April 2005 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

WIC conference 2005
by Rosemary Agbonlahor 27 Apr '05

27 Apr '05

Hello All, Some list members might be interested in this. Rosemary ========= Have you booked your place?! We hope that you already know that The 6th International WiC Conference takes place between 14th-16th July at the University of Greenwich's historic Maritime Greenwich Campus. The theme of the conference is The Gender Politics of ICT. The Call for Papers has now closed and we wish to let you know that we have selected a wide and varied set of papers to be presented. The Organising Committee believe that papers will fuel much debate which will be helped by the historic, yet comfortable, setting of the conference. Nearby we have the Royal Observatory, The Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum to name but a few of the historic sites. We will actually have our conference dinner at the Royal Observatory. Come along and join us for interesting debate in magnificent surroundings. Remember our conference fees increase after 1st May 2005, so please book your place prior to that date to get advantage of the cheaper price. You will find full information at our website www.wic.org.uk/conference Eva Turner WiC Conference Organiser Principal Lecturer School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies University of East London 4-6 University Way London E16 2RD tel +44 020 8223 4234 WIC2005(a)uel.ac.uk

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RE: Habbo Hotel
by Axel Bruns 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

G'day ! Deanya Lattimore wrote: > has anyone done any research on the habbo.com phenomenon or others like > it? It is a "safe site" for kids 13-18 years old where they create > avatar characters and rooms for them, play games and chat. We published an article about Habbo Hotel in the 'order' issue of M/C Journal recently - http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0501/index.php. The author, Mark McGuire, might have some additional information about research relating to Habbo... -- Dr Axel Bruns a.bruns(a)qut.edu.au - http://snurb.info/ Media & Communication Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, Australia Creative Industries Faculty Z2-202, CIP - (07) 3864 5548 Queensland University of Technology CRICOS No.: 00213J

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modest correction in CFP for e-games
by Charles Ess 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

Charlie Breindahl has helpfully caught and pointed out a bothersome problem in the CFP for a special issue on e-games recently posted to this list, namely, in the sentence: For example, are concerns with illicit sexuality in games primarily only an issue for U.S. (puritanical) parents, while European parents are more concerned about violence, while parents in Asian countries are concerned about Š? The "Š" is an interesting and suggestive machine "translation" of "..." in the original file. The point was to simply ask, what do parents in Asian countries worry about with regard to their children playing e-games (if anything) - not to assert that they worry about Š. And what might "Š" mean? I'm sure it means something - but my mind boggles at the possibilities. Suggestions welcome - and apologies for the problem and any confusion it may have caused. And thanks to Charlie for taking the time to point this out. cheers, the other charlie aka Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/ Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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open source ethics...
by Charles Ess 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

Dear AoIR-ists, I was privileged to serve as a resource person for an IRB training event yesterday at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), as organized by their Office for Research Compliance (thanks to Denise Turso and Christian LaMantia for their kind invitation). In open-source style, I've now posted the obligatory PowerPoint slides as well as a references/resource list on the web - to be found at <http://www.drury.edu/ess/CASEWR/IRB.htm> If you have time and interest in browsing through, you'll see some familiar names - including our very own Caroline Haythornthwaite, Jeremy Hunsinger, Elizabeth Buchanan, Mark Johns - even Steve Jones! Beyond the quotable quotes from Mark and Steve - Elizabeth Buchanan was kind enough to share a sample protocol for IRBs looking at Internet research, and Caroline Haythornthwaite was equally generous with elements from her forthcoming article (co-authored with Susan Shoemaker) in the second AoIR Research Annual. As always, comments and suggestions welcome. in particular, I was struck by one of the comments made by IRB members vis-à-vis my characterization of human subjects protections as pursued in the States as focusing solely on individual subjects - in contrast with the Norwegian guidelines which require protection of confidentiality, anonymity, etc., for both the research subject _and_ his/her web of close relationships. They were insistent that they as IRB members likewise worried about the latter. Any comments and suggestions on pursuing that aspect of IRB review? Thanks to everyone, especially the AoIR ethics working committee (past and present), for their work and contributions - I hope I have re-presented this here in a way that is both faithful to your intentions and insights and useful to IRB members struggling to understand the various ethical dimensions of Internet research. cheers, Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/ Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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interesting article about net censorship in china
by Ed Lamoureux 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

