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Call for Papers: Digital Culture & Education
by jeremy hunsinger 10 Dec '09

10 Dec '09

<snipped prior list stuff> > > The call is attached and reproduced below, please feel free to circulate to interested parties. > > Call for Papers for Special Themed Issue: > > Beyond ‘new’ literacies > Guest editor: Dana J. Wilber > > Much of the work in literacy and digital technologies falls into the area of ‘new literacies’ (Lankshear > and Knobel, 2006), a theoretical frame that defines literacies as new through tools and practices that > previously did not exist. This special issue of Digital Culture & Education (DCE) seeks to reinvigorate > and challenge approaches to the ‘new’ by drawing on existing and innovative models and approaches > from outside of ‘new literacies’ to enrich this framework by focusing on the diverse roles digital literacy > practices play in on and offline spaces (social networking, games, virtual worlds, etc.) as part of day-today > public and private life. Specifically, the special issue seeks to expand the new literacies’ theoretical > paradigm by asking: > > • How might we expand the idea of new literacies through fine-grained examinations of specific > literacy practices with particular tools or technologies, like social networking, digital games, and > multimodal design through different frames? > • How can new perspectives, practices and/or theories (i.e. discourse analysis, feminism, Queer, > gaming, literary theory, or post-structuralist) provide additional insights around the > congruencies and/or tensions between literacies and digital technologies across institutional and > non-institutional contexts? > > The concern of Beyond new literacies is to highlight research that develops a theoretical dialogue between > literacies and technologies, as more than ‘new’, through either applied research or theoretical > intervention by: > • Making use of a wide variety of theoretical lenses to analyze and understand how literacies and > literacy practices operate within virtual worlds or through specific digital tools. > • Analyzing the digital literacy and technology practices of users through a variety of > methodological avenues (including discourse analysis, case study, oral history, experimental, > mixed design, rhizoanalysis, etc.) > • Examining situated practices in everyday use, integrating issues of on and offline definitions and > spatial distinctions > > We encourage submissions from scholars, researchers, and practitioners from around the globe, > working in areas such as literacy and education, gaming, new media, sociocultural studies of > technologies, literary theory and technology, fan studies, adolescents and digital media, and media and > identity. Submissions from research groups working in projects like video games research, digital > storytelling, and mobile learning are encouraged. > > Interested authors should send their manuscripts to Dana J. Wilber at wilberd(a)mail.montclair.edu or > the editor of Digital Culture & Education at editor(a)digitalcultureandeducation.com by March 1, 2010. > Beyond ‘new’ literacies will be published in May 2010. > > -- > Tom Apperley, Ph.D. > Co-Editor Digital Culture and Education > www.digitalcultureandeducation.com > > > > > \

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Web Studies - extended date CFP
by Ever Reyes 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

--- Please re-send to whom may be interested. Sorry for cross-postings ----- *1st. International Congress on WEB STUDIES* March 3 to 5, 2010. Monterrey Tech at Toluca, Mexico CALL FOR PAPERS The 1st international congress on Web Studies aims at providing a venue for researchers and professionals from different backgrounds for discussion, study, practical demonstrations, sharing, and exchange on new developments and theories regarding the World Wide Web. The congress therefore invites contributions from a heterogeneous set of fields and domains such as: Web systems, computational intelligence, human-computer interaction, digital theory, Web sociology, and well as interactive and digital arts. We also encourage contributions from businesses and organizations. TOPICS OF INTEREST • Theoretical and social approaches • Web as new medium • Information and communication • New uses and forms of creation • Languages and systems • Architecture and Cloud Computing • Web inteligent and Semantic Web • Web and Art, Net Art • Visualization, 3D and interactivity IMPORTANT DATES AND SUBMISSION • January 10, 2010: Short Paper, Poster, Workshop and Demo Submissions • January 24, 2010: Decisions on Short Paper, Poster and Demo Submissions: • February 7, 2010: Camera Ready Submissions for all Papers • Congress dates: Wednesday, March 3 to Friday, March 5, 2010 Submission types and guidelines for authors can be consulted at: http://webstudies.info/submission.html Accepted papers and posters will be published by Europia Publishing, Paris, and distributed in the CD and book of proceedings KEYNOTE SPEAKERS • Dr. Robert K. Logan, University of Toronto, Canada • Dr. Ismail Khalil, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria • Dr. Imad Saleh, University of Paris VIII, France VENUE Web Studies 2010 will be held at Monterrey Tech Campus Toluca facilities. The campus is located in the city of Toluca, about 50 min. from Mexico City. Web Studies congress is a non-commercial event. We are glad to announce that we have got funds to offer scholarships, which allow us not to charge any registration fee. Confirming your assistance includes publishing, congress, workshops, CD of proceedings, coffee breaks, and shuttle to/from the official hotel. *Travel expenses and accommodation are not covered by Web Studies*. Our suggested hotel is *Holiday Inn Express & Suites*, which offers special rates starting at 79 USD including: transportation, buffet breakfast, evening cocktail, and unlimited WiFi. CONTACT AND CO-CHAIRMEN Dr. Everardo Reyes-García Monterrey Tech at Toluca, Mexico (+52) 722 2 79 99 90 ext. 2215 everardo.reyes(a)itesm.mx Dr. Imad Saleh University of Paris VIII, France (+33) 1 49 40 67 58 imad.saleh(a)univ-paris8.fr

