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Start date: 2022Subject: search.filters.subject.Social media

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Lurking as a mode of listening in social media : motivations-based typologies
    (Emerald, 2023-02-02) Adjin-Tettey, Theodora Dame; Garman, Anthea
    In this study, the authors aim to probe the relationship between listening and lurking and discuss types of lurking that occur on social media sites based on the motivations driving them. Although listening is a significant practice of online attention, intimacy, connection, obligation and participation as much as voice is, it is yet to receive the kind of attention voice is given in the context of social media. In the rather limited studies on online attention, the concept that has gained consideration is “lurking”, and this practice has often been treated as a derogatory non-activity or as passivity. The interest to study lurking is based on the premise that lurking is a significant ground on which listening occurs in social media and through which voice can be given attention.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a phenomenological approach to understand motivations for lurking in online spaces. Phenomenological research involves data gathering through inductive, qualitative methods with the aim of explaining specific phenomena from the perspective of research participants. In this research, the lived experience studied was lurking and what drives lurking. A total of 12 members of the Licence to Talk project, a research project based at the School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa, took part in the study. They shared their personal experiences of online lurking through a critical reflective writing. Based on the experiences shared, the authors identified and categorised the various types of lurking based on the varied motivations driving them.FindingsThrough the phenomenological approach, the study has theorised a more useful understanding of lurking as a form of online listening by identifying and categorising seven lurking behaviours that are nested within the lurking activity. This study, thus, provides a tentative framework for studying online lurking by bringing to bear listening theory and by reasoning that lurking is a needs-based activity that has purpose imbedded within it.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors recognise that this study is limited by its small number of participants. Nevertheless, as researchers with a strong grounding in listening theory, the authors thought it valuable to interrogate their own practices on social media and to develop a more useful understanding of what lurking might entail and, on the lurking-listening relationship. A larger study would provide stronger evidence to test the hypothesis about lurking as a very interesting form of listening with a relationship to complex behaviours and needs.Originality/valueIt is expected that by conceptualising the various forms of lurking based on the motivations that drive online lurking (listening), it will provide an empirical and theoretical/conceptual basis for further investigations into this pervasive mode of online attention.
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    The effect of social media brand engagement on South African consumers’ purchase intentions
    (Durban University of Technology, 2023) Ntobaki, Paballo; Buthelezi, Makhosazane
    Social media has perennially transformed consumers’ purchasing cycles. Today, consumers can effortlessly conduct online information searches about brands based on their interest in brands' social media pages or read brand reviews made by other consumers on social media networks. Social media is undisputedly characterised by ratings, comments, reviews, and other features found on websites that indicate what users think of the content being discussed. Taking note of what users say on social media and engaging in discussions is a great way for brands to influence these discussions and condition consumers’ purchase decisions and intentions. To achieve the objectives of this research, this study adopts a quantitative research method in which convenience and purposive sampling were utilised to recruit research participants. Self-administered, structured questionnaires are used to collect primary data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics are utilised in this study. Data is analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. The outcomes of this research advocate that social media is an immensely powerful communication tool that can be used to shape consumers’ purchase intentions.
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    Analysing Instagram pages of South African fashion models with Vitiligo using multimodal communication for a practice-based study
    (2023-03-01) Sarupdeo, Emilia; Mchunu, Khaya Jean; Rapeane-Mathonsi, Maleshoane
    An increase in fashion models with vitiligo are observed from the sharing of representations of themselves and the skin condition on multimodal forms of communication on social media platforms, notably Instagram. The study is located in fashion and focuses on vitiligo that has been widely discussed in the medical field. Vitiligo is a skin condition where the deterioration of melanocyte cells lead to white patches that present in various areas of the body (Vallerand et.al 2019: 1371). The significance of this study is to understand the representations led by fashion models with vitiligo and to join them by using my profession as a fashion designer with vitiligo to shift the beauty narrative through inclusivity and raising awareness about the skin condition. The study is framed by a multimodal discourse analysis and specifically a four-step analytical process of modal transfer (Kress 2000 and 2010). This frame is used to focus on how fashion models with vitiligo use multimodal communication in the form of photographs, captions, and hashtags to communicate themselves, as people with vitiligo through their public Instagram pages. This form of communication is argued to be their practice of challenging and expanding accepted notions of beauty. An analysis is followed by a practical component framed by Sullivan’s (2010) and Skains (2018: 86) creative practice as research. The study results show how the models have represented themselves and their skin condition. Some posts touch on themes that seek to shift the narrative and expand notions of beauty. They share perspectives on inclusivity and diversity, self-love, self-affirmation, body-positivity, perceptions of the gaze, and what should not be regarded as fashion trends. Optimism expressed by such themes resulted as psychological healing and promotes good mental health towards the incurable skin condition. I designed a body of fashion artefacts for this practice-based study as my contribution to using fashion as communication to shed light on vitiligo and body positivity. A new Instagram page has been created to display the practical collection through my own use of multimodal communication. This process has resulted in 6 fashion artefacts that use hashtags as titles to speak about vitiligo. The fashion artefact collection celebrates inclusivity and diversity, depicts the types of formation which vitiligo presents in, and concludes by perceiving all as beauties, expressed in both in practice and theory.
