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Full Time PhD position on social media & privacy, Free University of Brussels
by Jo Pierson 17 Dec '10

17 Dec '10

Vacancy: Full Time PhD position, Free University of Brussels (ref. IBBT/SMIT/Privacy) The research centre IBBT-SMIT at the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) offers a full time PhD position in the field of Social Sciences, more in particular of Media and Communication Studies. The vacancy is open for a research position of 4 years, in order to realize a PhD on the use of social media and social networks sites, the reconfiguration of privacy practices and the social and technological consequences thereof. The position starts in January 2011, and is supervised by Prof. Jo Pierson. Candidates are expected to show strong affinity with and interest in the domain of audience and user studies, social media technologies and media sociology, and are holder of a Masters degree in Social Sciences (Communication Studies, Sociology, ...). Applications are to be sent electronically as soon as possible (at the latest by 14th January 2011) to Hans De Canck (Hans.De.Canck(a)vub.ac.be) and Prof. Jo Pierson (jo.pierson(a)vub.ac.be ). When applying, a motivation and an elaborated vision on the theme under concern are expected to be included with the CV. Contact information: Hans De Canck IBBT-SMIT Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Pleinlaan 9 B-1050 Brusssels E-mail: Hans.De.Canck(a)vub.ac.be Tel.: +32-(0)2-6291628 Prof. dr. J. Pierson Dept. of Media and Communication Studies Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Pleinlaan 2 B-1050 Brusssels E-mail: jo.pierson(a)vub.ac.be Tel.: +32-(0)2-6292412 Description of research theme: We are witnessing the rapid growth of a new generation of participatory and collaborative network technologies that provide individuals with a platform for sophisticated online social interaction. Social networks today have hundreds of millions of users and are transforming our social and professional interactions and to some extent are shaping society itself. Gradually, society is discerning that this development not only brings strong beneﬁts to the social and economic fabric, but also introduces new risks related to privacy violations. At this stage, these issues are often perceived as isolated incidents that most organizations do not take accountability for. Yet, the implications of social networking environments for individual users, communities, organizations and society at large will become much more evident and most likely more substantial if necessary precautions are not taken. Especially alarming is the massive responsibility that individuals incur with respect to managing privacy and security risks arising from the information collected and shared about their everyday life on social networking sites. This phenomenon is has been coined as the responsibilisation of individuals. The main objective of the overall research project is to mitigate the responsibilisation of individuals who use or are aﬀected by social networking services by making the underlying social networking infrastructures and the organizations that run them more accountable. In order to achieve this objective ﬁrst an understanding of the target audience is required as well as forms of responsibilisation. This target audience includes users, communities and organizations in Flanders (Belgium). The plan is to develop solutions that facilitate better decision making with respect to the target groups’ privacy and security concerns, and that mitigate the risks, threats and concerns that currently are manifest in this domain. The PhD research position at IBBT-SMIT (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) is part of this larger four-year interdisciplinary research project on security and privacy in online social networks, involving different Belgian universities and one American university. More in particular the doctoral research has a twofold perspective. On the one hand it wants to understand the practices and needs of users with regard to privacy issues within social network sites, mainly based on the use of qualitative and ethnographic methods. On the other hand it will focus on the critical design variables and tools for social software. For the latter a translation needs to be made from the user research findings to possible guidelines and requirements for future media en technological solutions. Requirements: A Master degree in Social Sciences, (Communication Studies, Sociology, ...) Good knowledge of Dutch (and English) Strong affinity and/or interest in the domain of audience and user studies, social media technologies and media sociology Good knowledge of user research methods Good writing skills To be flexible and to be able to cope with deadlines Team player with strong social skills Research experience is a plus. We offer: An interesting PhD research position (4 years) in a stimulating work environment Enthusiastic and young co-workers and a pleasant environment Day to day support and project guidance based on high quality standards A place for personal involvement and input Flexible working hours Multiple social benefits Salary in accordance with the job market.