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Lifestyle blogger
by Julian Hopkins 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Hi, Would anyone happen to know when the term 'lifestyle blogger' first started getting used? My notes tell me that I first started hearing of it around June 2008. I tried the air-l archive, and the WayBack Machine with no luck. Google gave me a first mention in January 2006 - http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=256 Searching for "lifestyle blog" gives too many results where the date is not accurate (for example, the site is dated 2002, but the term comes from the profile which may have been updated yesterday...). Any ideas, pointers, or (best of all) links would be much welcomed. Thanks, Julian ++++++++++ Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins Skype: julhop IM: jfprhopkins(a)hotmail.com

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the net and social network analysis
by Barry Wellman 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Dear Colleagues, I'm submitting this query on behalf of Prof Russell Bernard, the distinguished anthropologist and social network analyst at the University of Florida. Please respond to him and to the list: ufruss(a)ufl.edu 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 _______________________________________________________________________ Do you know of studies where the dependent variable was web behavior and the independent variables were personal network features (either structural or content features). russ

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"The Case Against Mass E-mails: Perverse Incentives and Low Quality Public Participation in U.S. Federal Rulemaking"
by Stuart Shulman 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Folks, Can you help me disseminate this article, which is free via the Web? For theorists, I offer a "theory of perverse incentives" and for environmental sociologists, there is my perhaps now familiar case against the mass email movement targeting US regulatory agencies. ~Stu "The Case Against Mass E-mails: Perverse Incentives and Low Quality Public Participation in U.S. Federal Rulemaking" http://www.psocommons.org/policyandinternet/vol1/iss1/art2/?sending=10820 (free guest access available) Abstract Large-scale e-mail campaigns are a staple in the modern environmental movement. Interest groups increasingly use online mobilizations as a way to raise awareness, money, and membership. There are legitimate political, economic, and organizational reasons for doing so, but these gains may come at the expense of a more substantial and efficacious role for citizens who wish to use e-mail to engage in public participation. This paper situates a close examination of the 1000 longest modified MoveOn.org-generated e-mails sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about its 2004 mercury rulemaking, in the broader context of online grassroots lobbying. The findings indicate that only a tiny portion of these public comments constitute potentially relevant new information for the EPA to consider. The vast majority of MoveOn comments are either exact duplicates of a two-sentence form letter, or they are variants of a small number of broad claims about the inadequacy of the proposed rule. This paper argues that norms, rules, and tools will emerge to deal with the burden imposed by these communications. More broadly, it raises doubts about the notion that online public participation is a harbinger of a more deliberative and democratic era. *A few sound bites:* "This article looks at the practical and policy impact of mass e-mail campaigns. It focuses theoretical and empirical attention on the competing—and yes, perverse—incentives for large-scale citizen input to the regulatory rulemaking process. It is akin to perverse satisfaction, I argue, to cathartically exercise a right while inadvertently destroying it." "In what follows, I introduce the theory of perverse incentives in the context of interest group-initiated mass e-mail campaigns about U.S. regulatory policy. Stated bluntly, the logic of collection action many scholars my age and older grew up with is dead. The Internet killed it." "Some studies of interest group lobbying carry forward out-of-date assumptions found in much of the canonical lobbying literature (e.g., grassroots lobbying is costly and time-consuming, subject to unavoidable free-rider problems when the benefits are widely dispersed). These assumptions reflect a pre-Internet landscape. The collective action thesis (Olson, 1965) cogently captured the increased difficulty of organizing members as the group size grew larger. Olson’s truism, however, is being updated in ways that fail to recognize that the old constraints on collective action are less of a factor (Esteban & Ray, 2001). If Olson’s logic of collective action is a less viable theory, the rising role of electronic grassroots lobbying may prove to be one of the key reasons (Lev-On & Hardin, 2007; Davis, Elin, & Reeher, 2002). Twenty-first century studies of interest groups must start with the assumption of reduced organizing costs and shifting incentives as opportunities for laptop and hand-held participation multiply."

