Special Issue "Social Networks and Citizenship: Towards a Cyber-Connected and Empowered World"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ignacio Aguaded
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Education, Universidad de Huelva, Avenida de la Fuerzas Armadas, S/N, 21007 Huelva, Spain, España
Interests: educommunication; digital competence; media competence; social networks; YouTubers; Instagrammers
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. M. Amor Pérez-Rodríguez
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Philology, Universidad de Huelva, Avenida de las Fuerzas Armadas, S/N, 21007 Huelva, Spain, España
Interests: media literacy; educommunication; media competence; digital narrative; language teaching methods; language and literature teacher training
Ms. Arantxa Vizcaíno-Verdú
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pedagogy, Universidad de Huelva, Avenida de las Fuerzas Armadas, S/N, 21007 Huelva, Spain, España
Interests: transmedia literacy; transmedia storytelling; participatory culture; YouTubers; fandom; informal learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The spread of media ecology and the participatory culture has increased over the last several years. The world health crisis in which all global citizens have been involved presents a new post-confinement scenario that requires new perspectives for cyber-connection and the user empowerment. Thus, the digital environment and, specifically, social media provide the new basis for bringing citizens closer to a continuous, ubiquitous, and international network connection—a context where data and 5G technologies take on significant meaning, modifying pre-existing communication codes.

In their infinite possibilities, digital and social platforms introduce new ways to relate, be informed, contribute in community, create and share content, learn intellectually, etc. Thus, digital immersion requires citizens who are empowered and competent with the media, taking into account active participation across borders and civic commitment (Catalina-García, García-Jiménez, & Menor-Sendra, 2019). In this sense, social media have become a priority medium for the Internet which has quickly come to play a leading role in the spaces of communication, socialization, consumption, and participatory learning (Redon-Pantoja, 2019).

Since these platforms tend to transform the ways in which users are interconnected by considering our structures, formats, and contents that generate a unique and innovative citizen engagement, a new horizon for the understanding of human relations is proposed, from how interpersonal skills are exercised on the Net, to how prosocial behaviors are developed in each of the collectives and online communities (García-Galera, Fernández-Muñoz, & Porto-Pedrosa, 2017). Therefore, in an asynchronous way, the current cyberconnected society is in a flow of data exchange transformed into photography, video, text, themes, and trends—stories and narratives that both individually and collectively generate different currents such as clicktivism or the digital leisure (hanging out) (Buckingham, 2008; Amante & Amante-Mendes, 2017; Cornelissen, Karelaia, & Soyer, 2013).

However, despite the fact that the Net has become the new Agora of the 21st century, the mere use of the Internet does not imply associations that guarantee success. Media literacy actions must be carried out on the new Web environments and platforms, where minimum basic skills are considered in order to face increasingly latent phenomena: fake news, infoxication, grooming, sexting, sharenting, influencers, and cyberbullying, among others (Orso, Federici, Copetti, Vetrugno, & Bove, 2020; Wood & Wheatcroft, 2020; Van-Ouytsel et al., 2020; Kopecky, Szotkowski, Aznar-Díaz, & Romero-Rodríguez, 2020; Wellman, Stoldt, Tully, & Ekdale, 2020)

The scope of this Special Issue is to provide researchers with a space to deepen the dynamics that are transforming today's global and digital citizenship towards a new scenario for the empowerment and development of increasingly needed (trans)media competences. It is about the study of individual and collective online behaviors and actions that are generated in social media, discovering emerging phenomena and communities.

Submitted papers should be based on rigorous, high-quality quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods research, and intersectional and comparative analyses contributing new insights and developments into the topics addressed. Papers based on research with under-represented, minoritized, or marginalized groups or specific social contexts are particularly encouraged.

This Special Edition will focus on (but is not limited to) the following topics:

  • Social media and empowerment;
  • Social media and activism;
  • Social media and interpersonal relationships;
  • Social media and digital citizenship;
  • Educommunicative social media;
  • Social media and infomedia;
  • Social media and influencers;
  • Social media and (trans)media competences;
  • Prosocial cyber-citizenship;
  • Participatory culture in social media;
  • Citizen-generated content.

