"Doing Good": Construction of Meaning in Online Fundraising
Author
Vesterholt, Kira Kathrine
Term
4. term
Publication year
2013
Submitted on
2013-05-31
Pages
71
Abstract
This thesis examines how the idea of 'doing good' is constructed within online fundraising by analyzing two platforms, CrowdRise and JustGiving. Using a multimodal discourse-analytic approach grounded in discourse analysis and social semiotics, the study reads website layout, colors, images, icons, and written text, drawing on Fairclough's textual analysis, Cranny-Francis's multimodal analysis, and Kress and van Leeuwen's layout concepts. Framed by scholarship on ePhilanthropy and humanitarian communication (including debates on post-humanitarianism), it addresses three questions: how 'doing good' is discursively built; which mechanisms are used and with what effects; and how these representations situate online fundraising within broader humanitarian communication. The analysis finds that CrowdRise frames 'doing good' as giving back, raising money, and having fun, heavily leveraging humor, gamification, and community membership ('the crowd') to invite participation at eye level. JustGiving constructs 'doing good' as giving and engaging, being part of and growing a 'world of giving', positions itself explicitly as a fundraising business, links giving to offline events, and seeks to make generosity easier and more enjoyable on the platform. Both sites blend playful consumerism with appeals to universal morality (e.g., generosity as inherently human), illustrating a meeting of charity and business. While online fundraising can broaden reach, the platforms' focus on the user–platform relationship and on the act of fundraising risks distancing donors from beneficiaries by foregrounding giving over how funds are used.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan ideen om 'at gøre godt' konstrueres i online fundraising gennem analyse af to platforme, CrowdRise og JustGiving. Med en multimodal diskursanalytisk tilgang forankret i diskursanalyse og socialsemiotik læses hjemmesidernes layout, farver, billeder, ikoner og skriftlige tekster med afsæt i Faircloughs tekstanalyse, Cranny-Francis' multimodale analyse og Kress og van Leeuwens layoutbegreber. Indrammet af litteratur om ePhilanthropy og humanitær kommunikation (herunder debat om post-humanitarisme) adresserer studiet tre spørgsmål: hvordan 'at gøre godt' bygges diskursivt; hvilke mekanismer der bruges og med hvilke effekter; og hvordan disse repræsentationer placerer online fundraising i en bredere humanitær kommunikativ kontekst. Analysen viser, at CrowdRise fremstiller 'at gøre godt' som at give tilbage, rejse penge og have det sjovt, med stærk brug af humor, gamification og fællesskab ('crowd') for at invitere til deltagelse i øjenhøjde. JustGiving konstruerer 'at gøre godt' som at give og engagere sig, være en del af og vækste en 'verden af givning', positionerer sig tydeligt som fundraising-forretning, knytter givning til offline begivenheder og vil gøre generøsitet lettere og mere fornøjelig på platformen. Begge sider blander legende forbrugerisme med appeller til universel moral (fx generøsitet som menneskelig), hvilket illustrerer mødet mellem velgørenhed og forretning. Samtidig kan online fundraising udvide rækkevidden, men platformenes fokus på relationen mellem bruger og platform og på selve indsamlingen risikerer at øge afstanden mellem donorer og modtagere ved at fremhæve givningen frem for anvendelsen af midlerne.
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