<http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx? a=11815&hed=Net%20Censors%20Active%20in%20China> “Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005: A Country Study” is a result of the OpenNet Initiative (ONI). Funded by George Soros' Open Society Institute, ONI is a collaboration of researchers at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto working on issues of Internet censorship and surveillance. The organization’s conclusion: in China, web users are both closely watched and often prevented from seeing content of a political, religious, or sexual nature. Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D. Director, Multimedia Program and New Media Center Associate Professor, Speech Communication 1501 W. Bradley Bradley University Peoria IL 61625 309-677-2378 http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~ell/ http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/

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RE: [Air-l] uk election 2005
by Wright, Ashley 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

Hello AIR list. Some of you may be interested in the following, http://www.e-dem.org.uk/ This site goes live in the UK on Monday morning 25th April. The Teesonline e-mock elections are hosted by the Community Informatics Research and Applications Unit (CIRA) based at the University of Teesside. It is a non-partisan web-based virtual constituency with space for the main political parties to post their policies, interact with an electorate of young people and compete in an e-election. The constituency covers the Tees Valley and its North Yorkshire and Durham hinterland. The young people will decide the different areas that they want to discuss and a number of representatives from the three major parties will be meeting the young people online to answer their questions and listen to their concerns. The young people will be invited to vote for their party of choice on a daily basis with the final 'winning' vote taking place on Friday, 29th April. The final results will be posted on the site on 29th April. The guest log in is: name: edemguest password: guest It promises to be an interesting week. Regards, Ashley Wright Community Education Development Worker, CIRA, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, UK t:01642 342715 e:a.h.wright@tees.ac.uk www.teesonline.org.uk/ <http://www.teesonline.org.uk/> www.cira.org.uk/ <http://www.cira.org.uk/> www.tees.ac.uk/ <http://www.tees.ac.uk/> ________________________________ From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org on behalf of William Dutton Sent: Fri 22/04/2005 10:18 To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] uk election 2005 Wainer and others, Stephen Ward (a former colleague of yours) and Stephen Coleman, both at the OII, are doing research around the 2005 UK general election. Stephen Ward has an ESRC grant to support his work, and Stephen Coleman is working with Channel 4 and others. Helen Margetts is also doing some research at the OII in this area, focusing more on the use of the Internet by minority parties. In due course, I believe they will have a good deal to say about the election, including the role of the Internet. Regards, Bill On 22 Apr 2005, at 08:47, Wainer Lusoli wrote: > I was just wondering if any list members had plans for (or were > already) > studying the use of the net in the UK 2005 general election. Or just > following the campaign (online). Would be nice to hear what the > impressions of AIR-ers are. > > Kind regards > > Wainer > > ----------------------- > Wainer Lusoli > Research Fellow @ ESRI > University of Salford > > http://www.lusoli.info > w.lusoli(a)salford.ac.uk > +44 (0)161 295 5126 > ----------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > The Air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/ > _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

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RE: [Air-l] web browsing patterns and distributions?
by BEAUVISAGE Thomas RD-TECH-ISS 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

