- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Chinese language social media data mining tools
by Helen Kennedy 11 May '17

11 May '17

Hello clever AOIR folks Asking for postgrad students: any recommendations of social media data mining tools that work on Chinese social media platforms / with Chinese languages? Thanks! Helen -- Professor Helen Kennedy, Chair in Digital Society Department of Sociological Studies / Faculty of Social Sciences Elmfield, Northumberland Road Sheffield S10 2TU T: 0114 2226488 E: h.kennedy(a)sheffield.ac.uk LATEST ARTICLE: *'*The Feeling of Numbers: emotions in everyday engagements with data and their visualisation <http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0038038516674675?journalCode=so…>', *Sociology*, 2017.

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Re: [Air-L] Articles introducing digital ethnography? - Sage book
by Ali Mohamed 11 May '17

11 May '17

Hi Donna, You may tell the Library in your University to buy it as a digital resource. Kinds, Ali Från: Donna Carmichael [mailto:DXC547@student.bham.ac.uk] Skickat: den 11 maj 2017 17:08 Till: Ali Mohamed <ali.mohamed(a)edu.su.se>; Alexandra Sandulescu Budea <alexandra.sandulescu(a)urjc.es>; Evelina Liliequist <evelina.liliequist(a)umu.se>; Air list <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Ämne: RE: Articles introducing digital ethnography? - Sage book Ali - thanks for the link to the new Sage book, although it is pricey at £!20. Has anyone seen/read this book? Any comments or feedback on its usefulness? Donna Carmichael PhD Student Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage University of Birmingham, UK Twitter: @DonnaHeritage -----Original Message----- From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of ali.mohamed(a)edu.su.se<mailto:ali.mohamed@edu.su.se> Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2017 10:57 AM To: Alexandra Sandulescu Budea <alexandra.sandulescu(a)urjc.es<mailto:alexandra.sandulescu@urjc.es>>; Evelina Liliequist <evelina.liliequist(a)umu.se<mailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se>>; Air list <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:air-l@listserv.aoir.org>> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Articles introducing digital ethnography? Hi, May be this new published book "The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods launches" will help you. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/press/the-sage-handbook-of-social-media-re… Kind regards, Ali Mohamed Doctoral student Department of Education Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: 0046 739 296915 ali.mohamed(a)edu.su.se<mailto:ali.mohamed@edu.su.se> -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Från: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] För Alexandra Sandulescu Budea Skickat: den 11 maj 2017 08:59 Till: Evelina Liliequist <evelina.liliequist(a)umu.se<mailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se>>; Air list <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:air-l@listserv.aoir.org>> Ämne: Re: [Air-L] Articles introducing digital ethnography? Hi!! You can start with: e-Seminars of the EASA Media Anthropology Network<http://www.media-anthropology.net/>: * Facebook as research field and research platform: http://www.media-anthropology.net/file/eseminar_facebook.pdf * Researching the internet: http://www.media-anthropology.net/braeuchler_eseminar.pdf Literature: Ethnography in virtual worlds: * Boellstorff, et al. (2012). Ethnography and virtual worlds: A handbook of method. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Ethnography and digital and social media: * Hjorth, L., et al. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge Companion to digital ethnography, New York: Routledge. Forthcoming. * Miller, D., et al. (2016). How the world changed social media. London: UCL Press. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1474805/1/How-the-World-Changed-Social-Media.pdf * Pink, S., et al. (2016). Digital ethnography: Principles and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. * Postill, J., & Pink, S. (2012). Social media ethnography: The digital researcher in a messy web. Media International Australia, 145(1), 123-134. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1329878X1214500114 * Sanjek, R., & Tratner, S. W. (Eds.). (2016). eFieldnotes: The makings of anthropology in the digital world. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Blog posts: * John Postill about “doing digital ethnography”: https://johnpostill.com/2015/01/16/13-six-ways-of-researching-new-social-wo… * Wendy Hsu about “ethnography beyond text and print”: http://ethnographymatters.net/blog/2013/12/09/ethnography-beyond-text-and-p… Research centres: * Digital Ethnography Research Centre at RMIT University: http://digital-ethnography.com/ * Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University: http://mediatedcultures.net/<http://mediatedcultures.net/<http://mediatedcultures.net/%3chttp:/mediatedcultures.net/>> * OxDEG: The Oxford Digital Ethnography Group: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/projects/oxdeg/ In our department we have initiatives related to web analytics, metrics and digital music or digital ethnography. Good luck and encouragement that tomorrow is Friday :) Alexandra Mª Sandulescu Budea Ciencias de la Comunicación y Sociología Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Campus de Madrid, España Teléfono: 914887849 alexandra.sandulescu(a)urjc.es<mailto:email@urjc.es<mailto:alexandra.sandulescu@urjc.es%3cmailto:email@urjc.es>> | www.urjc.es<http://www.urjc.es/<http://www.urjc.es%3chttp:/www.urjc.es/>> | @URJC | ________________________________ De: Air-L <air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org>> en nombre de Evelina Liliequist <evelina.liliequist(a)umu.se<mailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se>> Enviado: jueves, 11 de mayo de 2017 8:30 Para: Air list Asunto: [Air-L] Articles introducing digital ethnography? Hello! I have been asked to teach students about digital ethnology, is there anyone here who can recommend a good article that introduces this? It is likely to be the students' first teaching opportunity on this field, so I'm looking for articles that fits in as an introduction. Thanks in advance, Evelina Liliequist Postgraduate student Ethnology, Digital humanities Department of Culture and Media Studies, Umeå University Umeå University SE-901 87 Umeå Sweden Tel: +46 90 7866305 Email: evelina.liliequist(a)umu.se<mailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se<mailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se%3cmailto:evelina.liliequist@umu.se>> _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

