scholarly journals Divergent masculinities : a visual rhetoric study of masculinity on Tumblr

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yoshen Nair

This study is motivated by the need for visual communication designers or graphic designers to research changes in social identity that emerge on social media. Visual communication designers must deal with transforming and proliferating social identities in order to communicate effectively with their audiences. Social media are regarded in the study as highly influential on social identity changes. This study deals with divergent masculinities as an exemplar of these social identity changes, on the social media site Tumblr. To examine divergent masculinities, the study adopts a visual rhetoric perspective on Tumblr as one social media site of masculinity diversification. The literature review draws together social media perspectives with theoretical themes of reflexive social identity, gender, and fashion as the visual representation of masculinity. The resulting theoretical integration yields two guiding visual rhetoric concepts that inform inquiry into masculinity diversification on Tumblr: performativity and reflexivity. A Tumblr research setting is then demarcated by observing how the Social Network Site facilitates rhetor performativity of 'fashioned' masculine image posts, and audience reflexivity to these image posts. The roles of rhetor and audience are found to switch in the transaction of visual rhetoric, where image posts are audienced and further shared from one Tumblr user wall display to another. Meta-data on Tumblr makes extensive user activity around particular images evident, so that significant indications of diverging masculinities can be discerned. An analytical sampling strategy is then created by combining quantitative Tumblr meta-data with the theoretical themes of fashioned masculine performativity and reflexivity. This leveraged functional/theoretical analytical sampling strategy allows diversifying masculinities to be systematically identified. Five diverging masculinities are illustrated. These are regarded as exemplars of an ongoing process of masculinity diversification. It is suggested that the research design and methodology of the study can be used to investigate other forms of changing social identity besides masculinity. This is important for visual communication designers, who need to monitor changing social identity mores and their visual expression on social media.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-149
Author(s):  
Rajani K. Chhetri ◽  
Fr. (Dr) George Plathottam

Identity is an integral aspect of human cognition and a composite of varied elements and subjectivities; it is fluidic and contextual. Identity discourses have dominated the socio-cultural and political milieu of Northeast India. A range of scholarship emanating from both within the Northeast region and outside has explored several identity dimensions. As the social media site Facebook allows for the formation of different kinds of interactional groups, this study explored a closed private Facebook group of twenty-five thousand members belonging exclusively to the Khasi ethnic community to understand the phenomenon of ascribing Khasi social identity among members in the online group. The study adopts Tajfel’s Social Identity framework and engages in a netnographic study on an online group. The study’s findings reveal a range of key symbolic manifestations in the co- constructions of Khasi identity in the online space. The study also discovers unique possibilities and affordances proliferated by social media in building collectivities, strengthening ethnic ties, and belongingness in the online space.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Behringer ◽  
Kai Sassenberg ◽  
Annika Scholl

Abstract. Knowledge exchange via social media is crucial for organizational success. Yet, many employees only read others’ contributions without actively contributing their knowledge. We thus examined predictors of the willingness to contribute knowledge. Applying social identity theory and expectancy theory to knowledge exchange, we investigated the interplay of users’ identification with their organization and perceived usefulness of a social media tool. In two studies, identification facilitated users’ willingness to contribute knowledge – provided that the social media tool seemed useful (vs. not-useful). Interestingly, identification also raised the importance of acquiring knowledge collectively, which could in turn compensate for low usefulness of the tool. Hence, considering both social and media factors is crucial to enhance employees’ willingness to share knowledge via social media.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athapol Ruangkanjanases ◽  
Shu-Ling Hsu ◽  
Yenchun Jim Wu ◽  
Shih-Chih Chen ◽  
Jo-Yu Chang

With the growth of social media communities, people now use this new media to engage in many interrelated activities. As a result, social media communities have grown into popular and interactive platforms among users, consumers and enterprises. In the social media era of high competition, increasing continuance intention towards a specific social media platform could transfer extra benefits to such virtual groups. Based on the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), this research proposed a conceptual framework incorporating social influence and social identity as key determinants of social media continuous usage intention. The research findings of this study highlight that: (1) the social influence view of the group norms and image significantly affects social identity; (2) social identity significantly affects perceived usefulness and confirmation; (3) confirmation has a significant impact on perceived usefulness and satisfaction; (4) perceived usefulness and satisfaction have positive effects on usage continuance intention. The results of this study can serve as a guide to better understand the reasons for and implications of social media usage and adoption.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146954052110160
Author(s):  
Tiziana Brenner Beauchamp Weber ◽  
Eliane C. Francisco Maffezzolli

This research identifies the relationship between consumption practices and the construction of social identity among tweens in a Brazilian context. Using consumer culture theory and social identity theory, we employed 80 h of observation, 9 interviews, and projective techniques with fifteen girls. Three social identity groups were acknowledged: naive, connected, and counselors. These groups revealed different identity projects, such as the integration and maintenance within the social group of current belonging, the access to the social group with the greater distinctions, the generation of differentiable and positive distinctions (both intra- and intergroups), and the expression and consolidation of identity and its respective consumption practices. This research contributes to the consumption literature that relates to consumer identity projects. The findings reveal a current resignification of girlhood and exposes tweens’ consumption practices as a direct mechanism of the expression and construction of their social identities. These are mechanisms of social identity construction as mediated by group relations through the processes of access, maintenance, integration, differentiation, and distinction.


