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HASTAC seeking Postdoctoral Scholar for NSF EAGER Social Network Data Grant
by Sheryl Grant 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

HASTAC is currently seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar to carry out social network data analysis for a newly awarded $294,000 NSF EAGER project "Assessing the Impact of Technology-Aided Participation and Mentoring on Transformative Interdisciplinary Research: A Data-Based Study of the Incentives and Success of an Exemplar Academic Network.” Through a large-scale analysis of the HASTAC social network, the Postdoc will investigate the interplay of cyberinfrastructure and scholarly communication, combining cutting-edge data mining methods with thoughtful human and institutional questions to examine how virtual interdisciplinary connections and mentoring can promote new modes of research, learning, teaching, and career development. Computational analysis, data extraction, and social networking analysis will be used to examine six years’ worth of data from the HASTAC website, which is built on the Drupal platform. The full call, as well as the abstract and a link to the full proposal, is posted below. *Interested parties should submit their materials by Wednesday, May 15, 2013.* *OPEN POSTDOCTORAL POSITION:* NSF OCI-1243622 Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), Division of Cyberinfrastructure, National Science Foundation *Title*: “Assessing the Impact of Technology-Aided Participation and Mentoring on Transformative Interdisciplinary Research: A Data-Based Study of the Incentives and Success of an Exemplar Academic Network” *Skills*: Demonstrated experience with social network analysis, quantitative and qualitative methods (including case study and ethnographic) for mapping collaborative networks, citation networks, professional networks, mentoring relationships, structural cohesion and integration within and across disciplines and institutions. Candidate must be able to communicate findings, in written and graphical form, to an interdisciplinary audience, to participate in and generate dialogue with faculty and students, and test hypotheses using HASTAC’s data or gathering new data (survey, interviews, case study, ethnography). *Organizational assignment*: The postdoctoral fellow will work in the PhD Lab in Digital Knowledge at Duke University or possibly in the Information Futures Project Space (under construction) and will be part of a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary Technology-Aided Participation Advisory Board. The fellow will be expected to maintain a virtual presence on the HASTAC site, regularly reporting on preliminary findings through blog posts, posting working papers for peer-to-peer feedback from the HASTAC community, and working within HASTAC’s network structure to generate new ideas, problems, and questions to be addressed. *Position availability*: Start date late July/early August 2013; residency at Duke University highly desirable. In an exceptional case, fellow may reside virtually, with a telepresence accessible during business hours and a monthly residence (week long) for site-specific meetings, collaborations, and events. There will be a one-week period of overlap with the outgoing Fellow, to facilitate your transition into the project. *Outcomes*: In addition to working with the HASTAC team to produce a number of local and webcast events (seminars, webinars, conferences), the postdoctoral fellow will be expected to maintain a virtual presence on the www.hastac.orgsite, reporting on preliminary findings, posting working papers for peer-to-peer feedback from the HASTAC community, and working within HASTAC’s network structure to generate new ideas, problems, and questions to be addressed. The fellow will also be expected to present papers at scholarly conferences and to submit final work to refereed journals in social science, science studies, and other relevant fields. *Type of contract*: 1 year *Salary*: $48,000-55,000 annually, prorated for months worked and commensurate with experience *Application deadline*: 5pm EST, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 *To apply*: Please submit your letter of interest and CV to Mandy Dailey, Director of Administration, HASTAC and EAGER Program Manager at mandy.dailey(a)duke.eduby 5pm EST, Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Read more details and see the full NSF proposal at http://goo.gl/cEDgF

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advice/literature on interviews via Facebook Chat (with minors)
by Erica Ciszek 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

Hi everyone, I was wondering if folks have advice or suggestions on literature pertaining to synchronous interviews via Facebook Chat. For my dissertation research I am looking to interview youth (ages 13-18) online and am hoping to do so through Facebook Chat. I've considered other instant message platforms but Facebook has the most ecological validity for my current research. However, I am obviously concerned with issues of confidentiality and protection of participants. I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice. All the best, Erica Ciszek Doctoral Student Graduate Teaching Fellow School of Journalism and Communication University of Oregon eciszek(a)uoregon.edu www.ericaciszek.com

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Urban Informatics - Registration Open
by Andrea Forte 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

