- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

some data on: in dis-praise of the Chronicle
by Matzat, U. 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

Well, I do not have up-to-date evidence, but what I have is data telling us a bit what researchers liked or disliked about the communication in emailing lists in the year 2000. See the pre-print on my old-fashioned website: Matzat, U. (in press). "Quality of Information in Academic Emailing Lists." in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Best wishes, Uwe > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:07:46 -0400 > From: Barry Wellman <wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca> > Subject: [Air-L] in dis-praise of the Chronicle > To: aoir list <air-l(a)aoir.org>, "Denise N. Rall" <denrall(a)yahoo.com>, > Catherine Middleton <cmiddlet(a)ryerson.ca>, Peter Timusk > <ptimusk(a)sympatico.ca> > Message-ID: > <Pine.SGI.4.40.0906301901280.17230812-100000(a)origin.chass.utoronto.ca> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII > > I was appalled by the Chronicle's article -- especially the headline -- on > the putative death of e-lists such as this one. > > First, they gave no systematic evidence, just some anecdotes. Although the > article was more nuanced than the headline: "on the one hand, on the other > hand." Yet, still anecdotes. > > Second, they ignored the organizational ecology research that has shown > that some organizations die and some get born all the time. > > Third, the posts by my fellow Canucks Catherine Middleton and Peter Timusk > clearly showed the difference between 140 character Tweets (which I do a > fair amount) and posts to this list (ibid). Both of their posts were too > nuanced to be short tweets. > > Fourth, as Marc Smith can show you, even the older Bulletin Boards are > still thriving. > > Indeed, my hunch is that each communication form adds on to the other, > rather than displacing it, which is why I never get much writing done > (today's excusive, anyway). > > Happy Canada Day to All (except Janet Napolitano), > > 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 > _______________________________________________________________________ > ======================================= Uwe Matzat Sociology School of Innovation Science Eindhoven University of Technology P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands --------------- phone: + 31 40 247-8392 email: u.matzat /"at"/ tm.tue.nl http://www.tue-tm-soc.nl/~matzat/ =======================================

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Global Media Course Query
by Ted Coopman 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

All, I have just picked up a online class in Global Media and was looking for textbook/journal article suggestions or syllabi for similar courses. Ideally, any materials would be fresh (last few years) although older foundational is good as well. It is an upper-division elective writing course and other than that I can do almost anything I want with it (both good and bad!). While I teach a variety of media/new media courses this is a new one for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to contact me off list <ted.coopman(a)gmail.com>. Thanks, -TED -- Ted M. Coopman Ph.D. Lecturer Department of Communication Studies Department of Television, Radio, Film, & Theatre San Jose State University

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[revised deadline] New MA programme in Digital Anthropology at UCL
by Lane DeNicola 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

