March 2002 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

research gaps
by Mark Andrejevic 18 Mar '02

18 Mar '02

Although I have yet to fathom precisely which gaps/repressions/oversights in Internet research Lachlan seeks to rectify, and while I find the offensive part of his contribution to be not particularly academic in nature, and the academic part to be not particularly offensive, the question of research emphasis remains an intriguing one (and one that I know is of great concern to AoIR folks, independent of any provocation/intervention). In the spirit of getting the discussion going, I'm tempted to take the question seriously, and throw out a couple of observations. First, while I don't think the list or the organization necessarily purports to represent the state of academic inquiry into the Internet in any comprehensive fashion, I was very interested to see the breakdown of submissions to the Maastricht conference, which might serve as a rough starting point for considering areas of research emphasis. Far and away the two most popular topic areas were (the meta-topic of) "theoretical/methodological approaches", and "individuals, groups, and communities" online. I'm not exactly sure how the numbering here works, but it looks like these two groups together accounted for well over a quarter of the total submissions. I suspect there are institutional/historical reasons for this kind of emphasis that are related to the formation of comm research and the sub-disciplines that have emerged (as well as to the institutional history/structure of AoIR itself). I'd be very curious to hear people's reactions to the kind of emphasis that emerges from this snapshot (if anything meaningful can be drawn from such a general set of topic areas). What types of justifications/concerns emerge in response to this breakdown. (stats are at http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/confman/chair/stats.php3) On a more specific note, there were some (seeming) omissions that jumped out at me (and I'm sure different ones jump out at different people). To name a few: In an era when the industry emphasis seems to be on jockeying for vertical integration in the coming broadband era (so as to lock up a content/pipeline combo -- with a subscriber base built in), I'd be very interested in hearing more about the political economy of the Internet -- a topic that seems to beg for the depth of scrutiny/analysis possible in academic research. Intellectual property is certainly an important part of this research -- and one that has received plenty of attention from researchers both in AoIR and out. However, the way in which the broadband network will be structured and developed (and the role played by regulation and by the recent spate of merger activity) that remains a central concern, and I'd be grateful for suggestions regarding scholarship in this area. On a related note, the future of the network is a hot topic in business/legal circles. While I'm tormenting my students with conceptions of the online public sphere, AOL/TimeWarner is trying to figure out how to control broadband's killer app (video on demand, allegedly). I would be very interested in research that explores the emerging economic/regulatory regime that will shape the future of the network. This is crucial research for all who are concerned with the fate of things like online community/creativity/democracy. One of the things that Internet research can/ought to do is not just tell us where we have been, but provide some suggestions about where we're presumably going, and how we might exercise some control over that path. At stake is not just the "code", but the infrastructure: a broadband network that's fat downstream (to facilitate pay-per-view) but thin upstream (to prevent file-sharing between "end-users") could alter what we have come to think of as the non-hierarchical, de-centered character of the net and exert important determinations on online activity. Any pointers toward research that addresses these issues? My apologies for the length of this post... Mark

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Trolling
by Susan Herring 18 Mar '02

18 Mar '02

Fellow Internet researchers, Lachlan Brown is a troll. The solution to how to deal with a troll's disruptive effects is not simple -- both ignoring him and restricting his access via moderation or other means have their drawbacks. If anyone is interested, I've just co-authored a paper analyzing a case of trolling that bears similarities to the one currently taking place on this list. It's under review for publication, but I'd be happy to send a pre-publication copy to anyone who emails me. Best, Susan Herring

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Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #331 - 16 msgs
by Nicholas Jankowski 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

Nancy invites comments from members of the list. I am for institution and enforcement of guidelines to prevent further extremes as found in the Lachlan contributions to this list. I also recommend the procedures and software required for individual list members to kill contributions be publicized on the list. If nothing is done, this list will rapidlly degenerate in value for many of us. Nick Jankowski Associate Professor University of Nijmegen Post Office Box 9104 6500 HE Nijmegen The Netherlands > >Message: 5 >Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 14:36:48 -0600 >To: air-l(a)aoir.org >From: Nancy Baym <nbaym(a)ku.edu> >Subject: [Air-l] re: Lachlan's CV (or stepping OVER the line) >Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > >Mary Gray writes: > >>I'd like to ask the AIR members and >>leadership to rethink/reconsider our stand on guidelines for posting to this >>list > >Mary and others, the executive committee has been discussing this a >lot lately, so don't feel your concerns have gone unnoticed. I think >it's fair to say that if there is a consensus amongst list members >that we need to create a new standard of guidelines and means of >enforcing them, we are open to doing that. My preference has been to >let the list speak first. > >This list has been going for just under two and a half years and has >grown from 14 members to over 1,000. It's reasonable to expect weird >periods from time to time, and net scholars ought to figure out >together how to get through them with the kind of list we want this >to be intact. > >Nancy >_________________________________________________________ >Nancy Baym >nbaym(a)ku.edu >http://www.ku.edu/home/nbaym >Communication Studies, University of Kansas >102 Bailey, 1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045, USA >Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org >

