Exploring the relationship between social network sites and the consumption of cultural goods through the lens of affordances

This thesis presents research theorising the use of social network sites (SNS) for the consumption of cultural goods. SNS are Internet-based applications that enable people to connect, interact, discover, and share user-generated content. They have transformed communication practices and are facilitating users to present their identity online through the disclosure of information on a profile. SNS are especially effective for propagating content far and wide within a network of connections. Cultural goods constitute hedonic experiential goods with cultural, artistic, and entertainment value, such as music, books, films, and fashion. Their consumption is culturally dependant and they have unique characteristics that distinguish them from utilitarian products. The way in which users express their identity on SNS is through the sharing of cultural interests and tastes. This makes cultural good consumption vulnerable to the exchange of content and ideas that occurs across an expansive network of connections within these social systems. This study proposes the lens of affordances to theorise the use of social network sites for the consumption of cultural goods. Qualitative case study research using two phases of data collection is proposed in the application of affordances to the research topic. The interaction between task, technology, and user characteristics is investigated by examining each characteristic in detail, before investigating the actual interaction between the user and the artifact for a particular purpose. The study contributes to knowledge by (i) improving our understanding of the affordances of social network sites for the consumption of cultural goods, (ii) demonstrating the role of task, technology and user characteristics in mediating user behaviour for user-artifact interactions, (iii) explaining the technical features and user activities important to the process of consuming cultural goods using social network sites, and (iv) theorising the consumption of cultural goods using SNS by presenting a theoretical research model which identifies empirical indicators of model constructs and maps out affordance dependencies and hierarchies. The study also provides a systematic research process for applying the concept of affordances to the study of system use.

Welfare improvements from income redistribution : getting access to cultural goods. 'Mejoras en el bienestar desde la redistribución la renta : como tener acceso a bienes culturales'.

La teoría económica ha demostrado que en mercados imperfectos la redistribución de la renta puede incrementar el bienestar social y dar lugar a situaciones en las que todos los agentes económicos involucrados puedan mejorar el nivel de bienestar. Se demuestra que la implantación de un regimen fiscal de subvenciones también puede mejorar los efectos en mercados competitivos perfectos, que se derivan de economías externas de escala.

Cultural diversity, cultural networks and trade : international cultural policy debate

This article sketches some of the ways in which the language and concepts of cultural diversity are being taken up internationally. The debate has been driven in part by concerns about the treatment of cultural goods, services and knowledge in trade agreements. But it also involves larger questions about the role of the state, the role of non-state actors in domestic policy formation, and the shape and function of international policy communities comprising both state and non-state actors. The extent of the discussion of cultural diversity internationally is described through new formal and informal cultural networks and work towards an international instrument for cultural diversity to lay our ground rules for international trade, cultural exchange and policy principles to guide governmental responsibilities. The article concludes with analysis of some of these new networks, and investigates why Canada has been so prominent in these international efforts.

The cultural magazines as spaces of resistence in the lasta argentinian militar dictatorship. From the “El Expreso Imaginario” to “El Porteño”, 1976 – 1983

Although they were a few, there were places during the military dictatorship, which produced innovative cultural goods, in continuity with experiences of the artistic avant-garde in the sixties. Alongside the political and military repression  they could articulate in their environment groups identified with alternative aesthetic  codes, in opposition to the dominant culture in the period. The first one of the aces  we examine in the article, El Expreso Imaginario is a privileged place where we may regard the origins of the traits of that social space. Towards the end of  the dictatorship, another one like El Porteño, marks a new era, even if we can  establish various continuities with the first one. The circulation places of these ideas and practices were often taking place in cellars and other hiding places. Is  that because they take the literal sense of underground in the eighties to groups  who having been part of that story or not, were willing to receive his inspiring legacy. Between both magazines we   fer identifies the transition from one state of the field to another, identifying the evolution of these zone of the culture field.