Symposium on Urban Informatics: Exploring Smarter Cities Philadephia PA | June 11, 2013 ExCITe Center | 3401 Market Street http://ischool.drexel.edu/urbaninformatics Registration is open and the program has been posted. The symposium on Urban Informatics will bring together designers, city planners and managers, technologists, scholars and entrepreneurs in Philadelphia, at the heart of the U.S. northeast urban corridor, to explore the frontiers of the urban environment. The event will be hosted at the Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies (ExCITe) research center on the Drexel University campus. The opening plenary will be delivered by Dr. Keith Hampton and several panel discussions are planned that will bring together diverse perspectives on urban technologies. Participants will be encouraged to take time to form ad-hoc discussion groups throughout the day. PLENARY BIO | After receiving his doctorate from University of Toronto in Sociology, Keith Hampton joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty as the first professor of "technology and the city" in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and later joined the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as chair of the American Sociological Association's section on Communication and Information Technologies from 2007-2009, and past-chair from 2009-2010. Hampton is currently an associate professor of communication at Rutgers University's School of Communication. Registration will close on May 15th. Please contact Kris Unsworth at ku26(a)drexel.edu with questions. Hope to see you there! -- :: Andrea Forte :: Assistant Professor :: The iSchool | College of Information Science and Technology :: Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA :: http://andreaforte.net | aforte(a)drexel.edu | 215.895.0543

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Open Position for Medialab-Prado's Director
by Medialab-Prado Comunicación 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

Madrid Arte y Cultura S.A (MACSA) announces a job opening for the new Medialab-Prado director. Complete description of the position available for download from: http://medialab-prado.es/article/macsa_director_medialab Candidates must send their applications, together with the required documentation, within a month from the day this announcement is published. -- Medialab-Prado Plaza de las Letras Calle Alameda, 15. 28014 Madrid difusion(a)medialab-prado.es http://www.facebook.com/MedialabPradoMadrid Twitter: @medialabprado <https://twitter.com/medialabprado> /"Antes de imprimir este documento asegúrate de que es realmente necesario. ¡Gracias por tu colaboración!"/ madrid2020

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Trouble convincing reviewers social media is legitimate?
by Karissa McKelvey 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

More tweets, More votes: Social media as a quantitative indicator of political behavior New work by Joseph DiGrazia, Karissa McKelvey, Johan Bollen and Fabio Rojas. We hope this paper can convince your reviewers that social media aren't just spam-infested pools of emoticons. We show that random samples are significant predictors of vote margin in house elections. No sentiment needed -- only raw counts of the names of the candidates. We do it by measuring simply the number of times a candidate was mentioned by full name (first last). Handles and hashtags don't work as well. There will be another paper later about that. The working paper (short!) is here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2235423 We'd appreciate your comments -- Karissa McKelvey rissarae.net

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STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE RISK
by BRANLEY D.B. 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

You are invited to take part in an online study investigating social media and online risk. Social Media refers to Social Networking websites and digital applications that enable people to interact and share information; this includes sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and why people may be using social media, including their attitudes and perceptions of it and also to investigate any positive and/or negative consequences associated with its use. If you have used any form of Social Media in the last 3 months, you are eligible to participate. Participation is anonymous and simply involves completing an online questionnaire which will take approximately 25 minutes. The survey includes questions about your use of Social Media, your perceptions of Social Media and any positive and/or negative experiences you have had as a result of using Social Media. You will also be asked for some basic demographic information. No identifiable information will be requested. Everyone who completes the survey has the chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher. I am more than happy to repay the favour by participating in your study. Also, if you would like to do a link swop and share my survey via your social media sites, I am happy to do the same in return :) Please visit this website to take part: https://durhambs.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5gt9rX6RB8Q9pNr If you have any questions please email the principle researcher, Dawn Branley at dawn.branley(a)durham.ac.uk<mailto:dawn.branley@durham.ac.uk>, or tweet @TheCyberPsyche

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(advice sought) Public safety and configuration of list
by Michael Allan 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

