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Deadline approaching: Social Aspects of the Web (SAW 2008)
by Dominik Flejter 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

=========================================================================== DEADLINE APPROACHING CALL FOR RESEARCH, DEMO AND POSITION PAPERS =========================================================================== 2nd Workshop on Social Aspects of the Web (SAW 2008) in conjunction with 11th International Conference on Business Information Systems (BIS 2008) Innsbruck, Austria May 5, 6 or 7, 2008 http://bis.kie.ae.poznan.pl/11th_bis/wscfp.php?ws=saw2008 =========================================================================== * Deadline for submissions: February 3, 2008 * =========================================================================== In recent years, the Web has moved from a simple one-way communication channel extending traditional media, to a complex "peer-to-peer" communication space with a blurred author/audience distinction and new ways to create, share and use knowledge in a social way. This change of paradigm is currently profoundly transforming most areas of our life: our interactions with other people, our relationships, ways of gathering information, ways of developing social norms, opinions, attitudes and even legal aspects as well as ways of working and doing business. It also raises a strong need for theoretical, empirical and applied studies related to how people may interact on the Web, how they actually do so and what new possibilities and challenges are emerging in the social, business and technology dimensions. The goal of this workshop is to bring researchers and practitioners together to explore the issues and challenges related to social aspects of the Web. We want to facilitate discussion on topics including theoretical, empirical and applied studies related to: TOPICS OF INTEREST * Users in the social Web * User identity/identities on the Web * Activity patterns * Privacy / intimacy in the social Web * Psychological aspects of acting in the social Web * Analysis and reduction of the socio-technical gap in social software * Communities on the Web * User roles, leadership and interactions * Conflicts and their resolution * Social norms and their enforcement * Trust and reputation in communities * Relations of on-line and off-line communities * Social discourse and decision-taking on the Web * Large-scale social Web mining and empirical studies * Social network analysis * Associations mining from social network * Large-scale behaviour patterns and anomalies' mining * Moods' / opinions' / social problems' analysis * Experts finding on the social Web * Mining formal semantics from social sources * Methodologies of Web-based social macro and micro studies * Social Web and business * Social Web as a source of business information * Social Web as a business communication channel * Business models for social software and services * Specific types of social software on the Web (bookmarking, social networks etc.) * Use cases and best practices * Applications of Web-based social software * Social software architectures * Social software on the Semantic Web * Strategies for bootstrapping social software systems and bypassing the critical mass problem * Social software in information processing and retrieval * Social software in collaborative maintenance of content and data SUBMISSION * Long papers: max. 5000 words * Work-in-progress rep.: max. 2500 words * Position papers: max. 2500 words * Demo papers: max. 2500 words Papers must be submitted in PDF format according to Springer LNBIP template available from http://www.springer.com/east/home/computer/lncs?SGWID=5-164-7-487211-0. Submission system is available on-line at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=SAW2008. The proceedings will be published jointly with proceedings of other BIS workshops as a book or CD with ISBN number, and on-line at CEUR WS.org workshop proceedings publication service (open content). Extended version of selected papers submitted to the workshop will be published as special issue of International Journal on WWW/Internet (http://www.iadis.org/ijwi/, ISSN: 1645-7641). WORKSHOP FORMAT All authors of accepted papers as well as other participants will be asked to read accepted papers abstracts before the workshop (papers will be available on-line in advance) to facilitate discussion. The workshop will consist in two parts: first (more formal) devoted to presentation and discussion of accepted papers and second (less formal) devoted to discussion of several issues related to present and future of the social Web. Workshop participants will be also invited to take part in the BIS conference and other BIS workshops (including workshops on Advances in Accessing the Deep Web (ADW 2008) and on E-Learning for Business Needs). IMPORTANT DATES * February 3, 2008 - submission deadline for papers (extended) * March 19, 2008 - notification of acceptance/rejection (new date) * April 6, 2008 - submission of final papers (new date) * May 5, 6 or 7, 2008 - the workshop ORGANIZERS * Poznan University of Economics, Department of Information Systems (http://kie.ae.poznan.pl/) CHAIRS * Dominik Flejter * Tomasz Kaczmarek * Marek Kowalkiewicz PROGRAM COMMITTEE * Krisztian Balog, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands * Simone Braun, FZI Karlsruhe, Germany * John Breslin, DERI, NUI Galway, Ireland * Tanguy Coenen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium * Jon Dron, Athabasca University, Canada * Davide Eynard, Politecnico di Milano, Italy * Andrew T. Fiore, University of California, Berkeley, the USA * Dominik Flejter, Poznan University of Economics, Poland * Tomasz Kaczmarek, Poznan University of Economics, Poland * Marek Kowalkiewicz, SAP Research Brisbane, Australia * Sebastian Kruk, DERI, NUI Galway, Ireland * Marcin Paprzycki, Polish Academy of Science, Poland * Katharina Siorpaes, STI, University of Innsbruck, Austria * Marcin Sydow, Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology, Poland * Jie Tang, Tshingua University, China * Celine van Damme, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium * Valentin Zacharias, FZI Karlsruhe, Germany ===========================================================================