New MA programme in Digital Anthropology at University College London Revised application deadline: 28 September 2009 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/digital-anthropology/ Digital technologies have become ubiquitous. From Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to PowerPoint, Google Earth and Second Life. Museum displays migrate to the internet, family communication in the Diaspora is dominated by new media, artists work with digital films and images. Anthropology and ethnographic research is fundamental to understanding the local consequences of these innovations, and to create theories that help us acknowledge, understand and engage with them. Today's students need to become proficient with digital technologies as research and communication tools. Through combining technical skills with appreciation of social effects, students will be trained for further research and involvement in this emergent world. This MA brings together three key components in the study of digital culture: 1. Skills training in digital technologies, including our own Digital Lab, from internet and digital film editing to e-curation and digital ethnography. 2. Anthropological theories of virtualism, materiality/immateriality and digitisation. 3. Understanding the consequences of digital culture through the ethnographic study of its social and regional impact. Bursaries There is a £5,000 annual bursary specifically for this and the MA in Material and Visual Culture, as well as 3 x £1,000 bursaries for all anthropology MA programmes. All those who have submitted an application by 30 June 2009 will automatically be considered and no additional application form is necessary. The Dept. of Anthropology at UCL is the world's leading centre for the study of Material and Visual Culture. We publish The Journal of Material Culture and several relevant book series. We have nine specialist staff in material and visual culture. We currently supervise nearly fifty PhD students specifically in this field, including many with topics in Digital Anthropology. The programme is suitable both for those with a prior degree in anthropology but also for those with degrees in neighbouring disciplines who wish to be trained in anthropological and related approaches to digital culture. There is scope for those with specialist interests to work closely with designers, curators, communication specialists as well as our own digital studio. In addition to its importance for careers such as media, design and museums, digital technology is also integral to development, theoretical and applied anthropology. For further information about this course contact d.miller(a)ucl.ac.uk For making an application, note that the UCL bureaucracy may take a while to catch up with what is a new course, so in order to ensure your application is received we recommend that you download the application form from: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-study/application-admiss… And send this directly to: Prof. Daniel Miller Department of Anthropology University College London 14 Taviton Street London WC1H OBW University College London has over 3,500 research staff and 17,000 students, ranking among the top three multi-faculty research and teaching universities in the UK. Located in the heart of Bloomsbury among the unique research resources of central London, which include excellent museum facilities as well as a dense network of specialist research and higher education institutions, the College provides an outstanding research base. The Department of Anthropology combines social and biological anthropology and material culture. Members of the Department carry out research in 49 countries, edit four international journals and run five research seminar series and specialist postgraduate research groups. There are over 140 postgraduate students funded by AHRC, ESRC, NERC, MRC, London University, British Academy, Institute of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Overseas Research Studentships, staff research programme awards, and various national governmental and international awards. UCL is thus one of the largest centres in the world for the training of PhD students in Anthropology. The Department encourages pure and theoretical research as well as providing strong links with applied and development projects. As well as holding top research standing, the Department has been rated excellent in successive teaching quality audits. There are 7 taught Masters courses and several undergraduate degrees (BSc Anthropology, BSc in Human Sciences, and Intercalated BScs in Medical Anthropology). The Department maintains a student-centred approach to teaching, with a full tutorial system for its 300-strong undergraduate population. The Material Culture section of the Department contains six members of staff and may be considered a world centre for such studies. Amongst other activities members of this group edit the Journal of Material Culture, the journal Home Cultures, and several book series and recently developed the weblog at materialworldblog.com. -- Lane DeNicola Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow College of Arts & Sciences Syracuse University http://www.nacresky.com/lad

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Re: [Air-L] Trivial tweeting
by Scott Golder (AoIR) 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

Right, but the question is, who gets listened to when it comes to norming, and who is listening? Suppose I make a normative statement ("Your apps really shouldn't be posting to Twitter") -- who listens to me? You could frame it in terms of networks; the people who I share reciprocal follower relations with (my strongest ties) are probably the most likely to agree. And to the extent that we have common alters who share that opinion, locally-dense parts of the network are likely to coincide with different norms. Note the huge homophily/influence problem here, as elsewhere. But I also think that thinking of networks can be counterproductive when what we want to think about is groups. Even though Twitter doesn't have group boundaries built into the technology, I still think that groups exist, and we'd do well to acknowledge that. The problem is that all the groups are streamed together, and when groups have contradictory norms about what is ok to post, participants are faced with an impossible decision. This can be interesting analytically because as a researcher you can observe how people prioritize their groups, but as the participant, it can be a struggle. The recent Facebook trend of taking surveys ("Which X are you") -- which happily seems to have died down -- is another good example. Groups who use Facebook for purely recreational reasons might be more comfortable with this (taking surveys is a key part of what FB is _for_) and people who use it as a less formal version of Linked In might be less comfortable with it. It's tempting to look at Twitter and see nodes! edges! It's a network! But I like the idea of stepping back and seeing it as an overlapping of groups that are still bounded, but by glass walls. Scott PS. My first post didn't make it (sent from scott@redlog instead of aoir@redlog) Here it is: I would add #4, play. Recently, I have personally enjoyed #internetbeatles and #robotpickuplines, for example. It's frivolous and fun, but frivolity and fun are important parts of life too, right? Rather than worrying about people who tweet mundane things, the more pernicious threat is applications that use Twitter for broadcasting users' in-app status updates, such as their current level in the spy game. I have complained this in the past, and I only see it getting worse as more and more apps (especially mobile ones) realize they can free ride on Twitter as a channel for notifications. This suggests to me that Twitter apps are going to have to become more like email clients. I want better filters for users, topics (#hashtags), better threading, and archiving. It would be interesting if, in addition to email, newsgroups and RSS feeds, email clients started making Twitter an option. Thunderbird's open source - anyone want to collaborate on building Twitter support into it? PS. peanut butter sandwich, chocolate milk and a double espresso.