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WEBCAST TODAY: A Brave New World: How does the Internet Affect Societies? @InternetSociety #thenext25
by Joly MacFie 11 May '17

11 May '17

This is under way. Very good high level overview of how far we've come in 25 years, and how we may progress. joly posted: "Today Thursday May 11 2017 the Internet Society and Royal Institute of International Affairs present A Brave New World: How does the Internet Affect Societies? at Chatham House in London UK. Part of the Internet Society's 25th Anniversary program, a round" [image: livestream] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/chatham>Today *Thursday May 11 2017* the *Internet Society <https://www.internetsociety.org/>* and *Royal Institute of International Affairs <https://www.chathamhouse.org/>* present *A Brave New World: How does the Internet Affect Societies? <https://www.internetsociety.org/25th/roundtable-may11>* at Chatham House in London UK. Part of the *Internet Society's 25th Anniversary program* <https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/institutional/2017/01/2017-internet-so…>, a roundtable will examine the question: *Is the Internet eliminating divisions in society, or is it accentuating them? *. Keynote: *Prof. Dr. Erik Huizer*, CTO SURFnet. Speakers: *Dr. Ismail Syed Shah*, Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunications Authority;* Mr. James Arroyo*, OBE, Director for Data, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; *Ms. Unoma Ndili Okarafor*, Ph.D. Founder & CEO at *Herbal Papaya*, WAAW Foundation; *Ms. Rebecca MacKinnon*, Director of the Ranking Digital Rights project at New America. Moderator: *Ms. Kathryn Brown*, President and CEO, Internet Society. The event will be webcast live on the* Internet Society Livestream Channel <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/chatham>* and *YouTube <https://youtu.be/nCpaptHX0II>*. London is 5 hours ahead of NYC. *What: A Brave New World: How does the Internet Affect Societies? <https://www.internetsociety.org/25th/roundtable-may11> Where: Chatham House, London When: Thursday May 11 2017 12:30-14:00 BST | 11:30-13:00 UTC | 07:30-9:00 EDT Webcast 1: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/chatham <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/chatham> Webcast 2: https://youtu.be/nCpaptHX0II <https://youtu.be/nCpaptHX0II> Twitter: #thenext25 https://twitter.com/hashtag/thenext25 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/thenext25>* Comment <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9181#respond> See all comments <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9181#comments> *Permalink* http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9181 -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

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Ordinary Digital Humanities: The everyday life of digital technologies in pedagogy
by Scott Rodgers 11 May '17

11 May '17

Ordinary Digital Humanities The everyday life of digital technologies in pedagogy 15 May 2017, 6pm, Keynes Library, 43 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PD (part of Birkbeck Arts Week) Book your free place at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ordinary-digital-humanities-the-everyday-lif… When one hears the term ‘digital humanities’ what likely comes to mind are innovative applications of computational techniques and technologies to humanities research as well as pedagogy. Or, conversely, the application of concepts and philosophies rooted in the humanities toward the study of emergent digital objects. There are reasons however to think about the digital humanities in a more ordinary sense, beyond ‘cutting edge’ research or pedagogy. In the introduction to her book How We Think, N. Katherine Hayles suggests that in order to understand the implications of digital technologies for the humanities, we must first consider the ‘low level’ implications of digital technologies for academic life. For instance, the widespread normalisation of email, department websites, software applications, web searches, social media, and much more. For Hayles, a ‘digital humanities’ is more than just innovative new approaches to research and pedagogy. It is also inherently about transformations to the cognitive and embodied environments of academic life at the level of the habitual or everyday. This forum considers the banal dimensions of the digital humanities, focusing specifically (though not exclusively) on pedagogical practice. It begins with an opening lecture from Dr Lesley Gourlay (abstract below), followed by responses from Dr Grace Halden and Dr Tim Markham from Birkbeck, University of London. We will not only survey the everyday ways digital technologies are being used, and are asserting themselves, in academic life; but also, how humanities and other scholars might respond to the apparent opportunities and intrusions wrought by digitisation. The event will be followed by a wine reception. Flickering texts and the writing body: posthuman perspectives on the digital university Dr Lesley Gourlay, Reader in Education and Technology, UCL Institute of Education As digital technologies become increasingly central in our day-to-day lives, we see profound changes in how we search for information, communicate with others, and express ourselves. The university is also changing, as digital media becomes more central via online resources for distance learning, but also throughout the traditional campus, through the mainstream use of digital media for teaching, library provision and academic reading and writing. This has not only changed approaches to academic teaching, it has also fundamentally altered how we seek resources and how we read and generate new knowledge through writing and interaction. Drawing Hayle’s notion of ‘embodied virtuality’, this talk will explore this theme, analysing data from a research project which looked in detail at how a small group of students approached their studies over a six-month period, using drawings, photography and interviews to form an in-depth understanding of their day-to-day lives as students, and how they navigate the complex digital and material landscape of the contemporary university. It looks at how texts change when they move between paper-based and the digital, how students navigate the complexities of multiple devices and formats, how they make spaces for writing and knowledge while on the move, and how they form part of ‘posthuman’ networks of digital devices and material objects in order to engage in their studies. Taking a historical perspective, the talk concludes that textual practices have always been central to how higher education is organised and how we understand ‘knowledge’, and considers how digital media might continue to change what we call ‘the university’.

