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

RE: Gender and media preference
by Ledbetter, Andrew Michael 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

(I tried to post this earlier in the day using another e-mail client, not sure it got through KU's system; much apologies if this turns up as a repeat posting.) Quickly, before addressing the subject of this post, many, many deep thanks to all who responded (and so quickly, in the dead of August!) with sources regarding postal mail & e-mail... as you might imagine, that section of my literature review is increasing in both quality and quantity with all the great new sources. Thanks so much for being willing to share your knowledge! Regarding sex and e-mail... I recently did an independent study on gender differences in e-mail usage, and dealt with this topic in the lit review. Sources I know of (and I’m sure other AoIR people know of others) that document sex differences in online communication are: Baron, N. S. (2004). See you online: Gender issues in college student use of instant messaging. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 23, 397-423. (Reports that women are more talkative via IM than they are via FtF.) Boneva, B., & Kraut, R. (2002) Email, gender, and personal relationships. American Behavioral Scientist, 45, 530-549. In B. Wellman & C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.), The Internet in everyday life (pp. 372-403). Oxford: Blackwell. (Reports that women are more likely than men to use e-mail to maintain long-distance contact with family and friends.) Hoffman, D. L., Kalsbeek, W. D., Novak, T. P. (1996). Internet and web use in the U.S. Communications of the ACM, 39, 36-46. (Finds that women enjoy e-mail more than do men.) Lee, C. (2003). How Does Instant Messaging Affect Interaction Between the Genders? Stanford, CA: The Mercury Project for Instant Messaging Studies at Stanford University. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://www.stanford.edu/class/pwr3-25/group2/projects/lee.html (Finds that females tend to use greetings and closings in their IM conversations while men do not.) Leung, L. (2001). College student motives for chatting on ICQ. New Media & Society, 3, 483-500. (Finds that college women use IM more than do men.) Valkenburg, P., & Buijzen, M. (2003). Children, computer games and the Internet. The Netherlands’ Journal of Social Sciences, 39, 23-34. (Finds young girls engage in a variety of online communication activities, including e-mail and chatting, more than do young boys.) Several of the Pew Internet and American Life studies also find sex differences in CMC usage; see, for instance: “Teenage life online” (http://207.21.232.103/PPF/r/36/report_display.asp) “America’s online pursuits” (http://207.21.232.103/PPF/r/106/report_display.asp) and “Tracking online life” (http://207.21.232.103/PPF/r/11/report_display.asp) The telephone is also an interesting comparison, and I know several researchers have noted that women also use/enjoy the telephone more than do men, so much so that the telephone is sometimes considered a gendered device: Fischer, C. S. (1992). America calling: A social history of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California. Lacohée, H., & Anderson, B. (2001). Interacting with the telephone. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 54, 665-669. Moyal, A. (1992). The gendered use of the telephone: An Australian case study. Media, Culture and Society, 14, 51-72. Noble, G. (1987). Individual differences, psychological neighbourhoods and use of the domestic telephone. Media Information Australia, 44, 37-41. I also have an unpublished paper on sex differences I found in my study of e-mail social support among college students; in this study, I found that women showed a strong preference for e-mail social support while men seemed to prefer FtF support. Just let me know if you’d like to take a look at it and I can pass it on to you. Given the research above, my gut reaction is that these gender differences don ’t necessarily boil down to text vs. voice (though perhaps that plays a role somehow); I think some contextual features (task v. social spaces, for instance) and relational factors (in my study, relationship type has so far been a bigger influence on patterns of media usage than sex), socially constructed roles of men and women, etc. play a large role. Am interested to hear what other sources people have that might shed more light... Best wishes in your research! It’s a topic that fascinates me, too, and I would be interested to hear what your research shows! Regards, Andrew ---------------- Andrew M. Ledbetter Ph.D. student, University of Kansas

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RE: [Air-l] Gender and media preference
by Bunz, Ulla 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

Some of my research on technological aptitude shows that men *perceive* themselves to be good at the "nuts and bolts" sorts of things related to technology, such as fiddling with new hardware/software, while women *perceive* themselves to be good at the communicative/relational issues, such as accommodating another's style etc. I presented a paper on that at ICA this May and you can contact me directly for a copy. Of course, these are *perceptions* and I'm emphasizing that on purpose because another of my studies shows that there isn't any significant difference between the genders along either the more applied/technical or the more communicative dimensions. (For more info on that paper, also email me directly.) While this may not explain why men participate more offline, this may provide an explanation for why women participate more online: they have confidence in their communication skills in a computer-mediated environment skills. Ulla http://bunz.comm.fsu.edu Bunz, U. (2005, May). A gender-focused meta-analysis of computer-email-web fluency and CMC Competency Studies. Presented at the 55th annual International Communication Association conference, New York. --- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication 356 Diffenbaugh Building Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306 Email: ulla.bunz(a)comm.fsu.edu ----------------------------------------------- ________________________________ From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org on behalf of Avner Caspi Sent: Mon 8/8/2005 3:48 AM To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Gender and media preference Dear list members, While examining differences between women and men participation in Web-based instruction, I found that women posted more than men. In face-to-face instruction, I found the opposite, well-documented observation: men talked much more than women. I wonder if someone here know of researches that dealt with women preference for written communication (as opposed to other communications, e.g., face-to-face conversation, video-conferencing etc.). Many thanks, Dr. Avner Caspi Open University of Israel _______________________________________________ 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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Fwd: Senior Lectureship/Readership in Sociology, University of York
by Jeremy Hunsinger 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

