tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70036963084391493142024-03-19T09:23:25.503+00:00#NSMNSSNew Social Media, New Social Science?New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.comBlogger202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-55606396887242892022018-04-12T10:17:00.001+01:002018-04-12T10:17:31.179+01:00Rumours, mis- and disinformation in divided societies: Twitter and the Ardoyne parade dispute<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dr. Paul
Reilly is Senior Lecturer in Social Media & Digital Society at the
University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the use of social media by
citizens to share acts of sousveillance, as well as how digital media can be
utilised to promote better community relations in divided societies such as Northern
Ireland. His work </em></span><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em> has been published in
a number of journals including First Monday, Information, Communication &
Society, New Media & Society, Policy and Internet and Urban Studies. He is
currently completing his second monograph on Social media and contentious
politics in Northern Ireland (contracted with Manchester University Press). </em></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>@PaulJReilly</em></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
rerouting of a contentious Orange Order parade away from the Ardoyne shops in
North Belfast would lead to </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/jul/16/northern-ireland-violence-police-orange-order"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">four
consecutive nights of “animalistic” violence</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by loyalist protesters in July
2013. Despite the seeming inevitability of further violence, both the Orangemen
and the Ardoyne residents were widely praised for the parade passing off
without incident in July 2014. However, the 2015 parade would again be marred
by violence, as loyalists faced off against PSNI officers who prevented the
march from returning home via its traditional route. </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having praised the
behaviour of the Orange Order and residents a year earlier, Secretary of State
Teresa Villiers described the attacks on police as </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/orange-order-parades-all-sides-condemn-disgraceful-violence-1.2284398"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">disgraceful</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
and accused the rioters of ‘damaging’ Northern Ireland.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
raised questions about what role, if any, social media played in helping
escalate or de-escalate the tensions surrounding the contentious parade in 2014
and 2015. </span><a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/93895/1/social-media-parades-and-protests.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Previous
research</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> had suggested that the sharing of misinformation and disinformation
(term used to describe t</span><a href="https://firstdraftnews.com/fake-news-complicated/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he inadvertent and
deliberate sharing of false information</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) had contributed to intercommunal
violence in contested urban interface areas. Therefore, this study examined how
users responded to rumours and disinformation that were circulated on Twitter.</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These issues were
explored through a critical thematic analysis of tweets posted during two
periods: 11<sup>th</sup> - 14<sup>th</sup> July 2014, and 12<sup>th</sup> -
15th 2015. A total of 7388 tweets tagged #Ardoyne were identified, 1,842 in
2014 and 5,546 in 2015. These tweets peaked at 7pm on the day of the Twelfth
demonstrations in both years (see Figure 1). One explanation for this finding
was that this spike in Twitter activity was the result of viewers of flagship
television news programmes turning to social media to follow what was happening
during the return leg of the parade.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-k1m6MgKRolkqO1e_0soPlnLv56qXBOEDJUbTRYtrYTQXfDspmop-gsj-8cH9sNEiUB0wnO8H7IRe327x2LRfQ7SeKuD48XpDCtRMBJKtv3gpgtlUjwGD8wqQir4RKaMMkZjr5MzZFhjd/s1600/paulblog1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="752" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-k1m6MgKRolkqO1e_0soPlnLv56qXBOEDJUbTRYtrYTQXfDspmop-gsj-8cH9sNEiUB0wnO8H7IRe327x2LRfQ7SeKuD48XpDCtRMBJKtv3gpgtlUjwGD8wqQir4RKaMMkZjr5MzZFhjd/s400/paulblog1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 1:
Tweets mentioning Ardoyne, 12<sup>th</sup> July 2014 and 13<sup>th</sup> July
2015<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tweeters
move quickly to debunk rumours and disinformation<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes;">Rumours and disinformation
appeared to have a very short life span in both corpora. This was particularly
evident in the 2014 corpus, where t</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">here was some evidence to suggest that both
loyalists and republicans were checking the veracity of claims made by each
other on the microblogging site. Loyalists were accused of digitally altering
pictures in order to portray the nationalist residents in a negative light. A
picture of one of the protesters that had gathered outside the Ardoyne shops
began to circulate on Twitter shortly after 7.30pm on 12<sup>th</sup> July. The
placard they held aloft contained a mock-up road sign indicating that the
Orange Order was not welcome in the area. One tweeter suggested that this was
evidence of the intolerance of republicans and highlighted the ‘unlawful’ nature
of the protests against the march. Twitter users immediately appeared sceptical
of the authenticity of this image. Visual evidence suggesting that this was a
photoshopped image was shared on Twitter within a few minutes. The original
image showed the protester at a peaceful Christian protest at the shop fronts
with his placard proclaiming “Love Thy Neighbour”, rather than the anti-Orange
Order slogan that had featured in the doctored image. This was corroborated by
an image of the same scene, taken and shared on Twitter by BBC NI journalist Kevin
Sharkey a few hours earlier. Many tweeters accused the loyalist responsible for
sharing the photoshopped image of spreading lies about what was happening on
the ground at Ardoyne.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DuOLrMAv5eNadAMxXUl2ybhbYJOV9lTuebB88e8SXiC8F7rnA6iXMPOcgQz9cWJxRAoxBNpkjXe7hjE7ujR-x2yWz-hZQamPn3VNlzJUMcFqX-cq8ps3tut3v595couGy4IdPYs0LTVJ/s1600/paulblog2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="945" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DuOLrMAv5eNadAMxXUl2ybhbYJOV9lTuebB88e8SXiC8F7rnA6iXMPOcgQz9cWJxRAoxBNpkjXe7hjE7ujR-x2yWz-hZQamPn3VNlzJUMcFqX-cq8ps3tut3v595couGy4IdPYs0LTVJ/s400/paulblog2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/tv_KevinSharkey/status/488030213767704576"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tweet</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
from BBC NI reporter Kevin Sharkey used to discredit photoshopped image, July
2014.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A similar theme emerged in relation to the Ardoyne
parade and counter-demonstrations in July 2015. Images taken from many
different vantage points were used to support claims and counter-claims about
the incident in which an Orangeman drove his vehicle into a crowd of
nationalist residents, seriously injuring a 16 year old girl. </span><a href="https://twitter.com/WestBelfastUPRG/status/620674792765673474"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">West
Belfast UPRG</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was one of several accounts to share reports that the
republicans had attacked a car, with no reference to the attempted murder of
the residents in attendance (see Figure 2). It should be noted that one of
these tweeters had been responsible for the photoshopped image of the ‘Love Thy
Neighbour’ placard the previous year. Elsewhere, there was much speculation about
whether the victim had been in or was trapped under the vehicle. The coverage
of the incident by the Belfast Telegraph was questioned for its headline
referring to a ‘crash’ rather than an incident of attempted murder of the
injured teenager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a few minutes
of the incident, first reported by reporters such as the BBC’s Chris Buckler at
7.43pm, the </span><a href="https://twitter.com/vsteveley_utv/status/620681339218599936"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PSNI
confirmed</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that the girl had been injured and that the driver had been
arrested at the scene. It would be a further two hours before local MLAs such
as Gerry Kelly and the PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton would confirm that
her injuries were not life threatening.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnVBKX72sQeyR7Y-5FG469N_qlFFuGkWxvmLJ1tLQMBC6uTXPixHYQuGjJrV5PLkHo_vcvlUXJEyeZkA6P25lwcoDb50L4hcuYWRmrVl75uJJWixG3FLpMbLnZjoqe-ZJ8z1dx0PPh4uj/s1600/paulblog3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="584" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnVBKX72sQeyR7Y-5FG469N_qlFFuGkWxvmLJ1tLQMBC6uTXPixHYQuGjJrV5PLkHo_vcvlUXJEyeZkA6P25lwcoDb50L4hcuYWRmrVl75uJJWixG3FLpMbLnZjoqe-ZJ8z1dx0PPh4uj/s400/paulblog3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 2: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/WestBelfastUPRG/status/620674792765673474"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loyalist
counter-narrative</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about teenage girl hit by car in Ardoyne, 13 July 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was one incident in particular that
illustrated how citizens were using Twitter to prevent the spread of rumours
and misinformation that might incite violence during the contentious North
Belfast parade. One user tweeted a rumour that he had heard from an acquaintance,
suggesting that a deal had been put in place that would see the return leg of
the parade proceed via its traditional route past the Ardoyne shops. This
tweet, shared a few days before the Twelfth, was only shared three times but
clearly had the potential to raise tensions in Ardoyne. The same user would
acknowledge that this information was untrue and apologise for spreading false
information in a tweet posted on the morning of the 13<sup>th</sup> July 2015.
Clearly it is difficult to tell how many tweeters may have seen the original
tweet, or how they responded to this false information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter as tool to empower citizens to counter mis-
and disinformation?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter did not appear to provide the shared space
that is required for reconciling the differences between loyalists and the
nationalist residents’ groups in Ardoyne. The <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">same
group of highly engaged users dominated both of these Twitter streams, with
tweets from the news media the most retweeted and the most likely to reach
users across the sectarian divide.</span> There were no signs of the rational
debate and deliberation that would appear to be needed in order to resolve the
Ardoyne parade dispute. However, Twitter might not be the most appropriate
platform to facilitate intergroup contact and discussions about polarising
issues such as parades and related protests. The complexities of such issues
are unlikely to be explored through the exchange of messages that are
restricted to just 140 characters. A related concern would be the
representativeness of the Twitter users who engage in such online debates.
Recent research has suggested that social media perpetuates </span><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the
“spiral of silence</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">,” whereby people only speak in public about certain
policy issues if they believe that their views are shared by others.