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2nd CFP: SPeL 2017 (10th International Workshop on Social and Personal Computing for Web-Supported Learning Communities)
by Elvira Popescu 11 May '17

11 May '17

================================================================== SPeL 2017 10th International Workshop on Social and Personal Computing for Web-Supported Learning Communities http://software.ucv.ro/~epopescu/spel2017 In conjunction with ICWL 2017 (16th International Conference on Web-based Learning) http://www.hkws.org/conference/icwl2017 & SETE 2017 (2nd International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Education) http://2017.isete.net 20-22 September 2017 Cape Town, South Africa * Paper submission deadline: June 8, 2017 (preceded by a mandatory abstract submission by June 1) * All accepted workshop papers will be published by Springer in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) ================================================================== MOTIVATION =========== The workshop follows the previous SPeL 2008, SPeL 2009, SPeL 2010, SPeL 2011, DULP & SPeL 2012, SPeL 2013, SPeL 2014, SPeL 2015 and SPeL 2016 workshops, held in conjunction with the SAINT 2008 conference, WI/IAT 2009 conference, DEXA 2010 conference, ICWL 2011 conference, ICALT 2012 conference, ICSTCC 2013 conference, ICWL 2014 conference, ICSLE 2015 conference and ICWL & SETE 2017 conferences respectively. The general topic of the workshop is the social and personal computing for web-supported learning communities. Web-based learning is moving from centralized, institution-based systems to a decentralized and informal creation and sharing of knowledge. Social software (e.g., blogs, wikis, social bookmarking systems, media sharing services) is increasingly being used for e-learning purposes, helping to create novel learning experiences and knowledge. In the world of pervasive Internet, learners are also evolving: the so-called "digital natives" want to be in constant communication with their peers, they expect an individualized instruction and a personalized learning environment, which automatically adapt to their individual needs. The challenge in this context is to provide intelligent and adaptive support for collaborative learning, taking into consideration the individual differences between learners. This workshop deals with current research on the interplay between collaboration and personalization issues for supporting intelligent learning environments. Its aim is to provide a forum for discussing new trends and initiatives in this area, including research about the planning, development, application, and evaluation of intelligent learning environments, where people can learn together in a personalized way through social interaction with other learners. The workshop is targeted at academic researchers, developers, educationists and practitioners interested in innovative uses of social media and adaptation techniques for the advancement of intelligent learning environments. The proposed field is interdisciplinary and very dynamic, taking into account the recent advent of Web 2.0 and ubiquitous personalization, and it is hoped to attract a large audience. TOPICS OF INTEREST ================== The workshop welcomes submissions covering aspects of collaboration, social interactions, adaptivity and personalization in technology enhanced learning, particularly related to issues about: * Social learning environments * Theory and modeling of social computing in education * Web 2.0 tools for collaborative learning * Personal learning environments * Lifelong learning networks * Virtual spaces for learning communities * Social networks analysis and mining * Computer-supported collaborative learning * Personalized and adaptive learning * Adaptation methods and techniques for groups of learners * Intelligent learner and group modeling * Collaborative filtering and recommendations for learners * Game-based social learning * Personalized mobile learning applications * Cloud-based social learning * Intelligent agent technology for social learning * Metadata, folksonomies and tagging * Semantic web and ontologies for personalized learning * Cognitive, motivational and affective aspects for personalization * Practice and experience sharing PAPER SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION ================================== The workshop papers should be formatted according to the Springer LNCS Authors Guidelines (http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0) The length of the manuscript should not exceed 6 pages for short papers and 10 pages for full papers. Papers should be submitted in PDF format, through the Easychair system: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=spel2017. All accepted workshop papers will be published in a post-conference proceedings volume in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). IMPORTANT DATES =============== Abstract submission: June 1, 2017 Full paper submission: June 8, 2017 Acceptance notification: July 8, 2017 Registration and camera-ready papers: July 25, 2017 Conference dates: September 20-22, 2017 WORKSHOP CHAIRS ================ Elvira Popescu - University of Craiova, Romania Sabine Graf - Athabasca University, Canada Please refer to the workshop website (http://software.ucv.ro/~epopescu/spel2017) for more information and contact us at: popescu_elvira(a)software.ucv.ro or sabineg(a)athabascau.ca for any inquiry.

