January 2012 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

CFP: You, Me, User – Conference on User-Generated Culture
by Susanna Paasonen 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

Hi, Thought this might be of interest to AoIR folks! cheers, Susanna CALL FOR PAPERS You, Me, User – Conference on User-Generated Culture Friday 25, May - Saturday 26, May 2012 in Helsinki. From social media to video games and from online fan production to machinima the phenomenon of user-generated culture has secured its position in the mainstream during the last few years. This shift has resulted from the blurring boundaries between media production and consumption as well as between professional and amateur authorship. The phenomenon is claimed to be characterized by collaboration, accessibility and democratic potential. During the You, Me, User Conference we approach the user-generated culture, or in other words, multiple situations where culture becomes modified, produced and distributed through everyday practices, social and new media. The Finnish Society for Cinema Studies (SETS) invites presentations which explore the questions surrounding user-generated culture. The conference will bring together Finnish and international scholars of a wide range of relevant fields of studies. The conference will offer a chance to focus on a new and active field of study and is open to presentations from a wide spectrum. Keynote speeches are delivered by David Buckingham and Frans Mäyrä. Professor David Buckingham (Loughborough University) is a media education researcher. He is especially interested in children’s and young people’s interactions with electronic media, consumer culture and civic participation. His most recent book is The Material Child: Growing Up in Consumer Culture (2011). Professor Frans Mäyrä (University of Tampere) has focused on media culture, digital media and games. He leads an interdisciplinary research group on games study where game culture, players, their activities and gameplay experiences are approached. Mäyrä has published Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture (2008), for example. We seek paper proposals from various fields, such as film, television, games, internet, music, art, literature etc. It is our intention to organize the symposium around questions, such as: • What is user-generated culture and how to conceptualize it? • Changes in the distribution channels of audiovisual media due to user-generated culture • Changes in the consumption of audiovisual media due to user-generated culture • Fan as an author? • How does user-generated culture blur the boundaries of production and consumption? • Politically, socially or culturally significant forms of user-generated culture. • Global and local implications of user-generated culture. • Does user-generated culture produce new forms of community? • Problems of control and copyright in user-generated culture. • Does user-generated culture produce new forms of community? What are the problematic dimensions of user-generated culture (censorship, legal issues etc.) Proposals including an abstract (max 300 words) and a short CV should be submitted to Conference Secretary Maija Uusitalo by email: amkuus(a)utu.fi by 19.2.2012 at latest. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 1.3.2012. Organizers: Finnish Society of Film Research in concert with National Audivisual Archive, Media Studies (University of Turku), Cinema and Television Studies (University of Helsinki), Aalto University, School of Communication, Media and Theatre (University of Tampere) and Koulukino. More information: http://sets.wordpress.com/user-generated-conference/ ------------------------------------- Susanna Paasonen Professor of Media Studies University of Turku, Finland <suspaa(a)utu.fi>

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References about profile registration options (gender and sexuality)
by Szulc Lukasz 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

Hi all, Could you please recommend me any readings which deal with the design of profile registration options? I mostly look for works on gender and sexuality options in software design (mainly profile registration options on dating sites or internet affinity portals) or any analysis or the interpretation of registration options on the websites designed for sexual and gender minorities. But I will also welcome the recommendation of other works which deal with the issue in a broader sense. Regards, Lukasz Szulc PhD Candidate Media, Culture & Policy Research Group Department of Communication Studies University of Antwerp www.ua.ac.be/lukasz.szulc

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Early career fellowships - Internet / media
by Matthew Allen 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

Dear all The Australian Research Council annually funds a number of early-career researcher fellowships through its DECRA scheme (http://www.arc.gov.au/ncgp/decra.htm ). While the process is highly competitive, strong applicants with a good track record of publication and a solid proposal can be successful in gaining these positions (normally for three years). Fellowships are located at an Australian university and the application will be submitted via that university. I am seeking well-qualified early career researchers, preferably with at least 2 years' experience post-PhD (and no more than 5 years), who wish to apply through the DECRA process for a fellowship to be taken up within the Department of Internet Studies, Curtin University. Please be aware that the process of application involves quite a bit of work and deadlines are tight. We will not support applicants who do not have strong publications records, nor from people whose PhD is not yet awarded (just being realistic ... it significantly limits your chances of success). There are two critical deadlines set by Curtin university: by 20 January you must submit a notification of interest to me (email me for a copy of the NoI form) by 24 February you must submit your full application (if approved to do so) to Curtin If you wish to apply, email me at your earliest convenience and complete the NoI I return by Friday this week. Professor Matthew Allen Head of Department, Internet Studies, Curtin University Life member, Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Fellow, Australian Learning and Teaching Council Visit me at: http://netcrit.net. Follow me @netcrit v: +61892663511 f: +61892663166 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J (WA), 02637B (NSW)