Hello Allan, The question you raise was, among others, one of those I tried to answer in my PhD on "Semantics of users' paths through the Web", so it might help you. It was based on user-centric traffic data collected by on-computer probes at home, for 3400 people for jan-oct 2002 and 600 people for jan 2000 - oct 2002. You can get it at this address : http://thomas.beauvisage.free.fr/publis.en.php but except the abstrat, it is in French... So shortly, for your precise question: I observed that for the 34-months panel, on average, for 100 sites visited by individual over the 34 months, 75% appear only in one session, while 1.5 % appear in more than 40% of his sessions. The one-visit sites appear all along the internauts' "life on the Net", which means they continuously view sites that they will never visit again. These sites occure mainly in long, complex sessions (avg. 42% of one's all sessions), containing unusual thematics or services for the user, where search engines are over-represented. On the contrary, they hardly appear in sessions dedicated to frequently revisited sites ; in this context, it consists in following a pointer from a well-known site to discovering a new site, as a kind of "step-aside" movement in a straight Web path. All detailed information and calculus, as well as classification of Web sessions on the basis of their contents and on personnal web territories, can be found in the PhD thesis. TB -----Message d'origine----- De : air-l-aoir.org-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] De la part de Allan A Friedman Envoyé : jeudi 21 avril 2005 06:54 À : air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org Objet : [Air-l] web browsing patterns and distributions? Hi All, I've been looking for information on web browsing patterns in terms of page exposure. Ideally, I'd be interested in roughly how many pages people visit in a given time period and the shape of that distribution (i.e. most people look at a few pages, but a long tail look at many pages). If anyone could point me to some any broadly applicable information about how people "acquire" new pages (search engines, links, email), I would be a happy modeler of user behavior. I've found plenty of user studies on browsing behavior *inside* a website, but I'm looking for domain-level use for a project on trust mechanism simulation. Thanks! /\llan Allan Friedman PhD Student, Public Policy Kennedy School of Government _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

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Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication (CATaC'06) (fwd)
by david silver 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

this conference keeps building ... david *** CALL FOR PAPERS International Conference on CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION (CATaC'06) 28 June - 1 July 2006 University of Tartu, Estonia http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac Conference theme: Neither Global Village nor Homogenizing Commodification: Diverse Cultural, Ethnic, Gender and Economic Environments The biennial CATaC conference series continues to provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of current research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The conference series brings together scholars from around the globe who provide diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific culture(s) they highlight in their presentations and discussions, and in terms of the discipline(s) through which they approach the conference theme. The 1990s' hopes for an "electronic global village" have largely been shunted aside by the Internet's explosive diffusion. This diffusion was well described by Marx - all that is solid melts into air - and was predicted by postmodernists. The diffusion of CMC technologies quickly led to many and diverse internets. A single "Internet", whose identity and characteristics might be examined as a single unity, has not materialised. An initially culturally and gender homogenous Internet came more and more to resemble an urban metropolis. Along the way, in the commercialization of the Internet and the Web, "cultural diversity" gets watered down and exchanges strong diversity for a homogenous interchangeability. Such diversity thereby becomes commodified and serves a global capitalism that tends to foster cultural homogenization. CATaC'06 continues our focus on the intersections of culture, technology, and communication, beginning with an emphasis on continued critique of the assumptions, categories, methodologies, and theories frequently used to analyse these. At the same time, CATaC'06 takes up our characteristic focus on ethics and justice in the design and deployment of CMC technologies. We particularly focus on developing countries facilitated by "on the ground" approaches in the work of NGOs, governmental agencies, etc., in ways that preserve and foster cultural identity and diversity. By simultaneously critiquing and perhaps complexifying our theories and assumptions, on the one hand, and featuring "best practices" approaches to CMC in development work, on the other hand, CATaC'06 aims towards a middle ground between a putative "global village" and homogenizing commodification. Such middle ground fosters cultural diversity, economic and social development, and more successful cross-cultural co! mmunication online. Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices, etc.) and short papers (e.g. describing current research projects and preliminary results) are invited. Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to: - Culture isn't 'culture' anymore - The Internet isn't the 'Internet' anymore - Gender, culture, empowerment and CMC - CMC and cultural diversity - Internet research ethics - Ethics and justice - Cultural diversity and e-learning Our conference themes provide a range of approaches to the questions raised. SUBMISSIONS All submissions will be peer reviewed by an international panel of scholars and researchers and accepted papers will appear in the conference proceedings. Submission of a paper implies that it has not been submitted or published elsewhere. At least one author of each accepted paper is expected to present the paper at the conference. Full papers (10-20 formatted pages) - 13 February 2006 Short papers (3-5 formatted pages) - 20 February 2006 Workshop submissions - 20 February 2006 Notification of acceptance - mid March 2006 Final formatted papers - 29 March 2006 There will be the opportunity for selected papers from this 2006 conference to appear in special issues of journals. Papers in previous conferences have appeared in journals (Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, AI and Society, Javnost- The Public, and New Media and Society) and a book (Culture, Technology, Communication: towards an Intercultural Global Village, 2001, edited by Charles Ess with Fay Sudweeks, SUNY Press, New York). You may purchase the conference proceedings from the 2002 and 2004 conference from www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac. CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS AND CONTACTS Dr Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University Springfield MO 65802 USA catac(a)it.murdoch.edu.au OR Dr Fay Sudweeks School of Information Technology Murdoch University Murdoch WA 6150 Australia catac(a)it.murdoch.edu.au PROGRAM CHAIR Ao Univ Prof Dr Herbert Hrachovec, University of Vienna, Austria CONFERENCE CO-VICE-CHAIRS Pille Runnel, Tartu University, Estonia Pille Vengerfeldt, Tartu University, Estonia

