should be exercised when analysing social media datasets. While care must be taken to respect personal privacy and sample assiduously, this chapter concludes that statisticians, who may be unfamiliar with some of the programmatic steps involved in accessing social media data, must play a pivotal role in analysing it.Less

Social Media Education in News Organizations: Experimentation at the BBC

Valerie Belair-Gagnon

in Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future

Social media prompt a set of questions for news organizations. These questions concern the nature, processes, and consequences of journalism, and focus on changes in the structure, practices, ... More

Social media prompt a set of questions for news organizations. These questions concern the nature, processes, and consequences of journalism, and focus on changes in the structure, practices, journalistic culture and beats of reporting. This paper shows how social media education is becoming more widespread in BBC norms and practices, and in new educational initiatives designed with social media as a new component in BBC news production and distribution.Less

Social Media and Teacher Education: The Case of Startalk

Jiahang Li

in Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future

This chapter discusses the relationship between social media and teacher education. By synthesizing empirical research, this chapter identifies several affordances that social media offers for ... More

This chapter discusses the relationship between social media and teacher education. By synthesizing empirical research, this chapter identifies several affordances that social media offers for teacher education, including promoting collaborative learning, building a community of practice, and generating content. Furthermore, it provides an exemplary case of a foreign language teacher education program, STARTALK, to illustrate the affordances and challenges of adopting social media for teachers’ professional development. Finally, it suggests future research directions and implications for teacher educators’ practices.Less

Expanding on “What Is the Social in Social Media?”: A Conversation with Geert Lovink

Judy Malloy

in Social Media Archeology and Poetics

In 1995, Geert Lovink started <nettime> with Pit Schultz. It expanded into many lists and languages and in the process demonstrated that English language and American-centric platforms do not have to ... More

In 1995, Geert Lovink started <nettime> with Pit Schultz. It expanded into many lists and languages and in the process demonstrated that English language and American-centric platforms do not have to be the lingua franca of the Internet. Lovink's contemporary work with the Institute of Network Cultures and its research networks, such as Unlike Us, has shaped a coalition that explores network architectures, the role of collective production, aesthetic tactics, and diverse, open information exchange. This introduction to the Epilogues focuses on his 2012 essay in e-flux -- “What Is the Social in Social Media?” -- asking three questions: Can you expand on what roles you envision for artists and writers in contemporary social media? How can we teach students to create in a difficult medium that so beautifully (and relentlessly) combines text, image, design, interactivity and collaboration? And how do you envision a social media of the future?Less

Epilogue: Slow Machines and Utopian Dreams

Judith Donath

in Social Media Archeology and Poetics

The early days of social media saw tremendous optimism about the transformations that connecting people via networked computers would bring. This chapter, the book’s epilogue, analyses the nostalgia ... More

The early days of social media saw tremendous optimism about the transformations that connecting people via networked computers would bring. This chapter, the book’s epilogue, analyses the nostalgia that permeates the preceding chapters, in which the pioneers of the field write with nostalgia for creative freedom, the pre-commercial internet and the hopeful time when people believed that computing would change humanity for the better. The world of dial-up modems and floppy disks and ASCII bulletin board systems seems very long ago. But the ideals of that time, in spite of their naiveté, indeed because of it, are very valuable. Untainted by cynicism or corrupted by practicalities, they remind us of what the social net ought to be; they remind of the direction to head in, even if we will not quite get there. By inculcating ideals into mythic origin stories, nostalgia weaves them into a culture: we create the past that we want to live up to.Less

Social media for students in practice

Joanne Westwood

in Practice placement in social work: Innovative approaches for effective teaching and learning

This chapter examines social media in social work practice to explore how organisations and practitioners can ensure it is used safely. In practice the barriers to engagement with social media, ... More

This chapter examines social media in social work practice to explore how organisations and practitioners can ensure it is used safely. In practice the barriers to engagement with social media, especially concerns about practitioner, service user and carer privacy and confidentiality are amplified. This chapter explores the opportunities which social media presents as well as the threats. New communication technologies have enormous potential for practice, but only as long as they are used ethically by practitioners aware of the importance of professional boundaries. This chapter draws on a small piece of research with practice educators about their use of social media with students. Practice educators can work with students to develop understanding of how social media interactions may lead to conflict and tension between practitioners and service users, but also how they have the potential to strengthen relationships and communication. Practice educators can contribute by engaging in social media activities, and by familiarising themselves with policy and codes of conduct related to social media in their own agencies.Less

