This thesis describes the discourse of empowerment of women in Egypt, on the social media platform Facebook. The research question is: how do women in Egypt portray 'women's empowerment' on social...Show moreThis thesis describes the discourse of empowerment of women in Egypt, on the social media platform Facebook. The research question is: how do women in Egypt portray 'women's empowerment' on social media under conditions of political repression, patriarchy, and neoliberalism?Show less
Social media holds promise for museums to enhance visitor participation, engagement with potential visitors via participatory communication and in building an online community to which to refer to....Show moreSocial media holds promise for museums to enhance visitor participation, engagement with potential visitors via participatory communication and in building an online community to which to refer to. However, the integration of social media within museums practices, particularly in Italy, has been a rather cautious transition as museums are concerned with the ways social media may deteriorate traditional organizational forms of authority that cultural institutions have held. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the extent to which Italian museums can use social media to engage with a younger audience. In doing so, this study has conducted a case study analysis of Musei Civici Veneziani, by interviewing the web-content manager of the institution. Findings demonstrate that Musei Civici Veneziani continues to use a one-to-one communication model, whereby social media platforms are used solely to inform users about practical matters. The use of a one-to-one communication model, rather than a many-to-many one by Musei Civici Veneziani is due to fear of jeopardizing their role as a cultural authority. However, the present paper aims to showcase the opportunities of adopting a peer-to-peer participatory communication model as a way to effectively engage with younger audiences which allows them to become active members within the museum.Show less
This thesis analyses the construction of Hong Kong national identity in online discussions about the high speed rail connecting Hong Kong to Mainland China and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai sea bridge in...Show moreThis thesis analyses the construction of Hong Kong national identity in online discussions about the high speed rail connecting Hong Kong to Mainland China and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai sea bridge in localist Facebook groups. The paper argues that the Hong Kong identity constructed in these discussions is indeed nationalist, i.e. based on the belief that the members of the nation share a common origin, and is built on the following themes: antiMainland Chinese sentiment, anti-CCP thought, and the importance of money as identity constructing entity in Hong Kong society. As a result, the construction of Hong Kong national identity by Hong Kong localists relies heavily on Othering Mainland Chinese, while there are few references to Hong Kongese cultural characteristics. The contributions of this paper are that it argues for the possibility of a Hong Kong identity to be seen as national identity and how this national identity is constructed by localists.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
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Instagram has added a new dimension to the performance of one's religous Islamic identity online. This dimension has created a spectrum of online expressions of religiosity where 'being a pious...Show moreInstagram has added a new dimension to the performance of one's religous Islamic identity online. This dimension has created a spectrum of online expressions of religiosity where 'being a pious Muslim' and 'being modern' are compatible.Show less
Academic research on the influence of Social Networking Sites on democratization-processes in autocratic regimes in Africa is often centered on the bottom-up, citizen-driven possibilities of social...Show moreAcademic research on the influence of Social Networking Sites on democratization-processes in autocratic regimes in Africa is often centered on the bottom-up, citizen-driven possibilities of social media, arguing that these factors enforce processes of mobilization and free information-access, ultimately resulting in a form of democratization. Drawing conclusions from the Arab Spring, the prediction was made that Zimbabwe could follow the same course of action. So far however, decisive democratic change there has not yet been observed. This study brings forward the argument that the absence of this democratic change can be explained through the presence of four conditions, namely a digital divide, the particulars of Zimbabwean political society, the online/offline-aspect in Zimbabwean socio-politics and the Zimbabwean media-landscape. Building on primary data and secondary literature, this thesis aims to bring nuance to the discussion concerning the interplay between communication-technologies and socio-political developments, in the specific case of Zimbabwe but also in a larger African- and global context.Show less
