{"title":"Discourse, digitisation and women’s rights groups in Nigeria and Ghana: Online campaigns for political inclusion and against violence on women and girls","authors":"Innocent Chiluwa","doi":"10.1177/14614448231220919","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231220919","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines aspects of online activism by women’s rights groups in Nigeria and Ghana, especially by exploring their online campaign approaches. Applying the new social movement theories and methods in linguistic pragmatics and discourse analysis, the study examines and analyses how gender issues such as political participation and violence against women and girls are mediated discursively. The study further assesses the roles of social media in the campaign programmes of the women’s rights groups. Two groups each from Nigeria and Ghana are selected for the study. These are among the most active ones in the two countries with an efficient online presence. Findings show that the women movements adopt discourse-pragmatic acting strategies such as reporting, directing, demanding and identifying with women’s rights to seek redress to perceived gender injustice.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139527044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tribute to the Voluntarist Ethos of New Media & Society: A Farewell","authors":"David W Park","doi":"10.1177/14614448231211692","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231211692","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139128374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reviewer acknowledgements","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/14614448231211702","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231211702","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139128160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"#GoodVibesOnly: Exploring social constructionism on high-level anonymous social applications: A Case of Jodel—Ghana","authors":"Sandra A. Mensah","doi":"10.1177/14614448231220589","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231220589","url":null,"abstract":"Several outcomes have been documented on the effect of anonymity on behaviors and norms. However, unlike similar Complete Anonymous Applications (CAPs) that have been discontinued due to their anonymous affordance and associated drawbacks, Jodel has been able to withstand the test of time since its inception. As a result, this study examines how the Jodel platform in Ghana, specifically Accra, constructs its community jointly to ensure positivity by utilizing the social construction framework. Three themes emerge from the data using iterative analysis. It was found that the community’s communal construction was primarily based on user needs, later categorized as social solidarity, which influenced the other constructions: legalism and culture. Using them as a foundation, the community upheld social order through their constructions and Jodel’s predefined affordances. Emphasizing the possibility of social order even on CAPs.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139139157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Love is love: Reverse isomorphism and the rise of LGBTQ+ romance publishing","authors":"Christine Larson, Ashley Carter","doi":"10.1177/14614448231218991","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231218991","url":null,"abstract":"In the late 2010s, US romance publishing underwent an astonishing change. Previously, same-sex couples were all but nonexistent in romances released by major publishers. By 2022, every large publisher in the United States issued romances featuring same-sex couples: A few also published bisexual, trans, or polyamorous romances. This article turns to neo-institutionalism to analyze how processes of isomorphism contributed to this change. Through interviews with 10 authors and 7 editors, we show how specific mechanisms associated with isomorphism—coercion, mimesis, and normative pressures—explain this major shift. Contrary to prevailing literature, we find that structural innovations moved from publishing’s periphery to its core in a process we call reverse isomorphism. We contribute to discussions of representation in media by showing how social, organizational, and institutional processes facilitate or suppress underrepresented voices. At the same time, we caution that new structures may create new types of marginalization.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139139228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Civilizing social media: The effect of geolocation on the incivility of news comments","authors":"Yufan Guo, Yuhan Li, Tian Yang","doi":"10.1177/14614448231218989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231218989","url":null,"abstract":"Many social media affordances can affect the quality of online discourse, but such an effect remains understudied for the visibility of geolocation, which is available on most social media platforms. We looked at the event in which Weibo started to display users’ IP locations on 28 April 2022, which was supposed to reduce incivility as the deindividuation hypothesis predicted. Leveraging a natural experiment, we examined the effect of IP location visibility, with special attention to COVID-19-related news posts and location-based, uncivil name-calling. We found that displaying the IP location in the comments section increased location-based incivility, as geolocation can function as an effective cue that signals ideological affiliation and fuels conflicts between users holding different political positions on the Chinese Internet. Meanwhile, we characterized a moderating effect of audience size on this decivilizing effect. Our study suggests that diverse social media affordances can fuel group identification and facilitate intergroup behaviors.