In recent years there has been an increase in the number of vegans in the world. The main goal of my research is to understand the vegan struggles in their daily life and study how Facebook might help them solve these difficulties. This master's thesis focuses on the user perspective and how they perceive barriers to follow a vegetarian lifestyle in Spain. The research questions are about finding those barriers and knowing how they could be solved by using Facebook groups. For this purpose, an ethnographic approach has been used. The target group of this study are vegans who have gone through the time of change and may have had some problems in making that decision. Fifteen vegans have been interviewed to find challenges that have arisen when they have changed their lifestyles. After that, an online ethnography study has been performed by observing the content of a Facebook group, called "Vegetarianos y Veganos – España", focusing on publications where group members were asking for advice, information or solutions. The results indicate that the investigated group of Facebook is essential for the exchange of information, knowledge and experience. The members also contribute to increased knowledge through publications and comments. But most importantly, the members receive solutions to the problems they share with the group.

This thesis explores both what feminism looks like in a digital age, as well as how the Internet and technology inform the ways in which feminists interact, build communities, and form identities. I found that online feminist spaces are built as communities of validation and support, education and empowerment, as well as spaces of radicalization and contention. Ultimately my thesis leads toward a new understanding of feminist activism that incorporates the unique characteristics and abilities of online feminism.

This research examines the disclosure of psychological distress by university students on an anonymous mobile application called Yik Yak which allows users to communicate anonymously with other local individuals, creating virtual communities. Using online ethnography and qualitative analysis, I examine what the narratives presented by Yik Yak users reveals about the mental health concerns of University of Manitoba students and the characteristics of this virtual community. The findings show that exam anxiety and academic stress, depression, suicidality, anxiety, sleep disturbance, excessive stress, loneliness, sadness, and loss of motivation, were significant sources of distress, especially during final exam periods. Thematic analysis indicated that emotion-sharing on the app fosters social support, a sense of belonging, and helps build community. Individuals are also able to disclose repressed selves and counter stigmatizing beliefs. Examining distress disclosure by individuals on this anonymous platform may help develop better interventions and mental health programming for students. / October 2016

This thesis uses ethnographic research into online media fandom, focusing on self-reflexive analytical documents that fans call meta, to investigate longstanding questions about the nature of virtual community. It argues that virtual documents should be seen as complete and complex interactions in their original form and as social contexts in their own right, and presents a new approach to ethnographic methodology and ethics suited to working in this context. Fans have incorporated various technologies into the infrastructure that constitutes their community, and these have had various effects on the structure and substance of fannish documents and interactions – and on the character of the community as a whole. The stability and visibility of the digital archive is an important feature of virtual community – one that makes fandom more visible, accessible, and historically grounded for both old and new members. This research also deals with conflict, not as a necessarily divisive force but as a natural and important part of how communities evolve and how members negotiate and articulate what their community should be. It discusses fanfiction as a controversial and sometimes problematic genre, and considers trigger warnings as the solution fans have developed to protect vulnerable members of their community from potentially harmful content (such as rape). It also examines conflict with outside authorities, like creators and the administrators who control the virtual spaces that fans inhabit. These conflicts illuminate creativity and feminism as fannish values, presenting fandom as a community that embraces sex-positive female sexuality. More importantly, they suggest that the creation and maintenance of a ‘safe space’ where all members feel respected and comfortable is a key feature of online community. In addition, fannish storytelling (particularly the creation of what fans call fanon) is part of the production of local knowledge, of boundary mechanisms that mark and separate members of the community from outsiders. These stories as part of the process by which fans position themselves within the broader community – and in so doing, locate themselves within smaller cohorts of fans who affirm and support aspects of their personal experiences and marginalised identities (e.g. as women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, or people of colour) through the reorientation and appropriation of story.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Pereira Ferraz.pdf: 4269655 bytes, checksum: 902ec29554d10a061cbfc08beae1c3d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-06 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This dissertation is an ethnographic methodological study on feminine and feminist communities of Facebook based on recent studies for data collection and analysis at the virtual context. From the phenomenon of the explosion of technology in social media, I mapped a female category in the social network, that I have termed as "Ciberfeminine . Such terminology, this is a representation of the patriarchal and media features in the femininity digital culture. This analyse used like resource, those online personal profiles (among girls, women and ladies) used to circumvent the ciberfeminino was done, from the practice of hidden observation of personal pages and monitoring of selected communities. The reflex of female at the social network is analysed in this dissertation, from the portraits and self-portraits are "posted", which reproduce a virtual actresses acting in Ciberfeminine at the social network, as Cyborgs Coquettish . Like this, I showed the similarities of the profile characteristics of female culture presented, immersed in Simmelian reference, where the explicit sensuality in the poses, in the looks and in the smiles, surround a segment of female culture called "coquetry." They use the instrumentalized technology to reproduce and disseminate the female image based on sexualized "beauty", working in this way, the social / virtual self-marketing. On the other hand, in the same sphere of social / virtual relationships, the traditional condition persists massacring the woman's sexuality release. As a counterpoint, I presented the recent developments of causes, on which feminists communities in Facebook have raised and have challenged. In this context, the work approaches the female class split into social niches, propagators of coercive values, scaling for online life the ideal of Foulcault panopticon. Thus, I demonstrated that social pressures for visibility may stigmatize or disciplinary female categories, from aesthetic values of image and/or from traditional moral to feminine principles, reflecting the maximum of quantitative signs in Brazilian feminine exposed on Facebook / A presente dissertação é um estudo etnográfico em comunidades femininas e feministas do Facebook baseado nos recentes estudos metodológicos para coleta e análises de dados no contexto virtual. Pelo fenômeno da explosão das tecnologias em mídias sociais, mapeei uma categoria feminina na rede social e a denominei de Ciberfeminino . Tal terminologia, se faz aqui representativa dos traços patriarcais e midiáticos, típicos da mercado na cultura da feminilidade digital. A análise dos perfis pessoais online (entre meninas, mulheres e senhoras) utilizada para contornar o ciberfeminino foi desempenhada, a partir da prática da observação oculta de paginas pessoais e do monitoramento das comunidades selecionadas. O reflexo do feminino na rede social é analisado, por esta dissertação pelos retratos e autorretratos, postados , os quais reproduzem a feminilidade ditada pelos valores tradicionais e midiáticos. Então denominei estas atrizes sociais/virtuais que atuam no Ciberfeminino da rede social, como Ciborgues Coquetes. Assim, demonstrei as semelhanças das características do perfil da cultura feminina apresentada, imersas na referência simmeliana, onde a sensualidade explícita nas poses, nos olhares e nos sorrisos, contornam um segmento da cultura feminina chamado de coquetismo . Estas utilizam a tecnologia instrumentalizada para reproduzir e disseminar a imagem feminina baseada na beleza sexualizada trabalhando desse modo, o seu auto-marketing social/virtual. Por outro lado, na mesma esfera das relações sociais/virtuais está a condição tradicional que persiste em massacrar a identidade libertadora da sexualidade da mulher. E como contraponto, apresentei os recentes desdobramentos das causas, as quais as comunidades feministas do Facebook levantam e contestam. Sob este contexto, o trabalho abordou a classe feminina desmembrada em nichos sociais com valores coercitivos, redimensionando para a vida online o ideal foulcaultiano de panóptico. Desse modo, demostrei que as pressões sociais pela visibilidade podem estigmatizar ou disciplinar as categorias femininas, aos princípios puramente estéticos da imagem e/ou moralmente tradicionais como signos máximos do feminino brasileiro no Facebook

