Digital Media Practices Research Articles

Trust and Power in the Space Between Visibility and Invisibility. Exploring Digital and Social Media Practices in Norwegian Child Welfare Services

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore how caseworkers in the Norwegian Child Welfare Services and their clients use digital and social media in information sharing. By applying Foucault’s description of Bentham’s Panopticon as an analytical tool, we show how caseworkers’ use of digital and social media without the client’s knowledge, while making themselves invisible, contribute to increase the power asymmetry of a professional–client relationship. The clients, on the other hand, have less possibilities of making themselves invisible. If they discover that caseworkers have invaded their private information, this is experienced as a breach of trust. While some studies discuss the equalising potential of using digital and social media in welfare communication, this study reveals some of the pitfalls in using these medias for communication and information exchange. Regardless of the type of media in question, their use becomes vital for visibility, trust and power. Our findings underscore that it is not only the digital tools that needs regulation. Regulations should address the participation of clients in deciding on communication tools and the all-important openness and non-covert practices necessary to build and maintain trusting relationships between caseworkers and clients.

A Communication Study of Young Adults and Online Dependency during the COVID-19 Pandemic

People use digital media and the Internet daily. The time that young people spend connected to digital devices will increase as technology advances, which could have severe health risks and behavioral dependence implications. In the context of the current pandemic, in which socializing, studying, and working is changing, this question has become particularly relevant. Therefore, we propose to investigate the perceptions of young university adults—understood as generation Z—regarding their digital media practices, particularly during the pandemic, and to study the consequences of a permanent connection to these formats on the development of an addiction to the Internet. Our quantitative method approach applied questionnaires to a sample of 407 young university adults studying in Portugal. Through this survey, we could target a specific user group, quantify their consumption, and measure their online experiences. The results point to an increase in dependence on the Internet during confinement. While it is true that carrying out academic work is one of the reasons for this growth, it is noteworthy that the respondents sought the online world in a significan way to pass the time and escape their routine. In addition, they confess to experiencing some consequences of excessive use, such as sleep disturbances and adverse emotional reactions—such as instabilities, depression, and nervousness—when not online. We conclude that the pandemic has intensified online dependence. However, above all that, it is necessary to look at the mental and general health consequences that this excessive use has brought, which may not be visible or manifested by the youth in the short term, and may come to have consequences in the long term.

Graduating during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Digital Media Practices and Learning Spaces among Pupils Taking Their School-Leaving Exams

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed educational and qualification experiences among young people. When the pandemic spread in 2020, schools worldwide were required to switch to remote learning. Through a qualitative multi-method, partly mobile, in-situ research approach, we accompanied pupils in the final year of their secondary education as they prepared for and finalized their school-leaving exams to investigate the following questions: What did pupils’ socio-material-technological learning spaces look like during this period? How did they adapt their digital media practices to cope with learning remotely? How did their situatedness in these learning spaces influence their learning experiences? Building on existing research in the field of digital and children’s geographies as well as learning spaces, through a combined content and narrative analysis, this article situates pupils’ learning spaces and experiences of graduating during the pandemic in the context of family relations, socio-material home spaces, polymediated learning environments and the accessibility of outdoor spaces. We debate the wide spectrum of media practices—ranging from indulgence in digital media, to balanced media use, to attempting to withdraw from using digital media—used by pupils to navigate through inextricably entangled socio-material-technological spaces during the pandemic. The further digitization of education prompted by the pandemic must be used in ways that empower pupils to engage in responsible and active use of digital media, thus allowing them to become mature and resilient digital participants in society.

#delhimetro on Instagram: Digital Media and Mobility Practices before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract India has the highest number of Instagram users in the world. This article examines Instagram, the mobility, and the digital media practices of Delhi Metro commuters before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it looks at their photography of everyday lived experiences, their mediated interactions with one another, and the visible-invisible infrastructure in the city. It draws attention to the complexity of digital production, personal archiving, and circulation networks at play. Foregrounding the changing ‘geographies of social media’, a qualitative, digital ethnographic approach analyses these images’ visual, social, and contextual aspects. Also, a range of convergent practices related to individuals, places, and socio-cultural-political-economic-technological realities influence the images. Eventually, a narrative emerges on how these metro travellers inhabit offline and online public spaces, exchange cultural capital, and perform the affective, mediated negotiation of the city.