Comportamento empreendedor e o capital cultural: impacto do ambiente social nas características do comportamento empreendedor de empresários na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Este trabalho tem o intuito de observar a relação entre as características do comportamento empreendedor (CCEs) e a origem sociocultural de empreendedores da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Mais especificamente, este trabalho traz à luz as teorias de David McClelland, adotada pelo Sebrae através da metodologia do programa Empretec e a teoria de Pierre Bourdieu sobre Capital Cultural. O estudo traz em sua metodologia uma análise da origem sociocultural de empreendedores, seu contexto educacional, seu histórico familiar, seu grau de escolaridade, seus hábitos de consumo de produtos culturais e seu nível de internacionalização, correlacionando-os com as 10 CCEs propostas por McClelland: Busca de Oportunidades e Iniciativa, Persistência, Correr Riscos Calculados, Exigência de Qualidade e Eficiência, Comprometimento, Busca de Informações, Estabelecimento de Metas, Planejamento e Monitoramento Sistemáticos, Persuasão e Rede de Contatos, Independência e Autoconfiança. A metodologia aplicada foi baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica, em pesquisa de campo, dividida entre aplicação de questionários presenciais e online e em métodos quantitativos de análise de dados. Como resultados de campo, pode-se observar uma significante diferença entre os perfis socioeconômicos, culturais e educacionais de empreendedores de dentro e de fora de comunidades carentes no Rio de Janeiro. Confirmou-se um grau superior de Capital Cultura nos empreendedores externos às comunidades, observados através da renda, do grau de escolaridade, da escolaridade familiar, do acesso a bens culturais, do consumo de informação e do nível de internacionalização. Além destas constatações, a pesquisa revelou haver indícios que sustentem a existência de influência do Capital Cultural nas seguintes CCEs: Busca de Oportunidade e Iniciativa, Exigência de Qualidade e Eficiência, Correr Riscos Calculados, Estabelecimento de Metas, Persuasão e Redes de Contato e Independência e Autoconfiança.

A mercadoria cultural

Adorno e Horkheimer adotaram a noção de fetichismo da mercadoria para a análise da arte e da cultura. Bens materiais e físicos não são idênticos aos simbólicos. Apesar de dominante, a indústria cultural não pode ser tomada como protótipo de toda análise da cultura. Não se pode reduzir toda a produção cultural da época da economia de mercado a produtos de mercado. A pluralidade de práticas artísticas e culturais, à qual se assiste em países como o Brasil, torna problemático o uso indiscriminado do referencial frankfurtiano.

Indústria cultural: algumas determinações políticas, culturais e sociais na educação

Este artigo analisa a persistência da marginalização e da exclusão social apesar da pretensa democratização da informação que estaria sendo viabilizada pela introdução de novas tecnologias nos meios de comunicação de massa, nas escolas e nos currículos escolares. Essas novas tecnologias (TV, vídeos, computadores conectados à Internet), tendo sido apropriadas pela Indústria Cultural, continuam produzindo analfabetos e os chamados analfabetos funcionais bem como, mais recentemente, os analfabetos ponto com. Tais recursos não vêm resultando em maior conhecimento e participação dos indivíduos nas decisões políticas e nos bens socio-culturais que ficam restritos a uma pequena minoria, a qual se poderia chamar pelo substantivo cidadão. A tentativa de superação dos modismos pedagógicos, buscando uma educação crítica e criativa em direção a objetivos emancipadores, é tarefa ainda a ser realizada.

Valuing damage and losses in cultural assets after a disaster: concept paper and research options

Includes bibliography

Poder público e patrimônio cultural: estudo sobre a política estadual de preservação no oeste paulista (1969-1999)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

De Vargas a Lula: os (des)usos da política cultural no Brasil

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

A revista civilização brasileira: projeto editorial e resistência cultural (1965-1968)

During the first years of the military dictatorship, established in Brazil through a coup d'État, a number of institutions which repression had left unarticulated began a process of resistance and opposition to the military government. Cultural resistance was one of the consecrated forms of resistance that was exercised by intellectuals, artists, professors and cultural producers, among others, and that became an unprecedented political and cultural phenomenon in the country's history. Political, insofar as it aided in the process of re-organizing left-wing political parties and in the revision of the ideological postulates of its preeminent party, the PCB (Partido Comunista Brasileiro - Brazilian Communist Party). Cultural, because this re-organization occurred, frequently, within the ambit of cultural productions, in which the left created a space for contestation and engagement through the arts and intellectual activities. Within this process, between the years 1965 and 1968. The journal Civilização Brasileira became an important space for the building of leftist cultural resistance against the military dictatorship. The journal was able to impose its political legitimacy while at the same time participating actively in a market o cultural goods sustained by the so-called cultural hegemony of the left.

Social networks in cultural industries

Although cultural industries can benefit from social networks in many ways, few Spanish studies examine the extent to which firms within this economic sector actually use such networks. This study's objective is to investigate the role of online social networks in Spanish cultural firms. The study begins with a literature review on cultural industries and social networks. Then the study proceeds to a Delphi analysis that draws upon experts' opinions. Results reveal a predominance of utilitarian uses over expressive ones, as well as an overriding use of proactive motivations rather than reactive ones within the context of cultural firms' use of social networks. The study confirms the profitability of these networks and the transfer of influence or power from providers to the consumers of cultural goods and services.