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Tjaša Žakelj: Sodobna partnerstva. Spoznavanje po spletuLjubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede, 2012, 256 strani

The idea of electronic democracy implies a form of democracy which would develop as the result of the implementation of new communication technologies within existing democratic processes. Ideas of electronic democracy are not always accompanied by positive associations, but come also with apprehension of the probable dangers for existing democratic processes. This paper addresses the question of technological democratization through two interrelated steps. First, it focuses on the history of e-democracy and its implementation in different models of democracy. Then, in the second part, it reveals the main proponents of e-democracy as an idea that could transform the existing representative democratic system. Since many obstacles, that are not only technologically driven, the text here extracts the critique of such intentions and beliefs. However, communication technologies seem to be effective tools for citizens to select governors and participate in the formation of laws and policies. By enabling immediate insight into governmental work and into decisions made by other political institutions, an informed electoral body can be formed. In this context, the last section presents a new Slovenian governmental tool which can be understood as an effective bridge between different paradigms on e-democracy.

The article focuses on the changed dynamics of family life due to the first wave of Covid-19 - starting in the spring of 2020 - and the consequent longstanding social lockdown in the fall of 2020. We employ the concept of "forced nuclearisation" to describe the process that required a rapid reorganisation of otherwise self-evident and established social patterns and relationships, above all new adjustments of care relations both inside and outside the private sphere. The focus is on new demands in the intertwined spheres of work, school, and family obligations, especially because the private sphere has been assigned several additional functions, otherwise carried out by educational and daycare institutions. Based on an extensive dataset from a quantitative exploratory online survey conducted in two time periods, first in April 2020 and then in October 2020, this article discusses, from a comparative perspective and with a focus on gender inequalities, the main changes in practices and everyday routines such as shopping, housework, childcare, work obligations, and caring for other family members. The research aimed to identify the most obvious distinctions in family scenarios and, in particular, to point to the main social inequalities and potentially vulnerable groups within the population, who faced the forced and unexpected nuclearisation of everyday life.

Social media are usually accused of being one of the major forces for personalization of political communication and consequently for depolitization of recent politics. However, personalization seems to stimulate certain users to pay more attention to political issues and to act more responsively to such highly personalized political profiles. This article presents the results of a longitudinal analysis of online presence of Barack Obama to assess his political communication through Facebook. It also answers if presence of emotional appeals and private life cues in the posts have any effect on users' responses in terms of numbers of their likes, comments and shares. Based on a quantitative analysis of 2804 Facebook posts, published in the period from 2008 to 2016, the results of content analysis revealed that Obama used his Facebook fan page almost exclusively to communicate about political issues instead of his personal life. The analysis also confirmed that a smaller number of posts, which contained emotional appeals or cues from private life had significantly higher numbers of users' responses than posts that were not emotionalized or privatized. While personalization of Obama's political figure is part of a wider debate, this study confirms that the presence of private cues and emotional appeals stimulates greater responsiveness from Facebook users.

Social media are usually accused of being one of the major forces for personalization of ‏political communication and consequently for depolitization of recent politics. However, personalization ‏seems to stimulate certain users to pay more attention to political issues and to act more responsively to ‏such highly personalized political profiles. This article presents the results of a longitudinal analysis of ‏online presence of Barack Obama to assess his political communication through Facebook. It also answers ‏if presence of emotional appeals and private life cues in the posts have any effect on users' responses in‏ terms of numbers of their likes, comments and shares. Based on a quantitative analysis of 2804 Facebook ‏posts, published in the period from 2008 to 2016, the results of content analysis revealed that Obama ‏used his Facebook fan page almost exclusively to communicate about political issues instead of his ‏personal life. The analysis also confirmed that a smaller number of posts, which contained emotional ‏appeals or cues from private life had significantly higher numbers of users' responses than posts that ‏were not emotionalized or privatized. While personalization of Obama's political figure is part of a wider‏ debate, this study confirms that the presence of private cues and emotional appeals stimulates greater‏ responsiveness from Facebook users.‏ ; Društveni mediji su često optuživani kao jedan od glavnih stimulatora personalizacije političke ‏komunikacija, a posljedično i kao jedan od faktora koji utječu na depolitizaciju suvremene politike. Ipak,‏ personalizacija može potaknuti određene korisnike da više pažnje posvete političkim temama te da‏ djeluju responsivnije prema personaliziranim političkim profilima. U ovom članku su prezentirani rezultati‏ longitudinalne analize političke komunikacije Baracka Obame na njegovoj Facebook stranici. Istraživanje ‏je pokušalo odgovoriti na pitanje u kojoj mjeri je Obama putem Facebooka komunicirao političke teme,‏ a u kojoj mjeri osobni profil, te ima li prisutnost emocija i referenci na privatni život u postovima određeni‏ efekt na korisnike Facebooka, mjereno kroz broj lajkova, komentara i dijeljenja koje ti određeni postovi‏ dobiju. Oslanjajući se na rezultate kvantitativne analize sadržaja koja je provedena na 2804 Facebook ‏posta koji su objavljeni na Obaminoj stranici u razdoblju od 2008. do 2016., istraživanje je otkrilo kako ‏je Obama svoju Facebook stranicu koristio prvenstveno za komuniciranje političkih tema, a tek onda i‏ osobnog profila. Dok je personalizacija Obamine političke komunikacije na Facebooku predmet opširnije‏ rasprave, ovo istraživanje potvrđuje kako postovi koji sadrže emocije i reference na privatni profil privlače‏ veći broj odgovora (lajkova, komentara, dijeljenja) korisnika Facebooka od postova koji ne sadrže emocije‏ ili reference na privatni profil.‏‏ ‏ ‏

