Henry Mainsah

‘I could well have said I was Norwegian but nobody would believe me’: Ethnic minority youths’ self-representation on social network sites

This article addresses questions of identities on the web by examining how Norwegian immigrant youth use social network sites as spaces of personal expression and identity work. The data for the empirical analysis are drawn from a series of selected individual profiles authored by 16 to 20-year-old youth. Elements of text and images were analysed to explore how cultural identities were reproduced or contested in the process of self-presentation. This article explores how the process of identity construction in these online spaces reflects the sort of identity politics played out within the everyday context of the multicultural society and how youth position themselves.

Social media, design and civic engagement by youth: a cultural view

This argumentative essay at the intersection of media studies, Cultural Studies, and literacy research, frames of PD in the emerging territory of social media and civic engagement. We refer to core principles of PD and to recent reflections on social technologies and participation in design. These are linked to research on designing for participative cultural expression via social media. PD is particularly suited to young peoples involvement in the context of design and civic engagement. We argue that a cultural view that highlights issues of power, identity, agency, and culture offers useful avenues for negotiating the interests and perspectives of different stakeholders in civic initiatives. There is a need for design to connect to existing participatory and cultures of youth. We offer illustrations of these and a number of considerations for possible future use.

Participatory design through a cultural lens: insights from postcolonial theory

This paper examines challenges faced in participatory designs confrontation with cultural complexity in contexts of intercultural encounter and transnational exchange. We argue that there is need for more elaborate approaches to culture, technology, and participation in relation to participatory design. By examining issues at the crossroads between knowledge and power, agency and representation we identify a variety of ways in which Postcolonial Theory might inform Participatory Design.

Social media, design and creative citizenship: an introduction

ABSTRACT This article serves as an introduction to a special issue of the journal Digital Creativity, which addresses the challenges, potentials and meaning of different creative forms of citizenship enacted through social media. The articles in this special issue paint a complex picture of the expressions and meaning and citizenship. This introduction aims to provide a wider context for the contributions to this special issue by reviewing some of the claims made for the creative civic potential of social media and identifying a number of issues and questions that might inform analyses of the subject.

Reaching hard-to-reach users using online media to get a glimpse of work in marine contexts

from fundamental interaction techniques to detailed screen layouts. To design for marine contexts like this, the designer needs to know the domain, understand the work carried out and the technology used, and appreciate the experiences of workers on the site. An obvious approach to gain such insights is fieldwork involving on-site observation and interviews with users [3]. However, doing fieldwork in these kinds of environments is a challenge. Sites are often situated in faraway places, and access to them can be stringently controlled and may require specific safety certificates that designers normally do not have. New Avenues for Inquiry into the Maritime Workplace Faced with these limitations, the designers and researchers in the UBC project have begun conceiving of new ways of getting the inside story on ships bridge environments and the people working there. On-line media, such as blogs, forums, and social networking sites, allow anyone with access to the Internet to write about their work. This has lenging place to work and live, but it is not that well known that ships have become advanced technological environments. In such places, traditional seamanship is no longer sufficient to do a good job. Mariners also need to understand how the advanced technology works. Yet several studies report that understanding and using this technology is a difficult task, and that the design of the working environment and equipment does not support the mari-ners in a satisfactory manner [2]. In a design research project called the Ulstein Bridge Concept (UBC), we are designing the future ships bridge of offshore service vessels. The bridge is the place from which the captain and the deck officers control the ship. Offshore service vessels are ships that support the oil industry, for example platform supply vessels, specially designed to bring cargo to and from offshore oil platforms, and anchor-handling tug supply vessels, mainly used to tow rigs to a location and anchor them up. The aim of the UBC project is to take a completely new look at the bridge environment of such vessels and redesign everything from the The wind was 75kts give or take and I was on watch at the time but had just been relieved by the other DP operator. Suddenly the wind shifted just enough to push the bow from the required heading. This is fairly common during these extreme conditions but at the time this happened a 15-meter wave hit …

Building networks for knowledge exchange, and design strategies for climate futures

Abstract This paper examines the role of a research network that involves design schools and researchers from a wide variety of disciplines. The C-SAN Futures network addressed the role that global exchanges within design education and research networks can play in addressing challenges related to climate change. The network organized researcher and student exchanges, events, collaboration with local communities and the building of a digital platform to support knowledge exchange and communication. Through these actions, the network highlights the importance of a new kind of dialogue and new approaches to design research and education that underline possible futures and an approach to sustainability based on an understanding humanity as a holistic ecology. The paper shows how the network has played a key role in meaningful exchanges between design students and teachers, and given participants access to new experiences, perspectives and strategies for addressing climate change, sustainability and resource dilemmas.