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Pereira Ferraz.pdf: 4269655 bytes, checksum: 902ec29554d10a061cbfc08beae1c3d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-06 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This dissertation is an ethnographic methodological study on feminine and feminist communities of Facebook based on recent studies for data collection and analysis at the virtual context. From the phenomenon of the explosion of technology in social media, I mapped a female category in the social network, that I have termed as "Ciberfeminine . Such terminology, this is a representation of the patriarchal and media features in the femininity digital culture. This analyse used like resource, those online personal profiles (among girls, women and ladies) used to circumvent the ciberfeminino was done, from the practice of hidden observation of personal pages and monitoring of selected communities. The reflex of female at the social network is analysed in this dissertation, from the portraits and self-portraits are "posted", which reproduce a virtual actresses acting in Ciberfeminine at the social network, as Cyborgs Coquettish . Like this, I showed the similarities of the profile characteristics of female culture presented, immersed in Simmelian reference, where the explicit sensuality in the poses, in the looks and in the smiles, surround a segment of female culture called "coquetry." They use the instrumentalized technology to reproduce and disseminate the female image based on sexualized "beauty", working in this way, the social / virtual self-marketing. On the other hand, in the same sphere of social / virtual relationships, the traditional condition persists massacring the woman's sexuality release. As a counterpoint, I presented the recent developments of causes, on which feminists communities in Facebook have raised and have challenged. In this context, the work approaches the female class split into social niches, propagators of coercive values, scaling for online life the ideal of Foulcault panopticon. Thus, I demonstrated that social pressures for visibility may stigmatize or disciplinary female categories, from aesthetic values of image and/or from traditional moral to feminine principles, reflecting the maximum of quantitative signs in Brazilian feminine exposed on Facebook / A presente dissertação é um estudo etnográfico em comunidades femininas e feministas do Facebook baseado nos recentes estudos metodológicos para coleta e análises de dados no contexto virtual. Pelo fenômeno da explosão das tecnologias em mídias sociais, mapeei uma categoria feminina na rede social e a denominei de Ciberfeminino . Tal terminologia, se faz aqui representativa dos traços patriarcais e midiáticos, típicos da mercado na cultura da feminilidade digital. A análise dos perfis pessoais online (entre meninas, mulheres e senhoras) utilizada para contornar o ciberfeminino foi desempenhada, a partir da prática da observação oculta de paginas pessoais e do monitoramento das comunidades selecionadas. O reflexo do feminino na rede social é analisado, por esta dissertação pelos retratos e autorretratos, postados , os quais reproduzem a feminilidade ditada pelos valores tradicionais e midiáticos. Então denominei estas atrizes sociais/virtuais que atuam no Ciberfeminino da rede social, como Ciborgues Coquetes. Assim, demonstrei as semelhanças das características do perfil da cultura feminina apresentada, imersas na referência simmeliana, onde a sensualidade explícita nas poses, nos olhares e nos sorrisos, contornam um segmento da cultura feminina chamado de coquetismo . Estas utilizam a tecnologia instrumentalizada para reproduzir e disseminar a imagem feminina baseada na beleza sexualizada trabalhando desse modo, o seu auto-marketing social/virtual. Por outro lado, na mesma esfera das relações sociais/virtuais está a condição tradicional que persiste em massacrar a identidade libertadora da sexualidade da mulher. E como contraponto, apresentei os recentes desdobramentos das causas, as quais as comunidades feministas do Facebook levantam e contestam. Sob este contexto, o trabalho abordou a classe feminina desmembrada em nichos sociais com valores coercitivos, redimensionando para a vida online o ideal foulcaultiano de panóptico. Desse modo, demostrei que as pressões sociais pela visibilidade podem estigmatizar ou disciplinar as categorias femininas, aos princípios puramente estéticos da imagem e/ou moralmente tradicionais como signos máximos do feminino brasileiro no Facebook

