Social Study of Information & Communication Technology

Beyond “Dudecore”? Challenging Gendered and “Raced” Technologies Through Media Activism

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

This article follows media activists trying to transform the media system by broadening access to technology and... more This article follows media activists trying to transform the media system by broadening access to technology and skills. These activists intend for tech- nological engagement to be compatible with a range of social identities, but their hopes are not always achieved. It is difficult to cultivate forms of technical affinity and expertise not associated with White masculinity, though the activists are more successful with regard to inclusion of women than of people of color. This case study provides an opportunity to analyze how social and personal identities may shape, and be shaped through, interactions with communication technologies, as well as the ramifications of technologically- oriented activism in the wider array of efforts to secure a more democratic media environment.

Laptops in The Livingroom: Mobile Technologies and the Divide Between Work and Private Time Among Interactive Agency Workers

by Sam Ladner

This article examines how mobile technology use affects the division between private and work time among workers in... more This article examines how mobile technology use affects the division between private and work time among workers in interactive advertising agencies. These workers are frequent users of both personal and company-issued mobile technology. This article investigates the strategies workers use to restrict workplace access during their private time. Relying on the social construction of technology as a point of departure, this article investigates the impact of mobile technologies, as well as the organizational context in which they are used. Using a mixed-method approach, this article demonstrates that the use of mobile technologies does indeed render the home/work division more permeable, but it is not their use alone that determines this effect. Rather, it is the underlying social relations of workplaces that affect how individuals negotiate the use of these technologies in non-work time and space.

Ladner, S. (2009). “‘Agency Time’: A case study of the postindustrial timescape and its impact on the domestic sphere.” Time and Society. Vol 18. No. 2/3.

by Sam Ladner

This article investigates the postindustrial temporal land- scape, or ‘timescape’, through a case study industry:... more This article investigates the postindustrial temporal land- scape, or ‘timescape’, through a case study industry: Internet advertis- ing. The theoretical portion of this article finds that the expansion of digital information communication technologies (ICTs) has radically transformed time keeping into ‘calculation’ in many of today’s work- places. Additionally, globalized production has also rendered many locally constructed symbols of time less relevant. The author con- trasts these events to the domestic time, which is constructed through contextual events and symbols, thereby making the postindustrial timescape further estranged from the domestic than even the Fordist timescape. The empirical portion of this article summarizes qualita- tive findings of time reckoning among Internet advertising workers. Time is not constructed out of local, material experiences but through digital means. This estranges domestic time even further, which has unintended but differential gendered effects. The implications of these findings include the emergence of a new sense of precarity, one based on ‘productivity’ of time spend on work. Additionally, a potentially new ‘glass ceiling’ could be emerging, based on the increased levels of home-based paid work. Women’s domestic responsibilities may make it relatively more difficult for them to advance when home- based paid work is expected.

Beyond the Echo Chamber (book review) Information Society

by Adam Fish

The social dynamics and genesis of internetworked
activist cultures are little understood. I work at themore The social dynamics and genesis of internetworked
activist cultures are little understood. I work at the
University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) Part.Lab,
where we are cataloguing and ethnographically describing
Internet-enabled collaboration such as networked
activism, free and open-source software engineering, and citizen journalism. Beyond the Echo Chamber by
Jessica Clark and Tracy Van Slyke addresses networked
activism and is a strategy guide about how four levels of
Internet-enabled networks have an impact on progressive
journalism, political commentary, and activist organizing: (1) networked users, (2) self-organized networks, (3)
institutional networks, and (4) networks of institutions.
All but the first, networked users, articulate well with
the categories and process we devised in our 2011 article
“Birds of the Internet: A Field Guide to Understanding Action, Organization, and the Governance of Participation”
(Fish et al. 2011) to explain Internet-based cultural
behavior, namely, the self-generating or organized publics
assisted in their construction by formal social enterprises.
Like “Birds of the Internet,” Beyond the Echo Chamber is a field guide designed to identify new species of
networked culture, their interrelationships in the emergent
media ecology, their diverse communicative practices,
and the values they seek to reproduce throughout society.
The power of this book lies in the elegance and utility of these network categories and in the suspenseful fast histories of netroots progressive movements.

Digital libraries as boundary objects across social and information worlds: A preliminary theoretical framework

by Adam Worrall

Worrall, A. (2012). Digital libraries as boundary objects across social and information worlds: A preliminary theoretical framework. Poster presented at the 2012 Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Annual Conference, Dallas, TX, January 17-20, 2012.

Presented a preliminary theoretical framework for conceiving of digital libraries as boundary objects, examining such... more Presented a preliminary theoretical framework for conceiving of digital libraries as boundary objects, examining such integration through the twin lenses of Strauss’s social worlds perspective and Burnett and Jaeger’s theory of information worlds.

Looking at information technology from a gender perspective: A look at call centers in India

by Rekha Pande

Direitos Indígenas no Ciberespaço: A conectividade nas margens

by Sara P. Mota

Mota, Sara Pargana. 2010. "Direitos Indígenas no Ciberespaço: A conectividade nas margens". Quaderns-e de l'ICA, 15 (1): 22-42.