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Book launch - "Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism"
by Christian Fuchs 10 May '17

10 May '17

Book launch - "Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism" (Mariano Zukerfeld) May 26 18:00 University of Westminster 309 Regent St, W1B 2HW London Organised by Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies and University of Westminster Press "Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism" by Mariano Zukerfeld is a new open access book published by the University of Westminster Press. It is the second volume in the Critical Digital & Social Media Studies-book series edited by Christiasn Fuchs. In this launch event, Mariano Zukerfeld, currently research fellow at the Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies, will present the foundations of the book: It oulines a critical approach that uses Marxist theory for analysing the role and contradictions of knowledge in digital capitalism. Zukerfeld terms this approach "cognitive materialism". Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/capitalist-piracy-creative-industries-free-k…

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Colleagues looking for a social media researcher to join project on 13 Reasons Why
by Anna Feigenbaum 10 May '17

10 May '17

Some of my colleagues are looking for a scholar who has the skills and tools for social media scraping and statistical analysis to join a project gathering audience data on the controversy surrounding the recent Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. Details on the project below, if you are interested, please email: bproctor(a)bournemouth.ac.uk Dear Colleagues, We’ve been here before and we find ourselves here again. The cultural firestorm that is gaining traction in the popular presses and academia surrounding the Netflix TV series, 13 Reasons Why, is, unfortunately, being linked to broader media effects models, models which many of us in media and cultural studies would surely note as egregious and lacking in nuance, especially in relation to decades of media audience research. One brief example will suffice for now to contextualise the debate. Consider the BBC Radio programme (and podcast), The Media Show, a recent edition of which included a segment on the controversy anchored to a growing concern from mental health campaigners that “Netflix is acting irresponsibly” by depicting protagonist, Hannah Baker, killing herself. One of the fears here is that Ofcom regulations do not apply to Netflix (the same could, of course, be said of US subscription services, such as HBO and Showtime, which are not bound by network codes of conduct and practices) and that this permits a streaming service to breach boundaries of (moral) representation. The show interviews Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of Papyrus, “a charity that seeks to prevent suicide among young people”. Said Flynn: “If you show graphic images of suicide you risk simulative acts [or] for want of a better term, potential copy-cat behaviour”. In this light, it would be relatively easy to provide Flynn and others with a detailed literature review of the ways that this has been debunked and demystified from within the media and cultural studies discipline, especially extant research into media audiences. One of Flynn’s concerns is that 13 Reasons Why represents suicide in a “sensationalist, romanticised way”. As we all know, media audiences interpret, respond to, and use, media in a variety of complex and complicated ways, but the way in which this discourse is framed only functions if audiences are homogenous and passive receivers of media ‘messages’. (Martin Barker rightly explained that media texts are not ‘message-vehicles’ joy-riding into the brain of the 'suggestible' viewer/ reader.) When asked if “there is any evidence or research that would suggest that this could push vulnerable teens to suicide”, Flynn responds in the affirmative: “Most of your listeners will remember Bridgend in South Wales; there was a number of young suicides that Papyrus was heavily involved in…and when we asked for a global cessation of coverage, the number of suicides reduced significantly and then stopped”. However, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), available data tell us that this is problematic; the suicide rate in Bridgend actually went up following the cessation of journalistic coverage in the years 2010 – 13, and, although the numbers have dropped in 2012 – 14, they are now on the rise again in 2013 – 2015 (the most recent stats available). (Interested scholars can consult Ann Luce’s book, The Bridgend Suicides: Suicide and the Media, for further study.) What this example illustrates is that the current model of effects within suicidology simply cannot withstand scrutiny. For if the Bridgend suicides did not 'stop' or even reduce suicide rates in simplistic terms following the cessation of journalistic reporting, then the casual link between the two cannot hold. Indeed, it would certainly seem, at the very least, to throw a spanner in the works. (As an aside, suicide rates decreased following the highly publicized suicide of Kurt Cobain). This is puzzling, but once we started trawling the literature in suicidology, a worrying trend emerges. That the publication of a seminal article 42 years ago (‘The Influence of Suggestion on Suicide: Substantive and Theoretical Implications of the Werther Effect’, David P. Phillips, 1974) has become a cornerstone of the field and has led to over 100 studies ‘proving’ a direct causal link between media reportage and suicide rates (Phillips, 1974. Described by the author as ‘the Werther Effect’, the basic gist is that “a media stimulus” – in this case, media reports of suicide but we could extend that to include entertainment media – demonstrates a causal link as “the transmission of a health state” (Pirkis, 2009: 269). There isn’t space to tease out the problems with the research and the huge imaginative leaps by the author, but this can be summed up in the following way: ‘We know that the Werther Effect is real: depictions of suicide in the news and entertainment media can undoubtedly lead to imitative behaviours, as evidenced by statistically significant increases in completed and attempted suicide rates” (Pirkis, 2009: 270). What this tells us from the off, is that the fields of media/ cultural studies and suicidology are at loggerheads and that it has become urgent for a dialogue to take place between practitioners and researchers in both arenas. To that end, we are designing an audience project that aims to capture responses to 13 Reasons Why and hope to engage suicidologists in a democratic debate about these important and sensitive issues. We all agree that scholars in the field of suicidology are conducting vital work and that their primary aim is towards the prevention of suicide. But the enormous gulf between scholars in disparate fields is one that we would like to draw together. We have a team of six researchers, but would like to ask for a scholar to join us who has the skills and tools for social media scraping and statistical analysis. Many thanks for taking the time to read this and we hope that you agree that research into audiences of 13 Reasons Why is both necessary and urgent. Yours sincerely, William Proctor, Bournemouth University Richard McCulloch, Huddersfield University Ann Luce, Bournemouth University Lesley-Ann Dickson, Queen Margaret’s University Billur Aslan, Royal Holloway University of London Shelley Galpin, York University? Dr. Anna Feigenbaum Principal Academic in Digital Storytelling Faculty of Media and Communication Weymouth House Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB United Kingdom BU is a Disability Confident Employer and has signed up to the Mindful Employer charter. Information about the accessibility of University buildings can be found on the BU DisabledGo webpages. This email is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email, which must not be copied, distributed or disclosed to any other person. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Bournemouth University or its subsidiary companies. Nor can any contract be formed on behalf of the University or its subsidiary companies via email.