Res Publica ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 36 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 343-359
Author(s):  
Marc Jacquemain ◽  
René Doutrelepont ◽  
Michel Vandekeere

At first view, the methodology of survey research may seem rather unsuitable to the study of such "holistic" phenomena as collective and social identities.  That difficulty vanishes - at least partly - as soon as we consider social identity as the link between the individual and his belongings, as does the "social identity theory", developed from the work of Taffel and Turner.  From there on, survey research may prove to be a useful device to cope with some main characteristics of social identity: mainly its variability among groups and classes within a same society and its particular sensitivity to socio-political contexts.  Survey research, combined with the social identity theory may help to test historical assumptions at a macro-social level. It may also give some ''flesh" and some additional realism to the micro-theories of social behaviour, which are too often limited by their conception of a strictly rational and interested agent.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Riddle ◽  
Jill R D MacKay

The rapid rise of social media in the past decade represents a new space where animals are represented in human society, and this may influence human perceptions. In this study, 211 participants (49% female) between the ages of 18 to 44 were recruited to an online survey where they viewed mock-up pages from a social media site. All participants saw the same image of an animal, but were randomly assigned to a positive or negative narrative condition. When participants were presented with the critical narrative they perceived the animal to be more stressed (χ2=13.99, p<0.001). Participants expressed reservations in face of a narrative they disagreed with in free text comments. Overall, this study found evidence to suggest that people moderate their discussions on human-animal interactions based on the social network they are in, but these relationships are complex and require further research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Anita Akhirruddin

high growth of online shopping in Indonesia gave rise to many onlien websites and platforms in Indonesia. Facebook, which is one of the social networks that many people use around the world, is one of the online selling media that is in great demand because it can reach more people. Shopping online on Facebook in addition to providing benefits for sellers and buyers. Online shopping on Facebook requires a high level of trust from buyers regarding the quality of products and serv ices, and ease in obtaining product information and payments because there are no guarantees such as online shop platforms such as shoope, tokopedia, lazada and others which before the goods are received by the customer, then the money from the buyer can not be disbursed. So researchers are interested in researching online shopping interests on the social media site facebook. The results obtained are variable trust, ease of transaction and quality of information positively affect the interest in buying online on facebook.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 18-35
Author(s):  
Brendan O'Hallarn ◽  
James Strode

As sport management pedagogy has evolved, an effort has been made to incorporate popular and innovative social media technologies into classroom instruction. Academic research has suggested how the technology can be utilized to provide real-world skills for students and develop proficiencies in an area where many sport management graduates find employment. Notable among the recommendations about social media use by sport management scholars is a lack of research testing the efficacy of these tools in improving curricula. The current study relied on the recommendations of Sanderson and Browning (2015) to use the social media site Twitter to create online partnerships, testing the perceived benefits of such an arrangement through end-of-semester surveys with student participants. While the survey data show a true partnership may be difficult to realize—particularly during a single semester—the benefits of such an assignment were clearly articulated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-102
Author(s):  
Nalei Taufa ◽  
Ainsleigh Laumatia ◽  
Samantha Marsh ◽  
Natalie Walker ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
...  

Introduction: Social media advertising could be effective in promoting smoking cessation. However, it's salience to Pacific youth in New Zealand who smoke is unknown.Aim: To explore the views that 18–25 year old Pacific smokers have towards online smoking cessation advertising.Methods: Twenty young Pacific smokers, aged 18–25 years, were recruited through indirect snowballing methods interviewed in focus groups by a female Pacific researcher. Questions centred on smoking cessation advice via social media and devices, preferences for advertisements, effective features and implications for internet banner and ad designs, positive versus negative framing, cultural cues and motivations. The general inductive approach was used to analyse the data for common themes.Results: Smartphones were the most common device and Facebook the social media site most often used by participants. The informants recommended that the advertisements should have the following features: central position, eye-catching, bold imagery using simple language; endorsed by Pacific Island personalities; and positively framed messages to secure and maintain interest. The collective nature of Pacific cultures should be leveraged and testimonies from previous smokers used to strengthen motivation and dispel common myths around smoking.Conclusion: There are potential opportunities for social media to be used as a platform to promote smoking cessation among Pacific young people.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 722-740
Author(s):  
Carin Graminius ◽  
Jutta Haider

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how information on air pollution is shaped online on an everyday basis, with a particular emphasis on digital devices and digital representations as constitutive of environmental information practices. Furthermore, this research highlights an understudied aspect of air pollution – the digital flow of multimodal representations that citizens encounter and produce in their everyday life. Design/methodology/approach The information gathering was carried out on an everyday basis during February-March 2017. The study is based on 403 microblog posts from the social media site Sina Weibo, and netnographic fieldwork, including the observation of news, advertisements, and diary writing. The collected data were mapped in clusters based on the interrelations of objects, agents, and activities, and analyzed in depth using qualitative multimodal analysis. Findings Information enacted through specific socio-materialist configurations depicts air pollution as self-contained and separated from human action. Air quality apps are central in connecting a wider nexus of representations and promoting such perceptions, illustrating the role of digital devices in an everyday information context. Social implications The study reveals a schism between Chinese political environmental visions and everyday environmental information practices, which raises questions of how the battle against air pollution can be sustained in the long term. Originality/value This study suggests that digital material aspects – inbuilt applications of digital devices and digital representations of objects – are interrelated with physical experiences of air pollution, and thus constitute elements of practice in their own right.


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