Everest, Everestland, #Everest: A Case for a Composite Visual Ethnographic Approach

Arguably Mount Everest has always been mediatized: its appeal as an idea has existed in part through technologies of visual cultures. Exploring the digital media practices of tourists and the tourism workers, this article considers how imaginaries of Mount Everest that appear through technologies of visual culture relate to experiences of Everest in Nepal. I argue for a composite visual ethnographic approach that entails examining experiences on site in relation to cumulative media and visual texts, both historically and on digital media platforms. The article contributes to an anthropology of mobility through its focus on how digital visual communication becomes constitutive of work and practices in tourism.

Korsakow Film Workshop

Based on the premise that Korsakow configurations are not merely another form of interactive film, we will explore the entanglement of the epistemological and ontological dimension of this unorthodox manifestation of digital media practices based on database logic and opaque algorithmic editing. This workshop explores non-linear thinking, co-creative, polyphonic filmmaking and pluri-perspective self-reflection to those interested in pushing further the boundaries of linear filmmaking. The goal of this workshop is to re-think processes of interactive filmmaking as well as notions of interactive tools in their ‘toolness,’ and methods concerning their applicability as lenses through which we reflect on the work of others and our work. Though we will collaboratively create an interactive Korsakow film, the focus of this workshop primarily lies in the process rather than a product. No prior knowledge nor specific technical skills are required as one of the core realizations will be that these practices can be integrated into vernacular life. The only digital device participants will need is their smartphone for shooting the clips.

Embedding Indigenous cultural competencies within a digital media and communication context in Australian higher education

ABSTRACT In 2011, Universities Australia published a best practice framework to support the Australian higher education sector to build Indigenous cultural competency institutionally, support Indigenous students and staf,f and to develop the Indigenous cultural competencies of students through curriculum and learning outcomes. For many institutions, this has resulted in the development of Indigenous graduate attributes aimed at building the Indigenous cultural competencies of all students, including non-Indigenous students, with specific Indigenous cultural competencies embedded as learning outcomes within discipline programmes. To date, there has been limited discussion of the embedding of Indigenous cultural competencies within practice-based Australian media and communication programmes such as journalism, film and video production or digital media. This article presents a case study on the embedding of an Indigenous Graduate Attribute within a digital media programme in 2018 and 2019, with an objective of building Indigenous cultural competencies in relation to students’ digital media practice. This case study discusses the development of a set of integrated teaching and learning activities and an assessment foregrounding Indigenous content and principles and protocols designed to equip students with cultural competencies that can be applied to their future professional media practice. While the case study is specific, it has relevance to the ongoing discussion of embedding Indigenous competencies into media and communication programmes more broadly.

Transnational Mexican Youth Negotiating Languages, Identities, and Cultures Online: A Chronotopic Lens

AbstractThis article presents a case study with two transnational Mexican youth that came from a larger study of the digital media practices of young people in an urban high school. Our study takes a chronotopic (Bakhtin, 1981) lens to understand the youths' accounts of their digital communication. Analysis of interviews and observations with the youth when they described their online activities show that the youth employed digital literacies to vicariously “live” experiences and keep up with life away from their families in Mexico. The youth situated their activities in three distinct but dialogical chronotopes (family, hometown, and transborder) to create transnational connections and make sense of who they are. They drew on digital artifacts to narrate themselves, developed familial, cultural, and political knowledge, and expanded their linguistic repertoires in the process. The findings have implications for TESOL classrooms that seek to build on the border‐crossing experiences and linguistic and multimodal resources of young people in their learning. We discuss how youths' digital practices and embedded artifacts serve to construct multiple contexts and vantage points for developing their transnational identities and knowledge, and how these practices could be recognized as agentic forms of narrative production and learning in the classroom.

Positive family relationships in a digital age: Hearing the voice of young people

AbstractThis study focused on young people's perspectives about family relationships and how they can be strengthened or weakened through digital media practices. Located in Melbourne, Australia, 20 participants aged between 13 and 17 years were interviewed about how digital devices and practices shaped the way they interacted with family. The thematic analysis points to the young people's commitment to family cohesion. This was demonstrated through responsible use of social media, admitting the need for device‐free time, acknowledging the challenges of being online, and their sense of responsibility as a family member, which informed and shaped the way they individually acted.