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Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?
by Julian Hopkins 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

I agree that genres are still relevant, and particularly in a commercial media context where they can be used to categorise potential audience demographics and therefore advertising potential. I have found the concept of genre to be useful in analysing the relevance of monetised personal blogs. Drawing from Lüders et al. I have approached genres as sociotechnical assemblages that specify and generalize communication, ensuring coordination of specific practices involving many people, and contributing to the reproduction of social institutions and sectors in society (Lüders et al. 2010: 950). Although it is true that any particular blog can have a variety of types of writing, they can usually be roughly identified with a particular genre. The usefulness of genre is that they reflect and constitute particular communicative patterns that stabilise particular social contexts. A personal blog aimed at a small group of family and friends uses language and pictures appropriate to maintaining relations amongst those people. When some personal blogs gained a large audience, the bloggers usually toned down some of the more intimate aspects in order to avoid offending family members and so on, and sought to blog about topics that kept the audience present (e.g. more blog posts about how to style one's hair). When they were given the opportunity to make money, the blog posts tended to become more impersonal and oriented around consumption, public events (product launches, parties), and so on. This led to a new genre, the 'lifestyle blog', that reproduces opportunities for localised advertising, marketing opportunities, and so on. New bloggers can see these different genres in operation, and are likely to choose to emulate one or the other, thus demonstrating the relevance of genre to ongoing blogging practices. Lüders, M., L. Prøitz & T. Rasmussen 2010. Emerging personal media genres. New Media & Society 12, 947 -963. All the best, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop -----Original Message----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:14:39 -0800 (PST) From: "Denise N. Rall" <denrall(a)yahoo.com> To: Matthew Allen <M.Allen(a)exchange.curtin.edu.au>, "Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org" <Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org> Cc: "ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca" <ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'? Message-ID: <1326669279.63475.YahooMailNeo(a)web112719.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 As much as I can hardly disagree with a Professor, not to mention a life-time member of AoIR and a memorable past-President, my recent trip to the USA during which I (unfortunately) watched television, I have to say that in the 300 - 600 multi-channel media that tv has become, if anything,? genre is even more pronounced. There are sci-fi channels, sports channels, lifestyle channels, history channels, and one of my country friends leaves his set tuned to the Western Country Riding channel. There is little or no cross-flow. To change channels, one can stay in the genre (sports, etc.) or at the insistence of other family members, switch to another genre (such as a movie channel). While I agree totally that the word genre is perhaps outdated, it appears to drive selection into an increasing narrow version of reality - lifestyle vs. sports, etc. The biggest movie channels, such as HBO would have the opportunity to offer cross-cultural (sic) events such as new dramas, new comedy, and new mini-series that include more than one 'lifestyle' such as gangsters, chic flicks, history fiction (The Tudors) and so on. I am tempted to say the word 'lifestyle' while ridiculous, offers a chance to differentiate between the goth, the nerd, the gangbanger, the preppy, the hipster, the tragic romantic, and so on, might offer a clue to the next generations after X and Y (whatever they are called) as to what genre might mean. Genre indicates multiple things (among others) appropriate beginnings, tone, rhetoric, and endings. Category seems a weak way to cover that richness of terminology. ? Dr Denise N. Rall, Research Assistant, School of Health & Human Sciences Upcoming exhibit: "The Bride as Banquet" The Channon Gallery, The Channon, NSW? Denise N. Rall, Mobile +(61)(0)438 233344 Fax +(61)(0)2 6624 5380 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/ ________________________________

