Social Media + Society最新文献

“Cash Masters” Coming Out as “Straight”: Social Media and the Changing Dynamics of Gender and Sexuality

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-31 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313662

Sozen Basturk

{"title":"“Cash Masters” Coming Out as “Straight”: Social Media and the Changing Dynamics of Gender and Sexuality","authors":"Sozen Basturk","doi":"10.1177/20563051251313662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251313662","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores a novel concept called “straight cash master” emerging on social media platforms, especially X. The concept refers to relationships where self-identified straight men act as masters and primarily gay individuals take on the role of slaves. Several factors make this concept worthy of examination. First, these relationships are complex, involving dimensions of financial domination, sexuality, emotionality, and psychology. Second, while elements of sex work, fetishism, and BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism) culture are present, categorizing these masters solely as sex workers or performers and using a single theoretical framework for analysis may be inadequate. Third, the “straight” identity of these cash masters does not orient them toward the opposite sex but rather involves same-sex interactions. Thus, their “straightness” lacks the opposite sex and can only be articulated if relied on the same-sex slaves, thereby queering the notion of straightness. Finally, while social media perpetuates traditional norms of gender, sexuality, and masculinity, it also enables such relationships to emerge, having a queering effect. Despite its relevance, there is a noticeable gap in the literature addressing the interplay between social media and this concept. Drawing on unstructured, in-depth interview and qualitative content analysis methods, this article represents the first attempt, to the best of the author’s knowledge, to address this gap and offers a queer reading of it.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143072430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Truth Default or Generalized Skepticism? The Role of Overconfidence in the Relationship Between Social Media News Use and Traditional Media Use

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-31 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251315255

Taewoo Kang, Kjerstin Thorson, Chankyung Pak

引用次数: 0

Banana Populism: Exploring the Emotionally Engaging, Authentic, and Memeable Rhetoric of Populist Visual Communication

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313847

Zea Szebeni, Ilana Hartikainen, Sophie Schmalenberger, Michael Cole

{"title":"Banana Populism: Exploring the Emotionally Engaging, Authentic, and Memeable Rhetoric of Populist Visual Communication","authors":"Zea Szebeni, Ilana Hartikainen, Sophie Schmalenberger, Michael Cole","doi":"10.1177/20563051251313847","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251313847","url":null,"abstract":"This study conceptualizes “banana populism,” a novel analytical framework to examine how whimsical imagery functions in in contemporary populism. Banana populism utilizes the ordinary—exemplified by the banana—for its ubiquity, inherent humor, and absurdity, transforming these elements into powerful political tools. These articulations effectively mainstream extreme ideologies, invite affective investment from broad publics, and delineate antagonistic frontiers by employing familiar cultural symbols and everyday objects, such as military attire or MAGA hats. Such performative elements not only enhance the authenticity of populist leaders but also make their messages more accessible and emotionally engaging, increasing their appeal and relatability. Furthermore, the memetic nature of banana populism underlines its adaptability and potency on social media, where these performances become part of a participatory and dynamic political discourse. This framework shows how seemingly innocuous visual articulations can profoundly impact political communication and identity formation in contemporary political landscapes.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143056189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Internet Memes as Stabilizers of Conspiracy Culture: A Cognitive Anthropological Analysis

