- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

suggestions?
by Charles Ess 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

Hi AoIRists, I've been asked by a local TV station to comment on a story they're doing titled "Techno Detox". They have one volunteer (so far) to engage in the following: > We are looking for individuals who are "addicted" to technology (iPod, cell > phone, texting, email, facebook/myspace, etc) > We would like to have those individuals tell us why they love their gadgets > and then have them go cold turkey for a few days. We'll check in to see how > they're doing and then wrap up at the end of the week as they are allowed to > once again use those coveted items. > Now, failure can also be part of the story. We just want people who are > willing to give it an honest effort, and candidly tell us about their > experience. 1. I know that someone(s) at AoIR in Brisbane mentioned a similar sort of process, but done (if memory serves - always a shaky assumption) as an academic study. If anyone on the list who was also at AoIR in Brisbane can remember this conversation - can you please contact me offlist with the details of the study? 2. I have a number of qualms about participating in the story as a local "expert" - but hope that by doing so I might be able to defuse some of the prevailing dichotomies that seem to shape reporting on media (beginning, in this instance, by using the disease model of addiction as the primary frame). Stated another way, I'm hoping to provide more informed and nuanced commentary that would help both the reporter and the audience move away from these sorts of notions of technology (good or bad? cure or disease? blessing or curse, etc.) - notions that fuel the sorts of "moral panic" reporting on new media (currently, e.g., connections between violent video games and recent episodes of violence in schools, etc.) So ... does anyone have good research relevant to these concerns and the phenomena in question that you would recommend as useful background reading as I prepare for the interview? Many thanks in advance - charles Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21> Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Information Ethics Fellow, 2006-07, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, UW-Milwaukee Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org> Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers <www.aoir.org> Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes <http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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Re: [Air-l] Reactions to PhD blogs at conference
by Pamela Rosengren 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

Mary, Denise and other AoIR-ers I was another one who laughed during Mel's presentation. I was also one who was interviewed for Jean's Flickr presentation and am glad she picked someone else's family room to illustrate how we Flickr folks live. ;) (She did take a photo of mine.) Knowing that was Jean's blog with the word count obsession post, knowing her sense of humour, and knowing she is due to submit her thesis shortly, I happily laughed and kept laughing even when she said "it's not funny". Jean is also an editor and would be enforcing word counts for other people all the time, so there is that side of it too. I agree with Denise's comment about the fonts. They can be so expressive. Clancy Ratliff's "Culture Cat" blog on Rhetoric and Feminism used to have a wonderful retro font called "Beauty School Dropout" for the title. (I'm into fonts so I know things like that.) I don't know why Clancy changed it. (Culture Cat is no longer a PhD blog so Mel didn't present it this time.) Mary it is a pity you had to catch that flight and couldn't be there for the whole session. It was the liveliest session of all that I went to, and afterwards as we broke up into conversational groups to leave the room, the pitch of the conversation was more like a party than a conference. I don't think there was any animosity. Pam Pamela Rosengren Graduate Student, Internet Studies, Curtin University of Technology

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The value of creative expression outside pedagogical contexts
by David Brake 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

One of the most interesting findings (for me at least) of the last Pew survey on weblogging was that the top motivation for it was the expression of creativity. I have been trying to find a literature that talks about the importance of being able to express one's self creatively that doesn't mainly relate either to education or to creativity as a way of gaining access to a group with status (eg fan creativity). It seems a lot of the work by scholars like Henry Jenkins agrees tacitly that the Internet is giving people who might not have other avenues for creativity a chance to be creative and this is good but I don't recall coming across anyone who elaborates on this except Willis, P. (1990). Common culture : symbolic work at play in the everyday cultures of the young. Buckingham, Open University Press and (in passing) Atton, C. (2001) "The Mundane and Its Reproduction in Alternative Media", Journal of Mundane Behavior, 2 (1). http://www.mundanebehavior.org/issues/v2n1/atton.htm There's also Rodríguez, C. (2001) Fissures in the Mediascape : An International Study of Citizens' Media, Hampton Press, Cresskill, N.J. and others writing about alternative media but they mostly concentrate on the political benefits of being able to express yourself. I am more interested in broader sociological issues. Anyway, any ideas? an --- David Brake, Doctoral Student in Media and Communications, London School of Economics & Political Science <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/study/ mPhilPhDMediaAndCommunications.htm> Also see http://davidbrake.org/ (home page), http://blog.org/ (personal weblog) and http://get.to/lseblog (academic groupblog) Author of Dealing With E-Mail - <http://davidbrake.org/ dealingwithemail/> callto://DavidBrake (Skype.com's Instant Messenger and net phone)

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Second Life
by Bonnie Nardi 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Hi, Does anyone know of research on using Second Life for work applications? Thanks. -- Bonnie Bonnie A. Nardi School of Information and Computer Sciences University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-3425 (949) 824-6534 www.artifex.org/~bonnie/