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Colleagues looking for social media researcher to be project partner
by Anna Feigenbaum 10 May '17

10 May '17

Some of my colleagues are looking for a scholar who has the skills and tools for social media scraping and statistical analysis to join a project gathering audience data on the controversy surrounding the recent Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. Details on the project below, if you are interested, please email: bproctor(a)bournemouth.ac.uk Dear Colleagues, We’ve been here before and we find ourselves here again. The cultural firestorm that is gaining traction in the popular presses and academia surrounding the Netflix TV series, 13 Reasons Why, is, unfortunately, being linked to broader media effects models, models which many of us in media and cultural studies would surely note as egregious and lacking in nuance, especially in relation to decades of media audience research. One brief example will suffice for now to contextualise the debate. Consider the BBC Radio programme (and podcast), The Media Show, a recent edition of which included a segment on the controversy anchored to a growing concern from mental health campaigners that “Netflix is acting irresponsibly” by depicting protagonist, Hannah Baker, killing herself. One of the fears here is that Ofcom regulations do not apply to Netflix (the same could, of course, be said of US subscription services, such as HBO and Showtime, which are not bound by network codes of conduct and practices) and that this permits a streaming service to breach boundaries of (moral) representation. The show interviews Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of Papyrus, “a charity that seeks to prevent suicide among young people”. Said Flynn: “If you show graphic images of suicide you risk simulative acts [or] for want of a better term, potential copy-cat behaviour”. In this light, it would be relatively easy to provide Flynn and others with a detailed literature review of the ways that this has been debunked and demystified from within the media and cultural studies discipline, especially extant research into media audiences. One of Flynn’s concerns is that 13 Reasons Why represents suicide in a “sensationalist, romanticised way”. As we all know, media audiences interpret, respond to, and use, media in a variety of complex and complicated ways, but the way in which this discourse is framed only functions if audiences are homogenous and passive receivers of media ‘messages’. (Martin Barker rightly explained that media texts are not ‘message-vehicles’ joy-riding into the brain of the 'suggestible' viewer/ reader.) When asked if “there is any evidence or research that would suggest that this could push vulnerable teens to suicide”, Flynn responds in the affirmative: “Most of your listeners will remember Bridgend in South Wales; there was a number of young suicides that Papyrus was heavily involved in…and when we asked for a global cessation of coverage, the number of suicides reduced significantly and then stopped”. However, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), available data tell us that this is problematic; the suicide rate in Bridgend actually went up following the cessation of journalistic coverage in the years 2010 – 13, and, although the numbers have dropped in 2012 – 14, they are now on the rise again in 2013 – 2015 (the most recent stats available). (Interested scholars can consult Ann Luce’s book, The Bridgend Suicides: Suicide and the Media, for further study.) What this example illustrates is that the current model of effects within suicidology simply cannot withstand scrutiny. For if the Bridgend suicides did not 'stop' or even reduce suicide rates in simplistic terms following the cessation of journalistic reporting, then the casual link between the two cannot hold. Indeed, it would certainly seem, at the very least, to throw a spanner in the works. (As an aside, suicide rates decreased following the highly publicized suicide of Kurt Cobain). This is puzzling, but once we started trawling the literature in suicidology, a worrying trend emerges. That the publication of a seminal article 42 years ago (‘The Influence of Suggestion on Suicide: Substantive and Theoretical Implications of the Werther Effect’, David P. Phillips, 1974) has become a cornerstone of the field and has led to over 100 studies ‘proving’ a direct causal link between media reportage and suicide rates (Phillips, 1974. Described by the author as ‘the Werther Effect’, the basic gist is that “a media stimulus” – in this case, media reports of suicide but we could extend that to include entertainment media – demonstrates a causal link as “the transmission of a health state” (Pirkis, 2009: 269). There isn’t space to tease out the problems with the research and the huge imaginative leaps by the author, but this can be summed up in the following way: ‘We know that the Werther Effect is real: depictions of suicide in the news and entertainment media can undoubtedly lead to imitative behaviours, as evidenced by statistically significant increases in completed and attempted suicide rates” (Pirkis, 2009: 270). What this tells us from the off, is that the fields of media/ cultural studies and suicidology are at loggerheads and that it has become urgent for a dialogue to take place between practitioners and researchers in both arenas. To that end, we are designing an audience project that aims to capture responses to 13 Reasons Why and hope to engage suicidologists in a democratic debate about these important and sensitive issues. We all