August 2014 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Assistant Professor of Advocacy and Social Change
by Heider, Donald 26 Aug '14

26 Aug '14

Hi all: We have a position open and are looking for someone interested in advocacy and social change with a strong background in digital technology. Details here: Assistant Professor of Advocacy and Social Change The School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago is looking for a tenure track assistant professor specializing in advocacy and social change, with an emphasis on digital communication. Applicants should have significant training and demonstrated expertise in one or more of these; rhetorical theory, public advocacy and argumentation, or critical/qualitative approaches to the study of culture, society, and political discourse, situated within a world where digital technology has become of primary importance. The prospective candidate who can build upon these foundational qualities with expertise in one or more of the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply: political communication, social movements and new media, digital literacy, issues of privacy, security policy, digital rights, diplomacy, social justice, environmental advocacy, civil society discourse, cybercultural studies , ICTs for development/global advocacy, conflict management & mediation. Successful candidates will have a demonstrable research program relevant to these areas and will be prepared both to teach existing courses in the Advocacy & Social Change track and to develop new courses in that area. The School of Communication serves 750 undergraduates, offers a master's program in digital storytelling and enjoys a new facility, including a state-of-the-art convergence studio; a collegial faculty distinguished by a mix of professional and academic achievement; and a location just steps away from the nation's leading ad agencies and media outlets. A Ph.D. is required and candidates should demonstrate the potential to be an outstanding teacher and productive scholar. Applicants are asked to submit (1) a letter of interest, (2) resume, (3) names and contact information of three individuals prepared to provide professional references. Submit applications to www.careers.luc.edu. Starting date is August 2015 with initial review of applications beginning Fall, 2014. - For more information on the School of Communication visit: http://www.luc.edu/soc/ - To learn more about Loyola University visit: http://www.luc.edu/hr/index.shtml Loyola University Chicago is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer with a strong commitment to hiring for our mission and diversifying our faculty. As a Jesuit Catholic institution of higher education, we seek candidates who will contribute to our strategic plan to deliver a Transformative Education in the Jesuit tradition. To learn more about LUC's mission, candidates should consult our website at www.luc.edu/mission/missionandidentity. For information about the university's focus on transformative education, they should consult our website at www.luc.edu/transformativeed. Applications from women and minority candidates are especially encouraged. Don Heider Dean, School of Communication Loyola University Chicago

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Reminder: Political Studies Association Media & Politics Group Annual Conference
by Andrew McStay 26 Aug '14

26 Aug '14

Dear colleagues, A reminder. The extended deadline for abstracts for the Political Studies Association Media & Politics Group Annual Conference is fast approaching: 29th Aug 2014. We welcome papers on any aspect of Media and Politics, or on this year's conference theme of Media, Persuasion and Human Rights. Reflecting our theme, our confirmed keynote speakers are: * Prof. Sue Clayton<http://www.sueclaytonfilm.com/> (Goldsmiths University), an award-winning film-maker whose practice interrogates alternative forms of media presentation of human rights, asylum and identity issues. * Prof. Jon Silverman<http://www.beds.ac.uk/rimad/people/jon-silverman> (University of Bedfordshire), an award-winning former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, who is currently working on the influence of the media's reporting of war crimes trials in West African civil society. Call for Papers **extended deadline 29 Aug 2014** Early bird registration rates: until 12th Sep 2014. Conference Date: Mon. 10th - Tues. 11th Nov. 2014 You can ... (a) Register to attend the conference at: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/creative_industries/media-persuasion/index.php.en (b) Pay via the online shop (for conference registration, and the conference dinner) at: http://shop.bangor.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=430 (c) Reserve and pay for your accommodation (we recommend the Management Centre) at: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/creative_industries/media-persuasion/index.php.en We look forward to welcoming you to Bangor University. Best wishes, Andy Senior Lecturer for School of Creative Studies and Media Director of Media and Persuasive Communication Network (MPC) Bangor University College Road Bangor Recent book: Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol<http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseite…> Other books and papers: here<https://bangor.academia.edu/AndrewMcStay> T. +44 (0)1248 382740 Tw. @digi-ad<https://twitter.com/digi_ad> Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig 1141565 - Registered Charity No. 1141565 Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilewch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio a defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office.