To the experts in Liberationtech, Air-L and Mailman lists, (cc General Counsel of Stanford University) Stanford University has configured the Liberationtech mailing list in a manner that is potentially unsafe. University staff are aware of the problem and are evalutating the situation, but have yet to take action. I'm a subscriber to the list, and I ask your advice. SITUATION The Liberationtech mailing list is run by Stanford University in connection with its Program on Liberation Technology. That program investigates the use of IT "to defend human rights, improve governance, empower the poor, promote economic development, and pursue a variety of other social goods." [1] Experts on the list advise and inform on matters such as encrypting communications, protecting infrastructure from cyber attack, and protecting onself from personal danger. Often those seeking help are in vulnerable situations. They include aid workers, reporters and activists who live and work in environments where human rights are not well respected, or where the government is too weak to protect people from organized criminals, rival militias, and so forth. The list software is GNU Mailman. The administration interface includes the following configuration items: [2] (a) Should any existing Reply-To: header found in the original message be stripped? If so, this will be done regardless of whether an explict Reply-To: header is added by Mailman or not. X No - Yes (b) Where are replies to list messages directed? Poster is *strongly* recommended for most mailing lists. X Poster - This list - Explicit address (c) _________ Shown above is the default, recommended setting of (1 No, 2 Poster). It leaves the sender's Reply-To headers (if any) unaltered during mail transfer. Instead of this, the Liberationtech mailing list is configured as follows: (b) Where are replies to list messages directed? Poster is *strongly* recommended for most mailing lists. - Poster X This list - Explicit address (c) _________ With this setting, whenever a subscriber Q sends a message to the list, the software adds a Reply-To header pointing to L, which is the address of the list itself. The message is then passed on to the subscribers. The meaning of the added Reply-To header is, "Q asks that you reply to her at L." [3] Note that this is false information; Q does not ask that. EXAMPLE OF DANGER Matt Mackall has suggested that, "here of all places", people might get hurt as a consequence of this configuration [4]. I agree. Here's a brief example of how people might get hurt: 1. Subscriber P is in a vulnerable situation. P is distacted by the situation and is not getting a lot of sleep. 2. P asks the mailing list for advice on the situation, because that's the purpose of the list. 3. Subscriber Q replies with helpful information. The mailing list adds a Reply-To header to Q's message that points to address L. Again, the mis-information is, "Q asks that you reply to her at L". [3] 4. P replies with private information, including (as Matt puts it) a "potentially life-endangering datum". Tired and distracted, P replies by hitting the standard Reply button. In the mail client, this means "reply to Q". The reply goes instead to L, which is the public mailing list. Oh my god! What have I done! 5. People get hurt. Isn't this a danger? POSSIBLE EXPLOIT THAT INCREASES THE DANGER Suppose that P is actually a police operative in an authoritarian state, or a criminal operative in a failed state. He only pretends to be a vulnerable activist (say). His real aim is to hurt the activists and other opponents; damage the university's reputation; close down the mailing list; make democracy look foolish [5]; and finally make some money in the bargain [6]. The likelihood of his success is roughly proportional to the amount of harm suffered by the activists and other innocent people. If such an exploit were even *perceived* to be feasible, then the mis-configuration of the mailing list would not only be exposing the public to a haphazard danger, but also providing the means and incentive to orchestrate and amplify that danger. Might not this exploit be perceived as feasible? INTERIM RECOMMENDATION While Stanford University is evaluating these safety concerns and has yet to make a decision, it should return the configuration to its default setting. The default setting is known to be safe. -- Michael Allan Toronto, +1 416-699-9528 http://zelea.com/ NOTES [1] https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech http://liberationtechnology.stanford.edu/ [2] The meaning of configuration variables (a,b,c) is defined here: http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-admin/node11.html [3] 'The "Reply-To" field is added by the message originator and is intended to direct replies.' Section 4.4.3, RFC 822. http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0822.txt Note that the mailing list is not the "message originator", and is not supposed to add a Reply-To header. It is mis-configured. [4] Matt Mackall originally pointed to the danger in this post: https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-March/007762.html [5] The current configuration of the mailing list was approved by the subscribers in a vote. https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-March/007973.html [6] America is a litigious society.

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Final reminder: social media conference London 2-3 Sep, abstracts due Friday 26 April
by Graham Meikle 22 Apr '13

22 Apr '13

CALL FOR PAPERS Social Media The fourth international transforming audiences conference making connections | creative cultures | open everything Date: 2 – 3 September 2013 Venue: University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS The previous Transforming Audiences conferences, in 2007, 2009 and 2011, have seen this event become Europe’s major international conference series for audience/user studies, bringing together researchers from all over the world. Now we are delighted to invite you to Social Media, the fourth in the Transforming Audiences series, in central London in September 2013. The Social Media conference is organised by the Centre for Social Media Research at the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute. The event will present a rich set of analyses of the current situation and raise important questions about the future. We strongly encourage papers from new scholars as well as more established researchers. Keynote speakers include Stuart Allan (author Citizen Witnessing), Megan Boler (co-editor DIY Citizenship and Critical Making), Larissa Hjorth (co-author Understanding Social Media) and D.E. Wittkower (editor Facebook and Philosophy). We particularly invite papers that connect with the themes making connections, creative cultures and open everything. Making connections — friends | followers | connections | networks | communities | tags | favourites | playlists | channels | emotions | affect | information | knowledge | circulation | movement | share Creative cultures — critical making | memes | do-it-yourself | do-it-with-others | collaboration | participation | read-write | edit | hacking | modding | coding | creativity Open everything — Big Data | data journalism | visualisation | mapping | activism | commons | business models | access | education | MOOCs | private | public | surveillance | visibility SUBMISSION GUIDELINES You can submit proposals for individual papers or for themed panels. Individual papers will each have 15 minutes plus discussion time. Panels should consist of three presentations of 15 minutes each, to be followed by fifteen minutes of discussion for a total session of one hour. For individual papers, please send a 300-word abstract and brief biographical note of up to 70 words. Abstracts should highlight the original theoretical or empirical contribution. They should also include the presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, title of paper, email and work address. Proposals for panels or alternative formats should include a 300-word overview as well as individual abstracts following the guidelines above. All proposals should be sent by 26 April 2013 to TA4(a)westminster.ac.uk<mailto:TA4@westminster.ac.uk> Electronic submissions only. Successful applicants will be notified by mid-May. REGISTRATION The registration fee for the two days will be £285, for one day will be £180. ICA, AoIR, IAMCR and ECREA members will be given a preferential rate of £245 for the two day event. The special rate for students will be £130 for the two days, or £75 for one day. This covers all conference documentation, refreshments, lunches, wine reception and administration costs. Registration will open mid-May. http://www.transformingaudiences.org.uk<http://www.transformingaudiences.org.uk/> http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/a-z/camri/events/camri-events-calenda… ----------------------- Professor Graham Meikle Communication and Media Research Institute, School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster, HA1 3TP, UK Twitter: @graham_meikle Phone: +44 (0)20 7911 5000 ext 4755 http://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/directory/meikle-graham The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW.