Begin forwarded message: > From: Yuwei Lin <yl107(a)YORK.AC.UK> > Date: August 8, 2005 8:32:59 AM PDT > To: CYBERSPACE-AND-SOCIETY(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: Senior Lectureship/Readership in Sociology, University of > York > Reply-To: Yuwei Lin <yl107(a)YORK.AC.UK> > > > Apologies for cross-posting. Please disseminate widely. > > Senior Lectureship/Readership in Sociology - Department of Sociology > Vacancy reference: BA05297 > > > The successful candidate will have a strong record of research and > scholarly publication in the sociology of information and > communication technologies and will be able to link this work to > other substantive research interests in the Department such as > crime, culture, health and social theory. They will be expected to > play a leading research role in the development of a new Social > Informatics Research Unit within the Department and to play a full > part in teaching and supervision at both undergraduate and > postgraduate levels. > > Salary will be within the range: £37,558 - £42,573 per annum. The > post is to commence in January 2006. > > For more information please see > http://www.york.ac.uk/univ/mis/cfm/vacancies/vac_detail.cfm? > vacno=BA05297 > http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/persnl/jobs/ba05297.pdf > > Closing Date: 12 August 2005 > > > > -- > Yuwei Lin | yuwei at ylin dot org > http://www.ylin.org > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu jeremy.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.aoir.org The Associatiion of Internet Researchers

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Gender and media preference
by Avner Caspi 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

Dear list members, While examining differences between women and men participation in Web-based instruction, I found that women posted more than men. In face-to-face instruction, I found the opposite, well-documented observation: men talked much more than women. I wonder if someone here know of researches that dealt with women preference for written communication (as opposed to other communications, e.g., face-to-face conversation, video-conferencing etc.). Many thanks, Dr. Avner Caspi Open University of Israel

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post and e-post
by Barry Wellman 07 Aug '05

07 Aug '05

Naomi Baron has a nice book on paper writing and e-writing. Baron, Naomi. (2000). Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where it is Heading. New York: Routledge. And speaking of Hallmark, they came nosing around MIT a few years ago looking for a study of paper vs e-cards. That's before some of us realized that e-cards were great spam trawlers. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________ Reply to: Message: 1 Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 06:25:54 -0700 (PDT) From: "Denise N. Rall" <denrall(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Air-l] Postal mail and e-mail Dear Michael - I think someone in this group built up some theory on what postal mail meant to the Victorians (British). Uh this is the only ref I can find to Victorians: Standage, T. (1998). The Victorian Internet : the remarkable story of the telegraph and the nineteenth century's on-line pioneers. New York, Walker and Co. But from the Royal Mail you could pull it up to the 21st C. America. Maybe there's a fun history out there on Hallmark cards???? Cheers, Denise

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Re: postal mail and email, cont.
by Brenda Danet 06 Aug '05

06 Aug '05

At 03:05 PM 8/5/2005, Andrew Ledbetter wrote: >Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 12:10:55 -0500 >From: "Ledbetter, Andrew Michael" <aledbett(a)ku.edu> >Subject: [Air-l] Postal mail and e-mail >To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > >I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication >modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not >surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I >am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use >with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of >postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, >I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but >postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not >found scholarly material that documents this perception. > >Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues? > >Thanks, >Andrew > >---------------- >Andrew M. Ledbetter >Ph.D. student, University of Kansas Andrew: You might want to have a look at two chapters in my book, Cyberpl@y: Communicating Online (Berg, Oxford, 2001; companion website, http://pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il/~msdanet/cyberpl@y/) Chapter 2 is about email and Chapter 4 is about digital greetings in the late 1990s.. The latter chapter reviews what arbiters of etiquette like Miss Manners had to say about handwritten vs. commercial cards, etc., and I debate paper vs digital greetings. My 1997 paper Danet, B. (1997). Books, letters, documents: The changing aesthetics of texts in late print culture. Journal of Material Culture, 2(1), 5-38. may also be relevant for you. Nancy Baym knows this paper. Brenda Danet

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Re: [Air-l] Postal mail and e-mail
by Esther Milne 05 Aug '05