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e-petitions
by Wright Scott Dr (PSI) 17 Dec '10

17 Dec '10

Hi everyone, I am writing a few articles about the Downing Street E-petitions service, and as part of this, I am collecting broader stats on e-petitions to give it some context alongside analysis of paper petitions in the UK. Initially, I was interested in national level cases but from what I can find they are relatively limited in number (less than 10, but it depends how you define national). From past experience, these things can be hidden away though! So, I would be interested to know if anyone knows of any national cases (and is doing any research on them too). It would be interesting to know more about regional cases too. If people want to write to me directly, I will produce a list and post it to the group to save us from a deluge :-) Cheers, Scott Dr Scott Wright Director of Graduate Research School of Political, Social and International Studies University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/People/Academic/Scott+Wright

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Conference for e-Democracy and Open Government: cfp extended until 16.01.2010
by Noella Edelmann 17 Dec '10

17 Dec '10

*************[apologies for cross-posting]**************** EXTENDED CALL FOR PAPERS, 16 January 2011 Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government 5-6 May 2011 Krems, Austria www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem Tracks * E-Participation * Open Data and Open Access * E-Voting * Open Government Keynotes * Axel Bruns (Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane; Chief Investigator ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation; Senior Researcher Smart Services Cooperative Research Centre, AUS) * Caroline Haythornthwaite (Director, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia, CAN) * Doug Schuler (Program Director for the Public Sphere Project; Member of the faculty at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, USA) * Elke Löffler (CEO, Governance International, Birmingham; UK) * Stefan Gehrke (CEO, Politik-Digital, Berlin, DE) Submissions * Extended deadline: 16 January 2011 * 12 pages maximum * Double-blind peer review Conference Proceedings * Print version and * OA online version (eBook). * Best papers will be published with www.jedem.org Detailed Information * www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem I look forward to seeing you there, and wish you a merry festive season! Noella Noella Edelmann BA, MSc, MAS Researcher CeDEM11 Conference for E-democracy, E-participation and E-voting www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem JeDEM eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government www.jedem.org Digital Government Blog http://digitalgovernment.wordpress.com/ Centre for E-Government Danube University Krems Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Strasse 30 3500 Krems Austria Tel.: ++43 2732 893 2303 www.donau-uni.ac.at/egov noella.edelmann(a)donau-uni.ac.at

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Suggestions for New Research Scholar Opportunities
by Umar Ruhi 17 Dec '10

17 Dec '10

Dear AoIR colleagues, I am a relatively new research scholar with a recently completed doctorate, and I am currently exploring opportunities that can help me network and collaborate with others who share similar or complementary research interests to mine. As such, I am interested in short-term research and/or teaching fellowships or visiting scholar opportunities which would allow me to develop a collaborative research program with researchers from the host or sponsor institution. I am asking for your help in identifying such opportunities if you are aware of any. The primary domain of my research is social informatics, and specifically, my current research areas include web and enterprise social computing (including social media), online communities, web analytics, knowledge management practices, and the adoption of business intelligence technologies. More information on my current and past research projects is available at http://www.umar.biz. I appreciate any help that you can provide in identifying new scholar opportunities in the research areas highlighted above. Also, any suggestions or advice for a new scholar are welcome. Sincerely, Umar Ruhi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Umar Ruhi, MBA, PhD, FCIM Assistant Professor, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Television 2.0 Online Survey
by Rhiannon Bury 16 Dec '10

16 Dec '10

Dear Air-listers This fall I launched an online survey to learn more about the ways in which people view television programming and the ways in which fans engage with their favourite shows in the Web 2.0 era. With downloading, streaming and timeshifting technologies, watching television is no longer tied to the broadcast schedule and may not even involve a television set. Moreover, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter create multiple entry points into fandom and create new spaces of engagement with other fans. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to take my survey. Depending on your level of engagement with media fandom, the survey takes between 10 and 30 minutes to complete. There are prizes to win as well! TheTelevision 2.0 project has been reviewed by the Research Ethics Board at Athabasca University. Follow the link below to take the survey and/or to get more information, including a preview of the questions. http://tinyurl.com/tv2-0-survey Please spread the word far and wide! I have over 260 complete responses and am aiming for 400-500. Rhiannon Rhiannon Bury, PhD Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies Athabasca University, Canada's Open University rbury(a)athabascau.ca www.rhiannonbury.com Follow me on twitter: @television2pt0

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Remix Cinema Workshop (Oxford Internet Institute): call for abstracts
by Daniel Villar Onrubia 16 Dec '10

