151,369 research outputs found

    Facebook faith - social networking in a faith based community

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    This paper views the increasing social networking as an efficient emerging ministry to the moveable generation. Through social network such as Facebook, ministry from a pastoral perspective can become more authentic and meaningful. Ministry is relational. Social Networking sites provide a strong platform to being part in other people’s life. Social networking and living online builds community beyond geographical boarders. Young adults and youths digital identity often reflects their faith, this is supported by research which suggests a practice of more openness to share and expose private issues online. Spiritual and religious views are freely shared, creating sacred spaces in the midst of life practising a holistic faith identity in a secular community. Providing a strong platform for information flow, Social Network is attractive in a postmodern society where inviting people to join in events are perceived as non threatening, making church community events transparent and available to people who do not attend church, inviting spiritual friendships and relationships. Social Networking strengthens relationship in a non hierarchical manner and invites the minister into lives where there previously would have been barriers, engaging in prayer and bible study as well as pastoral care through social networking, thus relationships deepens via social networking making people real. It has been observed that, although community building happens on the net, church affiliation loyalty remains to the local community. Therefore presence ministry though social networks emerges as a core form of ministry, where relations to youth who move from local church to university campuses are kept alive. The asynchronous nature of communication within social networking eases the minister in her work. The minister is able to engage with many individuals at the same time. Before the minister could visit one person at a time, now she visits 5-6 individuals at any given time. Therefore social networking not only increases the quality of the work, but also empowers the minister to be more efficient

    The Digital Remains: Social Media and Practices of Online Grief

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    This article analyzes comments posted in response to articles and blog posts discussing Facebook\u27s policies on the pages of deceased site members. These virtual discourses reflect the sociocultural importance of social media policies in everyday life that is increasingly a blend of online and offline interaction. The analysis reveals themes of contested ownership of online identities, resistance to unilateral institutional policies, and social media site users’ complex relationship to the preservation of virtual content. As a still-evolving phenomenon, virtual grief elucidates wider cultural trends at work in the construction of identity and community online

    Towards ‘Another of Me’: Random Para Tolol :v and The Language Games

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    When social media experiences an escalation in the number of users until today, now social media offers an alternative for the community in constructing more intimate social relations. This is likened to a new world that Tom Boelstorff has tried to discuss in Second Life. Absolutely, here, the identity will find its intersection: could it reproduce? In some cases, that question turns the answer: "yes". For example in a Facebook group called Random The Tolol: v (RPT: v). Not just building an image as a community  that shares jokes as shown on its group’s timeline, there is a tendency to "become Spanish" when its members almost use Spanish phrases in each of their post captions frequently. What is interesting is that RPT: v is an Indonesian community. At the same time, to be honest, this language politics case also involved me who had long joined the RPT :v. Therefore, by using the method of digital ethnography research that has an autoetnographical character, I will try to explore more deeply what the meaning of language for members of RPT :v which simultaneously can (re)form their identity in the internet

    Construction of national identity through a social network: a case study of ethnic networks of immigrants to Russia from Central Asia

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    In contemporary discourse devoted to identity formation, there is important debate about the nature of the construction of virtual identities on the Internet. The research focuses on the virtual identity of the individual features of self-presentation on the Web. The study of the theme design of group social identity (gender, class, ethnicity) remains a peripheral consideration. This article presents an analysis of the mechanisms by which ethnic identity in ethnic groups in the Russian social network VKontakte (“In Contact”, similar to Facebook) is created. The study aims to identify the roles and functions of social networks in national reproduction and ethnic support of Russian immigrants from Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan). The study uses the method of semiotic analysis to describe the discursive rhetoric and symbols of national identity of immigrants in the ethnic communities on the Web. The author’s research identifies a complex of paradigmatic and rhetorical elements that reflect an evolving ethnic identity of immigrants on social networks. These rhetorical techniques include the appeal to Islamic values, the Quran, and Sharia law; an appeal to Islamic unity, anti-Americanism, and Muslim fundamentalism; preaching the values of patriarchy and chaste behavior of Muslim women, and male dominance; the use of visual images and characters of national identity (images of animals, heroes); appeal to the heroic archaic time and national mythology, and the achievements of the national culture; and similar elements. In conclusion, the analysis of the context of immigrants in the ethnic community network on VKontakte shows two trends: on the one hand, ethnic segregation, the craving for Muslim fundamentalism, and aggression toward Western values and way of life, and on the other hand, secularization, gender emancipation, and consumer behavior assimilation in the modernized host Russian community

    Digital identity for careers

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    "Mothers as Candy Wrappers": Critical Infrastructure Supporting the Transition into Motherhood

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    Copyright © ACM. The transition into motherhood is a complicated and often unsupported major life disruption. To alleviate mental health issues and to support identity re-negotiation, mothers are increasingly turning to online mothers\u27 groups, particularly private and secret Facebook groups; these can provide a complex system of social, emotional, and practical support for new mothers. In this paper we present findings from an exploratory interview study of how new mothers create, find, use, and participate in ICTs, specifically online mothers\u27 groups, to combat the lack of formal support systems by developing substitute networks. Utilizing a framework of critical infrastructures, we found that these online substitute networks were created by women, for women, in an effort to fill much needed social, political, and medical gaps that fail to see \u27woman and mother\u27 as a whole being, rather than simply as a \u27discarded candy wrapper\u27. Our study contributes to the growing literature on ICT use by mothers for supporting and negotiating new identities, by illustrating how these infrastructures can be re-designed and appropriated in use, for critical utilization

    Online Community for Librarian Researchers: Experience of Academic Librarians

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    ‘We do it to keep him alive’: bereaved individuals’ experiences of online suicide memorials and continuing bonds

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    This paper presents draws on interviews with individuals who have experience of creating, maintaining and utilising Facebook sites in memory of a loved one who has died by suicide. We argue that Facebook enables the deceased to be an on-going active presence in the lives of the bereaved. We highlight the potential of the Internet (and Facebook in particular) as a new and emerging avenue for the continuation of online identities and continuing bonds. Our study offers unique insight into survivors’ experiences of engaging with the virtual presence of their deceased loved one: how mourners come and go online, how this evolves over time and how the online identity of the deceased evolves even after death. We discuss how Facebook provides new ways for people to experience and negotiate death by suicide and to memorialise the deceased, highlighting the positive impact of this for survivors’ mental health. Finally, we describe the creation of tension amongst those who manage their grief in different ways
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