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New Publications - Jewish Gamevironments
by Zeiler, Xenia 30 Dec '17

30 Dec '17

Shortly before the year comes to an end, we are happy to announce the special issue on Jewish Gamevironments, edited by Owen Gottlieb! http://www.gamevironments.uni-bremen.de/current-papers-and-archive/ In this issue, #7 (2017), you will find articles, books and games reviews, a report about current activities in the field of gaming and religion in Asia, and an interview: Introduction: Jewish Gamevironments – Exploring Understanding with Playful Systems. Article by Owen Gottlieb, 1-4. Global Conflicts, Episodic Framing and Attitude Change Towards the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Article by Ronit Kampf, 5-41. Finding Lost & Found. Designer’s Notes from the Process of Creating a Jewish Game for Learning. Article by Owen Gottlieb, 42-65. The Shivah: Kosher Edition. A Review. Review by Steve Jacobs, 66-76. Defeat Mom using the Bible. The Controversial Debate in The Binding of Isaac. Review by Isabell Gloria Brendel, 77-86. Video Games Around the World. A Review. Review by Xenia Zeiler, 87-93. Interview with Joonas Laakso, Executive Producer at Next Games Oy, Finland. Interview by gamevironments, 94-101. Video Game Development in Asia. A Research Project on Cultural Heritage and National Identity. Report by Gregory Grieve, Christopher Helland, Kerstin Radde-Antweiler and Xenia Zeiler, 102-115. Enjoy:) Kerstin Radde-Antweiler and Xenia Zeiler (editors-in-chief) -- Prof. Dr. Xenia Zeiler Tenure-Track Professor, South Asian Studies P.O. Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38B) 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland +358 50 4482713 http://tuhat.halvi.helsinki.fi/portal/en/person/zeiler

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CPF - OBS* Special issue on The co-option of audience creativity on digital platforms
by Inês Amaral 27 Dec '17

27 Dec '17

[With apologies for cross posting] *Call for papers - OBS* Special issue on *The co-option of audience creativity on digital platforms *Guest Editors: *Ana Jorge (CECC-UCP), Inês Amaral (CECS/ISMT), David Mathieu (Roskilde University/ECREA Audiences and Reception Studies Section Chair) Submission deadline: 30th March 2018 Through its 3-year of activity, the Consortium on Emerging Directions in Audience Research (CEDAR), a network funded by the AHRC in the UK <https://cedarahrc.com/>, has observed that the co-option of audiences by large, global players is becoming more intricate than previously. While a number of factors account for this development, the co-option of audiences is increasingly made possible by the appropriation of technology in the development of digital media platforms. These media are able to turn audience’s work and engagement into commodities for attracting attention, metrics to be sold to advertisers and business models (Andrejevic, 2009; van Dijck, 2013; Hearn & Schoenhoff, 2016). While user-generated content such as blogging or vlogging is a clear sign of audience agency, there is an increased tendency for that work to be co-opted by private and public media, hence leading to new forms of power imbalance between media and audiences. The co-option of audiences refers generally to the appropriation of audience labour, their ideas or the content of their productions, for one’s own purposes, be it by media and other organisations. But it also involves the process of gaining the audience’s agreement and consent in contributing to the objectives of the organisation and the establishing of new forms of relationship between audiences and platforms. On the other hand, audiences sometimes appreciate the recognition of their production by more established media or producers, such as fan communities. Hence, there is an important dialectic dimension in which co-option is negotiated, in which conflicts and tensions arise, and in which norms, rules and roles are redefined (Stehling *et al.*, forthcoming). This topic has been discussed by political economy of communication and in particular of the web 2.0, focusing on the exploitation of audiences’ work as free labour (Andrejevic, 2009; Wasko, Murdock & Sousa, 2014; Fuchs & Sevignani, 2013), and by cultural studies through the notion of participation (Jenkins, 2006; Jenkins & Carpentier, 2013). However, Vesnić -Alujević and Murru (2016) claim the urgency of finding bridges between those perspectives. *This special issue wishes to investigate the dialectic nature of co-option of audience creativity in blogging and vlogging platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc. Can the commodification of audience creativity and the emancipation it creates live side by side within the same model? When a YouTuber advertises a product, is the content different and does it entail different forms of communication to and from the audiences? How do popular and professional or semi-professional Youtubers, Instagrammers, etc negotiate the boundaries of their work and retain their integrity and authenticity?* We invite contributions to answer these and other related questions by paying attention, amongst others, to: - the processes of produsage and co-creation of media content by the audiences within new practices of co-option by different kinds of power; - the commercialisation of “micro-celebrities”/“social media influencers” (in digital platforms as YouTube, blogs, Instagram and Facebook); - the use of algorithms and its impact on audience creativity; - the strategies deployed to encourage and orient (or block and prevent) the production of content that (dis)serves the interests of non-audience actors (owners, administrators, advertisers, etc.); - the processes and mechanisms of translation, such as datafication, metrification, by which audience creativity is co-opted; - the formation and negotiation of new business models throughout the co-option of audience labour; - the complex landscape of cross-interests and mutual influences between content users and producers; - the redefinition and negotiation of audience’s roles and relations with other actors. For questions, please contact Special Issue Guest Editor Ana Jorge: anajorge(a)fch.lisboa.ucp.pt Submissions should follow the manuscript format guidelines for OBS* at http://obs.obercom.pt/index.php/obs/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions. All manuscripts should be submitted to anajorge(a)fch.lisboa.ucp.pt , until March 30th 2018. Manuscripts will go through a peer review process, and the Special Issue is planned to appear in the last issue of OBS* 2018 (Sept-Dec). *Inês Amaral*---------------- Professora Auxiliar *ISMT* <http://www.ismt.pt> | Investigadora *CECS* <http://www.cecs.uminho.pt/> - UMinho Assistant Professor *ISMT* <http://www.ismt.pt/> | Researcher *CECS* <http://www.cecs.uminho.pt/> - UMinho *website <http://ciberesfera.com> | degóis.pt <http://www.degois.pt/visualizador/curriculum.jsp?key=2537238587233433> | researchgate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ines_Amaral2>*

