- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Question about journalism databases
by Shulman, Stu 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

If I want to find out how many times close variants of the phrase “not enough fraud to change the outcome of the election” have been used by the media on air and in print since the 2020 US election, what database or set of databases would be most comprehensive? Can the data be extracted to a spreadsheet? Thanks, ~Stu -- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman Founder and CEO, Texifter Editor Emeritus, *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*

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Conference CFP "Histories, Presents and Futures of Media and Communication", University of Westminster, central London, 22-23 May 2025
by Graham Meikle 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

Hi everyone This conference may be of interest to some AoIR members. Please share widely. Hope to see you there. Conference call for papers — Histories, Presents and Futures of Media and Communication CAMRI, University of Westminster (Regent Street), 22-23 May 2025 In 1975 the first undergraduate Media degree in the UK was launched at the Polytechnic of Central London, now the University of Westminster. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this foundational moment, Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) invites proposals for presentations at a two-day conference in central London on 22 and 23 May 2025. We invite papers and panels that reflect upon aspects of the histories, presents, or futures of the field of Media and Communication. What lessons can we learn from the emergence, shaping and development of this field? Where are we now and how do we matter? And how can we respond as a field to those future challenges — political, social, cultural, environmental, technological — that we can anticipate? Papers may address developments in the subject area over the past half-century, or assess present conditions and states-of-the-art, or engage with coming challenges. They may also consider key developments, events or moments within media industries and cultural practices in those fifty years that have been important in how the academic field has taken shape and in how it has influenced societies. And while the conference is prompted by the anniversary of the institutionalisation of this subject within universities in the UK, and the opportunity for reflection that this offers, global perspectives and contributions are both vital and very welcome. Confirmed keynote speakers Professor Payal Arora, University of Utrecht Professor Nick Couldry, London School of Economics Professor Lina Dencik, Goldsmiths, University of London Professor Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania Submission details Proposals should be 200-word abstracts that outline the aims, methods, findings and conclusions of the 15-minute paper. Abstracts should include five keywords and a one-paragraph bio. Keywords, bio, and any references are not included in the word count. Proposals for pre-constituted panels of four papers should include individual abstracts for each paper as well as an additional 200-word rationale for the overall panel. If a pre-constituted panel is accepted, then all presenters must register by the 30 April 2025 deadline. Full written papers are not required. This event is in-person only. Cost: £200 for two days, including lunches, refreshments, and drinks reception on first night. Current PhD students £80. We are unable to offer registration for a single day only. Proposals should be sent to 50years(a)westminster.ac.uk<mailto:50years@westminster.ac.uk> by 17:00 UK time, Friday 29 November 2024. Timeline Abstract submission deadline: 29 November 2024 Notification of acceptances: 17 January 2025 Registration opens 31 January 2025, closes 30 April 2025 Event: 22-23 May 2025 Venue: University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2HW All the best, gm --------------------- Professor Graham Meikle Director, Communication and Media Research Institute College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries University of Westminster, UK National Teaching Fellow<https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/awards/teaching-excellence-awards/national-tea…> Latest books Deepfakes<https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=deepfakes--9781509548200> (Polity, 2023) Social Media<https://www.routledge.com/Social-Media-The-Convergence-of-Public-and-Person…> (Routledge, 2024) The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW. This message and its attachments are private and confidential. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and remove it and its attachments from your system.