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Review articles on social worlds requested
by mboudour＠upatras.gr 25 Apr '05

25 Apr '05

Hello! I was wondering whether you could suggest any review articles you might happen to know on the theory of social worlds (as elaborated by Strauss, Becker, Fujimura etc.) not necessarily only in the particular context of STS, Internet studies, information technologies, open source etc. but perhaps in a more general sociological setting. As far as it is a review article surveying a variety advances made in the theory of social worlds it would fit to what I'm looking for. Best regards, --Moses M.A. Boudourides Associate Professor Department of Mathematics University of Patras 265 00 Rio-Patras Greece Tel.: +30-2610-996318 Fax: +30-2610-996318, +30-2610-992965 http://www.math.upatras.gr/~mboudour

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cfp: special issue on games and ethics
by Charles Ess 24 Apr '05

24 Apr '05

Dear AoIR-ists, You heard it first on AoIR... Please distribute as appropriate, and with apologies for cross-postings. == CFP special issue of IRIE on e-games. - Deadline for abstracts: June 30, 2005 - Notification of acceptance to authors: August 15, 2005 - Deadline for full chapters: September 30, 2005 - Publication: December, 2005 The Ethics of E-Games Call for Papers - IRIE, Vol. 2/2005 International Review of Information Ethics. Deadline for abstracts: June 30, 2005 Introduction Computer-based or e-games, in both standalone and networked incarnations (including ³Massive Multiplayer Online Games² or MMOGs), represent one of the most popular and an economically profitable uses of ICTs and CMC in the contemporary world. Such games not only simulate a range of human social interactions, from building (perhaps utopian) societies to historical and fantasy warfare of every age: the games further occasion and catalyze a range of human interactions that rightly inspire research from a variety of disciplines and specialties. Especially violent games (e.g., Quake, Doom, Grand Theft Auto III, and others) have generated some critical discussion, ranging from ³moral panics² in popular media to social science investigations into possible effects and consequences of participating in such games. But e-games represent a relatively neglected subject in Information Ethics. At the same time, however, if broader discussion of e-games is to include responsible and informed ethical reflection, much more critical reflection from the various perspectives of Information Ethics upon the multiple dimensions of e-games and game-playing is needed. Hence this special issue of IRIE calls for such critical ethical reflection. Possible Topics and Questions 1. The Rules and thus Ethics of Play While much has been written about potential psychological and social consequences of e-games, very little academic research has focused on the ethics of e-games. The ethical questions and issues here, however, are many for example: A. What ethics if any may be expected of gamers (e.g., honesty, fairness, respect, integrity - see: Code of Ethics http://investors.egames.com/ethics.asp)? B. On the contrary, is it ethically justified to suspend such ethical expectations within specific games (e.g., Grand Theft Auto III) precisely because these are ³just a game,² i.e., a kind of psychological and/or social exercise that, like Carneval and other traditional events that temporarily invert prevailing social norms, may have cathartic and/or other beneficent effects? C. Are there ethical norms to be expected of game designers e.g., avoiding designs that intentionally or inadvertently reinforce questionable (if not dangerous and unethical) stereotypes regarding gender, ethnic and national identities, etc.? Or is anything justified as long as it sells in the marketplace? D. How do different cultures shape and shade these ethical questions and responses? For example, are concerns with illicit sexuality in games primarily only an issue for U.S. (puritanical) parents, while European parents are more concerned about violence, while parents in Asian countries are concerned about ? Do different cultures understand the role of games differently and thus, the ethical questions and ways of responding to these questions in different ways? E. Additional questions / issues? 2. Virtue Ethics and Ethics of Care E-games, especially in their online versions, bring together participants from around the globe. A specific approach to the ethics of e-Games invokes virtue ethics e.g., in Aristotelian and/or Confucian traditions to ask the question, what human excellences and potentials are fostered by our playing such games (e.g., Coleman 2001)? Contemporary feminist ethics, including an ethics of care (e.g., as developed by Nel Noddings) would also raise critical questions regarding what we learn and develop specifically, what capacities for caring, if any as we play such games. What would such ethical analyses suggest to us regarding contemporary games? Are these analyses legitimate to use and/or do they beg several questions regarding the nature of games, gamers, and game-playing? [Coleman, Kari. 2001. Android Arete: Toward a Virtue Ethic for Computational Agents, Ethics and Information Technology, 3 (4): 247-265.] 