JournalTOCs

Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.521

Citation Impact (citeScore): 1
Number of Followers: 50

Hybrid journal * Containing 2 Open Access article(s) in this issue *
ISSN (Print) 1354-8565 - ISSN (Online) 1748-7382
Published by Sage Publications

[1079 journals]

Viking tattoos of Instagram: Runes and contemporary identities
- Authors: Lisa Bennett, Kim Wilkins
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  In this essay, we explore how and why rune tattoos – that is, tattoos created out of single runes or longer runic inscriptions – become implicated in modern reimaginings of Viking identity. What is critically interesting here is not whether Vikings actually wore rune tattoos. Rather, we are interested in analysing the cultural processes by which certain contemporary subjects come to adapt and inscribe Viking runes as living artwork on their own bodies and to display images of these personal markings on Instagram. That is, we are not arguing from the perspective of trying to find a simple equivalence between the medieval and the modern. Instead, we are trying to understand what kind of cultural work the medieval (in the form of Viking runes) performs in shaping 21st-century identities in a cultural moment when self-perception and social relations have become increasingly embedded in social media.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-08-30T03:12:54Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519872413
The production of space through transmediated identity practices: Spatial
self in Instagram at Mavibahçe Shopping Centre in İzmir
- Authors: Ahenk Yılmaz, Ezgi Kocabalkanlı
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  Widespread use of locative media and its integration with social media applications has provided individuals with the new ways of identity practices. Through checking in at locations, uploading still and moving images of/with certain spaces, and adding hashtags to proliferate meanings, space has turned into a stage where self-identities are digitally practiced. Within this context, this article explores the production of space through these practices on Instagram in the case study of Mavibahçe Shopping Center in Izmir, Turkey. The analysis based on questionnaires and digital media surveys targets the converged space of the same digital and physical location of Mavibahçe with the aim of providing insights into the use of space for identity constructions. The study concludes that visitors reproduce space through transmediated identity practices in Instagram in order to demonstrate their affiliations to certain lifestyles as part of their digital habitus. While they perform these acts, they prefer to use the spatial attributes that they favor as the background setting of their spatial self and tag only affirmative hashtags for their spatial experiences along with these representations, which reproduce the space of the chosen architectural settings in the digital media.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-08-26T03:20:28Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519869995
Digital first personality: Automation and influence within evolving media
ecologies
- Authors: Jonathon Hutchinson
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  This article is about the new roles within social media as a result of the software that automatically gathers and influences our usage: digital first personalities. I use cultural intermediation as a framework to locate the automated processes, such as algorithmic generated recommender systems, that influence content consumption practices driven by digital first personalities. First, the article applies cultural intermediation to celebrity, social media influencers and algorithms to highlight how media is produced and distributed by new forms of intermediation. This section outlines the new players in social media, how the value of media content is transferred from one stakeholder group to another and how algorithms increasingly place prominence on particular types of content. The article then presents fieldwork from several digital agencies that are responsible for creating the digital first personality role. These agencies are demonstrable of those that produce commercially oriented content alongside other more public affairs-oriented content. Finally, the article argues that digital first personalities are crucial actors within cultural intermediation to ensure public issues remain visible to those stakeholders who are most impacted by timely information on societal issues.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-19T04:11:13Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519858921
Exploring the digital poorhouse
- Authors: Nathan W Fisk
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-18T03:12:31Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519863143
Book Review: A Networked Self and Love
Open Access Article
- Authors: Chrysi Dagoula
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-10T03:47:30Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519863142
Book Review: Fake Geek Girls: Fandom, Gender, and the Convergence Culture
Industry
- Authors: Amanda C Cote
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-09T04:05:37Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519861739
Palmer Luckey and the rise of contemporary virtual reality
- Authors: Daniel Harley
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  Despite a lack of consumer interest as recently as 2012, virtual reality (VR) technologies entered the mainstream in 2014 backed by multinational corporations, including Facebook and Google. At the heart of this transition is Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and purported ‘face’ of VR. This article develops a case study centred on Palmer Luckey to examine the rise of contemporary VR within the overlapping, contemporaneous contexts of video game culture and the misogynistic gamergate movement. As gamergate expanded its scope with far-right political fervour, Luckey’s political ambitions also expanded in scope. I argue that Luckey’s promotion under the banner of ‘progress’ serves to reify White, male systems of power that are both established and contested within cultures of technological development.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-02T03:46:48Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519860237
Travel Frog: Traversing cultural borders with mobile games
- Authors: Hugh Davies, Zhuying Li
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  This study concerns the Japanese mobile game Tabi Kaeru (2017), ‘旅かえる’, or Travel Frog as it is known in English. We explore Travel Frog’s astonishing success in China in early 2018 despite no marketing campaign or Chinese localization of this Japanese language game. First outlining the game and its development, we then trace its reception in Chinese and Western social media and its popularity among Chinese players. Combining comparative media and digital ethnographic methodologies, we explore the role of Internet influencers and investigate North Asian cultural commonalities such as Buddhist Zen philosophy, work ethic, and family values examining how they may have contributed to the popularity of the game. Recognizing the cultural appeal of this game outside its native language, we call for an interrogation of the process of games localization as a factor in the success of videogames. This article brings a rare examination of the transnational impact of games by exploring how they are transmitted through contemporary social media and interpreted through enduring cultural connections.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-01T03:11:54Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519856619
