This thesis considers the adoption of technology and perceived changing social attitudes and relations. Specifically it considers if there have been any perceived changes in family or social relations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and, if so, can this be traced to the relatively recent shift to allow more widespread access to the internet. Traditionally the KSA has been characterised as a traditional, socially conservative society with a strong reliance on extended kinship groups. These family units have traditionally been the focus for much social interaction, especially for the female members and a regular round of face to face interaction was an important part of the social norms. The adopted research design was a variant of the mixed methods methodology. In this case a questionnaire was issued to 300 young people at two universities and one high school in Riyadh. Following this, 50 interviews were conducted. These were a mixture of some under 28 (drawn from the questionnaire sample) and those over 28 (found using purposive sampling). The research was designed to explore if the internet was perceived by respondents as having an impact due to time displacement (i.e. time spent on line was reducing face to face interaction) or in terms of any perceived changes of underlying attitudes towards the norms of Saudi society. Broadly, the findings were that there was evidence that the internet was perceived as having led to significant changes in social relations due to time displacement. However, from the interviews, it was clear that to many women in the KSA the internet offered the means to sidestep traditional restrictions on social interaction. While most reported no change in social attitudes, those with relatively heavy usage did report an impact on both acceptance of existing cultural norms and social relationship.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The thesis is structured around two contrasting narratives of the impact of the internet and social media on corporate crises created by radical activists. Briefly, the 'advancing' narrative celebrates what has been enabled for society by the internet and social media, and suggests that the influence of offline media is diminished by online technologies. The 'inflated' narrative argues that this has been overstated, and argues that, rather than flatten-out hierarchies, the internet and social media perpetuate these. The thesis combines social, political, management and CSR literatures to detail the importance of these narratives vis a vis corporate crises created by radical activists. These then guide examination of three case studies of corporate crises created by Greenpeace targeting Shell (pre-digital crisis), Nestle and Procter & Gamble (digital age crises). The thesis contributes insights into radical activists' campaigns in the digital age and shows a new campaign process. The thesis finds that citizens' participation in radical activists' campaigns has evolved and advances a new term, slacktivist salience, to reflect how they take part and their influence in these campaigns. The thesis contributes to work examining corporate responses to these types of crises and empirically shows how corporations are recalibrating their responses to take into account the communications challenges precipitated by the digital age. The thesis supports predictions that offline media would come to regard these types of crises as not newsworthy, and shows that they regard them as less newsworthy than before the emergence of the internet and social media.

Narcissists, characterised by an excessive need for admiration, are among the most prolific users of social media as it may aid narcissists reach their goals of being admired by many people, without needing to build intimacy. Adapted from the Michelangelo phenomenon, this thesis proposes to test the Facebook affirmation model in Thailand. The model asserts that individuals, particularly those with high levels of narcissism, can benefit from using Facebook to receive affirmation of the ideal self and move closer to their ideal selves. Given that the benefits of Facebook for narcissists may depend on their cultural background, a cross-cultural correlational study was conducted in Study 1. A comparison between Thai and British Facebook users found basic support for the model and showed a similar pattern of the Facebook affirmation model across cultures. The application of cognitive and behavioural strategies was further investigated in Study 2 using an experimental design. The findings suggest that Facebook offers benefits for communal narcissists under specific circumstances, such as when they engage in other-oriented behaviours. The mechanisms underlying the Facebook affirmation process was also examined in Study 3. Results provide evidence that self-esteem influences the way in which communal narcissists experience Facebook affirmation. Lastly, the association between selfie-posting behaviour and affirmation of the ideal self was explored to test whether affirmation of the ideal self can occur under specific activities on other social media platforms. Results demonstrate that selfie-posting on Instagram helps agentic narcissists experience affirmation of the ideal self. In general, findings provide new evidence that social media facilitates agentic and communal narcissists to feel their best and move towards their ideal self, particularly when cognitive and behavioural strategies used on social media match their orientation towards goals.

