Networking democracy? Social media innovations in participatory politics”

Early conceptions of digital democracy as a virtual public sphere or civic commons have been replaced by a new technological optimism for democratic renewal based upon the open and collaborative networking characteristics of social media. This article provides an introduction to a special issue of the international journal Information, Communication & Society which attempts to present a grounded analysis on these claims drawing upon evidence-based research and analysis. A more cautious approach is suggested for the potential of social media to facilitate more participative democracy whilst acknowledging its disruptive value for challenging traditional interests and modes of communicative power

Networking Democracy? Social media innovations and participatory politics

Early conceptions of digital democracy as a virtual public sphere or civic commons have been replaced by a new technological optimism for democratic renewal based upon the open and collaborative networking characteristics of social media. This article provides an introduction to a special issue of the international journal Information, Communication & Society, which attempts to present a grounded analysis of these claims drawing upon evidence-based research and analysis. A more cautious approach is suggested for the potential of social media to facilitate more participative democracy while acknowledging its disruptive value for challenging traditional interests and modes of communicative power

Medicine on the line? Computer-mediated social support and advice for people with diabetes

The advent of thousands of Usenet groups on the Internet, covering a vast range of medical and welfare issues and ostensibly devoted to the mutual social support of participating members, has raised the potential for the development of new forms of 'virtual' health care. This article critically analyses the use by people with diabetes of one such Usenet group. It seeks to establish, first, the extent to which such a site provides some demonstrable measure of social support to its participants. This is approached by undertaking a structural analysis of the site to identify the extent of usage, and the nature of supporting interventions using a fivefold classification (instrumental, informational, esteem and social companionship and other). Second, the article attempts to identify any disparity between the lay health-knowledge in evidence and biomedical opinions proffered by the use of a panel of consultant diabetiologists. The results of the analysis suggest that the diabetes newsgroup provides an example of an active forum for largely well-informed participants who routinely use the media as an aid to the reflexive management of their medical condition. It also raises the prospect of a renegotiated relationship between medical knowledge and lay experience based upon shared learning

On crafting a study of digital community networks: theoretical and methodological considerations

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Psychosocial welfare: Reflections on an emerging field

This paper argues that shifting regimes of welfare provision are accompanied by shifting disciplinary practices. Concern with the psychological dimension has always been present in welfare practices but has typically played a subordinate role in political constructions of policy. We raise the idea that we have entered an epoch in which the `psycho' resonates as surely as the `social' alongside `welfare'. We challenge the popular psychologization of well-being which can result, arguing instead that welfare and well-being need to be rethought together and that one implication of this is the need to rethink the knowledge practices of the social and psychological disciplines in relation to changing configurations of welfare

Trajetórias de uso das tecnologias de comunicação: as formas de apropriação da cultura digital como desafios de uma 'sociedade do conhecimento' Paths of uses of communication technologies: the forms of appropriation of digital culture as a challenge for a 'society of knowledge'

Com a notória expansão da mediação de práticas comunicativas em redes digitais, aconteceram mudanças significativas no campo sociocultural. Estamos apenas começando a perceber as consequências dessas mudanças e elas já levantam várias questões. Onde tais aparatos técnicos aparecem em práticas de sociabilidade e solidariedade, e na própria natureza do laço social? Que desafios econômicos, políticos e éticos estão relacionados a esses novos modos de intercâmbio, coordenação e comunicação? Nossa resposta está estruturada em torno de duas questões transversais colocadas em sentido oposto ao das trajetórias de uso da rede. Em primeiro lugar, o fato de se ter uma participação em larga escala numa "sociedade de conhecimento" requer apropriação de um núcleo de conhecimentos técnicos relacionados? E, em segundo lugar, deveríamos esperar a emergência de uma nova forma de pensamento, baseada na cooperação, troca e dom, associada ao uso intensivo de redes digitais de comunicação?<br>With the marked expansion of mediation of communicative practices in digital networks, signi?cant changes have happened in the sociocultural landscape. We are only just beginning to grasp the consequences of these changes, and they raise a number of issues. Where do such socio-technical apparatuses ?gure in the practices of sociability and solidarity, and indeed in the very nature of the social bond? What economic, political, and ethical challenges are linked to these new modes of exchange, coordination, and communication? Our response is structured through two cross-cutting questions, situated upstream from trajectories of network use. First, does the fact of large-scale participation in a «knowledge-based society» require appropriation of a core set of related technical knowledges? And, second, should we expect the emergence of a new form of thinking based on cooperation, exchange, and gift-giving, and associated with intensive use of digital communication networks