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CFP: Prototype Turn, Workshop at ACM Creative & Cognition, Sydney, June 17, 2013
by Jaz Choi 21 Apr '13

21 Apr '13

PROTOTYPE TURN ACM Creative & Cognition 2013 Workshop Sydney, Australia June 17, 2013 ---- From citizen science to critical design and the “maker” movement we are witnessing a “prototype turn” that emphasizes collaborative and open design practices that challenge and redefine the existing social, political, and technical limits (of software and hardware). In recent years, design trends in technological platforms have widely applied concepts such as quantified self, gamification, DIY/maker culture, highlighting and in many cases, advocating open access and (re-)use of data. However, this emphasis towards “openness” is not without problems and drawbacks. This workshop will bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in emergent and critical perspectives related to open data across diverse fields from science to arts. The workshop will serve as an active forum to discuss a diverse set of perspectives in order to examine and interrogate the notion of “openness” by looking at specific cases and related social, cultural, political, and technological phenomena surrounding the open access to and (re-)use of data. The specific goals of this workshop are to: - Document the emerging and fast evolving space of communities focused around open approaches towards data - Reflect upon specific instances of open data practices and uses that would benefit from critical thinking around the ‘open ethics’ - Produce a toolkit that helps develop practical and critical strengths for new open data projects. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE Participants will be asked to present their papers in this half-day workshop and we will also archive everyone’s papers on the workshop’s website. In the second half of the workshop, we will prepare datasets from existing projects and ask the diverse groups to work together to develop potential kits and tools for stakeholders and communities to deliberate upon the use of open data. These kits and tools will provide the users with pragmatic, as well as critical/theoretical, considerations when working with open data. Participants will present their prototypes and ideas after which we will discuss the results and plan future events and dissemination of output from the workshop. SUBMISSION FORMAT Please submit a 2 – 3 page position statement, which includes the following: - Description of your current project or applications that are related to the open approach towards the use and reuse of data. - Questions about how theoretical and critical perspectives would inform your own project. - Ideas or speculations about the trajectory of open ethics in your field of expertise. - A short biography of the author wishing to attend the workshop (100-150 words). Applications should be single-authored. We highly encourage teamwork on the day, but would like social interaction, idea iteration, and group formation at the event. We ask participants to submit their applications to prototypeturn(a)gmail.com by May 16th, 2013 ORGANISERS Jude Yew, National University of Singapore Denisa Kera, National University of Singapore Jaz Hee-jeong Choi, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Andreas Schlegel, Lasalle College of Arts, Singapore ---- dr. jaz hee-jeong choi deputy director, urban informatics research lab school of design, creative industries faculty, qut // e: h.choi(a)qut.edu.au // w: www.nicemustard.com // p: +617 3138 8190 // m: +61 433 167 151

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literature on friendship
by Eden Medina 19 Apr '13

19 Apr '13

A colleague of mine in computer science wants to develop a deeper understanding of what friendship means in online environments and how it compares with understandings of friendship in offline environments. She is specifically interested in the following two questions and is looking for literature suggestions: 1) Is there research that characterizes friendship in either qualitative or quantitative ways? 2) Is there research that distinguishes the characteristics of online friendships based on the nature of the origin (i.e. was the friendship established prior to online interaction vs during the online interaction)? All literature suggestions appreciated. Many thanks! -- Eden Medina Associate Professor of Informatics Adjunct Associate Professor of History School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington edenm(a)indiana.edu www.edenmedina.com Learn about "Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile" (MIT Press, 2011) @ www.cyberneticrevolutionaries.com

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