This study researches communication 2020-2021 via the Tinder dating app in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a framework of mediatization, uses and gratification theory and affordance theory. Data collection was performed using qualitative interviews via Zoom video calls with respondents based in Sweden and findings were analyzed using thematic analysis.  Results of the study discusses phenomena when the physical world and a mediatized one interlock: even though the Tinder app afforded people to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worlds are not independent of each other. Uncertainty and stress could seep into the dating app practice and create a hindrance to easy communication, even though the Tinder app was trying to accommodate the changing times. The study explores that the dehumanizing aspect of reducing a person to a single attribute and deleting that person is connected to a heightened affordance of gamification of relationships that is connected to deep mediatization, moments of our everyday practices immersed in new kinds of mediated communication. Steered behaviour from the app occurs in the Tinder interface which this paper explores, connected to data-driven decision making, a critical tool allowing mobile app developers to not only figure out customer behaviour but also to design customised products. Connected here is the mediatized interplay between humans and technology. If the Tinder app was hard to set up or navigate, the different needs and gratifications would not be met and users would simply vanish.  This paper argues the Tinder app design encourages speed and has coded distractions to actually work against the perceived gratification of meeting a partner and ultimately rendering the service redundant. The COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis explores, has spurred different generations to adapt to new practices and technologies but that these affordances do not always correlate to new dating app practices such as video dating. A mediatized way of meeting physically has been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional step has been added to online dating practices, the walk, which has 2 lowered the threshold of the initial date by being perceived as an easier option. A direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic connected to online dating. This paper also argues intimacy through media sharing, such as humour and jokes via technology in a mediatized world. Lastly, this paper explores the safety aspects of the Tinder app, connected to catfishing and also gender blindness.

Syftet med min studie är att undersöka vilka möjligheter och utmaningar skogen har som lekmiljö i förskolans verksamhet med ett fokus på vilken potential skogen har för barn med neuropsykiatriska funktionsvariationer (NPF). Studien är gjord utifrån telefonintervjuer med förskolpedagoger. Resultat visar på att skogen har en stor potential för barn med NPF men att det krävs rätt förutsättningar som goda relationer till barnen, kompetens och personalstyrka för att kunna ta vara på skogen som lekmiljö i förskolans verksamhet. Resultat ger även en inblick i det komplexa arbetet att vara pedagog där en del är att ständigt vara problemlösaren. Studiens resultat visar däremot att kunskaper om skogen generellt inte behövs då att vara i natur ger en kroppslig närvaro och ett mer naturligt utforskande hos barnen och pedagogerna. / The purpose of my study is to explore what opportunities and challenges the forest has as a play environment in preschool, with a focus on what potential the forest has for  children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The study is based on telephone interviews with preschool educators. In the result it shows that the forest has great potential for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. But that the right conditions are required, such as good relations with the children, competence and enough staff to be able to take advantage of the forest as a play environment in the preschool. The results also provide an insight into the complex work of being an educator, where parts of it is constantly being the problem solver. The results of the study, on the other hand, show that knowledge about forest is generally not needed because of being in nature provides a physical presence and a more natural way to explore for both the children and educators.