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Fwd: ::fc-announce:: CfP OURMedia 2007
by Barry Saunders 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

sorry for Xposting ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ellie Rennie <ERennie(a)groupwise.swin.edu.au> Date: Oct 3, 2006 10:02 AM Subject: ::fc-announce:: CfP OURMedia 2007 To: announce(a)fibreculture.org Call for Papers OURMedia VI International Conference Sydney, Australia, April 9-13 2007 'Sustainable Futures: Roles and Challenges for Community, Alternative and Citizens' Media in the 21st century' Until recently, media participation occurred almost exclusively within the sphere of community and alternative media. Now it is a widespread phenomenon. Online mainstream news sites encourage readers to participate through blogs while others, like OhmyNews in South Korea, are substantially written by readers. Rupert Murdoch purchased MySpace with the intention of turning 'a free social network into a colossal marketing machine' (Wired, Jul 2006). What is the future of community and alternative media within this landscape? For over five decades community media advocates have campaigned for access to media platforms and promoted media literacy as part of a strategy to give voice to underrepresented groups. With the rise of broadband Internet, the core community media philosophies of access and participation have been realised on a greater scale than ever before. Media participation has now spread beyond the community-based, not-for-profit realm and into the commercial and government sectors. The cultural transformation taking place has profound implications for audiences, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Is there a social benefit in the rise of user-led media? What becomes of alternative, or citizens' media when media participation is a 'mainstream' activity? Do we need community governance or will commercial models prevail? Research into 'citizens' media' (radical media, médias libres, participatory media, tactical media, community media, and grassroots media) can assist us to understand the cultural changes taking place and the implications for the public sphere. This conference will draw together expertise from theorists, policy-makers and develop viable pathways that ensure the sustainability of citizens' media. For a full CfP and other information visit the OURMediaVI webpage: www.ourmedia07.net or contact Juan Salazar: j.salazar(a)uws.edu.au Ellie Rennie: erennie(a)swin.edu.au Abstracts due October 31, 2006 Dr Ellie Rennie Research Fellow Institute for Social Research ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation +61 3 9214 5303 0404 808 900 Education is only the beginning. Let's get on with it. Swinburne University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D NOTICE This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee. They may contain information that is privileged or protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, printing, copying or use is strictly prohibited. The University does not warrant that this e-mail and any attachments are secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses or defects before opening them. If you have received this transmission in error, please contact us on +61 3 9214 8000 and delete it immediately from your system. We do not accept liability in connection with computer virus, data corruption, delay, interruption, unauthorised access or unauthorised amendment. Please consider the environment before printing this email. _______________________________________________ ::fibreculture::announcements:: To subscribe or unsubscribe from fibreculture announce, please visit the List Info page: http://fibreculture.org/mailman/listinfo/announce_fibreculture.org Fibreculture website: http://www.fibreculture.org -- Barry Saunders QUT sessional academic http://creativeindustries.qut.com http://d-notice.net

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Reactions to PhD blogs at conference
by Mary-Helen Ward 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Hi all I was in the session at the conference on Friday when Mel Gregg showed some screen shots of blogs that are kept by academics and by PhD candidates. I was quite surprised at the reactions in the room - a lot of people laughed at the things that were blogged by the PhD students, and even when someone sitting near the front called out "It's not funny!" the laughter continued. I also thought that I discerned some anger - or some other strong emotion - around me (near the back). I'm doing a PhD on the process of doing a PhD, with a group of blogging candidates (myself included), so I was very interested in these reactions. Unfortunately I had to leave to catch a flight before that group of papers had finished so I couldn't ask any of the people in the room why they had reacted that way to the screenshots. I'd be really interested if anyone who was there could reflect on those reactions - either here on the list or privately if you think that might be more appropriate. Thanks in advance M-H

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Conference Photos
by Marj Kibby 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Hi all, My photos are on Flickr Conference - http://www.flickr.com/photos/marj_k/sets/72157594306926167/ Brisbane city - http://www.flickr.com/photos/marj_k/sets/72157594307011810/ Birds - http://www.flickr.com/photos/marj_k/sets/72157594308079187/ Flora - http://www.flickr.com/photos/marj_k/sets/72157594308228102/ A wonderful conference, held in a very beautiful part of the world. Cheers, Marj Dr Marjorie Kibby, Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture Faculty of Education and Arts The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia Marj.Kibby(a)newcastle.edu.au +61 2 49216604

