Media, Culture & Society

Who’s Starring, What’s Buzzing and What’s Up Next Online Film News and its Interplay with Film Viral Marketing

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Zhou, L.

Who’s Starring, What’s Buzzing and What’s Up Next Online Film News and its Interplay with Film Viral Marketing

Smarter Voting?

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Schulte Nordholt, V.C.I.

In the 2006 parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, more than 5 million people used online Voting Advice Applications (VAAs). Given that so many people use them, research about the use of VAAs is important to see what influence they have on democratic processes in the Netherlands. This thesis uses a survey with different manipulated conditions to separate the different elements of VAAs. These elements are the wording of the statements that are used, the integration of deliberative politics and the decision making processes and the non-rational processes of decision making that are triggered by answer scales. The results found that certain political subject are more sensitive to manipulation then others and that it is possible to integrate some elements of deliberation in VAAs. In conclusion VAAs turn out to be very manipulative and users should keep in mind that the results are very arbitrary. At the same time they could be improved by introducing more deliberative element to better reflect the political landscape of the Netherlands.

“Spotifying” new music and mavens on the Web

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Hoek, G.J. van den

This paper examines the importance of digital technology in shaping the information retrieval and sharing practices of music. Technological innovations have not only changed how consumers search for and find new music, but also how they describe and discuss that material with other individuals. Besides their social networks, music listeners can now express their personal tastes more profoundly to many other users through Web 2.0 applications such as social networking sites, blogs, and wikis. Using data from surveys, this research aims to increase understanding of whether new technologies are predominate or subordinate to social and institutionalized settings of music exploration and sharing. The results show that audiences are losing interest in traditional media to discover new music, due in part to the growing popularity of digital media. Particular younger cohorts of music listeners and higher educated groups spend much time on using new technology to expand and enrich their musical repertoires. The use of technology is often combined with or followed by social exchanges, as word-of-mouth mechanisms remain to play a considerable role in how music is selected, evaluated and discussed. At the core of this process are opinion leaders or mavens who frequently make and receive personal recommendations in their immediate environments as well as in online communities. The paper concludes by describing the nature of opinion leadership in the realm of music and suggests that future research needs to address factors of age differences, social status, and cultural capital in relation to the discovery and sharing of cultural products.

Georgian prison torture videos and their socio-political consequences

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Sikharulidze, M

Prison torture videos disseminated in Georgia in September 2012 were significant to Georgian people, because they uncovered negligence of officials and abuse of basic human rights of protection. People protested the system, which was unable to prevent the violence, and moreover, was implementer of brutal harassment of inmates. Immediate protest rallies were scheduled online, without any political leader. Social media and primarily Facebook served as the platform for expressing indignation stimulated by the case. Young Georgians were active and uncompromising, being on the foreground of the events. I decided to study the impact of the videos and its online exposure, and gain deeper insight regarding the influence of social media on political attitudes and engagement on young Georgians. By monitoring and analyzing Facebook groups created in response to violent footages, as well as Youtube comments to the videos and nine semi-structured interviews, this study examines the capacity of the case to alter political position and activism of young Georgians, while addressing their motivations for political activism.

Media as Practice Approach to the Disney Media and its Fan Audiences

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Vahuri, J

This study researched Disney fans and their interaction with the Disney media in their everyday lives. The aim was to find out through which channels do Disney fans have contact with Disney and how often do they interact with the Disney media. Media as practice apporach was taken to investigate the connection between the fans and the media. Also, corporate identity and globalisation were set as one of the key concepts besides media, fan audiences and Disney. Additionally, the perception and to some level the influence of Disney was examined. In-depth interviews and deductive analysis were used to gather and analyse the data. The results of this research found that the Disney fans interact with the Disney media at least on a montly basis, often more. The influence of Disney, in the eyes of the fans, was rather minimal but in every case positive. Furthermore, the results showed that Disney has managed to create an image and reputation so strong, that fans from different backgrounds perceive it the same way.

Debating over the unitary patent

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Mangalousi, D.

