Sociología de la comunicación

The current chaotic and disordered social systems are undergoing a (critical) phase of change marked by the advent of an interconnected economy, an economy which is calling to attention certain questions regarding the issue of citizenship. Under discussion are the new opportunities for emancipation offered by the widespread knowledge which is fuelling the networks of protection and social promotion. The links of interdependence and interconnection are intensifying, even if some observers continue to hypothesize the possible end of the social bond. The old industrial model consisting of consolidated orders, hierarchies, logics of control and closure to change seems on the point of being broken by the new knowledge ecosystem. On the other hand, we are living in an age increasingly marked by the fragmentation of the systems of belonging and belief ‒ the real producers of individual and collective identity ‒ and by the consequent affirmation of individual and utilitarian values. This is a sort of “tyranny of the individual” which presents itself as a real centrifugal force capable of corroding the ties within the social system and thus testing their resilience. This process of progressive weakening and flaking away finds further confirmation in the widespread deficit of social and political participation, which is itself fuelled by a climate of general mistrust towards all the (formal and informal) institutions that used to be the sole agencies responsible for the transmission of value and knowledge guidance systems. The thesis that we shall therefore seek to discuss is the following: the individualism dominant in our social systems is the result – to some extent the inevitable result ‒ of a process/project of emancipation that has been brought forward in the course of modernity. This process of emancipation, first of the masses, then of the Subject, has, on the one hand, increased the spheres of freedom and led to the recognition of certain fundamental rights (at least on a theoretical level); on the other hand, it has contributed to the weakening of the ties and bonds of belonging to a Community.

From serious illness to natural disasters, humans turn to communication as a major source of strength to help us bounce back and to keep growing and thriving.
Communicating Hope and Resilience Across the Lifespan addresses the various ways in which communication plays an important role in fostering hope and resilience. Adopting a lifespan approach and offering a new framework to expand our understanding of the concepts of «hope» and «resilience» from a communication perspective, contributors highlight the variety of «stressors» that people may encounter in their lives. They examine connections between the cognitive dimensions of hope such as self-worth, self-efficacy, and creative problem solving. They look at the variety of messages that can facilitate or inhibit experiencing hope in relationships, groups, and organizations. Other contributors look at how communication that can build strengths, enhance preparation, and model successful adaptation to change has the potential to lessen the negative impact of stress, demonstrating resilience.
As an important counterpoint to recent work focusing on what goes wrong in interpersonal relationships, communication that has the potential to uplift and facilitate responses to stressful circumstances is emphasized throughout this volume. By offering a detailed examination of how to communicate hope and resilience, this book presents practical lessons for individuals, marriages, families, relationship experts, as well as a variety of other practitioners.

What is a «good life» and how can it be achieved? In this volume, communication scholars and media experts explore these fundamental questions about human existence and aspiration in terms of what a «good life» might look like in a contemporary, mediatized society. While in many ways a mediatized society brings us closer to some version of the «good life», it also leads us away from it. The affordances of new technologies seem to have shifted, for many, from an opportunity to an obligation. Rather than choosing when and where to be connected to these larger networks of information and acquaintances, we feel we must be permanently available, thus losing the luxury of controlling our time and attention.
This volume illuminates the complexity of our modern era, exploring how society can leverage exciting new opportunities whilst recognizing the complex challenges we face in a time of constant change. It helps us understand how we have come to this point and where we may be going so that we may study the opportunities and the dangers, the chances and the risks, that digital media pose in our quest for some version of «the good life».

Llegó un día, un mes, un año, un tiempo, en el que las cosas empezaron a funcionar de otra manera, de pronto la realidad pasó a ser incomprensible. La escuela, los padres, la economía, la publicidad, dejaron de entender a un grupo de personas que empezaban a formar, como se forman las nebulosas, una nueva generación, la «generación Y». De pronto los adolescentes se comunicaban de otra forma, compraban de otra forma, pensaban de otra forma, sentían de otra forma. Este libro no es fruto de la improvisación, está milimétricamente estructurado, tanto con el hemisferio izquierdo-lógico como con el hemisferio derecho-holístico. Un libro para conocer lo que ahora mismo se está cociendo.

“Más fotogramas de género” propone una topografía para transitar por el cine español de los 91 desde una perspectiva de género. A través de una serie de películas, andamiaje teórico que viene del anterior “Fotogramas de género”, María Castejón Leorza analiza los 90 con espíritu crítico.

En el libro se reflexiona especialmente sobre la comedia romántica y sobre las películas protagonizadas por la juventud, que tienen muy en cuenta la Tercera Ola de los feminismos y la generación X.

La obra cuenta con un multiepílogo en el que colaboran Itziar Ziga, María Molas, Sonia Herrera, Teresa Galilea, Lucía Martínez Odriozola, Coral Herrera Gómez, Natalia Ardanaz, Maje Girona Magraner, Sara García de las Heras, Ana Reguera (Señora Milton), Belén Gaudes y Pablo Macías, María Castrejón, Cristina Cabedo, Estíbaliz De Miguel Calvo y Natalia Martínez Pérez.