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Urgent: Justin Carter: Social Media Expert - Request for help from EFF
by danah boyd 25 Aug '14

25 Aug '14

Do any of you know (or are any of you) a Texas-based social media expert who would be willing to offer testimony on this case? If so, please contact Amul directly - they are seeking help urgently. (And Amul gave me permission to post this request here.) danah PS: I removed the attachments because of AOIR's configuration, but feel free to write to Amul for copies of them. Begin forwarded message: > From: Amul Kalia <amul(a)eff.org> > Subject: Fwd: Justin Carter: Social Media Expert - Request for help from EFF > Date: August 21, 2014 at 6:09:28 PM EDT > To: danah(a)danah.org > > Dear danah, > > My name is Amul Kalia and I am the Intake Coordinator at EFF. Cindy Cohn gave me your contact information. > > The reason I'm writing to you is because the attorneys representing Justin Carter, you may remember him from this: > http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/12/tech/social-media/facebook-jailed-teen/, reached out to us asking if we know a social media expert who will be able to offer testimony on August 26th. > > The attorneys believe that the judge does not understand social media at all, especially Facebook, and they need a general expert to put things in context. To better understand what they are looking for, their motion to dismiss is attached to this email. The case is in Comal County, Texas, which is about 30 miles south of Austin. > > We were wondering if you know someone in the area who may be able to help with this. The attorneys are unable to pay as they are doing this representation pro bono. > > Please let me know. > > Thanks! > Amul Kalia > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Justin Carter: Social Media Expert > Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:51:49 -0500 > From: Jonathan Chavez <jonchavez89(a)gmail.com> > To: amul(a)eff.org > > Hi Amul, > > we spoke on the phone last night about locating a social media expert for the Justin Carter Case. I'm attaching two of the motions that we'll be discussing in the hearing on August 26th. I hope that will be able to help out with pointing you all in the right direction for what we need out of the social media expert. > > In addition, the lead attorney on the case, Don Flanary, wanted to know if the EFF would be willing to offer additional support in the form of writing an amicus curiae for the court to explain the effect that this case can have on First Amendment rights in the digital world. > > Again, we appreciate all the help. >

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Problems logging into AOIR website/registering
by Alice E. Marwick 25 Aug '14

25 Aug '14

Is anyone else having problems logging in? I must have used a really obscure password because none of my standard ones work, and the Forgot Password? link has not mailed anything to me and I've tried it like six times now. Help! Alice, not usually technologically challenged -- Alice E. Marwick, PhD Director, McGannon Center Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies Fordham University amarwick(a)fordham.edu http://www.tiara.org Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity & Branding in the Social Media Age available from Yale Press http://bit.ly/StatusUpdateBook

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JoPP special issue: Peer production, disruption and the law - call for debates, essays and interviews
by Angela Daly 25 Aug '14

25 Aug '14

Peer production, disruption and the law - call for debates, essays and interviews We are now inviting contributions to this special edition of the Journal of Peer Production in the form of short essays of between 1000 and 3000 words to complement the longer peer reviewed articles that will appear in this edition of the journal, due to be published in December 2014 The contributions can be testimonies, working papers and critical essays by researchers and practitioners. Debates are essays by several authors expressing clearly contrasting viewpoints about a relevant issue. The deadline for these contributions is 24 October 2014 and should be sent to disruptlawissue(a)peerproduction.net. The contributions will be reviewed by the editors - Steve Collins (Macquarie) and Angela Daly (Swinburne/European University Institute) - and so will not be peer-reviewed. Please see here for more details on JoPP submissions and style: http://peerproduction.net/about/submissions/ Special edition description The disruption caused by new technologies and non-conventional methods of organisation have posed challenges for the law, confronting regulators with the need to balance justice with powerful interests. Experience from the “disruptions” of the late 20th century has shown that the response from incumbent industries can lead to a period of intense litigation and lobbying for laws that will maintain the status quo. For example, following its “Napster moment”, the music industry fought to maintain its grip on distribution channels through increased copyright enforcement and the longer copyright terms it managed to extract from the legislative process. The newspaper industry has similarly seen its historical revenue stream of classified ads disrupted by more efficient online listings, and responded to its own failure to capitalise on online advertising by launching legal campaigns against Google News in various European countries. Though the law as it stands may not be well-equipped to deal with disruptive episodes, the technological innovations of the last twenty years have created an environment that generates disruption. The Internet, the Web and networked personal computers have converged into the ubiquitous post-PC media device, leaving twentieth century paradigms of production, consumption and distribution under considerable threat. The latest technology to be added to this group of disruptive innovations may be 3D printing, which in recent times has become increasingly available and accessible to users in developed economies, whilst the manufacturing capacity of 3D printers has dramatically grown. Although current offerings on the market are far from a Star Trek-like “replicator”, the spectre of disruption has once again arrived, with the prospect of 3D printed guns inspiring a moral panic and raising questions of gun control, regulation, jurisdiction and effective control. In addition, 3D printing raises a number of issues regarding intellectual property, going far beyond the copyright problems that file-sharing brought about due to its production of physical objects. This special issue of the Journal of Peer Production calls for contributions that deal with the intersection of peer production, disruptive technologies and the law. Potential topics include, but are not restricted to: - The threat posed by peer production to legacy industries - The regulation of disruptive technologies through the rule of law or embedded rights management - Lobbying strategies of incumbent players to stymie disruptive technologies - Emergent economies or practices as a result of disruptive technologies - Extra-legal norm formation in peer production communities around disruptive technologies - Historical perspectives on the legal status of collaborative projects - Critical legal approaches to technology, disruption and peer production - The role and ability of the law (which differs across jurisdictions) in regulating autonomous production - The resilience of law in the face of social and technological change - The theories and assumptions which continue to underpin laws rendered obsolete by social and technological change