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Re: [Air-L] Trivial tweeting
by Bernie Hogan 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

Hi Scott (and AoIRers), I don't think 'worry' is the right word. I'm interested in the process of norming these spaces. You are norming twitter right now by suggesting that a certain kind of activity (in-app notifications) is not good for the space. I tend to agree, and also think it is a trivial use of the space. Of course, the "simple" answer is 'don't follow!', but that's often a suboptimal option. Often, I -want- to hear about someone, but I would prefer a higher signal-to-noise ratio. Some people explicitly ask for a higher signal to noise ratio, others complain to a third party ("gawd, she tweets SO much") and others just unfollow. I cannot say which is the right course, but I know that they all happen, and that they are all a part of the collective dynamics of defining and communicating an appropriate use of this medium. I recall a similar form of norming taking place on facebook, but there the issue was "drunk pictures" rather than "what I had for lunch". (OMG, I can't believe he put that picture, up!" or "what will my employer [parent, spouse, kids] think", etc...). In both cases, neither is to be taken literally, but as a metaphor for the kinds of unwanted activities or concerns endemic to that space. Sidenote - what do you (the royal AoIR you) think will be the common complaint about Google Wave, cause we all know one is bound to emerge? Take care, BERNiE

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in dis-praise of the Chronicle
by Barry Wellman 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

I was appalled by the Chronicle's article -- especially the headline -- on the putative death of e-lists such as this one. First, they gave no systematic evidence, just some anecdotes. Although the article was more nuanced than the headline: "on the one hand, on the other hand." Yet, still anecdotes. Second, they ignored the organizational ecology research that has shown that some organizations die and some get born all the time. Third, the posts by my fellow Canucks Catherine Middleton and Peter Timusk clearly showed the difference between 140 character Tweets (which I do a fair amount) and posts to this list (ibid). Both of their posts were too nuanced to be short tweets. Fourth, as Marc Smith can show you, even the older Bulletin Boards are still thriving. Indeed, my hunch is that each communication form adds on to the other, rather than displacing it, which is why I never get much writing done (today's excusive, anyway). Happy Canada Day to All (except Janet Napolitano), Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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THWONK: Re-inventing email lists
by Mike Bennett 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

Since the Chronicle article has kicked off a bunch of conversation about the death of e-lists, I thought I'd take this opportunity (a little earlier than planned) to make an announcement about our new very relevant research project. Our new project is called THWONK, with the tag line "Where You Design The Rules Of Online Communcation!" @ www.thwonk.com THWONK is a research tool for enabling people to invent new kinds of online communication systems, and create new variations of existing ones. Initially we're focused on mailing lists and mail. Its still in the very early days and rough around the edges but the core functionality is in place. With THWONK you can create an e-list where message length is limited to 140 characters, or only allow people to contribute so many words to a mailing list per week, or force people to contribute otherwise they are automatically unsubscribed, or enable distributed moderation, or perform realtime analysis of message content with stats generation, etc. Our aims with THWONK are: 1. Enable user generated social structures 2. Enable discovery of new generalisable social structures for online communication 3. Create a flexible and innovative new tool for Human-Computer Interaction / Computer Mediated Communication research 4. Build an innovation community inventing new CMC systems THWONK is at: http://www.thwonk.com In the longer term we are going to simplify the creation of new styles of lists, ideally to the point where no programming knowledge is required at all. If you have suggestions for features, or you have an ideal for collaboration please let me know :) To use THWONK you can use a simple web wizard (there's lots more features we're adding to it), or you can write simple and short Javascript programs, which run on our servers. When a mail comes into a destination address on the server, the Javascript associated with the destination runs on the server. The Javascript implements whatever mailing rules and constraints you like, e.g. create a Twitter like email list where message length is limited to 140 characters, etc. There's a tutorial for Javascript coders at: http://forums.thwonk.com/read.php?4,20 and some API documentation in place: http://forums.thwonk.com/list.php?4 ...but there needs to be a lot more documentation written, which is ongoing. All the best, Mike Bennett (& Jonah Brucker-Cohen) -- Postdoctoral Researcher CLARITY Centre, University College Dublin, Ireland - email: mike.bennett(a)ucd.ie - blog: http://www.user-designer.com - web: http://www.stressbunny.com/mike

