Internet Studies

Contesting Internet Governance: Global Dissent and Disparities in the Management of Cyberspace Resources

by David Drissel

Search Engines Matter: From Educating Users Towards Engaging with Online Health Information Practices

by Astrid Mager

Mager, A. (2012) Search Engines Matter: From educating users towards engaging with online health information practices, Policy & Internet 4(2), special issue on eHealth. (free download with guest account)

While the internet is often discussed as empowering or endangering patients due to broadening access to medical and... more While the internet is often discussed as empowering or endangering patients due to broadening access to medical and health-related information, little is known about the way patients actually get informed about medical conditions and how the technology shapes their practices. This article draws on 40 user observations and 40 qualitative interviews to explore how users employ the web to obtain knowledge about a chronic disease in the Austrian context. Following concepts from the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) it elaborates how users’ individual medical preferences and search engines’ mechanisms of pre-filtering information co-shape online health information practices. This analysis exemplifies that search engines are no passive intermediaries, but rather actively shape how users browse through, select and evaluate health information in the context of their own bodies of knowledge. Accordingly, new skills are required on the part of users, but also on the part of medical professionals and policy makers. Both policy makers and doctors are invited to engage with users’ highly individual search practices and establish more dialogue-oriented and technology-focused health policy measures, rather than trying to educate users with standardized quality criteria for websites not responding to users’ online routines and needs, as will be finally concluded.

Evers-Nordin2012-Cyberjaya-WP-2012-05-20

by Hans-Dieter Evers

Multihoming Support based on Mobile Node Protocol LIN6

by Arifumi Matsumoto

Exploring the Democratic Potential of Online Social Networking: The Scope and Limitations of e-Participation

by Panos Panagiotopoulos

In Communications of the Association for Information Systems 30 (16), 2012

Access to the article is without charge following the link below to aisnet.org

The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly... more The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research.

Taking the Copyfight Online: Comparing the Copyright Debate in Congressional Hearings, in Newspapers, and on the Web

by Bill Herman

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 354–368, April 2012

This article examines the rhetoric around copyright and the regulation of digital rights management (DRM) from 2003 to... more This article examines the rhetoric around copyright and the regulation of digital rights management (DRM) from 2003 to 2006 in congressional hearings, in major newspapers, and on the most prominent relevant websites. The article describes a new combination of methods for identifying a set of online documents to compare with offline documents via content analysis. These three media present very different views of the copyright debate. Hearings present a rough balance of both coalitions' messages. Newspapers lean slightly toward stronger fair use but have little coverage. The online debate features a deluge of strong fair use arguments. These findings highlight different communication strategies and suggest broader lessons about the changing nature of policy advocacy and the policymaking process.

Munteanu, D. G. (2012, forthcoming). Images of Memory and Memories of Images: Suggestions for Exploring Idiosyncratic Visual Environments in Selected Photographic (Micro)Blogs. Beyond Representation: Photography, Humans & Computers, 24-25 May 2012, Centre for Media & Culture Research, London South Bank University.

by Dinu Munteanu

MySpace: Prestige och Cyberkonformitet

by Inès Chadi

Målet med studien var att mäta konformitetseffekter på Internet. Detta undersöktes via webbsidan MySpace, ett... more Målet med studien var att mäta konformitetseffekter på Internet. Detta undersöktes via webbsidan MySpace, ett community på Internet som uppmärksammats bl.a. för dess breda utbud av musikartister.  Med studien ville man även undersöka om MySpace har blivit en auktoritet som kan skapa prestigeeffekter på musik. För studierna gjordes två experiment, ett on-lineexperiment för att mäta den sociala påverkan på MySpace. Samt ett klassikt prestigeexperiment för att mäta om MySpace anses vara en auktoritet eller inte. För båda experimenten fann man signifikanta resultat där man tydligt kunde påvisa social påverkan på MySpace och att MySpace anses vara en auktoritet då prestigeeffekter förekom.

