- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Twitter hashtags used without searching in mind
by Neil Sadler 20 Oct '15

20 Oct '15

Hi everybody, Has anyone come across any research looking at when hashtags are used on Twitter, apparently without having searchability in mind? I'm thinking about when users employ hashtags (or create new ones) to be used in just a single tweet for rhetorical purposes and with no expectation that they will be searched for or that they will link in to a broader debate via the hashtag. For example, the hashtag #toldyouso is used fairly often but it seems unlikely that users employing it have much expectation that other users will search for that hashtag for information about it. Rather, the focus seems to be on the rhetorical impact of the individual tweet in which it is used. Any thoughts or recommendations for reading would be much appreciated! Best, Neil

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Food Souvenirs? re: IR16 Food
by Alex Leavitt 20 Oct '15

20 Oct '15

On a related note, what kind of food is good to look for and take home as souvenirs? --- Alexander Leavitt PhD Candidate USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism http://alexleavitt.com Twitter: @alexleavitt <http://twitter.com/alexleavitt>

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Re: [Air-L] IR16 Dinner Dress
by gene loeb 19 Oct '15

19 Oct '15

You guys have all the fun. I will probably be stuck here in Wheeling, Illinois (Chicago) so write or call and make me feel real jealous (224-616-7264) geneloeb(a)gmail.com. Thinking of you in your kilts. Gene Gene Loeb, Ph.D. On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 9:41 AM, Heinz, Lisa <ls144009(a)ohio.edu> wrote: > Hi Gene... > Thanks for the note, but, I think you might have meant to send it to > everyone on the list... :) > > ~~Lisa > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Lisa M. Heinz > PhD Student > E.W. Scripps School of Journalism > Ohio University, Scripps College of Communication > > @LivingRural on Twitter > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 18, 2015, at 2:38 PM, gene loeb <geneloeb(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > You guys have all the fun. I will probably be stuck here in Wheeling, > Illinois (Chicago) > so write or call and make me feel real jealous (224-616-7264) > geneloeb(a)gmail.com. > Thinking of you in your kilts. > Gene > Gene Loeb, Ph.D. > > On Sat, Oct 17, 2015 at 7:40 PM, Heinz, Lisa <ls144009(a)ohio.edu> wrote: > >> I am SO looking forward to meeting all of you... :) >> >> ~~Lisa >> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> Lisa Heinz >> PhD Student in Mass Communication >> E.W. Scripps School of Journalism >> Ohio University? >> >> @LivingRural on Twitter >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> On Oct 17, 2015, at 8:37 PM, Richard Forno <rforno(a)infowarrior.org >> <mailto:rforno@infowarrior.org>> wrote: >> >> >> That should be a tagline for a future conference. ;) >> >> -- rick, >> not wearing a kilt, but def. wearing something black since the day will >> end in a 'y' >> >> -- >> It's better to burn out than fade away. >> >> On Oct 17, 2015, at 7:37 PM, Mark D. Johns <mjohns(a)luther.edu<mailto: >> mjohns(a)luther.edu>> wrote: >> >> It's AoIR. Come as you are. We'll love you anyway. >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 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/ >> > > > > -- > With Sincerest Best Wishes , > Gene > Gene Loeb, Ph.D. > > -- With Sincerest Best Wishes , Gene Gene Loeb, Ph.D.

