Network Society Studies

Research Paper Instructions

Please follow the instructions. 1. Networked social movements - 1 page Read the two texts assigned to this theme and create a concept map (or mind map) of the key issues and concepts that are central to Castells theories and empirical studies of networked social movements. You can use any of the free online mindmaping tools available online. NB: A mindmap is often something we construct for ourselves to make sense of a text or a certain subject area. For this assignment however, your fellow students in the group and the teacher are the audience and they should be able to understand how you have made sense of the key concepts, the relations and hierachy between these concepts. 2. Exam paper - 14 pages (excluding references and no need for cover page) Please do this in a report form The final exam assignment consists of a 3500-word related to the key theories and approaches treated during the course as applied to a specific case/theme. The aim of the paper is to conduct a small-scale empirical analysis in the context of the overarching theme of the course. This means the analysis needs to be substantiated both empirically (i.e. conducting an analysis of a limited body of data/empirical material) and theoretically (i.e. drawing on and referring to course literature and additional academic readings related to the chosen theme). You work alone and are free to choose your topic/case from one of the six seminar themes. It is also possible to connect and combine different themes – e.g. combining the theme on networked social movements with that of digital sisterhood and networked feminism or that of digital labour with that of political manipulation in network societies. Please structure your paper around the following elements: Introduction of the chosen theme/issue including formulation of research question(s) Brief desсrіption of the chosen method(s) and empirical material (selection criteria) Short account of the theoretical concepts and perspectives applied Analysis: This part should make up the bulk of your text. You are advised to structure your analysis around 2-3 themes identified in the empirical material and connect these to concepts and perspectives from the literature Conclusions/summarizing discussion – summarize and discuss the main findings of the analysis. List of references (not included in word count) Please use Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing and a 12-pt. font and follow the Harvard system of referencing. These were the themes used:- 1. Networked social movements - Castells theories and empirical studies of networked social movements. 2. Everyday media use and the networked life world - Rasmussen discusses personalization of media and media use as self-representation. 3. Digital labour - two articles on digital labour assigned to the theme. 4. Digital media and networked feminism - Read Fotopoulou (2016) and Mendes et al. (2018) 5. The entrepreneurial media worker in the network society - As organizations strive towards flexibility and adaptiveness, the permanent staff is shrinking and a growing number of workers are forced into freelancing, temporary positions and self-entrepreneurship. Use the assigned reading to get a critical understanding of the new liquid work life and the concept of entrepreneurship. 6. Political manipulation in network societies - Read the report from Data & Society assigned to the theme. Reading Marwick, A. and Lewis, R. (2017). Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online. Data & Society. https://datasociety.net/output/media-manipulation-and-disinfo-online/

Solution Paper

Digital Media and Networked Feminism

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Introduction

Digital media and networked feminism go hand in hand. Over the years, there has significant development from the use of traditional media towards linking different feminism groups operating in different areas across the globe. The main issue, in this case, was that different feminism grouped were motivated by different reasons given that minority groups had raised more issues that needed to be addressed. Furthermore, the groups were motivated by the need to advocate for women rights and fight against sexual violence. However, the success of the feminism movements was determined by the resources at their disposal, and lack of networking reduced their effectiveness. Yet, development in technology and the evolution of the online platform has played a vital role in providing the opportunity for the feminism movements to the network (Hammer & Kellner, 2009).  The use of social media, in this case, has been instrumental in linking the feminism movements and providing them with a platform to share their ideas or present their grievances. The social movements in the past have been successful due to their ability to network and present their ideas to the global audience through globalization. The same platform has been used by feminism movements to help in instigating change and in making sure that the issues that women face have been addressed. It has created a platform where the movements do not have to rely on support from other groups for finances due to the ease of using social media. However, the use of social media platform does not require one to belong to a certain group, and this has been instrumental in large-scale usage of social media. However, this has also facilitated the shift from a focus on groups as individuals can raise issues that affect them without relying on the information provided by different groups.

Research questions

• Does the use of social media by feminism movements helps in achieving the desired goals
• What is the impact of the online movement such as MeToo movement? Do they trigger changes in the society?
• Have digital media and the social media platform facilitated the networking of the feminism movements? If yes, have they been successful and what is the impact?