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JOB POSTING: Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication at the Département de communication of the Université de Montréal
by Lorna Heaton 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

JOB POSTING: Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication at the Département de communication of the Université de Montréal We are hiring! The <https://com.umontreal.ca/accueil/> Department of Communication<https://com.umontreal.ca/accueil/> at the Université de Montréal brings together professors who excel in various fields related to communication studies. Our members are actively engaged in cutting-edge research, provide high-quality teaching, and promote innovation, often within an interdisciplinary framework.  We are looking to hire a colleague specializing in organizational communication whose work will enrich our departmental expertise, particularly, but not exclusively, on topics such as the relationships between technology and organizations, workplace relationships and emotions, as well as organizational practices related to environmental challenges. We welcome a diversity of conceptual and methodological approaches. For more information, please visit: https://rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_car_eng/EMPLOY…

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Working Group on Data Sharing - Introductory Meeting - 17 October 2024
by Georgios Zoukas 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

Dear colleagues, Please see below an invitation to participate in the introductory meeting of the *Working Group on Data Sharing*, taking place this month online. The group is intended to be highly interdisciplinary, aimed at discussing historical, social, and political aspects of data sharing within different contexts. We are pleased to announce that, through the auspices of the Commission for History and Philosophy of Computing (HAPOC) and in collaboration with the AI Ethics & Society research group, we will be convening the Working Group on Data Sharing starting this October. The new HaPoC working group will meet online to discuss (your!) work-in-progress, classic texts, and recently published works. We invite researchers and curious minds from all backgrounds to join us in order to explore the historical and evolving concepts of data, sharing, and (historically rooted, socially contested, politically supported) aspects of data sharing. We invite you to offer your draft article, dissertation chapter or book chapter for discussion. Our first meeting takes place on *Thursday 17 October at 4pm GMT*. Please send an email to Vassilis.Galanos(a)stir.ac.uk <Vassilis.Galanos(a)ed.ac.uk> to get access links, details and ask questions. The first meeting is to discuss a classic text on the nature of data by Rob Kitchin and decide together on the dates of upcoming events. We wish to create an inclusive hub for interdisciplinary collaboration among early career researchers to foster a deeper understanding of the significant role that data sharing plays within and beyond computerised contexts. Throughout our first year, we hope to explore various perspectives on the concept of data, aiming for a comprehensive understanding that spans digital and pre-digital eras. Our events are convened roughly every two months for 1-1.5h. They provide a platform for thoughtful dialogue among historians, philosophers, technologists, STS and media scholars. Embodying a spirit of informality and cheerfulness, our sessions are designed to be engaging and insightful, offering participants regular networking opportunities. We provide multiple ways to get involved – whether by circulating your full paper confidentially prior to the event or present to get and offer real-time feedback. In addition, we are planning occasional guest invited talks and interactions with other colleagues exploring data-related themes. Although we do not offer scholarships or funding, your engagement – as part of your academic commitments or sparked by pure curiosity – may open doors to valuable cross-national and cross-disciplinary collaborations. Please get in touch! Your participation is key to enriching our collective understanding of data sharing, its enabling technologies, and its impacts. If you know of people who might be interested to participate and get involved in this new HaPoC working group, please do circulate this announcement. Our initiators, Barbara Hof (Lausanne), Vassilis Galanos (Stirling), Apolline Taillandier (Cambridge), Xiao Yang (Edinburgh), and George Zoukas (Sheffield), are excited to extend this invitation to you.

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Call for Papers: AI & Archives - Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society
by Katie MacKinnon 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

