Social Media Commons^™

Sense Of Community And Political Mobilization In Virtual Communities: The Role Of Dispositional And Situational Variables, Kevin Y. Wang

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This paper explores the psychological processes that connect virtual communities to political behavior. Drawing on previous findings in political psychology, I argue that the psychological sense of community may be an important mechanism that dictates people’s behavioral responses toward incoming information or mobilization pressure in the online environment. I then discuss the role of different dispositional and situational variables in: a) contributing to the formation of sense of community in the virtual world, and b) serving as potential moderators to influence the strength of virtual sense of community and its subsequent impact on individuals’ political behavior. Finally, I consider the …

Legal And Ethical Issues Associated With Employee Use Of Social Networks, Gundars Kaupins, Susan Park

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter can help employees enhance a company’s marketing, recruiting, security, and safety. However, employee’s use of social networking sites and employers’ access of those sites can result in illegal and unethical behavior, such as discrimination and privacy invasions. Companies must gauge whether and how to rely upon employees’ use of personal social networking sites and how much freedom employees should have in using networks inside and outside of the companies. This research summarizes the latest legal and ethical issues regarding employee use of social networks and provides recommended corporate policies.

Google Analytics: Analyzing The Latest Wave Of Legal Concerns For Google In The U.S. And The E.U., 7 Buff. Intell. Prop. L.J. 135 (2010), Raizel Liebler, Keidra Chaney

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

The next wave of concern regarding Google involves web analytics. Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. The concerns of web analytics use touches on issues of online user privacy, government use of personal information, and information on website user activity. While Google Analytics is not the sole web analytics product on the market, it is widely used by corporate, non-profit, and government organizations. The product has been reported to have a 59% market share among web analytics vendors in a 2008 study.

Web analytics technology …

The Evolution (Revolution) Of Social Media And Social Networking As A Necessary Topic In The Marketing Curriculum: A Case For Integrating Social Media Into Marketing Classes, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

This research first examines social media and social networks as a social phenomenon and its influence on marketing practice. Survey data and an extensive literature review reveal that not only have social networks evolved rapidly during the last few years, but so have social media, consumer behaviors, and subsequently, social media marketing tactics, which are increasingly being integrated into marketing programs. The authors explore the question of whether more time should be devoted to these topics and whether they should be incorporated into the marketing curriculum. This research provides important information, insights and recommendations for incorporating the topic of social …

The 2008 United States Senate Elections: A Typology Of Negative Themes On Candidate-Sponsored Websites, Erin Brining Hammond

Dissertations

The following study is an examination of the negativity on candidate-sponsored websites for the 2008 United States Senate candidates. Results of a content analysis indicated that negative themes identified were more likely to be oppositional than comparative (Johnson-Cartee & Copeland, 1991) and were more likely to be characterbased than policy-based (Benoit, 1999, 2007). The majority of negative themes were identified as focusing on issue stands rather than political record, job experience, criminal activities, religion, marriage/sex life, family members, medical history, or personal life (Johnson-Cartee & Copeland's, 1989).

Results of the content analysis go against the assumption of functional theory (Benoit, …

Citizens’ Local Political Knowledge And The Role Of Media Access, Lee Shaker

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Locally based media institutions that have been at the core of citizens' media environments for generations are facing an onslaught of new competition from new media. The twin goals of this article are to expand our understanding of the distribution of local political knowledge in general and to specifically examine the relevance of media access. The article suggests that media access does bear upon levels of local political knowledge and confirms that citizens who are knowledgeable about local politics do not mirror the profile of those who are knowledgeable about national politics.

Embedding An Im [Instant Messaging] Widget In Research Databases: Helping Users At Their Point-Of-Need, Kwabena Sekyere

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

The rapid growth of internet users has made libraries eager to introduce online services for this new community, in addition to their traditional reference services. Virtual reference service has become a convenient and easily accessible option for the online community, particularly with increasing amounts of libraries resources now available electronically as well (Lou, 2007).