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Fwd: [Asis-l] Book announcement: Automatic Identification of Genre in Web Pages (2011)
by natalya godbold 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

strangely topical. I assume more publicity will be good publicity for this new tome. -- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney ¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .....,,.><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Marina Santini <marinamailinglists(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 5:24 PM Subject: [Asis-l] Book announcement: Automatic Identification of Genre in Web Pages (2011) To: asis-l(a)asis.org Cc: Marina Santini <marinaromestockholm(a)gmail.com> Automatic Identification of Genre in Web Pages: A new perspective [Paperback] Marina Santini (Author) Paperback: 332 pages Publisher: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (December 19, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 3847306871 ISBN-13: 978-3847306870 Genre is a complex but intuitively understood concept. Home pages, FAQs, blogs, etc. are examples of genres currently thriving on the web. Automatically identifying web genres would help us find documents that are more relevant to our information needs. The aim of the research described in this book is to develop automatic genre classification algorithms. There are several challenges, however, that affect the modelling of these algorithms. First, genres on the web are instantiated in web pages, which can be considered documents of a new type, much more unpredictable and individualised than documents on paper. Second, the web is unstable and fluid, undergoing a fast-paced evolution, so genre identification is influenced by phenomena such as the formation of novel genres, genre hybridism, individualisation, intra-genre and inter-genre variation. Finally, the automatically extractable genre-revealing features used up to now are not adequate to define existing and novel web genres. The author argues that automatic identification of genre in web pages needs more flexible genre classification schemes. The main body of the book describes experiments that support this claim. Link to the outline: http://www.forum.santini.se/2012/01/book-outline-automatic-identification-o… Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Identification-Genre-Web-Pages/dp/384730687… -- Marina Santini http://www.forum.santini.se https://www.facebook.com/genresontheweb ________________________________________ Asis-l mailing list Asis-l(a)asis.org http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/asis-l

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Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?
by Mark Rosso 16 Jan '12

16 Jan '12

Some resources you could check out regarding web genres: Web Genre Wiki - http://www.webgenrewiki.org/index.php5/Main_Page The WebGenre Blog - http://www.forum.santini.se/ Genres on the Web - http://www.springer.com/computer/ai/book/978-90-481-9177-2 User-based identification of Web genres - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.20798/abstract Mark Rosso, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Computer Information Systems School of Business North Carolina Central University 919-530-6386 On 12-Jan-2012, at 12:28 PM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:16:37 -0800 > From: "Ravindra N. Mohabeer" <mohabeerlists(a)gmail.com> > To: Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'? > Message-ID: <A08C4F4B-D083-4883-AC40-6779C012FE5F(a)gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Hello, > > Forgive me if this has been covered previously but a thought occurred to me just now as I prepped for my night course (yuck!) called "Understanding Television." > > I wondered how students today make sense of the notion of 'genre' and then I thought, well since most of them don't watch TV over the air (or cable or satellite) and get TV shows online (a whole other issue as to whether or not that's the same as watching TV), it makes sense to think of it in digital terms. > > So then I got to thinking, how do genres get represented on the Internet - through database categories used for indexing? Through site producers file structures? Through tagging? If so, how do we deal with the semantic arbitrariness of tagging between individual users? > > Even if categories are what can be considered genres today, do the different types of content that appear on various manifestations of the Internet fall into the same categories as other 'traditional media'? What are the genres in the age of the Internet and are they same as they ever were or altogether new? > > In this case it's just a question out of curiosity. > > Ravi > --------------------------------------- > Ravindra N. Mohabeer, PhD > Media Studies > Vancouver Island University > Nanaimo, BC CANADA > ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca > ---------------------------------------

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ipad, laptop, desktop
by Barry Wellman 16 Jan '12

16 Jan '12

Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides. So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered). Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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Follow up Apple workers standards and miserable factory conditions
by Peter Timusk 16 Jan '12

16 Jan '12

Thought I should share this news item given my statement yesterday. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/apple-supply-chain- audit-finds-worker-conditions-not-up-to-standards/article2302022/ Apple supply chain audit finds worker conditions not up to standards Poornima Gupta San Francisco- Reuters Published Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 3:46PM EST Last updated Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 4:05PM EST Apple revealed its once closely guarded list of global suppliers on Friday, taking a dramatic and unprecedented step in response to harsh criticism that it was turning a blind eye to dismal working conditions at partner factories. The move, unusual in an industry that relies heavily on foreign component suppliers to drive margins but rarer still for an infamously secretive company, underscored some speculation that new Chief Executive Tim Cook has ushered in an era of greater transparency. Predecessor Steve Jobs, who died in October, kept an iron grip on the internal workings of the company he founded and made great. Peter Timusk at571(a)ncf.ca ptimusk(a)sympatico.ca web: www.crystalcomputing.net blogs www.cyborgcitizen.org

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Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?
by j berzowska 16 Jan '12

