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seeking advice regarding research on photo-sharing websites
by Nune Nikoghosyan 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

Dear Air list members, I'm a Master's degree student in Sociology at the University of Geneva and I'm preparing an article based on my graduation project about online photography, and I'm writing to ask some advice regarding the "ethical" side of such a publication. My research consisted mainly in content analysis of comments written on a photo-sharing website called TrekLens.com. The website's content, so all photos and comments, are freely and publicly accessible to any visitor of the site, with no need for a login or account to view the photos or read the comments. In my analysis, all comments have been anonymized and no usernames are visible. Furthermore, the few examples I give in the final text are hardly identifiable, since they're only small bits from comments and not the entire comments in themselves. In terms of privacy or harm, I don't think I'm running any risks. I have also included a brief description of the site and its tools, features and functionalities. However, the website's terms of use forbid any use of its content without written consent from the webmasters, even if all content is completely public: http://www.treklens.com/tou.php My question is: will I breach any ethical or legal rules if my article is published and do I, by all means, need the moderators' written consent? My doubt in all of this is the possibility of refusal by the webmasters... All advice will be of great value and most warmly appreciated! Thank you all in advance, Nuné Nikoghosyan

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Re: [Air-L] Seeking references to philosophical perspective on digital culture and social media (Peter Timusk)
by Murray Turoff 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

Turoff, Murray, Virtuality, CACM, Volume 40, Number 9, September 1997, pp. 38-43. the above addresses the philosophical issue of to what the degree the online world becomes the real world. Social networks are a good example of that issue even though they were not as well recognized in 1997. However, a lot of social networks existed even earlier like EIES and like "the well" -- *Distinguished Professor Emeritus Information Systems, NJIT homepage: http://is.njit.edu/turoff *

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Update on using social media short course
by Holly Kruse 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

This is just a blanket "thank you" to everyone who sent suggestions to me for actitivities to do in the short course on using social media that I'll be teaching in May. I haven't had much of a chance to read through all of them, but I will get to them soon, and I will try to thank everyone indvidually then, and also post a list of the suggestions to air-l. Thanks again, Holly ---- Holly Kruse, PhD Department of Communications Rogers State University 1701 W. Will Rogers Blvd. Claremore, OK 74017 918-343-7879 hkruse(a)rsu.edu or holly.kruse(a)gmail.com http://hollykruse.com or http://www.rsu.edu/academics/comm/kruse.asp

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Re: [Air-L] seeking advice regarding research on photo-sharing websites
by Danielle Couch 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

Hi Nune, When you say you have ensured the data is anonymous, does this mean you won't be using any direct quotes? The use of any direct quotes may compromise the anonymity as the would likely be locatable through the use of a search engine. Similar to Phillipa's comment about a breast cancer site, I believe this work on breastfeeding also allowed forum users to opt out of the data collection process. http://www.healthpromotion.org.au/journal/journal-downloads/article/1-hpja/… http://lrc.asn.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40389 Cheers, Danielle > Philippa Smith <philippa.smith(a)aut.ac.nz> wrote: > > Dear Nune, > > Unfortunately I can't remember the reference for you (someone else > might), but I remember reading in a book about a researcher who analysed > a publicly accessed site where women with breast cancer shared their > experiences. Although no password was required, the researcher felt > ethically bound, if I recall correctly, to contact those on the site > about what was being analysed because it was dealing with a sensitive > issue. I therefore believe that care must be taken depending on the > content of what is being researched. Nothing is ever black and white > with Internet research. This area of ethics and the Internet is ongoing > and given the technology is still relatively new, a lot more discussion > will ensue. I would also query if there are any copyright issues > regarding people's posted photographs if you are going to reproduce them > as well as their comments. Presumably your academic institution will > guide you on this. > > Having said that I have been analysing comments on a publicly > accessible archived blog discussion for my PhD research and have > interviewed both the blogger and moderator as they brought insightful > information to my research - particularly regarding my interpretation > which was often quite different to how they saw things. I felt this > added objectivity to my research. > Good luck with your research. > > Kind regards > > Philippa Smith > PhD Candidate > Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication > AUT University > Auckland > NEW ZEALAND > > -----Original Message----- > From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org > [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Nune Nikoghosyan > Sent: Monday, 27 February 2012 11:05 a.m. > To: Jeremy hunsinger; Charles Ess > Cc: Air list > Subject: Re: [Air-L] seeking advice regarding research on photo-sharing > websites > > Dear Charles, Dear Jeremy and all those who have replied to me off-list, > > Thank you all for your kind advice and consideration! > I'd just like to clarify one point: the site's content is completely > public, freely accessible to all visitors, with no need to create an > account. All you'd need in order to read (and, eventually, analyze) any > comments is to open the page and click on a photo. It's similar to > viewing a "public" photo on Flickr and reading the comments that follow, > with no need to sign in. So I didn't need to create an account for > accessing the material, nor did I need a permission for such an access. > The (ethical) question poses only now when it's about publication. > > Thanks again, > Best regards, > NunÃ© Nikoghosyan > > > On 26 February 2012 20:19, Jeremy hunsinger <jeremy(a)tmttlt.com> wrote: > > > Well, I think he should ask permission, but mostly because it is the > > ethical option. I expect that if he explains his use is non-profit > > and research oriented, he'll be fine. > > > > I think that I would suspect that he would need to seek a lawyer's > > opinion as to whether the terms of use actually apply to his case at > > all, it is not always clear that they are enforceable across borders, > > or that all of there terms are legal across borders. I am not a > > lawyer, so i am just skeptical about it. > > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > _______________________________________________ > 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/ Danielle Couch m. +61 450 422 161 dlcouch(a)optusnet.com.au