agree that scholars in the field of suicidology are conducting vital work and that their primary aim is towards the prevention of suicide. But the enormous gulf between scholars in disparate fields is one that we would like to draw together. We have a team of six researchers, but would like to ask for a scholar to join us who has the skills and tools for social media scraping and statistical analysis. Many thanks for taking the time to read this and we hope that you agree that research into audiences of 13 Reasons Why is both necessary and urgent. Yours sincerely, William Proctor, Bournemouth University Richard McCulloch, Huddersfield University Ann Luce, Bournemouth University Lesley-Ann Dickson, Queen Margaret’s University Billur Aslan, Royal Holloway University of London Shelley Galpin, York University Dr. Anna Feigenbaum Principal Academic in Digital Storytelling Faculty of Media and Communication Weymouth House Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB United Kingdom BU is a Disability Confident Employer and has signed up to the Mindful Employer charter. Information about the accessibility of University buildings can be found on the BU DisabledGo webpages. This email is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email, which must not be copied, distributed or disclosed to any other person. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Bournemouth University or its subsidiary companies. Nor can any contract be formed on behalf of the University or its subsidiary companies via email.

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Fwd: music & hacking conference (annule et remplace le précédent)
by Camille Paloque-Berges 10 May '17

10 May '17

Dear all, there's a closing call coming up for a Conference on Music and Hacking in Paris (November 2017). It will welcome contributions on Internet-mediated muisc and hacking practices. Kindly, Camille Paloque-Berges +++ Reminder/Rappel: CFP Music & Hacking International Conference (Musée du quai Branly & IRCAM, Paris, 8th-10th November 2017) Apologies for cross-posting The “Music & Hacking: Instruments, Communities, Values” conference intends to look at musicians and technicians’ practices which – explicitly or implicitly – could be seen as musical hacking activities. Since the turn of the last century, computer coding and digital instruments continue to transform the aesthetic, ergonomic, communicational, and ethical dimensions of musical practices. These shifts are taking place in part under the banner of hacking, a notion which is primarily associated with the IT world. However, it has progressively infiltrated and structured a number of other fields, such as that of artistic creation. Hacker values include re-appropriation of mass-produced technical products and a focus on freely accessible communal know-how, as well as the pleasure of serendipity, subversion, and manipulation. In sum, hacking is the foundation of a disparate, discreet form of social protest: a reaction to a normalized, globalized commercial and industrial culture. The conference will focus on three general themes: organological hacking, creation and federation of musical communities through hacking, and the influence of hacker ethics on musical practices. At the end of the conference, a Music Hack Day will be organized on the premises of IRCAM, which will give us a chance to extend and test our reflections on musical hacking. *Themes* · Invention and subversion of instruments · Non-conformist instrumental practices · Hacking, organology, museology · DIY, circuit bending, and making · Squats, fab labs, and makerspaces · Hacking and socializations · Opportunity, serendipity, and innovation · Music and open source · Musical hacking and intellectual property · Hacker ethics and axiology · Coding and transcoding music · Musical hacking and the emergence of digital culture · Musical hacking and the history of information technologies · Musical hacking and digital art forms · Cultural industries and counter-cultures · Music Hack Days, tech providers, and web audio · Demoscene and derivations of hacking Please visit http://hacking2017.ircam.fr for more details. Proposals (either in English or French) are due on *May 15th, 2017*, and should be sent to musiquehacking2017(a)gmail.com. Authors will be notified of their participation on *July* *1st, 2017 *at the latest. Proposals, in .doc format, should include a title and an abstract of approximately 500 words, the author’s name and institutional affiliation, as well as a brief biography. Proposals for demos, workshops or performances will be taken into consideration for inclusion in the concluding Music Hack Day. *Scientific committee* Paul ADENOT (Mozilla), Sébastien BROCA (CEMTI, Université Paris 8), Nicolas COLLINS (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Joanna DEMERS (University of Southern California, Thorton School of Music), Nicolas DONIN (APM, IRCAM), Christine GUILLEBAUD (CREM, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre), Michel LALLEMENT (LISE, CNAM), Paul LAMERE (The Echo Nest), Camille PALOQUE-BERGÈS (HT2S, CNAM), Norbert SCHNELL (ISMM, IRCAM), Jimena ROYO-LETELIER (Deezer) *Organizing committee* Baptiste BACOT (EHESS/IRCAM), Clément CANONNE (APM, IRCAM), Frédéric KECK (MQB) and Guillaume PELLERIN (APM, IRCAM) -- Institutional email address : camille.paloque_berges(a)cnam.fr *Laboratory for the History of Techno-Sciences (HT2S), Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, 2 rue Conté, 75003 Paris, France *Associate researcher at the Digital Paths cluster of CNRS' Institute for Communication Sciences (ISCC)