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CfP: “Concerns about Video Games and the Video Games of Concern”, January 20 – 22, 2016
by Rune Kristian Nielsen 19 Oct '15

19 Oct '15

Hello everyone Please disseminate this CfP. Warm regards, Rune. Rune Kristian Lundedal Nielsen Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen T: +45 7218 5154 M: +45 3117 5655 @: rkln(a)itu.dk W: http://itu.dk/people/rkln/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Call for papers “Concerns about Video Games and the Video Games of Concern” January 20 – 22, 2016 Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen Conference Topic This conference brings together academics whose research in one way or another deals with the myriad concerns that exist in and around video games: addiction, violence, misuse in online games and how to moderate, filter, block, and report misuse, how to adapt current laws to video games, how to measure and describe game concerns, how to communicate worries and desires about video games, etc. Through such concerns video games are embedded in diverse societal practices. The conference aims to provide a platform for researchers from games studies, social sciences, law, psychology, education, etc., as well as games industry affiliates, members of media regulation agencies and researchers from related fields to discuss the multiplicity of video game concerns. Such discussions might include concerns about the circumstances under which video games are designed, marketed, consumed and researched. The conference welcomes and encourages a diversity of perspectives including researchers, parents, children, designers, lawmakers etc. Concerns about video games are, like the games themselves, a global phenomenon. The most prolific concerns revolve around violence and addiction, and have done so for as long as video games have been around. The current conference can be seen as a timely (or perhaps long overdue) attempt at promoting and encouraging research on the concerns about video games themselves. How and why do these concerns come into being and how do they influence the players, researchers, parents, legislators, game designers, educators and healthcare professionals? Concerns about video games are not uniform, however; they are entangled in a myriad of social practices, which give shape to the concerns. In some practices the aesthetics of video games are of concern. In others, video games are of concern as manufactured objects that have to earn money for investors. In some practices video games are a simple pastime and leisure. In others they are the fields on which e-sport play out in front of thousands of spectators. Some practices are concerned with educating children or caring for seniors. Some practices are concerned with the population’s well-being and the negative effect that games might have. Yet other practices are concerned with how video games should be labeled. Contemplating the variety of video game concerns reveals how video games do not represent just one type of object, or even one unified category of objects. It draws attention to how media-technological objects of contemporary culture evoke myriads of different engagements. It provides us with insights into contemporary society and how a media-technology such as video games activates specific practices, provokes certain reactions, allows special ways of thinking, and mobilizes particular concerns whereby its ontology varies or changes. So not only do the things we call games vary significantly from each other, they also change according to the practices in which they are considered. Possible paper topics include but are not limited to: Video game concerns in the family Video game controversies and debates Concerns of the video games industry Minority concerns in video games Video game concerns in science Legal concerns surrounding video games Video game concerns in and across cultures Conference registration will be free of charge. Confirmed Speakers Isabel Otto, University of Konstanz Christopher Ferguson, Stetson University. Henrike Lode, CEO and game designer at Lohika Submission and Presentation format Send paper abstracts to concernsconf(a)itu.dk. Abstracts should be minimum 800 words excluding references, and will be peer-reviewed (double blind). Abstracts without references will not be considered. Abstract Deadline: 1 December 2015 Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2015

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Instagram & Uses and Gratifications Theory
by Dominique Yong 19 Oct '15

19 Oct '15

Hello everyone, I am interested in the social media platform Instagram. I am particularly interested in what people like/dislike about it as well as what motivates them to engage on the platform. I will be carrying out an exploratory study from the view of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Anything related would greatly be appreciated. Kind regards, Dominique -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IADT Disclaimer. This e-mail and any other items transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or relay on this e-mail. If an addressing or transmission error has misdirected this e-mail, please notify the author by return email or inform Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art | Design | Technology's (IADT) Information Communication Technology Office on 01 2394000 or mailto:support@iadt.ie Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of IADT. IADT does not guarantee that this e-mail is free from viruses, worms or the like. Please undertake your own checks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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CFP AAG2016: Queering code/space: difference, disorientation and the digital
by Daniel Cockayne 19 Oct '15

