Smileys Without Borders. A Critique of Transboundary Interaction Between Politicians, Journalists and PR Practitioners on Social Media

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21187526
AutoresPeter Berglez (0000-0002-3607-7881, Jönköping University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen16
Número1
Páginas18-34
Fecha de publicación2018-01-08
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistatripleC Communication Capitalism & Critique Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1726-670X • E-ISSN: 1726-670X
EditorialInformation Society Research (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.31269/triplec.v16i1.919
OpenAlexW2782817689
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas30

The purpose of the article is to contribute a critical theoretical understanding of cross-professional relations on social media, focusing on politicians, journalists and PR practitioners. It is well known that these professional groups establish personal and close relations in offline contexts, but more attention needs to be paid to the role of social media. Here, it is argued that, in the context of digital media use, semi-private chatting, humour, and mutual acknowledgement, including the use of likes, smileys, heart symbols, etc. are evidence of a 'neoliberalization' of cross-professional relations. The underlying idea is that the common practice of self-branding undermines representations of professional belonging and exacerbates the blurring of professional boundaries. The critical conceptualization of such 'transboundary' interaction between politicians, journalists and PR practitioners, which is guided by a cultural materialist approach, includes the presentation of examples deriving from the Swedish Twittersphere, and suggestions for empirical research

Acknowledgement · Conceptualization · Epistemology · Materialism · Media studies · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics