Showing papers in "New Media & Society in 2010"
TL;DR: Online content providers such as YouTube are carefully positioning themselves to users, clients, advertisers and policymakers, making strategic claims for what they do and do not do, and how their place in the information landscape should be understood.
Abstract: Online content providers such as YouTube are carefully positioning themselves to users, clients, advertisers and policymakers, making strategic claims for what they do and do not do, and how their place in the information landscape should be understood. One term in particular, ‘platform’, reveals the contours of this discursive work. The term has been deployed in both their populist appeals and their marketing pitches, sometimes as technical ‘platforms’, sometimes as ‘platforms’ from which to speak, sometimes as ‘platforms’ of opportunity. Whatever tensions exist in serving all of these constituencies are carefully elided. The term also fits their efforts to shape information policy, where they seek protection for facilitating user expression, yet also seek limited liability for what those users say. As these providers become the curators of public discourse, we must examine the roles they aim to play, and the terms by which they hope to be judged.
1,507 citations
TL;DR: The multivariate statistical analysis indicated that cyber and traditional bullying were related for male students but not for female students, and both frequent and risky usage of internet account for a significant variance of cyberbullying but their contributions differ based on genders.
Abstract: This study examined the relationships between cyber and traditional bullying experiences regarding gender differences. Also, the contributions of frequent and risky usage of internet to cyberbullying experiences were examined. The participants were 276 adolescents (123 females, 151 males and 2 unknown) ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. The results revealed that 32 percent of the students were victims of both cyber and traditional bullying, while 26 percent of the students bullied others in both cyber and physical environments. Compared to female students, male students were more likely to be bullies and victims in both physical and cyber-environments.The multivariate statistical analysis indicated that cyber and traditional bullying were related for male students but not for female students. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis revealed that both frequent and risky usage of internet account for a significant variance of cyberbullying but their contributions differ based on genders.
471 citations
TL;DR: An unexpected positive relationship between online opportunities and risks was found, with implications for policy interventions aimed at reducing the risks of internet use.
Abstract: Many hopes exist regarding the opportunities that the internet can offer to young people as well as fears about the risks it may bring. Informed by research on media literacy, this article examines the role of selected measures of internet literacy in relation to teenagers’ online experiences. Data from a national survey of teenagers in the UK (N = 789) are analyzed to examine: first, the demographic factors that influence skills in using the internet; and, second (the main focus of the study), to ask whether these skills make a difference to online opportunities and online risks. Consistent with research on the digital divide, path analysis showed the direct influence of age and socioeconomic status on young people’s access, the direct influence of age and access on their use of online opportunities, and the direct influence of gender on online risks. The importance of online skills was evident insofar as online access, use and skills were found to mediate relations between demographic variables and youn...
408 citations
TL;DR: The article compares the levels that are most strongly structured and most influential for the wider society: the mass media and communication as organized by search engines, and finds that internet communication does not differ significantly from the offline debate in the print media.
Abstract: Normative theorists of the public sphere, such as Jurgen Habermas, have been very critical of the ‘old’ mass media, which were seen as unable to promote free and plural societal communication. The advent of the internet, in contrast, gave rise to hopes that it would make previously marginalized actors and arguments more visible to a broader public. To assess these claims, this article compares the internet and mass media communication. It distinguishes three levels of both the offline and the online public sphere, which differ in their structural prerequisites, in their openness for participation and in their influence on the wider society. Using this model, the article compares the levels that are most strongly structured and most influential for the wider society: the mass media and communication as organized by search engines. Using human genome research and analysing Germany and the USA, the study looks at which actors, evaluations and frames are present in the print mass media and on websites, and finds that internet communication does not differ significantly from the offline debate in the print media.
267 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the sociotechnical system that defines Wikipedia as a knowledge instrument has been analyzed, and it is shown that Wikipedia is not only enabled by its human resources, but is equally defined by the technological tools and managerial dynamics that structure and maintain its content.
Abstract: Wikipedia is often considered as an example of ‘collaborative knowledge’. Researchers have contested the value of Wikipedia content on various accounts. Some have disputed the ability of anonymous amateurs to produce quality information, while others have contested Wikipedia’s claim to accuracy and neutrality. Even if these concerns about Wikipedia as an encyclopaedic genre are relevant, they misguidedly focus on human agents only. Wikipedia’s advance is not only enabled by its human resources, but is equally defined by the technological tools and managerial dynamics that structure and maintain its content. This article analyses the sociotechnical system — the intricate collaboration between human users and automated content agents — that defines Wikipedia as a knowledge instrument.
210 citations
TL;DR: Drawing on the concept of parochial space, this article examines how ideas of mobile communication and public space are negotiated in the everyday practice and use of mobile social networks.
Abstract: The development and proliferation of mobile social networks have the potential to transform ways that people come together and interact in public space. These services allow new kinds of information to flow into public spaces and, as such, can rearrange social and spatial practices. Dodgeball is used as a case study of mobile social networks. Based on a year-long qualitative field study, this article explores how Dodgeball was used to facilitate social congregation in public spaces and begins to expand our understanding of traditional notions of space and social interaction. Drawing on the concept of parochial space, this article examines how ideas of mobile communication and public space are negotiated in the everyday practice and use of mobile social networks.
193 citations
TL;DR: This study analyzes cross-sectional data obtained from respondents in neo-Nazi online discussion forums and textual data from postings to these forums to assess the impact of participation in radical and homogeneous online groups on opinion extremism and whether this impact depends on political dissimilarity of strong and weak offline ties.
Abstract: This study analyzes cross-sectional data obtained from respondents in neo-Nazi online discussion forums and textual data from postings to these forums. It assesses the impact of participation in radical and homogeneous online groups on opinion extremism and probes whether this impact depends on political dissimilarity of strong and weak offline ties. Specifically, does dissimilarity attenuate (as deliberative theorists hope) or rather exacerbate (as research on biased processing predicts) extreme opinions? As expected, extremism increases with increased online participation, likely due to the informational and normative influences operating within online groups. Supporting the deliberative and biased processing models, both like-minded and dissimilar social ties offline exacerbate extremism. Consistent with the biased processing model, dissimilar offline ties exacerbate the effects of online groups. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
187 citations
TL;DR: An integrative research agenda is proposed that builds on recent scholarship on online news consumption but also contributes to solve some of its main limitations.
Abstract: This article assesses the main findings and dominant modes of inquiry in recent scholarship on online news consumption. The findings suggest that the consumption of news on the internet has not yet differed drastically from the consumption of news in traditional media. The assessment shows that the dominant modes of inquiry have also been characterized by stability rather than change (because research has usually drawn on traditional theoretical and methodological approaches). In addition, these modes of inquiry exhibit three systematic limitations: the assumption of a division between print, broadcast, and online media; the notion that the analysis should treat media features and social practices separately; and the inclination to focus on ordinary or extraordinary patterns of phenomena but not on both at the same time. On the basis of this assessment, this article proposes an integrative research agenda that builds on this scholarship but also contributes to solve some of its main limitations.
182 citations
TL;DR: A new framework for evaluating online political forums is introduced that addresses the shortcomings of prior approaches by identifying three distinct, overlapping models of democracy that forums may manifest: the liberal, the communitarian and the deliberative democratic.
Abstract: Research examining online political forums has until now been overwhelmingly guided by two broad perspectives: (1) a deliberative conception of democratic communication and (2) a diverse collection of incommensurable multi-sphere approaches. While these literatures have contributed many insightful observations, their disadvantages have left many interesting communicative dynamics largely unexplored. This article seeks to introduce a new framework for evaluating online political forums (based on the work of Jurgen Habermas and Lincoln Dahlberg) that addresses the shortcomings of prior approaches by identifying three distinct, overlapping models of democracy that forums may manifest: the liberal, the communitarian and the deliberative democratic. For each model, a set of definitional variables drawn from the broader online forum literature is documented and discussed.
170 citations
TL;DR: A measure of content diversity was created to determine whether online citizen journalism and online newspaper publications were serving this function in the USA and suggest onlineitizen journalism content adds to the diversity of information available in the marketplace.
Abstract: The presence of a diversity of information offers citizens access to a range of ideas, expertise and topics. In this study, a measure of content diversity was created to determine whether online citizen journalism and online newspaper publications were serving this function in the USA. Based on the findings from a quantitative content analysis (n = 962), online citizen journalism articles were more likely to feature a greater diversity of topics, information from outside sources and multimedia and interactive features. The findings suggest online citizen journalism content adds to the diversity of information available in the marketplace.
