Suchergebnisse

An increasingly influential strand of research on social media relies on the concept of affordances to account for effects. However, hindering the possibility of a unified theory of affordances in social media is the conceptual blurring surrounding the concept. This article engages in a comprehensive review of the affordances literature in social media, aiming to provide an overview of the current state of the art and clarify the use of the concept. Through a systematic literature review, the characteristics of affordances research in social media are uncovered: the most prominent areas of application, research approaches, and dominant typologies and conceptualisations. Significant blurriness of the term 'affordance' is identified as well as an inconsistent use in research. To tackle these problems, a unified definition of affordances in social media is proposed based on the synthesis of knowledge on affordances in technology and social media. The suggested definition captures the core aspects of the concept to reduce ambiguity in the use of the concept and further the research on affordances of social media. The article provides the groundwork for future use of affordances theory in social media research.

For years a literature on the uses that political parties make of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been developed. It is a rapidly increasing, rich, and interesting field in the forefront of the investigation in political science. Generally, these works start from the expectation that the ICTs have a regenerative potential for liberal democracies and for the political parties as well. In developed societies, political parties have experienced some transformations that have leaded them to an increasing divorce with the public. This divorce is shown by the decay of party adscription and membership, and also by the decay of the conventional political participation. In the theoretical discussion this situation has been described as ¿the crisis of the democracy¿ (Norris, 1999). According to the more radically oriented scholars this crisis reflects the incapacities of liberal democracies. In this sense, ICTs suppose a great opportunity to surpass the representative institutions and to institutionalize new forms of direct democracy. More moderate scholars have considered that ICTs offer the opportunity for ¿renaissance¿ for representative institutions, as they can reinforce the bonds between the public and its representatives.