The integration of software in the contemporary world is evidently important since it is incorporated in every existent technology (whether that is realized or not); a fact makes the understanding of software, its technology and its context crucial. At the same time, during the last decades the growing importance of information and technology shed light to the significance of the forms of ownership provided by Intellectual Property rights; under which the technology of software is also protected. This thesis focuses on software patents (as a form of ownership) and the implications that the unitary patent (introduced at the end of 2012 as a reform of the European patent system) could possibly have for software development. For that purpose, two opposing discourses are examined through textual analysis of their discursive production; and their ideological roots are identified and compared. The discussion that derives from the findings (under the prism of hegemony and the theories of technology and software) is very enlightening for further research. This research argues that the more technology and in this case software is stripped off its cultural reference and is not the outcome of an inclusively democratic procedure the more the discussion will be relocated towards its democratization.

‘Islamophobia’

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Sutar, CV

Social scientists are struggling to define and measure Islamophobia. Answers to questions like - what is Islamophobia? And how much of it exists remain elusive. In the absence of any agreeable definition, exploring this phenomenon from a new viewpoint is essential. This study takes a critical view of the main ‘source’ – The Runnymede Trust Report (1997) – which is known to have popularized the word. To begin with, a propaganda analysis is conducted on the report to understand what arguments the report makes and what propaganda devices can be identified or interpreted in those arguments. It is also studied whether Islamophobia exists or not at a micro level by conducting interviews with Dutch interviewees (40-65 yrs) living in The Hague. The findings suggest that the existence of ‘dread or fear about Islam’ could be an exaggerated argument as issues such as ‘race’ and ‘religion’ within the Dutch interviewees were of least importance, and so was religion in general. The Dutch focus, largely, is on assimilation and with the main criteria being obeying laws. Some discriminatory attitudes do exist, but there is no alarmism or simplification when it comes to Muslims or Islam.

‘Islamophobia’

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:00:01 GMT

Sutar, Chirag

Globalization on YouTube

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Kist, J.C.

This research studies the international flows of music videos in (South-)East Asia and Western Europe, by analyzing national YouTube music video charts in 2013. This is the first empirical research that focusses on the role that YouTube plays in the exchange of international pop music. Quantitative content analysis was executed to collect data from YouTube. The first aim of this research is to show to what extent internationalization can be perceived in YouTube music video charts. It shows the trends in the degree, direction and diversity of international music videos within the selected YouTube charts of our sample countries. The findings show that YouTube charts of most countries are very international, accept the charts of some Asian countries. In the European YouTube charts, most music videos are from the US. In (South-)East Asian YouTube charts, many music videos are also from the US, but quite surprisingly even more from South Korea. English is overall the most sung language next to the domestic language of artists. In addition, most South Korean artists sing in Korean, but use English phrases in their songs. The second aim of this research is to show which determinants influence the inequality of music video flows between countries. There are many different determinants that can play a factor in this process. Country characteristics can be determinants. Therefore, the influence of centrality, population size, GDP, cultural proximity, geographical proximity and language tie were tested. Individual artists determinants can also influence the success of music videos in foreign YouTube charts. Therefore, the influence of performance language and TV talent show participation were also tested. These determinants were tested using multiple regression analysis. Only the influence of the determinants centrality, cultural proximity and geographical proximity were found in this analysis. Besides these determinants, YouTube has content agreements with major media companies. These agreements can also influence the composition of music video charts and therefore their level of internationalization of YouTube charts. The results give an indication that this could be the case. The third aim of this research, is to compare our findings to the results of Verboord & Brandellero’s (2013) research. They studied the globalization of pop music single charts in Europe between 1960-2010 This comparison gave interesting insights. YouTube charts are slightly more international. The effect of geographical proximity is smaller in YouTube charts. The effects of some determinants, which were found by Verboord & Brandellero weren’t found for the YouTube charts.

Globalization on YouTube

Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Kist, Just

Online friendships: What do adolescents feel, think, prefer and expect?

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:00:01 GMT

A.H. Draaijers

The main purpose of this research was to establish what Dutch adolescents feel, think, prefer and expect when it concerns online communication in their friendships. In addition, this research wanted to determine factors that pattern these feelings, thoughts, preferences and expectations. A mixed method was used to provide not only significant details about the use and the evaluation of online communication by adolescents, but also to provide more insights on and anecdotes about what goes on in the minds of the adolescents when it concerns online communication. Seven adolescents were interviewed and 164 adolescents were surveyed. We found that on a daily basis most adolescents use Instant Messaging programs and social network sites very frequently. Most adolescents still prefer offline communication in comparison to online communication in their friendships, however; they do see advantages in online communication. Besides that, we found that a large part of the adolescents have certain online expectations of their friends. Finally, we found several gender and age differences in the use, the evaluation, the experience and expectations concerning online communication. The degree in activeness on social network sites and Instant Messaging programs was an influencing factor as well.