Children and digital branding

Barrie Gunter

in Kids and Branding In A Digital World

The emergence of digital communications media has transformed the marketing landscape for all consumers. Marketers have embraced many new platforms for the promotion of their brands during the 21st ... More

The emergence of digital communications media has transformed the marketing landscape for all consumers. Marketers have embraced many new platforms for the promotion of their brands during the 21st century. The emergence of the internet has been a critical factor here along with the dramatic rise of mobile technology and the increased computerisation of television sets. These developments have enabled marketers to establish new forms of brand marketing that often differ in their appearance from the more traditional styles of advertising in the older mass media and retail settings. The current chapter begins by examining how children respond to overt and distinctive brand marketing whereby brand messages are clearly differentiated from the non-advertising content in which they are embedded and then how this might differ from newer digital marketing forms. With traditional forms of brand promotion, what do we know about children's consumer socialisation and how relevant is that older learning in enabling them to cope with newer forms of digital marketing?Less

Detecting Disruption

Yossi Sheffi

in The Power of Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected

Companies’ increasing awareness of supply chain risks, coupled with the growing use of technology, has led to a greater emphasis on detection, which is the subject of Chapter 8. The sooner a company ... More

Companies’ increasing awareness of supply chain risks, coupled with the growing use of technology, has led to a greater emphasis on detection, which is the subject of Chapter 8. The sooner a company knows about a general risk or a specific event, the sooner it can address it; the first company to lock in alternative supplies has an advantage. New technologies and new services help companies detect risks and events sooner than ever before.Less

Social Media and the Olympics

Andy Miah

in Sport 2.0: Transforming Sports for a Digital World

This chapter focuses on how the rise of social media has transformed media events. First, it considers the characteristics of the Web 2.0 era before considerin how the Olympic industry has organized ... More

This chapter focuses on how the rise of social media has transformed media events. First, it considers the characteristics of the Web 2.0 era before considerin how the Olympic industry has organized its response to this new communication architecture. Next, it explores the risks of social media to the financial base of the Games, considering how to monetize Olympic social-media content. Subsequent sections in this chapter consider the risks of open media, the expansion of the user experience by digital technology, and the parallels between open-source volunteers and the Olympic volunteer ethos. In so doing, the chapter articulates a vision for digital culture that is born out of the values of social media, as an ideological force that coheres with the Olympic vision and with a broad perspective on the potential contribution of sports in society.Less

The Effect of Social Media on the 2012 London Olympics

Andy Miah

in Sport 2.0: Transforming Sports for a Digital World

This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the social media activity surrounding the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, widely discussed as the first social-media Olympics. It examines how ... More

This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the social media activity surrounding the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, widely discussed as the first social-media Olympics. It examines how social media platforms were instrumental in generating news content during these Games – not just distributors of the news of others - while also discussing how the organizing committee, stakeholders, and audiences contributed to generating the record breaking volume of social-media content that came out around these Games.Less

Sportswomen’s Use of Social Media in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena)

Nida Ahmad

in Sport, Politics and Society in the Middle East

Social media creates unique opportunities for sportswomen to create a self-brand through sharing aspects of their lives online. Insofar, the study of this phenomenon has been limited to the context ... More

Social media creates unique opportunities for sportswomen to create a self-brand through sharing aspects of their lives online. Insofar, the study of this phenomenon has been limited to the context of the Western world. This chapter presents the findings from a digital ethnography of the social media accounts of sportswomen from Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as interviews with these women. In contrast to research findings that show Western sportswomen using social media for self-branding and offering intimate details about their lifestyles, our findings shows that Middle Eastern sportswomen carefully consider what they share and how they share with their audiences, using different strategies to safely and effectively navigate the digital terrain, with the familial and cultural restraints playing a key role in their decision-making processes.Less

Social media and political participation: BBC World Service and the Arabic Spring

Marie Gillespie, Nesrine Abdel Sattar, and Mina Lami

in Political (dis)engagement: The changing nature of the 'political'

The chapter is based on the integration of social media in an interactive TV political debate programme broadcast daily by the BBC Arabic Service called Nuqtat Hewar (NH). Our argument is that the ... More

