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Egypt: The First Internet Revolt?
by Barry Wellman 01 Jul '11

01 Jul '11

FOlks, Xiaolin Zhuo, me, Justine Yu have just published the abovenamed article in the July 2011 Peace Magazine. http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v27n3p06.htm It discusses the many ways in which ICTs did -- and did not -- facilitate the Jan-Feb 2011 Egyptian revolt. It argues that Facebook etc provided a sense of modernity, and shows some of the external connections that the activists had years before the revolt. It also does a Tilly-esque discussion of internal networks -- this was NOT a spontaneous gathering of 1M Egyptians in Tahrir Square. And we carefully call it a Revolt, and not a Revolution (too premature to say that) or the newspaper-hype "Arab Spring" (premature in circumstances and calendar in January-Feb 2011??) The colour pix in the magazine are great (thank you Zeynep Tufekci and Karim Marold). Alas, Peace Magazine's own website doesn't show them -- text only. But if you ask nicely, we'll send you a full pdf, complete with pix. Email first author Jo-Lynn Zhuo <zhuo.jolin(a)gmail.com>, (It's her and Justine's first publication, btw.) PS: This 4.5 pager developed out of a discussion in the forthcoming Rainie-Wellman Networked book (Jan 2012) Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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Fwd: Call For Papers. Annual Symposium Global Internet Governance Academic Network (Giganet), Nairobi, Pre-IGF Symposium
by Calderaro, Andrea 01 Jul '11

01 Jul '11

GIGANET Global Internet Governance Academic Network in co-operation with Research ICT Africa CALL FOR PAPERS Sixth Annual Symposium 26 September 2011 Nairobi, Kenya The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GIGANET), in co-operation with the Research ICT Africa (RIA), is seeking submissions of research about Internet Governance to be presented at the Sixth GigaNet Annual Symposium, held on 26 September 2011, one day before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2006, GigaNet has organized an Annual Symposium to showcase research about Internet Governance, focusing on an interdisciplinary approach. Prior successful symposia took place in Greece (2006), Brazil (2007), India (2008), Egypt (2009) and Lithuania (2010). In 2011, the Internet Governance Forum has entered its second phase, after having reached the end of its first 5-years mandate. This year’s event will provide room to discuss the challenges encountered and results achieved during the first five years of IGF. As in previous years the GigaNet Symposium will further discuss current and future questions of Global Internet Governance. Organizers GigaNet is a scholarly community that promotes the development of Internet Governance as a recognized, interdisciplinary field of study and facilitates informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters between scholars and governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society. http://giga-net.org/ Research ICT Africa is a network of researchers in 20 African countries conducting research on ICT policy and regulation and facilitating evidence-based and informed policy making for improved access, use and application of ICT for social development and economic growth. http://www.researchictafrica.net/ Symposium Themes GigaNet is interested in receiving abstracts related to Internet Governance themes, especially those containing innovative approaches and/or emerging research areas. We encourage submissions on the following topics: § The first 5 years of the IGF: Taking stock and the way forward § Developing countries perspectives on internet governance § New approaches to theorizing internet governance § Between global and local: the question of territory in internet governance § Freedom of Expression / Right to Information § New approaches to Human Rights on the Internet § Internet governance and political uprising § International relations and cyber-security § Online privacy and dataveillance § Cloud Governance Other proposals on more general questions of Global Internet Governance will also be considered. Submissions Interested scholars should submit abstracts of research paper not later 15 July 2011, through Easy Chair platform at: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=giganet2011. Paper proposals should be submitted following theses requirements: § An abstract of 800-1000 words, in English, where it is mandatory to describe the main research goal(s) and the methodological background of the paper § A one-page curriculum vitae focused on institutional affiliations, advanced degrees, scholarly publications and work in the field of Internet Governance and related issues (for example ICTs). Evaluation Process The Program Committee members will evaluate the abstracts submitted and decisions will be sent to applicants by email on August 1st. Accepted papers for oral presentations should be followed by a full research paper, to be sent by September 15th. Some quality papers submitted that are not accepted for oral presentations will be recommended for poster presentations. Accepted speakers and poster presenters’ submissions and final papers will be published on the GigaNet website. Registration process The GigaNet Annual Symposium is free of charge. However, a registration process will be required close to the event. Please continue visiting our website for further information about registration, venue and accommodation. Financial Assistance One outstanding accepted paper by an African researcher may be awarded financial support by the Research ICT Africa. This support includes a travel grant up to US $ 1.000,00 to facilitate the participation of (emerging) African scholars who otherwise would not be able to attend. If available, information regarding additional scholarship options will be available following notification of acceptance. GigaNet 2011 Program Committee § Leo Van Audenhove – PC Chair, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium § Roy Balleste – St. Thomas University, Miami, USA § William Drake - University of Zurich, Switzerland § Dmitry Epstein – Cornell University, USA § Marianne Franklin – Goldsmiths University London, UK § Raquel Gatto – Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil § Alison Gillwald – Director Research ICT Africa § Nanette Levinson – American University, USA § Milton Mueller – Syracuse University, USA § Rolf H. Weber – University of Zurich, Switzerland Schedule Summary July 15th: abstract submission deadline August 1st: notification of acceptance September 15th: submission deadline for complete papers September 26th: Sixth Annual GigaNet Symposium If you have any question related to the submission or the symposium activities, please e-mail the Program Committee Chair: leo.van.audenhove(a)vub.ac.be _________________________________ Andrea Calderaro, PhD Department of Social and Political Sciences European University Institute Italy ----------------------------------------------- PERSONAL PAGE: http://www.andreacalderaro.net/ CV: http://bit.ly/ACalderaroCV