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139141367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Welfare service centers: Maintenance, repair, and care at the analog interfaces of the digital welfare state","authors":"Anne Kaun, Agnes Liminga","doi":"10.1177/14614448231220362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231220362","url":null,"abstract":"Many public administrations advocate digital services that allow for the deployment of algorithmic automation and the use of artificial intelligence. This shift has been discussed as the expansion of the digital welfare state. However, numerous citizens remain excluded from digital services provided by the state. In this context, welfare service centers have emerged as important interfaces of the digital welfare state. These service centers undergird many of the operations of digitalization as a large-scale, societal infrastructure project. In this article, we elaborate the specific characteristics of welfare service centers in Sweden, relying theoretically on interface theory and broken world thinking. Methodologically, we rely on ethnographic methods including in-depth interviews and observations. The article ultimately argues that the digital welfare state continues to be based on material inequalities and exclusions.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139154396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fiona A Clements, Darren D Chadwick, Lisa J Orchard
{"title":"‘I’m not the same person now’: The psychological implications of online contact risk experiences for adults with intellectual disabilities","authors":"Fiona A Clements, Darren D Chadwick, Lisa J Orchard","doi":"10.1177/14614448231217994","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231217994","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding online risk for adults with intellectual disabilities is important to improve digital inclusion in society. Perceptions of online risk can determine behaviours that obstruct or facilitate Internet access and use. This current study aimed to qualitatively investigate the psychological implications of online victimisation risks, including online negative comments and/or messages for adults with intellectual disabilities, as a novel area yet explored in-depth. Semi-structured interview data was collected remotely. Template analysis found there to be both negative and positive psychological implications experienced in response to online risks. Specifically, participants reported a wide range of negative emotions but also positive growth in the form of learning from the experience and increased confidence. The attribution of blame process in cybervictimisation can involve both blaming the perpetrator but also internalised victim-blaming which may be a consequence of the type of online risk (i.e. sexual risks). Implications for both practice and research are suggested.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138947343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corporate constructions of bio-digital identity: DNA-based playlists and the mandate to “listen to your DNA”","authors":"Charnell Peters, Sebastiaan Gorissen","doi":"10.1177/14614448231217428","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231217428","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyzes the novel partnership between Ancestry DNA and Spotify to create DNA-based playlists and tracks publics’ responses to them. Analysis reveals how the companies construct a sense of self that is biologically determined, technologically mediated, and culturally expressed. Layers of abstraction and curation construct their corporate, techno-utopic view of bio-digital identity performances. Yet, publics perceived these media through a dystopic lens, critiquing invasions of privacy and genetic determinism. Conceptualized as hyper-objects, DNA-based playlists demonstrate collective desires to leverage media and technoscience for conceptualizing and managing identities.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138962082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaheen Kanthawala, Kelley Cotter, Amy Ritchart, Ankolika De, Haley McAtee, Connie Yun, Julia DeCook
{"title":"Algorithmic conspirituality: Explicating its emergence, dimensions, and persuasibility","authors":"Shaheen Kanthawala, Kelley Cotter, Amy Ritchart, Ankolika De, Haley McAtee, Connie Yun, Julia DeCook","doi":"10.1177/14614448231217425","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231217425","url":null,"abstract":"Algorithmic conspirituality is the belief that social media algorithms have the capacity to know users intimately and convey personally meaningful messages at the exact right moment to revelatory effect. Through a thematic analysis of TikTok videos, this study explicates this concept by identifying five distinct dimensions of its expression on TikTok—(1) relational, (2) injunctive, (3) personal, (4) spiritual, (5) conspiratorial—and explaining their relationship with the platform’s affordances—(1) connectedness, (2) personalization, and (3) social creativity. We then connect the emergence and impact of this phenomenon to the possibility for persuasion and behavior changes through normalization of messaging in areas such as mental health, smoking, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and body dysmorphia that could lead to positive and negative health outcomes.","PeriodicalId":443328,"journal":{"name":"New Media & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138995412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}