Slow Storytelling and hybridity: Re-staging community storytelling as a tool for co-thinking

Since the early 2000s social media has transformed the internet into a site for the exchange of stories through the mass democratization of publishing. And yet, new forms of digital and online storytelling have at the same time compromised one of the core functions of storytelling, namely its social aspect, the ability to build community when two or more people share stories in the same space, at the same time, breathing the same air. Somewhat ironically the advent of social media may have broadened the audience for any one person’s storytelling, whilst diminishing the social intimacy of the storytelling experience. As part of its research work into storytelling as a means of engaging people in the public debate around environment, the Storytelling Academy at Loughborough University has been developing new forms and processes of digital storytelling to promote wider engagement and dissemination of environmentally driven personal stories. ‘The Reasons’, first staged in Cambridgeshire in 2016, was an attempt to create a live, community social event that provided a public forum for storytelling as a way of debating issues around drought and water governance in the Fens. Inspired by a re-staging of La Rasgioni in Sardinia in 2015, a traditional form of conflict resolution, whereby a ‘mock’ court provides the means for the community to publicly tell its stories to each other, ‘The Reasons’ was co-designed for the Fenland context and was performed twice in 2016. It was then further adapted for use in the Korogocho slum in Nairobi for an event to discuss the issue of waste management with members of the local community, as part of an initiative with UN Live. ‘The Reasons’ is an attempt to bring together the advantages of digital storytelling as a reflective process with the social intimacy of the live storytelling event. The result is a new form of hybrid storytelling that seeks to build community and establish co-thinking processes to build resilience to environmental change. This article reflects critically upon the development and evolution of this work over the past five years.

Development and Validation of Quality of Mother and Daughter-in-Law’s Relationship Scale

Aim: Conflict of mothers and daughters-in-law is a common issue, especially in Asian countries characterized by a collectivistic culture and a patrilineal society. The main purpose of this research was the development and validation of quality of mother and daughter-in-law’s relationship scale, including construct validity, convergent validity and internal consistency. Methods: This was a correlational research. The research's statistical population included all students' mothers in city of Ahvaz. Two samples were used in this study. In the first sample, 411 subjects were selected for exploratory factor analysis; and in the second stage, a random sample of 211 subjects were selected as a multi-stage cluster sampling for confirmatory factor analysis. Subjects completed the Quality of Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-law Relationship Scale (QMDRS) and Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS). Results: The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that this scale consists of four factors, including kindness and empathy, control, communication, and interference. The confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed the four-factor structure of this scale. Convergent validity of QMDRS is calculated by correlating it with the Miller Social Intimacy Scale. The correlation coefficient of mean in subjects in QMDRS was significant (0.20 to 0.46). According to Cronbach's alpha, the internal consistency of the QMDRS and four factors kindness and empathy, control, communication, and interference was 0.68, 0.62, 0.72, 0.78, and 0.90. Conclusion: According to the results the Quality of Mother and Daughter-in-law’s Relationship Scale (QMDRS) has sufficient validity and reliability in Iranian families.

D-Minor Concertos and Symphonies of the Brahms–Schumann Circle in the 1850s: Cross-Relationships and the Influence of Beethoven

This article examines cross-relationships and mutual influences in the D-minor symphonies and concertos written in the 1850s by a close-knit circle of composers: Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and their friends Joseph Joachim, Julius Otto Grimm and Albert Dietrich. Outlining the overlapping compositional timelines of Brahms's First Piano Concerto (at one point a candidate to become his first symphonic work), the violin concertos of Joachim and Schumann, and the symphonies of Grimm and Dietrich, it demonstrates that the pieces were shared among the composers during their periods of composition and explores musical correspondences indicating mutual influences both among the composers and from other specific works. The musical choices involved in this group of pieces seem to point to an underlying backdrop of Beethovenian influence involving specific works from Beethoven's body of orchestral music, an oeuvre concluding with an unforgettable symphonic work in D minor—to which the younger generation's collection of works may relate symbolically. This study not only emphasizes the central role that Beethoven played in the minds of these composers in the mid-1850s, but also underscores the musical intimacy that extended from the social intimacy of the composers in the Brahms–Schumann circle.

Physically Distant – Socially Intimate

In the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic situation, physical interaction and public performances became difficult, while use of digital media for public and private purposes was extended and intensified. This affected citizens’ right of assembly and led to new forms of collective sociality. This article analyses how social intimacy was re-arranged during lockdown through a thick description of mediated performances circulating on Italy’s Day of Liberation from Nazi fascism. It examines how a politicised commemoration of resistance echoed fears and desires relating to the virus and enabled the production of subjectivities in a transnational techno-social environment. Combining Lauren Berlant’s concept of intimate publics with theories of media, social movements, mediation and national identity, it offers an analytical framework detailing three layers of social intimacy: spatial/corporeal materiality, biography and mediation.