Environmental Communication in Street Art: Motivations & Messages of Reverse Graffiti Creators

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Norvaisaite, Veronika

Spot theory and Halsey and Young’s motivational model complement each other in analyzing contemporary graffiti but they do not refer to reverse graffiti in particular – a relatively novel drawing technique vaguely described as dirt removal in existing literature. The reason to explore this phenomenon lies not only in the limited knowledge about reverse graffiti but also in the claim made both in scientific and popular sources that because of its eco-friendly application, revere graffiti mediates messages about environmental issues. Grounded in spot theory, motivational and communication of environmental actions models, this exploratory study attempts to clear the uncertainty surrounding reverse graffiti in order to establish a well-weighted definition that could serve to determine its place in street art culture and its value to environmental communication. By means of in-depth qualitative interviews, ten graffitists – including reverse, eco and traditional graffiti representatives – were asked for their interpretations of reverse graffiti, their motivations to do graffiti and the messages they communicate. The results show that reverse graffiti is a subtractive technique that can be used not only in grimy locations against the claims made in current literature; it is not permanent or harmful to the surfaces as opposed to traditional graffiti discussed in spot theory; and it is better described as street art rather than graffiti due to its lack of graffiti culture-specific norms and values that are evident in the motivational model of graffiti writers. Moreover, even though their methods are environmentally-friendly, contrary to the current claims, reverse graffiti creators are driven by a variety of motives which are not necessarily stemming from ecological concerns but more predisposed to positive ambience creation.

Media Consumption of Second generation Diaspora in Brussels

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Simba Boumba, Madly

Some of the existing studies on the media consumption of diaspora (Georgiou,2001, 2002; Hiller & Franz, 2004; Wood & Smiths, 2004; De Andrea & Levine, 2010; Ibold, 2010; Krivolap, 2011; Macri, 2011; Dobrowsky, 2012) confirm that the Internet provides diasporas with new spaces for communication, and a new context for thinking of identity and community. This thesis particularly explores the media consumption of second generation diaspora. It focuses on the ways members of the second generation of the Congolese diaspora in Brussels use Social Network Sites (SNS), especially when it comes to self-expression and cultural identity. This research particularly seeks to identify the various ways and different types of cultural elements that could be presented on SNS. In particular, the study centers on three dimensions: identity and cultural identity, online behaviour (especially on SNS), and the relationship between cultural identity and SNS. The research design comprises of two qualitative methods: two focus groups respectively conducted with five and seven participants, in addition to a series of 13 in-depth interviews conducted with the Congolese youth and emerging adults (18-30 years old). The participants were asked to particularly reflect upon their identities and cultural identities, on their online behaviour, and on the type of cultural elements they share or could share on SNS. The results of the research demonstrated that the second generation of the Congolese diaspora in Brussels often negotiates plural identities: double, African/Congolese, or Cosmopolitan. On a cultural and collective level, the participants were proud of their community but at the same time really pessimistic. This leads to two types of online behaviour and to the expression of different cultural elements. On the one hand, SNS are used as entertainment tools where the positive and negative cultural elements presented are presented in a humoristic way. On the other hand, SNS are used as empowering tools presenting claims of cultural identity and for cultural change within the community and more self-awareness. It was discovered that the interaction on SNS helps the second generation of the Congolese diaspora in their cultural identification process and feeling of belonging.

