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Re: [Air-l] social network migration
by 'Gail Taylor 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

Michael Zimmer wrote: (1) I was imprecise when I said "Google is...working on a social networking platform...". The work is being done by grad students at CMU (thus the URL I linked to), and Google is sponsoring the work. Based on the CMU site, they seem to be taking some kind of "direction" from our friends in Mountain View ("Directed to help improve the online community orkut..."), but the research & demo is the fruit of CMU's labor, not Google's. If anyone know what the nature of these kinds of relationships are (contractual?), I'd love to learn more." Thanks for the detailed response to questions that were raised in an earlier message. I'm also not an attorney but have worked on programs where legal departments provided direct oversight and gave the go ahead for actions that were being initiated. I spent a number of years formulating and implementing partnering agreements between government agencies, universities, and businesses in the private and public sector. These agreements are business deals with terms and conditions that are legally binding in courts of law. My guess is that CMU and Google have entered into an agreement that includes the exchange of money, goods, and other in-kind services. I didn't get a feel for who might have initiated the business relationship. It's also possible that other organizations are also involved in the partnering effort as vendors are often times part of the mix. These partnering agreements create opportunities to test products that are in various stages of development. Michael also wrote: "The notion of businesses entering into agreements with other businesses to share personal information about their users (and online practices) is nothing new. I recently bought some items from Babies R Us, and they required my phone number in order to process the transaction. I decided to give it to them, and suddenly I'm on the mailing list for a dozen various baby retailers (power of reverse look-up directories). Businesses have been selling customer lists and purchasing habits long before Amazon or Google got into the game." This calls attention to locus of control issues. In the case of Babies R Us, you made the decision to enter into the agreement to share personal information with the business. I'm assuming that your knowledge that businesses sell customer lists and purchase habits to others was taken into consideration at the time the agreement was invoked. As mentioned in a previous message, developers of the Google product are using language indicating users will have limited control over their actions. I see locus of control issues as being critical to this conversation. Michael further wrote: "Unfortunately the norm is for the flow of personal information to be much more in the control of business interests than the individuals themselves. We have little choice in the matter that Choicepoint has aggregated all of our financial information, and once we sign up for our Facebook account we allow that business agreement to dictate how Facebook will handle our information as well." Understandings of the exchange of electronic personal information are evolving among members of the legal community. I've participated in forums where members of the legal profession were present. Concerns are being raised about the manner in which businesses are capturing and stockpiling personal information. Actions of some business, such as those in the banking industry, are regulated by government agencies.These regulatory actions are designed to protect the interests of the business and members of the general public. Michael wrote: "Gail seems to suggest that Socialstream's aggregation of social network information from other services via "business agreements" among the parties constitutes a "major change in practice from the manner in which users are currently using Google services." Well, I suppose so, but maybe not in the way Gail is suggesting. As more and more users migrate to "Planet Google" to fulfill their needs for information seeking, shopping, news, blogging, browsing, spreadsheets, e-mail, chat, and so on, we provide Google singular access to all that information in about our lives." At the current time, Google pretty much abides by its policy to keep this information private and not share it with others. This is the practice that has the potential to change as others partner with Google. Personal information (data) could be housed on servers at these other online social networking service providers. These providers would have ownership rights of the information that is housed on their servers. Google would have user rights that would be spelled out in terms and conditions of agreements. At some point in the future, there is always the possibility that Google would acquire these businesses. Ownership of the data would transfer to Google. I've heard the word 'anti-trust' jokingly thrown around in conversations where the focus is on the way data is being captured and stockpiled by businesses through acquisitions and mergers. I see the jokes as being an indication of shifts in thinking that are taking place among members of the legal community in relation t! o ! protecting the interests and rights of consumers. It's been suggested that members of the academic and research communities should start paying closer attention to infrastructures that are enabling online interactions among members of the general public. I'm in support of this suggestion. As opposed to fearing what is currently happening, I see this as an opportunity to become more aware of business structures and processes that have the potential to exploit people in online environments in public environments where assumptions are made that locus of control resides with the user. /Gail --------------------------------------- Gail D. Taylor, M.Ed. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Human Resource Education Ph.D. Student Educational Psychology Teaching Assistant Library & Information Science Research Assistant "Technology enables man to gain control over everything except technology." -- Unknown

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Media Anthropology
by Philipp Budka 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