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CFP: Youth, Media, and the Politics of Change in North Africa
by Lina Khatib 01 Jul '11

01 Jul '11

Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication Special Issue Call for Papers: Youth, Media and the Politics of Change in North Africa: Negotiating Identities, Spaces and Power Guest Editor: Loubna H. Skalli (American University, Washington D.C.) This special issue of the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication solicits theoretical and empirical papers on “Youth, Media and the Politics of Change in North Africa: Negotiating Identities, Spaces and Power.” The purpose of this special issue is to document ways in which the Maghreb countries of North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya) provide vibrant and complex settings for studying the dynamics of change, creativity, and continuity as these societies continue to adjust to the current security, demographic and development challenges. The uprisings that brought down the Tunisian and Egyptian dictators in January 2011 began with the dramatic public suicide of Mohammed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university-educated man no longer allowed to make a living as an “illegal” street vendor. Bouazizi’s tragic death has humanized the struggles of today’s young men and women, and has revealed their capacity to engage with forces of change in peaceful, creative and unexpected ways. The Maghreb has a large cohort of young men and women with increasingly high levels of education, unemployment, and political marginalization. Yet, more than any prior generation, youth are engaged today in negotiating the pressures of globalization and the logics of localization at the socio-cultural, economic, political and individual levels. Maghrebi young men and women are invariably seeking to create new spaces of participation within their societies and communities. They are already positioning themselves in the local/global spaces of knowledge production, information and communication exchanges and circulation of different cultural/media forms of expression. As recent developments in the region demonstrate, youth are redefining their gendered identities and transforming the socio-cultural, political and communication landscapes of the region in profound, complex and interesting ways. For this issue, we solicit theoretical and empirical papers with single country or cross-country analysis related to the following areas: *Youth, activism and social media; *Negotiation of gender/identities in an era of securitization and neo-liberal globalization; *Expressive identities through cultural/media forms: music (Hip Hop), television, theatre, film, and other artistic forms; *The emergence a new generation of cultural/media entrepreneurs and their redefinition of the cultural/media landscapes in the region; *Emerging spaces for re/defining challenging gender norms and values; *Gender, virtual communities and social networks (blogs, e-diaries, journals etc); *New/old media and emerging forms of political expression, participation and mobilization; *Diaspora, generational dynamics and identities, opportunities and constraints (institutional, ideological, financial, etc) that arise from creating new cultural/media spaces and redefining old ones. Deadline for submission of abstracts: July 8, 2011. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words. Please explain your contribution to this special issue: provide a clear description of the proposed approach, the theoretical framework and empirical data (single country or comparative). Notification of acceptance of abstracts: July 15, 2011 Deadline for submission of complete manuscripts: January 15, 2012. Papers should be between 6000-7000 words long and include an abstract of 150 words that clearly defines the focus of the article. Provide 5 keywords to identify the article. All papers will go through the standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on the quality of their contribution to the special issue. Expected publication date of accepted articles is 2012. Please email your abstract to Dr Loubna H. Skalli: Hanna(a)american.edu MEJCC is a peer-reviewed journal published by Brill. http://www.brill.nl/mjcc