Nevertheless, Twitter’s most significant contribution to peacebuilding in
Northern Ireland might lie in its empowerment of citizens to correct rumours
and disinformation. The relatively short lifespan of these rumours, not to
mention the lack of mainstream media coverage they received, illustrated how
effectively tweeters corrected disinformation during this period. It is
reasonable to presume that this activity helped calm some tensions between
these antagonistic groups, particularly in light of the </span><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1104373"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">negative
impact upon community relations</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that rumours spread on social media had
during the 2013 union flag protests. However, the violence seen in 2015 clearly
demonstrates how the use of Twitter to correct rumours, mis- and disinformation
may be insufficient to prevent the outbreak of violence in interface areas.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com416tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-36989209744854778912018-01-16T09:41:00.001+00:002018-01-16T09:41:59.173+00:00Tapping Into Advertising Data for Studying International Migration<span style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><em><span style="color: black;">Ingmar Weber is the Research
Director of the Social Computing Group at the Qatar Computing Research
Institute (QCRI). As an undergraduate Ingmar studied mathematics at Cambridge
University, before pursuing a PhD at the Max-Planck Institute for Computer
Science. He subsequently held positions at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne and Yahoo Research Barcelona. In his interdisciplinary research, he
applies computational methods to large amounts of online data from social media
and other sources to study human behaviour at scale. Particular topics of
interest include quantifying international migration using digital methods and
other data for development projects. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed
articles and his work is frequently featured in popular press Since 2016
he has been selected as an ACM Distinguished Speaker.<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">International migration is one of the key
drivers of demographic change. However, official statistics on “stocks of
migrants”, i.e. how many people with origin country X are residing in country
Y, are often unreliable. Reasons for this include the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=457" target="_blank">free movement of EU nationals</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">
within the EU, as well as generally inadequate census and civil registration
systems for many developing countries.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Work done by <a href="http://www.zagheni.net/" target="_blank">Emilio Zagheni</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Krishna Gummadi and <a href="https://ingmarweber.de/" target="_blank">myself</a> tries </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">to address some of the shortcomings of traditional methods to create migration
statistics by tapping into a new kind of data: audience estimates provided by
Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Facebook and other internet giants collect a
rich data set on their users to be able to serve more targeted and more
relevant advertising to their users. The data collected includes user
self-declared attributes such as age or gender, it includes meta data such as
the device or internet connection type used to access the service, it includes
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/494750870625830" target="_blank">third party information</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">
such as credit card or voter registration data, and it includes attributes such
as topical interests inferred from behavior such as "liking" posts on
Facebook or visiting websites with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/206635839404055" target="_blank">social plugins</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">.
See <a href="https://www.cision.com/us/2017/07/how-to-improve-social-media-targeting/">https://www.cision.com/us/2017/07/how-to-improve-social-media-targeting/</a>
for a good list of available targeting options on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
and Snapchat.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The detailed users profiles are generally not
available to researchers outside the companies. However, aggregate and
anonymized data is shared with potential advertisers in the form of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1665333080167380" target="_blank">audience estimates</a>. Basically,
Facebook and other social networks provide advertisers with information on
"how many users match criteria X". For example, to help with planning
an advertising campaign, an advertiser could inquire "how many monthly
active Facebook users are married, male German expats aged 30-50 living in
Qatar"? Answer: 120 (as of Dec 20, 2017).</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br />This type of real-time digital census over
Facebook's could potentially be of value to augment existing population
estimates, in particular for countries where official statistics are unreliable
or outdated. However, due to selection biases and an estimated 13% of
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/11/02/facebook-admits-270m-users-fake-duplicate-accounts/" target="_blank">duplicate or fake accounts</a>
it is clear that using this data set as a simplistic enumeration tool for the
whole population will not give accurate results. See
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/07/facebook-claims-it-can-reach-more-people-than-actually-exist-in-uk-us-and-other-countries">https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/07/facebook-claims-it-can-reach-more-people-than-actually-exist-in-uk-us-and-other-countries</a>
for more indications of shortcomings of the data.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">In our own research, we do not use the raw
advertising audience estimates as the final answer. Rather we treat it as one
of potentially many input signals for an estimation task of the kind "how
many Germans are living in Qatar today"? As long as the biases in the
underlying data are either (i) uniform, e.g. 13% of duplicate or fake Facebook
accounts for all countries, or (ii) systematic, e.g. Western Europeans are
always less likely to be on Facebook compared to Arab nationals, an
appropriately fitted model can account for and correct such biases.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">In our paper <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/padr.12102/abstract" target="_blank">“Leveraging Facebook'sAdvertising Platform to Monitor Stocks of Migrants”</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">,
Emilio, Krishna Gummadi and I show the feasibility of this approach to derive
stocks of migrants across different US states and around the world. Concretely,
we show that it is indeed possible to build models to make out-of-sample
predictions on how many people from a certain origin country are residing in a
particular US state. Similarly, it is possible to predict the percentage of
expats out of the whole population for countries around the globe.<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Potentially, the Facebook audience estimates
could also give estimates for stocks of migrants at the sub-national and even
the sub-city level. To illustrate this, <a href="http://www.matheusaraujo.com/" target="_blank">Matheus Araujo</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">,
<a href="http://qcri.org.qa/our-people/bio?pid=199&name=MichaelAupetit" target="_blank">Michael Aupetit</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">,
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/yelenamejova/" target="_blank">Yelena Mejova</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">
and myself created a data visualization for the Facebook data for Doha: </span><a href="http://fb-doha.qcri.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">http://fb-doha.qcri.org</span></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">As an <a href="http://fb-doha.qcri.org/?location=20_7-18_19-10_7-19_13-17_13-9_9-15_13-13_13-5_1-22_7-14_19-12_7-10_19-2_7-19_1-17_17-9_29-13_25-20_27-16_11-8_7-22_11-14_7-12_19-25_13-21_13-11_1-9_17-7_9-8_27-0_7-25_1-6_7-15_29-11_21-3_1-7_21-18_15-10_3-6_11-19_17-9_13-23_5-15_9-13_9-11_25-5_13-18_27-14_23-12_3-2_3-19_5-17_21-9_1-15_5-13_21-16_15-8_11-14_11-12_15-21_9-17_25-11_5-9_21-7_5-16_19-12_27-25_5-21_5-15_25-11_9-3_5-7_17-20_15-18_11-10_15-8_19-6_15-19_21-17_5-23_1-15_21-13_5-7_29-18_23-14_27-10_27-21_25-19_9-17_9-9_5-13_17-5_5-8_15-14_15-12_11-10_23-4_15-17_29-9_25-1_5-7_1-16_23-8_3-12_23-11_13-7_13-20_11-16_27-10_11-8_23-6_3-19_25-15_17-13_1-11_17&citizenship=Nepal" target="_blank">example</a>, this</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shows a density map of Nepali expats across
Doha, with the highest density in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Area_(Doha)" target="_blank">Industrial Area</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">.
The tool also shows that Nepali expats in Doha are predominantly male (93%) and
are Android users (94%). Contrast this to the same map for <a href="http://fb-doha.qcri.org/?location=18_19-19_13-17_13-9_9-15_13-13_13-14_19-20_27-12_19-25_13-21_13-11_21-18_15-9_13-18_27-14_23-17_21-15_5-13_21-16_15-8_11-14_11-9_21-16_19-15_25-11_9-20_15-18_11-19_21-15_21-18_23-21_25-19_9-13_17-14_15-12_11-10_23-14_3-12_23-11_13-20_11-16_27-10_11-19_25-15_17-11_17&citizenship=Western-US-CA-EU-AU-NZ" target="_blank">Western expats</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the highest densities in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bay_(Doha)" target="_blank">West Bay</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pearl-Qatar" target="_blank">the Pearl</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">.
Western expats are more gender balanced (44% female) and more likely to own
iPhones (56%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A similar visualization
for New York City can be explored at </span><a href="http://fb-nyc.qcri.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">http://fb-nyc.qcri.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";"> [Usage info for the two
data visualizations: Select several filters on the left to drill down to
smaller populations by nationality, gender or other criteria. Click a selection
again to de-select and revert to the whole category such as all nationalities
or all genders.]<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Given Facebook’s global reach of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/" target="_blank">2.1B monthly active users</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">
we believe there is a lot of potential in using this data source to support
global development efforts, in particular given its easy accessibility through
<a href="https://developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-api/reference/reach-estimate/" target="_blank">official APIs</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">.
At the same time, no single data source is a cure-all and many have
complementary strengths. Satellite data has truly global reach and can give
estimates of <a href="https://ciesin.columbia.edu/data/hrsl/" target="_blank">population densities</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">
but satellite data will never reveal the nationality or gender of earthlings.
Call detail records (CDR, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_detail_record"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_detail_record</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">) are great
for studying dynamic changes in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/45/15888.full)," target="_blank">population density</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial";">,
but there are limitations for monitoring international migration as people
often change their SIM cards once they move.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I’m truly optimistic that as Digital
Demography advances and matures as a field and as researchers start to work
collaboratively, combining different data sources, we will see more and more
scientific work with real impact on the creation of migration statistics. If
you’re interested in how to use new data sources and methodologies to help fill
data gaps around the globe, please get in touch by email at: iweber -atsignal -
hbku.edu.qa.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>Relevant slide decks:<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Using internet advertising data for studying
international migration (</span><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/IngmarWeber/using-internet-advertising-data-for-studying-international-migration"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://www.slideshare.net/IngmarWeber/using-internet-advertising-data-for-studying-international-migration</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Digital Demography - WWW'17 Tutorial - Part II
(</span><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/IngmarWeber/digital-demography-www17-tutorial-part-ii"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://www.slideshare.net/IngmarWeber/digital-demography-www17-tutorial-part-ii</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">)
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Wrapper libraries to obtain Facebook
advertising audience estimates:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Wrapper library in R (</span><a href="https://github.com/CSDE-UW/IUSSP-digital-demog-2017"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://github.com/CSDE-UW/IUSSP-digital-demog-2017</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">)
by Connor Gilroy (</span><a href="https://soc.washington.edu/people/connor-gilroy"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://soc.washington.edu/people/connor-gilroy</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Wrapper library in Python
(https://github.com/maraujo/pySocialWatcher) by Matheus Araujo (</span><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/matheusaraujo/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://sites.google.com/view/matheusaraujo/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "arial";">All of my publications are available at </span><a href="https://ingmarweber.de/publications/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://ingmarweber.de/publications/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">.