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CfP 31 Oct 2006: Electronic J of Communication - Communicative Ecologies
by Marcus Foth 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Reminder CALL FOR PAPERS -- closes 31 Oct 2006 Electronic Journal of Communication (EJC) Special Issue: Communicative Ecologies We invite the submission of conceptual or empirical (quantitative or qualitative) work on the theme of communicative ecologies in any place-based setting. The special issue is scheduled for publication in mid 2007. Deadline for completed manuscripts: 31 Oct 2006. Submissions should be electronic (.doc or .rtf format only, please avoid .pdf and .html). Inquiries about possible topics are welcome. Submissions and inquiries should be directed to the guest editors: see below. The concept of ecology has a lot to offer communication research. We can define a communicative ecology as a milieu of agents who are connected in various ways by various exchanges (Tacchi, Slater, & Hearn, 2003). Broadly, it refers to the context in which the communication process occurs. Such an ecology can thus be thought of as comprising a number of mediated and unmediated forms of communication. In this context, use of the term is closely aligned to research in the field of media ecology, and is thus informed by the early work of Christine Nystrom (1973) and, more recently, David Altheide’s “The Ecology of Communication” (1995). Our particular interest in the concept stems from our study of people in particular places with access to many different media. For example, we have studied communication patterns in inner-city apartment buildings and communities in rural areas. Thus we conceive of a communicative ecology as having three layers. A technological layer which consists of the devices and connecting media that enable communication and interaction. A social layer which consists of people and social modes of organising those people – which might include, for example, everything from friendship groups to more formal community organizations, as well as companies or legal entities. And finally, a discursive layer which is the content of communication – that is, the ideas or themes that constitute the known social universe that the ecology operates in. Using an ecological metaphor opens up a number of interesting possibilities for analyzing place-based communication (e.g., in neighbourhoods, apartment buildings, or – on a larger scale – suburbs and cities). It can help us to better understand the ways social activities are organized, the ways people define and experience their environments, and the implications for social order and organization (Altheide, 1995, p. 9). For example, in analyzing an apartment complex, an ecological metaphor might suggest first examining the features of the population in the apartment and mapping the patterns of engagement within that population. In addition we could ask how people relate to different places within the apartment, and how this interaction is mediated by the use of technology. Do different groups form around a coffee shop? Do email or cell phone connections define other ecologies? Then we might also be able to study transactions between different ecologies. The ecological metaphor focuses on whole of system interactions. It also enables us to define boundaries of any given ecology, and to examine how the coherence of that boundary and the stability of each ecology is maintained. What topics of conversation define insiders and outsiders in the ecology? Finally, it also opens up the question of the social sustainability of a communicative ecology. Similar sorts of questions could of course be asked of any human communication phenomena in any place-based context. http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/calls/hearnfoth.htm Guest Editors: Professor Greg Hearn g.hearn(a)qut.edu.au Dr Marcus Foth m.foth(a)qut.edu.au -- Dr Marcus Foth BMultimedia BCompSc(Hons) MA PhD m.foth(a)qut.edu.au - http://www.vrolik.de/ Australian Postdoctoral Fellow Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology (CRICOS No. 00213J) Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia Phone +61 7 3138 8772 - Fax 8195 - Room Z6-511 http://ici.qut.edu.au/

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call for book chapters - 3D virtual worlds
by Jan Fernback 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Hello all, Here's a call for book chapters from: Don Heider Associate Dean Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland (301)405-2432 dheider(a)jmail.umd.edu Submissions wanted for a new scholarly edited volume on the social, cultural, economic, or political life in 3D virtual worlds. Send a 1-2 page proposal describing your piece in detail. Finished chapters will be expected at the end of January, 2007. All methodologies and disciplinary backgrounds welcome. Send your proposals as an attached word document to: Don Heider – dheider(a)jmail.umd.edu. ________________________________________________________ Jan Fernback, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Director of the Master of Arts Program Dept. of Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media Temple University 2020 N. 13th Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 215-204-3041 fernback(a)temple.edu ________________________________________________________

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open call netporn conference
by Marije Janssen 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Open Call for Contributions deadline November 30 In June 2007 the second international academic conference on internet pornography will take place in Amsterdam. We are currently looking for academics, journalist and artists that are working on this subject and would like to present their work for an international audience. In October of 2005 the Institute of Network Cultures, in collaboration with Katrien Jacobs and Matteo Pasquinelli, hosted the first edition: 'The Art & Politics of Netporn.' Some of the speakers were: Mark Dery, Mikita Brottman and Susanna Paasonen. Subjects ranged from the sexual grotesque to feminist matters to realcore and to the issue of online censorship. For more information about this conference you can visit our website: www.networkcultures.org/netporn. For our second conference writers, critics and people from the industry will talk about their work, research and findings in the field. Next to that, there will be an exhibition and a night with artistic performances. The topics for the next conference will be: - the revolution of alt pornography - porn niches and trans gender - globalization of porn and the influence of ethnic minorities - politics of netporn: censorship, new rights and nightmares. If you think your work is suitable, please send us an abstract of approx. 200 words before November 30 to: marije(a)networkcultures.org The first conference was very successfull and made it possible for people to meet each other and exchange views on this topic that is still a taboo. We are looking forward to a second edition with fresh faces and new insights. For more information or questions: marije(a)networkcultures.org marije janssen institute of network cultures marije(a)networkcultures.org t: +31 (0)20 5951866 f: +31 (0)20 5951840 www.networkcultures.org

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