Emotions And Loneliness In A Networked Society

349 Pages·2019·4.011 MB·English

by  Bianca Fox

Emotions and
Loneliness in a
Networked Society
Edited by
Bianca Fox
Emotions and Loneliness in a Networked Society
Bianca Fox
Editor
Emotions
and Loneliness
in a Networked
Society
Editor
Bianca Fox
University of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-24881-9 ISBN 978-3-030-24882-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24882-6
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover image: © Alex Linch/shutterstock.com
Cover design by eStudioCalamar
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
F
oreword
In an age of untrammelled opportunity for communication, one might
expect that reports of loneliness would diminish. However, if digital
technology has the capacity to enhance connectivity between physically
remote individuals, there is increasing recognition that it also provokes
a propensity for loneliness, persecution and vulnerability. Indeed, certain
chapters in this volume register a comparable increase in media-related
loneliness, especially in young people. This may not merely be the result
of current preoccupations with mobile phone technology and associated
networks, but might also be the culmination of longer-term sociocul-
tural and political shifts in society. For instance, one might argue that
reductions in family size, the trend for single living and a society which
increasingly erects barriers and strengthens physical boundaries (of one’s
home and nation) as a result of the breakdown of communities, fears of
immigration, and the threat of crime and terrorism further contribute
to loneliness. The added implications of a networked society, including
increased working at home and generalized inclinations toward online
shopping, reading and education, heighten the potential for physical iso-
lation. At the same time, access to global travel as well as the migratory
fallout of xenophobia, growing nationalism and warfare progressively
splinters families, these geographic and political barriers meaning that
social networking may be the only route for contact. But the communi-
cability of social media can only partially offset the loneliness of insular
living because of limits to its sensory capacity. Real-life social interaction
in contrast is multisensory and depends on a much broader range of
v
vi FOREWORD
perceptions and haptic involvement that generate shared experiences and
collective memories. In a networked society, these are arguably reduced
to a flattened mono-dimensional encounter such that texts, emails and
social media messages contract the multisensory resonance of ‘real’ inter-
action to the spoken or written word, often, in itself, curtailed to abbre-
viated, text-language format. There are therefore negative and positive
aspects to living in a networked society, and these are comprehensively
explored in this anthology. The subject of loneliness has been examined
across countless articles and books but to date, there has been limited
attempt to address its myriad forms in a single volume. Bianca Fox’s
edited anthology draws the readers’ attention to some of the issues incul-
cated by a networked society that have been hitherto under-examined
or underrepresented, or do not conform to conventional perceptions of
loneliness. While there is still much to understand about the relationship
between social media, emotions and loneliness, the collection debates
both the burdens and benefits of a networked society, offering global
perspectives from a range of international authors. For example, the
contributors variously consider the connections between social media,
online networking, loneliness and emotion in relation to age, mental
illness, support-groups for parents of autistic children, learning disabil-
ity and culture. The role of biodigital influencers is considered as well as
the affective consequence of personal and public interactions on social
media. So too does the volume examine representations of loneliness
in film and advertising and the possible impact of the media in report-
ing loneliness. A key contribution centers on the exact nature of what
it means to be connected. Further to highlighting the pivotal role that
social media may have in experiences of loneliness, several essays explore
the ways in which potentially detrimental aspects can be reversed and
re-channelled in more productive ways. Finally, and perhaps most signif-
icantly, Fox’s research challenges claim that social media is solely respon-
sible for the reported rise in loneliness.
Dr. Frances Pheasant-Kelly
Reader
University of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton, UK
C
ontents
1 An Introduction to Emotions and Loneliness
in a Networked Society 1
Bianca Fox
Part I Mediated Emotions and Loneliness
2 Emotions in the Public Sphere: Networked Solidarity,
Technology and Social Ties 13
Emiliana De Blasio and Donatella Selva
3 Mediatised Emotions: A Framework for Understanding
the Display of Affect in the Network Society 45
Javier Serrano-Puche and Leonor Solís Rojas
4 Communication of Loneliness Emotions in the Online
Vlogs and Their Moral Value 69
Skaidrīte Lasmane and Kristīne Antonova
5 Connected Emotions on Tinder: The Development
of Social Skills and a Digital Self Among Users
from Mexico City and Madrid 87
Rodrigo Alonso Cardoso-González
vii
viii CONTENTS
Part II Loneliness: Representations and Experiences
6 Loneliness Essentialism and Mental Illness
Stigmatization 115
Sanae Elmoudden
7 Media Representation of Loneliness in China 135
Ling Qiu and Xin Liu
8 Making Sense of The Lonely Crowd, Today: Youth,
Emotions and Loneliness in a Networked Society 155
Rosalina Pisco Costa, Paulo Infante, Anabela Afonso
and Gonçalo Jacinto
9 Lonelier Than Ever? Romania’s Forgotten Seniors 179
Valentina Marinescu and Ecaterina Balica
10 Experiences of Loneliness: People with a Learning
Disability and Barriers to Community Inclusion 201
Liz Tilly
11 Emotions of Belonging and Playing Families Across
Borders in Sub-Saharan Africa 223
Khanyile Mlotshwa
12 Loneliness as an Activation Strategy in Narratives
of Contemporary Advertising 239
Dennis A. Olsen
13 Lonely Indian Housewives: Gendered Portrayal
of Loneliness in Bollywood Cinema 253
Arundhathi and Sarah Zia
Part III Combating Loneliness
14 Online Connectedness as a Cure for Loneliness? 271
Bina Nir and Yaron Ariel
CONTENTS ix
15 Biodigital Influencers: A New Alternative for Fighting
Loneliness 283
Marie-Nathalie Jauffret and Vanessa Landaverde Kastberg
16 Loneliness and Social Media: A Qualitative Investigation
of Young People’s Motivations for Use, and Perceptions
of Social Networking Sites 309
Bianca Fox
Index 333
n C
otes on ontributors
Anabela Afonso is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics
and an Integrated Member in the Research Centre for Mathematics and
Applications, both at the University of Évora, Portugal. She has a grad-
uation in Statistics and Operation Research, a master in Statistics and
Information Management and a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University
of Lisbon (2010). Currently, she is the director of the Master in Statistical
Modelling and Data Analysis. She has developed research in sampling,
data analysis, nonparametric statistics, statistical modeling and time series.
She supervised several graduation and master’s students and authored
numerous papers, in both national and international journals. She is the
co-author of two introductory books about statistics and probabilities,
and she conceived and organized a short course on sampling in pop-
ulations hard to reach. She has participated in several research projects,
some of them in collaboration with the local and regional community.
Between 2017 and 2019, she was a team member of the ‘Évora Juvenile
Diagnosis,’ a project carried out under the Youth Plan for the municipal-
ity of Évora, which main output is a 3-volume publication presenting an
accurate and up-to-date description of those who study, work or live in
the municipality of Évora, aged 15–29 years.
Kristīne Antonova is a Research Assistant at the University of Latvia,
Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Communication. She is
currently part of the media ecology research project. Her topics of inter-
ests are networks, social media and online tools for digital democracy.
Kristīne also works in the industry of online learning and education.
xi