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Second Call for proposals EARLI SIG 6 & 7 meeting
by Beatrice Ligorio 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

Second call for the combined EARLI SIG 6 & SIG 7 meeting, taking place at the University of Bari (Italy), 11 - 13 September 2012. More information is available here http://earli-sig67.slo.nl/ Please forward this invitation to anyone you think might be interested! Loking forward to receiving your submissions and to meeting all of you in Bari! Beatrice

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Final CfA: Conference "Critique, Democracy and Philosophy in 21st Century Information Society"
by Christian Fuchs 26 Feb '12

26 Feb '12

Critique, Democracy, and Philosophy in 21st Century Information Society. Towards Critical Theories of Social Media. The Fourth ICTs and Society-Conference. Uppsala University. May 2nd-4th, 2012. Abstract Submission Deadline: Wednesday, Feb 29th, 17:00 CET Submission guidelines: http://www.icts-and-society.net/events/uppsala2012/ With plenary talks by Vincent Mosco, Graham Murdock, Andrew Feenberg, Catherine McKercher, Charles Ess, Christian Christensen, Christian Fuchs, Gunilla Bradley, Mark Andrejevic, Nick Dyer-Witheford, Peter Dahlgren, Tobias Olsson, Trebor Scholz, Ursula Huws, Wolfgang Hofkirchner. This conference provides a forum for the discussion of how to critically study social media and their relevance for critique, democracy, politics and philosophy in 21st century information society. We are living in times of global capitalist crisis. In this situation, we are witnessing a return of critique in the form of a surging interest in critical theories (such as the critical political economy of Karl Marx, critical theory, etc) and revolutions, rebellions, and political movements against neoliberalism that are reactions to the commodification and instrumentalization of everything. On the one hand there are overdrawn claims that social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, mobile Internet, etc) have caused rebellions and uproars in countries like Tunisia and Egypt, which brings up the question to which extent these are claims are ideological or not. On the other hand, the question arises what actual role social media play in contemporary capitalism, power structures, crisis, rebellions, uproar, revolutions, the strengthening of the commons, and the potential creation of participatory democracy. The commodification of everything has resulted also in a commodification of the communication commons, including Internet communication that is today largely commercial in character. The question is how to make sense of a world in crisis, how a different future can look like, and how we can create Internet commons and a commons-based participatory democracy. This conference deals with the question of what kind of society and what kind of Internet are desirable, what steps need to be taken for advancing a good Internet in a sustainable information society, how capitalism, power structures and social media are connected, what the main problems, risks, opportunities and challenges are for the current and future development of Internet and society, how struggles are connected to social media, what the role, problems and opportunities of social media, web 2.0, the mobile Internet and the ubiquitous Internet are today and in the future, what current developments of the Internet and society tell us about potential futures, how an alternative Internet can look like, and how a participatory, commons-based Internet and a co-operative, participatory, sustainable information society can be achieved. Questions to be addressed include, but are not limited to: * What does it mean to study the Internet, social media and society in a critical way? What are Critical Internet Studies and Critical Theories of Social Media? What does it mean to study the media and communication critically? * What is the role of the Internet and social media in contemporary capitalism? * How do power structures, exploitation, domination, class, digital labour, commodification of the communication commons, ideology, and audience/user commodification, and surveillance shape the Internet and social media? * How do these phenomena shape concrete platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc? * How does contemporary capitalism look like? What is the role of the Internet and social media in contemporary capitalism? * In what society do we live? What is the actual role of information, ICTs, and knowledge in contemporary society? Are concepts like network society, information society, informational capitalism, etc adequate characterizations of contemporary society or overdrawn claims? What are the fundamental characteristics of contemporary society and which concept(s) should be used for describing this society? * What is digital labour and how do exploitation and surplus value generation work on the Internet? Which forms of exploitation and class structuration do we find on the Internet, how do they work, what are their commonalities and differences? How does the relation between toil and play change in a digital world? How do classes and class struggles look like in 21st century informational capitalism? * What are ideologies of the Internet, web 2.0, and social media? How can they be deconstructed and criticized? How does ideology critique work as an empirical method and theory that is applied to the Internet and social media? * Which philosophies, ethics and which philosophers are needed today in order to understand the Internet, democracy and society and to achieve a global sustainable information society and a participatory Internet? What are perspectives for political philosophy and social theory in 21st century information society? * What contradictions, conflicts, ambiguities, and dialectics shape 21st century information society and social media? * What theories are needed for studying the Internet, social media, web 2.0, or certain platforms or applications in a critical way? * What is the role of counter-power, resistance, struggles, social movements, civil society, rebellions, uproars, riots, revolutions, and political transformations in 21st century information society and how (if at all) are they connected to social media? * What is the actual role of social media and social networking sites in political revolutions, uproars, and rebellions (like the recent Maghrebian revolutions, contemporary protests in Europe and the world, the Occupy movement, etc)? * How can an alternative Internet look like and what are the conditions for creating such an Internet? What are the opportunities and challenges posed by projects like Wikipedia, WikiLeaks, Diaspora, IndyMedia, Democracy Now! and other alternative media? What is a commons-based Internet and how can it be created? * What is the role of ethics, politics, and activism for Critical Internet Studies? * What is the role of critical theories in studying the information society, social media, and the Internet? * What is a critical methodology in Critical Internet Studies? Which research methods are needed on how need existing research methods be adapted for studying the Internet and society in a critical way? * What are ethical problems, opportunities, and challenges of social media? How are they framed by the complex contradictions of contemporary capitalism? * Who and what and where are we in 21st century capitalist information society? How have different identities changed in the global world, what conflicts relate to it, and what is the role of class and class identity in informational capitalism? * What is democracy? What is the future of democracy in the global information society? And what is or should democracy be today? What is the relation of democracy and social media? How do the public sphere and the colonization of the public sphere look like today? What is the role of social media in the public sphere and its colonization? SUBMISSION a) For submission, please first register your profile on the ICTs and Society platform: http://www.icts-and-society.net/register/ b) Please download the abstract submission form: http://fuchs.uti.at/wp-content/uploads/ASF.doc , insert your presentation title, contact data, and an abstract of 200-500 words. The abstract should clearly set out goals, questions, the way taken for answering the questions, main results, the importance of the topic for critically studying the information society and/or social media and for the conference. Please submit your abstract until February 29th, 2012, per e-mail to Marisol Sandoval: marisol.sandoval(a)uti.at Notifications about acceptance or rejection of abstracts will be sent out within one week after the end of the deadline.