Watch to win' E-sport, broadcast expertise and technicity in Dota 2
- Authors: Ben Egliston
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-06-11T02:46:10Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519851180
‘I gave someone a good death’: Anonymity in a community of Reddit’s
medical professionals
- Authors: Nicole M Henninger
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-05-23T03:48:28Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519847329
Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity
- Authors: Trine Syvertsen, Gunn Enli
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-05-17T02:47:42Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519847325
Archival adventuring
- Authors: Melissa Kagen
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-05-07T02:06:36Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519847875
Tweeting the cosmos: On the bot poetry of The Ephemerides
- Authors: Richard A Carter
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-04-12T03:59:51Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519837796
Collecting and media change, or: Listening to Phish via app
- Authors: Scott Kushner
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-04-05T03:03:19Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519838741
What do home robots want' The ambivalent power of cuteness in robotic
relationships
- Authors: Catherine Caudwell, Cherie Lacey
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-04-03T04:16:45Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519837792
Discourse or gimmick' Digital marginalia in online scholarship
- Authors: R Lyle Skains
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-02-27T03:58:25Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519831988
Memes against sexism' A multi-method analysis of the feminist protest
- Authors: Cornelia Brantner, Katharina Lobinger, Miriam Stehling
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-02-15T04:46:07Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519827804
Political ‘apptivism’ in the Middle East: The case of iNakba
- Authors: Oren Golan, Noam Tirosh
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-02-13T03:48:13Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519825757
From textual orality to oral textuality: The case of voice queries
- Authors: Oren Soffer
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-02-07T02:20:19Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519825773
Winning and losing on social media: Comparing viral political posts across
platforms
- Authors: Anders Olof Larsson
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-01-14T06:15:41Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856518821589
Rethinking the distinctions between old and new media: Introduction
- Authors: Frederik Lesage, Simone Natale
  First page: 575
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  Recent approaches to media change have convincingly shown that distinctions between old and new media are inadequate to describe the complexity of present and past technological configurations. Yet, oldness and newness remain powerful ways to describe and understand media change and continue to direct present-day perceptions and interactions with a wide range of technologies – from vinyl records to artificial intelligence voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa. How can one refuse rigid definitions of old and new, while at the same time retaining the usefulness and pertinence of these concepts for the study and analysis of media change' This introduction to the special issue entitled ‘Rethinking the Distinctions between Old and New Media’ aims to answer this question by taking up the notion of biography. We argue that the recurrence of oldness and newness as categories to describe media is strictly related to the fact that interactions with media are embedded within a biographical understanding of time, which refers both to the life course of people or objects and to the narratives that are created and disseminated about them. Employing this approach entails considering the history of a medium against the history of the changing definitions that are attributed to it and, more broadly, to considering time not only as such but also against the narratives that make it thinkable and understandable.
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-16T08:41:34Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519863364
Don’t copy that: Security printing and the making of high-tech paper
- Authors: Aleksandra Kaminska
  First page: 590
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-05-09T04:15:40Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519845748
‘An Extremely Useful Invention’: Edison’s electric pen and the
unravelling of old and new media
- Authors: Peter Unwin
  First page: 607
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-05-29T03:21:16Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519846790
Deep new: The shifting narratives of artificial intelligence from Deep
Blue to AlphaGo
- Authors: Paolo Bory
  First page: 627
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-02-13T03:48:57Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519829679
Keeping what real' Vinyl records and the future of independent culture
- Authors: Michael Palm
  First page: 643
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-03-27T04:17:04Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519835485
On the relativity of old and new media: A lifeworld perspective
Open Access Article
- Authors: Manuel Menke, Christian Schwarzenegger
  First page: 657
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-03-07T06:04:22Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519834480
Retromedia-in-practice: A practice theory approach for rethinking old and
new media technologies
- Authors: Paolo Magaudda, Sergio Minniti
  First page: 673
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-04-25T05:09:32Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519842805
Book Review: Spotify Teardown: Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music
- Authors: Ellis Jones
  First page: 782
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-06-06T03:19:30Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519854204
Book Review: Post, Mine, Repeat: Social Media Data Mining Becomes Ordinary
- Authors: Alisha Karabinus
  First page: 784
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-06-21T02:38:15Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519856622
Book Review: Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation,
and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media
- Authors: Joseph Seering
  First page: 1185
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-06-27T02:17:17Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519854976
Book Review: Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women
Technologists and Lost its Edge in Computing
- Authors: Ofra Klein
  First page: 1186
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-06-27T02:17:35Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519856621
Book Review: Actionable Media: Digital Communication Beyond the Desktop
- Authors: Cory Barker
  First page: 1188
  Abstract: Convergence, Ahead of Print.
  
  Citation: Convergence
  PubDate: 2019-07-02T03:46:09Z
  DOI: 10.1177/1354856519856623