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1177/20563051241306421

Emily Godwin, Brittany I. Davidson, Tim Hill, Adam Joinson

{"title":"Internet Memes as Stabilizers of Conspiracy Culture: A Cognitive Anthropological Analysis","authors":"Emily Godwin, Brittany I. Davidson, Tim Hill, Adam Joinson","doi":"10.1177/20563051241306421","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241306421","url":null,"abstract":"Internet memes have emerged as the de facto language of the internet, where standardized memetic templates and characters distill and communicate narratives in simple, shareable formats. While prior research has highlighted their broad appeal as they traverse diverse audiences, their cultural function within online communities has received less attention. To investigate this function, we draw on cognitive anthropological conceptualizations of culture and theorize internet memes as “cultural representations.” We analyze 544 memes shared across two interconnected conspiratorial subreddits about COVID-19 between 2020 and 2022, employing a combination of content and thematic analysis. In doing so, we demonstrate that community members selectively engage with standardized memetic elements that resonate with their “conspiracist worldview.” Specifically, elements conveying the enduring “cultural themes” of Deception, Delusion, and Superiority function as “cultural resources” that stabilize the community’s culture. As such, we make three contributions. First, by theorizing internet memes as cultural representations, we demonstrate their stabilizing cultural function. Second, by showing how internet memes are used in online conspiratorial communities, we highlight their role in maintaining group cohesion and alleviating contention. Finally, we advance a revised methodological approach for the study of memetic communication.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143056953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Twitter (X) and the Commercial Determinants of Health: Characterizing the Most Amplified, Influential, and Connected Voices Driving Twitter Discourse About Tobacco Regulatory Policy From September 2019 to July 2021

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-29 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251314611

Nathan A. Silver, Miao Feng, Elexis C. Kierstead, Hy Tran, Steven Binns, Sherry Emery, Barbara A. Schillo

{"title":"Twitter (X) and the Commercial Determinants of Health: Characterizing the Most Amplified, Influential, and Connected Voices Driving Twitter Discourse About Tobacco Regulatory Policy From September 2019 to July 2021","authors":"Nathan A. Silver, Miao Feng, Elexis C. Kierstead, Hy Tran, Steven Binns, Sherry Emery, Barbara A. Schillo","doi":"10.1177/20563051251314611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251314611","url":null,"abstract":"Tobacco content on Twitter (X) generally opposes regulation. Although a near real-time data source of the public’s response to prominent events heightens the allure of extrapolating public sentiment from Twitter content, tobacco policy sentiment on the platform may be more indicative of industry-affiliated top users. We examined 2 years of tobacco policy discussion on Twitter (X) at the user level ( N = 3,159,807 posts) from September 2019 to July 2021. We sampled the 100 most followed, amplified (retweets), influential (H index), and connected (betweenness centrality) users at three different time periods: pre-COVID (September 2019 to February 2020), COVID lockdown (March 2020 to March 2021), and post vaccine rollout (April to July 2021) to characterize top users. The Louvain method was used to partition users into communities based on retweet behavior. The 100 most amplified users received between 48% and 71% of all retweets across time periods, with e-cigarette advocates dominating the most amplified (64.7%), influential (38.4%) and connected users (42.1%). The vast majority of interaction took place in communities dominated by e-cigarette advocates, but only reaching 2.5% to 8.2% of users. We identified 58 tobacco policy top users who had 1,000 or more total retweets and were among the top 100 for any of our influence metrics at more than one time period. Among top users, 50 were e-cigarette advocates, and 24 had quantifiable ties to the tobacco industry. Practitioners and researchers should be wary of mischaracterizing industry public relations on social media as public sentiment.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"94 7 Suppl 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143056190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

No Consistent Evidence for Between- and Within-Person Associations Between Objective Social Media Screen Time and Body Image Dissatisfaction: Insights From a Daily Diary Study

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-24 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313855

Adalia Y. H. Goh, Andree Hartanto, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Nadyanna M. Majeed

{"title":"No Consistent Evidence for Between- and Within-Person Associations Between Objective Social Media Screen Time and Body Image Dissatisfaction: Insights From a Daily Diary Study","authors":"Adalia Y. H. Goh, Andree Hartanto, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Nadyanna M. Majeed","doi":"10.1177/20563051251313855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251313855","url":null,"abstract":"With the abundance of social media content that promotes unrealistic beauty standards, there are growing concerns about the potential negative impact of social media use on body image satisfaction. While some studies highlight negative associations, others present null effects, pointing to methodological limitations like biased and unreliable self-reported screen time measures and a focus on singular platforms. Addressing these gaps, our study employed a daily diary method to objectively measure social media screen time across six major platforms ( Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook), alongside daily body image dissatisfaction among 252 young adults ( Mage = 21.67 years, 67.77% female) over 7 days. Through multilevel modeling, our analysis revealed no significant within- or between-person associations between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction, a finding consistent across all platforms. In addition, the lack of association between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction was consistent across several exploratory moderators such as sex, self-esteem, and perfectionistic self-presentation. The current study did not find strong evidence supporting the concerns surrounding the potential detrimental link between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143026652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Toxic Communication on TikTok: Sigma Masculinities and Gendered Disinformation