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IR13 Roundtable
by Andrea Guzman 25 Feb '12

25 Feb '12

We are organizing a graduate student roundtable for #IR13 regarding our role as academics in helping the public understand the personal and cultural implications of new media technologies. We will discuss and debate what our role should and could be as internet researchers in making our research accessible to the public. We will aim to generate questions about how, when and where our work can intersect with the wider discussions happening every day about what it means to use new technologies. We also will discuss what strategies might be most effective to make our knowledge accessible to a broader audience and to engage in discussions with the public regarding their concerns and opinions about new media technologies. The roundtable will include a review of some of the efforts currently underway in academic, commercial and cultural sectors and then expand out to what our next steps could be. Overall our goal is to establish a grassroots movement of scholars interested in public outreach. We have included only graduate students in this roundtable as a way to encourage emerging scholars to think about their role in society beyond the confines of the academic institution. If you are interested in joining our roundtable, please contact Andrea Guzman offlist at aguzma31(a)uic.edu. Please include a short explanation of what you think you can bring to the roundtable as well as a brief description of who you are (institution, degree you're seeking, etc...) Andrea -- Andrea L. Guzman, M.A. Communication Studies PhD student and COMM 140 instructor Department of Communication University of Illinois at Chicago aguzma31(a)uic.edu

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CfP: International Workshop on Complex Social Network Analysis (CSNA 2012)
by Luca Rossi 24 Feb '12