Dear Colleagues, Since 2004 the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Media Anthropology Network is discussing working papers about socio-cultural aspects of media technology uses within the scope of e-seminars via the Network's mailing list. Some of these papers and discussions address internet technologies from a range of different perspectives: http://www.media-anthropology.net/workingpapers.htm The website of the Network also provides annotated bibliographies, information about media anthropology events, and selected discussions from the mailing list as PDF documents. More information at: http://www.media-anthropology.net All the best, Philipp -- Philipp Budka philbu(a)gmx.net Dreyhausenstraße 18/7 A-1140 Wien, Austria http://www.philbu.net -- Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen! Ideal für Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer

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vlog history project for aoir conference
by Hall, Richard H. 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

For the AOIR conference this year I submitted a proposal in the "creative or aesthetic presentation" category. The presentation is called "A Brief History of the Video Blog" and the project covers the video blog community, as represented by the Yahoo video blog group, within the context of my own experience as a video blogger. I am not a creative professional, and have never submitted research in this form before. It is mainly just my effort to combine my passion for video blogging with my work as a professor of information science in technology, whose research covers human-computer interaction, especially as it relates to web-based learning technologies. (Largely traditional quantitative research). Part of the project called for the creation of a video blog (not surprising :), and, for anyone interested, I have posted my first video and I plan to continue posting weekly until the conference. The videos will be posted here: http://richardshow.org/show/category/vloghistory Also, stuff about the project, including a link to the proposal, is located here http://richardshow.org/show/vloghistory (can also get there with vloghistory.org) ... best regards ... Richard ************************* Richard H. Hall, PhD http://richardhhall.org

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SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS, Focus on Africa
by Chris Ward 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

Dear Sir, Madam, On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of Delft University of Technology the two-day symposium, "Sustainable Solutions, Focus on Africa" will take place Thursday 1 and Friday 2 November 2007 at the university's Aula Conference Centre. The key question of the symposium is, 'What contribution can (technical) Universities make to sustainable development, particularly but not exclusively in Africa?' To answer this question properly, the relationship between the technical quality of projects and the social (People) environment (Planet) and economic (Prosperity) quality will be established. The metaphor for this '4P' model is the tetraeder. Although the main quality is at the top, it still rests on the three other qualities. The first part of the symposium focuses on mono-disciplinary themes such as water, energy, food, health, urban areas, resources, mobility and ICT. These are followed by more interdisciplinary themes such as entrepreneurship and climate change and risks. In the last part, there is a quest for a trans-disciplinary approach in which government authorities, business, science, education and NGOs work together. This trans-disciplinary approach is necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations before 2015. This concerns a marked improvement in the area of poverty, hunger, education, womens rights, child mortality, aids and malaria, a sustainable living environment and fair trade. In Africa, particularly, this is an enormous challenge. The symposium will bring together representatives from various world perspectives and continents: government authorities, business, (technical) universities, other educational institutions and NGOs. Together, they are working on sustainable solutions for Africa and the rest of the world. For information and registration please visit the website http://www.lustrum.tudelft.nl/symposium I look forward to welcoming you to the symposium in Delft on 1 and 2 November. Sincerely, Professor Kees Duijvestein Symposium Committee Chair

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I've added you as a friend on Doostang...
by Heath Row 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

I’ve requested to add you as a friend on Doostang, an invite-only career community started at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. You can use Doostang to find a job or internship, network, and access valuable career information from peers and industry professionals. Thanks, Heath Follow this link to accept my friend request. http://www.doostang.com/sign_up2.asp?fid=&invite=D9264A57-2DC4-4E25-8FA8-9B… Doostang members have successfully received offers from: Goldman Sachs, Facebook, HBO, McKinsey, Google, Apple, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Draper Fisher Jurveston, Saatchi & Saatchi, NBC, Morgan Stanley, Chanel, Summit Partners, U.S. Congress, Conde Nast, Nike, D.E. Shaw, World Bank, and hundreds more…

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Google scares me again
by Barry Wellman 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

When Google aggregates different social software types, how is it going to handle the different amounts/kinds of disclosure that the different softwares now permit/forbid. Will it encompass Business software such as Visible Path, Linked In or (cursed be its name), Plaxo. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman For fun -- updating songs, movies and history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php Elvis wouldn't be singing Return to Sender these days _______________________________________________________________________