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Researcher position available in SoNet at FBK, Trento, Italy about social side of Wikipedia
by paolo massa 01 Jul '11

01 Jul '11

A position is available in the SoNet (Social Networking) research unit at Bruno Kessler Foundation, Center for Information Technology, Trento, Italy. The SoNet research unit focuses its research on the social side of Wikipedia and wikis. The successful candidate will join our group working on a project whose goal is to mine, analyze and computationally model the individual and collective behaviour in communities and social networks of Wikipedia users. The ideal candidate should have: * Ph.D. level education in a relevant discipline * A good record of relevant research published in peer-reviewed conferences or journals * Strong empirical and analytical orientation, with experience in handling large amounts of data coming from user action logs and social networks * Experience with statistics and with analysis of complex networks * Knowledge of at least one of Python, Perl, C/C++, R, Java * Proficiency in both written and spoken English Additional requirements: * Prior experience in using social media for disseminating personal research * Interdisciplinary background * Experience with GNU/Linux systems Type of contract: co.co.pro (collaboration contract) for one year. Initial appointments are for one year and renewal is based on performance. Feel free to contact me if you have any question and you can find more information and how to apply at http://risorseumane.fbk.eu/sites/risorseumane.fbk.eu/files/call%20SONET_P_2… -- -- Paolo Massa Head of SoNet research group: http://sonet.fbk.eu Blog: http://gnuband.org

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Re: [Air-L] Facebook groups as a method
by Johnson, Thomas J 30 Jun '11