Methodology

This research relies on secondary research. Through these various articles relating to social movements, feminist movements, digital media, and social media will be evaluated. The articles will provide information on whether networking has been successful and to what extent and what can be done to ensure that they are effective. The articles also provide information relating to the challenges that feminism movements face during the networking process.

Background

Networked feminism is the process where minority groups are linked across the online platform to help in fighting issues relating to discrimination, racialism, misogynistic, sexism, and the sexual violence through the act of the online mobilization. However, one of the central issue in the past has been establishing the success of the feminist movements and whether their actions have been a success or not. The work of the feminist movement has been centered on the need to change the current social position in society and how women are treated by society. As a result, social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook among others have been used to provide the connections needed by the feminist movements (Rentschler, & Thrift, 2015). Networked feminism through social media platforms has been different from the traditional form of feminism especially due to the strategies that have been implemented. One of the critical differences between the traditional and the hashtag feminism movement has been the coverage and the public reception of the issue. The use of social media has been an effective platform to raise issue and communicate to a wide range of group within a short period of time. As a result individuals and groups have utilized the platform and the opportunities provided by the social media to network and address the issues that women face on a daily basis. The main difference, however, is the impact that the use of social media has on how people perceive feminism and sexual violence against women. Even though the traditional feminism movements have been successful, their impact and coverage have been minimal. Traditional feminism movement has faced major challenge including coverage and public acceptance, but the change in the people mindset has changed the way people view sexual violence against women. For instance, the way people approached feminism in the 1960s is different from how it is approached today given that people have recognized the need to safeguard women rights and to protect their welfare in society (Barnard, 2016). Therefore, despite the coverage that social media provides, the changes in the people mindset on feminism has been key to the success of the online feminist movement.

Hashtag movements

The rise of hashtag movements has been facilitated by the growth of social media and modern technology. Currently, the world is connected through social media as people can communicate to others across the globe within the shortest time possible. The need for the feminist group to link up together across the globe and address the issue facing women was the motivation behind the foundation and the spread of the feminism movements (Humphreys, & Vered, 2014).  Through this, there was a need to come up with a force that would be sustainable and would have a substantial impact on society across the globe. Through this, the idea was to come up with ways to address the issues facing women in society. In 2013 there was an initiative that was undertaken by individual groups where the readers across the Twitter platform were invited to help in covering the issue of feminism under the #FemFuture. However, a different group of people had different ideas and views in regards to this approach even by some of the feminist groups who were not open to the idea. The focus, in this case, was the need to ensure that the tactics adopted were able to raise awareness of the issues facing women and suggests ways that those issues can be addressed.  The traditional feminism groups primary tools were the use of the alternative press,  speak out and the use of the consciousness-raising circles to help in addressing the issues facing women. However, the adoption and the growth of social media led to the rise of hashtag feminism movement whose primary focus was raising the issues facing women across the online platform. The methods that were implemented in the past included the street demonstration, but the use of social media has a far more significant impact due to the coverage. However, the main issue that is associated with the hashtag feminism movements is the sustainability and whether it is likely to achieve the long-time impact. Even though the MeToo movement has been a success in addressing the issues facing women across the online platform, its continued success has reduced especially due to the coverage that it had in 2017 and the early part of 2018.

The online platform has provided an opportunity to the feminism movements including those without organizational backing and those emanating from the minority groups across the globe.  Some of the feminist group in the past had access and still have access to financial resources and backings while others do not. Furthermore, while sexual violence is a significant issue affecting women, there are other issues that feminism movements seek to address especially those from minority groups such as poverty and racialism. Back in 1950 all through to 1980, most of the feminist movements in the United States were mainly white dominated who had access to resources and were seeking to address women rights in the society. However, during this period, there were issues such as civil; rights movements and therefore most of the women in minority groups were excluded considering that they were more focused on safeguarding their civil rights and their position in the United States (Tippett, 2018). However, the digital media and the online platform have provided an opportunity for feminism movements with a large audience and therefore do not require financial assistance to bring out their views. The use of the online platform and the digital media, therefore, do not require the feminism group to have established organizations due to the complications involved in coming up with organizations or consolidating the support from the non-governmental group. With this in mind, the use of Facebook posts, Twitter hashtags, and the blog post has been instrumental in communication to the global audience and connecting those groups to a wide range of audience across the globe.

