- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] twitter research
by Liz 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Back in the dark ages (okay, 1999), I was analyzing content of some message board posts for a project and scholars were just raising the ethical question about whether consent was required in online research since, in those days, people didn't use their actual names but pseudonyms. I interacted with some people for years & years without knowing their name or what state they lived in. These days since people do use their own names, I think consent is important unless 1) the individual is a "public figure" (company spokesperson, celebrity, business) or 2) you are detaching the content from the individual user and looking at patterns and not isolating individual conduct & language. When I joined Twitter in the Spring 2008, I faced a small backlash during the summer when some folks found out that I was an ethnographer/sociologist and they assumed I was monitoring their conduct & words. It took months before I assuaged some of them that I wouldn't appropriate their Tweets, that I was a participant on the network like anyone else. I do study Twitter but I've limited myself to the top users (50K+ Followers) and study growth in account numbers, not in the content of the messages per se. Liz Pullen nwjerseyliz(a)yahoo.com

2 1

Public Administration best practices database
by Daria Santucci 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Dear all, I am building a best practices database concerning unconventional, participatory initiatives by Public Administrations worldwide. Do you have any interesting case study to reccomend, or other existing database to share? Many thanks, Daria -- Daria Santucci Professor of Web communication Semiotics Ph.D. in Political Science University of Torino, Italy twitter dariatweet skype dariaonline

1 0

political web sites
by anna 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Dear all, I am doing my research in the field of political studies. My first project was the analysis of language in a BBC forum using concordance and statistical programs. Having done that, I am now starting a new project which is going to be bigger and which is to result in a PhD thesis. As I still want to be in this field, I am thinking about analyzing political web sites, i.e. it can be official sites of presidents, political parties, etc. It would be interesting to see how these sites are constructed, what language is used there, and how the "ideology" of a party/politician is transmitted through these sites. I am not sure if I have been clear about my idea, but I would love to get your feedback and/or experience in doing similar research. Also, if you think that this idea isn´t worth working, tell me that! I am more than open for any kind of public opinion at this period of my research life! Thank you very much, Anna Ivanova PhD Candidate, University of Seville, Spain ivanova.re(a)gmail.com -- anna . -- Скачай новую ICQ 7.0 http://icq.rambler.ru/

8 7

user generated content, motivation to post
by MARIA AMPARO LASEN DIAZ 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Hi, A Mater student of one of my colleagues is researching about people's motivation to post, to share comments and evaluations about products and services, and about the social function of such activities. His hypothesis is that people augment their reality by being read and listened, that this activity would reinforce their existence as a subjects. He's looking for references and concepts about these questions. I would be grateful if you could help. Thank you very much, All the best Amparo Lasén Dpto Sociología I Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología UCM Campus de Somosaguas Pozuelo de Alarcón 28223 0034913942899 alasen(a)cps.ucm.es

12 13

Free Online Training for the Public Comment Analysis Toolkit (PCAT) on Thursday, February 4, 2010 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST
by Stuart Shulman 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

Please register for Free Online Training for the Public Comment Analysis Toolkit (PCAT) on Thursday, February 4, 2010 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST at: https://student.gototraining.com/6gy79/register/6676687926493271808 The Public Comment Analysis Toolkit (PCAT) is Web-based, university-hosted software engineered for the specific task of reviewing public comments submitted via the U.S. Federal Docket Management System. However, PCAT is version 2.0 of the Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT), therefore it is also useful for sorting all kinds of CAT-style 'text' datasets. If you have digitized text (not just public comments), you can form a team of peers, create a project, upload data, discover important themes and issues, classify text passages, and organize your analysis with a collaborative bookmark and memo system. Some reasons to try PCAT are: * The system is fast, secure and scalable. * This is currently a free service in beta testing * It is based on award-winning CAT research software. * It extends principles of efficiency, accuracy, reliability, validity, usability, and transparency. * It leverages a novel new approach to integrating credentials and distributed work flow. * It is equally useful to public and private actors and accessible to all. * It allows you to show or share your work with anyone on the system. * Auto-loading text deals a blow to the tyranny of carpel tunnel causing mouse-clicks. * It is very easy to learn and you can't break it. For more information: http://pcat-help.qdap.net/doku.php?id=home_page Or just visit: http://pcat.qdap.net You must register in advance to participate in the training. I will cover the basic operations of the system and take your questions about how to manage a project from cradle to grave. -- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Assistant Professor Department of Political Science University of Massachusetts Amherst 200 Hicks Way Amherst, MA 01003 http://people.umass.edu/stu/ stu(a)polsci.umass.edu 413-545-5375 Editor, Journal of Information Technology and Politics http://www.jitp.net Director, QDAP-UMass http://www.umass.edu/qdap/