30 Jun '11

I have used Facebook groups much less ambitiously than you have, creating groups to study social media and politics, recruiting friends and asking them to recruit. Certainly that technique could work for high school students. I have also posted information about the survey as a note and asked people to share which has also worked. On Jun 30, 2011, at 5:00 PM, <air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org> wrote: > Send Air-L mailing list submissions to > air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > air-l-owner(a)listserv.aoir.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Air-L digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. FB groups as method & parental consent (Rena Bivens) > 2. Re: FB groups as method & parental consent (Montathar Faraon) > 3. Re: FB groups as method & parental consent (Jayne M. Sellick) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:29:31 -0400 > From: Rena Bivens <rena.bivens(a)gmail.com> > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: [Air-L] FB groups as method & parental consent > Message-ID: <BANLkTimewh-zDyrs4RByUjb_vX3bM+_MWA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hi All, > > I'm writing about two issues: > (1) using Facebook groups as part of a research method > (2) obtaining parental consent > > Has anyone on the list used Facebook groups within their methodological > strategy? > I plan to create a Facebook group for the first stage of a project I am > conducting on social media and gender-based violence - particularly gender > socialization by teenagers on Facebook. The idea is to recruit students from > various high schools across Canada to join the FB group and then engage > participants in discussions while also sharing videos, images and news > articles. Within a couple of months the intention would be to gain informed > consent to 'friend' a number of the participants and preform a digital > ethnography of their profile pages (including info, wall, photos). Online > focus groups would also be incorporated during fieldwork and as a final > stage face-to-face focus groups will take place to validate or reconfigure > preliminary conclusions. > > I'm also hoping to get ethical approval to include under-16s (e.g. 13-18 > year olds) but I'm trying to be creative as to how I can obtain parental > consent since participants will come from a wide geographical region. Any > ideas apart from a paper letter that would be mailed or faxed would be > greatly appreciated! > > Many thanks in advance and feel free to ask for more information. > > Rena > > -- > > Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies > > Dunton Tower, Room 1509 > > 1125 Colonel By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6 > > Office: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2904 > > Cell: (613) 618-4602 > > @renabivens <http://twitter.com/renabivens> > > renabivens.com > > ca.linkedin.com/in/renabivens > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:50:03 +0200 > From: Montathar Faraon <montathar.faraon(a)gmail.com> > To: Rena Bivens <rena.bivens(a)gmail.com> > Cc: Air-L <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > Subject: Re: [Air-L] FB groups as method & parental consent > Message-ID: <BANLkTi=Nvq4S+knr6KvR2_EoMBeZ-t25GA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hello Rena, > > Although I haven't dealt specifically with Facebook groups I have come > across articles that deal with this issue. I recommend that you take a look > at the following articles: > > Valenzuela, S., Park, N., & Kee, F. K. (2009). Is there social capital in a > social network site?: Facebook use and college students' life satisfaction, > trust, and participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, > 875-901. > > Juliana, F., Magda, G., Kevin, W. B., & Jeffrey, C. N. (2010). The writing > on the wall: A content analysis of college students' Facebook groups for the > 2008 presidential election. Mass Communication and Society, 13, 653-675. > > Kind regards, > Montathar > > On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 7:29 PM, Rena Bivens <rena.bivens(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi All, >> >> I'm writing about two issues: >> (1) using Facebook groups as part of a research method >> (2) obtaining parental consent >> >> Has anyone on the list used Facebook groups within their methodological >> strategy? >> I plan to create a Facebook group for the first stage of a project I am >> conducting on social media and gender-based violence - particularly gender >> socialization by teenagers on Facebook. The idea is to recruit students >> from >> various high schools across Canada to join the FB group and then engage >> participants in discussions while also sharing videos, images and news >> articles. Within a couple of months the intention would be to gain informed >> consent to 'friend' a number of the participants and preform a digital >> ethnography of their profile pages (including info, wall, photos). Online >> focus groups would also be incorporated during fieldwork and as a final >> stage face-to-face focus groups will take place to validate or reconfigure >> preliminary conclusions. >> >> I'm also hoping to get ethical approval to include under-16s (e.g. 13-18 >> year olds) but I'm trying to be creative as to how I can obtain parental >> consent since participants will come from a wide geographical region. Any >> ideas apart from a paper letter that would be mailed or faxed would be >> greatly appreciated! >> >> Many thanks in advance and feel free to ask for more information. >> >> Rena >> >> -- >> >> Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies >> >> Dunton Tower, Room 1509 >> >> 1125 Colonel By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6 >> >> Office: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2904 >> >> Cell: (613) 618-4602 >> >> @renabivens <http://twitter.com/renabivens> >> >> renabivens.com >> >> ca.linkedin.com/in/renabivens >> _______________________________________________ >> 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/ >> > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:08:42 +0100 > From: "Jayne M. Sellick" <J.M.Sellick(a)durham.ac.uk> > To: "air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org" <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> > Subject: Re: [Air-L] FB groups as method & parental consent > Message-ID: <3EBADB1DDEFEA244A45F569963F478B312ADC833D4@MAILWEST> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Hi Rena, > > I'm just starting to connect with online users as part of my participatory project with different groups of disabled people. I spent quite a lot of time deciding how to do this and settled on my own blog in the end. However, with reference to facebook I'm planning on using it, alongside Twitter to gain further interest for the project and get people to the blog, rather than using it as a space to collect and upload content and/or ideas from potential participants. i.e. they could like the page or join the group but then use a different and private online space to get involved. > > I would say that whilst Facebook is a well connected platform (for many non-disabled groups) with a range of tools to use, such as uploading photographs and making comments; it's very difficult to ensure any sort of privacy or anonymity. I think that the latter may be something that parent's (and equally students) could be concerned about as the topic is potentially sensitive and users may wish to be reassured that their input remains confidential. Facebook don't place privacy very highly on their agenda! > > It terms of parental consent, you could set up a very simple wordpress blog where parents and students could register their interest and where you could set up a Terms of Use form (a plugin) that outlines the need for parental consent. By registering and agreeing to the terms of use you are asking parents and students to agree with these (in > line with your ethics) and will also have an electronic copy of when they agreed to these terms. > > The online focus group sounds great and I'd love to hear more about it, as and when you get to it. you could also update the (potential) blog with info about/for the online focus groups. > > Hope this helps! > > Best wishes, > > Jayne Sellick > > PhD Researcher > Geographies of Disability and Health > Department of Geography > Science Laboratories > Durham University > South Road > Durham > DH1 3LE > > Blog: http://www.disidentities.com > > Tel: +44 (0) 7757 838 741 > > Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/J_Sellick > > Web: www.durham.ac.uk/geography > ________________________________________ > From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Rena Bivens [rena.bivens(a)gmail.com] > Sent: 30 June 2011 18:29 > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: [Air-L] FB groups as method & parental consent > > Hi All, > > I'm writing about two issues: > (1) using Facebook groups as part of a research method > (2) obtaining parental consent > > Has anyone on the list used Facebook groups within their methodological > strategy? > I plan to create a Facebook group for the first stage of a project I am > conducting on social media and gender-based violence - particularly gender > socialization by teenagers on Facebook. The idea is to recruit students from > various high schools across Canada to join the FB group and then engage > participants in discussions while also sharing videos, images and news > articles. Within a couple of months the intention would be to gain informed > consent to 'friend' a number of the participants and preform a digital > ethnography of their profile pages (including info, wall, photos). Online > focus groups would also be incorporated during fieldwork and as a final > stage face-to-face focus groups will take place to validate or reconfigure > preliminary conclusions. > > I'm also hoping to get ethical approval to include under-16s (e.g. 13-18 > year olds) but I'm trying to be creative as to how I can obtain parental > consent since participants will come from a wide geographical region. Any > ideas apart from a paper letter that would be mailed or faxed would be > greatly appreciated! > > Many thanks in advance and feel free to ask for more information. > > Rena > > -- > > Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies > > Dunton Tower, Room 1509 > > 1125 Colonel By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6 > > Office: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2904 > > Cell: (613) 618-4602 > > @renabivens <http://twitter.com/renabivens> > > renabivens.com > > ca.linkedin.com/in/renabivens > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > > End of Air-L Digest, Vol 83, Issue 28 > *************************************

