“You Looked Better on MySpace”: Deception and authenticity on the Web 2.0

This paper examines Social Network Site (SNS) users’ criticism of a popular style of SNS profile picture referred to as “MySpace Angles.” Reactions to this style of portraiture label the display of these photographs “deceptive,” alleging that MySpace Angles fool users into believing that the subject is more attractive than they actually are. This case study approach utilizes a close reading analysis of the MySpace Angle commentary, revealing three main themes in users’ critique of MySpace Angles: 1) users who post these photographs are conforming to a social trend at the expense of their individuality; 2) the presentation of these photographs is narcissistic; and, 3) these photographs purposefully conceal the body. This case study displays a shift in the conception of deception online; on the social Web populated by SNSs, theories of deception and authenticity are called into question as users are increasingly anchored to their bodies and expected to effortlessly present an online self mirroring the off-line self

Virtually Dead: The Extension of Social Agency to Corpses and the Dead on Facebook

Facebook and other social networking technologies are become vastly powerful and expansive social forces that are exerting an influence on corpses, the dead, and death communications. Since its invention in 2004, millions of users of Facebook have died, leaving durable profiles subject to the site’s changing regulatory policies and socially present for the network’s living users as well. Because of their ability to enmesh, mutate, and interact with the social interactions of the living—as well as their durability as a site of continuing bonds—Facebook profiles retain social agency consistent with the theories of agency of Alfred Gell (1998) and Bruno Latour (2005). Close textual examination of the styles of communication, the durability of communication over time, the profile layout and composition, and the continuing nature of social contexts and content of the pages of dead users review that living users memorialize and grant social agency and distributed personhood to the profiles—creating a new sense of social agency for Facebook profiles whether living or dead, and the possibility of a virtual social afterlife

O caso do movimento Body Positivity na rede social Instagram

A Internet e as redes sociais vieram revolucionar por completo o mundo em que vivemos, particularmente no que diz respeito à comunicação e às possibilidades de expressão individual e pública a partir da palavra e da imagem. De entre os inúmeros fenómenos passíveis de análise, a utilização das redes sociais para promoção de novas visões da relação connosco próprios e com a sociedade merece uma atenção particular. O presente estudo, intitulado de “O caso do movimento Body Positivity no Instagram”, tem como objetivo descrever e compreender o movimento Body Positivity, entendido como ativismo digital, no contexto da rede social Instagram e analisar se o conteúdo do movimento Body Positivity afeta os utilizadores do Instagram e, em caso afirmativo, se é um impacto positivo ou negativo Neste sentido, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura com o objetivo de recolher o máximo de informação disponível sobre o tópico, de modo a responder aos objetivos definidos. Posteriormente, foi adotada uma metodologia de investigação qualitativa através da realização de uma análise de conteúdo a um conjunto de perfis de Instagram de influenciadores e marcas body positive nacionais e internacionais. Esta análise teve como objetivo reconhecer e analisar princípios e premissas que decorrem das perspetivas individuais dos utilizadores sobre o conteúdo body positive. Os resultados obtidos através da análise de conteúdo e do enquadramento teórico ajudaram a responder aos objetivos propostos numa fase inicial pelo que é possível afirmar que o movimento Body Positivity tem realmente impacto positivo nos utilizadores do Instagram e é bem recebido pelos mesmos, tal como foi possível observar pelas interações com as várias contas analisadas.The Internet and social networks have completely revolutionized the world we live in, particularly with regard to communication and the possibilities for individual and public expression through words and images. Among the countless phenomena that can be analyzed, the use of social networks to promote new visions of our relationship with ourselves and with society deserves particular attention. This study, entitled "The case of the Body Positivity movement on Instagram", aims to describe and understand the Body Positivity movement, understood as digital activism, in the context of the social network Instagram and to analyze whether the content of the Body Positivity movement affects Instagram users and, if so, whether it has a positive or negative impact. To this end, a literature review was carried out with the aim of gathering as much information as possible on the topic in order to meet the objectives set. Subsequently, a qualitative research methodology was adopted by carrying out a content analysis of a set of Instagram profiles of national and international body positive influencers and brands. The aim of this analysis was to recognize and analyse principles and assumptions that stem from users' individual perspectives on body positive content. The results obtained through content analysis and the theoretical framework helped to answer the objectives proposed at an early stage, so it is possible to state that the Body Positivity movement does have a positive impact on Instagram users and is well received by them, as can be seen from the interactions with the various accounts analyzed

Not Just A Place For Friends : Teenagers, Social Networks, and Identity Vulnerability

This study is an empirical analysis of adolescents\u27 risk management on internet social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Using a survey of 935 U.S. adolescents gathered by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, I investigate the influence of offline social networks on online socialization, as well as the impact of parental and self mediation tactics on risky online information-sharing practices. Overall, the relationship between offline social network strength and online communications methods was inconclusive, with results suggesting that most teens use online communications in similar ways, regardless of offline connectedness. Some relationships were discovered between parental and individual mediation tactics and risky online information sharing, largely supporting the use of active mediation techniques by parents and informed control of shared information by individual users. User demographics had a strong effect on risky information sharing, with gender and age playing a significant role. This study also offers some suggestions for parents and policy-makers interested in the topic