1 0

This is pretty cool...
by Yosem Companys 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

Compare music interests in two different cities: http://rockitbaby.de/projects/mycityvsyourcity/

3 2

Subject: Re: user generated content, motivation to post
by Sal Humphreys 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

I've been thinking about user generated content through the framework of exchange, and exploring the ways in which the different 'economies' of exchange interact within some social networking sites(eg. information, economic, social or affective, and reputation exchanges). It's interesting to look at motivations across a broad range of exchanges and how these may be interlinked in quite complex ways. I've written a conference paper about it available at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26455/ Cheers Sal Dr Sal Humphreys Media Studies The University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005 Ph : +61 8 8303 5227 Fax : +61 8 8303 5241 e-mail: sal.humphreys(a)adelaide.edu.au http:www.salhumphreys.org

1 0

History of Nordic Computing - 2nd Call for Contributions
by Per Lundin 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

Dear Colleague, Please consider submitting a contribution to HiNC3 - 3rd IFIP WG9.7 Working Conference on History of Nordic Computing. The conference takes place in Stockholm 18 - 20 October 2010. Final submission date is February 28. Accepted papers will be published by Springer. Detailed information about solicited contributions and submission procedure is to be found at http://dsv.su.se/hinc3/. Please further this call to all those you think might be interested. Per Lundin and Benkt Wangler Program co-chairs ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Per Lundin Div. of History of Science and Technology Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden Phone: +46 8 790 87 41 Fax: +46 8 24 62 63 http://www.teknikhistoria.se ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

1 0

Berkman Center Summer Internships
by Amar Ashar 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