MeToo movement

In the past, the feminism movements were primarily dominated by the college educated, upper and middle class and white women who had a different set of interests when compared to those with minority groups. As a result, there has been a need for feminism movements to embrace issues in addition to gender issue to include sexuality, class, and race which affects the large part of women across the globe. The success of the use of online platform has been the success of the MeToo movement. The movement which was initiated in twitter has been a success considering that it has been able to embrace the issues that face women. There have been other movements such as the #beenrapedneverreported has been structured to help in raising the issues that women face and at the same time comforting them. Some of the issues that have been covered across the online platform has been centered on the need to call out those who have accused of committing violence against women. Even though the use of social media as a tool by the feminist movement, its consistent use has been compromised.  Even though women can raise issues across the online platform on the issues affecting, they often receive the comfort that they need but at the same time may be exposed to online bullying. One of the primary challenges that the feminism movements across the online platform have faced is the issue of online bullying and online trolls which may compromise the success and the message put across by those movements. However, the use of the MeToo movement and other hashtag movements have consolidated support from others even by individuals who are not members of feminism movements.  Even though some of the sexual violence, not all are acted upon and women at times find it difficult to report issues such as sexual violence.

The use of an online platform especially Twitter is instrumental in consolidating support from the wide part of the public who may share similar ideas or are open-minded. This is important since it helps in addressing the issues that women face and coming up with solutions to overcome those issues considering that the use of Twitter is essential since it helps in exploring new ideas.  The use of MeToo movements has helped in connecting people who have been exposed to sexual violence and another form of discrimination, those who share same ideas and values and those who are open-minded and are against those set of activities (O'Neil Sojo, Fileborn, Scovelle, & Milner, 2018). Not all issues that are addressed by the feminism movements or individual women area addressed by the digital media but the use of online platform provides an opportunity to women to share their ideas, issues, stories, and opinions without being charged. Furthermore, the use of Twitter helps in linking women across the globe even those who do not have access to mainstream media.  Therefore, women do not have to be physically present to assist in addressing issues that they face since they can use the online platform to communicate with others on those issues. The use of the social media platform helps in avoiding their issues such as age which at times affect the women ability to communicate with the public since young girls are excluded from the meetings that adults attend.

Trolling, hostility, and fear are some of the aspects that limit the effectiveness of the use of social media platform. Individuals and the feminism group often face significant challenges and therefore tend to avoid the use of social media due to the fear of shame. The anonymity and fake accounts that are often used by the trolls are often directed to those open up about the issues that they face on a daily basis. The use of social media platform helps in eliminating issues such as feeling alone given that they often receive the support they need from other like-minded individuals (White, 2018).

The disinformation and media manipulation

The disinformation and media manipulation has become a major issue in today's society in the wake of networked feminism. The online platform has been used to spread propaganda, instill fear and at the same time negatively affecting the information being passed over to the public. Those who have actively participated in the manipulation of the media includes politicians, influencers, conspiracy theorists, hate groups and ideologies and the internet trolls.  Those who engage in media manipulation are often motivated by different reasons and have diverse objectives. The use and the accessibility of the social media platforms it is easy to provide wrong information that may be damaging to the individuals involved (Loader, & Mercea, 2011). The use of the social media sites, message boards, and the forums, as well as the blogs and website, has been used to provide wrong information which at times cannot be validated. This includes rumors which have a negative impact on those who are involved. In the wake of MeToo movement and other hashtag movements, there have been cases where individuals have been targeted by spreading rumors which have had a negative impact on them to an extent some losing their jobs due to being slandered. On the other hand, those who have opened up across the online platform have also been targeted by the internet trolls which times may limit the individual's willingness to disclose issues that they face on a daily basis. Those who rely on media manipulation are often motivated by status and attention, money and the ideologies. However, the media trolls are often motivated by the status and attention and therefore tend to spread rumors or unconfirmed information. Some of the participants in the MeToo movements have been exposed to unfair treatment by online bullies who are out for fame and therefore ridiculing their individual experiences. This has either discouraged others from sharing information or the experiences with others for fear of being victimized by others across the online platform.