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FB groups as method & parental consent
by Rena Bivens 30 Jun '11

30 Jun '11

Hi All, I'm writing about two issues: (1) using Facebook groups as part of a research method (2) obtaining parental consent Has anyone on the list used Facebook groups within their methodological strategy? I plan to create a Facebook group for the first stage of a project I am conducting on social media and gender-based violence - particularly gender socialization by teenagers on Facebook. The idea is to recruit students from various high schools across Canada to join the FB group and then engage participants in discussions while also sharing videos, images and news articles. Within a couple of months the intention would be to gain informed consent to 'friend' a number of the participants and preform a digital ethnography of their profile pages (including info, wall, photos). Online focus groups would also be incorporated during fieldwork and as a final stage face-to-face focus groups will take place to validate or reconfigure preliminary conclusions. I'm also hoping to get ethical approval to include under-16s (e.g. 13-18 year olds) but I'm trying to be creative as to how I can obtain parental consent since participants will come from a wide geographical region. Any ideas apart from a paper letter that would be mailed or faxed would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks in advance and feel free to ask for more information. Rena -- Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies Dunton Tower, Room 1509 1125 Colonel By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6 Office: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2904 Cell: (613) 618-4602 @renabivens <http://twitter.com/renabivens> renabivens.com ca.linkedin.com/in/renabivens

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CFP for Chapters for Collection on “Finding Religion in Digital Gaming”
by Heidi Campbell 29 Jun '11