E-Business Model: A Content Based Taxonomy of Literature

by Gandolfo Dominici

Dominici G., 2012. E-BUSINESS MODEL: A CONTENT BASED TAXONOMY OF LITERATURE . International Journal of Management and Administrative Sciences. 1(7): 10-20.

The rapid worldwide growth of e-commerce and the resulting great interest on the digital business, caused a... more The rapid worldwide growth of e-commerce and the resulting great interest on the digital business, caused a proliferation of contributes by academics and practitioners, that identified
by different points of view, the fundamental concepts, codes and functions of e-business models.
The quantity and the variety of approaches adopted made the concept of e-business model fuzzy and vague, with little consensus about its ontology and definition. The relevance of the topic asserts a claim for the classification of contributions as a first step to a general definition of the concept of e-business model. This paper provides an integrated literature review of contemporary academic writings to ascertain and classify the various approaches to the study of e-business models. The literature examined is classified in a content based taxonomy which highlights the relevant characteristics of e-business model, emerging from the analysis of literature. The framework proposed points out some significant implications that are a first step for further research leading to a research agenda for further investigation on this topic.

Griffiths, M.D. (2012). Facebook addiction: Concerns, criticisms and recommendations. Psychological Reports, 110, 2, 518-520.

by Mark Griffiths

This paper provides a brief critique of the Facebook addiction research field in relation to the Bergen Facebook... more This paper provides a brief critique of the Facebook addiction research field in relation to the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale developed by An- dreaessen and colleagues (2012). Just like the term “Internet addiction,” the term “Facebook addiction” may already be obsolete because there are many activities that a person can engage in on the Facebook website (e.g., messaging friends, play- ing games like Farmville, and gambling). What is needed is a new psychometric scale examining potential addiction to a particular online application (i.e., social networking) rather than activity on a particular website (i.e., Facebook).

Demetrovics Z, Urba ́n R, Nagygyo ̈rgy K, Farkas J, Griffiths MD, et al. (2012) The Development of the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ). PLoS ONE 7(5): e36417. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036417

by Mark Griffiths

Background: Online gaming has become increasingly popular. However, this has led to concerns that these games might... more Background: Online gaming has become increasingly popular. However, this has led to concerns that these games might induce serious problems and/or lead to dependence for a minority of players. Aim: The aim of this study was to uncover and operationalize the components of problematic online gaming.
Methods: A total of 3415 gamers (90% males; mean age 21 years), were recruited through online gaming websites. A combined method of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied. Latent profile analysis was applied to identify persons at-risk.
Results: EFA revealed a six-factor structure in the background of problematic online gaming that was also confirmed by a CFA. For the assessment of the identified six dimensions – preoccupation, overuse, immersion, social isolation, interpersonal conflicts, and withdrawal – the 18-item Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ) proved to be exceedingly suitable. Based on the latent profile analysis, 3.4% of the gamer population was considered to be at high risk, while another 15.2% was moderately problematic.
Conclusions: The POGQ seems to be an adequate measurement tool for the differentiated assessment of gaming related problems on six subscales.

Virtual Ethnography- an Approach to studying Diaspora Culture on the Internet.

by sari pekkola

Paper to be presented at 10th Conference European Sociological  Association. Sociology in turbulent times, Geneva, Switzerland,  7th - 10th September 2011. RN07 Sociology of Culture. 

The Case for the Slow Internet

by Jennifer Proctor

Part of In Media Res's theme week on Interactive Documentaries.

«Una tercera via… digital: noves tecnologies i creativitat a la Xina contemporània (A Third Way...Digitally: New Technologies and Creativity in Contemporary China)

by Xavier Ortells

The economic and social reform in China, which began at the start of the 1980s, has coincided with a global revolution... more The economic and social reform in China, which began at the start of the 1980s, has coincided with a global revolution in the creation and dissemination of content. As well as contributing to its opening to the exterior and its spectacular economic growth, new technologies in China have brought with them innovative possibilities for negotiating a very sensitive social and political context, characterised by restrictions on platforms for expression and content. Both new communication media and formats (blogs, chats, forums) and digital image creation technologies (3D, virtual reality, augmented reality) offer users, artists and researchers flexibility and encourage them to find new and creative ways of interacting with society. This article highlights the impact of these new platforms and technologies in terms of two aspects: on the one hand, the dovetailing of ICTs’ horizontality and flexibility with the speed of the processes of social and political change in contemporary China; and, on the other, the conditions and opportunities for social negotiation of history coming from governmental nationalism, which is occupied with an intense process of Late Imperial revisionism.