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SAME 2014@NORDCHI - Ambient & Smart Media Usability, Interaction, and Media Technologies - 2nd SEPTEMBER 2014 (extended)
by Artur Lugmayr 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

============================================================================== NordiCHI 2014 Workshop Ambient & Smart Media Usability, Interaction, and Media Technologies 6th International Workshop on Semantic Ambient Media Experiences (SAME 2014) SUBMISSION DEADLINE (EXTENDED!!!): 2nd SEPTEMBER 2014 NordiCHI Website: http://nordichi2014.org/ Workshop Website: http://www.tut.fi/emmi/WWW/ameanew/same2014 Submission System: http://www.ambientmediaassociation.org/Submissions/2014SAME/ NOTE! The workshop series is indexed by Scopus, and we plan to have a special journal issue... Publications The Workshop proceedings will be published in the International Series on Information Systems & Management in Creative eMedia (indexed by Scopus!): https://www.ambientmediaassociation.org/Journal/ The workshop is in-corporated with the AIS SIG-eMedia (http://aisnet.org/group/SIG-eMedia) and iAMEA ? The International Association for Ambient Media (www.ambientmediaassociation.org) Workshop Chairs Estefan?a Serral Asensio, KU Leuven, Belgium, estefania.serralasensio(a)kuleuven.be Thomas Risse, L3S Research Center, University of Hanover, Germany, risse(a)L3S.de Artur Lugmayr, University of Technology (TUT) & lugYmedia Inc, Finland, artur.lugmayr(a)tut.fi Bjoern Stockleben, Univ. of Applied Sciences Magdeburg, Germany, bjoern.stockleben(a)gmail.com Emilija Stojmenova, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, emilija.stojmenova(a)ltfe.org ============================================================================== 1 Motivation and Objectives of the Workshop ============================================================================== Ambient (aka pervasive, ubiquitous) media environments offer a plethora of context data as well as opportunities for context-related content production and consumption. They are the perfect environments for providing users with highly contextualized data-driven services and data-driven visual and additive content. To build such ambient media environments, semantics play an essential role to deal with a seamless integration of the urban context as well as the digital services to be provided. The application areas range from smart cars, urban informatics, smart homes, ambient assisted living, smart media environments, and new interaction devices. We aim to bring together communities involved in different semantic applications needed for the creation of ambient media environments, like: digital services, media interoperability, open data, user interfaces, human-computer interaction, user-centred and interaction design, user experience, business modelling, knowledge management, etc. This will allow identifying common themes between the participant's current work and research agenda, and, eventually, leading to the discovery of new insights and opportunities. The primary research goal is to assess new trends for applying semantics in digital services for urban contexts and the disciplines involved in the creation of these services. The workshop organizers have extensive experiences in organizing high level workshops through the non-profit International Ambient Media Association (AMEA) they founded. The organizers have also established an own free open access series and journal within the association, attracted large audiences, and disseminated the results through high level journal special issues as e.g. Springer-Verlag?s Multimedia Tools & Applications. 