Feel free to follow me at </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ingmarweber"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">https://twitter.com/ingmarweber</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com340tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-25760519345642129252017-10-27T10:27:00.001+01:002017-11-02T09:42:33.605+00:00Gender stereotyping used in the media for the recruitment of women to the British Army<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog is written by Paige Salvage, a student at Cardiff University. She has been studying relevant sociological theories and methods for how we can understand the digital society and how the Internet shapes our everyday lives.</span></em> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span> </div>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The recent
development of government legislation allowing female soldiers into infantry positions
has resulted in extensive sociological interest in the changing role of women
in the Army. Stiehm (1988) suggested that women in the Army have fixed
stereotypes, “whores or lesbians” suggesting that serving female soldiers have
both sexual and sexuality foci. Assuming this is true, Goffman’s (1976:9)
suggests that “gender displays […] reflect fundamental features of the social
structure” in the Army. This study considered how images that have been used
across social media, in particular the British Army’s Instagram page (@britisharmy),
depict women who are already serving. In order to interpret the findings it was
important to understand how women are stereotyped into roles society deem as
typically ‘female’.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is
important to note that Stiehm’s (1988) stereotypical labelling of women in the
Army is not only subjective but also unethical. However, Goffman’s (1976) work on
gender displays balanced any possible disparity as he suggested that gender is
a flexible and fluid notion. With Braun and Clarke’s (2006) guide to thematic
analysis, this study aimed to probe the following two inductive themes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Masculine
- those who are taking on a more masculine role or are taking part in a
military activity that is stereotypically male<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Feminine -
those who take part in more stereotypically female activities<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Data collection
was limited to the British Army’s Instagram page (@britisharmy) after 8<sup>th</sup>
July 2016 when women were officially allowed access to infantry roles. This
period was considered significant as it was expected that more images of women
in combat or infantry scenarios would be shared as a promotion of women into
these roles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Findings<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Masculine</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWBOh9OrbNx0YeQv9_hw2Zogif90MlA6_C77ZlpSZ8jYfyFVqlnqubV5rrgqet6ARc52dwJvKpx8Pkwe7KEYCAmUtJdS9MHzn6KMc-MQ3u3p3ZKkvbQjnP0VJ3a2DKRnpG71JjdK2xkj-/s1600/figure+1+blog+post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1254" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWBOh9OrbNx0YeQv9_hw2Zogif90MlA6_C77ZlpSZ8jYfyFVqlnqubV5rrgqet6ARc52dwJvKpx8Pkwe7KEYCAmUtJdS9MHzn6KMc-MQ3u3p3ZKkvbQjnP0VJ3a2DKRnpG71JjdK2xkj-/s640/figure+1+blog+post.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></b> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Analysis
of images in Instagram (@britisharmy) suggested that images of women are more
likely to be depicted in masculine roles (Figure 1). This suggests that the
British Army are attempting to break the down the assumptions that women in the
military are the weaker sex. By providing the public with images of women
taking part in arduous and dangerous activities, the British Army are promoting
masculine roles for women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">However,
this does not address the common stereotypes that depict women in the Army. Women
who hold a more masculine physique in these images may be considered “lesbian”,
as Stiehm (1988) noted that this label was linked more towards physical
attributes rather than the sexuality of the individual. As some show masculine
traits, these women become ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">othered’ </i>by
assuming a more male stereotype. </span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Feminine<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFQrjea89Mqsf6mJkamI-stn7fFaIu749z8vy0SjHnecxodXh3ToSbJol3hyphenhyphenuDjS14i2tdOwKS3NgDngAcaE6vk0sJi-AS4AduI6oBBpi-QPZ_7rO796fwtO8XD76LLcsU-7nlQlcJvTK/s1600/figure+2+blog+post.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1210" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFQrjea89Mqsf6mJkamI-stn7fFaIu749z8vy0SjHnecxodXh3ToSbJol3hyphenhyphenuDjS14i2tdOwKS3NgDngAcaE6vk0sJi-AS4AduI6oBBpi-QPZ_7rO796fwtO8XD76LLcsU-7nlQlcJvTK/s640/figure+2+blog+post.png" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">There are
significantly less images in instagram depicting women in the army as feminine
(Figure 2), suggesting that the British Army are biased towards using images to
portray women in active combat roles. This is contrary to the acknowledged social
role of women as homemakers and carers. Indeed, feminine images of women on
@britisharmy tend to depict women in healthcare or domestic (eg chefs) roles, suggest
that the British Army concur with the idea that women need less physically
demanding<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>roles.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">From this study, we
can start to understand how masculine pictures of women are used as promotional
aids to increase recruitment numbers, particularly into infantry roles. It
appears that, following the 2016 policy change to allow females into infantry
regiments, the British Army are now targeting women in their recruitment
campaigns. However, it could not be concluded that female stereotypes were
purposefully used to recruit certain types of women for these infantry roles.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b> </div>
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-16994466430069933842017-10-20T10:34:00.001+01:002017-10-20T10:38:21.186+01:00Westminster Student Blog Series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have been posting a series of short vlogs, produced by University of Westminster Postgraduate students. They are all based on their research of social media. As this is the final vlog, we would like to thank all the Westminster students for their entries.<br /></span></span></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Public Sphere in the case of the Women's March on London<br /></span></strong></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: Tian</span></strong></em></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong></em></span></span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0NC8eV2MpYA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0NC8eV2MpYA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A student of the Frankfurt School of Social Research, Jürgen Habermas wrote The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962) to explore the status of public opinion in the practice of representative government in Western Europe. <br /><br />The feminist critique points out that the ‘public sphere’ has proposed a sphere of educated, rich men, juxtaposed to the private sphere that has been seen as the domain of women, which also excluded gays, lesbians, and ethnicities (Fraser, 1990). The criticism has also suggested that a democratic and multicultural society should based on the plural public arenas (Fuchs, 2014). Habermas agrees that his early account in The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, published in 1962, has neglected proletarian, feminist and other public spheres (Fuchs, 2014).<br /><br />The recent example would be the success of Women’s March. The US election proved a catalyst for a grassroots movement of women to assert the positive values that the politics of fear denies. The Women’s March was held in order to represent the rights of women and solidarity with participants from the threatened minorities such as Muslim and Mexican citizens and the LGBTQ community. There were hundreds of marches have taken place in the major cities around the world. <br /><br />The video would criticize the concept of ‘pubic sphere’ from both feminist perspective and the emerging of social media. Discuss how the rise of social networking sites has resulted in public discussions on digital platform.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Reference:<br /><br />Fraser, N. (1990). Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy. Social Text, (25/26), p.56. <br /><br />Fuchs, C., (2014). Social media. A critical introduction. London: Sage.</span></span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-27072874021805622942017-10-16T15:59:00.000+01:002017-10-16T15:59:35.660+01:00Social media research, ‘personal ethics’, and the Ethics Ecosystem <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://twitter.com/gabriellesamue1" target="_blank">Gabrielle Samuel:</a> Research Fellow
Lancaster University / Research Associate, King’s College London. Research interests: research ethics, ethical
and social issues surrounding innovative biotechnologies; social media ethics;
qualitative research. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GemmaDerrick" target="_blank">Gemma Derrick</a>: Lecturer, Department of
Educational Research, Lancaster University. Research interests: Research
evaluation, Qualitative research, Group/committee decision-making. </i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ethics review may seem overly
bureaucratic to some, but in this blog we argue that a more
researcher-committee collaborative process, rather than a gatekeeper ‘tick-box’
role, may help with navigating the ‘ethics ecosystem’ when using new research tools
such as social media (SM) data.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ethics ecosystem exists as an
inter-related membership of academic bodies that, when fully functional, acts
to reinforce a high-level of ethical behaviour from researchers, and to guard
against academic misconduct. Specifically,
this ethics ecosystem can be described as all the individuals (researchers),
organisations (research institutions/research ethics committees (RECs)) and
external bodies (publishing houses, funding bodies, professional associations)
which promote ethically responsible research behaviour in the academy. Ordinarily,
the academy’s ethics ecosystem works well due to a shared understanding of what
ethically responsible research behaviour is. However, this system breaks down when
new ideas, methods or approaches are introduced to its members, and each player
interprets and enforces theses ideals of ethical behaviour differently. This forces each member to re-examine
concepts previously thought to be set in ethical stone. Such is the case of SM research.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Currently
this system is failing SM research<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our research has spoken to members at
all levels of the ethics ecosystem; researchers using SM data, research ethics
committee members, universities, funding bodies, publishing houses and journal
Editors, and we found that members possessed inconsistent understandings of ethics
applicable to the use of SM in research.
There were different interpretations of the established ethical notions
of consent (should we ask for it? shouldn’t we? when and how should we?) and
privacy (how, or even should, SM users’ data be protected, and to what degree?);
some members viewed SM data as ‘fair game’, while others were more cautious;
and only some shouldered responsibility to protect SM users’ perceived privacy.
What was lacking was an overarching understanding reinforced by a larger
governance body as a mechanism to fuel a wider, community-led understanding
about ethical conduct (and misconduct) towards SM research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the research level of the ecosystem,
researchers’ were monitoring their own decisions about how best to act ethically.