This essay discusses the process of virtualization and the increasing virtualization of social contact. More understanding of this topic is important because the effects of virtualization on human...Show moreThis essay discusses the process of virtualization and the increasing virtualization of social contact. More understanding of this topic is important because the effects of virtualization on human interactions are easily overlooked. First, Lévy’s definition of virtualization is presented to emphasize its liberating advantages. Then, Baricco’s conception of the ‘barbaric mutation’, which I think shows quite some similarities with virtualization, is introduced to elaborate on the disadvantages of this development. Dating-application Tinder is used as a case study to better understand and value these pros and cons. This ultimately leads to the idea that the virtualization of social interactions will increase, and I argue that we should be watchful for the diminuition of primary experience and a decrease in purposiveness.Show less
The traditional hierarchy within the study of rhetoric changed with the introduction of the digital age. The Internet, and social media services such as Twitter in particular, have become so deeply...Show moreThe traditional hierarchy within the study of rhetoric changed with the introduction of the digital age. The Internet, and social media services such as Twitter in particular, have become so deeply integrated with our daily lives that we unconsciously have started to adapt to the very principle that characterizes the digital world: less is more. This paper investigates the theory that emotions now outweigh the importance of facts, and uses the recent victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential Elections to illustrate this. It analyses 52 of Trump’s tweets, collected from both his campaign period and the first year of his presidency to support the claim that pathos has become the leading force in today’s rhetoric. Simultaneously, this paper suggests that that the reason why 140-character messages were able to dethrone years’ worth of studies is embedded in the concept of post-truth, and comments on the extent to which the Internet and social media are already capable of both influencing and giving shape to our thoughts.Show less
The internet and Social Media seem to have created new ways by which individuals communicate and foster new ideas. In this thesis I will explore how these changes may have impacted upon how...Show moreThe internet and Social Media seem to have created new ways by which individuals communicate and foster new ideas. In this thesis I will explore how these changes may have impacted upon how individuals and groups form and express political ideals. I will analyse how this has affected political agency. Are the ideals formed and expressed online a more accurate portrayal of the wide spectrum of opinion held within a constituency because the internet and social media seems to allow for a wider range of input? Or, does the emergence of so many voices online create difficulty for discerning consensus?Show less
Censorship is a theme that plays a major role in the Chinese online, but also offline society. In order to maintain the status quo of the stability of their regime, the Chinese Communist Party...Show moreCensorship is a theme that plays a major role in the Chinese online, but also offline society. In order to maintain the status quo of the stability of their regime, the Chinese Communist Party ensures that, by issuing heavy guidelines, the online communities are unable to mobilize against the central government. In this thesis, I discussed the representation of the hashtag #十九大 by Weibo, in collaboration with the People’s Daily, during the 19th National Congress. I found the topic of this project to be of importance, since I consider online censorship in China to be necessary of researching on a case-to-case basis, to assess what instantiations of censorship practices we might find across China’s online spheres. This thesis used a comparative method, involving the hashtag page on Weibo and the storage database of censored posts on Freeweibo. I found out that not only the guidelines of the central government are to blame for the restriction of free speech, but also that the company Sina and a moral sense of self-censorship are important factors that play a role in the game.Show less
The success of the Russian anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny in bringing to light the corruption of high-level government officials has reinvigorated the debate about the effectiveness of...Show moreThe success of the Russian anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny in bringing to light the corruption of high-level government officials has reinvigorated the debate about the effectiveness of social media, and in particular blogging, to stimulate socio-political activism. This thesis looks beyond Russia’s most famous blogger to see who else is using the capabilities of (video)blogging to highlight and support the fight against corruption in the country. In particular, it analyzes blogposts by Ilya Varlamov and Erik Davidych and measures their direct effects in terms of the fight against corruption. By doing so, this research contributes to the debate of the usefulness of social media in the stimulation of socio-political activism, and reveals the possible short-term effects that blogging can have as a tool to battle corruption. The thesis concludes that despite media repression and the large scale of corruption in Russia, the short-term effects of anti-corruption blogging can be positive, while the long-term consequences are unclear.Show less