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Please help my 87-year-old grandmother
by Yosem Companys 26 Dec '17

26 Dec '17

Dear Friends, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season with your friends and family, and I wish you a Happy New Year. My 87-year-old grandmother collapsed on Christmas Day and was hospitalized. After all that she has been through this year in Puerto Rico with Hurricane Maria, I'm trying to help her. Could you please make a donation, no matter how small? https://www.youcaring.com/theresapedreira-1052331 I truly appreciate your generosity. Thanks, Yosem

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Call for Papers - Big Data Section, ECPR General Conference 2018 - Hamburg (22-25 Aug 2018)
by Elena Pavan 22 Dec '17

22 Dec '17

*** Apologies for cross-posting*** In occasion of the next ECPR General Conference (22-25 August 2018, Hamburg) we invite papers for any of the panels in the section "Political Sciences and the Big Data Challenge From Big Data in Politics to the Politics of Big Data". More detailed info on panels and the overall section can be found below. Please submit paper proposals to elena.pavan(a)sns.it <mailto:elena.pavan@sns.it> and alice.mattoni(a)sns.it <mailto:alice.mattoni@sns.it> by *January, 30^th 2018* including the following info: - papers titles, abstracts (no more than 500 words) and 3 keywords - institutional affiliation - institutional email address We will then arrange the selected papers in panels and submit them to the ECPR via their electronic platform. Please note that paper authors must be registered in the ECPR electronic platform with the email address they will include in the paper proposals. All the best Alice Mattoni and Elena Pavan *** *CALL**FOR PAPERS* *ECPR General Conference – 22-25 August 2018, Hamburg* ** *Section title: Political Sciences and the Big Data Challenge From Big Data in Politics to the Politics of Big Data* *Section organizers* Chair: Elena Pavan, Scuola Normale Superiore Co-chair: Alice Mattoni, Scuola Normale Superiore *Section outline and themes* In continuity with the successful set of Panels organized during the 2017 ECPR General Conference in Oslo, the Section aims to offer a space within the ECPR context to critically discuss the nexus between Big Data and political science. It will do so by promoting a theoretically informed and empirically sound discussion along three lines of reflection. First, the Section will deal with the potentialities and the limitations of using large-scale datasets and supervised and unsupervised analytic techniques for leveraging our understanding of political dynamics from party dynamics, to political communications, to social movements and digital activism. Second, by considering Big Data as a complex set of cultural, political and scientific knowledge practices, the Section will offer an occasion to engage with the modes in which Big Data become a “political object” that is critically addressed by contentious grassroots efforts but also dealt within more conventional governance processes. Finally, the Section confronts the outcomes of Big Data usages in the political realm oscillating between enhanced accountability on the side of institutions and the reduction of citizens and their will to objectified data-assemblages that are mechanically treated rather than constructively accounted for. The Section comprises a set of Panels that aim to foster the convergence of scholars and researchers currently working on the value of Big Data for studying politics but also on the forms and the impacts of the politics of Big Data employing different theoretical, empirical and methodological approaches on Big Data. *1. Big data for the study of political participation *Chair: Alexandra Segerberg This Panel looks at how Big Data and related methodological and analytical practices can leverage our understanding of political mobilization and participation – from social movements to voting behaviours. While more traditional forms of collective action still exist, activists lean increasingly on web-based platforms and internet services that produce Big Data flows worldwide. Moreover, Big Data are increasingly considered a fundamental component of electoral campaigns, governmental and legislative dynamics as well as of the interactions between political leaders with their constituencies. To shed light on this complex context, the Panel hosts Papers that investigate to what extent Big Data are changing the way in which conventional and