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Blockchain As a Technological Imaginary: Media Framing and the Views of Blockchain Professionals in the Arab World

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Blockchain As a Technological Imaginary: Media Framing and the Views of Blockchain Professionals in the Arab World United Arab Emirates University Scholarworks@UAEU Philosophy Dissertations Philosophy 4-2020 BLOCKCHAIN AS A TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: MEDIA FRAMING AND THE VIEWS OF BLOCKCHAIN PROFESSIONALS IN THE ARAB WORLD Ibrahim Subeh Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/philosophy_dissertations Part of the Educational Sociology Commons, Social Media Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Subeh, Ibrahim, "BLOCKCHAIN AS A TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: MEDIA FRAMING AND THE VIEWS OF BLOCKCHAIN PROFESSIONALS IN THE ARAB WORLD" (2020). Philosophy Dissertations. 15. https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/philosophy_dissertations/15 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at Scholarworks@UAEU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarworks@UAEU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. United Arab Emirates University College of Humanities and Social Sciences BLOCKCHAIN AS A TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: MEDIA FRAMING AND THE VIEWS OF BLOCKCHAIN PROFESSIONALS IN THE ARAB WORLD Ibrahim Majid Ahmed Subeh This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Under the Supervision of Dr. Badreya Al-Jenaibi April 2020 ii Declaration of Original Work I, Ibrahim Majid Ahmed Subeh, the undersigned, a graduate student at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and the author of this dissertation entitled “Blockchain as a Technological Imaginary: Media Framing and the Views of Blockchain Professionals in the Arab World”, hereby, solemnly declare that this dissertation is my own original research work that has been done and prepared by me under the supervision of Professor Badreya Al-Jenaibi, in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UAEU. This work has not previously been presented or published or formed the basis for the award of any academic degree, diploma or a similar title at this or any other university. Any materials borrowed from other sources (whether published or unpublished) and relied upon or included in my dissertation have been properly cited and acknowledged in accordance with appropriate academic conventions. I further declare that there is no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, data collection, authorship, presentation and/or publication of this dissertation. Student’s Signature: Date: 16/5/2020 iii Copyrights © 2020 Ibrahim Majid Ahmed Subeh All Rights Reserved. iv Advisory Committee 1) Advisor: Dr. Badreya Al-Jenaibi Title: Professor Department of Media and Creative Industries College of Humanities and Social Sciences 2) Member: Dr. Ali Noor Title: Professor Department of Media and Creative Industries College of Humanities and Social Sciences 3) Member: Dr. Fayez M. Elessawy Title: Professor Department of Geography and Urban Sustainability College of Humanities and Social Sciences v Approval of the Doctorate Dissertation This Doctorate Dissertation is approved by the following Examining Committee Members: 1) Advisor (Committee Chair): Prof. Badreya Al-Jenaibi Title: Professor Department of Media and Creative Industries College of Humanities and Social Sciences Signature Date 22/05/2020 2) Member: Prof. Muhammed Danladi Musa Title: Associate Professor Department of Media and Creative Industries College of Humanities and Social Sciences Signature M. Musa Date 20th May, 2020 3) Member: Dr. Hosni Mostafa El-dali Title: Associate Professor Department of Cognitive Sciences College of Humanities and Social Sciences Signature Date 22/05/2020 4) Member (External Examiner): Dr. Gomaa Agag Title: Senior lecturer Department of Marketing School of Business, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Signature Gomaa Agag Date 20/05/2020 vi This Doctorate Dissertation is accepted by: Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Prof. Hassan Al Naboodah Signature Date 9/8/2020 Dean of the College of the Graduate Studies: Prof. Ali Al-Marzouqi Signature Date 9/8/2020 Copy ____ of ____ vii Abstract Blockchain is a new way to organize, process and share data; it is a distributed ledger that facilitates the secure and private exchange of digital assets and content types without the need for intermediaries, thus revolutionizing all sectors involving the use of databases. This first systematic study of blockchain as a technological imaginary empirically assesses the media framing of this emerging technology in the Arab world and juxtaposes it to the perceptions of blockchain professionals in the region. The researcher uses a mixed methods approach consisting of