2 Topics of the Workshop ============================================================================== In line with the above, contributions to the workshop should propose applications of applications and services in the domain of ubiquitous media centering on usability, interaction, and intelligent interaction focused on, but not limited to ubiquitous/ambient usability: - Ambient Intelligent Semantics & Technologies o Vocabularies, ontologies & linked data for urban environments o Context-data aggregation and context awareness o Semantics of usage contexts and sensor data o Context adaptive services o Service interoperability o Implementation and evaluation of urban services o Ambient and ubiquitous devices - Ambient Intelligent Presentation and Interaction o Service interoperability o Usage of ambient media for increasing application usability o Methods and best practices for urban service design o Usability in ubiquitous smart systems o Ubiquitous human-computer interaction o User experience, needs and user studies o New smart media based user interfaces - Emerging Ambient Services & Applications o Smart cars, smart cities, smart urban environments o Big data, opened data, and linked data applications o New smart media based interfaces o User-driven content and semantic data generation o Smart media environments o Unobtrusive mobile applications o Non-screen based user interfaces o Trust and security 3 Target Audience ============================================================================== The target audiences to be addressed by this workshop are communities involved in the creation of ambient intelligence systems for urban environments, digital services, media interoperability, open data, user interaction design, business modelling, knowledge management, etc. As the workshop organizers are from different institutions and research perspectives, and from academic and from industry, a high number of attendees is expected. We expect approx. 15-25 attendees to allow a reasonable number of working groups (see Section 4 ?Workshop Format?). 4 Workshop Format and Activities ============================================================================== The workshop is part of a larger set of initiatives and is supported and incorporated with: * iAMEA ? International Association of Ambient Media Ry (www.ambientmediaassociation.org) * the Association of Information Systems (AIS) Special Interest Group (SIG) SIG-eMedia (aisnet.org/group/SIG-eMedia) * iAMEA established an open access journal and series (indexed in Scopus, and within the Finnish publication ranking system) o International Journal on Information Systems and Management in Creative eMedia o International Series on Information Systems and Management in Creative eMedia The workshop will be a full-day workshop grouped into several sessions. We allow the submission of papers up to 10 pages which will be peer-reviewed by members of the program committee. After the workshop, it is planned that the results of the group work are consolidated in a journal paper to be published in the special issue of the Springer journal on ?Multimedia Tools and Applications?. Also the authors of the best accepted papers of SAME workshop will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers to the special issue. Respective arrangements with Springer are on the way for the proposed workshop. 5 Submission Guidlines ============================================================================== Please follow the submission guidlines for NordiCHI papers on: http://nordichi2014.org/submissions/papers/. Workshop papers can be 5-10 pages long, however, they need to fulfill the submission guidelines of NordiCHI. Please submit your papers on: http://www.ambientmediaassociation.org/Submissions/2014SAME/

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Neo Ubimedia MindTrek Award - 31st August 2014 - THE competition for pervasive/ubiquitous/ambient 'minded'...
by Artur Lugmayr 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