05 Aug '05

hi all, at the risk of shameless self promotion (or even shamful!) my research is concerned with precisely these areas, namely similarities and diferences between the socio-technological forms of email and postal technologies. an overview of the research can be found in my article 'Email and Epistolary technologies: Presence, Intimacy, Disembodiment' published in the Fibreculture Journal and available: http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue2/issue2_milne.html cheers, Esther Dr Esther Milne Lecturer in Media and Communications Faculty of Life and Social Sciences Swinburne University of Technology John Street Hawthorn VIC 3122 AUSTRALIA Tel: +613 92148195 Fax: +613 98190574 **PLEASE NOTE NEW OFFICE: SE324** >>> aledbett(a)ku.edu 08/06/05 3:10 AM >>> I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not found scholarly material that documents this perception. Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues? Thanks, Andrew ---------------- Andrew M. Ledbetter Ph.D. student, University of Kansas Swinburne University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D NOTICE This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee. They may contain information that is privileged or protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, printing, copying or use is strictly prohibited. The University does not warrant that this e-mail and any attachments are secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses or defects before opening them. If you have received this transmission in error, please contact us on +61 3 9214 8000 and delete it immediately from your system. We do not accept liability in connection with computer virus, data corruption, delay, interruption, unauthorised access or unauthorised amendment.

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Re: Postal mail and e-mail
by Bram Dov Abramson 05 Aug '05

05 Aug '05

> I am currently writing a literature review on how various communication > modalities are used in interpersonal contexts. One modality I am (not > surprisingly) finding little material on is postal mail. In particular, I > am looking for sources that either (a) address changes in postal mail use > with the advent of e-mail or (b) qualitative comparisons of the use of > postal mail and e-mail within interpersonal relationships. In particular, > I have heard anecdotal reports of e-mail being more "convenient" but > postal mail being "special" in a way that e-mail is not, though I have not > found scholarly material that documents this perception. > > Does anyone know of scholarly articles that address these issues? You will already have thought of this, but just in case, let me note that there may be good studies available from other sources, too: - Many postal services will have examined this issue closely, commissioned studies, etc. Such studies would, I imagine, be available directly from postal service staff. Should that avenue prove difficult, you may be able to take advantage of the fact that most postal services are government-run or -owned -- access-to-information legislation in many jurisdictions provides an avenue for obtaining such material. - The Universal Postal Union (http://www.upu.int) the international organisation which federates state-run postal services, may also be a good source for studies or results of studies of this type. In particular, their International Bureau, which does postal statistics: <http://www.upu.int/statistics/en/index.shtml>. cheers Bram

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word origin question
by Kris Markman 04 Aug '05

04 Aug '05

Does anyone know the origin of the term "thread/threading" as applied to grouping conversational topics in CMC (i.e. newsgroups, email, etc.)? Thanks, Kris M. Markman, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate Communication Studies The University of Texas at Austin Email: jho-kmm(a)mail.utexas.edu https://webspace.utexas.edu/~kris3198

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International Journal of Education and Development using ICT: Second Issue Published
by Stewart Marshall 04 Aug '05

04 Aug '05

> Hi all > > The second issue of The International Journal of Education and Development > using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) is now available > at http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewissue.php > > This special issue on "ICT for Education and Development in Southern > Africa" is edited by Guest Editors Laura Czerniewicz and Tony Carr of the > Centre for Educational Technology at University of Cape Town. The seven > peer reviewed papers and six papers "From the Field" report on work in > Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The issue links > researcher and practitioner perspectives across the region on key > challenges such as access, institutional change, learning design, > learning communities and research methodology. The articles in this issue > are based on papers presented at a Southern African regional online > conference, e/merge 2004: http://emerge2004.net > > IJEDICT is an e-journal that provides free and open access to all of its > content. IJEDICT aims to strengthen links between research and practice in > ICT in education and development in hitherto less developed parts of the > world, e.g., developing countries (especially small states), and rural and > remote regions of developed countries. > > The emphasis is on providing a space for researchers, practitioners and > theoreticians to jointly explore ideas using an eclectic mix of research > methods and disciplines. It brings together research, action research and > case studies in order to assist in the transfer of best practice, the > development of policy and the creation of theory. Thus, IJEDICT is of > interest to a wide-ranging audience of researchers, policy-makers, > practitioners, government officers and other professionals involved in > education or development in communities throughout the world. > > Regards > > Stewart > -- > Professor Stewart Marshall > Director, Distance Education Centre > The University of the West Indies > Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, BARBADOS, West Indies > phone: +1 246 417 4497 fax: +1 246 421 6753 > Gmail: stewartmar(a)gmail.com > url: http://www.dec.uwi.edu/smarshall > > Please view the open access e-journal on ICT in education and > development at: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu//index.php > and the recently published books edited by Marshall, Taylor & Yu: > "Closing the Digital Divide" > http://www.greenwood.com/books/BookDetail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=Q602 > "Using Community Informatics to Transform Regions" > http://www.idea-group.com/books/details.asp?id=4146 > "Encyclopedia of Developing Regional Communities with ICT" > http://www.idea-group.com/encyclopedia/details.asp?ID=4460 > _______________________________________________________ >

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