19 Oct '15

We're extending the deadline for this call until Friday October 23rd. We've had some great submissions so far, and we're looking for only one more abstract - please contact us if you're interested! *Queering code/space: difference, disorientation and the digital* 112th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers | San Francisco, CA | March 29 – April 2, 2016 Organizers: Lizzie Richardson (University of Cambridge) and Daniel Cockayne (University of Kentucky) In this session we examine the relationship between digital or code/spaces (Kitchin and Dodge, 2011) and the orientation of bodies in, towards, and through these spaces. We are interested in how technologically attuned bodies might be read, sorted, included in or excluded from spaces saturated with digital technology (Ash 2013; Kinsley 2014; Rose 2015). We invite contributors to consider how the ‘binary’ constitution of the digital might intersect with forms of gendered performativity, viscosities of race and productions of sexuality (Saldana 2007; Giffney and Hird 2008; Colebrook 2009; Braidotti 2013; Barad 2014; Johnston 2015). How are bodies orientated through code/spaceand how does the body, embodiment, and subjectivity make a difference to code/space? The session builds on research exploring the ways that code/spaces remake bodies through the imposition of various forms of discipline, and how code/spaces offer forms of biopolitical securitization to manage those bodies through the production of machine-readable ‘appropriately orientated’ subjects via technological mediation and profiling (Adey, 2008; Martin, 2010; Klauser, Paasche and Söderström, 2014). Further, ‘online spaces’ offer particular ways of knowing the world (Elwood and Leszczynski, 2011; 2012), notably through online mapping technologies that produce selective ways of seeing urban landscapes, often resulting in the digital (in)visibility of certain individuals, populations, and spaces over others (Brown and Knopp, 2008). Drawing too on scholarship that has examined how embodied difference shapes and is shaped by processes of production (McDowell, 1991; 1997; 2015), the session considers the practices and imaginaries that inform the making of code/spaces. For example, high technology and digital media sectors have been critiqued for valorising a masculine entrepreneurial narratives that perpetuates a sexist and heteronormative work culture (Gill, 2002; Marwick, 2013; Massey, 1995) while maintaining allegedly ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ principles of horizontality, collaboration, sharing and openness (Ettlinger, 2014; Turner, 2004). How might a queering of code/space, or the creation of queercode/spaces, challenge such normative orders of production, potentially disorientating linear spatio-temporal narratives of digital technology as the necessary progenitor of development and progress? We want to explore the ambivalence and ambiguity of code/spaces as they pertain to bodily difference and orientation: their constitution as both an “informatics of domination” and an opportunity for cyborgian hybridity (Haraway, 1991). Code/spaces involve gradations of experiences that cannot be considered apolitical or gender neutral (Leszczynski and Elwood 2015), presenting the possibility of both a society of control (Deleuze, 1992) and the radical potential for a transformative disorientation of spaces and bodies (Ahmed, 2006). We invite speakers to think through the potential for code/spaces to both encourage and curtail various forms of difference and (hetero)normativity, through either *a queering of code/space*, or a *queer critique* of the cultures of whiteness, maleness, and straightness thatcode/spaces might perpetuate. Papers could explore but should not be limited to: - sorting, profiling and mapping/mediation of bodies through code/space - feminist, queer, anti-racist politics/activism and the digital - productions of difference and ‘digital divisions of labour’ - processes of making code/spaces - theoretical and empirical explorations of ‘net neutrality’ and ‘digital discrimination’ - differentiated experiences of (digital) platforms, intermediaries and ‘sharing’ - queering narratives/imaginaries of technological progress and disruption - gradations and differentiated experiences of connectivity - difference, performativity and anonymity in online contexts - the (dis)orientation of affective attunements (e.g. pleasure, desire, pain, boredom, distraction) through the digital For abstract submissions please email Lizzie Richardson (lizzie .richardson(a)geog.cam.ac.uk) and Daniel Cockayne (daniel.cockayne(a)uky.edu) before October 15th. The deadline to register abstracts for the conference is October 29th. *Selected References* Ahmed S (2006) *Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others*. Durham: Duke University Press. Barad K (2015) TransMaterialities: Trans*/Matter/Realities and Queer Political Imaginings. *GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies* 21(2-3): 387-422. Brown M and Knopp L (2008) Queering the map: the productive tensions of colliding epistemologies. *Annals of the Association of American Geographers* 98(1): 40-58. Colebrook C (2009) Queer vitalism. *New Formations* 68(1): 77-92. Elwood S and Leszczynski A (2011) Privacy, reconsidered: New representations, data practices, and the geoweb. *Geoforum* 42(1): 6-15. Ettlinger N (2014) The Openness Paradigm. *The New Left Review* 89: 89-100. Haraway D (1991) *Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature*. London: Routledge. Giffney N and Hird M (2008) *Queering the Non/human, Queer Interventions*. Hampshire: Ashgate. Johnston L (2015) Gender and sexuality I: genderqueer geographies? *Progress in Human Geography *OnlineFirst. Kitchin R and Dodge M (2011) *Code/Space and Everyday Life*. Cambridge: MIT Press. McDowell L (2015) The Lives of Others: Body Work, the Production of Difference, and Labor Geographies. *Economic Geography*, 91(1): 1-23. Saldanha A (2007) *Psychedelic White: Goa Trance and the Viscosities of Race*. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. -- Daniel Cockayne PhD Candidate Department of Geography University of Kentucky daniel.cockayne(a)uky.edu @insistondoubt