16 Jan '12

Ravi - As mentioned, there are different types of genres (document genres, literary genres, movie genres, etc.). While document genres in particular are seen to be shifting in digital form, we still have a fairly clear idea of the shared meaning they convey. Memos, FAQs and comment forms all bring with them some degree of structure and common understanding. Such genres are also thought to develop in part as a reaction to our understanding of their purpose. Movie genres evolve in much the same way. So, genres are thought of as fluid and culturally-based. They are also difficult to identify and track (You'll find several interesting perspectives in Genres on the Web, Vol. 42 in the Springer series on Text, Speech and Language Technology). Several disciplines study the organization and representation of information on the web, including knowledge organization, information retrieval and information architecture. They provide in-depth background on the ideas you are discussing, including practical concerns around how terms are assigned to objects, and the degree to which they help us find and understand things. Justyna ----- Justyna Berzowska SLAIS PhD student University of British Columbia > Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:44:59 -1000 > From: Kevin Crowston <crowston(a)syr.edu> > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: Re: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'? > > My colleagues and I have done a fair amount of research on web genres. You can see our papers at http://genres.syr.edu/ and a google search will turn up a number more (e.g., mini-tracks in past years at the HICSS conference). > > We were interested in these genres because we though it could be useful for understanding how people used the web and for supporting better information access (e.g., searching for a review vs. a purchase page for a product). > > But our experience with empirical studies suggests that it's a hard to use genres systematically. First, pages rarely represent what genre they represent. Second, users of web pages seem to use genre information, but often can't name the genre of a page they're looking at, and if they can say, they can't say how they know. > > I think we might be using a different definition of genre though: we were drawing on rhetoric and looking for genres like box score, product review, news article, organizational home page, etc. I get the sense that your definition is broader: comedy, tragedy perhaps? > > > > On 12-Jan-2012, at 12:28 PM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > >> Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:16:37 -0800 >> From: "Ravindra N. Mohabeer" <mohabeerlists(a)gmail.com> >> To: Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org >> Subject: [Air-L] Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'? >> Message-ID: <A08C4F4B-D083-4883-AC40-6779C012FE5F(a)gmail.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >> >> Hello, >> >> Forgive me if this has been covered previously but a thought occurred to me just now as I prepped for my night course (yuck!) called "Understanding Television." >> >> I wondered how students today make sense of the notion of 'genre' and then I thought, well since most of them don't watch TV over the air (or cable or satellite) and get TV shows online (a whole other issue as to whether or not that's the same as watching TV), it makes sense to think of it in digital terms. >> >> So then I got to thinking, how do genres get represented on the Internet - through database categories used for indexing? Through site producers file structures? Through tagging? If so, how do we deal with the semantic arbitrariness of tagging between individual users? >> >> Even if categories are what can be considered genres today, do the different types of content that appear on various manifestations of the Internet fall into the same categories as other 'traditional media'? What are the genres in the age of the Internet and are they same as they ever were or altogether new? >> >> In this case it's just a question out of curiosity. >> >> Ravi >> --------------------------------------- >> Ravindra N. Mohabeer, PhD >> Media Studies >> Vancouver Island University >> Nanaimo, BC CANADA >> ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca >> --------------------------------------- > > > Kevin Crowston > Syracuse University Phone: +1 (315) 443-1676 > School of Information Studies Fax: +1 (815) 550-2155 > 348 Hinds Hall Web: http://crowston.syr.edu/ > Syracuse, NY 13244-4100 USA >

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Are 'categories' the same as 'genres'?
by Ravindra N. Mohabeer 15 Jan '12

15 Jan '12

Hello, Forgive me if this has been covered previously but a thought occurred to me just now as I prepped for my night course (yuck!) called "Understanding Television." I wondered how students today make sense of the notion of 'genre' and then I thought, well since most of them don't watch TV over the air (or cable or satellite) and get TV shows online (a whole other issue as to whether or not that's the same as watching TV), it makes sense to think of it in digital terms. So then I got to thinking, how do genres get represented on the Internet - through database categories used for indexing? Through site producers file structures? Through tagging? If so, how do we deal with the semantic arbitrariness of tagging between individual users? Even if categories are what can be considered genres today, do the different types of content that appear on various manifestations of the Internet fall into the same categories as other 'traditional media'? What are the genres in the age of the Internet and are they same as they ever were or altogether new? In this case it's just a question out of curiosity. Ravi --------------------------------------- Ravindra N. Mohabeer, PhD Media Studies Vancouver Island University Nanaimo, BC CANADA ravindra.mohabeer(a)viu.ca ---------------------------------------

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