However, when left to their own devices this over-reliance on subjective monitoring
of behaviour risks the development of a form of “personal ethics”, which would
be different for each researcher within this ecosystem;</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interviewer:
Are there any guidelines that you follow in your own research?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Researcher:
It’s my guidelines. Everybody has their own definition of ethics….</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This became dangerous when the acceptability
of these decisions were related to how strongly researchers justify them,
rather than being dependent on conduct checks and balances available by a
wider, community-led ethical understanding of SM research;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>You’ve got to develop
the sense of what's right…then put that across and <u>make your case’</u></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The differing interpretations of
personal ethics dovetailed at the institutional level of the ecosystem, when researchers
had to, or chose to submit their research proposal to a REC for consideration.
Committee members, as actors in this level of the ecosystem, spoke about their
lack of experience in reviewing this type of research simply because so few
proposals are submitted (due to the differing researcher interpretations of whether
ethical review was required). As such REC judgements of ethical conduct relied
heavily on researchers’ justifications of ethical decision-making within the
application;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We…sometimes make different
decisions even for projects that look pretty similar. <u>It’s how they build up
their case </u>doing that particular project</i></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The same held true for other members of
the ethics ecosystem, such as the Journal editors and, by extension, peer-reviewers.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To summarise, what does this wide
disagreement around SM research mean for the ethics ecosystem? After all, there
is nothing wrong with ethical norms being driven by researchers’ different
subjective justifications of their personal ethics a.k.a ethical pluralism. However,
for SM research, and similar new research tools, reliance on researchers’
justifications of ethical behaviour can be dangerous as it risks leaving
important ethical decisions in limbo, and allows for ethically problematic research
to fall between the cracks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is needed is more governance
within the ethics ecosystem. Only then
can enough checks and balances exist to ensure best practice, promote a shared
understanding of SM research ethics, and provide necessary audits to protect
against scientific misconduct.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One step towards this is to require
researchers to submit for ethics review to provide an extra layer of scrutiny.
More importantly, it provides REC members with the tacit knowledge necessary to
act as this larger arbitrator of ethical conduct for SM research.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-19985706013807630242017-09-29T10:10:00.001+01:002017-09-29T10:10:40.400+01:00Westminster Student Blog Series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be posting a series of short vlogs, produced by University of Westminster Postgraduate students. They are all based on their research of social media. We will be posting one a week for the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!</span></span></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Internet as Playground and Factory</span></strong></u></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></u></strong></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: Remigijus Marciulis</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></strong></em></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In recent years, the labour theory of value has been a field of intense interest and debates, particularly the use of Marxist concepts in the digital context. There are straight facts showing that giant online companies like Facebook and Google have accumulated enormous amounts of capital by selling their users’ data to advertisers. The phenomena of a ‘Social Factory’ is discussed by different scholars. The value we create go beyond actual factory walls, including the online sphere. “The sociality is industrialised and industry is socialised” (Jarrett, 2016: 28). Trebor Scholz refers the Internet as a ‘playground’ and ‘factory’. His argument is based on the fact that being online is a part of having fun. Is it really uploading a video on YouTube counts as a digital exploitation? On the other hand, Christian Fuchs says that there is a straight connection between the time spent on the Internet and the capitalist exploitation, free labour and surplus-value. Kylie Jarrett tackles the subject from a metaphoric angle of the Digital Housewife. She applies concepts of Marx and feminist approaches by investigating the digital world. According to her, a digital or immaterial labour is profoundly exploited by capitalism.<br />The interview with Dr Alessandro Gandini explores subjects of digital labour and ‘playbour’, the use and appropriateness of Marxist concepts. To sum up, the subject of digital labour and exploitation is complex and diverse. It requires a more profound study that distinguishes the “real” digital work and time spent online for leisure. Scholars agree that the communicative action and activism are the main key instruments fighting against digital capitalist inequalities.</span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-12372247518811827662017-09-22T10:26:00.002+01:002017-09-22T10:26:08.007+01:00Call for speakers: Answering social science questions with social media data<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thursday 8<sup>th</sup> March 2018, The Wellcome Collection, London, NW1 2BE</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After several successful events, we’re pleased to say that the NSMNSS network (</span><a href="http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) and Social Research Association (</span><a href="http://www.the-sra.org.uk/" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">www.the-sra.org.uk</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) are again teaming up to deliver a one-day conference on ‘Answering social science questions with social media data’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As social media research matures as a discipline, and methodological and ethical concerns are being addressed, focus is increasingly shifting on to the role that it can and should play in the social sciences – what are the questions it can help us to answer? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are looking for speakers who have completed a piece of social research using social media data to present their findings and discuss how this has made a difference:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li>·<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">How has it impacted policy, best practice, or understanding?</span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">How has it answered a question that would have been unfeasible using conventional research methods alone?</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This research could be in any substantive area, from health or crime to politics or travel, as long as it is ‘social’ research. It can also include any type of analysis – quantitative or qualitative analysis, big data or small – as long as it involves some form of data collection via a social media platform. We want to encourage a range of different methods and topics to help demonstrate the diversity of the methodology and the role it can play.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you interested in presenting?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you have completed a piece of research using social media research methods, or have any suggestions of who we should contact, then please complete the <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/1475504/template-for-abstract-answering-sm-questions-using-sm-data-your-name.docx" target="_blank">submissions template</a> and send to <a href="mailto:nsmnss@natcen.ac.uk">nsmnss@natcen.ac.uk</a> by <b>Monday 27<sup>th</sup> November.</b> Let us know the name and topic of the research study, which social media pla<span id="goog_610650755"></span><span id="goog_610650756"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>tform was used, a brief description of methodology, and the findings and impact of this study.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This event is being set up by the SRA and NSMNSS network. We want to keep the event accessible and ticket prices reasonable, but need to cover the costs of the venue hire/refreshments, so we cannot pay presenters – however there will be 1 free place per presentation, and we will be able to cover reasonable ‘within UK’ public transport travel expenses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The #NSMNSS & SRA teams</b></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></i>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-24663777500637084712017-09-15T14:00:00.000+01:002017-09-15T14:00:38.899+01:00Westminster Student Blog Series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be posting a series of short vlogs, produced by University of Westminster Postgraduate students. They are all based on their research of social media. We will be posting one a week for the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!</span></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><u>Digital Review: Public Sphere and the Exclusion of Women</u></strong></span></span><br />
<br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Author:
K<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">arolina Kramplova<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></strong><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9zqyGAqM06U/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9zqyGAqM06U?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em></em></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The creation of new forms of digital social
media during the first decade of the 21st century has completely changed the
way in which many people communicate and share information. When we think about
social media as a space where the public can discuss current affairs and
politics, it is interesting to consider it with the theory of public sphere.
Ever since Habermas established this concept, it was criticised by scholars
like Nancy Fraser. She argues that the theory was established based on a number
of exclusions and discriminations. I focused on the exclusion of women from the
political life. Andy Ruddock, an author of the book, Youth and Media, also
talks about the lack of representation of women in subculture studies and how
social media is not about democratisation and public debate but rather about
people picking what they like. An activist, Hannah Knight, acknowledges the
discrimination women face until this day. However, when it comes to public
sphere and social media, even though Knight argues there is a space for public
debates, she says people are not listening to everyone. Social media empowers
movements such as the Women’s March, but does it contribute towards
democratisation, or do we just want to believe it does? Therefore, both the
scholar, Ruddock and the activist Knight, have persuaded me that the concept of
public sphere is no longer relevant when it comes to social media.</span></span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-66151764686687652602017-09-01T11:33:00.000+01:002017-09-01T11:35:17.557+01:00Westminster Student Blog Series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We will be posting a series of short vlogs, produced by University of Westminster Postgraduate students. They are all based on their research of social media. We will be posting one a week for the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!</span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Journalism, the Filter Bubble and the Public Sphere</span></u></strong></span></span><br />
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Author: Mick Kelly</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></em></strong><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The influence of social media platforms and
technology companies is having a greater effect on American journalism than
even the shift from print to digital.”<br />
(Bell and Owen, 2017)<br />
<br />
This is the conclusion of a study released in March 2017 by researchers from
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism who investigated a
journalism industry reacting to controversies about fake news and algorithmic
filter bubbles that occurred at the time of the US presidential election. The
report noted the following key points:<br />
<br />
• Technology companies have become media publishers<br />
• Low-quality content that is sharable and of scale is viewed as more valuable
by social media platforms than high-quality, time-intensive journalism<br />
• Platforms choose algorithms over human editors to filter content, but the
‘nuances of journalism require editorial judgment, so platforms will need to
reconsider their approach’.<br />
<br />
The report states that news might currently reach a bigger audience than ever
before via social media platforms such as Facebook, but readers have no way of
knowing how data influences the stories they read or how ‘their online
behaviour is being manipulated’. (Bell and Owen, 2017) <br />
<br />
This video assignment reveals that the debate has existed since 2011 when Eli
Pariser wrote The Filter Bubble, which explained how data profiling led to
personalisation and the algorithmic filtering of news stories. The theme of
this video is the impact of this robotic process on journalism within the
public sphere, and includes an interview with Jim Grice, who is Head of News
and Current Affairs at London Live.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: small;">
<strong>R</strong></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>EFERENCE</strong><br />
Bell, E. and Owen, T. (2017) The Platform Press: How Silicon Valley
reengineered journalism. The Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia
University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Available from:<br />
</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/platform-press-how-silicon-valley-reengineered-journalism.php" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/platform-press-how-silicon-valley-reengineered-journalism.php" target="_blank">https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/platform-press-how-silicon-valley-reengineered-journalism.php</a></span> <a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_report..."><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_report..."></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[Accessed</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 30 March 2017]</span><o:p></o:p></a><br />
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-74276485735528252392017-08-25T16:06:00.000+01:002017-08-25T16:06:42.186+01:00Westminster Student Blog Series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be posting a series of short vlogs, produced by University of Westminster Postgraduate students. They are all based on their research of social media. We will be posting one a week for the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!</span> </em></span><br />
<br />
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<strong><u>The Act of Sharing on Social Media</u></strong><br />
<strong><u><br /></u><em>Author: Erxiao Wang</em></strong><br />
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<span>Social media has been the growing theme of the Information Age we live