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Re: [Air-l] internet usage stats
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

US census data goes back that far -- try these sites. /Caroline Robert Kominski & Eric Newburger (1999). Access Denied: Changes in Computer Ownership and Use: 1984-1997. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, Illinois. http://www.census.gov/ population/socdemo/computer/confpap99.pdf I used this source to get numbers from 1984 on. Computers and Internet Use in the United States: 2003. http:// www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:07:01 -0500 (CDT) >From: "Cornish, Sabryna" <sabrynac(a)uic.edu> >Subject: [Air-l] internet usage stats >To: air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org > >Hi everyone--I am seeking internet usage statistics for the U.S. from 1988 >to 1995. The later years are easier to find but I can find nothing on the >earlier years. Any ideas where I can find these? Are these even available? >I've done some initial searches, but no luck. Any help would be much >appreciated! > >Sabryna > >Visiting assistant professor >Acting director of undergraduate Studies >Communication >BSB1148B >312-996-3104 > >_______________________________________________ >The air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org >Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > >Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >http://www.aoir.org/ ---------------------------------------- Caroline Haythornthwaite Associate Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820

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internet usage stats
by Cornish, Sabryna 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

Hi everyone--I am seeking internet usage statistics for the U.S. from 1988 to 1995. The later years are easier to find but I can find nothing on the earlier years. Any ideas where I can find these? Are these even available? I've done some initial searches, but no luck. Any help would be much appreciated! Sabryna Visiting assistant professor Acting director of undergraduate Studies Communication BSB1148B 312-996-3104

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Fwd: RAND survey on Internet self-regulation
by Jeremy Hunsinger 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

> > > RAND Europe is conducting fieldwork for the European Commission on > the evaluation of self- and co-regulation in various online > sectors, looking at social networking organisations such as Bebo > and SecondLife, security and standards institutions including W3C > and IETF, and content regulation including particularly European > self- and co-regulatory institutions. > > We'd be most grateful if AoIR experts took time to participate in > one part of the project, a survey: > > > > <http://web3.rand.org/resurvey/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=3JK663L0368KG> > > > > Note that you do not need to fill in all the questions - you can > simply press 'Next' to skip pages where you need to. It would help > us if you could be very specific in answering question 5. > > > > Our assessment will cover self-regulatory organisations' > efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability in order to identify > conditions under which such institutional arrangements can best > stimulate innovation without compromising safety, security and > fundamental rights. The ultimate aim is to support EC efforts to > further these objectives by initiating and/or mediating self- and > co-regulation. > > The evaluation will be based on documentary, quantitative, elite > interview and electronic survey evidence, analyzed within a logical > framework reflecting existing knowledge of the evolution of self-/ > co- regulation. The findings and recommendations will be validated > by means of a key stakeholder workshop and reported in a form > suitable for wide dissemination and discussion. > > > > > > Thanks > > Chris > > Christopher T. Marsden LL.M. > > Senior Analyst Information Society > > RAND Europe > > Westbrook Centre > > Milton Road > > Cambridge CB4 1YG > > M: +44 797 006 2029 > > F: +44 1223 358 845 > > http://www.rand.org/randeurope/ > > RAND Europe is an independent think tank that serves the public > interest by improving policymaking and finding public-private > solutions to shared problems. Its work is objective and > multidisciplinary. RAND Europe helps European governments, > institutions, and private firms with rigorous, impartial analysis > of the hardest problems they face. RAND Europe also informs public > debate by disseminating its analyses and ideas as a service to the > public. > > > > > This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) > and may contain privileged information. Any unauthorized review, > use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the > intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and > destroy all copies of the original message. > > > jeremy hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu) wiki.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ Learning Inquiry-the journal http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series

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Ethnicity and race in social networking sites
by henry mainsah 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

Hi everyone, I am currently doing research on the use of social networking sites by Norwegian ethnic minority youth. My study focuses on Norwegian social networking sites as well as other popular sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Hi5, all of which are popular among the target group of my study. The methods I use involve in-depth interviews and a discourse analysis of personal profile pages. I am looking at processes of identity construction and the potential of social networking sites as spaces of free expression. I am at the moment trying to update my reading list on the subject, so if anyone has any suggestions on literature related to race and ethnicity in social networking sites, and on the internet in general, I would really appreciate your contribution. Henry

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