Background and objectives: Whilst Active and Receptive Music Therapy techniques have been widely researched and are employed within a range of contexts and with diverse client populations, this study reports on their specific qualitative musical and verbal affordances in major depressive disorder and schizophrenia-spectrum psychotic disorders. The study also describes and compares the respective and joint contributions of the music therapy techniques in giving rise to the affordances as well as reporting on the similarities and differences within and between diagnostic groups. This is the first study of its kind within the South African context. Methods: A qualitative research approach using a case study design, sampled purposefully twenty patients of the above mentioned diagnostic groups for participation in this study comprising a course of eight twice weekly music therapy sessions. The primary data sources were transcribed video recordings of therapy sessions and an individual in-depth semi-structured interview after the course of therapy. Clinical session notes served as a corroborative data source. In-depth content and thematic analysis explored and compared qualitative affordances during music therapy comprising active and Receptive Music Therapy techniques. The qualitative affordances under investigation were i) musical qualities, and ii) verbal expressions. Emerging from these affordances were the respective and combined affordances of the music therapy techniques as well as the similarities and differences between the diagnostic groups. Findings: Thirteen themes emerged from the analysis of clients' verbatim verbal responses to both active music making and Receptive Music Therapy techniques. These themes are: i) not to feel; ii) to do or not to do; iii) grappling with the desired future; iv) hurt and fear of undesirable outcomes; v) sadness, brokenness and futility; vi) anger, trust and vulnerability; vii) desire for connection with and affection of others; viii) barricaded from being present, now; ix) tensing and un-tensing; x) personal relating to one’s musical expression; xi) reflections on the music and music making in therapy; xii) resilience and courage and xiii) invigoration and liberation. The Active Music Therapy techniques comprising clinical improvisation, structured musical exercises, drumming, vocal work, songwriting and movement, gave rise to ten themes expressing the musical affordances. The themes that emerged were i) reciprocal responding; ii) the explicit use of symbols through music; iii) regularity; iv) disturbance and difficulty; v) turning points; vi) energy bursting or lacking; vii) bodily synchrony; viii) intensified emotional expression; ix) exploring new territory and Active Music Therapy techniques comprising clinical improvisation, structured musical exercises, drumming, vocal work, songwriting and movement, gave rise to ten themes expressing the musical affordances. The themes that emerged were i) reciprocal responding; ii) the explicit use of symbols through music; iii) regularity; iv) disturbance and difficulty; v) turning points; vi) energy bursting or lacking; vii) bodily synchrony; viii) intensified emotional expression; ix) exploring new territory and x) resolution and arrival. The emerging themes express the extent of musical and verbal expression of all clients representing both diagnostic groups. Most saliently among clients with depression the affordances were the themes on accessing creativity, accessing and articulating internal feelings, experiencing resilient parts of self, reflecting on and integrating symbolic material, motivation to act and extending musical and verbal expression during social interaction. Among clients suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorder, the most striking affordances were experiences of regularity and flow within disorganization, orientation to ‘here and now’ experiences through active music making and working with symbolic material expressed on a continuum of concrete to abstract. Clients from both diagnostic groups experienced a reduction in unwanted symptoms as expressed through increased energy levels, experiences of pleasure in music making and spontaneous musical and verbal self-expression. Conclusion: This study revealed qualitative affordances of specific music therapy techniques expressed through verbal content and musical qualities. These showed responses within a therapeutic relationship that express inter- and intra-personal connection, give voice to what is not always verbally accessible and facilitate multi-sensory, creative experiences, increased motivation, emotional expression, and the reclamation of energy, spontaneity and resilience. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychiatry / PhD / Unrestricted

Urban segregation is considered a major social problem in Sweden and several national anti-segregation initiatives have been launched to decrease social and ethnic segregation but so far only with marginal effects (SOU 2005:29). Urban design and town planning are rarely the focus in national anti-segregation initiatives; the architectural issue has mainly been confined to matters concerning housing policies. This thesis argues that the strong focus on residential segregation in prevailing research on urban segregation is unfortunate and skewed, confusing issues related to urban design.This licentiate thesis explores urban segregation in relation to urban form because physical separation between people or between activities has an obvious direct relationship to how cities are shaped and structured by built form. Urban public space is often neglected in discussions on segregation and this thesis suggests that its role has been underrated. If it can be shown that segregation in public space influences such aspects of life as accessibility to other people and amenities, movement flows, co-presence in public space, and movement patterns, then it can be established that urban public space – as it is structured and shaped by built form – very directly influences people’s everyday lives. The thesis explores how urban segregation can be conceptualized, analysed, and described in a way that increases knowledge and under­standing regarding the role of urban form. Using a configurational morphological approach, this study shifts the focus by bringing attention to spatial relations within the city through public space, i.e., from spatial location to spatial relations. Hence, analysis focuses on distributions of space and through space rather than distributions in space. The result shows that configurational theories, methods, and tools contribute to more nuanced descriptions of spatial relations on both a local and a comprehensive level and analysis has the ability to shed light on essential differences in neighbourhoods and in the city as a whole. Using Södertälje as a case study, this thesis found a pronounced ruptured interface between the global and the local structure that clearly speaks of segregation in public space; this finding suggests that whether the neighbourhoods are residentially segregated or not, public space in most areas already is segregated. Results show that the built environment has a significant influence: urban space can both reinforce and mitigate certain social outcomes. This thesis identifies various negative social consequences of the hierarchical and segregated spatial structure found in Södertälje. Although it is not possible to say that integration processes are hindered by urban form, it is possible to conclude that spatial properties may both create and reproduce segregation patterns.Segregation in public space is found to be a far more urgent issue in the context of urban segregation than earlier recognised, and the result shows that urban form has a distinguishable influence on people’s everyday lives. This understanding opens for the possibility to address urban segregation from an urban design perspective, contributing to a significant discussion of space and society as well as issues related to urban sustainability. The findings of this study widen the possibility for urban design practice to be an important tool within anti-segregation initiatives in the future, a tool that in Sweden is used only to a very limited extent. / <p>QC 20101109</p>