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Re: [Air-L] Ethics of using hacked data.
by Bendert Zevenbergen 19 Oct '15

19 Oct '15

Dear Nathaniel, Interesting question! Apologies for this very late answer (due to travel to tech ethics workshops!). I will attempt an answer, but take into account my background as an Information lawyer and my project on the ethics of networked systems research (so more about Internet architecture experimentation, less about the use of content: http://ensr.oii.ox.ac.uk) I will not try to give formal legal advice here, just some things to consider. There are many subtleties that I won’t go into. The most important point to consider is the following: **Just because data is available, doesn’t mean you’re not violating rights or ethical principles by using it (research or otherwise). In other words: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.** Some analogies: even though you can tape music from the radio and sell the tapes at a local market, doesn’t mean you’re not violating copyright. Yes, you can collect WiFi signal data while you’re taking pictures of every corner of the Earth, but Google learned that it doesn’t mean it’s therefore legal. In short, information isn’t always as free as it echnically appears to be. (1) Privacy laws, data protection frameworks, and ethical principles likely do apply to you in this case. None of these people whose data was breached consented to be part of your research. It’s not clear to me exactly which data you’d want to use to create aggregated measures, but just be aware that processing any information that is linked to an identifiable person would likely constitute a breach of relevant privacy/data protection laws. By identifiable I mean identifiable by anyone, including those with more computing capacity or resources than you (difficult to say where to draw the line in this hypothetical assessment). (2) Your statement "I don't see how currently anyone could have an expectation of privacy any more” doesn’t hold. these people had an expectation of privacy at the time of communicating this data, or interacting with the website. They did not intend for their data to be used for academic research, or any other processing outside of the context of the service they trusted. You’d be changing the context and the audience of this information. Besides the legal issue addressed in the previous paragraph, you should take into account the potential harm of using the information in this new context & audience that you’re creating for this information (inc. the dissemination of your papers and datsets). Even the fact that it’s now leaked doesn’t change this per se. Maybe the audience is now script kiddies, spammers, and intelligence agencies, but you’d be adding even more unintended audiences to this. So if you use data that can be used to identify someone, somehow, you’re likely breaching laws. This is less so if you’re only using aggregated data, but I wonder how you'd construct this data without using personal data. Further, even if it turns out you’ve found a way to not violate laws, which is possible, you’re still in an ethical grey zone: (3) It could be argued that by using this data, you’re (implicitly) condoning the act of hacking and publishing this data. Stronger, still: If you profit from using information from this breach (publications and other career enhancements), you could entice others to also work with leaked data, therefore potentially incentivising (and even justifying) hackers for their acts (“for science!”). These statements may be a bit far fetched for some, but there is some value to thinking about this. You’d be setting a precedent regarding working with hacked data that may be difficult to reverse. I appreciate that huge data sets like this one are a social scientist’s dream come true, but better ways must be found to access them. Although this is up for debate, it seems to me that academics are perceived to have a different ethical framework than activists or journalists. They, too, need to take into account ethics, but their purposes and perceived benefits differ, so they whole weighing and justification process is different. In a recently published extended workshop report of the above named project, we discuss some cases that are similar to yours. We don’t discuss hacked data directly, but some of the considerations and lessons drawn from this report will be useful for your thinking about this. Find it here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2666934 Also, feel free to present this case to a panel