Dear Colleagues, I am writing to share a Call for Papers for an upcoming themed issue on AI & Archives <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s…>, which will be published in the Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s…>, a new open-access publication from Cambridge University Press. This issue will be guest edited by Katie MacKinnon (University of Copenhagen), Louis Ravn (University of Copenhagen/University of Amsterdam), Eun Seo Jo (Cornell University), Caroline Bassett (Cambridge University), and Nanna Bonde Thylstrup (University of Copenhagen). The journal aims to advance research about and produced with artificial intelligence, emphasizing the social and cultural implications of AI as well as exploring AI-driven methodologies for critical research. This themed issue will focus on the intersections between artificial intelligence, machine learning, and archives, exploring archival practices and the archival turn in AI, ethical and political challenges, and the evolving role of archives in the age of AI. You can find the full call text below. We invite contributions that engage with empirical, theoretical, or methodological perspectives, as well as commentaries from artists, professionals, and policymakers. Submissions from scholars at all career levels are welcome, particularly those from emerging researchers and perspectives from the Majority World. Key dates to note: - Abstract submission deadline: November 1, 2024 - Full paper submission deadline: March 1, 2025 For more details about submission guidelines, please refer to the full call for papers attached. Should you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us or the journal team. We would appreciate it if you could share this call with your colleagues and networks. Best wishes, *Katie MacKinnon* Postdoctoral Fellow University of Copenhagen On behalf of Nanna Bonde Thylstrup, Louis Ravn, Eun Seo Jo, and Caroline Bassett CfP: AI & Archives The journal invites submissions for the Themed Issue: AI & Archives, guest edited by Katie Mackinnon (University of Copenhagen), Louis Ravn (University of Copenhagen/Amsterdam), Nanna Bonde Thylstrup (University of Copenhagen), Eun Seo Jo (Cornell University) and Caroline Bassett (Cambridge University). Description This themed issue examines the connections—past, present, and future—between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and archives. Our exploration is driven by three interrelated trends, which together indicate what we describe as an “archival turn” in AI research (Taurino & Smith, 2022) across the disciplinary spectrum from computational sciences to the social sciences and humanities. Firstly, archival concepts such as provenance, traceability, appraisal and afterlives are increasingly mobilized to illuminate and confront issues in AI surrounding fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics. Moreover, a growing number of AI and ML scholars are engaging with cultural theories of the archive as well as the normative orientation towards (data) justice in critical archival studies to better understand and address the ethical and political challenges posed by emerging machine learning systems (Jo & Gebru; Thylstrup, 2022; Kale et al., 2023; Basman, 2022). Secondly, archival institutions themselves are increasingly incorporating AI into their professional workflows, prompting new discussions about human-machine interactions, ethical dilemmas, and methodological and critical potentials. Previous research has highlighted the growing use of AI in various aspects of recordkeeping, from curation to retrieval and annotation. As Colavizza et al. (2021) observe, “archives acquire AI capacities to organize their workflows around the big data they possess, as well as to offer their big data to outside organizations.” This integration of AI into archival practices raises critical questions about bias, representation, and the preservation of authenticity in our digital heritage, while also opening up new possibilities for reimagining the afterlives of archival data. Moreover, as archives evolve from collections of administrative records to repositories of data, new political dynamics emerge, reshaping the roles and responsibilities of institutions that generate and manage open data collections. These dynamics also raise classic questions of archival power: who is responsible and accountable for curation when AI is part of the work flow? What kinds of infrastructural architecture does AI bring to archives – how closed or open? And how could AI be employed to render the archive open, plural, agonistic and contestable? Finally, the advent of AI technologies also challenges and redefines cultural archival theories (Thylstrup et al., 2021). What—or when (Acker, 2020)—is a record in AI regimes? How does cloud capitalism change structures of “archontic power” (Derrida, 1996; Harris, 2017)? How might we conceptualize AI regimes as unique archival formations within broader archaeologies of knowledge? And how do gendered and colonial archival structures of power endure within AI systems? These questions are explored not only in classic academic knowledge scholarship, but also – and increasingly – in aesthetic and artistic engagements with AI (Onuoha, 2022; Hunger, 2022; Salvaggio, 2024; Foldes, 2024). We invite contributions that are empirical, theoretical, or methodological in nature, as well as commentaries from artists, professionals and policymakers, to further explore these critical, methodological, and conceptual intersections between AI and archives. We welcome contributions from all career levels and particularly encourage submissions from emerging career scholars and Majority World perspectives. We invite contributions focusing on, but not restricted to, the following themes: - Politics of open-source data archives (non-profits, community, activist, etc.) - Data collection practices, networks, platforms, infrastructures and systems - Archival aesthetics of/in AI - Histories of AI and archives - STS perspectives on archives and AI - Critical Data, Dataset and AI Studies of archival practices and infrastructures - Data formats, quality, scope, scale - Automated archival methodologies - AI, archives and Digital Humanities - Artistic engagements with AI and archives - Exploration of the potentials and challenges of mobilizing concepts such as archive, provenance, appraisal in machine learning contexts - Critical archival theories (including feminist, critical race, queer and post/decolonial theories) and AI Deadlines In the first instance, please submit an abstract of 500 words (excluding references) to the journal at cfc(a)cambridge.org and cc the editors (Katie MacKinnon: kam(a)hum.ku.dk, Louis Ravn: lora(a)hum.ku.dk, Nanna Bonde Thylstrup: nannab(a)hum.ku.dk, Eun Seo Jo: unsojo(a)cornell.edu and Caroline Bassett: cab238(a)cam.ac.uk) If your abstract is accepted, you will be invited to submit a full paper. You will be notified within 2 weeks of the abstract submission deadline. The deadline for submissions of abstracts is Nov 1 2024. The deadline for submissions of full papers is March 1 2025. Submissions of full papers should be made through the journal's online peer review system <https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmc.manusc…>. Authors should consult the journal’s author instructions <https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cambr…> prior to submission. All full papers will be peer reviewed in line with the journal’s review process <https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cambr…>. Acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee acceptance of the full paper. Submission guidelines Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society seeks to engage multiple subject disciplines and promote dialogue between policymakers and practitioners as well as academics. The journal therefore encourages authors to use an accessible writing style. Authors have the option to submit a range of article types to the journal. Please see the journal’s author instructions <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s…> for more information. Articles will be peer reviewed for both content and style. Articles will appear digitally and open access in the journal. All submissions should be made through the journal’s online peer review system <https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/forum-cfc>. Author should consult the journal’s author instructions <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s…> prior to submission. All authors will be required to declare any funding and/or competing interests upon submission. See the journal’s Publishing Ethics guidelines <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s…> for more information. Contacts Questions regarding submission and peer review can be sent to the journal’s inbox at cfc(a)cambridge.org