Virtual reference began in many libraries as email reference service (Janes, 2002) with a move to live chat reference as technology advanced. These live reference services were offered through chat software developed in-house or by vendors. Due to the high cost of purchasing and maintaining …

Intimate Strangers And Estranged Intimates: An Investigation Of The Impact Of Instant Messaging And Short Message Service On The Size And Strength Of Social Networks In Kuwait, Bashaiar Al-Sanaa

Dissertations

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have revolutionized how people experience spatial proximity, reality, and connectivity. These technologies provide inexpensive access to anything and anyone in the world. They also replicate face-to-face interaction in cyber-space and allow for participation in numerous modes of social exchange.

People use Information and communication technologies to write web logs (blogs), send electronic mail (email), socialize through networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace), text each other through mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) and chat via online instant messaging (IM).With all these applications, a debate has ignited that actual physical communication is decreasing in favor …

Vodcasting, Itunes U, And Faculty Collaboration, Jason Paul Michel, Susan Hurst, Andrew Revelle

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

In the summer of 2008, the Miami University Libraries began a pilot project to integrate Web video tutorials (vodcasts) into a multiplicity of access points to enhance and extend library services. By the end of the project, Web video tutorials had been embedded in specific course sites in the course management system Blackboard, as well as in our institution's iTunes U site. The libraries were, in fact, the first entity on campus to feature publicly-available content on iTunes U. This brief article will delineate the project and explain why we believe this effort has helped position the library within …

Facebook : Friend Or Foe, Angela Draeger

Graduate Research Papers

Facebook is an online social networking site that is growing with popularity daily. Due to the current lack of research on this social network the researcher has proposed the following study. This study would survey three populations: high school students, college students, and community members. Areas of interest are: communication, miscommunication, self-esteem, introversion, extroversion, friendships, long distance relationships, and closure.

Consumer Generated Media: Evolving Marketing Opportunity For Consumer Engagement, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

This paper examines consumer-generated media (CGM), also called user-generated Web sites or social media, and the evolving and broad consumer behaviors associated with it. CGM websites have evolved rapidly during the last few years, but so have consumer behaviors and subsequently marketing tactics and future potential opportunities. Marketers should be aware of the characteristics of this type of website and understand how they are being used by consumers and other practitioners. CGM sites are primarily used by consumers to connect with others for many reasons. This connectivity, also called engagement, appears to be an opportunity for marketers to connect with …

Take Two Tablets And Do Not Call For Judicial Review Until Our Heads Clear: The Supreme Court Prepares To Demolish The 'Wall Of Separation' Between Church And State, Terence Lau, William Wines

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

In this article, we examine the issues that bring First Amendment jurisprudence to the grant of certiorari in Pleasant Grove v. Summum, scheduled for oral argument in the Supreme Court of the United States in November. We examine the historical basis for America’s religious heritage, the historical judicial treatment of the religious clauses, and the erosion of the wall of separation between church and state. We examine the Ten Commandments, finding inherent discrimination present in modern-day attempts to advance a particular version of the Ten Commandments as secular. By drawing upon Rousseau’s civic religion, we suggest alternative routes for the …

Cyberbullying, Phyllis I. Schoenholz, Deborah J. Weitzenkamp, Jennifer S. Nixon

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

Technology now allows people — often children — to bully online. Social messaging sites can open up the user to a variety of bullying techniques outside of the playground. How parents and other adults can help reduce bullying over the Internet is examined in this NebGuide. ...