162 citations
TL;DR: Two different but complementary theoretical approaches to frame innovation in online media: actor-network theory and community of practice are explored and demonstrate that these theories are efficient tools to understand and analyze the actors involved in innovation decisions in the newsroom.
Abstract: This article explores two different but complementary theoretical approaches to frame innovation in online media: actor-network theory and community of practice.The principles and key concepts of each are presented and their suitability to the analysis of innovation in journalism is discussed through four newsroom cases.The findings demonstrate that these theories are efficient tools to understand and analyze the actors involved in innovation decisions in the newsroom, the dynamics of the negotiation and learning processes among the journalists and the factors constraining and fostering evolution when innovations are implemented or disregarded in the newsroom.
TL;DR: The research shows newspapers, magazines and blogs have promoted and actively encouraged Twitter’s diffusion and demonstrates that the public response to this web tool is similar to the public reaction to earlier communication technologies including the telegraph, radio and the internet.
Abstract: While critics of Twitter, the most popular microblogging application, dismiss the service as frivolous, proponents tout a variety of educational, political and commercial uses. Drawing from social construction theories of technology, this research uses the grounded theory approach to analyze press coverage of this emerging technology from 2006 through the first months of 2009. While the specifics of Twitter may be new, this research demonstrates that the public response to this web tool is similar to the public reaction to earlier communication technologies including the telegraph, radio and the internet. Despite vocal skepticism from some, the research shows newspapers, magazines and blogs have promoted and actively encouraged Twitter’s diffusion.
TL;DR: It is found that synchronous modes/services (F2F and telephone conversations) are used more for urgent matters and that asynchronous modes (in particular email) become more influential as the relational distance increases.
Abstract: Using data collected among 742 respondents, this article aims at gaining greater insight into (i) the interaction between face-to-face (F2F) and electronic contacts, (ii) the influence of information content and relational distance on the communication mode/ service choice and (iii) the influence of relational and geographical distance, in addition to other factors, on the frequency of F2F and electronic contacts with relatives and friends. The results show that the frequency of F2F contacts is positively correlated with that for electronic communication, pointing at a complementarity effect.With respect to information content and relational distance, we find, on the basis of descriptive analyses, that synchronous modes/services (F2F and telephone conversations) are used more for urgent matters and that asynchronous modes (in particular email) become more influential as the relational distance increases. Finally, ordered probit analyses confirm that the frequency of both F2F and electronic communication d...
TL;DR: It is suggested that online communities may enhance the communication ability of individuals due to technological advantages, but face-to-face communication in the form of the traditional community is still essential to ensure the quality of community as a whole.
Abstract: This research investigates various factors of social capital, media use and demographics that may have an influence on online community use. Although some have argued that internet use may erode an individual’s social capital, this study found that people who access the internet for online community use tend to have more sociability and higher levels of generalized norm than do online community non-users.When important socio-psychological factors of social capital, such as trust and life contentment, were considered, however, social capital was not fully related to online community use. In this regard, it is suggested that online communities may enhance the communication ability of individuals due to technological advantages, but face-to-face communication in the form of the traditional community is still essential to ensure the quality of community as a whole.
TL;DR: It is argued that these findings necessitate a reconceptualization of traditional notions of the guard-dog media and the public sphere to accommodate new media technologies.
Abstract: On 1 January 2009, Oscar Grant was shot and killed in a subway station by Bay Area Rail Transit officers. This event was recorded by several passengers on their cellphones and later uploaded to the video-sharing website YouTube. The videos generated significant protests among online and offline communities, and were eventually used as evidence in the ensuing trial. This study employed a critical thematic analysis to examine audience responses to this act of citizen journalism on YouTube. Results indicated that although some viewers critiqued the video quality and the cameraperson’s passivity, several supportive comments praised the cameraperson’s presence of mind and courage. Furthermore, some viewers called for resistance and retaliation, while others advocated a more prudent response. We argue that these findings necessitate a reconceptualization of traditional notions of the guard-dog media and the public sphere to accommodate new media technologies.
