The Embodiment of Relationships of Adult Facebookers

Part 2: CommunicationsInternational audienceIn the last decade we have seen a rise of social media. Within this landscape of online services Facebook plays an immense role in facilitating and creating bonds between people. In this paper we enter a qualitative study conducted with a small group of adult Facebookers over 58. We do so in an effort to understand what kind of relationships one can have through this digital media. The theoretical lens used is Phenomenology, which we find fruitful for more carefully looking into relationships between humans and technology

Human choice and computers : an ever more intimate relationship

Since 1974, the Human Choice and Computers (HCC) conference series has firmly remained at the cutting edge of innovative thinking about the interface between the social and technology. This introductory chapter to the proceedings of the 12th Human Choice and Computers conference points out that what has set HCC conferences apart is the critical perspective that is its hallmark. HCC12 continues this tradition

MAMANDA’S ORAL LITERATURE IN INDONESIA: REVIEW OF THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF HUMOR THROUGH A PRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVE

This research was conducted for eight months on the island of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. This study examines Mamanda. Mamanda is a traditional South Kalimantan theater that still survives in the global era. Mamanda is liked because it is rich in humor that can entertain the entire audience and relieve fatigue because it can invite laughter. However, if it is interpreted more deeply, humor has a pragmatic function that it wants to convey to its listeners. Therefore, this study examines more deeply the function of humor in Mamanda. This study aims to describe the form and function of humor in Mamanda. This research uses the descriptive qualitative method. The data in this study, in the form of a recording of Mamanda's performance, played at the Mamanda Parade, a series of events to commemorate the anniversary of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. The informants in this study consisted of twenty people with different backgrounds, all of whom were players who played an active role in the show. The research method used is descriptive qualitative to describe the results in detail using a series of clear sentences. The results showed that there were four types of humor in mamanda, namely, language humor, behavioral humor, gossiping humor, and pornographic humor. The functions of humor are as a function of advising, a function of criticism, a function of satire, and a function of tolerance

Gender, care and career trajectories in Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland

Men comprise approximately 1.8% of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in Ireland, despite national and international recommendations to increase this number. This thesis examines the career trajectories of men in the ECEC workforce in Ireland. Underpinned by Connell’s theories of gender as structural, an embedded mixed-methods design was employed using semi-structured interviews with men and women in the ECEC workforce, a focus group with post-primary school careers guidance teachers and a survey of parents accessing ECEC provision. The factors that influence men’s entry to the ECEC workforce and experiences which shape their trajectories are explored. Key findings suggest an interaction of micro, meso and macro factors influence men’s entry into and trajectories in the ECEC workforce. Societal expectations of men and men’s roles, family and friend influences and their own aspirations form a complex set of influences. A lack of visibility of men in caring roles, awareness of caring professions as options in adolescence, and lack of careers guidance in post-primary school are evident. The impact of the onset of the economic recession in 2007-2008 which had a significant impact on male dominated industry is influential for the men in this study. The expectations of men and their experiences within ECEC are often contradictory, and influence their vertical and horizontal trajectories. Key events can have a significant impact on their sense of belonging and satisfaction. This thesis makes recommendations in relation to increasing visibility of ECEC as a career in post-primary education, policies to support increased entry, career pathways and professionalisation in which men and women can see a viable career in ECEC

The New Black in the New South: Negotiating Race and Space in North Carolina\u27s Immigrant Communities

This dissertation explores identity and subject formation among black immigrant populations in Charlotte, N.C, a non-traditional gateway city. It interrogates claims made by regional scholars and policy-makers that, due to recent demographic shifts and economic development, Charlotte embodies the “New South”, a designation signifying the transition from an agricultural to a corporation-based economy and from a racially polarized to a multicultural society. Based upon 18 months of ethnographic research utilizing a mixed method approach among immigrants of African descent in the trans-ethnic enclave of East Charlotte, the dissertation focuses on the role of space, place, material culture and affect in black subject formation, demonstrating that East Charlotte is a trans-ethnic alternative community fostered by affective kinship. It argues that black subjects are compelled to create alternative spaces of belonging and inclusion and that these alternative spaces are representative of what I propose is an “Alternative New South,” one that more truly embodies the character of the New South articulated in mainstream narratives. The people, spaces, places and things that compose this Alternative New South reflect the alterity, contention, and solidarity that black immigrant subjects in Charlotte encounter, embrace, and embody. By asserting the model of a trans-ethnic-alternative community, my work (re)places the agency of constructing the projected narrative of the New South in the hands of black and brown subjects, not policy-makers and corporate entities

The social uses of internet enabled cell-phones among young women in Eersteriver

Magister Artium - MAThe central research question this thesis explores is whether or not the availability of new social media alters the concepts of gendered personhood in working-class neighbourhoods on the Cape Flats. The arguments I will present all speak to my central argument that there is not only a relationship between “good” daughterhood and new social media, but that this relationship consists of young women in Cape Town namely Eersteriver, using their internet enabled cell-phones as a means of exploring the social and virtual realm without putting their title of a “good” or “respectable” girl at risk. I will incorporate comparative arguments from different bodies of academic literature which speak to the key question and arguments presented in this thesis so as to provide a global perspective. A brief socioeconomic history of the area will also be included in this thesis so as to provide some social context for my research. This thesis shows how young women of Eersteriver use the freedom, privacy and anonymity that they believe the internet and social media freely offers, to push the boundaries of good daughterhood and respectability. This thesis further demonstrates how social media have changed young women’s understanding of what social interaction is as well as their “doing” intimacy. I further show that their very interaction via their internet enabled cell-phones is a social form of gift giving. This research is particularly important because it is located at the intersection between gender issues and the study of new social media. This study explores how new gendered subjectivities emerge from performances and representations of personhood in new social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook, and how understandings of “good” daughterhood and respectability are altered and thus crafted into these practices. Literature in this area of research is still on the rise, so I am confident that this study will make a valuable contribution to this growing body of literature which speaks to young women and new ICTs

Hooked on the Internet: the prevalence, risk, theory and presenting problem of Internet addiction

As the Internet becomes increasingly ubiquitous and mobile, Internet addiction appears as a potential mental health problem in adolescents and students. From the reported negative consequences, it appears Internet addiction can have a variety of detrimental outcomes for young people that may require professional intervention. The unique contribution to knowledge of this research is (i) the assessment of the interplay between certain personality traits and the usage of specific Internet applications in contributing to an elevated risk of Internet addiction in two independent samples of 3,105 adolescents in the Netherlands and 2,257 university students in the UK, (ii) the development and testing of the concise Internet addiction components model using the quantitative data obtained, and (iii) the phenomenological exploration of the presenting problem of Internet addiction from the perspective of 20 psychotherapists from Europe, the USA, and Canada. A mixed methods approach was used in the form of psychometric measurement and qualitative interviews. Data were analysed using logistic regression, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling, and interpretative phenomenological analysis