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    Perceptions of dark-skinned beauty on social media using social identity theory : the case of #melaninmagic on Instagram
    (2022-09) Naidoo, Alicia; Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie; Soobben, Deseni
    The saying, “If you’re white, you’re alright, if you’re brown, stick around, but if you’re black, get back” has been around for generations and has racial connotations linked to colourism, a social issue that ranks light skin as the epitome of beauty. While most people of colour have fallen victim to colourism, Indians idolise light skin so much that dark-skinned people are villainised and discriminated against, and skin-lightening businesses thrive on Indian people’s desire to be of a lighter skin tone. Millennials and Gen Z are fighting the stigma of colourism through hashtag activism. The hashtag #MelaninMagic has influenced many dark- and medium-skinned individuals to embrace and celebrate their skin tone despite the discrimination faced in previous generations. In this study, the hashtag #MelaninMagic is investigated, using social identity theory and how #MelaninMagic shapes the perceptions of dark-skinned beauty on Instagram and influences users to embrace the social category into which their skin colour falls is explored. The reasons Instagrammers use filters and the likelihood they will compare their selfies to others before posting was also explored. The research approach is a qualitative paradigm within the interpretivist paradigm. Sixteen (16) Indian South Africans between the ages of 23‒30 were purposively selected for oneon-one, semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that #MelaninMagic is used as a tool of empowerment for darkand medium-skinned Instagrammers to express pride about their skin tone, and social media is being used as a tool for change such that the representation of dark-skinned beauty is more evident on Instagram than in traditional media. The aim of Millennials and Gen Z is to end the toxic cycles passed down from generation to generation through having open minds. The phenomenon of skin lightening was also investigated and filters emerged as a modern-day skin lightener. The reasons filters are used to lighten skin in selfies was explored and narrowed down to the influence of family on social categorisation and the caste system. It is also worthy to note that medium-skin tone individuals identitifed as dark-skinned because of the way others made them feel about their skin colour. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that a mixed-method approach and more participants across different cities in South Africa can be considered in future studies.
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    Social media as a strategy for protest movements : a study of #EndSARS in Nigeria
    (Center for Strategic Studies in Business and Finance SSBFNET, 2022) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo
    The 2020 #EndSARS protests in Nigeria gained global attention. The protests drawn thousands of youths to the streets in a wave of rolling fury that built into one of the largest demonstrations for years in the country.  Unlike previous protests in the country, the 2020 year's protests played out across social networks in a buildup of videos, images, and stories on Twitter Facebook, and other platforms displaying pictures and footage from the streets. This study employed the Social Network Theory in identifying the influence of social media as a strategy for protest movements and for the diffusion of information about #EndSARS and the sustenance of this movement over a long period, despite forces that have tried to silence it. This study argued that the sustenance of protests such as #EndSARS over a long period was dependent on factors such as: (i) that some individuals were more resistant to being influenced than others; (ii) that some individuals tended to be more responsive than others; and (iii) that some individuals seemed to be more affected than others (and were, therefore, more likely to pass the information on to others). The findings revealed that protesters used emotional dynamics, collective identities, symbolic artifacts, and mutual values to sustain protests if their demands were not met on time.