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How ICA is handling this year's US conference
by Barry Wellman 09 May '17

09 May '17

Next year is not in the US Barry Wellman A vision is just a vision if it's only in your head Step by step, link by link, putting it together Streisand/Sondheim _______________________________________________________________________ NetLab Network FRSC INSNA Founder http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman twitter: @barrywellman NETWORKED: The New Social Operating System Lee Rainie & Barry Wellman http://amzn.to/zXZg39 _______________________________________________________________________ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 9 May 2017 17:24:36 -0400 From: noreply(a)icahdq.org To: wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca Subject: International Travel Trips for ICA Annual Conference [2017EmailBanner.gif] INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL TRIPS FOR ICA ANNUAL CONFERENCE Background The Trump administration has not made travel to the US an easy process this year. The good news is that the travel ban has been blocked in a decision citing its overt motive to discriminate against people on the basis of their religion and national origin, a direct violation of the U.S. constitution. This confusing and evolving situation has raised serious concerns for many members, particularly those intending to participate in the upcoming annual conference in San Diego. As the ICA Executive Committee asserted in a statement to our membership and larger community in February in response to the first ban, this situation ÿÿrun[s] counter to ICAÿÿs commitment to ensure full and equal participation of all members of our organization and participants in our global academic community.ÿÿ Since February, Iÿÿve been writing articles in the newsletter and sending messages regarding the current status of the ban. I have also had the pleasure of virtually ÿÿmeetingÿÿ many of you while connecting you with legal aid in the form of our visa attorney and of helping many of you gain approval for your visas. I have personally talked to more consulates in the past two months than most people have in their entire lives! I am pleased to say that most of those efforts have been successful, and I am looking forward to seeing most of you in San Diego at the end of this month. The most important aim we have is to preserve your rights as scholars to freely present your work and to collaborate with your peers. An Update from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) I have been in touch with the ACLU throughout this process and am pleased to share this information from Nick Steiner, Legal and Public Policy Counsel at the ACLU: ÿÿThe current status...is that any travel restrictions that have been put in place because of the executive order have been enjoined, meaning they are not in effect. ÿÿFor purposes of your conference I think participants, even from the countries listed in the ban, should not have a problem receiving their visa and entering the US. ÿÿIf they have a valid visa, they should not have a problem entering the country once they arrive at a US airport...the chaos that occurred the days following the Jan 27 executive order will most likely not repeat itselfÿÿyour participants should not worry about getting detained or put on a plane and sent back (as was happening in January).ÿÿ In addition to the actions we have taken leading up to conference (talking with consulates and embassies, writing personalized invitation letters, liaising between attendees and attorneys, and setting up cabled internet to ensure that those of you who cannot come can present remotely), there are a number of ÿÿpro tipsÿÿ we want to impart to those of you traveling from outside the US to make your travel to conference as painless and simple as possible. PRO TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO SAN DIEGO * Ask for help on social media - For most of you, San Diego will not be your first US stopÿÿyou will be connecting through another US airport. For this reason, we have developed an internal program whereby ICA members in various states containing major international hub airports can volunteer to be an #ICAsupport for someone traveling abroad, in case of issues at the airport. In the (hopefully unlikely) instance that there are any issues at the airport, ICA members agree to be available to vouch for your legitimate reason for coming to the US. If you would like to be connected with someone who can do this for you as insurance in case you have issues, please post on the ICA Twitter or Facebook page with a message such as ÿÿComing to #ICA17 and connecting through Boston the morning of 5/23. Can anyone in Boston be my #ICAsupport?