The digital fetishism challenge of Indonesian millennial journalists

This study aims to analyze the journalism and digital media practice that resulted in the digital fetishism trend in Indonesian millennial journalists before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research adopts the qualitative approach by a case study with in-depth interviews with eight journalists from reputable print and online media and participatory observations which focus on eight journalists’ social media accounts. This research finds that digital media has become a part that cannot be separated from millennial journalists. Dependence on digital media forms a digital fetishism. This research shows that millennial journalists remain disadvantaged and tend to be exploited. Journalists also have the status of digital labor. Digital fetishism has become an ideology and identity which shackles millennial journalists. This study suggests that many opportunities can still be developed by gaining a sustainable future by prioritizing innovation, professionalism, independence, and inclusion.

Digital Media Practices in Households: Kinship through Data, written by Larissa Hjorth, Kana Ohashi, Jolynna Sinanan, Heather Horst, Sarah Pink, Fumitoshi Kato, and Baohua Zhou

Digital Media Practices in Households: Kinship through Data, written by Larissa Hjorth, Kana Ohashi, Jolynna Sinanan, Heather Horst, Sarah Pink, Fumitoshi Kato, and Baohua Zhou

Enemy Imaginaries: A Case Study of the Far Right in Canada

Background: Social media and digital technology play a central role in amplifying the potential harms of the far right.Analysis: The concept of enemy imaginaries is developed to map the digital and social media practices of far-right actors and groups in their antagonistic participation with and against a liberal, multicultural, globalist imagined community. Analysis focuses on a dramatic clash at a People’s Party of Canada event in Hamilton, Ontario, during the 2019 federal election.Conclusion and implications: Disparate far-right groups can momentarily crystallize around a particular event to define new nationalist objects that are symbolic of their networked and mediated fight against an imagined enemy.

Exploring Camp Policies and Leadership Opinions on Digital Media Use in Camps

While summer camps provide children a unique experience away from home, this environment may lead to increased and unsupervised use of digital media. Camps’ policies and leaderships’ views on digital media consumption in camps are currently unknown. To elucidate current trends, we partnered with CampDoc.com to survey a national sample of camp leadership about digital media policies and practices. A single response was selected from each camp and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Free text responses reflecting on positive and negative experiences with digital media were assessed using thematic analysis. We received 722 responses from 363 of the 950 camps within the Camp Doc network. Respondents represented camps in 45 states in the United States. Internet and cell service were available in 22.3% and 34.7% of camps, respectively. Approximately 60% of camps reported a digital media policy for campers and staff. Most policies (67.9%) did not allow use of digital media devices. Camp leadership reported that smartphones (51.3%) and social media apps (42.2%) were most difficult to restrict. Qualitative themes focused on the benefits of digital media for creativity and connection, but also the interruption of camp experiences. Camp personnel described positive media uses aligned with American Academy of Pediatrics media guidelines, for teaching creativity, acquiring new skills, and understanding the value of unplugging for creating social connections. Although most camps have policies restricting digital media use, complete restriction may be difficult.

A REPERTOIRE OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL (IN)SECURITY: CONSTRUCTING THE ROHINGYA DIASPORA AND TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITY POLITICS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This paper explores how transnational identities are negotiated through digital and social media use, and how the narratives online contribute to Rohingya transnational identity. Recent studies have made significant strides in understanding refugees’ media practices during migration, transnational family ties, settlement in a host society. However, little attention has been paid to more nuanced understanding every day of risks and opportunities of digital media practice in the context of conflict and forced migration. Drawing on a qualitative approach of semi-structured and social media scroll back interviews methods, I investigate the use of technologies in their everyday experiences of prolonged displacement in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh and among resettled refugees in Brisbane, Australia, both distinct but interconnected within a power structure. The findings expose the ‘double-edged’ nature of communication technologies. While most participants think technologies have been a lifeline for their survival, participants from the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp show that security and surveillance are key concerns for members of the Rohingya diaspora. In this paper, I argue that although digital and social media offer a niche of a repertoire of resistance and the rise of a new form of community in a context of statelessness, the use of such technologies can be juxtaposed with the consequence of digital surveillance and victimisation in everyday life in a refugee camp. By focusing on both urban and refugee camp settings, this paper offers critical insights into power inequalities and transnational diaspora activism, authoritarian politics, specifically its mediation by digital technologies.