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PhD Scholarship Australia - GenAI in Social Service Organisations
by Paul Henman 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

The University of Queensland (a global top 50 university) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society (ADM+S<https://www.admscentre.org.au/>) is recruiting a PhD student to study Generative AI in Social Service Organisations. Generative AI provides new opportunities for social service organizations in internal operations and in providing service delivery. While there are considerable risks, through collaborative co-designing and deploying such tools in an ethical, responsible and safe manner, generative AI tools can support human professionals and service users for enhanced greater wellbeing outcomes. Working in a multi-disciplinary research team, this project involves working with a social service organization (to be determined with the candidate and advisors) to identify, co-design and pilot generative AI tools. You will require a demonstrated interest in connecting technology with social science. The Scholarship is AUD$35,000 tax free. Apply<https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/proj…> by 8 November 2024. Paul Paul Henman Professor for Digital Sociology & Social Policy | School of Social Science UQ Node Leader | ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making & Society<https://www.admscentre.org.au/mapping-automated-decision-making-tools-in-ad…> The University of Queensland Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia T +61 7 3365 2383 E p.henman(a)uq.edu.au<mailto:p.henman@uq.edu.au> Z https<https://uqz.zoom.us/j/4019014893>://<https://uqz.zoom.us/j/4019014893>uqz.zoom.us/j/4019014893<https://uqz.zoom.us/j/4019014893> Selected recent publications: Building a trauma-informed algorithmic assessment toolkit<https://apo.org.au/node/326724> (2024) Automated decision-making in New South Wales<https://apo.org.au/node/325901>, (2024) Design Principles and Tensions for Collaborative Digital Governance in an Artificial Intelligence Age<https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125991833.pdf> (2023) Keynote Address Digital Social Policy: past, present, future<https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000162> (2022), Journal of Social Policy Administrative Justice in a Digital World<https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/38690/chapter/336007801> (2021) in Oxford Handbook for Administrative Justice CRICOS code: 00025B UQ ALLY Supporting and celebrating the diversity of sexuality, gender and sex at UQ. The University of Queensland is embracing the Green Office philosophy. Please consider the environment before printing this email. This email (including any attached files) is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information of The University of Queensland. If you are not the addressee, you are notified that any transmission, distribution, printing or photocopying of this email is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete and notify me. Unless explicitly stated, the opinions expressed in this email do not represent the official position of The University of Queensland.

