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AOIR Newsletter: events & news
by Andrew Cox 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Hello, Further to Karine's posting of a couple of weeks ago - we are still looking for your items to include in the second AOIR Newsletter * Events - up coming conferences or seminars * News - such as PhD openings, calls for papers etc * Links Just email details to me or Karine Barzilai-Nahon (karineb(a)u.washington.edu) -- Dr Andrew Cox Department of Information Studies University of Sheffield United Kingdom email: a.m.cox(a)sheffield.ac.uk http://www.shef.ac.uk/is/staff/cox.html

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blogs & politics research
by Emily Metzgar 31 May '07

31 May '07

Dear Colleagues, I am a doctoral student in media and public affairs at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and my research focuses on the impact of blogs on state politics around the country. A quick profile of my research is available here: http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/2007/04/queen_of_the_st.html As you may know, a lot of research has focused on the impact of the nations big-name, A-list blogs on American politics. Stories about the impact of those blogs range from the downfall of Trent Lott to Dan Rathers memo-gate to George Allens more recent Macaca moment. But to date, no one has considered the impact of blogs at the state level. My observations about the impact of bloggers on state policy and politics in Louisiana have triggered my interest in looking at that dynamic in states around the country. To that end, I am requesting your help in compiling data for my research. I have prepared an online survey for both bloggers and blog readers to complete. The survey is available online from today through June 30 at the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=mb2MRtsLhdFv5NW9LLmdiA%3d%3d I would be grateful if you would: First, take a few minutes to complete the survey yourself, whether you are a die-hard blogger or a casual blog reader; Second, forward this email to your colleagues urging them to both complete the survey and forward the link to others; Third, contact me if you have any questions, concerns or input regarding this research endeavor. I have created a blog (http://stateblogresearch.blogspot.com) that will track this research as it progresses and I would be happy to keep you posted on this project as it moves forward. All feedback should be directed to stateblog(a)gmail.com. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. Best regards, Emily Metzgar Doctoral student Manship School of Mass Communication Louisiana State University emetzg1(a)lsu.edu 318.572.0531 -- phone 866.319.8460 -- fax

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Short list of new PhD's for AoIR Newsletter
by Denise N. Rall 31 May '07

31 May '07

Dear AIR-ers - I occurred to me that some of us have recently *finished* our PhD's (whew) and we should announce these in the newsletter. I think Charlie Balch is another one of the tribe. Please email the Graduate Student coordinator, Ted Coopman (sorry Ted) but you must be the right person!!! coopman(a)u.washington.edu and he will get these into the June newsletter. Rall, D. N. (2007). Locating four pathways to internet scholarship. Ph.D. thesis. School of Environmental Science and Management. Southern Cross University. Lismore, NSW. Australia. Denise N. Rall, PhD Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Tues: Room T2.17, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/ Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing. http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

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Re: [Air-l] last.fm group
by Bruce Mason 31 May '07

31 May '07

On 29/05/07, Nancy Baym <nbaym(a)ku.edu> wrote: > > >The > discussions of this on the forums is interesting, because some people > are really offended by the fact that others do it, while still others > find it very hard to understand why it matters. It also leads to all > kinds of value judgements about the 'right' way to listen to music > and the right to judge how others' listen. > That is a fascinating little wrinkle; it gives an interesting insight into emergent, contested group norms. The profile snippets you quoted indicate that the dimensions of the debate are pretty well known albeit, pretty well known to those who actively participate in the site rather than just scrobbling music. Although I don't think there's anything surprising going on, it does look like a great example of how group norms emerge, are contested and are expressed on a web2.0 site. Relatedly, I came across a bit of net art based on LastFM recently. The artist had created a set of characters via the wiki and through scrobbling a bunch of music over 24 hours managed to create an imaginary dialogue. This of course hints at one of the challenges of looking at this stuff: the wide variety of idiosyncratic uses to which it is put. Bruce

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Media technology and sexuality: a symposium 15 June sussex, UK
by Kathleen O'Riordan 31 May '07

31 May '07

Media Technology and Sexuality: A Symposium followed by a drinks reception and launch for the book 'Queer Online' 15th June 2007 - 10.30am - 7.00pm Hosted by the Centre for Research into Material Digital Culture, Department of Media and Film, University of Sussex 10.00am coffee and registration 10.30am - 1.00pm Panel one: Chaired by Caroline Bassett Queer theories and cybersubjects: intersecting figures Kate O'Riordan, Department of Media and Film, University of Sussex Belonging through violence: Belonging, erase and performativity in queer migrant community Adi Kuntsman, Department of Sociology, University of Lancaster Life outside the latex, HIV, Sex and the Online Barebacking Community Sharif Mowlabocus, Department of Media and Film, University of Sussex 1.00pm-2.00pm lunch 2.00pm-4.30pm Panel two: Chaired by Sally Munt The techno-politics of everyday life: Queerying sexual and gender identities Irmi Karl, Department of Computing Mathematical & Information Sciences, University of Sussex Computer Cross-Dressing: Queering the Virtual Subject Debra Ferreday, Institute for Cultural Research, University of Lancaster No Fauxxx - New Queer Altporn Feona Attwood, Department of Sheffield Hallam University 17.00-19.00 Reception and book launch - Queer Online, Peter Lang, 2007 ------- All welcome but numbers are limited. To register a place, email Vanessa Sammut on: V.A.Sammut(a)sussex.ac.uk Please note there will be a £15 registration fee.