in. It is of considerable importance to understand, utilise, and engage wisely
with social media platforms within our contemporary networked digital
environment. This video is a theoretically inspired social media artefact; it
introduces some of the key arguments in University of Westminster Professor
Graham Meikle's book “Social Media: Communication, Sharing and Visibility”. This
book includes theories such as the idea of media convergence, the business
model of online sharing, the mediated online visibility and also the
exploitable data that is subject to online surveillance. Moreover, Professor
Meikle has also analysed the commercial Internet of Web 2.0 that enabled the
user generated content and witnessed the coming together of the public and
personal communication, and the always-on mobile connectivity has enabled
greater mobility that allows social change. In order to make use of these key
theories in our everyday practice and conversations of social media, I had a
chat with a good friend of mine Junchi Deng, who is an accordion player who
attends the Royal Academy of Music here in London and also posts and vlogs
regularly. We talked about the act of sharing on social media, and the idea of
promoting oneself on social networking sites, especially for a musician like
himself. Our discussion centres around everyday use of social media, and our
individual observations towards the incorporation and review of these
platforms.</span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-84742256265440356512017-08-04T12:39:00.000+01:002017-08-04T12:39:13.185+01:00Terrorism and Social Media Conference Part Two<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><i><b>This is the second part of a two-part series on the #TASM conference. You can read the first part <a href="http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/terrorism-and-social-media-conference.html">here.</a></b></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: start;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><i>The 27th and 28th June saw the congregation of some of the world’s leading experts in counter-terrorism and 145 delegates from 15 countries embark on Swansea University’s Bay Campus for the Cyberterrorism Project’s Terrorism and Social Media conference (#TASMConf). Over the two days, 59 speakers presented their research into terrorists’ use of social media and responses to this phenomenon. The keynote speakers consisted of Sir John Scarlett (former head of MI6), Max Hill QC (the UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation), Dr Erin Marie Saltman (Facebook’s Policy Manager for counter-terrorism and counter-extremism in Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Professor Philip Bobbitt, Professor Maura Conway and Professor Bruce Hoffman. The conference oversaw a diverse range of disciplines including law, criminology, psychology, security studies, linguistics, and many more. <a href="https://twitter.com/CTP_ALW" style="color: #00b7b4; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amy-Louise Watkin</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CTProject_JW" style="color: #00b7b4; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Joe Whittaker</a> take us through what was discussed (blog originally posted <a href="http://www.cyberterrorism-project.org/archives/1635" style="color: #00b7b4; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>).</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both Dr Weeda Mehran, and
Amy-Louise Watkin and Sean Looney presented on children in terrorist
organisations and their portrayal through videos and images. Dr Mehran analysed
eight videos and found that children help to create a spectacle as they
generate memorability, novelty, visibility and competitiveness, and display
high levels of confidence while undertaking executions. On the other hand, Watkin
and Looney found in their analysis of images in online jihadist magazines that there
are notable differences between IS and AQ in their use of children with IS
focusing on displaying brutality through images of child soldiers and AQ trying
to create shame and guilt at their Western followers through images of children
as victims of Western-back warfare. They concluded that these differences need
to be taken into account when creating counter-messages and foreign policy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joe Whittaker presented his
research on online radicalisation. He began with a literature review of the
field, concluding that the academic consensus was that the Internet is a
facilitator, rather than a driver, of radicalisation. He then offered five
reasons as to why there was good reason to doubt this consensus: the lack of
empirical data, how old the data is compared to the growth of the Internet, the
few dissenting voices in the field, the changing online threat since 2014, and
the wealth of information that can be learned from other academic fields (such
as Internet studies and psychology). He then offered three case studies of
individuals radicalised in the previous three years to learn whether the
academic consensus still holds; finding that although it does in two cases,
there may be good reason to believe that social media could drastically change
the nature of some individuals’ radicalisation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the topic of corporate social
responsibility in counter-terrorism, Chelsea Daymon and Sergei Boeke discussed different
aspects of private entities engaging in policing extremist content on the Internet.
Daymon drew upon the different projects and initiatives conducted by industry
leaders, such as Google’s Jigsaw projects and the shared database between
Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. She, however, warned against the
excessive use of predictive technology for countering violent extremism,
suggesting that it could raise practical and ethical problems in the future. Drawing
from Lawrence Lessig’s models, Boeke outlined four distinct categories of
regulation that can be applied to the Internet: legal, architectural,
market-based, and altering social norms before offering different suggestions
for how this can be used in the context of countering terrorism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final panel related to creating
counter-narratives, which included Dr Paul Fitzpatrick, who discussed different
models of radicalisation, and how it related to his work as Prevent Coordinator
at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He began by critiquing a number of
prevalent models including Moghaddam’s staircase, as well as all multi-stage,
sequential models, observing that, having seen over one hundred cases first-hand,
no-one had followed the stages in a linear fashion. He also highlighted the
particular vulnerabilities of students coming to university, who have their
traditional modes of thinking deliberately broken down, and are susceptible to
many forms of extreme thinking. Sarah Carthy, who presented a meta-analysis of
counter-narratives, followed Dr Fitzpatrick. She observed that specific
narratives are particularly powerful because they are simple, present a
singular version of a story, and are rational (but not necessarily reasonable).
Importantly, Carthy noted that despite many assuming that counter-narratives
can do little harm – the worst thing that can happen is that they are ignored –
some were shown to have a detrimental effect on the target audience, raising
important ethical considerations. The final member of the counter-narrative
panel was Dr Haroro Ingram, who presented his strategic framework for
countering terrorist propaganda. Ingram’s framework, which draws on findings
from the field of behavioural economics, aims to disrupt the “linkages” between
extremist groups’ “system of meaning”. Dr Ingram observes that the majority of
IS propaganda leverages automatic, heuristic-based thinking, and encouraging
more deliberative thinking when constructing a counter-narrative could yield
positive results. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last day of the conference saw
keynote Max Hill QC argue that there is a strong place for counter-narratives
to be put into place to discredit extremist narratives, and spoke of his
experiences visiting British Muslims who have been affected by the recent UK
terrorist attacks. He told of the powerful counter-narratives that these
British Muslims hold and argued their importance in countering extremist
propaganda both online and offline. Hill also argued against the criminalising
of tech companies who ‘don’t do enough’, asking the question of how we measure
‘enough’? His presentation was shortly followed by Dr Erin Marie Saltman who
discussed Facebook’s advancing efforts in countering terrorism and extremism.
She argued that both automated techniques and human intervention are required
to tackle this and minimise errors on the site that sees visits from 1.28
billion people daily. Saltman gave an overview of Facebook’s Violent Extremism
Policies and spoke of the progress the organisation has made regarding
identifying the ability of actors to make new accounts. Overall, Saltman made
it crystal clear that Facebook are strongly dedicated to eradicating all forms
of terrorism and violent extremism from their platform. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">With the wealth of knowledge that
was shared from the academics, practitioners and private sector companies that
attended TASM, and the standard of research proposals that followed from the
post-TASM research sandpit, it is clear that TASM was a success. The research
presented made it very clear that online terrorism is a threat that affects
society as a whole and the solutions will need to come from multiple
directions, multiple disciplines, and multiple collaborations. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You can find Max
Hill QC’s TASM speech in full <a href="http://www.cyberterrorism-project.org/archives/1630" target="_blank">here</a> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and follow
us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%40CTP_Swansea&src=typd" target="_blank">@CTP_Swansea</a> to find out when we will be releasing videos of TASM
presentations. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-79627032733661177222017-08-01T16:29:00.001+01:002017-08-01T16:29:25.870+01:00Terrorism and Social Media Conference Part One<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>This is the first part of a two-part series on the #TASM conference. Please look out for the next part of this series later this week!</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The 27th and 28th June saw the congregation of some of the world’s leading experts in counter-terrorism and 145 delegates from 15 countries embark on Swansea University’s Bay Campus for the Cyberterrorism Project’s Terrorism and Social Media conference (#TASMConf). Over the two days, 59 speakers presented their research into terrorists’ use of social media and responses to this phenomenon. The keynote speakers consisted of Sir John Scarlett (former head of MI6), Max Hill QC (the UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation), Dr Erin Marie Saltman (Facebook’s Policy Manager for counter-terrorism and counter-extremism in Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Professor Philip Bobbitt, Professor Maura Conway and Professor Bruce Hoffman. The conference oversaw a diverse range of disciplines including law, criminology, psychology, security studies, linguistics, and many more. <a href="https://twitter.com/CTP_ALW" target="_blank">Amy-Louise Watkin</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CTProject_JW" target="_blank">Joe Whittaker</a> take us through what was discussed (blog originally posted <a href="http://www.cyberterrorism-project.org/archives/1635" target="_blank">here</a>).</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proceedings kicked off with keynotes Professor Bruce Hoffman and Professor Maura Conway. Professor Hoffman discussed the threat from the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ). He discussed several issues, one of which was the quiet regrouping of AQ, stating that their presence in Syria should be seen as just as dangerous as and even more pernicious than IS. He concluded that the Internet is one of the main reasons why IS has been so successful, predicting that as communication technologies continue to evolve, so will terrorists use of social media and the nature of terrorism itself. Professor Conway followed with a presentation discussing the key challenges in researching online extremism and terrorism. She focused mainly on the importance of widening the groups we research (not just IS!), widening the platforms we research (not just Twitter!), widening the mediums we research (not just text!), and additionally discussed the many ethical challenges that we face in this field. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key point from the first keynote session was to widen the research undertaken in this field and we think that the presenters at TASM were able to make a good start on this with research on different languages, different groups, different platforms, females, and children. Starting with different languages, Professor Haldun Yalcinkaya and Bedi Celik presented their research in which they adopted Berger and Morgan’s 2015 methodology on English speaking Daesh supporters on Twitter and applied this to Turkish speaking Daesh supporters on Twitter. They undertook this research while Twitter was undergoing major account suspensions which dramatically reduced their dataset. They compared their findings with Berger and Morgan’s study and a previous Turkish study, finding a significant decrease in the follower and followed counts, noting that the average followed count was even lower than the average Twitter user. They found that other average values followed a similar trend, suggesting that their dataset had less power on Twitter than previous findings, and that this could be interpreted as successful evidence of Twitter suspensions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, we saw a focus away from the Middle East as Dr Pius Eromonsele Akhimien presented his research on Boko Haram and their social media war narratives. His research focused on linguistics from YouTube videos between 2014 when the Chobok girls were abducted until 2016 when some of the girls were released. Dr Akhimien emphasised the use of language as a weapon of war. His research revealed that Boko Haram displayed a lot of confidence in their language choice and reinforced this through the use of strong statements. They additionally used taunts to emphasise their control, for example, “yes I have your girls, what can you do?” Lastly, they used threats, and followed through with these offline. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continuing the focus away from the Middle East, Dr Lella Nouri, Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus and Dr Matteo Di Cristofaro presented their inter-disciplinary research into the far-right’s Britain First (BF) and Reclaim Australia (RA). This research used corpus assisted discourse analysis (CADS) to analyse firstly why these groups are using social media and secondly, the ways in which these groups are achieving their use of social media. The datasets were collected from Twitter and Facebook using the social media analytic tool Blurrt. One of the key findings was that both groups clearly favoured the use of Facebook over Twitter, which is not seen to be the same in other forms of extremism. Also, both groups saliently used othering, with Muslims and immigrants found to be the primary targets. The othering technique was further analysed to find that RA tended to use a specific topic or incident to support their goals and promote their ideology, while BF tended to portray Muslims as paedophiles and groomers to support their goals and ideology.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The diversity continued as Dr
Aunshul Rege examined the role of females who have committed hijrah on Twitter.