A growing concern for the promotion and protection of human rights is now unquestionably interwoven in contemporary... more A growing concern for the promotion and protection of human rights is now unquestionably interwoven in contemporary world issues, and one of the consequences has been the widening of the international discourse on human rights, which now includes collective and indigenous rights. As human rights discourse has become increasingly globalized, indigenous peoples have been using international human rights as a language within which they frame their movements, express their positions and direct their actions. This paper seeks to analyse how information and communication technologies have created a new space that allows the expansion of the recently recognized indigenous rights and how, increasingly, we witness to the appropriation of technology by indigenous communities as a tool for political action and reaffirmation of cultural identity. Approaching the indigenization of information and communication technologies as an example of what might be termed as the cultural construction of technology, this paper also aims to reflect upon the dynamics of visibility/invisibility of indigenous peoples in the information society.

Keywords: human rights, indigenous rights, globalization, information and communication technologies, social mobilization, cyberactivism

Über ubiquitäre IuK-Technik, Fernerkundung, Sicherheitsfragen und Erkenntnisinteressen

by Andreas Metzner-Szigeth

in: Lingner, Stephan; Rathgeber, Wolfgang (Eds.): Globale Fernerkundungssysteme und Sicherheit - Beiträge durch neue Sicherheitsdienstleistungen? Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (Europäische Akademie) 2009, pp. 51-84

Pandora’s box revisited? On information technology, technostress, virtual addiction and the effects of information overload

by Roland S Persson

A chapter on the less positive sides of information technology development. The chapter summarises findings on... more A chapter on the less positive sides of information technology development. The chapter summarises findings on IT-stress, Internet Addiction and the repercussions of speed of societal development.

Bibliographic details:

Persson, R. S. (2001). Pandora’s box revisited? On information technology, technostress, virtual addiction and the effects of information overload. In M. Chaib (Ed.), Perspectives on human-computer interactions. A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 17-49). Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.

Formal models, flexible processes? Lessons from a socio-technical analysis of business process modelling

by João Porto de Albuquerque

In order to achieve quality in software development processes, it has been argued that one must
not only rely... more In order to achieve quality in software development processes, it has been argued that one must
not only rely upon rigorous descriptions and models of processes to consolidate past experience,
but also maintain flexibility in responding to new, unexpected situations. Aiming at examining the
relationship between formal process models and flexibility, this paper presents a socio-technical
analysis of a business process modelling project in an aircraft maintenance company. This analysis
dialogues with works on the actor-network tradition, concluding that the relation between formal
models and flexible processes is complex and multi-dimensional, and thus offering resources for
a more comprehensive perspective of process modelling projects.

Rethinking formalization processes in computerized systems: analyzing the co-evolution between software and organizational practices

by João Porto de Albuquerque

Computerized systems are being increasingly used with the purpose of improving the treatment and integration of the... more Computerized systems are being increasingly used with the purpose of improving the treatment and integration of the medical area, computerizing work processes in the health sector. It is therefore necessary to obtain a broad comprehension of social and technical imbrications implied in the development and use of these systems, and to go beyond simplistic assumptions that benefits obtained with computerization result solely from the technology employed.To provide effective instruments for the achievement of this understanding, this work comments on theories and practices related to the concept of formalization in the context of development of computerized systems, examining their prerequisites and summarizing them in a reference chart called formalization axis. Supported by recent works carried out in the area of Science and Technology, a perspective starts to emerge on formalization processes as the association of different elements in social and technical networks, which then create a co-evolution between software and organizational practices.

Ambivalent implications of health care information systems: a study in the brazilian public health care system

by João Porto de Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, João Porto de; PRADO, Edmir P. V. and MACHADO, Gabriel Raja. Ambivalent implications of health care information systems: a study in the brazilian public health care system. Rev. adm. empres. [online]. 2011, vol.51, n.1 [cited 2011-03-15], pp. 58-71 . Available from: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-75902011000100006&lng=en&nrm=iso&gt;. ISSN 0034-7590. doi: 10.1590/S0034-75902011000100006.

This article evaluates social implications of the “SIGA” Health Care Information System (HIS) in a public health care... more This article evaluates social implications of the “SIGA” Health Care Information System (HIS) in a public health care organization in the city of São Paulo. The evaluation was performed by means of an in-depth case study with patients and
staff of a public health care organization, using qualitative and quantitative data. On the one hand, the system had consequences perceived as positive such as improved convenience and democratization of specialized treatment for patients and improvements in work organization. On the other hand, negative outcomes were reported, like difficulties faced by
employees due to little familiarity with IT and an increase in the time needed to schedule appointments. Results show
the ambiguity of the implications of HIS in developing countries, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced view of the
evaluation of failures and successes and the importance of social contextual factors.