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Job Posting: Assistant Professor in Technology, Organizing, and the Future of Work at University of California, Santa Barbara
by Ronald Rice 03 Oct '24

03 Oct '24

*Notice of Job Posting* *Position title:* Assistant Professor in Technology, Organizing, and the Future of Work at University of California, Santa Barbara *Salary range:* The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at the time of appointment. See https://ap.ucsb.edu/compensation.and.benefits/ucsb.salary.scales/1.pdf for the salary ranges. Off-scale salaries and other components of pay, i.e. a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. A reasonable estimate for this position is $90,000 - $150,000 at the Assistant Level. *Percent time:* 100% *Anticipated start:* 07/01/2025 or later Application Window *Open date: *October 2, 2024 *Next review date:* Monday, November 4, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee. *Final date: *Monday, Jun 30, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled. Position Description The Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in the area of technology, organizing, and the future of work. Scholars in our department study organizational phenomena at the micro, meso, and macro levels. The Department seeks to hire a scholar who specializes in the changing nature of organizing and its implications. The successful candidate will specialize in the study of new and developing forms of organizing at the intersection of communication, technology, and social systems, which may include remote and distributed work, innovation and organizational change, collective action, knowledge and learning, and interactions that occur in a variety of traditional and emerging contexts, such as non-profit and governmental agencies, corporations and societal institutions, and cross-sector partnerships. We seek a scholar with expertise in organizational communication who complements the department’s three core areas – i.e., organizational and group communication, media and digital communication, and interpersonal and intergroup communication – as well as enhances its national and/or international visibility in the study of organizing in the contemporary era. The successful candidate will be concerned with justice, equity, and inclusion and will conduct research that intersects with that of other faculty in our department who study workplace relationships, socialization processes, work-life balance and well-being, collaborative technology, global, virtual, and ad hoc teams, adoption and implications of innovations, remote and hybrid work, ethics and corporate social responsibility, and algorithmic management by exploring interpersonal relationships in organizations, group and team dynamics, networks, or global institutional structures. We are open to a variety of methods including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and prefer scholars with a deep engagement with real-world phenomena and contexts of study. Candidates are expected to produce a strong record of theoretically oriented, rigorous empirical research with broader societal implications. Candidates are also expected to teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and be active in professional and campus service. UCSB is ranked among the top public universities in the United States, and the Department of Communication is also highly ranked in worldwide comparisons. UCSB is a designated Hispanic Serving Institution, and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution. It offers several programs to support incoming faculty, including housing assistance (https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/faculty-staff/faculty-housing) and various grant support programs. The Department is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching, and service as appropriate to the position. *Qualifications* *Basic qualifications* (required at time of application): Completed all requirements for a Ph.D. (or equivalent) in a Communication or related social science field except dissertation by the time of application. *Additional qualifications* (required at time of start): A Ph.D. (or equivalent) in communication or a related social scientific field by the time of appointment, with a desired start date of July 1, 2025 or later. *Preferred qualifications*: 1. Demonstrated research excellence relevant to the job call in the form of research quality, productivity, and a unique scholarly contribution to the area of technology, organizing, and the future of work as well as to the communication discipline. 2. Potential or demonstrated ability to contribute to the department’s organizational communication area. 3. Potential or demonstrated ability to attract and supervise graduate students interested in organizational communication. 4. Potential or demonstrated ability to teach organizational communication and potentially other coursework to undergraduate and graduate students. 5. Potential or demonstrated DEI commitments and contributions. 6. Potential or demonstrated ability to be a conscientious member of the department and university community member. Application Requirements *Document requirements:* · Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V. · Cover Letter - A cover letter that highlights your qualifications, research agenda, and teaching capabilities. · Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness - Please upload one (or more) student evaluations from a course you have instructed and/or include a Teaching Statement which explains your teaching methodology. · Statement of Contributions to Diversity - Statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to diversity through research, teaching, and/or service. · Publication #1 - Published or completed research. · Publication #2 - Published or completed research. · Publication #3 - Published or completed research. *Reference requirements:* · 3 letters of reference required Applicants should provide the names and contact information for 3 references and must request letters of reference within the system in order to complete application requirements. *Apply link:* https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02826 *Help contact:* hyoder(a)ucsb.edu About UC Santa Barbara The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the University of California’s Affirmative Action Policy please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4010393/PPSM-20. For the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination. As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs <https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/5000695/VaccinationProgramsPolicy>, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements. Job location Santa Barbara, CA, USA -- Ronald E. Rice Arthur N. Rupe Professor in the Social Effects of Mass Communication Department of Communication 4127 SS&MS Bldg Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020 rrice(a)comm.ucsb.edu https://www.comm.ucsb.edu/people/ronald-e-rice https://rrice.faculty.comm.ucsb.edu/ricewww.htm [image: UC Santa Barbara]