Through discontinuous growth and its use in multiple sectors the podcasting established itself as a medium to be reckoned with in the future. Recently, the mainstream scene of French podcasting has seen, among its usual professionally produced shows, the presence of a few podcasts involving a clear and subjective message of activism. These manifestations, although a minority in the head of the charts, are only the visible part of a phenomenon made possible by the “long-tail” dimension of this medium. Indeed, although overwhelmed by the multitude of shows forming this tail, various activist circles have been able to take advantage of the myriad of useful qualities that this medium affords by creating their own programs. With the aim of grasping the interest shown by French activists in podcasting, this thesis was supported by the interviews of two French citizens working for progress through podcasting. The findings of these discussions were backed by active listening to the episodes produced and hosted by these participants and by three auto-ethnographic vignettes tracing the various stages of the creation of a podcasting show by the author of this work. The analysis of these results has been treated under the lenses of adequate theories to demonstrate that activists have a practical relationship with podcasting allowing them to reach their community active offline through participatory and independent episodes

With the growing interest in digital ways to experience art exhibitions, HCI and especially experience-centred design research have in recent years begun to show promising results when implementing holograms into the social dynamics found in art exhibitions. However, as to why holograms can enhance engagement and immersion, more research can be done. This thesis seeks to explore holograms' unique characteristics through an iterative experience-centred approach through the theoretical lens of Flow and its ability to prompt for co-experience. In two studies with eight participants, a design workshop and a mini-exhibition, we uncovered four unique characteristics and two takeaways regarding its potential to design for co-experience. The results indicated that holograms were perceived as immersive and presented properties related not only to the hologram but also the environment, as to why. It was concluded that even though holograms can benefit art exhibitions, the social aspects could be explored further.

Children today have difficulty in finding places to play in the modern Swedish welfare society. Spontaneous play in the streets has almost vanished. When parents drive their children to different activities and institutions where the children are supervised and controlled by adults, the children are under constant surveillance. It’s not children or children’s desire to play that has changed, it is society. Despite this surveillance children still manage to create their own places. The aim of this study is to investigate when children create their own places in the preschool in a structured surveillance society as well as to find out what kind of materials they need to create such places. To be able to find out the answers to these questions I performed a mini ethnographic study in a preschool where I observed children. I followed the ethics rules of the Swedish research council. Ideas and concepts that I used were places for children – children’s places, breaking rules as a way to enter play, affordance as well as the theory of prospect refuge. Through these it was possible for me to identify and analyze when children were creating their own places as well as what materials that they used. The results show that children are capable of creating their own places, despite being under constant surveillance in the preschool. They managed to do so both indoors and outdoors. They both created their own places as well as used “places for children” as their own. By creating children’s places of their own, they get to break rules and use creativity as well as learn with their whole bodies, which benefits both their experience of joy as well as their learning.