for Networking and Security that we’re running for a more detailed response (I can’t cover it all here): https://www.ethicalresearch.org/efp/netsec/ Finally, I’ be interested to write up this case study about this with you for a particular venue, but we can discuss this between us. Regards, Ben ------------------------------------------------ Ben Zevenbergen DPhil (PhD) Candidate Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford Senior Fellow Open Technology Fund On 07/10/2015 16:55, "air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org" <air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org> wrote: >Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2015 16:11:31 -0400 >From: Nathaniel Poor <natpoor(a)gmail.com> >To: AOIR <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> >Subject: [Air-L] Ethics of using hacked data. >Message-ID: > <CACdJtt91rBo4BG80Svnd7NO9AOKjVbo5kUVus9V0VmazsmvrJw(a)mail.gmail.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > >Hello list- > >I recently got into a discussion with a colleague about the ethics of >using >hacked data, specifically the Patreon hacked data (see here: >http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/gigabytes-of-user-data-from-hack-o >f-patreon-donations-site-dumped-online/ >). > >He and I do crowdfunding work, and had wanted to look at Patreon, but as >far as I can tell they have no easy hook into all their projects (for >scraping), so, to me this data hack was like a gift! But he said there was >no way we could use it. We aren't doing sentiment analysis or anything, we >would use aggregated measures like funding levels and then report things >like means and maybe a regression, so there would be no identifiable >information whatsoever derived from the hacked data in any of our >resulting >work (we might go to the site and pull some quotes). > >I looked at the AoIR ethics guidelines ( >http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf >), and didn't see anything specifically about hacked data (I don't think >"hacked" is the best word, but I don't like "stolen" either, but those are >different discussions). > >One relevant line I noticed was this one: >"If access to an online context is publicly available, do >members/participants/authors >perceive the context to be public?" (p. 8) >So, the problem with the data is that it's the entire website, so some was >private and some was public, but now it's all public and everyone knows >it's public. > >To me, I agree that a lot of the data in the data-dump had been intended >to >be private -- apparently, direct messages are in there -- but we wouldn't >use that data (it's not something we're interested in). We'd use data like >number of funders and funding levels and then aggregate everything. I see >that some of it was meant to be private, but given the entire site was >hacked and exported I don't see how currently anyone could have an >expectation of privacy any more. I'm not trying to torture the definition, >it's just that it was private until it wasn't. > >I can see that some academic researchers -- at least those in computer >security -- would be interested in this data and should be able to publish >in peer reviewed journals about it, in an anonymized manner (probably as >an >example of "here's a data hack like what we are talking about, here's what >hackers released"). > >I also think that probably every script kiddie has downloaded the data, as >has every grey and black market email list spammer, and probably every >botnet purveyor (for passwords) and maybe even the hacking arm of the >Chinese army and the NSA. My point here is that if we were to use the data >in academic research we wouldn't be publicizing it to nefarious people who >would misuse it since all of those people already have it. We could maybe >help people who want to use crowdfunding some (hopefully!) if we have some >results. (I guess I don't see that we would be doing any harm by using >it.) > > >So, what do people think? Did I miss something in the AoIR guidelines? I >realize I don't think it's clear either way, or I wouldn't be asking, so >probably the answers will point to this as a grey area (so why do I even >ask, I am not sure). > >But I'm not looking for "You can't use it because it's hacked," because I >don't think that explains anything. I could counter that with "It is >publicly available found data," because it is, although I don't think >that's the best reply either. Both lack nuance. > >-Nat > >-- >Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D. >http://natpoor.blogspot.com > >

