Sharon, T., & John, N. A. (2019).
Imagining an ideal podcast listener.
Popular Communication.
Publisher's VersionAbstractBased on a close reading of the adult coloring book and listening party kit published to accompany NPR’s podcast Invisibilia, this article examines the ideal listener of, and the ideal mode of listening to, audio storytelling podcasts. We argue that these texts prompt the notion of childlike listening, a mode of listening that harnesses the innocence and curiosity of the child for the sake of deep discussion and interpersonal connection. This ideal listening mode is achieved through performative unplugging, whereby listening party attendees show their ability to delay gratification by turning off their phones. By unpacking the ideals constructed by the coloring book and listening party kit, we argue that the cultural values they seek to convey align with wider views about the power of podcasts to bring us together.
Based on a close reading of the adult coloring book and listening party kit published to accompany NPR’s podcast Invisibilia, this article examines the ideal listener of, and the ideal mode of listening to, audio storytelling podcasts. We argue that these texts prompt the notion of childlike listening, a mode of listening that harnesses the innocence and curiosity of the child for the sake of deep discussion and interpersonal connection. This ideal listening mode is achieved through performative unplugging, whereby listening party attendees show their ability to delay gratification by turning off their phones. By unpacking the ideals constructed by the coloring book and listening party kit, we argue that the cultural values they seek to convey align with wider views about the power of podcasts to bring us together.
John, N. A. (2019).
Social media bullshit: What we don’t know about facebook.com/peace and why we should care.
Social Media + Society.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
If we live in media, then our knowledge of our social lives must, at least partly, come from those media. It is in this context that I analyze www.facebook.com/peace, a page that claims to show “how many new friendships formed just yesterday” between Facebook users from the opposing sides of three different protracted conflicts. However, the numbers seem unfeasible, leading to a series of attempts to try and evaluate them independently, as well as to ask Facebook if they could explain them. This article presents these failed efforts to verify the numbers published by Facebook, and the subsequent conclusion that they are, technically speaking, bullshit, and more specifically, social media bullshit. It is in reaching this conclusion that the article contributes to theoretical discussions around data, social media, and knowledge.
If we live in media, then our knowledge of our social lives must, at least partly, come from those media. It is in this context that I analyze www.facebook.com/peace, a page that claims to show “how many new friendships formed just yesterday” between Facebook users from the opposing sides of three different protracted conflicts. However, the numbers seem unfeasible, leading to a series of attempts to try and evaluate them independently, as well as to ask Facebook if they could explain them. This paper presents these failed efforts to verify the numbers published by Facebook, and the subsequent conclusion that they are, technically speaking, bullshit, and more specifically, social media bullshit. It is in reaching this conclusion that the article contributes to theoretical discussions around data, social media, and knowledge.
Bitman, N., & John, N. A. (2019).
Deaf and hard of hearing smartphone users: Intersectionality and the penetration of ableist communication norms.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Publisher's VersionAbstractThis article examines smartphone usage among deaf and hard of hearing people, and shows how it is deeply shaped by the core function of the voice call. Indeed, while the smartphone appears accessible, it actually reproduces communicative norms of the hearing hegemony. In-depth interviews highlight the social norms of voice calls both as a communicative practice and as forcing communicative values on textual smartphone interactions. People who cannot perform voice calls must obey these norms of immediacy and priority while interacting accessibly via WhatsApp and video calls. Moreover, users’ auditory diversity is reflected in their responses and practices vis-à-vis voice calls, highlighting this as a representation of the hegemonic hearing society. Critical examination of these phenomena shows how deaf and hard of hearing smartphone users’ communicative practices result from intersections of their audiological capacities and other stigmatized positions, which has profound implications for our understanding of media accessibility.