To Michael: But what of the technology-mediated serendipitous encounter? Perhaps the issue rests on one's perception of whether the glass is half full or half empty. For example, large-scale social events can be overwhelming affairs for those tending toward the introverted end of the personality scales (a not-uncommon trait amongst us scientific types, yes?). Such tech might facilitate connections that would otherwise not be made. On the other side, RFID badges like Reid describes are certainly no more privacy-compromising than all the rest of our info tech... and not unlike V-Cards or profiles on social network environments like MySpace, et al. Finally, if such badges are opt-in, then the privacy/control issue disappears via choice. To Barry & Ellis: I recently came upon a couple of published studies in which electronic tracking was used to measure and analyze social networks in physical space. Unfortunately, these articles were outside my immediate lit search needs so I didn't keep them. If I remember correctly, one was at MIT and involved several hundred students and staff volunteers who were tracked by their cell phones. I don't have much more detail than that as I was skimming abstracts. In any case, some researchers are, in fact, finding practical use for RFID and other electronic tracking in human subjects (since, of course, such tracking has been done for years with animal subjects, especially in the wild). And, Ellis, wouldn't mapping activity in physical space would have some corresponding value to your work in Social Geometry... realworld vs. theoretical spaces and all. Finally, Social Psych 101 teaches that proximity is a major factor in liking... a premise that could be further validated with RFID. Jonathan -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Michael Zimmer Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 1:40 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org; wrc@tcfir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] RFID And thus you lost all control to selectively distribute information about yourself. (short of wrapping your badge in tin foil) On Aug 25, 2006, at 3:08 PM, Dr. W. Reid Cornwell wrote:

Barry and Ellis,

For the last year, we have been looking at experimental designs that incorporate RFID.

I attended a conference where the badges were RFID and when I approached someone that shared my interests (logged at registration) the badges not only recorded the data but beeped on both badges to inform us that we were kindred spirits. It was awesome. Can you imagine this for group research?

Reid

________________________________

Dr. W. Reid Cornwell The Center For Internet Research P.O. Box 6369 Breckenridge, CO

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Dear Martin - Yes I think that's a good point. Lots of available literature cites anecdotes because those are often what researchers find in abundance within their online populations. However that depends on what what kinds of data you are looking for. If you are looking for evidence of linkages between particular types of groups there is a large body of research on weblink analysis. (also see the link to the cybermetric group in my email signature) Thelwahl, M. (2004). "Using Search Engines and Web Crawlers for Web Research [online]." Thelwall, M. (2004). Link Analysis: An Information Science Approach. San Diego, Academic Press. Thelwall, M. (2003). "Web use and peer connectivity metrics for academic Web sites." Journal of Information Science 29(1): 11-20. Park, H. W. and M. Thelwall (2003). "Hyperlink analyses of the World Wide Web: A review." Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 8(4). Especially this last review will help locate social network analysis within weblink analytical theory. Denise N. Rall, PhD thesis in revision, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA Tuesdays: Room T2.17, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 or Mobile 0427 245 497 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com