The most interesting finding from Dr Rege’s research was the contradicting
duality of the role of these women. Many of the women were complaining
post-hijrah of the issues that pushed them into committing hijrah in the first
place: loneliness, cultural alienation, language barriers, differential
treatment, and freedom restrictions. They tweeted using the hashtag
#nobodycaresaboutawidow and advised young women who were thinking of committing
hijrah to bring Western home comforts with them, such as make-up.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-45281382686815496602017-07-21T16:05:00.002+01:002017-07-21T16:05:56.203+01:00<h1>Save your outrage: online cancer fakers may be suffering a different kind of illness</h1><br />
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<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-bath-178259">Peter Bath</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sheffield-1147">University of Sheffield</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julie-ellis-180187">Julie Ellis</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sheffield-1147">University of Sheffield</a></em></span><br />
<p>Trust is very important in medicine. <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/PIP_HealthOnline.pdf">Increasing numbers of people</a> are using the internet to manage their health by looking for facts about specific illnesses and treatments available. And patients, their carers and the public in general need to trust that this information is accurate, reliable and up to date.</p><p>Alongside factual health websites, the internet offers discussion forums, personal blogs and social media for people to access anecdotal information, support and advice from other patients. Individuals share their own experiences, feelings and emotions about their illnesses online. They develop relationships and friendships, particularly with people who have been through illnesses themselves and can empathise with them.</p><p>Some health professionals have concerns about the <a href="http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/4/381.full">quality of medical information on the internet</a>. But others are advocating that patients <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020206">should be more empowered</a> and encourage people to use these <a href="https://healthunlocked.com/nhschoices">online communities</a> to share information and experiences.</p><p>Within these virtual communities, people don’t just have to trust that the medical information they encounter is factually correct. They are also placing trust in the other users they encounter online. This is the case whether they are sharing their own, often personal, information or reading about the personal experiences of others.</p><br />
<h2>Darker side to sharing</h2><br />
<p>While online sharing can be very beneficial to patients, there is also a potentially darker side. There have been widely-publicised cases of “patients” posting information about themselves that is, at best, factually incorrect and might be considered deliberately deceptive.</p><p>Blogger Belle Gibson built a huge following after writing about <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/the-whole-pantry-founder-inspires-in-the-face-of-terminal-cancer/story-fniym874-1227133426731">being diagnosed with a brain tumour</a> at the age of 20 and the experience of having just months to live. She blogged about her illness, treatment, recovery and eventual relapse while developing and marketing a mobile phone app, a website and a book. Through all of this she advocated diet and lifestyle changes over conventional medicine, claiming this approach been key to her survival.</p><p>But Gibson’s stories were later revealed to be part of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/29/jules-gibson-munchausen-by-internet-sickness-bloggers-fake-it-whole-pantry">tangled web of deceit</a>, which also involved her promising to donate money to charities but, allegedly, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/charity-money-promised-by-inspirational-health-app-developer-belle-gibson-not-handed-over-20150308-13xgqk.html">never delivering the payments</a>.</p><p>In one sense, people’s trust was broken when they realised they had paid money under false pretences. In another sense, they may have followed Gibson’s supposed example of halting prescribed treatments and adopting a new diet and lifestyle when there was no real evidence this would work. But, at a deeper level, people may feel betrayed because they sympathised and indeed empathised with a person who was later revealed to be a fraud.</p><p>The truth was eventually publicised by online news outlets and Gibson was subject to complaints and abuse on social media. But there is something about the anonymity of the internet that facilitates this kind of deceptive behaviour in the first place. People are far less likely to be taken in by this sort of thing in the real world, but they are online. And it destroys people’s trust in online resources across the board.</p><br />
<h2>Trust in extreme circumstances</h2><br />
<p>Despite this, the moral outrage generated online by this kind of extreme and relatively isolated incident may be misplaced. There <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415949347">is evidence</a> to suggest that people who do this may actually be ill but it’s a very difference sort of illness. </p><p>Faking diseases or illnesses – often described as Munchausen’s syndrome – is not unique to the internet and was reported long before its advent. The <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484524/">Roman physician Galen</a> is credited with being the first to identify occasions on which people lied about or induced symptoms in order to simulate illness. More recently, the term “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/26/faking-illness-online-munchausen">Munchausen by internet</a>” has been used to describe behaviour in which people use chat rooms, blogs and forums to post false information about themselves to gain sympathy, trust or to control others.</p><p>Whichever way we view people who post such false information, their behaviour raises the question why people with genuine illnesses still share such intimate details when the potential for dishonesty from others is so evident. Our new research project, “<a href="http://www.space4sharingstudy.org/">A Shared Space and a Space for Sharing</a>”, led by the University of Sheffield, is trying to understand how trust works in online spaces among people in extreme circumstances, such as the terminally ill. </p><p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/44277/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"/>We need to know why people trust and share so much with others when they have never met them and when there is so much potential for deceit and abuse. It is also important to identify people who fake illness online if we are to ensure there is public trust in genuine online support platforms.</p><br />
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-bath-178259">Peter Bath</a>, Professor of Health Informatics, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sheffield-1147">University of Sheffield</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julie-ellis-180187">Julie Ellis</a>, Research associate, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sheffield-1147">University of Sheffield</a></em></span></p><p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/save-your-outrage-online-cancer-fakers-may-be-suffering-a-different-kind-of-illness-44277">original article</a>.</p>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-55570214432036208522017-07-14T14:43:00.001+01:002017-07-14T14:43:57.036+01:00Book review: The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/Charlotte_Saun" target="_blank">Charlotte Saunders</a></b> is a Research Analyst at NatCen Social Research and the newest member of the NSMNSS team!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he works on quantitative and secondary analysis projects across a range of policy areas. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Previously, Charlotte spent three years working for Ipsos MORI on a variety of qualitative and quantitative projects. Most recently she spent several months with VSO in Tanzania managing teams of young volunteers working in secondary schools. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charlotte holds an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her research project there looked at inequalities in access to clean water and sanitation in South America. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past decade social media has transformed many aspects
of our lives. It has revolutionised the way we communicate and the widespread
adoption of mobile devices means its impact on everyday life continues to grow.
As social researchers, we know that social media opens up huge new reserves of
naturally occurring data for us to play with. The large volume of data produced
is a goldmine for quantitative researchers; the opportunities provided by big
data are well documented. But there are also new prospects in qualitative
research, with new sources of ‘<a href="https://medium.com/ethnography-matters/why-big-data-needs-thick-data-b4b3e75e3d7">thick
data’</a> which help us to understand the stories, emotions and worldviews
behind the numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite all these possibilities, many of us don’t know how
to take advantage of them. There are lots of things to consider; from the technical
knowledge required to access and store the data to the potential ethical issues
involved in using people’s data for research without first asking their
permission. <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-social-media-research-methods/book245370%20#description" target="_blank">The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods</a> promises to
guide researchers through the whole process - from research design and ethical
issues, data collection and storage through to analysis and interpretation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The editors, <a href="https://twitter.com/DrLukeSloan?lang=en">Luke Sloan</a> (Senior Lecturer
at Cardiff University and Deputy Director of the <a href="http://socialdatalab.net/">Social Data Science Lab</a>) and <a href="https://twitter.com/anabelquanhaase?lang=en">Anabel Quan-Haase</a> (Associate
Professor of Information and Media Studies and Sociology at the University of
Western Ontario) have compiled chapters which cover the whole research process.