The disinformation has paved the way for the use of memes and other forms of trolls directed to the victims or the accused. The use of the social media does not require a person to have credible evidence when passing over the information which may compromise the credibility of the information being passed. As a result, others may lose trust in the media especially due to the negative impact that some of the information passed over may have on the individuals and society in general. Therefore, movements such as MeToo movements should be motivated by the need to provide credible information that is reliable and can be used to ensure that the public is well protected. H despite the challenge of the misinformation across the online platform, the social media platform is highly relied upon which is essential when addressing issues that the society face. The growing distrust and misinformation across the online platform may compromise how the information is information portrayed across the online platform is perceived by others.

Over the years various movements have used different tactics such as informational politics, computer networks and other innovative ways to help in linking their interests and communicating to the public.  The work and the activities of the feminism movements can be linked with the activities and the rise of the global justice movements (Couldry, & Curran, 2003). This has been facilitated through networking with the motivation being linking those with similar ideals. There has been increased growth especially with the growth of the world trade organization as well as the aspects of globalization. The expansion of global justice movements was primarily initiated by the mass mobilizations conducted through traditional media. The change in technology has changed the way people are brought together. Through the traditional media various movements were able to spread tactics, discourses, and images and facilitate actions. However, the spread and the facilitation of the global movements required huge investments to help in making sure that the goals set have been achieved. However, the global justice movement was required to operate under strict legal guidelines and are required to adhere to the hierarchy that has been set. The social media websites and the increased internet usage has primarily resulted from the need to focus on modern technology, the use of the internet and the evolution of the cyberspace.

The growth of the feminism movements can be traced back to 

The presence of digital media has facilitated the networking of feminism across the globe. The development of social media has increased online presence and coverage of social issues that face the society in today's environment. The changes in modern technology and the evolution of social media has created a situation where feminism movement have changed their approach (Jarrett, 2015). Through this, the internet and the social media have actively been used to fight and sensitize the public against the rape culture, misogyny, and the contemporary sexism where they are able to organize, network and at the same time establish a dialogue where issues relating to the women are discussed. It is through the social media that the survivors against the domestic violence and rape among others issues facing women have shared their own experience on the matter, therefore, synthesizing the public on the issues they safe on a daily basis. The modern research of feminism movements has focussed more attention to the online presence and the use of hashtag movement to help in describing the issues that women face and ways to overcome them in the long run. The use of social media has created a call out a culture where women have called out men who have been accused of being aggressive to women. This has been characterized by the role that MeToo movement has played in cementing the call out culture and encouraging other women to share their personal experiences through social media (Mendes, Ringrose, & Keller, 2018).

The process of engaging with challenges and resistance to sexism has seen the growth and the evolution of social media movements such as MeToo movement which has been structured to help in safeguarding women dignity and people lives. Through the online platform, women have taken the initiative of fighting against them the challenges that women face on the day to day basis. Currently, the public can easily access the information provided by the feminism movements on issues affecting women and how to fight against those issues. Through this, there are various ways that have been provided on the initiatives that can be taken to help in fighting against the rape culture and other issues facing women (Marwick, & Lewis, 2017).  The social change and the hashtag feminism has changed the way various issues that face women on a daily basis. However, this has attracted significant attention from the media today as people have recognized the need to solve the problems that affect women.

The effectivity of the hashtag movement has been questioned especially on whether they have the capacity to come up social change. This mainly relates to the movement such as hashtag me to movement and the way they impact the society. However, over the years, there have been significant changes that have been instituted the MeToo movement, especially when calling out influential figures in Hollywood who have been accused of rape. It is through the MeToo movement that young girls and women have been able to share their personal experiences with issues such as sexual violence. In the past, one of the main issues that women have faced in the past revolves around the shame attached to reporting of rape or sexual violence to the police or other people. As a result, most women and young girls chose to withhold sexual violence issues that they have faced in the past for fear of victimization or negative opinions formed against them by the public (Cardoso, 2012). To make matters worse, the people that have been accused of sexual violence against women has mostly been power individuals either in the workplace, Hollywood and even the working colleagues. Furthermore, organizations have been accused of coming up with ways to protect the individuals accused of sexual violence in order to safeguard their own reputation and to protect them due to the role they play in the working environment. Furthermore, others fear of reporting sexual valance against them in order to safeguard their jobs. The emergence of the MeToo movement gave women, and young courage top shares their stories across the online platform. It is through the MeToo movement or the courage the movement gave young girls and women that triggered the reported and coming out of the girls who have been abused by Larry Nasser.  The case and the issues surrounding Larry Nasser was a clear indication of the courage that feminism movement can be able to instill in individuals to help in reporting issues that they face on a daily basis (Fotopoulou, 2016).