This research examines issues raised by social media's depiction, over recent years, as source of civic empowerment and radical socio-political change. The intensely publicized role of social networking sites at the onset of the 2011 Arab uprisings has served to support at times overly linear perspectives on the relationship between new media technologies and socio-political change. Debates in the field have been limited by an over-emphasis on strategic and instrumental use of social media by political and cyber-activists to achieve pre-determined political outcomes. Less is currently known about the perspectives, experiences and motivations of more ordinary users as they learn to navigate politicised online spaces and to participate in the production, mediation and dissemination of content on social media. This research revisits Tunisia, the country where the Arab uprisings first started, to provide an inter-disciplinary exploration and contextualization of these questions, and of how everyday social media practices may relate to users' knowledge of, engagement with, and participation in a shared public and political world. The study focuses on developments in the country between January 2011 and December 2013, with specific focus on the social networking site Facebook, as it dominates social media use in Tunisia during this transitional period. By juxtaposing qualitative analysis, quantitative elements, and a chronological dimension, research findings highlight the complexity of social media's rapidly evolving role, from perceived source of civic empowerment, to contributor to social tensions and political polarization in the country. The research argues that the communicative conditions provided by social media, in this context, facilitates civic encounters and political communication, but equally that, by making individual and collective socio-political identities and positions more publicly visible and fixed, social media use also reinforces differences and undermines sociality, engendering complex negotiation processes and adaptive participative practices over time.

This research study traces the ‘remediation’ (Bolter and Grusin, 2000) of a ‘digital’ display, the McCord Museum’s MTL Urban Museum App, exploring the role of digital media technologies, among other heterogeneous actors, in ‘reconfiguring’ (Suchman, 2007) subjects, objects, practices and spaces while inspecting the socio- cultural politics of these processes. Drawing on a theoretical framework that brings together new media studies, actor-network theory, feminist writing in science and technology studies, the sociology of art and spatial studies, this thesis traces how the App was remediated and examines how it is used in practice. The study first investigates how the App was (re)made by looking at the actors involved. The thesis unveils emerging relations between the Museum and commercial organisations, technology platforms, infrastructures, collections and visitors; and the competing social, cultural, economic and political interests among these heterogeneous actors shows a changing set of negotiations in the Museum’s display practices. Next the study examines how the App is used in two novel practices: viewing collections in ‘augmented reality’ and managing the App’s display using Google Analytics. In examining how the App is used in practice, the thesis also reveals the App’s role, among other (unexpected) actors, in precariously rescripting and/or reclassifying objects, subjects and practices, as well as reordering and rewriting urban spaces. By exploring the role of the App along with these other actors in such practices and processes the thesis also looks to contribute to particular debates on agency.

The delivery of fiction across multiple platforms is becoming an increasingly important component of the contemporary media landscape. Transmedia storytelling is no longer a mere buzzword. Content creators, seeking to expand the lifespan of their IP’s and their revenues, are looking for ways to exploit the migratory consumption patterns of today’s media users. However, to date, storytellers have been unable to fully exploit the possibilities transmedia provides. This practice-led PhD was inspired by the necessity to understand transmedia at a stage when a new grammatical language for creators is needed, as well as updated business models. Rather than examining transmedia from an exclusively theoretical standpoint, this work uses The Tower of Fables, a project created to re-launch fairytales to the hyperlinked kids of today, as a case study. Using research and subsequent assessments, this work aims to shed light on the current situation in Europe, examining the forces at play that influence the way practitioners conceive and design a fictional world meant to unfold across distinct media. Media production is always subject to external pressures, influences and constraints. This practice-led PhD offers a breakdown of the actual development phase of my native transmedia project. Every choice is backed up by a series of theories in the hope that these practical guideposts can be used by others. The finished work was then taken to the market with the intention of investigating the aesthetic and industrial implications on the creative and financing process, and ultimately to evaluate how they affect the final product. From this it was concluded that media convergence does not necessarily lead to industry convergence. This thesis formulates a case for the urgent need of the creation of formats to facilitate dialogue between creators and investors.