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Free book: Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice
by Stuart Shulman 09 Dec '09

09 Dec '09

Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice* * http://odbook.stanford.edu Hard copy: $25 PDF: Free This book is fully accessible online and modestly priced in hard copy. It is a very nice collection including work by scholars like Fishkin, Price & Lupia. http://odbook.stanford.edu/viewing/htmldocument/75 (Table of Contents)

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Too much trust in Google?
by Michael Zimmer 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

For those who study search engine use, trust, and literacy, you might enjoy this anecdote regarding a student in one of my classes who fell for Google's 2002 hoax PigeonRank. If You Trust Google’s Results, You Can Thank…“PigeonRank”? http://michaelzimmer.org/2009/12/07/if-you-trust-googles-results-you-can-th… -michael -- Michael Zimmer, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies Associate, Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee e: zimmerm(a)uwm.edu w: www.michaelzimmer.org

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Re: [Air-L] Media enterprises and online comments
by Kris M. Markman 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

Laur, This article from the Online Journalism Review might be of interest: "Time to get tough: Managing anonymous reader comments" http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/060126crosbie/ -Kris M. ---------- ---------- ---------- Kris M. Markman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Dept. of Communication University of Memphis https://umdrive.memphis.edu/kmmrkman/www/index.html On Dec 8, 2009, at 5:00 PM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:19:53 +0200 > From: "Laur Kanger" <morgoth(a)ut.ee> > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: [Air-L] Media enterprises and online comments > Message-ID: <12312f05631cbcba4b3bcb6c3dc58d23.squirrel(a)mailhost.ut.ee> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-15 > > Dear all, > > I'm currently gathering material for a small project on how the problem of > anonymous online commenting in Estonian online newsmedia sites has been > perceived among media enterprises, government, users etc. I am also > mapping possible solutions that have been put forward (no satisfying one > has been found so far). My search for other similar works has so far been > in vain so I'd be very grateful if you could direct me to some relevant > resources (i.e. similar case studies, appropriate theorizations on the > topic). > > Thanks, > Laur Kanger >

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CFP: IR 11 Sustainability, Participation, Action
by jeremy hunsinger 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