29 Jun '11

Chapters are being sought for an edited volume, which seeks to map the study of religion in relation to digital games and gaming environments. The book will focus on how video games can be read as religious texts, rituals or experiences, as well as investigations of religious narratives/themes employed in video games and the implications of video games created for religious markets. This book will fill an important gap in the field of game studies by providing an overview of current work in the study of religion and digital gaming, and highlight key questions emerging within this area of inquiry. Chapters in this collection should explore issues in one of the following areas: (1) Analysis of dominant narratives, characterizations or symbols appearing in religiously-themed games and their implications for our understanding of religious community, identity and/or authority. (2) Investigation of the extent to which popular, mainstream games rely on religious strategies, narratives and rituals in game playand implication this has for gamers and the gaming enterprise. (3) Critical reflection on the ways digital games and virtual world gaming environments facilitate religious-like ritual or encourage forms of implicit religion (by which secular activities, such as gaming, take on a sacred role or meaning for individuals) amongst players and gaming communities. Chapters should also respond in some way to the book’s central research question: How do video/digital games inform or reform our understanding of religion within digital and gaming culture? This book is aimed at Indiana University Press’s new Digital Gaming Series and is edited by Heidi Campbell, Associate Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University and Gregory Grieve, Associate Professor of Religion at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Prospective contributors are invited to submit their initial proposals (500-800 word abstracts) and a biography statement highlighting previous research and writings to the editors by 10 August 2011. Selected authors will be notified by early to mid September 2011. The intent is for invited chapters (of 6000-8000 words) to be submitted to the editors by 15 December 2011. Please send abstracts and any questions to Heidi Campbell (heidic(a)tamu.edu)

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conference fees, aoir membership, etc.
by jeremy hunsinger 29 Jun '11

29 Jun '11

I am wondering what people think about internet research conference fees. I personally think that since Milwaukee costs have been too high for many members and most graduate student members. I have talked with some members of the exec on this and while I'm sure they are active and care about the matter and they are trying to resolve the matter, it is unclear to me that they know what the members want beyond that many people tend to pay for the conference and thus the fees must be reasonable in some light to those that pay for them. I'm more concerned about those that can't or choose not to pay for them and how they are hidden in the system of 'voting with dollars' and likely how they are possibly alienated from participating/becoming members of an organization in which they can't afford to participate. I'm wondering if other people have that concern too. If you do have that concern, then perhaps we should propose a working group to investigate the capacities of the membership to pay the conference fees. I grant that I could be entirely off base too, perhaps everyone is happy with the fees and no one is having any problem paying them, I suspect though that we are creating and/or reifying a two class system in aoir, where the less well off are just members of the listserv, don't join the organization, can't vote in the elections, because they can't go to the conferences, and the well off are joining, going to the conferences, and able to take advantage of all the organizational benefits. In any case, if you'd like to engage in this discussion, send me a note to jhuns(a)vt.edu with the subject 'fees' and we can petition the exec to form a working group. If we don't get enough people, I'll just assume I'm wrong and that what I suspect is happening... is not happening. Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality. -Jules de Gaultier () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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Online study - blogging motivations - participants needed
by Fullwood, Chris 29 Jun '11

29 Jun '11

Dear AoIR member, We would appreciate it if you could spare the time to take part in an online survey investigating blogging behaviour, which should only take a maximum of 20 minutes of your time. If you have written a blog within the last six months then you are eligble to take part. Please follow this link if you would like to participate. http://www.kwiksurveys.com?s=ILEDMJ_c115b9a Thanks for your time Regards Chris Fullwood & Wendy Nicholls Psychology department University of Wolverhampton -- Scanned by iCritical.

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Downloading online forum postings and analyzing occurence of keywords in the data
by Leurs, K.H.A. (Koen) 29 Jun '11

29 Jun '11

Dear list-members, I'm a Utrecht University based (Netherlands) researcher working on the European http://www.mignetproject.eu/ project working on transnational digital networks, migration and gender. More specifically I'm studying knowledge and education processes across formal (university) and informal (forums, wikipedia) knowledge domains. I was wondering if anyone on the list has experiences with scraping online forum data and searching it for the occurence of keywords. Especially I'm wondering which software best suits my preferences, in selecting for instance a certain timeline to scrape as I would like to compare the curriculum of a year of university courses and their attention for diversity issues and a year of forum postings and their attention for diversity issues. Scraping software that I have used so far are: Wget Software that I have been looking at for searching keywords in digital data are: Provalis Research Wordstat NVivo Digitalmethods.net > issuecrawler I'm looking forward to any suggestions, and thank you for your time. Kind regards, Koen. Koen Leurs | Aio / PhD student Gender Studies | Research Institute for History and Culture | | Utrecht University, the Netherlands | Muntstraat 2a | 3512 EV Utrecht | Room 1.12 | www.koenleurs.net | www.uu.nl/wiredup | www.mignetproject.eu/ |

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