============================================================================== NEO UBIMEDIA MINDTREK AWARD 2014 CALL FOR COMPETITION ENTRIES THE award for the pervasive, ubiqutious, and ambient intelligent community Award submission DEADLINE: 31st August 2014 4th-6th November, Tampere Finland http://www.numa.fi, http://www.mindtrek.org Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/numa.award/ In cooperation with MindTrek Association, Internatinal Ambient Media Association (iAMEA), and the AIS SIG-eMedia ============================================================================== NUMA 2014 - THE award for pervasive, ubiquitous, ambient technologies, media, services, user experience, concepts, and applications. We refurbished the competition for 2014 after having received over 220 competition entries over the past seven years. We want to integrate all the latest trends in the world of smart media, as we want to see incredible re-interpretations of the original notion of ubimedia, pervasive media, and ambient media. Any new fresh idea is welcome in this area! The vision of ubimedia today spreads in smart city concepts, smart cards, and smart phones - and starts to become mainstream - there are still many more exciting, seamless, and unobtrusive experiences that need to be discovered. We still seek for cutting edge tech innovations, and look for makers that single-handedly engineer fascinating new ubimedia services and devices on a shoestring budget. We welcome all ubimedia masterminds, pervasive computation enthusiasts, and ambient intelligent researchers to participate in writing the next chapter for the most innovative, inspiring, and sometimes slightly mad competition in ubimedia's history and seek projects, applications, services, technological solutions, concepts, or new media environment as competition entry. Note, there will be also a price sum giving to the very best three entries. Possible themes, topics, and areas where your application could contribute to: - smart environments (smart cars, smart houses, smart devices, smart cities) - cyber, social, and physical computing - human computer interaction in the era of ubiquitous computation - smart robots, interaction with robots, and robotic applications - new interaction devices (Google glasses, Pebble, ?) - big data concepts for pervasive computation - the ?quantified? self and the digital human - sensor data, context awareness, and intelligence - mobile phone applications, NFC technologies, and embedded systems (e.g. Arduino) - wearable technologies, smart watches, smart glasses, and smart gadgets - cyber physical systems (CPS) - urban informatics and smart transportation - security and safety of environments - smart saving of energy, and sustainable environments - production and industrial applications that are smart - information systems and management in smart environments - entertainment applications (e.g. pervasive games, ambient television, ...) - artisic works, apps, and creative designs - ergonomics, human-computer interaction designs, and consumer experience - software, hardware, and middleware frameworks NUMA is looking for your bold, irritating and mind-opening ideas, no matter if you are a student, seasoned researcher, entrepreneur or artist. Whether thesis, project or product - our only condition is: you must be able to demo it, otherwise you are out! You will have to prove your idea with a working prototype, and if you are nominated you will need to demonstrate your work during MindTrek. As we are a cross-disciplinary competition, we created the following categories, to cope with all the latest trends: - ?NUMA-TEC? - You have been pushing the boundaries of sensors and ubiquitous computing or invented some incredible new pervasive hardware? This award focuses on advances in ?Technology?. - ?NUMA-KERS? - You have mastered the odds of physical computing and rapid prototyping and want to expose your devices beyond the maker community? This award focuses on the community of ?Makers?. - ?NUMA-UX? - You are an interaction, experience designer, or artist and have gone where no content has been seen before? This award focuses on the ?Experience?. - ?NUMA-CONTENT? - You are a content creator, application developer, designer, artist, game designer, or new media developer? This award focuses on new ambient, ubiquitous, and pervasive content. NUMA 2014 gives all of you the chance to show your work to an interdisciplinary international jury and win a the award! Winners will also be invited to become part of the great MindTrek 2014 event and community with travel costs covered. To submit your entry, please go to http://www.numa.fi (http://www.numa.fi/call-open) If you would like to get more information or have questions, please send your email to: chairs(a)lists.numa.fi. Subscribe to our email list on: http://lists.numa.fi/mailman/listinfo/numa. The competition is organized in cooperation with the MindTrek Association (http://www.mindtrek.org) and the International Ambient Media Association (iAMEA) (http://www.ambientmediaassociation.org) the AIS SIG-eMedia (http://aisnet.org/group/SIG-eMedia) and part of the MindTrek Festival. The chairs of the competition are Artur Lugmayr, Tampere Univ. of Technology (TUT), FINLAND; Bjoern Stockleben, Univ. of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, GERMANY; and Timothy Merritt, Aarhus School of Architecture, DENMARK. Website: http://www.numa.fi (http://www.numa.fi/call-open) Contact Email: chairs(a)lists.numa.fi EMAIL List: http://lists.numa.fi/mailman/listinfo/numa Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/numa.award/

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Ethics of a student project
by Jill Walker Rettberg 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

One of our upper-level undergrads would like to write a paper about privacy using a slightly unusual methodology: he wants to find five informants who are willing to let him google them exhaustively in order to find out everything he can about them using legal, public online methods. Then he wants to show each informant the information and interview them, asking things like "did you know this information about you was accessible?" and more in order to find out something about what information people think is available about them, what is actually available about them, and how people feel about all the information out there about them and the possible disconnect between what they think and what is in fact out there. My gut reaction is that I wouldn't want to let a researcher "stalk" me online like that, and if I wouldn't want to be an informant maybe I shouldn't allow the project, right? But I'm also guessing that the project might be approved by the ethics board so long as there is clear, informed consent. And it'd be interesting to see the results. But beyond the ethics board: what do you think about a methodology like this? Do you share my gut reaction or am I overreacting? Would you let a student do it? And what might be better ways for a student to do a small scale research project on this topic? Jill Jill Walker Rettberg Professor of Digital Culture Dept of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies University of Bergen Postboks 7800 5020 Bergen + 47 55588431 Blog - http://jilltxt.net Twitter - http://twitter.com/jilltxt My latest book, Blogging (2nd ed), will be available from Polity from September 20: http://www.politybooks.com/book.asp?ref=0745663648