New kids on the blog

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Prechsl, Verena

This study investigates the effects of consuming fashion blogs as perceived by the audience of these blogs. The examination focuses on the relationship between the perception of blog influence and demographics, consumption behavior and motivation. For this purpose fashion magazines are utilized to enable a comparison of consumption and reading motives of the audience. The research is motivated by the research question: To what extent do fashion blog readers perceive to be influenced by fashion blogs? It has the goal of outlining new media perception and in particular of generating an understanding of fashion blogs, their audience and the relationship between both. As new media becomes more and more interactive, the individual reader plays an important role in the creation of content and the existence of (fashion) blogs overall. Literature on blog audiences has focused almost exclusively on one specific country and blogs of diverse content. It must be however differentiated between the different types of content of blogs to understand the audience. Additional this study is aimed at the international readership of fashion blogs. This study advances our understanding of blog readers and their interactive connectivity with the blogger and content of the fashion blog. Using an exploratory online survey, the data of 175 international fashion blog readers was collected and investigated using both descriptive and inferential analysis. To describe the relationship between the consumption and the perceived influence, correlations and multiple regression was conducted; for examining the motives of blog and magazine consumption according to U&G theory factor analysis was performed. The findings from the research illustrate how the audience of blogs comprehends the influence fashion blogs have upon them in respect to their communication and purchasing behavior as well as their perception of importance of fashion in their lives. Furthermore the outcomes offer new insights in motivations of new media consumption: fashion blog readers access fashion blogs for motives of entertainment, inspiration, information seeking, interaction and interest in the blogger. Contrary to prior expectations, magazines are still very popular and frequently read, mostly for motivations of professionalism, the fixed non-interactive design, information seeking and entertainment. The results create an understanding of blog audiences and their perception of influence via blogs, in particular fashion blogs. By this means the study adds value to the research of new media and helps grasping the shift from traditional media to interactive, participatory new media and its requirements towards the blogger and the audience.

The danger of watching sexualized advertising

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Oosterhout, Nathalie van

Nowadays, our society can be described as a society in which a proliferation of sexual texts is part of our lives on a daily basis. Of these sexual texts, this thesis will discuss the advertisement sector. For some time, there has been a debate about what kind of impact sexualized advertisements have on young women. As is shown in previous studies, the sexualization and objectification of women can lead to many negative effects such as disordered eating and body shame. As a result, the focus of this thesis will be on the effects that these sexualized advertisements can have on women. More specifically, cognitive skills and mood. Furthermore, religion can serve as a defensive factor against the images that are portrayed in sexualized advertisements. Therefore, this thesis will focus on Dutch Muslim and non-Muslim women. An experimental design that was used in this study has shown that sexualized advertisements have an effect on the cognition of women. Thus, the sexualization of advertising does entail negative consequences.

Tweeting Alone? A Computational Analysis of Twitter Users' Social Capital and their Expressed Well-Being

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Stöttner, Timo

Much scholarly research has been devoted to the relation of social capital and happiness (for a review see Helliwell, 2001). This study builds on such previous research by examining whether social capital can be used to predict the expressed well-being of Twitter users. Apart from its focus on Twitter users, the contributions of this study are twofold. First, it distinguishes between bonding, bridging and overall social capital, a differentiation that has been neglected in most previous studies examining the relationship between social capital and happiness although most theoretical discussions of social capital make this distinction. Second, I take the perspective of the rather new discipline of Computational Social Science, which aims to study societal processes through the analysis of large volumes of data. I used a computational framework for the determination of social capital developed by Smith, Giraud-Carrier, Ventura et al. (2011) to determine the social capital of Twitter users and I calculated their expressed well-being based on a sentiment analysis of their tweets. To my knowledge, the framework for the determination of social capital has not been applied to Twitter before to this extent and I expanded on it in several ways to make it applicable to this study. Since research suggests that the positivity of tweets is indicative of their author's happiness (Kramer, 2010; Bollen et al., 2011) and much research shows that social capital is related to happiness (for a review see Helliwell, 2001), I expected to find that social capital can be used to predict the expressed well-being of Twitter users. I analyzed the social capital and expressed well-being of 214 Twitter users that were determined randomly according to specific criteria which made them suitable for the analysis. In order to determine their social capital, I collected a dataset consisting of 43,670,346 user profiles and 79,579,346 tweets. Contrary to the expectations, neither bonding, bridging nor overall social capital were found to be significant predictors of Twitter users' expressed well-being.

Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Social Media: How do companies communicate their CSR strategies?