3. Social Dimensions The larger social impacts of computing and information technologies are one set of consequences that are ethically relevant to design and use of ICTs and thus are of importance in Information Ethics. Many negative consequences of game-playing are thematic of both popular and scholarly literature, e.g., concerns with encouraging violence, potential addiction, and other anti-social impacts. At the same time, however, at least some games may be argued to have ethical and social value as they enhance social and other sorts of skills, serve as an attractor in e-learning environments, etc. What can reliable research in fact tell us regarding these impacts both positive and negative? And: given the best available research on these impacts what ethical conclusions (if any) may be drawn regarding the production and consumption of e-games? 4. Gender, Culture It is not hard to find examples in especially the more popular e-games of gender and cultural stereotypes stereotypes that are ethically reprehensible insofar as they ideologically justify a range of inequalities and the violation of basic human rights. If certain games only work to reinforce prevailing ³masculinist² stereotypes regarding how to be male; and if certain games teach us to see ³the Other² (whether as a female and/or as a member of a cultural/ethnic identity different from our own) as naturally inferior, the legitimate target of violence, etc. then a strong ethical case against such games could be made. On the other hand, gamers may be perfectly aware that ³this is just a game² i.e., they may well approach such stereotypes with a distance and irony that helps diffuse rather than reinforce them. Moreover, not all games work by presuming such gender and/or cultural stereotypes. And finally, a growing community of women gamers directly challenge these stereotypes about games. Are there games and ways of playing games that help us explore our identities as gendered beings in positive and fruitful ways, rather than simply playing off and thus reinforcing stereotypes that may be questionable, if not oppressive? Are there games and ways of playing games that in fact help us overcome ethnocentrism and come to see ³the Other² in ways that teach us to respect the irreducible differences that define diverse gender and cultural identities perhaps even teach us to communicate more effectively across these differences? 5. None of the Above We do not imagine that this initial list of suggestions exhausts all possible topics and approaches to ethical reflection on e-Games. On the contrary, we encourage interested authors to propose additional frameworks, questions, ethical and analytical approaches, etc., that will add to our insight regarding ethics and e-Games. The Rules of the Game Potential authors are asked to provide an extended abstract (max. 1.500 words) by 30. June 2005. The abstract should be written in the mother tongue of the author. An English translation of this abstract has to be included, if the chosen language is not English or German. The IJIE will publish accepted articles (3000 words or 20,000 letters including blanks) in German, English, Spanish, French or Portuguese. For further details see the submission guidelines <http://ijie.zkm.de/About#submissionguidelines> . The abstracts will be selected by the guest editors, Dr. Charles Ess and Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan. Authors will be notified by 15. August 2005. Deadline for the final article (according to IRIE format guide) is 30. September 2005. All submissions will be subject to peer review. Therefore the acceptance of an extended abstract by the members of the editorial board does not imply the publication of the final text unless the article passed the peer review. For more information about the journal see: www.ijie.org <http://www.ijie.org/> A list of documents, which potential authors might find useful, can be requested by e-mail. Members of the ICIE will get a copy of the list via the ICIE mailing list. Contact Please send queries and proposals to guest editors, Dr. Charles Ess: <cmess(a)drury.edu> Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan: <eliz1679(a)uwm.edu> == Thanks! Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/ Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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