AbstractDue to radical changes in media consumption, manifested in the widespread mediatization and proliferation of the uses of personal media in everyday life, research about media audiences can no longer focus on a single medium. In order to identify ideal-typical combinations of media platforms and aesthetic cultures in the population of the two largest Slovenian cities, the concept of media repertoires was used. The study shows that our respondents's media consumption is structured into four typical media repertoires: integrators, digital natives, television viewers and newspaper readers. These four repertoires also represent distinct socio-cultural formations. In social terms, (digital) audiences therefore do not constitute a homogenous social community, but should be understood as class-differentiated discursive cultures or 'meaning systems'.

This paper focuses on understanding radio in the everyday life of young people:
the role it plays in the context of their family life; how it is positioned relative to
music; which novelties in the listening and selection of audio content do they practise. We rely on data from qualitative research performed in the project Media
repertoires among youth, which included semi-structured group interviews with 67 young people aged 12–19 years. The radio is not listened to on their own
initiative or individually, but with their parents; most often while they are driving
around in the car. Their everyday life is most notably marked by music, which they
primarily associate with listening on demand and at their own choice, through
digital devices. These media choices are complemented by podcasts, especially
among high school students.

The paper challenges the theoretical assumptions of deliberative communication in online contexts of two empirical case studies in the Slovenian Web sphere: a governmental portal Predlagamvladi.si (I proposetothegovernment.si) and a citizen portal Danesjenovdan.si (Todayisanewday.si). A common denominator of both portals, which were developed for online gathering of public proposals directly from the citizens, is in the combination of public dialogue and polling, the former preceding the latter, the whole process resulting in a final decision regarding the proposal. However, a more detailed analysis and comparison of both portals help to explain also the crucial differences between the institutional or strong public sphere on the one hand and the civic or weak public spheres on the other, which consequently limit the deliberation potentials in the digital context.

The paper challenges the theoretical assumptions of deliberative communication in online contexts of two empirical case studies in the Slovenian Web sphere: a governmental portal Predlagamvladi.si (I proposetothegovernment.si) and a citizen portal Danesjenovdan.si (Todayisanewday.si). A common denominator of both portals, which were developed for online gathering of public proposals directly from the citizens, is in the combination of public dialogue and polling, the former preceding the latter, the whole process resulting in a final decision regarding the proposal. However, a more detailed analysis and comparison of both portals help to explain also the crucial differences between the institutional or strong public sphere on the one hand and the civic or weak public spheres on the other, which consequently limit the deliberation potentials in the digital context.

The article explores the relationships between young people's media choices,
technological preferences, and everyday life in connection to their cultural and
social characteristics. As such, it describes the conceptual framework of the media repertoires approach and selected methods. Media repertoires are approached
from a generational perspective, pointing out the conceptual and empirical challenges of such research. As one of the first attempts to conceptualise media practices at the intersection of family, educational and peer contexts, the article aims
to describe the qualitative research design of an empirical study that considered a
sample of 67 students aged 12 to 19. The sample is presented through an analysis of its sociodemographic characteristics, while personal media networks help
identify the teenagers' media preferences and their potential cross-connections.