El acceso público a las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación: el lugar de los locutorios en los procesos migratorios

by Lupicinio Iñiguez-Rueda

Mª Carmen Peñaranda, Anna Vitores, Luz
Mª Martínez, Juan Muñoz Justicia, Lupicinio
Íñiguez-Rueda

En los últimos años han surgido en nuestras ciudades diferentes espacios que ofrecen servicios de acceso a las nuevas... more En los últimos años han surgido en nuestras ciudades diferentes espacios que ofrecen servicios de acceso a las nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación. En este artículo nos centramos específicamente en los locutorios, lugares de acceso a las TIC y también a la telefonía convencional, que tienen mayoritariamente como usuarios/as a la población migrante y en movimiento. Hemos realizado un estudio cualitativo de tipo etnográfico, en el que se han aplicado técnicas de observación participante, entrevistas y grupos de discusión. Los resultados muestran que los locutorios, lejos de ser únicamente espacios que posibilitan el establecimiento y mantenimiento de vínculos a distancia, también articulan las relaciones in situ, conformándose como lugares de encuentro, esto es, como estación de asociaciones. Así, presentamos al locutorio como metáfora de la inmigración, ya que nos permite dar cuenta de su carácter nacional y transnacional, así como de las redes familiares y prácticas sociales que se generan en estos espacios sociotécnicos.
Various places that offer access to new Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) have emerged
in our cities in recent years. In this paper we focus
specifically on the “locutorios” (call centers), places
of access to ICT and also to conventional telephony.
Users are mostly the migrant and in motion population.
We conducted a qualitative ethnographic study,
which have applied techniques of participant observation,
interviews and discussion groups. The results
show that call centers are not only spaces to enable
the establishment and maintenance of links to distance,
but also allow space for relationships in situ.
This makes the "locutorios" (call centers) meeting
places, that is, associations stations. We present the
“locutorios” (call centres) as a metaphor for immigration,
because it allows us to account for their national
and transnational character. It also allows us to account
for the family networks and social practices that
are generated in these sociotechnical spaces.

Collor e Watergate: uma análise comparativa

by Sérgio Campos Gonçalves

GONÇALVES, S. C. Collor e Watergate: uma análise comparativa. Revista Ensaios de História - Faculdade de História, Direito e Serviço Social - UNESP (Franca), v. 10, p. 191-198, 2005.

Cultura e Sociedade de Consumo: um olhar em retrospecto

by Sérgio Campos Gonçalves

GONÇALVES, S. C. Cultura e Sociedade de Consumo: um olhar em retrospecto. Revista InRevista - Núcleo de Produção Científica em Comunicação – UNAERP (Ribeirão Preto), v. 3, p. 18-28, 2008.

Através de uma perspectiva histórica, o artigo observa como a cultura de massa contribui para a manutenção, reprodução... more Através de uma perspectiva histórica, o artigo observa como a cultura de massa contribui para a manutenção, reprodução e sobrevivência da sociedade de consumo em massa.

Supporting community-building in digital libraries: A pilot study of LibraryThing

by Adam Worrall

Worrall, A. (2010). Supporting community-building in digital libraries: A pilot study of LibraryThing. In A. Grove (Ed.), Proceedings of the 73rd ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Navigating streams in an information ecosystem, Pittsburgh, PA, October 22-27, 2010. Silver Spring, MD: American Society for Information Science and Technology. doi:10.1002/meet.14504701389

Digital libraries should improve their support of social interactions, especially the building of communities around... more Digital libraries should improve their support of social interactions, especially the building of communities around and within themselves, to integrate better with social groups and communities across boundaries. This poster reports on ongoing work that has developed an online survey instrument to measure support for community-building activities in digital libraries. In a small pilot sample of users of LibraryThing, the level of support for community-building was low and the social networks of participants with regard to LibraryThing and its users were not wideranging or dense. Community-building activity occurred, but without the support of LibraryThing as a boundary object. Continuing research will survey larger samples from a broader population, add open-ended questions to the instrument, and incorporate qualitative methods, improving validity and generalizability. This research into community-building in LibraryThing and other digital libraries will contribute to the important tasks of learning more about and improving support for the social contexts of digital libraries.

¿BAJO LAS RIENDAS DEL TELÉFONO MÓVIL? CONTROL SOCIAL, NORMALIZACIÓN Y RESISTENCIA.

by Lupicinio Iñiguez-Rueda

Felipe Andrés Corredor Álvarez, Francisco Tirado Serrano, Lupicinio Iñiguez Rueda

Los teléfonos móviles son una tecnología constitutiva de las relaciones sociales, inclusiva y cuyas prácticas... more Los teléfonos móviles son una tecnología constitutiva de las relaciones sociales, inclusiva y cuyas prácticas asociadas participan en la formación del sujeto común en nuestros días, por medio del control social, la normalización y la resistencia, mecanismos que no han sido suficientemente abordados y de los que pretendemos dar cuenta con este trabajo. A partir de los conceptos de poder y resistencia, tácticas y estrategias, y preformatividad, analizaremos la noción de control social para dar cuenta del objetivo. La técnica utilizada fue grupos de discusión y descripción densa para el análisis. Los resultados indican que el móvil actúa como mediador, en el sentido latouriano: en el acto de 'contactar a alguien' estos dispositivos permiten que pasen o no cosas, modificando las intenciones de su uso, redefiniendo las relaciones, propiciando así efectos de normalización, control social y resistencia. Dichos procesos reaccionan mutuamente: el funcionamiento del poder alimenta la resistencia y viceversa.