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Social Network Analysis: merging tradition with modern tools and methods
by Alessandro Zonin 03 Oct '24

03 Oct '24

Dear Association of Internet Researchers Members, I'm thrilled to invite you to a webinars designed to enhance your expertise in the realm of Social Network Analysis. In an age where technology is evolving at a rapid pace, the tools and methodologies we use to understand and interpret the vast digital landscape are crucial. Traditional ways of analyzing social interactions are being complemented—and in some cases, replaced—by *innovative approaches*. *This webinar aims to bridge the gap between traditional and cutting-edge methodologies*. *Social Network Analysis: merging tradition with modern tools and methods* * 📅 Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 ⏰ Time: 7 - 9 PM CEST* Social Network Analysis (SNA) identifies key communities, topics, influencers, and engagement on social media. This webinar blends traditional and modern methods to enhance understanding of digital interactions using social media scraping, ChatGPT, and Gephi for visualization. *👉 Learn the basics and applications of Social Network Analysis.👉 Explore tools like Phantombuster and Apify for social media scraping.👉 Use ChatGPT for data analysis and Gephi for network visualization.* Enroll here: https://www.eventbrite.it/e/social-network-analysis-merging-tradition-with-… *SPECIAL OFFER: Apply the discount code AIRONLY to enjoy a 10% discount. * Cannot attend? Same contents are available in an online self-paced format. <https://alessandrozonin.gumroad.com> I look forward to e-meeting you and exploring these advanced techniques together. Best, -- Alessandro Zonin Digital Data Stories <https://digitaldatastories.it>

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Cfp: Digital Methods Winter School - Univ. Amsterdam
by rogers＠govcom.org 03 Oct '24