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CfP: 2016 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety) - London, UK - July 11-13, 2016
by Anatoliy 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

Hi Everyone, Apologies for cross-postings. Please help us share this CfP via your online and offline social networks! Thank you, Anatoliy -- Anatoliy Gruzd, PhD Canada Research Chair in Social Media Data Stewardship Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management Director, Social Media Lab Ryerson University, Canada Lab: http://SocialMediaLab.ca | Twitter: @gruzd ********************************************************* 2016 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety) CALL FOR PROPOSALS WHEN: July 11-13, 2016 WHERE: Goldsmiths, University of London, UK SUBMISSION DEADLINES: Dec 4, 2015: Workshops/Tutorials/Panels Jan 15, 2016: Full & WIP Papers Mar 4, 2016: Poster Abstracts Conference website: http://socialmediaandsociety.org Data, data everywhere. With faster computers and cheaper storage, bigger data sets are becoming abundant. Social media is a key source of big data in the form of user and system generated content. What do we do with all of the social data and how do we make sense of it? How does the use of social media platforms and the data that they generate change us, our organizations, and our society? What are the inherent challenges and issues associated with working with social media data? What obligations do we have as social media researchers to protect the privacy of the users? These are just a few questions that will be explored at the 2016 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety). Now, in its 7th year, the conference is an interdisciplinary academic conference focusing exclusively on social media research. The conference brings together top researchers and practitioners from academia and industry who are interested in studying and understanding social media impact and implications on society. This year's conference offers an intensive three-day program comprising of workshops, tutorials, paper presentations, panel discussions, and posters covering wide-ranging topics related to social media research. PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES: Full papers presented at the conference will be published in the Conference Proceedings by ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (ICPS). Selected papers will also be invited to submit their extended full papers to Special Issues of Big Data & Society (BD&S) and American Behavioral Scientist (ABS) published by SAGE Publications. ORGANIZER: Social Media Lab at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada HOSTS & CO-ORGANIZERS: Big Data & Society Journal (BD&S) and the Centre for Creative & Social Technologies (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK TOPIC OF INTERESTS: Social Media & Big Data . Data Visualization . Analytics & Data Mining . Scalability Issues . APIs . Data Curation . Virality & Memes . Big and Small Data . Ethics . Privacy, Surveillance, & Security Social Media Impact on Society . Politics . Journalism . Sports . Health . Public Administration . Business (Marketing, PR, HR, Risk Management, etc.) . Sharing Economy / Crowdsourcing . Academia (Alternative Metrics, Learning Analytics, etc.) . Mobile Theories & Methods . Qualitative Approaches . Quantitative Approaches . Opinion Mining & Sentiment Analysis . Social Network Analysis . Theoretical Models Online / Offline Communities . Case Studies of Online or Offline Communities . Trust & Credibility . Online Community Detection . Measuring Influence . Online Identity (Gender, Private Self/Public Self) 2016 #SMSociety Organizing Committee: Anatoliy Gruzd & Philip Mai, Ryerson University, Canada Jenna Jacobson, University of Toronto, Canada Dhiraj Murthy & Evelyn Ruppert, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK 2016 #SMSociety Conference Advisor: Barry Wellman, University of Toronto, Canada

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USC Annenberg Press| IJoC Publishes Special Section on the European Public Sphere
by Ardevol-Abreu, Alberto 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