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_Facebook Use of Campus_: A Major Scholarly Study
by Gerry Mckiernan 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS*** Friends/ I have discovered a major scholarly study about _Facebook Use on Campus_ Title: Facebook Use on Campus: A Social Capital Perspective on Social Network Sites Author: Nicole Ellison Abstract: Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 5-7, 2007, in Boca Raton, Florida. This talk reviews scholarship on social networking sites, focusing on the use of Facebook among undergraduate students. Nicole Ellison discusses findings from a recent study examining user practices and the social capital implications of Facebook use, demonstrating evidence of ***positive outcomes*** from some kinds of use. Educational applications of related technologies, such as blogging, is briefly discussed. >>Important TakeHomeMessages for Educators/Librarians<< Among Others: Potential Benefits of Facebook in the Classroom Facebook as a Course Communication Tool A Link to the PDF of the PPT is available at [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/facebook-use-on-campus-soc… ] >From A Mild Central Iowa .... [44 F] !!! [A Heat Wave [:-)] Have a GreatWeek! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come Victor Hugo [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ] Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows ... [ http://www.alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ ]

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digital literacy - a syllabus
by David M Silver 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

hello everyone! many of us internet researchers are also internet teachers which means many of us design, tweak, and retool syllabi. sometimes we even come up with a course that really makes us excited. i'd like to share my syllabus for an undergraduate, honors-level seminar i'm teaching this spring called "digital literacy." it's a course i've been dreaming about for 2 or 3 years and it's a thrill to finally teach it! http://silverinsf.blogspot.com/2008/01/digital-literacy-spring-2008.html essentially, my students and i will be asking the question, "what is literacy during a digital age?" to help us along, we have ten guest speakers, including some folks who frequent AoIR. at this point, the idea is that in addition to reading and class discussions, we'll do plenty of stuff online (blog, flickr, RSS, audio slideshows, perhaps podcasts and video) but we'll also do plenty of stuff offline, including a four day field trip to an organic farm in humboldt county. put another way, the idea is to log on and be reflective and creative but also to log off and be reflective and creative. anyways, sometimes i wish we'd share more of our teaching and our ideas about teaching on this list - perhaps this is some kind of contribution towards that direction. have a great weekend, david silver http://silverinsf.blogspot.com

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(no subject)
by Brian Loader 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Just a quick reminder that it is now only two weeks to the deadline (Friday 8th February) for submitting your proposal for a paper presentation to the 2008 aoir conference to be held in Copenhagen. Relevant websites are: http://conferences.aoir.org/cfp.html http://conferences.aoir.org/ Brian Brian D. Loader Co-Director, Social Informatics Research Unit (SIRU), Department of Sociology, Wentworth College, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD Email bl506(a)york.ac.uk Tel: +44(0) 1904 432639 Fax: +44(0) 1904 433043