Toddlers’ digital media practices and everyday parental struggles: Interactions and meaning-making as digital media are domesticated

Abstract In this article, the Swedish findings from a European comparative study on 0–3-year-old children and their digital lives are presented and discussed in relation to domestication theory, including the concept of moral economy. More specifically, attention is paid to toddler's appropriation of digital technology and the parents’ moral struggles: the negotiations between the parents concerning the introduction of digital media practices in early childhood, the selection of content, and the monitoring of children. Parents of very young children have ambivalent feelings towards digital media technologies and struggle to make the right decision for their children. The study demonstrates that the domestication of digital technology in early childhood is far more multifaceted and troublesome for parents to handle than previous research has found.

Move, eat, sleep, repeat: Living by rhythm with proactive self-tracking technologies

Abstract Proactive self-tracking is a proliferating digital media practice that involves gathering data about the body and the self outside a clinical healthcare setting. Various studies have noted that self-tracking technologies affect people's everyday modes of thought and action and stick to their lifeworlds because these technologies seek to promote “improved” modes of behaviour. We investigate how the specific devices and interfaces involved in self-tracking attract and prescribe rhythmicity into everyday lives and elaborate on how human bodies and technical systems of self-tracking interact rhythmically. We draw from new materialist ontology, combining it with Henri Lefebvre's method of rhythmanalysis and his notion of dressage. We employ a collaborative autoethnographical approach and engage with both of our personal fieldwork experiences in living with self-tracking devices. We argue that rhythmicity and dressage are fruitful analytical tools to use in understanding human–technology attachments as well as a variety of everyday struggles inherent in self-tracking practices.

Public opinion polarization on immigration in Italy: the role of traditional and digital news media practices

ABSTRACT Public opinion polarization on immigration can hinder social cohesion, integration policies and economic growth. Political campaigns and partisan news media systems have long been investigated in terms of potential drivers of mass polarization, often through a focus on one news media. Utilizing survey data collected by the Pew Research Center, the purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to provide insight into the state of polarization of the Italian public on immigrants-related issues during the campaign for 2018 General Elections, that is, in a context of increasing struggle on immigration between political elites and partisan news media; second, to analyze whether and how the frequency of use of traditional and digital news media and/or the political similarity of (online and offline) information networks have affected the probability of Italian citizens having polarized opinions on immigration. This study shows no significant divergences in the Italian public opinion toward extreme positions, but provide evidence of one-side extremism and alignment along two irreconcilable views. Furthermore, findings indicate deep differences in the effects of traditional and digital news media practices on individuals’ extreme and aligned positions on immigration. When various news media are considered, the effect of television is always the more robust.

Vernacular Discourses of Disruption in Alternative Digital Space

Abstract This article explores the discursive strategies employed by Dalits and other marginalized groups to highlight inspirational stories of bottom-up change across rural India. These agential narratives are featured in the community-run alternative digital media portal, Video Volunteer’s series, “Videos that Created Change.” I contend that marginalized groups’ articulation of structural change against systemic oppression takes the form of vernacular discursive practices, which foreground place-based identities and regional languages. Such newly emerging digital media practices have the potential to disrupt the hegemonic mainstream template of marginalized citizens’ abject victimhood.

Localizing diasporic digital media practices: Social stratification and community making among Somali women living in Rome

In this article, I inquire into the relationship between digital media practices, community making and forms of social stratification among Somali women living in Rome. Drawing on a critical approach to the study of ‘digital diaspora’, I use theories of ‘field’ and ‘capitals’ as analytical tools to examine the impact of different positionings assumed by Somali women within the local community on forms of diasporic networking through digital means. The relationality between offline and online reality is exposed, unpacking women’s positioning and roles through an intersectional approach sensitive to age, class, literacy and gender dynamics. This reveals internal fractures or forms of solidarity shaping the landscape of the local field of Somali digital diaspora.

Second-generation British Somali women: The translocal nexus of London and global diaspora

Drawing upon ethnographic investigation, this article analyses the digital media practices of second-generation British Somali women who live in London. It addresses the dynamic relationships between digital media and diasporic identity formation by focusing on how second-generation women articulate their diasporic urban and transnational identities via youth-oriented online cultural spaces. It demonstrates that they use the internet and social media platforms to position themselves as urban dwellers in London and members of the global Somali diaspora at the same time. In this context, the author proposes that these young women’s digital practices create a translocal nexus that intertwines urban and transnational social fields in line with their gendered and generation-specific experiences and aspirations. Through this translocal nexus, these young women produce multilayered identities and negotiate their multiple belongings with a youth-oriented perspective and style in a digitally interconnected world.