The effects of Facebook use on civic participation attitudes and behaviour: A social network study (DPhil research proposal)

by Mark Dix

Unpublished DPhil research proposal

This research proposal suggests a network analysis approach to study the effects of web communication on civic... more This research proposal suggests a network analysis approach to study the effects of web communication on civic participation.

A three-phase mixed methods research design is proposed to examine the effect of supplementary communication via the social networking site Facebook, on the structure (quantity) and content (quality) of social ties within a network of citizens engaged in health and social care policymaking.

Subsequently, it is proposed that the network variables of tie structure and content are tested in an affective capacity against the participatory attitudes and behaviour of networked individuals.

By reframing the study of web use and civic participation under a network theoretical framework, when executed, the proposed study will add to the existing literature in the field through recognition of the mediative capacity of relational ties in the formation of participatory capital.

It is suggested that it is through their effect on relational tie structure and content within citizen participation networks, that social networking sites such as Facebook affect participatory attitudes and behaviour.

To set a critical context for the proposed study, a final qualitative phase of research is suggested to examine the professional power structures impacting upon participatory agency.

Internet social support groups as moral agents: the ethical dynamics of HIV+ status disclosure: The ethical dynamics of HIV+ status disclosure

by David Rier

Sociology of Health and Illness 29(7):1043-58; 2007

This paper examines how, on Internet HIV/AIDS support groups, participants discuss the ethics of disclosing HIV... more This paper examines how, on Internet HIV/AIDS support groups, participants discuss the ethics of disclosing HIV seropositivity to partners. The data consist of all mentions of disclosure culled from over 16,000 pages overall of posts from 16 different groups, hosted on seven separate sites. The paper focuses on two main
questions. First, apart from providing support and information, did the groups also debate moral dilemmas (and, despite groups’ common perception as ‘safe spaces’ for non-judgmental exchanges, did these discussions include moral judgments and conflicts)? Secondly, did use of this new medium generate a new, alternative ethical discourse, or merely replicate existing discourses? The data demonstrate that online support groups did engage in debating, and trying verbally to enforce, certain views of the ethics of seropositivity disclosure. The most common view advocated full disclosure, though a range of positions existed.
Unlike with most online support groups described elsewhere, these discussions often included harshly-expressed moral judgments. The groups did not generate a truly new, alternative discourse, but served as clearinghouses for and transmitters of existing ‘off-line’ discourses, both mainstream and alternative.
Implications and limitations of the present study, and areas for further research, are discussed.

Keywords: Internet, support group, ethics, HIV

Gendering the Internet: Claims, Controversies and Cultures

by Liesbet van Zoonen

Feminist theory and information technology

by Liesbet van Zoonen

Feminist Internet Studies

by Liesbet van Zoonen

“Communicate, communicate, communicate” - building ethical subjectivities within polyamory

by Daniel Cardoso

Paper presented at the Sexual Cultures Conference, London, 2012

Joint Panel with Meg Barker, Christian Klesse and Jamie Heckert

Though explicitly non-monogamous relationships are anything but new, the last 20 years have seen the rise and... more Though explicitly non-monogamous relationships are anything but new, the last 20 years have seen the rise and development of another identity: polyamory. This new identity brings with it a focus on feelings and emotions, and seeks to build itself around the ethical notions of frankness and communication. But what is frank communication, how is it supposed to be deployed and, most of all, how does it work in constituting an ethical practice and subjectivity? From the analysis of the conversations on the oldest mailing list on polyamory, we consider how this relates to Foucault’s writing of the self as an ethopoietic practice based on parrhesia - the courage of truth. By focusing on feelings, polyamorous subjects seek to improve themselves and be more autonomous by being able to better control and modify those same feelings.