What can a parent do about cyberbullying? First, it’s important that parents and youth not reply or respond in any way to cyberbullies. Research indicates that being responsive may, in fact, escalate the activity. Instead, parents will need to think like a detective or lawyer. Document the activity with dates and times and …

You Can Take It With You? Student Library Employees, Eportfolios, And “Edentity” Construction, Gabriella Reznowski, Brian Mcmanus

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

ePortfolios have become an important tool for assessing and tracking employee development. In 2008, the Washington State University Libraries became involved in the institution’s ePortfolio initiative. Library supervisors hoped that as a dynamic online tool, the ePortfolio concept would provide an effective method for assessing the library’s body of student employees. Collaborating with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTLT), the Center for Advising & Career Development (CACD), and Student Computing Services (SCS), the WSU Libraries explored the possibility of using ePortfolios to drive employee assessment. The Access Services unit, with the assistance of the Library Instruction, Library Systems, …

Protecting Children Online, Deborah J. Weitzenkamp Dr.

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

This publication explains potential Internet hazards and how to protect children from them.

In an age where children are using the Internet on a daily basis, parents need to be aware of how children use it, potential online hazards, how to recognize signs that their children might be at risk, and steps that they can take to safeguard their children. While it is important that parents be proactive regarding their children’s use of the Internet, it also is important that parents not overreact to potential threats. Instead, parents need to take a proactive approach toward protecting their children in a …

Library 2.0 And The Problem Of Hate Speech, Margaret Brown-Sica, Jeffrey Beall

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

[First paragraph]

Library 2.0 applications benefit library users by providing rich, peer-generated content that adds value to online library databases and systems. However, not all of this shared content is beneficial, for it’s possible for library users to abuse library 2.0 applications by uploading words, pictures, or other content that constitutes hate speech. Internet lawyer Christopher Wolf warns of, “ … the sudden and rapidly increasing deployment of Web 2.0 technologies to spread messages, sounds and images of hate across the Internet and around the world” [1]. As academic libraries make available Web 2.0 systems that allow user-generated content, they …

Online Forums As An Arena For Political Discussions: What Politicians And Activists Can Learn From Teachers, Kevin Y. Wang

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This paper discusses the use of online discussion forums in various “e-democratic” practices in light of the lessons learned from the field of education. Informed by a conceptual framework drawn from the role of public sphere in electronic democracy and the ideal learning conditions of a computer-mediated communication environment, the author analyzed two discussion forums maintained by a government and a civil society group. Results suggest that, in both cases, online discussion forums only reflect a few elements of effective online learning and therefore, have yet to reach their full potentials. Implications for future research are discussed.

Reaching Students With Facebook: Data And Best Practices, Daniel Mack, Anne Behler, Beth Roberts, Emily Rimland

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

This paper presents data on Facebook inquiries one librarian received over the course of a semester at Pennsylvania State University and discusses best practices for Facebook use as an outreach tool. We discuss ways to reach out to our users through this Social Networking Community and encourage reference questions and requests for research consultations. We recommend that library professionals whose positions require them to interact with undergraduates seriously consider making use of Facebook.

Consumer-Generated Media (Cgm): An Exploratory Study Of Various Forms, Value To Consumers, And Marketing Practitioners, And Global Implications, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

This paper examines consumer-generated media (CGM), also called user-generated Web sites or social media. The Internet is clearly dynamic in nature, and CGM will be of interest to marketers as e-commerce races ahead. The basis for the growth and the importance of such sites will be explored to improve our understanding of their development and use by marketers. Our research will consider the domestic and global behaviors, and findings will be useful for both researchers and marketing practitioners who seek to understand issues relevant to CGM and associated marketing tactics and their ability to accomplish marketing objectives, particularly related to …

Perceived Importance And Future Use Of Online Channels Of Distribution By Small Businesses In The United States And Australia: An Exploratory Study, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis, John Vanbeveren

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

Online marketing is important to small-business owners and operators because they are typically faced with limited budgets to design and implement traditional marketing programs. This paper compares the perceived importance of specific online marketing tactics and their anticipated future use of online marketing tactics by small businesses in the United States and Australia. Results of the study reveal that both in the United States and in Australia, there is a growing use of online marketing tactics to accomplish marketing objectives. While most online marketing tactics were effective in both the United States and Australia, there were some statistically significant differences.