03 Oct '24

Digital Methods Winter School and Data Sprint 2025 Media Studies, University of Amsterdam 6-10 January 2025 Digital Methods Winter School and Data Sprint: Call for Participation The Digital Methods Initiative (DMI), Amsterdam, is holding its annual Winter School on 'Chatbots for Internet Research?'. The format is that of a (social media and web) data sprint, with tutorials as well as hands-on work for telling stories with data. There is also a programme of keynote speakers. It is intended for advanced Master's students, PhD candidates and motivated scholars who would like to work on (and complete) a digital methods project in an intensive workshop setting. Chatbots and LLMs for Internet Research? Towards a Reflexive Approach Positions now are increasingly staked out in the debate concerning the application of chatbots and LLMs to social and cultural research. On the one hand there is the question of ‘automating’ methods and shifting some additional part of the epistemological burden to machines. On the other there is the rejoinder that chatbots may well be adequate research buddies, assisting with (among other things) burdensome and repetitive tasks such as coding and annotating data sets. They seem to be continually improving, or at least growing in size and apparent promise. Researcher experiences are now widely reported: chatbots have outperformed human coders, ‘understanding’ rather nuanced stance-taking language and correctly labeling it better than average coders. But other work has found that the LLM labeling also has the tendency to be bland, given how the filters and safety guardrails (particularly in US-based chatbots) tend to depoliticise or otherwise soften their responses. As researcher experience with LLMs becomes more widely reported, there are user guides and best practices designed to make LLM findings more robust. Models should be carefully chosen, persona’s should be well developed, prompting should be conversational and so forth. LLM critique is also developing apace, with (comparative) audits interrogating underlying discrimination and bias that are only papered over by filters. At this year’s Digital Methods Winter School we will explore these research practices with chatbots and LLMs for internet research, with an emphasis on bringing them together. How to deploy and critique chatbots and LLMs at the same time, in a form of reflexive usage? Applications: Key Dates There are rolling admissions and applications are now being accepted. To apply please send a short letter of motivation, your CV, a headshot photo and a 100-word bio to winterschool [at] digitalmethods [dot] net. Notifications of acceptance are sent up to 2 weeks after application. Final deadline for applications is 9 December 2024. The full program and schedule of the Winter School are available by 19 December 2024. Tuition Fees The fee for the Digital Methods Winter School 2024 is EUR 695, and upon completion all participants receive transcripts and certificates (worth 6 ECTS). Full call for participation and all additional information is here: https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2025

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event on digital platforms at Leeds, just before AOIR conference in Sheffield
by David Hesmondhalgh 03 Oct '24