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Re: [Air-l] trans-national diaspora networks
by John Daly 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

Christina wrote: > It would be great if we could all hook up, either at a future AoIR > conference (a panel?) and/or off-list. > Sounds good to me. Would anyone be interested in working on a topic page for the Development Gateway for Diaspora Communities? I think there might be benefits for the various communities to have a place to share experience. http://www.developmentgateway.org/ Also another example: I have been reading a proposal to create telecenters in Guidimakha region of Moritania which involves migrant associations IDS (Immigration Development Sahel) and UAGF (Union of migrant Associations from Guidimakha in France) as well as the French appropriate technology NGO, GRET, and Alcatel. In part the project is justified as enhancing communication from the expatriates back to their currently unwired homefolk. -- John Daly http://www.geocities.com/stconsultant/

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Lists similar to AoIR
by JASON NOLAN 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

Hi; Are there any other lists similar to AoIR that are not presently so encumbered with internal issues? -- Jason Nolan PhD Scholar in Residence, Knowledge Media Design Institute University of Toronto http://achieve.utoronto.ca/jason/ (416)978-5656/3884f ICQ: 6238593

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March 2002 executive committee report
by Steve Jones 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

March 15, 2002 Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee Prepared by Steve Jones AoIR Executive Committee President: Steve Jones Vice-President: Nancy Baym Secretary: Ulla Bunz Treasurer: Benjamin Bates Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl 2002 Conference Coordinator: Monica Murero 2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess 1. Introduction & General (Jones) Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. 2. Executive Officers' Reports 2.1 President (Jones) 2.1.1 Work on creation of two new working groups (Internet resources and elections) has continued, and I hope to announce to members the charge to those groups and solicit volunteers shortly. Work on creating a subscriber policy is ongoing and should be announced shortly. One quick note regarding "moderation" of air-l. At this time the only moderation that takes place (courtesy Charlie and Jeremy) is the approval or disapproval of posts from those who are not subscribed to the list. On occasion it happens that even though one subscribes, due to e-mail configuration it appears to the server that e-mail is being sent from an address other than the one that had been subscribed. Charlie and Jeremy try to get to all messages that are queued for approval as quickly as possible. On behalf of the entire executive committee - congratulations, _Dr._ Ulla Bunz! 2.2 Vice President (Baym) 2.2.1 Coordinating reviews for the E-Sector category of conference submissions, drafting charges for upcoming working groups, collecting and analyzing data on nations from which we received proposals in our three conferences (growing steadily), advising a bit on conference 2004 in Toronto planning. 2.3 Secretary (Bunz) 2.3.1 I have participated in the exec discussions (summary see below). I have also worked with David Silver and Matt Allen on the "list of lists" project. We are currently at step 4 of 6 (editing submissions) and hope to be able to announce the completed project soon. I also defended my dissertation and have joined the ranks of "terminally degreed". This month on the executive list: * Decision to create policies regarding promotional or discount offers, and regarding affiliation with other organizations or businesses * Decision to provide information (such as announcements and travel info) about conference that are close to Aoir (time, space, topic) during our Maastricht meet * Discussion on possible aoir member input/polling regarding passing along members benefit offer the exec receives; aoir member input would suggest evaluation criteria that could be applied to potential offers; different polling options (like members only announcements, website, etc. were discussed) * Discussion on calling for or nominating people for the two working groups (election, Internet resources) * We began to share some data on number of people/countries submitting to Aoir 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0; and number of countries represented in the organization's membership; Overall we are happy to report that especially with Aoir 3.0, we are becoming increasingly international and are drawing submissions from several countries that were not represented before. * Discussion whether we should craft a statement of values concerning the use of technology for creative work and publication * Discussion on spam, filtering messages, reducing quotes in postings, list management, policies and netiquette * Some organizational and scheduling issues regarding planning Aoir 3.0 2.4 Treasurer (Bates) 2.4.1 No report. 