16 Dec '10

Deadline for abstracts: January 7, 2011. Apologies for cross-posting. *Remix Cinema Workshop March 24-25th 2011; Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford, UK).* The Remix Cinema workshop is organised by the Oxford Internet Institute, (University of Oxford, UK) in collaboration with UNIA Prácticas y Culturas Digitales (Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, ES), and is funded by the UK's Art and Humanities Research Council's (AHRC) Beyond Text programme. Website: www.remixcinema.org Context In August 2010, the remix movie *Star Wars Uncut<http://www.starwarsuncut.com/> * was the first user-generated production to win an Emmy Award. Other online platforms such as Wreckamovie.com <http://wreckamovie.com/> enable online communities to form for independent and open source film making, harnessing distributed forms of collaborative co-creation rather than relying on traditional organisational structures. Cloud-based editing suites have begun appearing: Stroome.com <http://www.stroome.com/> was launched in April 2010 by USC Annenberg with the tag-line “mix it up. mash it out”. Digitalised photos, videos, and sound, easily accessible through popular websites, constitute a diverse online repository of content that is being used for artistic remix purposes. Recently, the Electronic Frontier Foundation won a court case <http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26> giving exemptions from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anticircumvention provisions to amateur remix video artists sharing their works on e.g. YouTube. VJ’s and live cinema artists (e.g. Dj Spooky<http://www.djspooky.com/>, Eclectic Method <http://www.eclecticmethod.net/> or SOLU<http://www.solu.org/>) have permeated multiple cultural settings, ranging from mainstream contexts of entertainment to museums and other spaces devoted to the institutionalisation of art practices. The examples outlined are just a few fitting under the umbrella term of “Remix Cinema”, and point to ways in which networked devices and resources are facilitating new artistic audiovisual practices and cultures. The concept of ‘remix’ describes a broad set of social and cultural practices centred around the fragmentation and re-ordering of already existing and new content, whether text, sound or images. This 2-day multi-disciplinary workshop focuses on these diverse creative practices, particularly in the context of the contemporary socio-technical media environment. It brings together people interested in understanding and shaping remix cinema: doctoral students, established scholars, practising artists, and anyone else interested in addressing themes related to questions including: - How is the contemporary media-scape influencing artistic audio-visual creation? - What can we learn from the changing practices in remix cinema? - How are new models of economic support (e.g. crowdfunding) changing productions of cultural objects? - What methodological and theoretical challenges arise in empirical studies on remix cinema, and how do we overcome these? Call for presentations & papers The workshop committee welcomes proposals on any social, critical, cultural, aesthetic, political, technical, economic or legal aspects of remix cinema practices, cultures and works. We particularly welcome contributions that report on empirical studies and adopt innovative methodological approaches. Each presentation should last for a maximum of 15 minutes. Participants may present finished studies or works-in-progress, as the workshop also serves as a forum for gaining valuable feedback and exchanging ideas. All proposals will be peer reviewed by at least two members of the workshop’s academic committee (Oxford Internet Institute faculty). Presenters are invited to submit full papers which will be eligible for review and possible inclusion in a subsequent ISBN publication on remix cinema. Deadlines - Abstract deadline: *January 7*, 2011; 500 words to be submitted *here<http://www.practicasdigitales.unia.es/ocs/index.php/remixcinema/2011/author…> * (new window). - Notification of acceptance of abstracts: January 28, 2011. - Registration deadline: *February 4*, 2011. - Full papers (optional) submission deadline: March 7, 2011 (4000-6000 words). - Presentation materials submission deadline: March 15, 2011. --- Daniel Villar Onrubia Doctoral Student at Oxford Internet Institute. University of Oxford daniel.villaronrubia(a)oii.ox.ac.uk | http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk Board Member at Espacio-Red de Prácticas y Culturas Digitales. Universidad Internacional de Andalucía d.villar(a)pcd.unia.es | http://pcd.unia.es

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IR 12.0 CFP
by loriken＠illinois.edu 16 Dec '10