Conclusion

Networked social movements have played a key role in linked different social groups who are motivated by a different set of ideas. Over the years, networking provided by the online platform and digital media has created a path where individuals and the groups can be linked together with the minimal use of the financial resources to sustain their operations. The social networking movements have played a key role in eliminating hierarchies, promoting flexibility, adaptability as well as the speeded needed to overcome social issues that people face on a daily basis. In the past, social movements have faced significant challenges in providing the necessary linked primarily with the growing need structured to bring people together who share similar ideas and who are motivated by similar social values. The use of an online platform provides the flexibility as well as the adaptability needed which in the long helps in addressing issues that people face which in the past could not have been possible. The social networking movements have become a rich area of study with the motivation being the need to identify those group who have similar ideas and linked their interests together. The use of the hashtag feminist movement has played a vital role in developing a fundamental understanding of sexual violence and the issues that women face on a daily basis. Combining the theme on networked social movements with that of digital sisterhood and networked feminism.

Bibliography

Barnard, S.R., 2016. Spectacles of self (ie) empowerment? Networked individualism and the logic of the (post) feminist selfie. In Communication and Information Technologies Annual: [New] Media Cultures (pp. 63-88). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cardoso, G., 2012. Networked life world: four dimensions of the cultures of networked belonging. Observatorio (OBS*), pp.197-205.

Couldry, N. and Curran, J. eds., 2003. Contesting media power: Alternative media in a networked world. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Fotopoulou, A., 2016. Digital and networked by default? Women’s organisations and the social imaginary of networked feminism. New Media & Society, 18(6), pp.989-1005.

Hammer, R. and Kellner, D. eds., 2009. Media/cultural studies: Critical approaches. Peter Lang.

Humphreys, S. and Vered, K.O., 2014. Reflecting on gender and digital networked media.

Jarrett, K., 2015. Feminism, labour and digital media: The digital housewife. Routledge.

Loader, B.D. and Mercea, D., 2011. Networking democracy? Social media innovations and participatory politics. Information, Communication & Society, 14(6), pp.757-769.

Marwick, A. and Lewis, R., 2017. Media manipulation and disinformation online. New York: Data & Society Research Institute.

Mendes, K., Ringrose, J. and Keller, J., 2018. # MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism. European Journal of Women's Studies, 25(2), pp.236-246.

O'Neil, A., Sojo, V., Fileborn, B., Scovelle, A.J. and Milner, A., 2018. The# MeToo movement: an opportunity in public health?. The Lancet, 391(10140), pp.2587-2589.

Rentschler, C.A. and Thrift, S.C., 2015. Doing feminism in the network: Networked laughter and the ‘Binders Full of Women’meme. Feminist Theory, 16(3), pp.329-359.

Tippett, E.C., 2018. The Legal Implications of the MeToo Movement.

White, R., 2018. Title VII and the# MeToo Movement. Emory Law Journal Online, 68, pp.1014-1033.

Assignment 2 Solution

Mind map(Download the paper)

Digital media and networked feminism along with the networked social movements can be linked together.  The evolution of the social movements and their networking process can be linked back to the manner in which the approach to feminist movements have changed in the last two decades.

Therefore there is a need to address the feminist movement and how they have managed to network over the years. In this case, evaluating the role played by the feminist movements such as MeToo movements and others and the role they have played in todays society. There is a need to assess the elements surrounding the feminist movements and how they have evolved over time. This can be achieved by evaluating the works of Mendes et al. (2018) and Fotopoulou (2016) and they works relating to the Digital media and networked feminism. However, this is aligned with how the networked social movements have worked over time and the role they have played in improving the position of women in the society and how the issues facing women have been handled. Though this one can learn how the changes in digital and social media has changed how the feminist movement used to network in the long run.