Discussions of the limitations of naturally occurring data from social media,
and some of the techniques that can be used to overcome them are practical and
guide the researcher through the issues clearly. The chapters outlining the
history, structure and demographics of some less common social media platforms
give a good basic overview for those who rarely stray away from Facebook or
Twitter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall this is a helpful guide to research using social
media. The ethics discussions outline the key issues that researchers need to
consider. There are also clear step-by-step guides which walk researchers
through some of the technical processes needed to engage with social media
sites. Simon Hegelich’s chapter “R for Social Media Analysis” is a good
example; simple and easy to follow, Hegelich takes the reader through a simple
project analysing and visualising data from Twitter using the free software
programming language R. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the book is well written and easy to follow although
some chapters are less accessible and require significant existing knowledge. These
chapters are likely to be valuable for experienced researchers looking to transfer
their knowledge to a social media setting, but students and junior researchers
may well find themselves scouring the internet for definitions and context. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social Media Research Methods fulfils its aim to allow
researchers to “apply and tailor the various methodologies to their own
research questions”. The step-by-step
guides are logical and easy to follow and the case studies demonstrate how
methods can be used in real research. For those with a good existing
understanding of the research methodologies and techniques in their field this
is an invaluable text opening up the social media research world. Those with
less experience will probably need to refer to other resources to get up to
speed with some chapters, but even then this is a useful addition to any social
research library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods is
available to purchase <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Social-Media-Research-Methods/dp/1473916321/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">here</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-81590187874934849532017-06-02T11:44:00.001+01:002017-06-02T11:54:05.583+01:00Q&A Session with Authors of The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research MethodsLast Friday there was a launch event in San Diego at ICA (International Communication Association) for the new <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-social-media-research-methods/book245370%20" target="_blank"><em>SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods</em></a><em>.</em><br />
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The editors Luke Sloan and Anabel Quan-Haase kindly responded to the questions that you submitted. If you missed the event, you can view the Q&A session here: <a href="https://storify.com/SAGE_Methods/q-a-with-anabel-quan-haase-and-luke-sloan">https://storify.com/SAGE_Methods/q-a-with-anabel-quan-haase-and-luke-sloan</a><br />
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Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @NSMNSS!New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-5157080755041602382017-05-19T12:18:00.000+01:002017-05-19T12:18:06.130+01:00The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods – Questions for Authors<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you read the recently published<i> <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-social-media-research-methods/book245370%20" target="_blank">SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods</a></i>?
It offers a step-by-step guide to overcoming the challenges inherent in
research projects that deal with ‘big and broad data’, from the formulation of
research questions to the interpretation of findings. The <i>Handbook</i> includes chapters on specific social media platforms such
as Twitter, Sina Weibo and Instagram, as well as a series of critical chapters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a launch event taking place on <b>Friday 26<sup>th</sup> May</b> in the US, at the <a href="https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ica/ica17/" target="_blank">Communication and Technology reception</a><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span>at
ICA (San Diego), sponsored by SAGE. The editors Luke Sloan and Anabel
Quan-Haase are happy to answer any questions you may have about the book, even
if you aren’t able to attend in person – their responses will be posted
throughout the day on Twitter via <a href="https://twitter.com/sage_methods" target="_blank">@SAGE_Methods</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have any questions about particular chapters, or to
do with social media research methods generally, please tweet us your questions
<a href="https://twitter.com/NSMNSS" target="_blank">@NSMNSS</a><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span>using
#SMRM or email <a href="mailto:Keeva.Rooney@natcen.ac.uk">Keeva.Rooney@natcen.ac.uk</a>
or <a href="mailto:Franziska.Marcheselli@natcen.ac.uk">Franziska.Marcheselli@natcen.ac.uk</a>
by <b>Wednesday
24<sup>th</sup> May. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will pass your questions on and you can look out
for the responses during the event!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-87052522215519843132017-05-12T16:22:00.000+01:002017-05-12T16:22:01.879+01:00Anti-Islamic Content on Twitter<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em>This blogpost was written by Carl Miller, Research Director, and Josh Smith, Researcher, at <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM) at Demos. @carljackmiller</span></em></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This analysis was presented at the Mayor of London’s Policing and Crime Summit on Monday 24 April, 2017.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos has been conducting research to measure the volume of messages on Twitter algorithmically considered to be derogatory towards Muslims over a year, from March 2016 to March 2017. This is part of a broad effort to understand the scale, scope and nature of uses of social media that are possibly socially problematic and damaging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over a year, Demos’ researchers detected 143,920 Tweets sent from the UK considered to be derogatory and anti-Islamic – this is about 393 a day. These Tweets were sent from over 47,000 different users, and fell into a number of different categories – from directed insults to broader political statements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A random sample of hateful Tweets were manually classified into three broad categories:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>‘Insult’ (just under half): </strong>Tweets used an anti-Islamic slur in a derogatory way, often directed at a specific individual.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>‘Muslims are terrorists’(around one fifth)</strong> Derogatory statements generally associating Muslims and Islam with terrorism.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>‘Muslims are the enemy’ (just under two fifths):</strong> Statements claiming that Muslims, generally, are dedicated toward the cultural and social destruction of the West.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The researchers found that key events, especially terrorist attacks, drive large increases in the volume of messages on Twitter containing this kind of language.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Brussels, Orlando, Nice, Normandy, Berlin and Quebec attacks all caused large increases. There was a period of heightened activity over Brexit, and sometimes online ‘Twitter storms’ (such as the use of derogatory slurs by Azealia Banks toward Zayn Malik) also drove sharp increases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tweets containing this language were sent from every region of the UK, but the most over-represented areas, compared to general Twitter activity, were London and the North-West.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of the 143,920 Tweets containing this language and classified as being sent from within the UK, 69,674 (48%) contained sufficient information to be located within a broad area of the UK. To measure how many Tweets each region generally sends, a random baseline of 67 Million Tweets were collected over 19 days over late February and early March. The volume of Tweets containing derogatory language towards Muslims was compared to this baseline. This identified regions where the volume was higher or lower than the expectation on the basis of general activity on Twitter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In London, North London sent markedly more tweets containing language considered derogatory towards Muslims than South London.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">27,576 (39%) tweets were sent from Greater London. Of these, 14,953 Tweets (about half) could be located to a more specific region within London (called a ‘NUTS-3 region’; typically either a London Borough or a combination of a small number of London Boroughs).</span><a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">[1]</span></sup></a><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brent, Redbridge and Waltham Forest sent the highest number of derogatory, anti-Islamic Tweets relative to their baseline average of general Twitter activity.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Westminster and Bromley sent the least number of derogatory, anti-Islamic Tweets relative to their baseline average of general Twitter activity.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3502" height="313" src="https://www.demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Demos-Islam2.png" width="640" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Demos’ research identified six different online tribes. <sup><a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"><span style="font-size: small;">[2]</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></sup>These were:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Core political anti-Islam</strong>. The largest group of about 64,000 users including recipients of Tweets. Politically active group engaged with international politics.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hashtags employed by this group suggest engagement in anti-Islam and right wing political conversations: (#maga #tcot #auspol #banIslam #stopIslam #rapefugees)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In aggregate, words in user descriptions emphasise nationality, right-wing political interest and hostility towards Islam (anti, Islam, Brexit, UKIP, proud, country)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Contested reactions to Terrorist attacks</strong>. The second largest group, of about 18,000 users, including recipients of tweets.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aggregate overview of user descriptions imply a relatively young group (sc, snapchat, ig, instagram, 17,18,19,20, 21)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">User descriptions also imply a mix of political opinion (blacklivesmatter, whitelivesmatter, freepalestine)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hashtags engage in conversations emerging in the aftermath of terrorist attacks (#prayforlondon, #munich, #prayforitaly, #prayforistabul, #prayformadinah, #orlando)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Likewise, hashtags are a mix of pro- and anti-Islamic (#britainfirst, #whitelivesmatter, #stopislam, #postrefracism, #humanity)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>The counter-speechers</strong>. A group of 8,700 people; although of course the data collection, by design, only detected the part of the counter-speech conversation containing language that can be used in a way derogatory towards Muslims. It is therefore likely that it did not collect the majority of counter-speech activity.</span><a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"><sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">[3]</span></sup></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The shape of the cluster shows a smaller number of highly responded to-/retweeted comments.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hashtags engage predominantly with anti-racist conversations (#racisttrump, postrefracism, #refugeeswelcome, #racism, #islamophobia)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In aggregate, user descriptions show mix of political engagement and general identification with left-wing politics (politics, feminist, socialist, Labour).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall they also show more descriptions of employment than the other clusters (writer, author, journalist, artist).</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>The Football Fans</strong>. 7,530 users are in this cluster, including recipients of Tweets.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The bio descriptions of users within his cluster overwhelmingly contain football-related words (fan, football, fc, lfc, united, liverpool, arsenal, support, club, manchester, mufc, chelsea, manutd, westham)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No coherent use of hashtags. This cluster engaged in lots of different conversations.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>India/Pakistan</strong>. Just under 5,000 users are in this cluster (including recipients).</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hashtags overwhelmingly engage in conversation to do with India-Pakistan relations or just Pakistan (#kashmir, #surgicalstrike, #pakistan, #actagainstpak).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In aggregate, words in user descriptions relate to Indian/nationalist identity and pro-Modi identification (proud, Indian, hindu, proud indian, nationalist, dharma, proud hindu, bhakt,)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>The Gamers.</strong> 2,813 users are in this cluster (including Tweet recipients).</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no coherent use of hashtags.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, aggregate comments in user descriptions either imply young age (16,17,18) or are related to gaming (player, cod [for ‘Call of Duty’], psn)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A small number of accounts overall are responsible for many of the tweets containing language generally considered to be derogatory towards Muslims.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">50% of Tweets classified as containing language considered anti-Islamic and derogatory are sent by only 6% of accounts</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">25% of Tweets classified as containing language considered anti-Islamic and derogatory were sent by 1% of accounts.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Likewise, a small number of accounts were the recipients of the derogatory, anti-Islamic activity that was directed at a particular person.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Results-Methods-Paper-MOPAC-SUMMIT-Demos.pdf" target="_blank">The full paper, outlining methodology and ethical notes, can be downloaded here.</a> </span></span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3501" height="529" src="https://www.demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Demos-Islam1.png" width="563" /></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">N</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OTES –</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">[1]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> An important caveat is that the volumes associated with each of these regions are obviously smaller than the total number of Tweets in the dataset overall</span><br />
<a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"><sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">[2]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> A caveat here is that this network graph includes Tweets that are misclassified and also includes the recipients of abuse. It is also important to note that not everyone who shares Tweets does so with malicious intent; they can be doing so to highlight the abuse to their own followers.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/project/anti-islamic-content-on-twitter/#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"><sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">[3]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In other work on the subject we have found there are usually more posts about solidarity, support for Muslims than attacks on them.</span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-12446104450491374482017-03-29T09:30:00.001+01:002017-03-29T09:30:15.552+01:00Who uses Twitter?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Luke Sloan</b> is a Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Methods and Deputy Director of the Social Data Science Lab at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. Luke has worked on a range of projects investigating the use of Twitter data for understanding social phenomena covering topics such as election prediction, tracking (mis)information propagation during food scares and ‘crime-sensing’. His research focuses on the development of demographic proxies for Twitter data to further understand who uses the platform and increase the utility of such data for the social sciences. He sits as an expert member on the Social Media Analytics Review and Information Group (SMARIG) which brings together academics and government agencies. </i>@drlukesloan</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who uses Twitter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a simple question, but one that is tricky to answer. We
all think we know the <i>types</i> of people
who use Twitter – the urban elite, celebrities, professionals, young people…
but providing an empirical account is challenging and without knowing who
tweets we can’t even start a conversation about representativeness and bias. To
understand how the social world manifests in the virtual we need to know who is
present or underrepresented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much work has been done on using Twitter metadata to
estimate <i>proxy </i>demographics for UK
users such as gender (<a href="http://www.socresonline.org.uk/18/3/7.html">Sloan
et al. 2013</a>) and age, occupation and social class (<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115545">Sloan
et al. 2015</a>), but these methods rely on people self-reporting a first name,
an age or date of birth and an occupation to classify. The question has always
been whether certain groups, such as older people and those from certain
occupations, are less likely to choose to construct their virtual identity with
reference to these characteristics or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly it’s quite a leap forward to be able to use British Social
Attitudes 2015, a random probability sample survey of over 4,000 respondents
with weights calculated to account for non-response bias, to help us understand
the Twitter population. The data allow us to compare Twitter usage by
demographic groups benchmarked against the 2011 Census whilst evaluating
previous attempts at demographic proxies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, how accurate is the picture of the demographic
characteristics developed through proxies?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it turns out we find some interesting discrepancies.