unconventional forms of political participation can be investigated from a broad array of methodological lenses, in different national contexts, transnationally or fluidly across the online/offline boundary. *2. From data-activism to data justice. The contentious politics of Big Data *Chair: Stefania Milan Big Data are not a neutral field of practice and knowledge. When engaging with Big Data, political actors develop specific arrays of data-related practices that construct, manipulate, and even subvert their political relevance. In so doing, the same political actors evoke specific, and sometimes contrasting, understanding of what datafication processes means in and for politics, both today and in the near future. Thus, Big Data become an object of political contestation that fosters the emergence of new collective actors and, at the same time, intersects longer-term mobilizations in other fields - e.g. labour, women and environmental issues. To grasp the multiple lines of contention that characterize Big Data in grassroots politics, the Panel hosts Papers that investigate the relationship between Big Data cultures and practices in different arenas of contention from an empirical perspective in different national and transnational contexts relying on qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approaches. *3. Big data Governance and Policies *Chair: Lina Dencik Data increasingly regulate our lives. We are assessed, ranked, profiled and categorized according to data that is collected about us. These assessments enable - or limit - our access to services and our ability to cross borders; they define us as potential 'risk'; and they affect core aspects of citizenship. New publics are created and receive differential treatment based on data analysis. While data regulate society, the regulation of data is becoming a pressing concern. Policies are required for data collection, sharing and analysis, and struggles over policy development have picked up, not least, since the Snowden revelations. Against this backdrop, this Panel invites Paper addressing the role of big data as both tools for and objects of governance processes at different levels - from the national to the supranational ones. *4. The outcomes of big data in politics: from the accountability of institutions to the invisibility of the citizens *Chair: Alice Mattoni In the past few years, a wide array of online services and platforms that rest on Big Data became available that promised to render citizens’ voices more visible within governmental institutions through the enhancement of different mechanisms: from citizens’ monitoring capabilities aimed at increasing accountability to participatory policy making including citizens’ viewpoints. In this respect, while Big Data might offer empowering opportunities, it is also likely that governmental institutions would ignore, silence or even reduce to objectified data-assemblages grassroots creative usages of Big Data. To cast light on the outcomes of Big Data usages at the crossroads between governmental institutions and grassroots citizens initiatives, the Panel hosts Papers that empirically address how Big Data might (or not) increase the accountability and transparency of political institutions at the local, national and transnational levels. *How to submit a paper* Please submit paper proposals to elena.pavan(a)sns.it <mailto:elena.pavan@sns.it> and alice.mattoni(a)sns.it <mailto:alice.mattoni@sns.it> by *January 30^th, 2018* including the following info: - papers titles, abstracts (no more than 500 words), and 3-8 keywords - institutional affiliation - institutional email address We will then arrange the selected papers in panels and submit them to the ECPR via their electronic platform. Please note that *paper authors must be registered in the ECPR electronic platform with the email address they will include in the paper proposals*. -- Elena Pavan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Istituto di Scienze Umane e Sociali Scuola Normale Superiore Palazzo Strozzi - Piazza degli Strozzi, 1 50123 Firenze email: elena.pavan(a)sns.it telephone: +39 055 2673330 Adjunct Professor Dipartimento Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale Università di Trento via Verdi 26 38122 Trento email: elena.pavan(a)unitn.it telephone: +39 (0)461 28 1378 --- Questa e-mail è stata controllata per individuare virus con Avast antivirus. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Reminder - Spring Virtual Research Fellows
by Jason Radford 21 Dec '17