TL;DR: The stories outlined in this article offer illustrative accounts of how holding a particular technology identity impacts the academic and social life of college students and highlight the role of schools and universities as institutions which are perpetuating — rather than resisting — inequalities associated with the digital divide.
Abstract: This article embraces the concept of technology identity as an innovative theoretical and methodological approach to study the digital divide. Reporting on qualitative data taken from a mixed-method study, the analytical approach goes beyond an access and skills perspective in measuring digital inequities. Narratives collected from students demonstrate how powerful sociocultural influences, such as family practices and access to a quality K-12 education, contribute to the development of a technology identity. The stories outlined in this article offer illustrative accounts of how holding a particular technology identity impacts the academic and social life of college students. Taken together, the narratives highlight the role of schools and universities as institutions which are perpetuating — rather than resisting — inequalities associated with the digital divide.
TL;DR: A group of variables connected to mobile-phone use among university students in Sweden, the USA and Japan are examined, revealing a number of culturally associated differences, as well as a shared conflicting attitude towards the advantages and disadvantages of reachability by mobile phone.
Abstract: Contemporary mobile-phone technology is becoming increasingly similar around the world. However, cultural differences between countries may also shape mobile-phone practices. This study examines a group of variables connected to mobile-phone use among university students in Sweden, the USA and Japan. Key cultural issues addressed are attitudes towards quiet in public space, personal use of public space and tolerance of self-expression. Measures include the appropriateness of using mobiles in various social contexts and judgments of what respondents like most and like least about having a mobile phone. Analysis revealed a number of culturally associated differences, as well as a shared conflicting attitude towards the advantages and disadvantages of reachability by mobile phone.
TL;DR: Though exceptions occur, youth are increasingly exercising discretion in posting personal information on MySpace and more youth are limiting access to their profile and a significant number of youth appear to be abandoning their profiles or MySpace altogether.
Abstract: MySpace has received a significant amount of negative attention from the media and many concerned adults, who point to several isolated incidents where predators have contacted, become involved with and even assaulted adolescents whom they met through the popular social networking web site. Furthermore, concerned parents have expressed discontent with the amount and type of personal and private information youth seem to reveal on their profile pages. In 2006, the authors performed an extensive content analysis of approximately 2423 randomly sampled adolescent MySpace profiles, and found that the vast majority of youth were making responsible choices with the information they shared online. In this follow-up study, the authors revisited the profiles one year later to examine the extent to which the content had changed. Though exceptions occur, youth are increasingly exercising discretion in posting personal information on MySpace and more youth are limiting access to their profile. Moreover, a significant ...
TL;DR: Changes in the profile of the online-news audience, how it uses and evaluates online news and how this eventually affects the use of traditional media are examined by means of a two-wave representative panel survey of adults in the Netherlands.
Abstract: By means of a two-wave representative panel survey of adults in the Netherlands, this study examines changes in the profile of the online-news audience, how it uses and evaluates online news and how this eventually affects the use of traditional media. The analyses reveal interesting differences in the use of newspaper websites and other, non-paper, news sites. Displacement effects become visible: online newspapers gradually substitute for printed newspapers, other news sites for teletext and non-paper news sites for newspaper sites.
TL;DR: This study explores the structure and content of the Arabic blogosphere using link analysis, term frequency analysis, and human coding of individual blogs to find the most politically active areas to be clusters of bloggers in Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, and the Levant.
Abstract: This study explores the structure and content of the Arabic blogosphere using link analysis, term frequency analysis, and human coding of individual blogs. We identified a base network of approximately 35,000 Arabic-language blogs, mapped the 6000 most-connected blogs, and hand coded over 3000. The study is a baseline assessment of the networked public sphere in the Arabic-speaking world, which mainly clusters nationally. We found the most politically active areas of the network to be clusters of bloggers in Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, and the Levant, as well as an ‘English Bridge’ group. Differences among these indicate variability in how online practices are embedded in local political contexts. Bloggers are focused mainly on domestic political issues; concern for Palestine is the one issue that unites the entire network. Bloggers link preferentially to the top Web 2.0 sites (e.g. YouTube and Wikipedia), followed by pan-Arab mainstream media sources, such as Al Jazeera.
