November 2008 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] Online Research Methods Texts
by Daren Carroll Brabham 28 Feb '09

28 Feb '09

I found this helpful in a recent study I did using IM interviewing. It covers other online methodological issues, too: Kazmer, M.M., & Xie, B. (2008). Qualitative interviewing in Internet studies: Playing with the media, playing with the method. Information, Communication & Society, 11(2), 115-136. db --- Daren C. Brabham Graduate Teaching Fellow Department of Communication University of Utah 255 S. Central Campus Dr., Rm. 2400 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 phone: (801) 633-4796 daren.brabham(a)utah.edu www.darenbrabham.com <http://www.darenbrabham.com/>

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Wikipedia Bibliography
by Mark Bell 22 Jan '09

22 Jan '09

Folks, I thought I would post my Wikipedia bibliography from my master's thesis. Hope you find it useful. http://www.storygeek.com/?page_id=83 M -- Mark Bell MA student in Ball State University's Digital Storytelling program ( http://www.bsu.edu/cim/storytelling/) http://www.storygeek.com http://www.digital-ethos.com/ "The future is here...it's just not widely distributed." - Tim O'Reilly

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Re: new media and shock
by Stephanie Kent 19 Jan '09

19 Jan '09

Hi all - I generally just lurk, but I was struck by a discontinuity in discussion last Thursday and think it bears on this question of becoming inured to shock. There were 6 posts on "London...the internet accounts" interspersed with 4 on "AoIR 6.0 Chicago 2005 Registration is now open", 1 each on "iCS 8.2", "Call for proposals", and "Internet and fun/joy/pleasure". In the three days since, "London" vanished, some of the other threads continued, and new ones appeared. This is no doubt the nature of most conversations on this list, and perhaps everything that could be said about shock and bearing up and giving sympathy was expressed in the comments that were posted, and/or continuation has moved to other venues. But I had some cognitive dissonance reading the disparate threads as business-as-usual went on for many (including me) while others were wondering just how "usual" their lives were going to continue to be. I'm not familiar with any of the literature on shock, but some levels or layers of protection are evident in the acts of just getting on with things, whatever those immediate things that consume us may be. At the same time, I'm aware it would also be counterproductive (at least to purposes of peace and justice) to mine the event for all its tragedy, as this would play into political efforts to cast the attack in symbolic terms that fuel nationalisms and other hatreds. Shock, by definition, puts one in a state of non-responsiveness; the challenge may be the degree to which that lack of response gets carried over or continued into the return to the mundane, especially after the state-of-shock has worn off. best, steph http://www.reflexivity.us On Jul 10, 2005, at 3:07 PM, air-l-aoir.org-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Hello all--a colleague of mine asked me if I could help him with the > following question. I'm not an authority on the Frankfurt School or > its > theorization of shock but hope that some of you out there might be. > Any > suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. > > Ken > > > His problem/question is as follows: > > Much ink has been spilt over shock within Frankfurt School writings. A > concept clearly taken over from Simmel and Freud, shock runs to the > heart > of Benjamin's media theory. But have Benjamin and Adorno appropriated > the > term as face value without ever considering the implications of their > assertions? Adorno's thinking would seem to intimate that at some > future > date nothing will ever shock us anymore, for the body will have > developed > such a thick protective barrier that nothing harmful will ever get > through--an idea worth resisting in itself. > > Are there any sustained studies of the question of shock particularly > within the domain of media Are there any articles within media theory > that > address the matter of shock in a postmodern, digital world?

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The Internet way of Dying
by Pearse Stokes 19 Dec '08

19 Dec '08

The Internet way of Dying article is up here: http://cyberanthropology.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/the-internet-way-of-dying/ I hope people find it interesting and let me know what they think (you must all be sick of hearing this!)

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assigning wikipedia
by Jason Mittell 09 Dec '08

09 Dec '08

David (et. al.), I've assigned Wikipedia editing as part of my new media course, giving students the freedom to choose their area of expertise. I blogged about the results and students' impressions of the process at http://justtv.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/wiki-lessons . One of the problems with Wikipedia's own catalogue of academic assignments is that the guide to WP writing insists on objective neutrality, whereas reflecting on pedagogy & process is inherently subjective - thus the list of assignments offers no self-reflection on the process, making it difficult to discern whether the project was worthwhile or worth emulating. -Jason On Nov 11, 2008, at 11:02 AM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:44:14 -0800 > From: David M Silver <dmsilver(a)usfca.edu> > Subject: [Air-L] assigning students their college/university wikipedia > page > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Message-ID: <fe8cd435d694.d694fe8cd435(a)usfca.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > aoir people, > > has anyone had any experience with assigning students the task of > altering, improving, and tweaking their university page on > wikipedia? in > other words, has anyone assigned their college/university wikipedia > page > as a site of construction for a class? if so, i'm curious to hear any > anecdotes, experiences, best-practices, relevant readings, and > anything > else you wish to share. > > david silver > http://silverinsf.blogspot.com -- Jason Mittell, Associate Professor of American Studies and Film & Media Culture Chair of Film & Media Culture Department Middlebury College 208 Axinn Center at Starr Library Middlebury, Vermont 05753 (802) 443-3435 / fax: (802) 443-2805 Homepage: http://seguecommunity.middlebury.edu/sites/jmittell Blog: http://justtv.wordpress.com