24 Feb '12

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit your recent work to the International Workshop on Complex Social Network Analysis (CSNA 2012) that is held as a part of the International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2012), 26-29 August, 2012, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey. Workshop Web Site: http://www.zsi.pwr.wroc.pl/CSNA2012 Submission Site: https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=csna2012 *New* submission Deadline: May 7, 2012. Proceedings published by IEEE. One of the reasons behind the tremendous success of Social Network Analysis (SNA) methods in various research disciplines is a very general and simple graph model that enables representation and study of extremely heterogeneous scenarios, ranging from workplace dynamics to the spreading of diseases or hyper-text documents in the World Wide Web. All these examples can be in fact modeled as homogeneous sets of nodes connected pairwise by some kind of edges. Commonly, each two nodes (social entities) are linked by a single edge (connection, link, bind, arc, tie), which, in turn, can be either undirected or directed, weighted or unweighted. While this generality still constitutes a great value, recently, it has become apparent that to model specific contexts and to enable accurate analyses it may be important to enrich the simple network models with more complex modeling constructs. A typical example is a multi-layer (called also multi-layered, multi-modal or multidimensional) network, where nodes are connected to each other through different kinds of links and each such a kind corresponds to a single layer. Each layer can refer either to a different type of relationship (sociological approach: friendship / family ties / collaboration at work) or to a different type of user common activities (computer science approach: email exchange / commenting the same photo / usage of the same tags). Besides, in many domains and environments, we can extract more than one type of nodes - it means that a social network may be heterogeneous (multi-modal) rather than homogeneous. For example, we can have teacher-nodes (one type-mode) mixed with student-nodes (another type-mode) or we can distinguish different user accounts registered in a number of services, e.g. various online games. Both multi-layer(ed) and heterogeneous (multi-modal) networks can be generalized to simple networks extended with labels (types, classes, modes, layers, levels) assigned either to edges or nodes. This concept also covers spatial networks where nodes and edges are annotated (labeled) with their location. Temporal (dynamic) social networks expand this model by introduction of timestamps assigned to nodes or edges; its disparate feature is the fixed order among following snapshots. Looking at current mainstream online social networks, we can easily see the relevance of these models: notable examples are Google+ circles, defining different kinds of social ties, users having multiple accounts in different web 2.0 services like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, as well as Twitter conversations where messages are exchanged at precise timestamps and sometimes from the known locations. We refer to these enriched networks as complex social networks. The objective of this workshop is to provide a venue to discuss the latest advances on complex social network analysis, mining and applications. Contributions coming from several fields, including computer science and social sciences, are welcome. The scope of the workshop includes (but is not limited to) the following topics: Data models for complex social networks Multi-layer(ed) networks Multi-modal social networks Multidimensional social networks Spatial networks Temporal analysis on social networks Dynamics modeling and measures for social networks Homogeneous social networks Statistical modeling of complex social networks Patterns in complex social networks Complex social network mining Cross-sectional analysis in social networks Measures for complex social networks and algorithms for their calculation Dynamics and evolution patterns of complex social networks Algorithms for large-scale complex social networks Merging social networks User identification / unification in multiple-system social networks Applications of complex social network analysis Community discovery in complex social networks (multi-layered / multi-modal / heterogeneous communities) Visual representation of complex networks and complex online social phenomena Data protection in location-based networks Methodological problems in complex social network studies Data mining in social networking sites Social Networks with Uncertainty *New* important dates: May 7, 2012 - Full paper submission deadline June 7, 2012 - Notification of acceptance June 15, 2012 - Camera-ready paper due and presenting author registration due August 26-29, 2012 - Conference, the workshop is scheduled on the first day of the ASONAM conference (August 26, 2012) Przemyslaw Kazienko (Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland) Matteo Magnani (Aarhus University, Denmark) Luca Rossi (University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Italy) -- -- Luca Rossi LaRiCA - Advanced Communication Laboratory Faculty of Sociology - "Carlo Bo" University, Urbino luca.rossi(a)uniurb.it T. +39 0722 305726 F. +39 0722 305727 http://larica.uniurb.it/redline

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Potential Panel - for #ir13
by Light Ben 24 Feb '12

24 Feb '12

Hi all, I have some colleagues back at Salford, who I work with on two projects – involving audience engagement via digital media (one is with the London Symphony Orchestra and one with the Imperial War Museum – both in the UK). We were thinking of submitting some of that work to the conference and I suggested that maybe it might be worth thinking about putting in a panel proposal around Digital Media and Arts and Cultural Organizations. I won't be part of the panel, since I'll be busy organising! However, if anyone is interested maybe in joining in on something like this – could you give me a shout and we will see if we can put something together? Oh the colleagues are Garry Crawford, Gaynor Bagnall and Vic Gosling! If you wanted to find out more about the projects visit: http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/creative_economy/digital_rnd http://digitalrndfund.wordpress.com/ Very best wishes, Ben Ben Light Associate Dean - Research and Innovation College of Arts and Social Sciences Professor of Digital Media School of Media, Music and Performance University of Salford | Maxwell Building Salford | M5 4WT | UK Tel. +44 161 295 5443 | Twitter @doggyb | www.benlight.org

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Internet studies in India
by Mathieu ONeil 24 Feb '12

24 Feb '12

Hi all I was wondering if anyone on the list could point me towards scholars and/or research centres in India which specialize in Internet studies and online social movements? Any tips much appreciated!, cheers Mathieu

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