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The history of asterisks?
by Jonna Ahti 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hello, I wonder if any of you would have ideas on the history of asterisks* in IRC and chat conversations? I know how they are used and I've found several references to them, for example: Another common feature is the use of asterisks to emphasize words denoting actions (*grins*) or sounds (*bang*). (http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol2/issue4/danet.html) I would still like to know more about the history of these symbols. I have read an article by Tine Thode Hougaard in whitch she suggests that they might origin from manuscripts for plays where actions are described within asterisks. My own hypothesis is that asterisks might have something to do with computer programming languages. On IRC, for example, one can search for keywords by using the command /list *keyword*. Are there any articles written on this topic? with best regards, Jonna Ahti PhD student Department of Scandinavian languages and literature University of Helsinki

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post-doctoral position - Ireland.
by Aphra Kerr 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi all, The following post-doctoral position should be of interest to people submitting or finished their Phd research. The focus is on internet users, innovation and creativity. Enquiries to myself. best Aphra Kerr. ************** *NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH* *Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Rep. of Ireland. * *DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY* *POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITION* Applications are invited for a post-doctoral position in the Department of Sociology at NUI Maynooth, tenable from April 2008 for two and a half years, working on an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research project focussed upon the future of the internet. Funded by the HEA's Programme for Research at Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) in Ireland the ‘Serving Society: Future Communications Networks and Services’ project involves research partners at NUI Maynooth, Waterford IT and the University of Limerick. The applicant will work directly with Dr. Aphra Kerr at the Department of Sociology at NUI Maynooth (NUIM) (see _http://sociology.nuim.ie/AphraKerr.shtml_) and colleagues at the Interaction Design Centre at the University of Limerick (see http://www.idc.ul.ie/ ) to conduct a study of intensive users of the internet. *Postdoctoral Researcher (2.5 Year Contract)* This post involves advanced research on internet use, creativity and innovation. It aims to select a number of contrasting groups whose patterns of use challenge the limitations of existing internet infrastructure and services. Potential groups might include (but are not limited to) open source software development teams, massively multiplayer online game communities, transnational social movements and transnational migrant groups. Applicants should hold a PhD in a related area and have a good publishing record. The post-holder should be well versed in the literature related to some or all of the following: sociology of innovation, sociology of technology, sociology of work and consumption, internet and game studies, governance and legal aspects of the internet. Good interpersonal communication, computing and presentation skills are required. Proficiency in both written and spoken English is required. The position is based at NUI Maynooth, a campus based university 25Km west of Dublin, in Ireland which is served by good rail and bus services. The applicant will be based in the Department of Sociology, a department of 16 staff and a number of postdoctoral researchers. The Department is part of a number of national initiatives to promote and develop postgraduate education including the Irish Social Science Platform. *Salary: €38,623 per annum. * *I**nformal inquiries to: *Dr. Aphra Kerr, Department of Sociology. Tel: +353 (0)1 708 6140 or e-mail: _aphra.kerr(a)nuim.ie <mailto:Paschal.Preston@dcu.ie>_ *To apply: * candidates should submit a cover letter stating why they think they would be suited to this position, a detailed CV and a sample of their writing as well as the names, email, addresses, fax and telephone numbers of three referees to: *Dr. Aphra Kerr, Department of Sociology, Auxilia, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland* so as to arrive not later than *5pm on the 15^th of February, 2008. * *Electronic applications accepted. *

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Post-doc and PhD positions at the Open University
by Adam Joinson 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

*Two Research Associates and PhD Studentship, Department of Computing * ** ** circulation date : 23/01/2008 closing date : 21/02/2008 *Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology Based in Milton Keynes Two Research Associates (Centre for Research in Computing) £27,466 – £32,796 (Ref: 4320) Three-year contracts PhD Studentship (Centre for Research in Computing)* Applications are invited for two Research Associates (RA) and a PhD student to work on an EPSRC funded three-year interdisciplinary project on *Privacy Rights Management in Mobile Applications (PRiMMA)*. The project will empirically investigate mobile computing users' requirements and policies for privacy in different settings. For one of the RA positions, experience and training in social-science and human-computer interaction research methods, and experience of collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data are essential. For the other RA position, experience of building complex software is essential and experience in developing mobile computing applications is desirable. The PhD student will investigate novel user interface design for privacy management in mobile computing devices, although we will consider high quality applicants in any area relevant to the project. For more information, please visit http://crc.open.ac.uk/primma. Closing date: 21 February 2008. Further particulars: http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/jobs/2008124_57731_o3.doc