2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman) 2.5.1 Silver: Continuing work with Ulla and Matt on the list of lists projects. We have received from air-l members the names of and information on over 120 Net-related mailing lists. We have worked to trim this list down to the most relevant and currently have a little more than 80. We are now in the process of annotating them and designing a platform for access to the lists. For AIR 3.0: Coordinating the proposal review process for the Internet in History section. Reviewing proposals for the Internet in Cultural Contexts section. We've seen some great proposals and have an excellent team of reviewers. 2.5.2 Wellman: On leave. 2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade) 2.6.1 Allen: No report. 2.6.2 Shade: Participated in a symposium at Harvey Mudd College, March 9, titled Community in the Digital Age: Philosophy and Practice. (see www.hixon.hmc.edu/Calendar.html) The Sj was also there so it provided an opportunity to chat about some AOIR stuff and life in general. I much appreciate f2f rather than e-chat. but hey. Finished the reviewing and assigning of the papers for AOIR3.0. 2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup) 2.7.1 On leave. 2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl) 2.8.1 Hunsinger: busy with conference primarily; did some things on the server; answered questions; debated on exec. 2.8.2 Breindahl: I have been acting as list moderator for AIR-L as usual. I have also taken part in the discussions in the exec committee, especially with regards to our web presence. 2.9 2002 Conference (Monica Murero, Coordinator; Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Program Chair) 2.9.1 Murero: In the last month I have been doing several activities for AoIR conference organization, and kept in constant contact with Steve and Klaus. I have worked on sponsors and speakers' contact, registration process, web site up-date, supervision of local facilities, and coordinate local activities. Folks, the exhibition center looks great! As regards the program and the submissions, I have been working with Klaus to set the scheduling of the program/panels for the conference, and with Nancy, Jeremy and Klaus on reviewing abstracts. I have answered to many messages related to the abstract proposals, and decided with Klaus on late proposals we have received. All the activities are proceeding well and we have already received almost 50 pre-registrations to the conference. 2.9.2 Jensen: Having passed the submission deadline of February 15, coordinators, reviewers, and I have been hard at work processing proposals for the AoIR 3.0 conference. The process is proceeding on schedule, so that we expect to notify submitters as well as outlining a preliminary program by April 1. 2.10 AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair) 2.10.1 Draft modified in light of comments and responses to a first draft, a second version of the document we hope to present to aoir 3.0 in October is being circulated among committee members for further comment and refinement. ------------------------------------end of executive committee report------------------------------ The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is international in scope. The association's web site is at http://www.aoir.org. Membership information is available at http://aoir.org/airjoin.html

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for Mary
by Lachlan Brown 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

My first html. I put cyberfeminism on the WWW: http://web.archive.org/web/19970515012200/www.gold.ac.uk/difference/ang.html Lachlan PS. I do not use UseNet. -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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The Commons
by Lachlan Brown 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

The model of 'the commons' I am presently researching (an action research - getting back to the Real after rsearching the Real and the Net) is an industrial commons with a number of needy people competing over limited reources that fluctuate over time. Its a relatively closed system with landlord and contracted agents, as well as police and courts (tresspass law) impacting upon it. It is not a study of the impact of social relations on ecology, though ecology does impact the system. It is winter and this is an open air context. Yes, I find no tragedy occurs. Very little strife among the competitors, all under high stress within the system under study. Lachlan -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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What?
by Lachlan Brown 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

Re: MLGrey ucsd I am raising questions to excite response. You edited: >...I mean, identity and > bodies kind of matter don't you think?]. from my mail. Lachlan -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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susan?
by Lachlan Brown 17 Mar '02

17 Mar '02

susan? right. I have used email long enought to know when a false name is being used and when a bogus point of research is being raised in a false identity. I had that a lot. You can 'read the grain' of the email. If you know people's writing you know their email. The rules might forbid such shennanigans? There are plenty of opportunities for identity play elsewhere. I wonder, is there any research on Lightspeed University? Lachlan -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Travelocity.com is giving away two million travel miles. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3969773;6991039;g?http://svc.travelocity.com/…

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