> Dear colleagues; IJoC has published a special issue on the ‘European Public Sphere’. I hope you enjoy it and find it interesting. Best regards, Dr. Alberto Ardévol-Abreu Department of Communication University of Vienna Althanstr. 14 (UZA II), 1090 Wien Zi. 3.05 T: +43-1-4277-48310 eFax: +43-1-4277-848310 eMail: alberto.ardevol-abreu(a)univie.ac.at > > > > International Journal of Communication > Publishes Special Section on the > “European Public Sphere” > > > There have been several notable communication revolutions over the past 500 years. The movable type printing press sparked a social and cultural revolution, and ushered in the Enlightenment in Europe. The political press of 17th century England opened debates about religion, science, and politics to a new realm of society, the public. Later innovations, like the rotary press in the 19th century, established mass media as the key marker of a democratic society. Each of these technological innovations altered the relationship between the citizen and the state. The so-called public sphere evolved slowly in Europe. The appeal to a news reading, debating public became the only means of legitimizing political power. Social media and networked communication technologies represent the latest paradigm shift in the way citizens access, share, and react to information. > > To what extent do new media influence the public sphere in Europe today? Do these communication technologies offer alternative means of constituting a public capable of traversing the varied social, political, and cultural differences among the EU member states? > > This IJoC Special Section, guest-edited by Homero Gil de Zúñiga focuses on the current state of the European public sphere. It addresses how individuals are using new media to inform themselves, stimulate political conversations, and participate in politics. This collection of articles represent some of the latest thinking on digital and social media, information communication technologies and political engagement. Empirical studies in this volume illustrate the complexity and depth of political engagement in Europe. In particular, this Special Section calls on researchers to refrain from an overly pessimistic reading of the effect of the Internet on politics. Instead, public sphere studies might benefit from a more realistic interpretation of what constitutes the public sphere in Europe. > > Contributors for this Special Section on the European Public Sphere are: > > · Ahmed Al-Rawi, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands > · Salvador Alvídrez, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico > · Jose A. Araiza, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Lucy Atkinson, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Brian Baresh, , University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Audun Beyer, University of Oslo, Norway > · Victoria C. Chen, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Claes De Vreese, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands > · Pieterjan Desmet, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands > · Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna, Austria > · Jacob Groshek, Boston University, USA > · Stephanie Guise, Universität Erfurt, Germany > · Francois Heinderyckx, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium > · Tom Johnson, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Danielle K. Kilgo, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Jörg Matthes, University of Vienna, Austria > · Shannon McGregor, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Rachel Mourao, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Carlos Muñiz, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico > · Magdalena Saldaña, University of Texas at Austin, USA > · Nilsa Téllez, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico > · Joost van Spanje, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands > · Joseph Yoo, University of Texas at Austin, USA > > We invite you to read these papers that published October 15, 2015 athttp://ijoc.org. > > Larry Gross > Editor > > Arlene Luck > Managing Editor >

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IR16 Food
by Alex Halavais 18 Oct '15