21 Dec '17

Dear Colleagues, I am writing to remind you that the deadline to apply for the Virtual Research Fellows program with Volunteer Science <https://volunteerscience.com/> is *next Friday December 29th.* The semester-long fellowship is for researchers interested in creating online studies using the platform. During the fellowship, researchers will receive free access to Volunteer Science’s researcher portal, free training in building online web applications with Volunteer Science, and weekly coding sessions and hands on support from Volunteer Science staff. The expectation is that fellows will use this time to create, deploy, and analyze data from their application by the end of the fellowship. Please see the attached Call for Applications for details on eligibility, application instructions, and the calendar of events for the Spring. Please email me with any questions. Anyone interested in conducting research on Volunteer Science is invited to sign up for a research team <https://www.volunteerscience.com/research/> where you will be able to create web applications, deploy them on a personal team page, and recruit volunteers, students, or workers on Mechanical Turk. Very Best, Jason Radford * Volunteer ScienceVirtual Research Fellows ProgramCall for Applications, Spring 2018Applicant Deadline: December 29* *Program summary* Volunteer Science is launching an Virtual Research Fellows program for researchers interested in creating web applications using the platform. *The* *program is completely online* and intended to provide a supportive community of researchers. During this semester-long program, fellows receive free access to Volunteer Science’s researcher portal, free training in building online applications, weekly coding sessions, and hands on support from Volunteer Science staff. The program lasts for one semester with the option to renew for an additional semester. The expectation is that fellows will use this time to create, test, and deploy their web app. *Application* To be considered, fellows must email 1) a* study abstract*, 2) a *participant recruitment abstract*, and 3) *contact information* (name, institution, and email) for the applicant and other researchers involved in the study to Jason Radford at j.radford(a)northeastern.edu. The study abstract should be 200-300 words and include a description of the research question(s), study design, and expected outcomes. The participant recruitment abstract should be a 200-300 word description for how you the fellow plan to recruit participants, whether volunteers, students, or online workers. For ideas of the types of studies conducted on Volunteer Science, please see our experiments <https://volunteerscience.com/experiments/> and surveys <https://volunteerscience.com/experiments/survey/> pages. *Eligibility and Selection* Any researcher in a university, government agency, or private company performing research for publication is eligible to apply. Applicants will be selected based on whether the web application is a good fit for Volunteer Science (i.e. whether it takes advantage of online methods to create web apps and/or recruit participants). Special preference to those whose study utilizes the unique features <https://volunteerscience.com/docs/> of Volunteer Science. Preference will also be given to traditionally under-resourced researchers, such as graduate students, junior faculty, and researchers outside R1 and Western institutions. *Institutional Review* All research involving human subjects on Volunteer Science requires proof of human subjects review. We recommend all applicants submit institutional review documents now to ensure the process is complete by the time your study will be finished. You may find current IRB documents for Volunteer Science at https://volunteerscience.com/our_science/. *Calendar of Events* · *Dec 29*: Deadline for Applications · *Jan 8*: Fellows announced · *Jan 19*: Mandatory Online Training · *Jan 26*: Weekly hacking sessions begin · *April 6*: Study Release Day · *May 4*: Spring 2017 Fellowship ends -- Jason Radford Doctoral Student, Sociology, University of Chicago Visiting Researcher, Lazer Lab, Northeastern University *Connect*: Website <http://home.uchicago.edu/%7Ejsradford/>, LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jsradford>, Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/jsradford> *Play Games for Science at Volunteer Science <http://www.volunteerscience.com>*

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New Issue of CyberOrient
by Vit Sisler 21 Dec '17

21 Dec '17

Dear colleagues, it is my pleasure to announce that a new issue of the CyberOrient journal is available online! All the best, Vit Sisler Managing Editor CyberOrient, Vol. 11, Iss. 2, 2017 Editor-in-Chief: Daniel M. Varisco Managing Editor: Vit Sisler http://www.cyberorient.net/ Articles Behind the Screen: the Syrian Virtual Resistance Billie Jeanne Brownlee http://www.cyberorient.net/article.do?articleId=9852 Big Data in the MENA Region: The Next Path towards Socio-economic and Cultural Development Ilhem Allagui & Mohammad Ayish http://www.cyberorient.net/article.do?articleId=9861 Comments Transnational Religious Practices on Facebook Seyedehbehnaz Hosseini http://www.cyberorient.net/article.do?articleId=9866 About CyberOrient CyberOrient (http://www.cyberorient.net/) is a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Anthropological Association, in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. The aim of the journal is to provide research and theoretical considerations on the representation of Islam and the Middle East, the very areas that used to be styled as an “Orient”, in cyberspace, as well as the impact of the internet and new media in Muslim and Middle Eastern contexts. -- Vit Sisler, Ph.D. Charles University Faculty of Arts Institute of Information Science and Librarianship New Media Studies http://uisk.jinonice.cuni.cz/sisler/