TL;DR: This piece speculates on the internet’s wider influences on the shape of institutional politics in representative ‘actually existing democracies’, based on 100 semi-structured interviews with political actors operating around the UK Parliament.
Abstract: This piece speculates on the internet’s wider influences on the shape of institutional politics in representative ‘actually existing democracies’. Findings, based on 100 semi-structured interviews with political actors (politicians, journalists and officials) operating around the UK Parliament, suggest two contrasting trends. On the one hand, more political actors at the immediate edges of the UK institutional political process are being further engaged in a sort of centrifugal movement going outwards from the centre. At the same time, the space between this extended political centre and its public periphery is increasing. This fatter, democratic elitist shift in UK politics may be interpreted as ‘new’ and ICT-driven. It might equally be argued that new media is exacerbating pre-existing political party and media trends in mature democracies which fail to engage ordinary citizens.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that future research on political blogs needs to look beyond blog readers and blog content and investigate the influential political bloggers themselves, as nearly all motivations for blogging have increased over time.
Abstract: Despite the impact that influential American political bloggers have had on public policies and the mainstream media agenda in recent years, very little research is currently available on the most widely read political bloggers. Through a survey of 66 top American political bloggers, the present study examines this elite group by analyzing their initial and current motivations for blogging as well as their online and offline behaviors. The findings demonstrate that nearly all motivations for blogging have increased over time, with the most substantial increases occurring in extrinsic motivations. The results also reveal a significant association between extrinsic motivations and blogger online and offline political participation. This study demonstrates that future research on political blogs needs to look beyond blog readers and blog content and investigate the influential political bloggers themselves.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated how Google Earth, by incorporating a social network that engages users as embodied interactors rather than disembodied voyeurs, is able to present user-generated content and dialog spatially on the very object that such content critiques.
Abstract: The process of cartography and the ideological problems that accompany this process has taken on new significance in the digital age with the proliferation of digital maps and geographic information systems such as Google Earth. This study begins by analyzing the history of digital mapping and its connection to an indexical, ontological reality. I demonstrate how Google Earth, by incorporating a social network that engages users as embodied interactors rather than disembodied voyeurs, is able to present user-generated content and dialog spatially on the very object that such content critiques. Ultimately, this study argues for ways that users can recontextualize and subvert ‘master representations’ of visual media within the authorial structure rather than re-authoring the existing software and structures.
TL;DR: This study combined social role theory with gender and games theorizing to enable us to understand gender differences in play in The Sims2, and revealed that most of the participants were indeed female.
Abstract: The Sims is the best selling PC game of all time. It has regularly been stated that its success is partly due to its attraction to a much wider audience than the proverbial male adolescent, yet academic research on its player base is lacking. This article reports on the first ever explorative survey (N = 760) conducted among players of The Sims2. Our study combined social role theory with gender and games theorizing to enable us to understand gender differences in play. We focused on gender differences in motivation for playing The Sims2, employing uses and gratifications as our guiding theory. Our results revealed that most of our participants were indeed female. The significantly higher score of male players on the challenge motive was anticipated by social role theory, but their higher score on social interaction was unexpected. Accordingly, we discuss the implications of our results for uses and gratifications theory as well as the necessity to investigate actual practices of play in more detail.
TL;DR: It is argued that the concept of genre has a valuable function within sociological theory, particularly for understanding emerging communicative practices within social and personal media, through two cases of emerging personal media genres: the online diary and the camphone self-portrait.
Abstract: In this article we argue that the concept of genre has a valuable function within sociological theory, particularly for understanding emerging communicative practices within social and personal media. Genres span the whole range of recognizable forms of communication, play a crucial role in overcoming contingency and facilitate communication. Their function is to enhance composing and understanding of communication by offering interpretative, recognizable and flexible frames of reference. As such, genres generate a sense of stability in modern complex societies. Genres ought to be seen as an intermediary level between the levels of media and text, however influenced by both. They operate as interaction between two interdependent dimensions, conventions and expectations, both of which are afforded by media and specific texts. In this article these relationships are illustrated through two cases of emerging personal media genres: the online diary and the camphone self-portrait.
TL;DR: The need to find less dualistic frameworks for conceptualizing pornography as an element of media culture and addressing amateur pornography in terms of immaterial and affective labor is argued.