Social Intimacy

In this article, we highlight how COVID-19 has transformed, is transforming and may transform into the future human intimacies at several different social levels: between couples, within and between families, between citizens and states, among nations, and between people and their deities. We conclude by highlighting an uncertain future for intimacies that may entail the radical transformation of societies characterised by conversely new and liberating forms of socio-economic organisation or enslavement, especially to new spatio-temporal configurations engendered by the pandemic.

From likes to love: trust catalysing the digital romantic journey

Purpose The behavioural changes embraced by the current generation has prompted researchers to revisit the paradigm of human relationships, especially romantic liaisons. The present study revisits the construct of romantic relationships steered by social media platforms, through the dimensions of self-disclosure, social intimacy and trust. The role of trust as a mediator to determine the success of online dating is also explored in this study. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the data collected from 225 respondents (86 females and 139 males) in the age group of 18 to 30 years. The respondents were asked to fill a questionnaire (provided they fulfilled the necessary conditions and expressed their consent to be a participant in this study). Findings The study validates that the extent of self-disclosure propels the degree of social intimacy. The results also confirm a significant partial mediation effect of trust on the relationship between social intimacy and the success of online dating. Thus, practitioners need to keep in mind that the probability of online dating success is higher when individuals disclose more and engage in an intimate relationship driven by trust. Research limitations/implications The study sample is restricted to young adults ranging from 18 to 30 years, based on the author’s convenience. The study was restricted to three most popular social media platforms in India where disclosure is limited to private timelines or messages. Another limitation of this study is that a multi-variate model of analysis could not be used due to the lack of parallel variables. Further studies can also compare online versus offline dating behaviour and determinants that influence the romantic relationship between two partners. Practical implications The new perspective could be to ascertain specific built-in mechanisms providers should develop to ensure that the new generation benefits from new technology rather than falling victim to its toxins. Social implications The study re-establishes the importance of the role of trust in any romantic relationship – may it be online or the more traditional, offline or face-to-face mode. Originality/value The study delves into the domain of existing romantic relationships established through the modernistic viewpoint of online social media platforms. The findings bring a fresh perspective on the dynamics of online romantic relationships through the mélange of self-disclosure, social intimacy and trust. Previous literature suggests that trust is dependent on self-disclosure, which is in contrast with the results of the current study. The present study corroborates that trust leads to the success of online dating.

Menguji Kepuasan Hubungan Melalui Intimasi dan Perasaan Cemburu pada Pelaku Hubungan Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits (FWB) is a friendship of the opposite sex that involves sexual activity without commitment, feelings of love and encouragement to continue the relationship toward a romantic relationship. This study aims to determine the role of intimacy and jealousy towards the relationship satisfaction of individuals undergoing the FWB and the role of jealousy towards intimacy, and describing the emotions and views of participants on their FWB relationships. The subjects were 304 people undergoing FWB relationship in the last two years. Data were collected using Miller Social Intimacy, Multidimensional Jealousy, and Relationship Assessment Scales. Hierarchical linear regression and descriptive analysis were used to analyze data. Participants’ experiences of their FBW relationship were also collected and analyzed qualitatively. The result showed that intimacy and jealousy significantly predicted the relationship satisfaction both simultaneously and partially. Jealousy also significantly influences intimacy. A qualitative analysis reveals three categories that describe the emotions and views of the participants towards their FWB relationships, namely feeling satisfied and happy, feeling less satisfied and regretful, and feeling happy but regretful.Keywords : friends with benefits, intimacy, jealousy, relationship satisfaction. Abstrak: Friends with Benefits (FWB) adalah hubungan pertemanan lawan jenis yang melibatkan hubungan seksual tanpa komitmen, perasaan cinta dan dorongan untuk melanjutkan ke hubungan yang romantis. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji peranan intimasi dan perasaan cemburu terhadap kepuasan hubungan partisipan yang menjalani hubungan FWB, peranan perasaan cemburu terhadap intimasi, serta mendeskripsikan gambaran emosi dan pandangan partisipan saat menjalani hubungan FWB. Partisipan penelitian berjumlah 304 partisipan, yang menjalani hubungan FWB dalam kurun waktu dua tahun terakhir. Data dikumpulkan dengan skala Miller Social Intimacy, Multi-dimensional Jealousy, dan Relationship Assesment. Data dianalisis menggunakan regresi linier berjenjang. Data kualitatif juga dikumpulkan dan dianalisis secara deskriptif untuk mendalami perasaan dan pandangan partisipan terhadap FWB yang dijalani. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan intimasi dan perasaan cemburu secara signifikan mempengaruhi kepuasan hubungan baik secara simultan maupun parsial. Perasaan cemburu juga secara signifikan memberi pengaruh terhadap intimasi. Secara kualitatif, ditemukan tiga kategori yang menggambarkan emosi dan pandangan partisipan dalam menjalani hubungan FWB, yaitu merasa puas dan senang, kurang puas hingga menyesal, dan merasa senang namun ada penyesalan.