In the context of the upcoming elections in Kenya in August 2017, debates on Twitter have highlighted the gap between the political elite’s electoral agenda and the population’s daily struggles of...Show moreIn the context of the upcoming elections in Kenya in August 2017, debates on Twitter have highlighted the gap between the political elite’s electoral agenda and the population’s daily struggles of surviving and coping with harsh realities. Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, recently launched an online campaign calling for voters registration – #UhuruDabChallenge – which was met with fierce protestations online, formalised under the #DabOfShame. This thesis will analyse the framing of this clash of priorities on Twitter by looking at the spread and use of one hashtag in particular – #DabOfShame – and one of the subtheme the #KOT community highlighted, that is the country’s hunger and drought crises. Indeed, analysing the #DabOfShame highlights the gap between the state discourse and the subsequent online responses, which has a huge impact on the way pertaining daily issues and their realities are depicted online. In particular, looking at Kenya’s most salient and recurrent difficulties – the hunger and drought crises – pinpoints how the users shed light on the problems, thus “framing” an opposition of concerns, and pushing the political elite to address them. Interestingly, the users and content analysis of this specific hashtag give insights into the political socialisation processes that Twitter enables and the platform it provides for the Kenyan connected generation to express its grievances in the everyday context. Eventually, this can inform discussions on the possibility of social media to influence the government’s agenda and produce a united common front in a context of political polarisation. This, however, also reveals concerning trends in the way Twitter is used by the political elite in Kenya, in particular by its president, which suggests that social media are possibly developing into new podiums on which political legitimacy is fought and gained.Show less
This thesis finds that the rise of cable television and the increase of social media usage need to be taken into account when understanding the increase of mass polarisation between 1992 and 2016...Show moreThis thesis finds that the rise of cable television and the increase of social media usage need to be taken into account when understanding the increase of mass polarisation between 1992 and 2016 in the United States. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter establishes that mass polarisation took place in the United States between 1992 and 2016. In the second chapter, attention is devoted to the rise of cable networks in the television landscape and its connection to the rise of mass polarisation. The third chapter focusses on the role of social media usage in the increase of mass polarisation in the United States between 1992 and 2016.Show less
Sociale netwerken zijn nog steeds de snelst groeiende en meest populaire internet fenomenen onder jongeren. Het is daarom aannemelijk dat ook de meeste consumptie van nieuws wat betreft jongeren...Show moreSociale netwerken zijn nog steeds de snelst groeiende en meest populaire internet fenomenen onder jongeren. Het is daarom aannemelijk dat ook de meeste consumptie van nieuws wat betreft jongeren tegenwoordig plaatsvindt via sociale media. Volgens het meest recente onderzoek van Pew Internet Research zit 88% van de Amerikaanse jongeren op Facebook, 59% op Instagram en 36% op Twitter (Pew Research Center, 2016). Om aan te geven hoe hard deze ontwikkeling is gegaan de afgelopen jaren: toen Pew in 2005 begon met dit onderzoek was slechts 7% van de Amerikaanse jongeren actief op één van deze platformen. Het is inmiddels duidelijk dat het idee dat platformen als Twitter en Facebook enkel gebruikt worden voor sociale doeleinden, achterhaald is. Natuurlijk is het nog steeds een platform voor zelfontplooiing, maar steeds meer jongeren, en met name studenten, zien al geruime tijd in dat het ook een educatieve functie kan hebben (Robyler et al., 2010). Zodoende is er de afgelopen jaren als het ware een verandering ontstaan in de manier waarop men naar social media kijkt. Waar het begon als een platform voor sociale doeleinden, begint het zich steeds vaker te ontplooien als een medium met een educatieve functie waar men ook steeds meer nieuws kan consumeren. In dit onderzoek wordt onderzocht hoe Nederlandse studenten social media gebruiken voor nieuwsvergaring, en in hoeverre er binnen verschillende groepen studenten verschillen zijn op te merken.Show less
As the Internet facilitates not only the passive consumption but also the active creation of media content, the lines between the two categories blur continuously. At the same time new content is...Show moreAs the Internet facilitates not only the passive consumption but also the active creation of media content, the lines between the two categories blur continuously. At the same time new content is created and shared with unprecedented speed and available in abundance. Among the many industries deeply affected by this development is publishing: Readers are now creating their own book reviews on YouTube. The thesis at hand examines how this BookTube phenomenon affects cultural and social contexts of reading. BookTube constitutes a dynamic new agent in the field of trade publishing due to its specific resources in social and symbolic capital. It functions as an amplifier for authors and publishers while disrupting established forms of book reviewing in traditional media. Furthermore, BookTube exemplifies that online platforms have a particular relevance to the generation of ‘digital natives’ in terms of reading and consuming habits and the forming of its attitude towards books.Show less