Abstract: The blurred boundaries between producers and consumers and the increased centrality of user-generated content have been seen as characteristic of Web 2.0 and contemporary media culture at large. In the context of online pornography, this has been manifested in the popularity of amateur pornography and alt porn sites that encourage user interaction. Netporn criticism has recently formed an arena for thinking through such transformations. Aiming to depart from the binary logic characterizing porn debates to date, netporn criticism nevertheless revokes a set of divisions marking the amateur apart from the professional, the alternative from the mainstream and the independent from the commercial. At the same time, such categories are very much in motion on Web 2.0 platforms. Addressing amateur pornography in terms of immaterial and affective labor, this article argues for the need to find less dualistic frameworks for conceptualizing pornography as an element of media culture.
TL;DR: The aim of this article is to put mobile phones and uses of other new media into the broader context of cross-cultural comparison and to introduce the concept of multimodal connectedness to examine the whole range of ICTs.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to put mobile phones and uses of other new media into the broader context of cross-cultural comparison. The article focuses on two countries (Sweden and the USA) and on leisure and sociability. A problem with studies narrowly focusing on mobile phones is that the mobile’s uses cannot easily be separated from uses of other information and communication technologies (ICTs), as when ICTs compete for time spent or when key functions such as maintaining relationships are distributed across devices. Therefore the concept of multimodal connectedness is introduced to examine the whole range of ICTs. Once we can see how various technologies for maintaining relationships complement each other, we often find that convergences outweigh divergences between cultures. The implications for cross-cultural comparison are that we can distinguish between culture in an anthropological sense (that is, as a unique way of life) as against mediated culture, where there are increasingly common patterns o...
TL;DR: The analysis suggests that the use of personas is motivated as much by political realities within new media organizations, as it is by the desire to address user needs.
Abstract: This article considers the problematic relationship between new media designers and users in current texts written about user-centered design (UCD) techniques. To better understand and solidify the importance of the user within the technological artifact, these designers often create ‘personas’ — prototypical users with names, faces, interests and preferences. Personas serve as boundary objects used as conceptual stand-ins for users when team members make design decisions. This article traces the discursive construction of the ‘user’ within web design texts and how these texts describe the persona technique. The analysis suggests that the use of personas is motivated as much by political realities within new media organizations, as it is by the desire to address user needs. In addition, it is argued that personas serve to reinscribe the conceptual separation between the user and designer despite technological developments (like Web 2.0) that blur this boundary.
TL;DR: This article takes up the Japanese case by analysing how its youths engage with SNS, like MySpace and Mixi, within a framework of ‘audience engagement’ that encompasses the multiple dimensions of audience activities.
Abstract: Much has been written about how social networking sites (SNS) have provided new avenues for self-expression, connectivity and ‘self-creation’ among young people, but few pay due attention to geographical and cultural variations. This article takes up the Japanese case by analysing how its youths engage with SNS, like MySpace and Mixi, within a framework of ‘audience engagement’ that encompasses the multiple dimensions of audience activities. Drawing on an ethnography of Japanese youths living in the media-rich Tokyo Metropolitan Area, this article discusses the following four dimensions of audience engagement: information-seeking activity, connectivity, bricolage and participation. While it is neither all about me in MySpace nor all about us in Mixi, it is suggested that MySpace is about me and them and Mixi is about me with them. Japanese young people reflexively create and re-create themselves in everyday life with to-ing and fro-ing in the spectrum between two different cultural values, via SNS.
TL;DR: It is shown that a significant gender divide in access to telephones exists in Pakistan and India, to a lesser extent in Sri Lanka, but is absent in the Philippines and Thailand.
Abstract: Many studies conclude that a significant gender divide in access to the telephone exists, particularly in developing countries. Furthermore, women are also said to use telephones in a different manner from men — making and receiving more calls, spending more time on calls and using telephones primarily for ‘relationship maintenance’ purposes. Much of this research is based on small-sample studies in affluent developed countries. This article shows that a significant gender divide in access to telephones exists in Pakistan and India, to a lesser extent in Sri Lanka, but is absent in the Philippines and Thailand. It also challenges the findings which claim that women’s and men’s use is fundamentally different, at least at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ in developing countries.