Social Media Solidarity (SOMESOL)

New forms of solidarity: solidarity among students and professionals in Facebook support groups

 

Abstract

This research concerns professional and student groups that are active on Facebook with the aim of informing and helping each other. The sample collected (N=224) after the distribution of the questionnaires brings to light some trends regarding the emergence of new forms of solidarity in an era where the internet and social media, in particular, dominate the social life of individuals, creating new contexts and channels of socialization. More specifically, the research aims to reveal the profiles of the members of these groups, in order to highlight new definitions of solidarity, as well as the political subjectivities that shape this context and are simultaneously shaped by it. To obtain results and draw conclusions, the statistical method of Latent Class Analysis is applied, a method that combines quantitative and qualitative characteristics to identify overt but also latent response patterns of the subjects. The pedagogical dimension of the research originates from the notion that, since social media are shaping the new digital citizenship, political literacy must also be achieved through these platforms, which can be a tool for the formation of active citizens.

Projektmitarbeiter/innen

Dr. Georgia Manafi,  Dionysis Gkiatas, MA, Ioannis Kapaniris, Alexandros Katsikas