ABSTRACTObjectification of especially women have often been mentioned in connection to discussions concerning negative body image wherein individuals have been claimed to evaluate their body and look based on standardized societal ideals (Nash:2015, Hodgkinson, Wittkowski & Smith:2014). Studies have also shown that newspapers, magazines, and movies routinely present post-pregnancy bodies as something temporarily that women should strive to improve (Breda et al.:2015, Roth et al.:2012, Williams et al.:2017). Although, it has been stated that social media can work as a supportive and inspirational tool for this specific group of women (Baker & Yang:2017, Jarvis:2017) as well as platform of expression where users can shape and spread their own beauty standards (Cwynar-Horton:2016a, Guha:2014, Earl & Rohlinger:2018). Women’s thoughts of their post-pregnancy bodies in connection to the motivations behind their bodily exposure on social media platforms have not yet been examined, even though it has been claimed that this group is particularly vulnerable to body image concerns due to social media representations (Coyne et al.:2017). As a contribution to the field of post-pregnant body advocates affordances of Instagram, this paper has focused on Swedish post-pregnant women that have posted images of their bodies under the hashtags #mammamage (mum tummy) and/or #mammakropp (mum body). By applying affordance theory’s suggestion that environments afford different affordances for individuals, this paper has asked 94 post-pregnant women how they feel about their bodies and what they think of societal body ideals, as well as examined their motivations behind their use of Instagram with the aim to identify prominent emotional affordances. Here, objectification theory, comparison theory, postmodern feminism, and feminist reflexivity were used as supporting theories in the analysis of the data which was conducted through a mixed methods survey.The main findings have been that Instagram is seen as a platform that enables its users to experience emotional affordances of 1) criticism and comparisons, 2) inspiration and support and 3) acceptance, where post-pregnant body advocates are using the affordances primarily to visualize average post-pregnancy bodies, challenge standardized body ideals and get inspired or inspire other women into re-thinking the notion(s) of their post-pregnancy bodies. What this paper further has contributed with is a greater understanding of post-pregnant body advocates experiences of their own bodies, a broader perspective on post-pregnant body advocates thoughts of societal ideals, a more profound comprehension behind post-pregnant body advocates motivation(s) behind their use of Instagram, and new knowledge to the field of emotional affordances among Instagram users.Keywords: post-pregnant women, body advocates, Instagram, affordances, affordance theory, emotional affordances, objectification theory, feminist reflexivity, comparison theory, postmodern feminism, survey, mixed method

In the traditional agenda-setting theory, the agenda-setters were the news media and the public has a minimal role in the process of agenda-setting, which makes the public a passive receiver located at the bottom in the top-down agenda-setting dynamics. This study claims that with the development of Information communication technologies, primarily social media, the networked public may be able to set their own agendas through connective actions, outside the influence of the news media agenda. There is little empirical research focused on development and dynamics of public agenda-setting through social media platforms. Understanding the development and dynamics of public agenda-setting may be key to accounting for and overcoming conflicting findings in previous reverse agenda-setting research. This study examined the public agenda-setting dynamics through a case of gun violence prevention activism Twitter network, the #MarchForOurLives Twitter network. This study determined that the agenda setters of the #MarchForOurLives Twitter network are the key Never Again MSD student leaders and the March For Our Lives. The weekly reflected important events and issues and the identified topics were highly co-related with the themes examined in the tweets created by the agenda setters. The amplifiers comprised the vast majority of the tweets. The advocates and the supporters consisted of 0.44% and 4.43% respectively. The tweets made by the agenda setters accounted for 0.03%. The young activists and the like-minded and participatory public could continuously make changes taking advantage of technologies, and they could be the hope in the current and future society.

This thesis intends to explore whether endurantism is compatible with realism. This is done by presenting an alternative approach, where instead of starting with Quine’s postulate, that being and existence are the same thing, those are treated as different things. By using minimal realism, where you only say that something exists independently of a creature, and an ontological theory based on affordances, a thesis that endurantism is compatible with realism is presented. Affordance ontology means that what something is depends on what actions it can offer a certain human. Objections that this might lead to relativism are answered, as actions are independent of a specific creature. Objections that minimal realism isn’t realism are answered on the grounds of it being independent of a human, and thus is realism. Finally, the thesis is concluded to be true, but more work is needed to explain temporal facts. / Uppsatsen syftar till att utforska om endurantism är förenlig med realism. Detta görs genom att presentera en alternativ ansats, där man istället för att utgå från Quines postulat att vara och att existera är samma sak, särskiljer dessa. Med hjälp av minimal realism, där man bara konstaterar att något existerar oberoende av en varelse, och en ontologisk teori byggd på affordanser, så presenteras tesen att endurantism är förenlig med realism. Affordansontologi innebär att vad något är är beroende av vilka handlingar det kan erbjuda en viss människa. Invändningar som att det skulle leda till relativism bemöts, då handlingar är oberoende av en specifik människa, och att minimal realism är så intetsägande att det inte rör sig om realism, bemöts med argumentet att det är oberoende av en människa, och därmed är det faktiskt realism. Slutligen konstateras att tesen är sann, men att mer arbete behövs gällande tid och affordansontologi, för att förklara tidsatta fakta.