Dr. Ignacio Aguaded
Dr. M. Amor Pérez-Rodríguez
Ms. Arantxa Vizcaíno-Verdú
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Social media
  • Media empowerment
  • Cyber-connected world
  • Media competence
  • Digital citizenship
  • Participatory culture

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Understanding Transmedia Music on YouTube through Disney Storytelling
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3667; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073667 - 25 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 804
Abstract
Transmedia storytelling has been integrated into contemporary society through social media, where influencers have enabled the building of worlds. Within this environment of human-interaction, fiction and converging social realities have become an essential tool to tell stories. On YouTube, storytelling has expanded to [...] Read more.
Transmedia storytelling has been integrated into contemporary society through social media, where influencers have enabled the building of worlds. Within this environment of human-interaction, fiction and converging social realities have become an essential tool to tell stories. On YouTube, storytelling has expanded to music, where cover videos take on great relevance. The aim of this study is to understand the transmedia music phenomenon due to the impact of music on the platform. To this end, we applied a methodology that stemmed from Grounded Theory principles in the analysis of 300 Disney animation song covers in three stages: (1) deductive and inductive codebook development; (2) social network analysis; and (3) statistical test. The results showed that youtubers highlight specific audiovisual codes from the film and cultural industries. Furthermore, we observed these productions often display configurations that expand the original story through performance, location, costumes, make-up, among others. We argue that, on the digital sphere, a sustainable transmedia music paradigm is developing, where performers construct more meaningful and valuable stories. Full article
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Article
The Fine Line between Person and Persona in the Spanish Reality Television Show La isla de las tentaciones: Audience Engagement on Instagram
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041753 - 06 Feb 2021
Viewed by 998
Abstract
The hybridization of television genres has led to numerous non-fiction television shows that base much of their success on audience engagement through social networks. This study analyses a specific case, that of La isla de las tentaciones (Temptation Island), to identify [...] Read more.
The hybridization of television genres has led to numerous non-fiction television shows that base much of their success on audience engagement through social networks. This study analyses a specific case, that of La isla de las tentaciones (Temptation Island), to identify interpretive frames in reality shows and their interrelationships with audience involvement on Instagram. Based on a corpus of 8409 comments posted on Instagram by the followers of the program’s actor profiles, the article analyzes the lines between reality and fiction in this non-fiction television show about relationships and infidelity, and, in particular, how online “haters” play a performative role. The show’s participants who were unfaithful are insulted and receive numerous negative value judgments. The “coding and counting” method, drawn from Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis, is used for the coding. Results show that viewers barely allude to this show as fiction, do not differentiate between the actors and their characters, and empathize strongly with the stories they view. The study shows the need for media education, both for those who make the media and those who view it. The goal is not to detract from entertainment value, but to improve critical skills and to recover the educational function of media. Full article
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Article
Learning Leaders: Teachers or Youtubers? Participatory Culture and STEM Competencies in Italian Secondary School Students
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7466; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187466 - 10 Sep 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1421
Abstract
Youth is increasingly learning in non-conventional contexts, such as social networks or video platforms, courses, and tutorials. This research aims to diagnose the role of participatory culture, digital resources, social networks, and, specifically, YouTube, in learning processes and the acquisition of Science, Technology, [...] Read more.
Youth is increasingly learning in non-conventional contexts, such as social networks or video platforms, courses, and tutorials. This research aims to diagnose the role of participatory culture, digital resources, social networks, and, specifically, YouTube, in learning processes and the acquisition of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills, specifically in mathematics, also analyzing the role of youtubers and, in contrast, teachers, both learning leaders in the formation of these skills. In order to accomplish this, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used, based on a survey applied to 4845 Italian adolescents, as well as a content analysis of the videos and YouTube channel of the Italian educational influencer Elia Bombardelli, one of the most followed and best rated in this country. Also, an in-depth interview has been applied to 12 Italian secondary school teachers. Among the main findings, it is highlighted that all adolescents value YouTube videos as a key resource to improve their school performance, rating youtubers better than teachers. However, it is remarkable that in the processes of learning and acquisition of STEM competencies, they prefer to interact with teachers rather than with youtubers. Full article
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