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Sad News: Death of Brenda Danet
by Naomi Susan Baron 07 Dec '08

07 Dec '08

Yesterday, the world of internet research lost a dear friend and colleague. Brenda Danet died in New Haven, CT, following a heroic (and most graceful) battle with leukemia. Despite her years of ups and downs with the disease, she continued to produce work that guides many of us and our students. Brenda was a pioneer -- intellectually and personally. She did her BA at Radcliffe and PhD (in Sociology) at the University of Chicago, but spent most of her professional life in Israel. She taught at Hebrew University, where she was appointed Danny Arnold Chair of Communications in 1998. Following her retirement in 2000, she migrated back to the US, where she became a Research Affiliate in Anthropology at Yale. Most of us know Brenda from her delightful book CyberPlay, and her more recent co-edited volume (with Susan Herring) on The Multilingual Internet. Those of us fortunate enough to have known Brenda in person cherish our memories of a strong, self-confident woman who inspired us to think, was full of wit, wore the most lovely scarves, and helped us laugh at ourselves. Brenda will be very sorely missed. Naomi Baron American University Washington, DC USA

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deliberative democracy - good cases?
by Egle Butkeviciene 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

Dear colleagues, I am doing a research on deliberative democracy in virtual space and searching for "best practice" examples. Maybe anybody knows and could share the information about websites that are created to deliberate political issues, policies, laws, ect. And especially the ones created by government. Thank you in advance, Best regards, Egle Butkeviciene --------------------- Assoc. prof. dr. Egle Butkeviciene Kaunas University of Technology Department of Sociology Tel. +370 686 15858 e-mail: egle.butkeviciene(a)ktu.lt

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Evolution of the Wikipedia page on the attacks in Mumbai
by Larry Press 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

The wikipedia page on the Mumbai attacks grew to nearly 5,000 words in 6 sections and was edited over 900 times in 21 hours, see: http://cis471.blogspot.com/2008/11/mumbai-terrorist-attack-21-hour.html Citizen journalists also used Twitter and Flickr: http://cis471.blogspot.com/2008/11/anyone-might-be-reporter-with-twitter.ht… Larry Press

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Imagined communities
by Philippa Smith 01 Dec '08

01 Dec '08

I'm seeking out references to Benedict Anderson's theory of "imagined communities" in relation to the Internet and how new technologies enable the construction of national identities. Certainly this is mentioned in Ananda Mitra's chapter "Virtual Commonality: Looking for India on the Internet" in Virtual Culture edited by Steven Jones and in S. Jones' chapter in the same book "The Internet and its Social Landscape. Mark Poster (1999) National Identities and Communications Technologies in The Information Society 15:4, 235-240 is another reference. But if there are any other references where people apply the theory in their research or discuss it please let me know. Many thanks. Philippa Smith PhD Candidate Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication AUT University Auckland New Zealand

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Imagined communities
by Mariana Goya 01 Dec '08

01 Dec '08

Sometimes, it is also useful to see how old technologies, such as magazines, have helped to develop a sense of community among its readers. For this, the classic book of Thomas & Znaniecki, "The Polish Peasant", shows the role of a Gazette as a communication channel among Polish immigrants and how it created a sense of community among them. This work is previous to Anderson's. Mariana ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:58:55 +1300 From: "Philippa Smith" <philippa.smith(a)aut.ac.nz> Subject: [Air-L] Imagined communities To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Message-ID: <4930072C.B0F6.0036.0(a)aut.ac.nz> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII I'm seeking out references to Benedict Anderson's theory of "imagined communities" in relation to the Internet and how new technologies enable the construction of national identities. Certainly this is mentioned in Ananda Mitra's chapter "Virtual Commonality: Looking for India on the Internet" in Virtual Culture edited by Steven Jones and in S. Jones' chapter in the same book "The Internet and its Social Landscape. Mark Poster (1999) National Identities and Communications Technologies in The Information Society 15:4, 235-240 is another reference. But if there are any other references where people apply the theory in their research or discuss it please let me know. Many thanks. Philippa Smith PhD Candidate Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication AUT University Auckland New Zealand

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