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MLK Day reflection
by Mark Marino 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

I wanted to offer a reaction to another Michael Wesch video, a slightly less popular one than the "The Machine is Us/ing Us" (4 millions views) <http://youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&feature=related>, but one that nonetheless has garnered a fair amount of critical attention and particularly classroom attention (1 million views). His video is called "A Vision of Students Today." <http://youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o> My roughly tagged response: (Re)Visions of Students Today ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ln6WUy29fAA) In his "Students" video, Wesch presents the collaboration of 200 of his students on a Google Document, a subsequent survey (in that Doc), and a video. This video features some of the same sexy footage of software with dazzling tech-enabled collaboration. Wesch may be the Annie Liebovitz of Screen Capture. (or Martin Munkacsi?) Key to this video is a subversion of expectations about student habits as well as what we might mean by "classroom technology," since his supertitles evoke the development of (non-electronic) blackboards and his students hold up pieces of notebook paper as display technologies. The video is a marked contrast to his "Web 2.0" video, particularly in tone and an sense of ambivalence. On the other hand, this video includes another subject left out of his Wesch 2.0 video, people. The "students today" are represented by the non-plussed (or low affect) students in his class, holding placards of observations from the survey. Their statistics reveal information about their use of technology, which is a focus of the course's "digital ethnography" I'm assuming. The dour suggest to me a sense of resistance -- certainly not the "ain't this cool we're making a video" face I'd expect. More like a: "hey, don't think you know how I use the internet or my traditional educational technologies" look. [Actually, many of the comments I read in the YouTube threads seemed to focus their hostility on the students themselves, particularly as representative of an apathetic or spoiled American middle class] When watching this video about "Students Today," which features white student after white student, I can't help but wonder why the students don't comment on race. On the one hand, the video offers just "a vision" as in one vision of students. However, I read Wesch's title as having broader implications, bordering on universalism. As in "Come see what typical students look like today" or at least what a representative sample looks like today. Even if his video doesn't claim to be representative, the fact that the video about student use of technology does not mention what to many of us might be so apparent is indicative of certain trends in discussions of Web 2.0, trends I've recently been discussing with Elizabeth Losh of UC Irvine among others: the trend to create a vision of some imaginary Web 2.0student, one that does not take into consideration differences in background or access. What do we risk when we leave out race or even socio-economic class? I think some on this listserv are answering this question with their research. It's just something I'm thinking about this MLK Day. More on this discussion here: http://writerresponsetheory.org/wordpress/2008/01/20/a-revision-of-students… Wesch has also printed some responses and further discussions of his video here: http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?p=124#more-124 Best, Mark Marino -- Writing Program University of Southern California http://WriterResponseTheory.org http://CriticalCodeStudies.com

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Call-for-Papers: TERROR: The Human Condition Series
by Orion Anderson 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