En 2111, la llamada Primavera Árabe estableció un antes y después en la aún breve historia de las redes sociales y su vínculo con los procesos democráticos. Este libro está lejos de ser un elogio a la red ya que se ubica dentro de una perspectiva realista, que toma distancia de los discursos ciberoptimistas que adjudican a Internet un atributo democrático per se.
En Ciberutopías María Elena Meneses Rocha construye un estado del arte de los estudios de Internet, las redes sociales y los movimientos-red en las democracias contemporáneas tomando como caso de análisis el movimiento #YoSoy132 gestado en la red en el proceso electoral de México en 2012.
Si bien la conectividad facilita la participación ciudadana de los jóvenes y abre nuevas posibilidades de vincularse con lo público, se advierte a los lectores luego de un análisis documental y virtual, así como mediante entrevistas con protagonistas del movimiento-red estudiado, que las seductoras redes sociales virtuales parecen aún insuficientes para garantizar una participación política plena y trascendental en sociedades marcadas por la desigualdad.

Internet trolls live to upset as many people as possible, using all the technical and psychological tools at their disposal. They gleefully whip the media into a frenzy over a fake teen drug crisis; they post offensive messages on Facebook memorial pages, traumatizing grief-stricken friends and family; they use unabashedly racist language and images. They take pleasure in ruining a complete stranger’s day and find amusement in their victim’s anguish. In short, trolling is the obstacle to a kinder, gentler Internet. To quote a famous Internet meme, trolling is why we can’t have nice things online. Or at least that’s what we have been led to believe. In this provocative book, Whitney Phillips argues that trolling, widely condemned as obscene and deviant, actually fits comfortably within the contemporary media landscape. Trolling may be obscene, but, Phillips argues, it isn’t all that deviant. Trolls’ actions are born of and fueled by culturally sanctioned impulses—which are just as damaging as the trolls’ most disruptive behaviors.

Phillips describes, for example, the relationship between trolling and sensationalist corporate media—pointing out that for trolls, exploitation is a leisure activity; for media, it’s a business strategy. She shows how trolls, “the grimacing poster children for a socially networked world,” align with social media. And she documents how trolls, in addition to parroting media tropes, also offer a grotesque pantomime of dominant cultural tropes, including gendered notions of dominance and success and an ideology of entitlement. We don’t just have a trolling problem, Phillips argues; we have a culture problem. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things isn’t only about trolls; it’s about a culture in which trolls thrive.

Postfeminist Digital Cultures explores some of the more controversial and contested social media practices engaged in by girls and young women, including sexual self-representations on social network sites, sexting, and self-harm vlogs. Informed by feminist media and cultural studies, Dobson delves beyond alarmist accounts to ask what it is we fear about young women's self-representation in networked publics, and unpacks the complexity of digitally mediating young femininity in the postfeminist era.

This book sheds light on the growing phenomenon of cyberactivism in the Arab world, with a special focus on the Egyptian political blogosphere and its role in paving the way to democratization and socio-political change in Egypt, which culminated in Egypt's historical popular revolution on Jan. 25, 2111. The authors examine the relevance and applicability of the concepts of citizen journalism and civic engagement to the discourses and deliberations in five of the most popular political blogs in Egypt. They explore the potential connection between virtual activism and real activism in Egyptian political life, as represented in the calls for social, economic and political reform on the streets.

Un egoblog es un diario personal en el que sus autores se convierten a la vez en eedactores y en modelos. No tienen vocación informativa y no hablan de actualidad, sólo comparten con sus lectores su rutina: cómo visten, a qué eventos asisten, qué viajes realizan… El formato ha supuesto una revolución en el panorama mediático actual puesto que estos bloggers ya forman parte del conjunto de stakeholders estratégicos de campañas de marketing y comunicación, hasta el punto de que algunos ya viven de su medio gracias a las marcas que los contratan. Tras conversar con veinte egobloggers top, la autora entrevista ahora a responsables de PR digital de marcas conocidas por todos como Follie Follie, Passionata, Jocavi, Inside Hoteles, Fosco, Pandora, Azucarera, Supersol, Nesspresso, Sanitas, La Caixa, Pringles, La Roche Posay, Vueling, Alain Afflelou, Hyundai, Decathlon, Ron Barceló, Astor, Comodynes, Rimmel London, Schwarzkopf, Swarovski, Jessica Simpson, Steve Madden, Grupo Barceló, G’Vine, Nina Ricci, Adolfo Domínguez, IKEA, McDonalds, NH Hoteles, Line, Philips, Häagen-Dazs, Hendrick’s, Narciso Rodríguez, Montblanc, Yves Rocher, Thermomix, Carrefour, Hoffman, World Duty Free, Starbucks, Fnac, Promod, MARYPAZ, Sephora, Venca, M & Ms y la revista ELLE, entre otras. ¿A qué objetivos estratégicos responden las acciones con egobloggers? ¿Cómo trabajan las marcas y agencias con ellos? ¿Qué valoran a la hora de seleccionarlos? ¿Qué se pacta en las colaboraciones? ¿Cuánto puede llegar a cobrar un egoblogger por un post patrocinado o por asistir a un evento? ¿Hay publicidad encubierta en los egoblogs o en sus redes sociales? ¿Existen listas negras y blancas de egobloggers? ¿Cómo miden las marcas y las agencias el retorno de la inversión? ¿Han sustituido los egobloggers a otros públicos de las estrategias de comunicación como periodistas o celebrities? ¿Cuál es el futuro de los egoblogs? Los egobloggers ya marcaron sus reglas del juego. Ahora responden las marcas.