National Culture And Its Effects On Knowledge Communication In Online Virtual Communities, Keng Siau, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Min Ling

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Online virtual communities provide a powerful means of knowledge sharing. Despite the prevalence of online virtual communities, there is a paucity of research to investigate the effect of national culture differences on knowledge sharing in online virtual communities. Are there differences between online virtual communities from different national cultures? This research studies the differences in knowledge-sharing activities between US-based and China-based online virtual communities. Hofstede's dimensions of national culture serve as the theoretical foundation for this research.

A Blogger's Blog: Exploring The Definition Of A Medium, Danah Boyd

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph of Introduction]

While blogging is piquing the interest of mainstream media, youth, academic researchers, and entrepreneurial Silicon Valley, only a fraction of Internet users read blogs and many do not even know what the term means. Reports on how many people read blogs vary (Rainie 2005, Comscore 2005), but even in the United States, less than 50% of Internet users read blogs and many do not even know when they do (Buchwalter 2005). Numerous tools have been built to support blogging and people have extended those tools to do a wide variety of things that may or may …

Thoughts On Blogging By A Poorly Masked Academic, Michael Benton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

My first attempt at blogging was the creation of Dialogic. I was working as an adjunct in 2004 at the University of Kentucky and developing original media literacy projects and assignments online. I had heard reports that universities might start claiming that course work developed on their servers would be technically the property of the university that owned the server. The precarious nature of adjunct life makes us susceptible to rumor, so I began to search for a new, cheap, relatively unmonitored forum to develop course work and to archive the wealth of information I was finding online. …

Blogademia, Craig Saper

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Academics, especially in the arts and humanities, have taken to blogs like ducks to water. At the same time, some of these blogs, especially those produced by graduate students and untenured faculty, have opened themselves to charges of wasting time gossiping about colleagues, and wallowing in unprofessional discourse, instead of working on serious scholarship. One blogger told me confidentially,

I just password-protected my blog for the period of my job search after reading this article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, I actually got in trouble with my senior colleagues last semester for making a posting about …

[Introduction:] Blogging And (Expatriate) Identity, Lauren Elkin

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

In Lettres parisiennes: Histoires d'exil, an exchange of letters on exile between francophone writers Nancy Huston and Leila Sebbah, Huston, a native of Alberta, Canada who moved to Paris in her early twenties, explains that she doesn't write in cafes because she would hate to be mistaken for the stereotypical "American in Paris": "one of those young women who I resemble a little too closely, with their blue, blue eyes and their bizarrely healthy skin, who you find sitting at café tables scribbling ostensibly in their diaries ("today: Mona Lisa") or filling out postcards ("Dear John, can you believe …

My Life In The Panopticon: Blogging From Iran, Esther Herman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

The Panopticon is a prison that was developed in the 19th century. All of the cells face inward toward a tower. Guards sit in the tower where they can see everything that is happening within the cells. The prisoners cannot see the guards. They do not even know if a guard is in the tower or not. The prisoners feel watched whether they are being watched or not. As such, they internalize the notion of being watched and become their own guards.

Why I Blog: Part 1, Michael Benton (Compiler)

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Why I Blog: Part 2, Michael Benton (Compiler)

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Two Papers, Me In Between [External Link], Lilia Efimova

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

The Lo(N)G Revolution: The Blogosphere As An Alternative Public Sphere?, Anna Notaro

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

It is a familiar argument that we are witnessing a period of major cultural and technological upheaval, yet this recognition is rarely related to a recognition of the long history of critical reflection on the nature of cultural and social change. One of the aims of this essay is to consider the most recent discussions over technology and its political impact in the light of the seminal arguments of Raymond Williams. In Television: Technology and Cultural Form. (1974) Williams writes:

Over a wide range from general television through commercial advertising to centralised information and data-processing systems, the technology …