16 Dec '10

Some of you have probably already seen this on Facebook and Twitter; sorry for the delay -- I had a little email snafu. Lori Please distribute as appropriate. I'm pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for next year's Internet Research conference. The website for the conference is: http://ir12.aoir.org. Follow us on twitter at @ir12. Call for Papers Internet Research 12.0 – Performance and Participation The 12th Annual International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) October 10-13, 2011 Renaissance Hotel, Seattle Seattle, Washington, USA People perform identities, worry about economic performance, expect better performance from technologies, and feel pressure to perform as employees or in other roles in life. We observe or participate in artistic performances, ritual performances, and the performance of experiments. Join us in considerations, analyses, and celebrations of the many types of performance and participation online and in blended online/offline contexts. We look forward to creative articulations of the many meanings of the term performance and to the many ways of considering types of participation. To this end, we call for papers, panel and pre-conference workshop proposals from any discipline, methodology, community or a combination of them that address the conference themes, including, but not limited to, papers that intersect and/or interconnect with the following: * Creative performances and digital arts * Participatory culture and participatory design * Critical performance and political participation * Identity performance * Exclusion from participation * Economic performance of Internet-related industries * Game performance * Performance expectations (as workers, citizens, etc.) * Ritual performances and communal participation Sessions at the conference will be established that specifically address the conference themes, and we welcome innovative, exciting, and unexpected takes on those themes. We also welcome submissions on topics that address social, cultural, political, legal, aesthetic, economic, and/or philosophical aspects of the Internet beyond the conference themes. In all cases, we welcome disciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions as well as international collaborations from both AoIR and non-AoIR members. We particularly invite proposals from scholars in the areas of digital arts and digital humanities. SUBMISSIONS We seek proposals for several different kinds of contributions. As in the past, we welcome proposals for traditional academic conference PAPERS, organized PANEL PROPOSALS that present a coherent group of papers on a single theme, as well as PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS which focus on a particular topic. We also invite proposals that will focus on discussion and interaction among conference delegates. A common form of this type is the ROUNDTABLE SESSION, but we would also like to encourage other formats, such as OPEN FISHBOWL SESSIONS. (See the Wikipedia entry under “Fishbowl (conversation)” for a description of this format. Fishbowl sessions should cover broad topics of interest to a wide segment of the AoIR community.) DEADLINES Submissions Due: 1 March 2011 (Papers, Panels and Pre-Workshops. Details below) Notification: 1 May 2011 Full Papers Submissions Due: 1 July 2011 NOTE: The submission deadline this year is later than in previous years, but for this reason, it is a HARD DEADLINE; there will be no extensions to this date. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS All papers and presentations will be evaluated in a standard blind peer review. Format: * PAPERS (individual or multi-author) - submit abstract of 600-800 words * PANEL PROPOSALS - submit a description of 600-800 words on the panel theme, plus a 250-500 word abstract for each paper or presentation. The panel organizer must assemble these materials for submission, * ROUNDTABLE and FISHBOWL PROPOSALS - submit a statement indicating the nature of the discussion and form of interaction, and listing initial participants. (In the case of a fishbowl proposal, this will include the name of the moderator, and the names of the first four speakers for the fishbowl.) * PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS - please submit all workshop proposals via email to ir12chair(a)aoir.org. Workshop proposals should include names of presenters, and a 1,000-word description. Papers, presentations and panels will be selected from the submitted proposals on the basis of multiple blind peer review, coordinated and overseen by the Program Chair. Each individual may present only one paper during the conference, though they may be listed as a co-author on multiple papers. In addition to this one presentation, they may also appear on a panel, roundtable, or performance. PUBLICATION OF PAPERS Full papers submitted by the 1 July 2011 deadline will undergo review to be published in an open-access, online collection, Papers of the Internet Research Conference (ISSN forthcoming). Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society. Authors selected for submission for this issue will be contacted prior to the conference. PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS On October 10, 2011, there will be a limited number of pre-conference workshops and symposia that will provide participants with in-depth, hands-on and/or creative opportunities. We invite proposals for these pre-conference workshops. Local presenters are encouraged to propose workshops that will invite visiting researchers into their labs or studios or locales. Proposals should be no more than 1000 words, and should clearly outline the purpose, methodology, structure, costs, equipment and minimal attendance required, as well as explaining its relevance to the conference as a whole. Proposals will be accepted if they demonstrate that the workshop will add significantly to the overall program in terms of thematic depth, hands on experience, or local opportunities for scholarly or artistic connections. These proposals and all inquiries regarding pre-conference proposals should be submitted as soon as possible to both the Conference Chair and Program Chair and no later than March 1, 2011. CONTACT INFORMATION * Program Chair: Lori Kendall, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, email: loriken(at)illinois(dot)edu * Conference Chair: Karine Nahon, Information School, University of Washington, email: karineb(at)uw(dot)edu

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Re: [Air-L] Social media for elderly people
by Di Shaw 16 Dec '10