03 Oct '24

Dear All, You are warmly invited to the below research event, hosted by the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. It takes place on 29 October, just before the AOIR conference in Sheffield that begins on the 30th. Everyone is welcome, and the event is free, but we’d be grateful if people attending would register via this link: https://forms.office.com/e/W9vLmFaVXC Leeds is a 40-60 minute train journey from Sheffield, and the University of Leeds is a 20 minute walk or 10 minute taxi ride from Leeds station (take a taxi to the Fenton pub and then follow the map below. Title: Digital Platforms: Algorithmic Personalisation, Agency, New and Old Intermediaries Date: Tuesday 29 October 2024 Time: 2pm – 5pm Location: University of Leeds, HELIX - Classroom (7.14). All are welcome, free admission. HELIX can be found on Level 7 of the EC Stoner building on the University of Leeds campus<https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+C+Stoner+Building,+Woodhouse,+Leeds/@53…> (or use What3Words)<https://what3words.com/arrow.vibes.lush>. This event brings together three leading analysts working in internet studies (Tanya Kant, Caitlin Petre and Ignacio Siles) to present and discuss research on key issues and problems surrounding digital media in the twenty-first century. The event is open to everyone, at the University of Leeds and beyond, but we ask you to register for the event so that we can arrange the room and refreshments accordingly. Organisers and session Chairs: David Hesmondhalgh<https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/media/staff/297/professor-david-hesmondhalgh> and Ludmila Lupinacci<https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/media/staff/6135/dr-ludmila-lupinacci>, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds. Enquiries: mediaresearchsupport(a)leeds.ac.uk<mailto:mediaresearchsupport@leeds.ac.uk> Link for registration: https://forms.office.com/e/W9vLmFaVXC Schedule (abstracts below) 2pm Arrival, tea and coffee available 2.15-3.00 Making it Impersonal? Algorithmic personalisation in the age of AI impersonation - Tanya Kant, University of Sussex, UK 3.00-3.15 Tea and coffee 3.15-4.00 Living with Algorithms: Agency and User Culture - Ignacio Siles, University of Costa Rica 4.00-4.45 Platform Analogies: How Bookstores, Libraries, and Supermarkets Can Inform Thinking on Social Media - Caitlin Petre, Rutgers University, USA Making it Impersonal? Algorithmic personalisation in the age of AI impersonation - Tanya Kant, University of Sussex, UK This paper critically interrogates the algorithmic personalisation of web users' experiences in a digital milieu increasingly populated by so-called 'AI' actors, agents and assemblages.  I consider what appears to be a tension in communicative flows of capitalism between the exchange value of 'authentic' human attention and the increasing 'infoglut' (Andrejevic, 2013) produced by generative AI systems. This paper takes a critical political economy approach to emerging forms of generative AI - from ChatGPT to AI journalists, actors and stand-ins - to critically situate their place in what can be considered a wider history of computational impersonation. I argue that AI's overlooked co-conspirator - the humble web-crawler 'bot' - presents a critical site of investigation in understanding the socio-technical implications of AI and their generative content for the 'human' web users that coinhabit the contemporary digital landscape.  Tanya Kant is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies (Digital Media) at the University of Sussex. She is author of Making It Personal: Algorithmic Personalization, Identity and Everyday Life (2020, Oxford University Press) and has published work on AI and identity, creative methods for algorithmic literacy, critical political economy of the web, personalization and broadcasting, and bots.  Living with Algorithms: Agency and User Culture - Ignacio Siles, University of Costa Rica What does it mean to live in a “datafied” society? Life in media-saturated contexts implies the increasing transformation of people’s experiences, relations, and identities into data. To make sense of this process, scholars have focused mostly on how algorithms give rise to new forms of power and control. Alternatively, in this talk I ask not what algorithms are doing to society but rather what people are doing with algorithms. I present research on the use of such algorithmic platforms as Netflix, Spotify, and TikTok in an understudied region of the global south (Costa Rica). I develop the framework of “mutual domestication” by examining the personal relationships that have formed between users and algorithms as Latin Americans have integrated these systems into the structures of everyday life, enacted them ritually, participated in public with and through them, and thwarted them. In this way, I provide a new perspective on the commonalities and differences among users within a global ecology of technologies.  Ignacio Siles (PhD, Northwestern University) is a professor of media and technology studies in the School of Communication and researcher in the Centro de Investigación en Comunicación (CICOM) at Universidad de Costa Rica. Platform Analogies: How Bookstores, Libraries, and Supermarkets Can Inform Thinking on Social Media - Caitlin Petre, Rutgers University, USA Conversations about social media platforms (SMPs) tend to focus on what’s new and unprecedented about these complex sociotechnical systems (their size and scale, use of algorithms, etc). This talk will take a different tack: I claim that to understand platforms’ influence on public information, we need to talk more about what’s old about them. Via a historical examination of analogue information intermediaries such as brick-and-mortar booksellers, public libraries, and supermarkets that sell periodicals, I argue that information intermediaries have long shaped the cultural and political landscape via three key mechanisms that also apply to contemporary SMPs: strategically directing human attention, moderating objectionable content, and intervening in the production of third-party content. By taking the political and normative dimensions inherent in information intermediation seriously, the talk will enrich contextual understandings of SMPs and suggest future avenues for platform change. Caitlin Petre is an Associate Professor of Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University. Her work uses qualitative methods examine to the social processes behind the digital datasets and algorithms that increasingly govern the contemporary world. Her scholarly articles have been published in journals such as the International Journal of Communication, Digital Journalism, Social Media & Society, and the American Journal of Sociology; her book, All the News That’s Fit to Click: How Metrics are Transforming the Work of Journalists, was published by Princeton University Press in 2021. Event page: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/3215/digital-platforms-algorithmic-per… Contact <mediaresearchsupport(a)leeds.ac.uk<mailto:mediaresearchsupport@leeds.ac.uk>> for any further information. <https://forms.office.com/e/W9vLmFaVXC>

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