distribute as appropriate: Call for Papers Internet Research 11.0 - Sustainability, Participation, Action The 11th Annual International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) October 21-23, 2010 University of Gothenburg/Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden The challenge of this conference is to find multiple avenues for participation and action towards a sustainable future. In a society increasingly aware of social and ecological imbalance, many people now see information and communication technologies as key technologies for solving problems associated with an unsustainable future. However, while information technology may solve some problems, it can magnify others. As pointed out by world forums such as the United Nations and the European Commission, use of ICTs contributes to the unsustainable consumption of energy and resources. Similarly, unequal access and exploitative practices remind us that IT is not a utopian answer to complex social problems. A sustainable future is not only about greening processes and products at any cost, but also entails social responsibility, cultural protection and economic growth. Therefore the conference has a multi-dimensional focus, where the Internet is seen as a possible liberating, empowering and greening tool. The conference will focus on how the Internet can function as a conduit for the development of greater global equality and understanding, a training ground for participation in debates and cross-cultural projects and a tool for mutual action; in short a technology of empowerment. The flip-side of the internet as a tool for empowerment is the issue of exploitation. Exploitation of resources and people is what has led to the current crisis, and issues of exploitation are highly relevant online, from abuse of the commons to censorship, fraud and loss of privacy and the protection of the rights of the individual. Sustainability, Participation, Action invites scholars to consider issues concerning empowerment and/or exploitation in relation to the Internet. We ask scholars to specifically consider issues concerning integrity, knowledge production, and ethics in relation to the Internet and sustainable development. How do we, as Internet researchers, regard our work in relation to the unsustainable current situation and the possibilities of a sustainable future? How far can we take the Internet, and with it, people, individuals, groups and societies in order to create an arena for participation and action, all key elements in imagining a sustainable future? How can we apply previous knowledge to serve future solutions? To this end, we call for papers, panel proposals, and presentations from any discipline, methodology, and community, and from conjunctions of multiple disciplines, methodologies and academic communities that address the conference themes, including papers that intersect and/or interconnect the following: Internet and an equal and balanced society Internet as an arena for participation Internet as a tool and arena for action Internet and an informed knowledge society Internet and a green society Internet and e‐commerce, dematerialization and transportation Internet and security, integrity and surveillance Internet and a healthy society Internet as an arena for cultural expressions, and source of a culture of its own. 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. SUBMISSIONS We seek proposals for several different kinds of contributions. We welcome proposals for traditional academic conference PAPERS and we also welcome proposals for ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS that will focus on discussion and interaction among conference delegates, as well as organized PANEL PROPOSALS that present a coherent group of papers on a single theme. DEADLINES Call for Papers Released: 24 November 2009 Submissions Due: 21 February 2010 (Details here) Notification: 21 April 2010 Full papers due: 21 August 2010 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS All papers and presentations in this session will be evaluated in a standard blind peer review. Format PAPERS (individual or multi-author) - submit abstract of 600-800 words FULL PAPERS (OPTIONAL): For submitters requiring peer review of full papers, manuscripts of up to 8,000 words will be accepted for review. These will be reviewed and judged separately from abstract submissions PANEL PROPOSALS - submit a 600-800 word description of the panel theme, plus 250-500 word abstract for each paper or presentation ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS - submit a statement indicating the nature of the roundtable discussion and interaction 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 is invited to submit a proposal for 1 paper or 1 presentation. A person may also propose a panel session, which may include a second paper that they are presenting. An individual may also submit a roundtable proposal. You may be listed as co-author on additional papers as long as you are not presenting them. PUBLICATION OF PAPERS Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society, edited by Caroline Haythornthwaite and Lori Kendall. Authors selected for consideration for submission to this issue will be contacted prior to the conference. All papers submitted to the conference system will be available to AoIR members after the conference. PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS On October 20, 2010, there will be a limited number of pre-conference workshops which 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 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 31, 2010. FEE WAIVER In order to increase the diversity of participation in the AoIR annual Internet Research (IR) conferences, the Association of Internet Researchers will make available up to three conference fee waivers per year. The number of fee waivers will depend first of all upon the ability of the conference budget to sustain such waivers (a judgment to be made by the AoIR Executive Committee upon the advice of the AoIR Treasurer and the local organizing committee) as well as upon the quality of the applications for fee waivers. Applications for fee waivers are invited from student or faculty authors whose paper or panel proposals have already been accepted via the AoIR IR conference reviewing process. All applications should be directed to the Vice-President of AoIR, and must be received by June 30 of the conference year. Late applications cannot be considered. More information and submission guidelines will be published in a separate announcement. CONTACT INFORMATION Program Chair: Torill Elvira Mortensen, Volda University College, Norway. torill.mortensen(a)gmail.com Conference Co-Chairs and Coordinators: Ann-Sofie Axelsson, Chalmers University of Technology and Ylva Hård af Segerstad, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Important Dates Submissions Due 21 February 2010 Notifications of Acceptance 21 Apr 2010 Abstract Revisions Due7 May 2010 Full Papers Due 21 August 2010 Pre-Conference Workshops 20 Oct 2010 Main Conference 21-23 Oct 2010 Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech Information Ethics Fellow Center for Information Policy Research 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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Media enterprises and online comments
by Laur Kanger 08 Dec '09

08 Dec '09

Dear all, I'm currently gathering material for a small project on how the problem of anonymous online commenting in Estonian online newsmedia sites has been perceived among media enterprises, government, users etc. I am also mapping possible solutions that have been put forward (no satisfying one has been found so far). My search for other similar works has so far been in vain so I'd be very grateful if you could direct me to some relevant resources (i.e. similar case studies, appropriate theorizations on the topic). Thanks, Laur Kanger

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