ÿÿ It is important to mention the airport/city, date, and hashtag. * What to bring on the plane: Bring copies of all of your paperwork on your person, including your itinerary, the confirmation from your hotel (to prove how long you are staying), your invitation letter to conference (most of you have already requested this from ICA in order to get your visa but if not, email Julie Randolph), and even print out a copy of the page on which your talks appear in the online program, which you can view here. * Prescriptions: If there are any medications you must take while traveling, be sure to keep them in their original containers from the pharmacy or chemist to eliminate suspicion. * What to leave at home: Leave a few things at home: leave with someone you trust a copy of your itinerary, and a photocopy of your passport, visa, and credit cards (in case you lose anything). * As a general travel tip: itÿÿs best to have a paper copy of everything you need just in case. Donÿÿt let your phone be your only source of information. Batteries run out and phones get lost. Have a backup! Again, our ACLU attorney Nick Steiner says he is optimistic that none of our attendees will have issues, as the ban is not currently in effect. Make sure you have your documents in order, and know that most TSA agents will only ask you a few questions (such as where you are staying, and what date you plan to return) and then welcome you to the United States! You may not be able to have your phone out while waiting in the line, so have a book handy in case there is a long line! If for whatever reason you do encounter any difficulties at the airport: * Contact your #ICAsupport if you have gotten one ahead of time and have his/her contact information handy (make sure to get one ahead of time!) ÿÿ both printed on paper and programmed into your phone * Let me know here in the office. Even while I myself am traveling to San Diego, I will be checking my email consistently. Please email me with your issue and your mobile phone number so that I may help you or connect you with someone who can. I will call you back as soon as I can. * If you are detained for any reason, our ACLU contact welcomes you to call him so that he can intervene. Tell the TSA agent that you wish to speak to your attorney at the ACLU. His name is Nick Steiner, +1-410-889-8550, extension 139 NowÿÿLetÿÿs Get Excited for Conference! As you may have noticed from looking at the online program for the San Diego 2017 annual conference, our program chair and president-elect Paula Gardner (MacMaster U) has assembled numerous special panels directly associated with this policy, recognizing that rigorous dialogue is essential at this moment. Your opening plenary features scholars discussing the issue of the ÿÿborderÿÿ in San Diego: across ethnicity, religious and national identity, gender, and beyond. Another includes international members discussing current global populist movements and cultures, and still others address ÿÿposttruth politicsÿÿ and ÿÿalternative facts.ÿÿ These are examined from a multicultural and multinational perspective, acknowledging that the location for this yearÿÿs conference is not the only place in the world undergoing these changes. Several preconferences, Blue Sky workshops, numerous sessions, and a special exhibit on propaganda also address the current environment for academics internationally. At these events, we invite all attendees to dialogue regarding concerns including recent policy actions in the US and elsewhere. This is your conference and your voice is important, now more than ever. As we said in the Executive Committeeÿÿs official statement in February, ÿÿWe reiterate ICAÿÿs dedication to a global and diverse exchange of knowledge and perspectives and our mission-- to protect the free exchange of diverse ideas among our members and attendees. We reaffirm our belief that scholarship is expanded and enhanced by our differences. Indeed, we cherish the ideals of inclusion and diversity and we celebrate difference; we do not tolerate speech or behavior that threatens the safety ofÿÿor discriminates in any way againstÿÿany person or group. Our leadership and our staff are committed to preserving these ideals. We reiterate our commitment to working to ensure that ICA as a whole, and our San Diego 2017 annual conference in particular, are physically safe, inclusive, and welcoming environments for the exchange of knowledge and for the enhancement of scholarship and community.ÿÿ To all of our members and attendees, from me personally and from our staff at the ICA headquarters: We cannot wait to see you all in San Diego! Whether you join in this conversation with your physical presence or via a computer screen from across the globe, your voice is important. We will do everything we can to preserve your ability to participate. If thereÿÿs anything we can do for you, please let us know. No matter how we see you, we look forward to seeing you this month! Sincerely, Laura Sawyer ICA Executive Director CONNECT WITH US [facebooklogoc.png] [twitterlogoc.png] PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL---THIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT MONITORED. Questions should be directed to contacts listed within the message.You have received this email because you are currently subscribed to receive general correspondence. Please click http://www.icahdq.org/members/EmailOptPreferences.aspx?id=42468374&e=wellma… if you no longer wish to receive these communications. International Communication Association, 1500 21st Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 [email_image.aspx?t=JuHjvMNwVT5PcAxwMA9x8u%2fflgA1RBcTKb2ANymPBvICEuXLjdV%2bdApOs%2ffk7EUnVI5EWQNXEt92hAr6hBNRncgNHYz2S86bliwjSHn02%2b43%2fuxPqPc8xkWL10CJLyC a]

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