16 Dec '10

Hello Everyone, I would like to introduce myself to this very supportive and knowledgeable community. My name is Diane Shaw (not sure what will show up when I hit the send button!), and I am doing a PhD at the University of Adelaide (Anthropology). I have recently completed 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork studying the online/offline social interactions of older people. My primary focus has been on Australians between the ages of 65 and 85 who are on a social networking site for older people (40 plus). Working closely with older people online and offline has been incredibly rewarding, and has produced some startling and exciting results. Significantly, being online and socially connected to others is an incredibly meaningful part of my participants everyday lives. A recent post from Kelly asking for references on social media and the elderly has prompted me to contribute to the list. I also had difficultly finding quality articles on older people using the Internet to connect socially. (As an aside, it is interesting to note that even the more senior of my participants (85 year olds) as well as the broader community in my study, do not consider themselves elderly, preferring the title of senior.) Listed, below, are some references that may be useful. Dell, P. (2008) Acting your age: a study of the relationship between online social interaction and identity in older adults. PhD thesis. Murdoch University Perth. Furlong, M. (1989) An electronic community for older adults: the seniorNet network. Journal of Communication, 39:145-53. Kanayama, T. (2003) Ethnographic research on the experience of Japanese elderly people online. New Media Society, 5:267-288. Malta, S. (2007). Love Actually! Older adults and their romantic Internet relationships. Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 5(2):84-102. Mellor, D., Firth, L., and Moore, K. (2008). Can the Internet improve the well-being of the elderly. Aging International, 32:25-42. Stalp, M., Williams, R., Lynch, A. and Radina M. (2009). Conspicuously consuming: the Red Hat Society and midlife womens identity. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38(2):225-253. Torres, S. (2006). Different ways of understanding the construct of successful aging: Iranian immigrants speak about what aging well means to them. Journal Cross Cultural Gerontology, 21:1-23. Xie, B. (2003). Older adults, computers, and the Internet: future directions, Retrieved 20 July 2009, from www.gerontechjournal.net, 2(4):289-305. Xie, B. (2007). Using the Internet for offline relationship formation. Social Science Computer Review, 25(3):396-404. I would just like to add that it has been my experience that in order to understand older peoples participation with social networking sites (as well as the Internet generally emails, banking, information), it is important not to isolate the use of current technology (computers and the Internet) from older peoples past life experiences with using technology in general (work experience, ham radio, pen-palling, cameras, telephones, washing machines, and so on), or to ignore what we already know about social interaction amongst older people (for example, support and sharing of knowledge see Myerhoff, B. (1979) Number our days. New York: E.P. Dutton). Well, Ive been a tad verbose! I hope the references provided help with the task. Cheers, Di di.shaw(a)adelaide.edu.au Phd Candidate University of Adelaide

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First Edition of the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication and Globalization
by Pam Brewer 15 Dec '10

15 Dec '10

Dear colleagues-- I am pleased to announce the publication of the first edition of the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization: http://www.rpcg.org/index.php/RPCG/issue/current Best! Pam -- Pamela Estes Brewer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Director, Writing and Editing Internships Department of English Appalachian State University Manager, STC Academic Special Interest Group phone 828-262-2351 fax 828-262-2133 email brewerpe(a)appstate.edu

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Senior Scholar Position at University of Texas
by Johnson, Thomas J 14 Dec '10

14 Dec '10

School of Journalism Senior Scholar The University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism seeks a senior scholar to be appointed at the rank of tenured full professor (with possible endowment support), beginning Fall 2011. Candidates’ research interests should address the vital issues of the day concerning journalism, the media, and democratic society, including (1) political communication and public opinion, (2) the changing media political economy, professional roles, and institutional structure, and (3) the impact of the emerging new media on citizenship and the public sphere—both nationally and globally. The successful candidate will work closely with the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation (www.annettestrauss.org<http://www.annettestrauss.org/> <http://www.annettestrauss.org<http://www.annettestrauss.org/>> ). Candidates must have a Ph.D. in a relevant academic field, a well-established program of nationally recognized research and publication, a commitment to classroom teaching, and record of mentoring graduate students. Also desirable is the ability to attract and oversee funded projects, to work collaboratively within the School and College of Communication--and with scholars in other disciplines both here and abroad. The School offers the B.J., M.A., and Ph.D. and is housed within a top-ranked College, which includes the nationally regarded Departments of Advertising/Public Relations, Radio-Television-Film, Communication Studies, and Communication Science and Disorders. Soon the School will move to its new state-of-the-art home, now under construction by the College: The Belo Center for New Media. Applicant Instructions: Screening of applicants will begin January 24, 2011, and will continue until the position is filled. Send Curriculum Vitae, contact information for three references, and a statement of interest in the position to: Prof. Stephen D. Reese, Search Chair, School of Journalism; University of Texas at Austin; 1 University Station A1000; Austin, TX 78712-0013. The University of Texas at Austin is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

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