quantitative and qualitative techniques; a quantitative content analysis of the online versions of fifty-two mainstream online Arab newspapers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and UAE from 2017 to 2019 is conducted; five hundred news articles published over a period of three years are collected, read and coded according to four frame dimensions identified in earlier studies; presentation, subtopics, cognitive attributes and affective attributes. Semi-structured interviews with thirty blockchain professionals followed by a thematic analysis are used to add depth to the data. This dissertation offers insights into the degree to which Arab media institutions understand blockchain as a concept and insights on the region’s readiness for adaptation; it concludes that the coverage of blockchain in online Arab press is predominantly positive. Nevertheless, there are some differences in the media coverage between the studied countries which are reflected in the amount of coverage, subtopics, applications and tone. There is a significant association between specific applications and the tone. There is also a significant association between certain subtopics and the tone. Blockchain Professional perspectives vary on the characteristics and role of the media in covering the topic. Coverage of blockchain in the Arab region is perceived as a reflection of the interest and technological understanding of Arab governments with the UAE being the most developed in this regard. Experts outline a unique set of inherent qualities that makes blockchain impactful on many fields, including media and mass communications without ignoring perceived risks. The dissertation reveals an absence in discussing technology ethics both at the level of blockchain professionals and the media. Finally, the dissertation highlights several areas of similarity and difference between the views of experts and the media and presents a list of recommendations. viii Keywords: Blockchain, heterotopia, media framing, arab world, technological imaginary, disintermediation, decentralization, technological determinism, technology ethics, inherent qualities of technology, disruptive technologies, artificial intelligence, mixed method ix Title and Abstract (in Arabic) سﻻسل الكتل كمخيال تقني: التأطير اﻹعﻻمي لسﻻسل الكتل وتصورات المختصين العاملين في العالم العربي الملخص تقنية سﻻسل الكتل المعروفة بالبلوكتشين هي طريقة جديدة لتنظيم ومعالجة وتبادل البيانا ت: تعرف أيضاً بدفتر اﻷستاذ الموزع الذي يسهل التبادل اﻵمن والخاص لﻷصول ا لرقمية والمحت ويات المتنوعة دون الحاجة إلى وسطاء وبالتالي فهي تمثل ثورة تقنية ذات أثر جذري على جميع القطاعات التي تعتم د على استخدام قواعد البيانات. ونظراً لكونها تقنية حديثة نسبيا، معظم الناس يكو نون تصوراتهم عنها من خﻻل وسائل اﻹعﻻم فقط. تقوم هذه الدراسة المنهجية اﻷولى من نوعها للبلوكتشين كمخيال تقني بتحليل التأطير اﻹعﻻمي لهذه التكنولوجيا الناشئة في الصحافة العربية باﻹضافة إلى استشفاف اراء العاملين في المجال. تستخدم الدراسة بيانات من خمس دول وهي مصر والمغرب والمملكة العربية السعودية ولبنان واﻹمارات العربية المتحدة. تعتمد هذه الدراسة على منهجية بحث مختلطة تتألف من جانب كمي يتمثل في تحليل المحتوى وجانب نوعي يتمثل في المقابﻻت. يحلل الباحث محتوى النسخ المتاحة على اﻹنترنت لستة وخمسين من الصحف العربية السائدة في الفترة ما بين 2017 إلى 2019؛ تتكون عينة الدراسة من خمسمئة مقالة إخبارية منشورة خﻻل فترة ثﻻث سنوات، تم ت قراءتها وترميزها وف ًقا ﻷربعة أبعاد نظرية محددة في دراسات سابقة؛ وهي العرض، الموضوعات الفرعية، السمات المعرفية والسمات العاطفية. تتكون العينة المختارة للمقابﻻت من ثﻻثين من المتخصصين في البلوكشين وذلك بهدف إضافة عمق للتحليل. تهدف الدراسة إلى إجراء تقييم منهجي للتصورات العامة لهذه التكنولوجيا الناشئة في اﻹعﻻم العربي لتكون هذه الدراسة مرجعاً للجهات المهتمة في اﻻست ثمار في هذه التقنية واﻻستفاد ة منها في الوقت الذي تستمر تقنيات الثورة الصناعية الرابعة وعلى رأسها تقنية البلوكتشين في اكتساب أهمية إقليمية وعالمية متزايدة. تقدم الدراسة نظرة شاملة على مدى فهم المؤسسات اﻹعﻻمية لمفهوم البلوكشين في العالم العربي وتستشف بذلك م دى اﻻستعداد لتقبلها. تخلص الدراسة إلى أن التغطية في الصحافة العربية إيجابية في الغالب مع وجود بعض اﻻختﻻفات بين البلدان التي شملتها الدراسة والتي تنعكس في مقدار التغطية والموضوعات الفرعية والتطبيقات ومدى إيجابية التغطية. وباﻹضافة الى ذلك، هناك ارتباط كبير x بين نوع التطبيق ومدى إيجابية التغطية. وهناك أي ًضا ارتباط كبير بين بعض الموضوعات الفرعية ومدى إيجابية التغطية. تختلف وجهات نظر المختصي ن حول خصائص ودور التغطية اﻻعﻻمية للبلوكشين ويُنظر لها على أنها انعكاس لمقدار ﻻهتمام والفهم الحكومي للتكنولوجيا الحديثة والذي يجعل التغطية اﻻعﻻمية اﻹماراتية اﻷكثر تطوراً في هذا القطاع. يكشف المختصين عن مجموعة من الصفات المتأصلة التي تجعل تكنولوجيا البلوكشين مؤثرة في العديد من المجاﻻت بما في ذلك مجال اﻹعﻻم واﻻتصال الجماهيري بدون تجاهل اﻹشارة الي المخاطر المتخيلة المرتبطة بهذه التقنية. تكشف الدراسة عن غياب لمفهوم اخﻻقيات التقنية عن المحتوى العربي المختص بالبلوكشين وعن وتصورات العاملين في المجال. تشير الدراسة الى أن التغطية اﻹعﻻمية بشكل عام ﻻ ترقى إلى مستوى تطلعات
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