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IR15: Hotel Reservations
by Kendall, Lori 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

At long last, we have a system in place for hotel reservations for the IR15 conference. Getting this system in place, with several hotels, has been a complicated process and I appreciate your patience. You can find instructions and links for making hotel reservations on the conference website here: http://ir15.aoir.org/?page_id=359<http://ir15.aoir.org/?page_id=359.>. The process will be a bit different from what you're probably used to for other conferences, so please read the instructions carefully. If you run into problems, we have a special help email set up on that page. Also, don't forget to register for the conference now to take advantage of the early bird rates. There's only a bit more than a week left before those rates expire! I look forward to seeing you in Daegu in October! Lori Kendall President, AoIR

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Re: [Air-L] Ethics of a student project
by Nicholas John 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Hi Jill and others, Your student raises some interesting issues, but I think there is no need for “stalking” at all. First of all, there are pretty clear answers around to some of the things that interest him: we know that people don’t know what is accessible about them and that there is a disconnect between their knowledge and the actual state of affairs. Joe Turrow has done work on this. This doesn’t mean that your student can’t discuss this with informants, but it could perhaps be at a more general level. If what interests the student is how people feel about all the information that is out there, that’s quite a different question, and one that would justify presenting the informants with information they didn’t know was out there, but, like Johnny Unger suggested, this could - and probably should - be done together with the the informants. I think that going away and compiling a dossier which is then presented to the informant is not the way to advance research of this kind. In fact, perhaps the right way to proceed would be to present the informants with the tools for finding out the information that’s out there about themselves, and then interviewing them to ask about the process. Or even sitting with them - but on the other side of the screen - as they carry out the process. The extent to which they share with the research information that they have found out is online is then controlled by the informants, while the researcher is enable to probe them as to their feelings about these discoveries. Picking up on another thread, I would also like to register my discomfort with tasking students to find out what they can about their teachers. This is not about us (as teachers) having nothing to hide. It is partly to do with other people in our lives who have not given their consent to be included in the exercise (especially minors), but it is also to do with the proper distance between teachers and students (and between any two people, really), however fraught this notion might be. This takes us back to Jill’s student, who doesn’t actually need to know anything about the informants in order to study their responses to learning that there is far more information out there about them than they thought. It also implies that if we want to teach students about the wealth of information about them out there, that the best, and maybe only, case study they should work on is themselves. Nik > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 12:05:01 +0000 > From: Jill Walker Rettberg <Jill.Walker.Rettberg(a)lle.uib.no> > To: Air list <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > Subject: [Air-L] Ethics of a student project > Message-ID: <08E59053-552E-40DF-AAF3-E54969BD54D4(a)lle.uib.no> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > One of our upper-level undergrads would like to write a paper about privacy using a slightly unusual methodology: he wants to find five informants who are willing to let him google them exhaustively in order to find out everything he can about them using legal, public online methods. Then he wants to show each informant the information and interview them, asking things like "did you know this information about you was accessible?" and more in order to find out something about what information people think is available about them, what is actually available about them, and how people feel about all the information out there about them and the possible disconnect between what they think and what is in fact out there. > > My gut reaction is that I wouldn't want to let a researcher "stalk" me online like that, and if I wouldn't want to be an informant maybe I shouldn't allow the project, right? But I'm also guessing that the project might be approved by the ethics board so long as there is clear, informed consent. And it'd be interesting to see the results. > > But beyond the ethics board: what do you think about a methodology like this? Do you share my gut reaction or am I overreacting? Would you let a student do it? And what might be better ways for a student to do a small scale research project on this topic? > > Jill > > > Jill Walker Rettberg > Professor of Digital Culture > Dept of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies > University of Bergen > Postboks 7800 > 5020 Bergen > > + 47 55588431 > > Blog - http://jilltxt.net > Twitter - http://twitter.com/jilltxt > > My latest book, Blogging (2nd ed), will be available from Polity from September 20: http://www.politybooks.com/book.asp?ref=0745663648 >

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