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-23 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313844

Samuel Tanner, François Gillardin

{"title":"Toxic Communication on TikTok: Sigma Masculinities and Gendered Disinformation","authors":"Samuel Tanner, François Gillardin","doi":"10.1177/20563051251313844","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251313844","url":null,"abstract":"A growing body of research highlights digital platforms like TikTok’s pivotal role in shaping meaning for their users, particularly regarding gender perceptions. With TikTok increasingly serving as a search engine for teens, understanding how opinions are formed necessitates examining online content and interactions. Our article focuses on the construction of masculinity and gender dynamics with sigma videos on TikTok, emphasizing the digital practices that foster toxic communication. We define toxic communication as the deliberate framing and intensification of gender relations through the lens of male control and domination, alongside the denigration, devaluation, or defamation of feminine and non-binary identities associated with hegemonic masculinity. Adopting a socio-technical approach, we utilize a digital qualitative method of immersive observation to collect and analyze videos, posts, hashtags, and gender-related content. Our findings reveal that sigma toxic communication manifests in a spectrum ranging from subtle humor to explicit violence. This diversity of content functions as a “ready-to-think” framework, potentially appealing to a wide range of men across varying tastes, ages, and attitudes toward gender while perpetuating narratives that reflect and reinforce entrenched patterns of male dominance.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143026653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

“(Virtuous) Wives Don’t Have Anything to Hide”: Understanding Digital Privacy Perceptions and Behavior of Married Women in Rural India “（贤惠的）妻子没有什么可隐瞒的”：了解印度农村已婚妇女的数字隐私观念和行为

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-18 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313665

Debjani Chakraborty, Chhavi Garg

引用次数: 0

Oscillation Between Resist and to Not? Users’ Folk Theories and Resistance to Algorithmic Curation on Douyin 抵抗和不抵抗之间的振荡？抖音用户民间理论与对算法策展的抵制

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-18 DOI: 10.1177/20563051251313610

Hui Lin

{"title":"Oscillation Between Resist and to Not? Users’ Folk Theories and Resistance to Algorithmic Curation on Douyin","authors":"Hui Lin","doi":"10.1177/20563051251313610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251313610","url":null,"abstract":"An increasing number of users are aware of algorithmically driven content curation. Yet, while numerous studies have examined how people understand algorithmic power, there are insufficient numbers of studies about how people respond to and resist algorithmic curation in different sociocultural contexts. This article adopts a walk-through method and a diary-interview approach with 31 participants to investigate user resistance to algorithmic curation in different sociocultural circumstances. Drawing on the theoretical framework of folk theories and user resistance to algorithms, this study reveals a paradox in users’ algorithmic awareness and resistance behaviors: although respondents said they expressed annoyance with algorithmic simplification, commercial exploitation, and political agenda-setting, they often behaved in ways that contradict those claims with oscillated resistance to algorithmic curation. This study found that this paradox of resistance not only reflects users’ efforts to reconcile sociocultural needs with digital irritations caused by algorithmic mismatches but also arises from a sense of digital resignation in response to the platform’s strict regulations and censorship. Thus, this article argues that although people espouse folk theories as resources to resist algorithmic curation in different sociocultural contexts, most of their resistance behaviors remain constrained within the dominant use of technological affordances, which largely functions as a process of continuous negotiation rather than a subversive force capable of disrupting the ideological power relations embedded in algorithm-driven platforms.","PeriodicalId":47920,"journal":{"name":"Social Media + Society","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142988832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

From Volunteerism to Corporatization: Analyzing Participation in the 2015 and 2023 Reddit Blackouts 从志愿服务到公司化：分析2015年和2023年Reddit停电的参与情况

IF 5.2 1区文学

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2025-01-17 DOI: 10.1177/20563051241309497

Andreas Schmitz, Mattia Samory

引用次数: 0