The chapter is based on the integration of social media in an interactive TV political debate programme broadcast daily by the BBC Arabic Service called Nuqtat Hewar (NH). Our argument is that the BBC s traditional journalistic ethos is at odds with the social media practices of Arab news audiences and, in the case of NH, that this creates huge difficulties for widening and diversifying participation on the programme and for political engagement. Although the empirical realities of user participation online are far from the BBC s aspiration to foster  a global conversation , there is evidence that a  democratic deepening  is evolving alongside participatory forms of journalism. New forms of deliberative and media literacy are developing among NH users and this is contributing to energising political communication. But political communication is itself undergoing a sea change, not least in the more varied places and spaces in which it occurs and as repertoires of political participation multiply and change.Less

China: Embracing IT in Changing Times

James W. Cortada

in The Digital Flood: The Diffusion of Information Technology Across the U.S., Europe, and Asia

China is one of the latest adopters of computers and has become a major force in the manufacture and distribution of consumer electronics around the world. It is today the largest user of the ... More

China is one of the latest adopters of computers and has become a major force in the manufacture and distribution of consumer electronics around the world. It is today the largest user of the Internet and social media technologies as well. This is a detailed history of how China was introduced to computers, their diffusion since the 1950s in the country, government policies that either harmed or promoted the use of this technology, and the effects it has had on both exports and domestic use of computing. The story is taken through the first decade of the twenty-first century. It includes considerable statistical data on volumes of systems installed and used over the decades.Less

Conclusion: Making the New Status Quo: Social Media in Education

Ri Pierce-Grove

in Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future

The conclusion brings together key themes from the chapters in the text and offers parting thoughts on the changing state of play with respect to social media in education.

The Diaristic Impulse and Self-construction: An Afterword

Alex Belsey

in Image of a Man: The Journal of Keith Vaughan

This afterword reflects upon how the practice of journal-writing enabled Keith Vaughan to construct and re-construct himself through literary means, providing him with a sense of identification where ... More

This afterword reflects upon how the practice of journal-writing enabled Keith Vaughan to construct and re-construct himself through literary means, providing him with a sense of identification where previously there had been isolation. This afterword considers the diaristic impulse that compels an author-subject to write a journal or diary, before proffering why the journal or diary form is so appropriate as a site for self-construction; chiefly, that it allows the author-subject to establish their own space for identity formation, before they can begin construction with the literary materials and generic conventions available to them. This afterword progresses by considering the implications in the twenty-first century, with an explosion of diaristic behaviours facilitated by the range of available technologies, giving us an improved understanding of selfhood as a network. It closes by asserting that the further study of journal and diary forms is needed in order to develop our understanding of how identity is formed through response.Less

The Changing Nature of Socialization among Arab Youth: Insights from Online Practices

Ilhem Allagui

in Digital Middle East: State and Society in the Information Age

This article examines online relationship activities among Arab youth, paying particular attention to micro-practices of engagement and the ways on which socio-cultural contexts shape social ... More

This article examines online relationship activities among Arab youth, paying particular attention to micro-practices of engagement and the ways on which socio-cultural contexts shape social interactions online. Youth resort to a range of strategies to develop friendship and interact with evolving technologies. In negotiating and managing their relationships, they take into account not only their identities, cultures, and values but also the images they want to project to the users and online groups they interact with. Drawing on narrative analysis and personal stories of informants, this chapter discusses the dynamic relationship between online and offline interactions in relation to socialization. It explores how everyday practices inform the reconfiguration of the culture of connectivity in social media times. The chapter points to the multimodality of social lives and suggests that offline and online interactions are deeply intertwined.Less

MOOs and Participatory Media

Dene Grigar

in Social Media Archeology and Poetics

This essay revisits the online defense that took place in LinguaMOO in July 1995, tying it to theories and current practice of social media. In doing so, it situates MOOs in a historical, cultural ... More

This essay revisits the online defense that took place in LinguaMOO in July 1995, tying it to theories and current practice of social media. In doing so, it situates MOOs in a historical, cultural context as an early form of participatory media related to social media environments prevalent today and establishes that popular social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are not new but, rather, are part of an evolution of technologies that foster the human impetus to connect with one another across any mode of communication.Less