CALL FOR PAPERS THE HUMAN CONDITION SERIES: 2nd Annual International Multidisciplinary Conference on: TERROR May 2-3, 2008, Laurentian University @ Georgian College, Ontario, Canada Confirmed Keynote Speakers We are pleased to announce the participation of three internationally renowned keynote speakers: Henry Jiroux (McMaster University) Sunera Thobani (University of British Columbia) Sut Jhally (University of Massachusetts) Special Plenary Talk Richard A. Koenigsberg (Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis) Description of the Series and Conference Theme "Terror becomes total when it becomes independent of all opposition: It rules supreme when nobody any longer stands in its way." -Hannah Arendt This conference is part of a larger series of ongoing, international, multidisciplinary conferences--run under the banner of The Human Condition Series--that brings together people from a variety of disciplines to assess a singular topic from artistic, cinematic, literary, ethical, social, political, philosophical, psychological and religious perspectives. We encourage you to share innovative ideas and new ways of thinking and acting. Proposals will be considered on any related theme and we especially welcome papers, reports, works-in-progress, workshops and sessions. This year's theme is Terror. The concept of Terror is often found safely hidden and un-thought in diverse cultural, philosophical, and religious traditions and ways of life. One can see these safe havens extending from the divine mythologies of religious experience to the seemingly opposed rationalized life of contemporary high-tech societies. With respect to religious experience, it is clear that we have to seriously reconsider the dynamics of organized religion in the face of rising religious fundamentalisms and terrorist activity. But terror in the highly rationalized world of technological societies can also impose its existing logic as a way of maintaining the order of things. We give it various positive names that conceal its potency and negative effects. At precise moments in history, terror's potency has appeared in benign terms such as "child welfare," "residential schools," the "founding nation," the "developed world," the "hysterical woman," the "mentally ill," the "social and sexual deviant," the "immigrant problem," the "disposable income," and the "democratic liberation of other peoples." It is the absurd rationalizations of these terms in the face of concrete realities that covers over terror's effects and keeps it intact. This conference will investigate what role Terror has in maintaining the contemporary condition of humanity--and what hope there is of envisioning a condition in which Terror is natural and organic rather than strategic and imposed. ____________________________________________________________________________ ___ Please send a 250-300 word abstract or proposal as an email attachment (MS Word Format) to TerrorProposal(a)ideologiesofwar.com DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACT: FEBRUARY 15, 2008. For more details about the conference go to: http://humanconditionseries.wordpress.com/speakers-08/ or http://humanconditionseries.wordpress.com/past-conference-07/ Contact Person: Marianne Vardalos, Ph.D., Dept. of Sociology, Laurentian University Director of the Human Condition Series Organizing Committee ____________________________________________________________________________ ____ Possible topics include but are not limited to: The Laws of State-Terror Communications of Terror Overt and Covert Representations of Terror The Centrality of Spin and Lobbying in Communicating Terror The Manufacture and Management of Terror The Marketing of Terror The Relationship of Terror to the Modern Malaise: Anxiety, Disorders, Disease Terror as Pleasure The Construction of the Transnational Terrorist Terror and the Transformation of States and Nations Gender, Sexuality and Terror Otherness as Terror Terror Pornography The Commodification of Fear Artistic Expressions of Terror Literature and Terror Discourses and Counter-Discourses of Terror The Terror of Morality The Terror of Fundamentalisms Military Logic as Terror The Terror of Reason Faith and Terror ____________________________________________________________________________ ________________ Please send a 250-300 word abstract or proposal as an email attachment (MS Word Format) to TerrorProposal(a)ideologiesofwar.com DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACT: FEBRUARY 15, 2008. For more details about the conference go to: http://humanconditionseries.wordpress.com/speakers-08/ or http://humanconditionseries.wordpress.com/past-conference-07/ All papers accepted and presented at the conference will be considered for inclusion in the The Human Condition Series e-journal. In addition, some papers will also be considered for publication in a themed volume on Terror. Contact Person: Marianne Vardalos, Ph.D., Dept. of Sociology, Laurentian University Director of the Human Condition Series Organizing Committee

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Facebook/Social Networks In The News .... | OnlineSocialNetworks List
by Gerry Mckiernan 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

***APOLOGIES FOR RECEIPT OF DUPLICATE POSTINGS*** Colleagues/ In recent days, there has/have been Major Media Coverage of Facebook/Online Social Networks: CBS 60 Minutes | Mark Zuckerberg: The Face Behind Facebook [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/cbs-60-minutes-mark-zucker… ] Interview With Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University, Critic of Online Social Networking [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/interview-with-michael-bug… ] Proposition: Social Networking Technologies Will Bring Large [Positive] Changes to Educational Methods ... [The Economist Debate] [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/proposition-social-network… ] In addition to these Major Stories, the OnlineSocialNetworks majordomo list has broken the ***Centennial Membership Mark***! [Actually 101 [How Binary] [:-)] If You Have Not Yet Joined The OnlineSocialNetworks list, You May Do So By Following The Directions in The Post Below [ http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/2008/01/onlinesocialnetworks-new-m… ] Regards from a Frigid Central Iowa! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck(a)iastate.edu There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come Victor Hugo [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ] Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows ... [ http://www.alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ ]

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