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SMS and law use of comm (was : Re: in dis-praise of the Chronicle)
by Peter Timusk 01 Jul '09

01 Jul '09

On 30-Jun-09, at 9:10 PM, Barry Wellman wrote: > Altho I wonder if IM has mostly given way to texting. Haven't > checked the > data, though. > > Barry Wellman I think certain Canadian tech business persons like Michael Copeland ( Corel) tried to make money from sms. Apparently he is loosing money on this venture. So while we can debate this, others risk their money on which is more popular. Then there are the workers in the computer firms who must learn these applications so they can provide them to us. I have used IM in law enforcement work as a late night security guard. There is a need for communication in law enforcement and in my security work we had phones, radios, pagers, and IM and bulletin boards and email. There were of course tasks for each one. We did not officially use cell phones but often we had these privately as a back up for dead radio batteries. This was in a high tech industry setting. Peter Peter Timusk, B.Math statistics (2002), B.A. legal studies (2006) Carleton University Systems Science Graduate student, University of Ottawa. just trying to stay linear. Read by hundreds of lurkers every week. Kiitos Paljon, Merci, and thank you.

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new resource on privacy rights and SNS - EU
by Charles Ess 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

Thanks to Line Lundh for pointing me towards this recent EU opinion: Opinion 5/2009 on online social networking ARTICLE 29 DATA PROTECTION WORKING PARTY Adopted on 12 June 2009 <http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2009/wp163_en.pdf> To quote from the Summary: Key recommendations focus on the obligations of SNS providers to conform with the Data Protection Directive and to uphold and strengthen the rights of users. Of paramount importance, SNS providers should inform users of their identity from the outset and outline all the different purposes for which they process personal data. Particular care should be taken by SNS providers with regard to the processing of the personal data of minors. The Opinion recommends that users should only upload pictures or information about other individuals, with the individual¹s consent and considers that SNS also have a duty to advise users regarding the privacy rights of others. Should make for interesting discussion! cheers, - charles ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University, Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA Professor MSO (med særlige opgaver), Department of Information and Media Studies Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark President, Association of Internet Researchers Co-editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics <http://ijire.net/> Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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Fwd: private/public space & new media
by Peter Timusk 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

Begin forwarded message: > > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Peter Timusk <ptimusk(a)sympatico.ca> >> Date: June 29, 2009 5:14:18 AM GMT-04:00 >> To: Holly Kruse <holly-kruse(a)utulsa.edu> >> Subject: Re: [Air-L] private/public space & new media >> >> I have read Thomas' Hacker Culture for a fourth year paper on the >> harm of computer crime. (http://www.webpagex.org/LAWS4908.html) It >> is not a bad book and involves some Foucault. >> >> and would also suggest this below although I have not read it and >> it appears to not be about the net per say. Certainly there is the >> move to the right and fear taking away our public spaces and the >> net is rather public with many of us thinking it is private. I >> think Brian Loader has some writings or edited writings on public >> space.http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/soci/about/s_load.htm >> >> Dimitrakaki Angela. Private Views: Spaces & Gender In Contemporary >> Art From Britain: Liverpool, April 1997 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001) >> >> I just ordered a copy. >> >> >> On 28-Jun-09, at 4:07 PM, Holly Kruse wrote: >> >>> As promised, here are the sources people suggested to me in >>> response to my >>> query about research on new technology and public & private >>> space. I've >>> excluded the ones that were in the bibliography of sources that >>> I'm using in >>> my current book (and/or used in my last one) that I posted to air- >>> l a few >>> days ago. Several of these I had already looked at and/or have, >>> some I was >>> aware of but hadn't looked at, and some were new to me. Because I >>> mostly >>> just copied and pasted these from email messages, this list is in no >>> particular order and uses no format or style. Apologies for that. >>> >>> There are several suggestions that I will be looking at as I write >>> what is >>> supposed to be my brief (ha) summary chapter, and in further >>> revisions to >>> the rest of the manuscript. Thanks so much to everyone! >>> >>> Holly Peter Timusk statistical computer programmer ptimusk(a)sympatico.ca address 701-151 Parkdale Avenue Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1Y 4V8 Phone 613-729-8328 May all your numbers be quality numbers... even if they are only average numbers.

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