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Verhage, Sharmaine

Social media have become increasingly important for corporate communication over the last couple of years. Consumers nowadays use social media to get information about companies before they make a purchasing decision. This makes an effective online communication strategy very important for companies. Besides the fact that consumers have moved online for information about companies, they also want more and more information about the companies they are interested in. Without certain information, consumers do not trust companies anymore. This explains why information about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become so important. Companies need to include CSR in their communication strategies if they want to be successful. Now that consumers search online for information, CSR communication has moved from the traditional media to social media as well. This paper examines CSR communication on Facebook by the three biggest energy companies in the Netherlands. Moreover, consumer responses to CSR communication are explored. The research is conducted with the use of quantitative content analysis. The results show that even though CSR communication has moved online, companies are still holding on to the traditional form of CSR communication as PR-messages are the most frequently used type of message for online CSR communication.

The impact of entertainment television: political communication in Big Brother Bulgaria

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Evtimov, Alen

The diverse and complex role of the influential television medium to educate and entertain the audience and at the same time to be a political communicator, these days is unified in the television phenomenon of 21st century – the reality television. A diversity of reality television shows address and communicate political discourse in modern, attractive comedy style talk. However, the existing academic literature considering the possible political nature of reality shows, such as Big Brother is insufficient, forming an extensive research gap. The present thesis investigates through a qualitative content analysis the communication of political issues on the most internationally famous reality format Big Brother, with main focus on the Bulgarian franchise that would illustrate new, different approach of the media systems in Eastern Europe. In this sense, the main research question ‘How are political issues communicated in Big Brother Bulgaria?’ altogether with the following qualitative analysis led to a reasonable findings that the show is politically oriented and socially responsible medium for political communication, without the prospect to favor specific political aims. In addition, the media frames utilized in the show that form the political talk in Big Brother Bulgaria demonstrate an objective, similar to the news media approach in addressing political issues in the media world.

Social Media and Political Communication

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Christoforou, Sevasti

The thrust of this study is to discern how Twitter is changing the patterns of political communication and political expression. In particular, this paper aims to examine the ways Twitter enables the generation of hate speech and intolerance discourses. It is an attempt to obtain a first perception of the hate speech phenomenon within the Greek Twittersphere and to demonstrate what forms of hate speech are being produced, as well as what are the attributes of hate speech messages. Undoubtedly, hate speech on a popular social media platform like Twitter, could possibly obstruct the constructive process of deliberation and also threaten democracy. The research of this paper was based on the case of the murder of a leftist rapper Pavlos Fyssas by a member of Golden Dawn, a right-wing political party in Greece and the tweets that were produced 24 hours after this incident. 2052 tweets related to the event were collected, analyzed and classified into categories based on communication form, content, hate speech characteristics, hate speech targets and hate speech producer’s attributes.

Media Use By The Syrian Community in Sweden

Thu, 24 Jul 2014 00:00:01 GMT

Timmermans, Michelle

The study examines the media habits of members of the Syrian diaspora residing in Stockholm, Sweden, in order to follow up on the conflict and maintain a connection to the homeland. As a result of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, thousands of citizens are forced to leave Syria and settle down abroad every day. At the same time, mainstream media outlets are given limited insight into Syria, the government maintains control over published news content, and a lot of online content is being censored. This raises questions regarding if, and how, Syrian immigrants outside the nations borders are communicating with potential friends and family left behind; how they are keeping uptodate with developments of the conflict, and where they are able to find reliable information. Previous studies on the subject of media use among diasporic communities have not taken into account how the Syrian Civil War has affected the media use by members of the Syrian diaspora. Therefore, the study acts to fill a void in diaspora research that specifically considers a homeland in turmoil. Through eleven oneonone interviews, the study examines what traditional as well as new media channels are used by members of the Syrian diaspora in Sweden, and how this affects their conception of the homeland and the nation of residence. Interview respondents are all firstgeneration immigrants of varied genders and age groups, in order to identify patterns of media consumption among this group. Specifically, data analysis conducted through a constant comparative method of interview transcripts examines foreign and local news and broadcast media consumption, as well as Internet use. The analysis focuses on identifying phenomenological similarities and differences in the perceptions and motivations of respondents. Findings from the conducted interviews consider differences in how different genders and age groups use specific media channels in order to follow up the ongoing conflict in Syria, and how these media affect the respondents’ understanding of Syria. Finally, the study also considers how these media channels are used by members of the Syrian diaspora in the process of acculturation and integration into the Swedish community.