18 Oct '15

While you are in Phoenix, you might want to eat. People do that here. Also, since we are a fairly large group, you might want to think about reservations for a Thursday or Friday night. Oh, and if you are already here today, you might want to head up to Scottsdale to the Arizona Taco Festival (and Tequila Expo), to get a head-to-head comparison of the city's best tacos: http://aztacofestival.com/ . Be forewarned: Although Waze recently ranked Phoenix the best city in the world to drive in, it isn't an easy place to walk around, and public transit is sparse. That said, food is easily found near the hotel. Conference Hotel If you are staying at the Embassy Suites, breakfast is included with your room, as is a beer and wine reception each evening starting at 5:30. The hotel recommends you get started fairly early (breakfast opens at 6am) as things grow increasingly crowded up until the end of breakfast at 9am. The overflow hotel also offers breakfast. There is an Omaha Steakhouse in the hotel. Conference Attendees If you are registered for a workshop on Wednesday, lunch will be provided. Likewise, lunch is included as part of your conference registration on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, you are left to your own devices. The hotel restaurant is available during this time, though it is sure to fill up. They will be stocking some sandwiches behind the bar if you want to buy one and head out to the pool or find a table in the atrium. If you signed up for the event on Thursday evening at the Desert Botanical Gardens, you will find a light meal there,including tacos and enchiladas, as well as a cash bar. I am not usually a fan of prickly pear margaritas, but the Garden's are quite good. They'll also have a few local beers available (Four Peaks' Kilt Lifter being a perennial favorite, and apparently apropos this year). Be sure to hop on the busses leaving the Embassy Suites starting at 5pm. Wear your badge--it gets you into the event. If you decide to head over earlier in the day, the DBG is a pleasant place to walk around (just tell them at the gate that you are with the AoIR IR16 group for free entrance) and is adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo. (Unfortunately, this event is now full,so if you didn't indicate an interest in going when you registered, I'm afraid it is not possible to add it.) Short Walks The hotel is adjacent to the Biltmore Fashion Park, an outdoor mall with a number of restaurants. Most of these are chain restaurants that you may be familiar with (the Capital Grille, Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Paradise Bakery, Seasons 52), and a number of local restaurant chains and groups (Stingray Sushi, True Food Kitchen, Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar), and independent restaurants that are well reviewed (Christopher's Crush, Queen Creek Olive Mill, Black Chile Mexican Grill). There's also Blanco Taco + Tequila, which is a friendly spot for a meal and a margarita (sensing a theme?). Between the hotel and Camelback Raod, there is Hillstone, a small chain that may be familiar to you (http://hillstonerestaurant.com/) which serves sushi, steak, coctails, and wines without huge restaurant markups. If you take the underpass under Camelback road, you will find Solo Trattoria, Bistro 22, and the well-liked Ten. Long Walks / Drives A bit over a half mile (1km) to the east of the hotel, at the intersection of Camelback and 32nd street, there are several restaurants, including Delux (http://www.deluxburger.com/) which serves hamburgers made from Niman Ranch beef, as well as sushi, until 2am. Also, though a bit pricy, Tarbell's is quite good. Further east of this intersection is Steak 44, one of the Valley's favorite steak houses. Another mile south of this intersection, down by 32nd and Indian School, is Frasher's Smokehouse, which has pretty decent pulled pork (assuming you aren't coming from somewhere that is a specialty!). About a mile to the west of the hotel are two of the best ranked pizzerias in the Valley, Bianco's (which Bon Appetit ranked the best pizza in the US), and Parlour. There are a whole host of other restaurants along this stretch, ranging from the surprisingly good (Grassroots, Sage Kitchen) as well as chains (Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Wendy's). Another mile out, across the 52, you'll run into Los Dos Molinos, Hula's Modern Tiki, Two Hippies Beach House, Postino wine bar, and Hana (Japanese)--the latter two a bit off the main drag. Longer Drives Long being relative. Much of the Valley is within a 25 minute drive of the hotel, though getting up to Carefree or down to visit Kai (http://www.wildhorsepassresort.com/kai) might take a bit longer. Downtown Scottsdale is a fifteen minute drive to the east, and downtown Phoenix about the same to the southwest. Both have a number of outstanding spots to eat. If you want to forgo the conference lunch on Friday, you can head downtown to the Phoenix Open Market for Food Truck Friday, a congregation of an assortment of food trucks all in one place. There's no way to get down there and back during our short hour-long lunch break, but sometimes sacrifices must be made. And, of course, if you are dying for a deep-fried... well, anything... the State Fair is on. It's been in continuous operation since 25 years before Arizona was a state: https://azstatefair.com/ Travel safely! Alex -- // Alexander Halavais, Sociologist, Semiologist, and Saboteur Extraordinaire // Associate Professor of Social Technologies, Arizona State University // http://alex.halavais.net/bio @halavais

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