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Digital Fiction
by Niran Abbas 31 May '07

31 May '07

>Hi Everyone > >Does anyone know of projects in the area of digital creative writing >(digital fiction) from a qualitative perspective? > thanks Niran ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Niran Bahjat-Abbas Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies (Digital Media) RM: T814 020 85472000 EXT: 62384 Kingston University School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Penrhyn Road Centre, Penrhyn Road, Kingston, Surrey KT1 2EE MA in Digital Media Programme Director http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/postgraduate/digital_media/index.shtml _________________________________________________________________ Could you be the guest MSN Movies presenter? Click Here to Audition http://www.lightscameraaudition.co.uk

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Re: [Air-l] last.fm group
by Tanya Rabourn 31 May '07

31 May '07

On 5/29/07, Nancy Baym <nbaym(a)ku.edu> wrote: > which speaks to the notion that some Last.fm users are policing the > system looking for suspected cheaters and calling them to account for > what they perceive as unfeasible numbers of listens. Months ago I remember one such user pointing out that a few had started to game the system by creating 30 sec. mp3's resulting in more plays over a given time period than would be technically possible. I found it interesting that they were willing to put that much effort in to getting those counts up. -Tanya

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Psychological profiling via metadata
by Tom Shelley 31 May '07

31 May '07

Hi guys, I'm really interested in finding out more about what we can learn about someone's psychology from their metadata. A recent discussion on this list pointed to this research on 'What your choice of mp3s says about you'. Which garners personal information from Last.fm - http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/02/personality-secrets-in-your-mp3-player.php .<http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/02/personality-secrets-in-your-mp3-player.php> I'm sure that tag clouds in flickr, OPML data from your RSS feed reader and groups joined on Facebook could say a lot about you. Now Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, is saying that he thinks in the future Google will be able to make career choices for you from your data. Are there any other studies on psychological profiling via metadata? Can anyone think of papers saying how a 'personality algorithm' would work? The ethical issues arising are enormous, but how far do you think this can go? Is a Stumbleupon for your entire life, which constantly learns from your data, possible? Thanks, Tom -- Tom Shelley Project Red Stripe Tel : + 44 (0) 782 441 5491 team blog : www.projectredstripe.com/blog personal blog : www.fedoralreserve.wordpress.com

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Facebook newbie thoughts( will check archive)
by Peter Timusk 30 May '07

30 May '07

The question for me at the moment with facebook becomes why am I now allowed to view my old high school friend's recent friends? This is something totally new. I can create miles of gossip if I want. but whose political or social agenda would want me to see this? Was this privacy invasion why facebook was created or a side effect of the main reason. Interesting topics could be studied such as mass movements for instance of hockey fans clubs, or peace groups, and after studying some classic network theory this past term in graduate school I am very interested in the potential of this networking.. I guess I must now admit web 2.0 exists. sorry for using your bandwidth I will check the archives now for facebook research previously discussed. Peter Timusk, B.Math statistics (2002), B.A. legal studies (2006) Carleton University Systems Science Graduate student, University of Ottawa (2006-2007). just trying to stay linear. Read by hundreds of lurkers every week.

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Facebook research symposium - London Nov 15th
by Neil Selwyn 30 May '07

30 May '07

** Apologies for Cross-posting ** Poke 1.0 - a Facebook social research symposium A half-day social research symposium organised by the London Knowledge Lab, University of London, UK Thursday 15th November 2007 This social research symposium will allow academics who are researching the 'Facebook' social networking site to meet and exchange ideas. Researchers are welcome from the fields of sociology, media, communication & cultural studies, information science, education, politics, psychology, geography and any other sphere of 'internet research'. PhD and post-doctoral researchers are especially welcome, as are researchers considering Facebook as a potential area of research. It is intended that there will be five or six research papers presented as well as plenty of time for discussion and face-to-face networking. Topics for discussion will include: * Empirical studies of Facebook users and Facebook uses; * Issues of ethics and access when researching Facebook; * Other methodological issues when researching Facebook; * The use of Facebook as a social research tool; * The future of Facebook research - emerging trends and practices. The symposium will be free of charge but spaces will be limited and allocated on an RSVP first-come-first-served basis. If you wish to attend then email Neil Selwyn (n.selwyn(a)ioe.ac.uk) to reserve a place by Friday 31st August 2007. If you wish to present a research paper then email an outline abstract of 500 words to Neil Selwyn (n.selwyn(a)ioe.ac.uk) by Tuesday 31st July 2007. Accepted presenters will be informed by Friday August 31st 2007. The symposium will take place between 13.00pm to 17.30 pm on Thursday 15th November 2007 in the London Knowledge Lab (located in the Bloomsbury/ Holburn area of central London).

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