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Good/recent undergrad reading on Online Cooperation
by Joseph Reagle 21 Dec '17

21 Dec '17

Kollock's (1999) "The Economies Of Online Cooperation: Gifts And Public Goods In Cyberspace" [1] was great because it distinguished between some theoretic concepts (gifts, public goods, digital goods) and touched on motivations and limits. It is, also, very old---not many students know what Usenet and The WELL are. Any suggestions for a similar, high level, overview of the why, how, and limits to online cooperation? (There's tons of literature on all those topics of course, but I'm struggling to find something pithy, comprehensive, and current.) Thanks for any suggestions! [1]: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/3824/Working_Draft.p…

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Competition for 2-year post-doctoral grants in Estonia
by Andra Siibak 21 Dec '17

21 Dec '17

Dear all, ESTONIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL HAS ANNOUNCED A COMPETITION FOR 2-YEAR POST-DOCTORAL GRANTS - FOR CANDIDATES INTERESTED IN WORKING AT ESTONIAN UNIVERSITIES. Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, invites interested emerging scholars to contact us for and discussing common research interests and for submitting an application. We have a good track record in winning and hosting post-doctoral grants. In particular we are inviting potential post-doctoral researchers in the innovative fields of digital sociology, social informatics, (new) media studies and (critical) data studies. Our faculty members are interested in supervising and working together on the following broad topics: * Digital methods (techniques, methods, epistemologies) * Critical data studies (data inequalities, data discrimination, data power) * Critical algorithm studies (algorithmic selection, algorithmic governance) * Comparative big data studies * Social network analysis * (Digital) social transformations * Digitalisation and mobile lives (everyday mobilities, immigration) * The datafied self and privacy * Privacy and social media * Micro-celebrities /influencers / online celebrity * New media audiences * Media generations * Mediatization * Disconnection and social media See more about Institute of Social Studies (https://www.yti.ut.ee/en) and about the Call (http://www.etag.ee/en/funding/mobility-funding/mobilitas-pluss/mobilitas-pl… [1]). The deadline for applications is January 31st, thus we encourage interested people to make contact ASAP. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE DROP ME A LINE: Andra Siibak, Professor of Media Studies, Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu andra.siibak(a)ut.ee Links: ------ [1] http://www.etag.ee/en/funding/mobility-funding/mobilitas-pluss/mobilitas-pl…

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Good/recent undergrad reading on Online Cooperation
by Gabriella "Biella" Coleman 20 Dec '17

20 Dec '17

I think this piece is quite good at differentiating different forms of cooperation and participation online http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17530350.2011.563069 BIRDS OF THE INTERNET Towards a field guide to the organization and governance of participation Adam Fish <http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Fish%2C+Adam>,Luis F.R. Murillo <http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Murillo%2C+Luis+FR>,Lilly Nguyen <http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Nguyen%2C+Lilly>,Aaron Panofsky <http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Panofsky%2C+Aaron> &Christopher M. Kelty <http://www.tandfonline.com/author/Kelty%2C+Christopher+M> Pages 157-187 | Published online: 09 May 2011 * Download citation <http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080%2F17530350.201…> * https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2011.563069 * On 2017-12-20 07:18 AM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2017 13:44:34 -0500 > From: Joseph Reagle <joseph.2011(a)reagle.org> > To: "air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org" <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > Subject: [Air-L] Good/recent undergrad reading on Online Cooperation > Message-ID: <162760b0-ce96-9418-7d6d-88a0955491f6(a)reagle.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 -- Gabriella Coleman Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy Department of Art History & Communication Studies McGill University 853 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, PQ H3A 0G5 http://gabriellacoleman.org/ 514-398-8572

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Ethical problem in a Twitter reaserch
by Lior Beserman 19 Dec '17

19 Dec '17

Dear Air-L Community, I have encountered an ethical problem which I am sure I am not the first to encounter and so would appreciate your say on the matter. I am doing a discourse analysis on a twitter hashtag and I have no way to discern that I am not using under age (under 18) users tweets. As there are completely different questions and guidelines to research minors from an ethical perspective, I was wondering how other people have dealt with this problem in their research? Thank you, Lior Beserman Navon, Ph.D. Candidate The Department of Sociology & Anthropology The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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