The Intersectional Effect of Social Networks and Citizenship Empowerment in the Digital Societies

Dear Colleagues,

Since the birth of social media networks in the mid-2000s, the digital environment has provided new possibilities to bring citizens towards a continuous, ubiquitous and international network connection, a context in which data and mobile technologies acquire a new meaning, modifying pre-existing communication codes, and generating new challenges of individual, social and ethical natures. In the digital scenario, which continues to evolve rapidly and which some authors are beginning to call post-digital (Daugerthy 2019), we are therefore faced with a panorama characterized by information hyperinflation. That is to say, there are more demanding users with more access to information, although this information is not necessarily of a better quality, with traditional information actors progressively losing credibility: governments, public and private organizations and the media.

Digital and social platforms, in their infinite possibilities, have introduced new ways of relating to one another, becoming informed, contributing to the community, creating and sharing content, learning intellectually, etc. Users have been empowered and technology has placed an entire media universe (real and virtual) in the palm of their hand and at the distance of a single “click”. Thus, digital immersion requires citizens who are both empowered and competent with the media, considering both active participation and civic commitment (Catalina-García, García-Jiménez, & Menor-Sendra, 2019). In this sense, social networks have become a priority medium for the Internet, which has quickly come to occupy a leading place in the spaces for communication, socialization, consumption and participatory learning (Redon-Pantoja, 2019).

Given that these platforms tend to transform the ways in which users connect by impacting the structures, formats and contents that generate unique and innovative citizen engagement, a new horizon is proposed for the understanding of human relations. That is to say, a horizon of inquiry has emerged which ranges from the use of interpersonal skills on the Internet, to how prosocial behaviors are developed in each of the groups and online communities (García-Galera, Fernández-Muñoz, and Porto-Pedrosa, 2017). Therefore, in an asynchronous way, the current hyperconnected society finds itself in a flow of data exchange, transformed into photography, video, text, themes and trends, stories and narratives that both individually and collectively generate different currents such as clicktivism or digital leisure. (Amante & Amante-Mendes, 2017).

However, even though the Internet has become the new agora of the 21st century, the mere use of the Internet does not imply associations that guarantee success. A scenario of contradictions has consolidated whereby the technological hyperconnection of the public has necessarily implied that there is an emotionally connected or reliably informed audience. Media literacy actions must be carried out in new environments and on web platforms, where basic minimum skills are being contemplated to deal with increasingly latent phenomena: fake news, infoxication, grooming, sexting, sharenting, influencers, cyberbullying, among others (Wellman, Stoldt, Tully, and Ekdale, 2020).

The objective of this Special Issue is to provide researchers with a space to delve into the dynamics that are transforming current global and digital citizenship towards a new scenario for the empowerment and development of increasingly necessary (trans)media skills. Authors are encouraged to submit studies of individual and collective virtual behaviors and actions that are generated in social networks, discovering emerging phenomena, communities and good practices.

Submitted papers must be based on high-quality, rigorous quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research, using intersectional and comparative analyzes to provide new insights and advances in the topics addressed.

This Special Edition will focus on (but is not limited to) the following topics:

• Social networks and empowerment;
• Social networks and interpersonal relationships;
• Social networks and digital citizenship;
• Edu communicative social media;
• Social networks and infomedia;
• Mobile and clicktivism;
• Influencers and their focus on Generation Z;
• Digital activism and young people;
• Social media and (trans) media skills;
• Prosocial e-citizenship;
• Digital public relations;
• Participatory culture in social networks;
• Digital citizenship and prosumers;
• Participation and creativity in the digital age;
• Digital community media;
• Blogs and citizen communication;
• Digital activism and climate change;
• Counterculture and MEMES.

In this Special Issue, contributions should follow one of the three acceptable study categories of papers set by the journal, whether article, conceptual paper or review, and address the topic of the Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Cristóbal Fernández-Muñoz
Dr. David Álvarez Rivas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• communication
• digital
• social networks
• participation
• citizenship
• media