Hi All, The Berkman Center is looking for summer researchers -- if you know of students that might be interested, please feel free to pass this information along. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 5. Best, Amar Ashar Berkman Center for Internet & Society Harvard University http://cyber.law.harvard.edu -- *Summer Internship Program 2010 * For 10 weeks each summer The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings opens the doors of its big yellow house to welcome a group of talented, curious, and energetic full-time interns who are passionate about the promise of the Internet and issues related to media and journalism, civic engagement, policy, identity and privacy, education, technology, the developing world, law, and more. The interns team up with Berkman projects <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research> like Herdict, Cooperation, Digital Natives, Law Lab, Internet & Democracy, or the OpenNet Initiative, where they have an opportunity for deep and substantive involvement in project operation. Performing topic-based research; drafting and editing blog posts, papers and other written outputs; conducting outreach, developing partnerships, and maintaining relationships; exploring project and research design; and undertaking academic responsibilities of all kinds both independently and collaboratively are part of the Berkman summer intern experience. Specific tasks and experiences vary depending on interns' skills and project needs. In addition to contributing to project based work, summer interns participate in special events and lectures with Berkman faculty and fellows, engage each other through community experiences like the weekly interns discussion hours, and each year innovate for themselves new opportunities for fun and learning, like organizing debates, producing podcasts and other media outputs, and hosting book clubs and cookoffs (!). The word "awesome" has been thrown around to describe our internships, but don't take our word for it. Zack McCune <http://thames2thayer.com/>, a summer intern from 2008, had this to say <http://thames2thayer.com/blog/in-the-spirit-of-the-the-olympics-how-i-learn…>: "it has been an enchanting summer working at the berkman center for internet & society <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/>. everyday, i get to hang out with some of the most brilliant people on the planet. we talk, we write (emails), we blog, we laugh, we play rock band. and when things need to get done, we stay late hyped on free coffee and leftover food. it is a distinct honor to be considered a peer among such excellent people. and i am not just talking about the fellows, staff, and faculty, though they are all outstanding. no, i mean my peers as in my fellow interns, who are almost definitely the ripening next generation of changemakers." *Eligibility:* * Internships are open to students enrolled across the spectrum of disciplines; * Internships are open to students at different levels of academic study including undergraduate, graduate and PhD. programs; * Summer interns do not have to be affiliated with Harvard University; * We welcome summer interns from universities across the world, however we can not pay international students who have not yet received an undergraduate degree. *Time Commitment:* Summer internship positions are full time (35 hours/week), and the summer program runs for 10 weeks from June 1 to August 15. *Payment:* Interns are paid $11.50 an hour. Please be forewarned that stipends may not be sufficient to cover living expenses in the Boston area. No other benefits are provided, therefore interns must make their own housing, insurance, and transportation arrangements. *To Apply:* We know what you're thinking. /Yes please. I want that. That sounds magical. Did I mention I'm really good at "Rock Band"?/ / / Here's what you should do... */Law Students/ * If you are interested in working with the Cyberlaw Clinic over the summer, please read and follow the application instructions outlined here <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships/cyberlawclinic>. If you are interested in working with the Citizen Media Law Project over the summer, please read and follow the application instructions outlined here <http://www.citmedialaw.org/about/summer-internships>.* * */Students from other disciplines/ *To apply for a summer internship position, please send * a letter of interest describing your skills and interests, and indicating the area of research and the Berkman projects in which you have interest; * a current version of your resume; and * the contact information for two references (professional or academic) to Berkman's community coordinator, Becca Tabasky, at rtabasky(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu. *The application deadline for Summer 2010 is 11:59 p.m., ET, **Friday, March 5, 2010.*

1 0

Re: [Air-L] user generated content, motivation to post (Zeynep Tufekci & others)
by Seda Guerses 03 Feb '10

03 Feb '10

with respect to why people/users generate content, it might be fun to look at how this topic was addressed in the pre-web2.0 and pre- ecommerce times. "cooking pot markets" for example was a concept explored by rishab ghosh which first appeared in 1996, in the years following many variations were reprinted and many conferences in europe picked up on the topic (the wizards of os conference (berlin) is one example where ghosh himself was a speaker). ghosh's own homepage provides the following listing of the article: Ghosh, Rishab Aiyer, 1998, Cooking-pot Markets: an economic model for the trade in free goods and services on the Internet, First Monday, vol 3, issue 3, translated into French and German and reproduced in multiple versions in several books, journals and other publications and with respect to anonymity: we have been informally discussing a similar topic, but from the perspective of those who design, research and develop anonymizers e.g., tor. we were asking the question if anonymity leads to less successful file sharing systems in comparison to file sharing systems with a identified participants, social network or community behind it (or maybe it is for other reasons that these systems do not pick up? but this could be one aspect). i believe though that this is a different concept of anonymity then what was meant by zeynep and others. if i would try to explain the difference from a technical point of view it would look likethis: when we say "anonymity", we are not referring to the use of pseudonyms (e.g., people using nick names) or the posting of contributions without an explicit logged in user under a pseudonym called "anonymous". rather, we are talking about certain tools which in addition to the use of such pseudonyms hide the ip address of the user/ source of information. now, it would be interesting to find out what for users count as anonymous? or, what was actually meant in the earlier contributions with anonymity? and, in any case, thank you for all the other references, very useful for the discussions we have been trying to have.... :) best, s. Disclaimer: http://www.kuleuven.be/cwis/email_disclaimer.htm

1 0