Gay Data

Since its launch in 2009, the geosocial networking service Grindr has become an increasingly mainstream and prominent part of gay culture, both in the United States and globally. Mobile applications like Grindr give users the ability to quickly and easily share information about themselves (in the form of text, numbers, and pictures), and connect with each other in real time on the basis of geographic proximity. I argue that these services constitute an important site for examining how bodies, identities, and communities are translated into data, as well as how data becomes a tool for forming, understanding, and managing personal relationships. Throughout this work, I articulate a model of networked interactivity that conceptualizes self-expression as an act determined by three sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting sets of affordances and constraints: (1) technocommercial structures of software and business; (2) cultural and subcultural norms, mores, histories, and standards of acceptable and expected conduct; and (3) sociopolitical tendencies that appear to be (but in fact are not) fixed technocommercial structures. In these discussions, Grindr serves both as a model of processes that apply to social networking more generally, as well as a particular study into how networked interactivity is complicated by the histories and particularities of Western gay culture. Over the course of this dissertation, I suggest ways in which users, policymakers, and developers can productively recognize the liveness, vitality, and durability of personal information in the design, implementation, and use of gay-targeted social networking services. Specifically, I argue that through a focus on (1) open-ended structures of interface design, (2) clear and transparent articulations of service policies, and the rationales behind them, and (3) approaches to user information that promote data sovereignty, designers, developers, and advocates can work to make social networking services, including Grindr, safer and more representative of their users throughout their data’s lifecycle

Communicative digital practices of Algerians on Facebook

This study examines the way young Algerians employ linguistic and other semiotic resources at their disposal to communicate meaning on the social network site Facebook. Algeria is a multilingual speech community where individuals constantly mix between languages and language varieties in spoken discourse (Bagui, 2014). These include among others, the mother tongue of the majority Algerian Arabic, the official language Modern�Standard Arabic and the foreign languages learnt at schools French and English. This study is interested in exploring how are these linguistic resources used by Algerian Facebook users online and how are they combined with other affordances available on Facebook to communicate meaning, project identities, construct and address different audiences in this heterogeneous online environment. Data collection for the study combines quantitative and qualitative means which include (1) an online questionnaire distributed to 205 Algerian Facebook users, (2) screenshots of Facebook walls of four selected participants and (3) interviews with them, and finally (4) extracted posts and comments from one public Algerian Facebook page. The theoretical framework used to analyse the data combines concepts from the theory of Translanguaging (García & Li, 2014; Li, 2011a, 2017) and the Audience Design model (Androutsopoulos, 2014; Bell, 1984, 2001, 2009). The framework approaches Facebook users’ practices as creative ones and the findings indicate that participants combine an array of different resources to situate themselves in an online translanguaging space in which they express humoristic content, project multiple identities and index membership of local and global communities. The findings further indicate that linguistic and semiotic choices serve as a maximisation strategy for the audience of one’s contributions on Facebook pages. The study contributes to our understanding of digital communicative practices by highlighting the link between linguistic and non�linguistic choices and broader issues of social practice, identity and addressitivity

Connected citizens or digital isolation? Online disability activism in times of crisis

This thesis asks whether the internet can at all re-configure political participation into a more inclusive experience for disabled users, enhancing their stakes in citizenship. This issue assumes particular relevance at a time in which, amidst the worst economic crisis in decades, the rights of those traditionally excluded from civic life are at risk of being compromised even further. In an effort to transcend the restrictive access/accessibility framework applied so far in disability and new media research, this project focused on the “digitalisation” of disability activism in the wake of the radical welfare reform introduced by the UK government between 2010 and 2012. A combination of emerging digital methods and established social science techniques were employed to map and analyse the groups involved in opposing proposed changes to disability welfare online. These included: hyperlink network analysis; an “inventory” of online media; content analysis of Facebook conversations; and semi-structured interviews with key figures from a variety of campaigning groups. Overall, this work exposed an evolution in the ecology of British disability activism involving both changes in the way in which existing organisations operate as well as the emergence of new, online-based players. In particular, three main group types were identified. These included: formal disability organisations (both “professionalised” charities and member-led groups); experienced disabled activists who experimented with e-campaigning for the first time; and a network of young disabled bloggers-turned-activists who operated exclusively online and rapidly gained visibility on both the internet and traditional mass media (i.e. print and broadcast). Each of these phenomena was explored in detail through the analysis of three emblematic case studies (The Hardest Hit; Disabled People Against Cuts; The Broken of Britain). Several findings emerged that invited reflections on both the changing nature of disability activism in the digital age and the significance of the internet as a civic resource for disadvantaged groups more broadly. To assess the influence of contextual factors on these trends, the online experience of British formal disability organisations was compared to that of their American counterparts, which in the same period were opposing proposals for drastic cuts to federal Medicaid funding. In Britain, established players were found to be blending traditional repertoires with participatory online tools in a bid to “survive” the pressure of changing user-expectations and the fast pace of contemporary politics. Meanwhile, a new generation of self-appointed disabled “leaders” used online media to construct a radically different form of disability activism. This was focused more on issues than ideology, aspiring to redesigning protest in a less contentious and arguably more effective fashion. Nevertheless, the high centralisation and rigid leadership style adopted by these very same campaigners also cast doubts on their ability to promote a more inclusive campaigning experience for online supporters, whose involvement ultimately constituted a form of “peer-mediated” citizenship rather than direct empowerment. At the same time, the comparative part of this study captured a counter-intuitive picture for which British formal disability organisations were ahead of their American counterparts in terms of online innovation. This generated some important reflections on the very nature of “context” in online politics with particular reference to the relationship between systemic and circumstantial factors, as well as the importance of acute crisis moments as triggers of progress in e-activism