Even with its opposition to “fast” and “globalization,” the Slow Food movement has embraced new media and speed to disseminate information to a worldwide audience. The organization’s use of new and social media is the focus of this ethnographic study to examine the online discourse of the movement through the theoretical lens of international political economy of media and globalization theory. Online interviews via social media and supplemental textual analysis of Slow Food-related online discourse reveals themes concerning time, education and community and shows that participation in the dialogic discussion surrounding Slow Food online varies widely across groups and new media platforms.

This document contains a creative work – the text of a young adult novel, The girl and the sea – and an exegesis examining the MySpace Generation through the methodological prisms of online ethnography and literature review.

Nature still plays a prominent role in shaping social expectations about the tasks of parents, especially mothers. The transition from the previous model of mothering and the contemporary one in Italy is definitely characterized by a revival of what is perceived as the ancient way of childrearing. At the same time, nature is also used to establish ideas about women and motherhood that are socially constructed. The gender inequality that characterizes maternity is somehow justified as part of an inevitable process where it is only or mainly the mother who has to stay home and provide care for children. The belief is well-established in Italian society and many women embrace it without any questioning. This research seeks to understand the appeal that the concept of the natural mother exercises today on many women. Empirically, the focus is on the Italian context. Departing from questions coming from the personal experience of motherhood, the author carried out an investigation of a Facebook group that provides support and information about a natural approach to motherhood. Ecofeminist and intersectional theory have been used in order to address the thorny relationship between women and nature. With the aid of discourse analysis and online ethnography methods, the author tried to disclose contemporary use of nature in the cultural representation of maternity. The study reveals the role that breastfeeding plays in present-day Italy in modeling a natural approach to motherhood. More precisely, breastfeeding is the core for understanding the idea of the natural mother. The significance of the research is that it highlights how breastfeeding raises the contradiction of the natural motherhood approach: on the one hand, it claims a stronger voice for women’s needs and expectations of their pregnancy and maternity experiences; on the other, it supports a conservative rhetoric about gender roles.

How we imagine and the potency of alternative imaginings to socio-political concerns are vital questions for social science, and worldbuilding is a particular and understudied method of doing so. It is the creative making of fictional, imaginative worlds, offering a potential alternative method to imagine otherwise. This paper ethnographically explicates this craft through detailing how creators, known as worldbuilders, make their worlds, demonstrating how it is generative and impactful for them emotionally, intellectually, and politically. It is based of three months of online ethnographic/netnographic fieldwork across the multiple online ‘sites’ worldbuilders are active, particularly a forum and chatroom, as well as digital interviews with sixteen individual worldbuilders. I argue that worldbuilding is a process of toying with ontologies, which I call ontogenous play. I explain this through detailing what is dubbed making the imaginary – the worldbuilding process – going through the particulars of the process and the experiences of interlocutors, demonstrating how one achieves situated transcendence through it, and the generativity of that. In light of these observations, I also argue that worldbuilding is an art, attending to the ramifications of that designation. I draw upon anthropological understandings of making, processes, liminality, and ontologies to advance the argument, as well as the emergent scholarship on worldbuilding from ‘sub-creation studies’, and the erudite hypotheses of my interlocutors.