According to the BSA data we find more men on Twitter than expected and we see
that although most users are younger there are more older users on the platform
than we previously thought. We also find that there are strong class effects
regarding Twitter use, largely in line with previous proxy estimates most of
the time but substantially out of line for certain groups. The full paper is
open access and can be read <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305117698981">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does this aid our understanding of how the social world
manifests online? To take an example, a recent study by <a href="http://natcen.ac.uk/media/1264337/food-risks-and-twitter-leaflet-final.pdf">Draper
et al.</a> found that, during the horsemeat food scare of 2013 Twitter was
dominated by jokes and humour. The overall discourse suggested that this wasn’t
perceived as a serious incident and that the issue wasn’t really a public
concern, but we now know that Twitter is dominated by the higher NS-SEC groups
– people with high incomes who are the least likely to come into contact with
the budget adulterated products. Twitter thought it was funny because Twitter
is dominated by people who were largely unaffected by the scare. This is an
important lesson in how representation impacts upon what the data is telling us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, it’s no surprise that Twitter is dominated by the
professional and managerial groups, but at least now we have some strong
evidence to underwrite our expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Read the full paper: Sloan, L. (2016) Who Tweets in the
United Kingdom? Profiling the Twitter Population Using the British Social
Attitudes Survey 2015, Social Media +
Society 3:1, DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117698981">https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117698981</a></i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-75547050405108161952017-02-23T17:36:00.001+00:002017-02-23T17:36:54.570+00:00Programming as Social Science - new methods network<i><b>Phillip Brooker</b> is a Research Associate at the University of Bath working in social media analytics, with a particular interest in the exploration of research methodologies to support the emerging field. His background is in sociology, drawing especially on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, science and technology studies, computer-supported cooperative work and human-computer interaction. Phillip has previously contributed to the development of Chorus (<a href="http://www.chorusanalytics.co.uk/">www.chorusanalytics.co.uk</a>), a Twitter data collection and visualisation suite. He currently works on CuRAtOR (Challenging online feaR And OtheRing), and interdisciplinary project focusing on how "cultures of fear" are propagated through online "othering".</i><br />
<br />
Digital data and computational methods are increasingly becoming consolidated as essential elements of social science research and teaching. However, the algorithmic processes through which digital data are extracted, processed and visualised are often ‘black boxed’ and obscured from researchers who use those tools, which hinders our understanding of how they might be handled methodologically. Hence, there is an already-high and ever-increasing need for social scientists to engage with computational tools as a “critical technical practice” (Agre, 1997). In other words, since we are now pretty much completely reliant on software as part of our everyday research and teaching practices, it is all the more important that we were able to unpick and interrogate how these software packages operate, in order to better account for our data and research practices!<br />
<br />
To this end, myself and Jonathan Gray (both at the University of Bath) have set up a mailing list/network called “Programming as Social Science (PaSS)”, for researchers interested in software programming both as an object of study and as a tool that we can learn and use within social science research. Here, we’re capitalising on lots of good work that has already been done in fields such as Science and Technology Studies, New Media Studies, Social Media Analytics, Software Studies, Ethnomethodology, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, and so on. All of these fields (and many more we haven’t listed!) have contributions to make in regard to understanding how we might critically leverage programming skills as part of social science teaching and research. So the PaSS mailing list/network has been established to act as a (low-traffic) hub for discussing these kinds of ideas, as well as sharing resources, updates, announcements and initiatives around programming in the context of social research.<br />
<br />
If you’d like to join in, you can sign up via the following link: <a href="http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/PaSS">www.jiscmail.ac.uk/PaSS</a>. Please feel free to invite anyone and share widely; the computer geek in me is very much looking forward to chatting about programming as part of my work!New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com123tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-4520549600777359812017-02-16T12:28:00.000+00:002017-02-16T12:28:08.949+00:00Visualising Facebook
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span><strong>Daniel Miller</strong> is Professor of
Anthropology at University College London. Recent books include Social
Media in an English Village (UCL Press 2016). Miller. et. al. How
the World Changed Social Media (UCL Press 2016). With J.
Sinanan Webcam (Polity 2014) Ed. With H. Horst, Digital
Anthropology (Bloomsbury 2012). With M. Madianou Migration and
New Media (Routledge 2012) Consumption and its Consequences (Polity
2012), with S. Woodward Blue Jeans (California 2012) Tales
from Facebook (Polity 2011). He recently completed a volume about
media in the social lives of patients with a terminal diagnosis, forthcoming
as, The Comfort of People (Polity 2017). </span><span>@DannyAnth</span></em><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March will see the publication of a new book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Visualising Facebook,</i> which I have
written with Jolynna Sinanan. It will be available as a free download from UCL
Press. One of the key arguments from the larger <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why We Post</i> project, of which this book is one out of eleven
volumes, is that human communication</span> has fundamentally changed. Where previously
it consisted almost entirely of either oral or textual forms, today, thanks to
social media, it is equally visual. Think literally of Snapchat. So, it is a
pity that when you look at the journals and most of the books about social
media, they often contain either no, or precious few, actual visual
illustrations from social media itself. One of the joys of digital publication
is that it is possible to reproduce hundreds of images. So, our book is stuffed
to the gills with photographs and memes taken directly from Facebook, which is,
after all, our evidence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For example, as academics, we might suggest that the way
women respond to becoming new mothers in Trinidad, is entirely different from
what you would find in England. In the book, we can reproduce examples from
hundreds of cases, where it is apparent that when an English woman becomes a
mother she, in effect, replaces herself on Facebook with images of her new
infant. Indeed, these often become her own profile picture for quite some time.
By contrast, one can see postings by new mothers in Trinidad, where they are
clearly trying to show that they still look young and sexy or glamorous,
precisely because they do not want people to feel that these attributes have been
lost, merely because they are now new mothers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />In writing this book we examined over 20,000 images. These provide
the evidence for many generalisations, such as that Trinidadians seem to care a
good deal about what they are wearing when they post images of themselves on
Facebook. While, by and large, English people do not. But this becomes much
clearer when you can see the actual images themselves. Or we might suggest that
English people are given to self-deprecating humour, while Trinidadians are
not. Or that in England gender may create a highly repetitive association
between males and generic beer, as against women with generic wine. In every
case, you can now see exactly what we mean. We also have a long discussion
about the importance of memes and why we call them `the moral police of the
Internet’. How memes help to establish what people regard as good and bad
values. This makes much more sense when you are examining typical memes with
that question in your head. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />To conclude, given the sheer proportion of social media
posting that now consists of visual images, it would seem a real pity to look
this gift horse in the mouth. Firstly, it has now become really quite simple to
look at tens of thousands of such images in order to come to scholarly
conclusions. But equally, it is now much easier to also include hundreds of
such images in your publications to help readers have a much better sense of
what exactly those conclusions mean and whether they agree with them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-5319527893825043732017-02-03T11:25:00.003+00:002017-02-03T11:25:36.523+00:00Mine your Data – Why understanding online health communities matters<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Originally posted on the <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/blog/mine-your-data-%E2%80%93-why-understanding-online-health-communities-matters" target="_blank">NatCen blogsite</a> on 10/11/16 </b></i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Aude Bicquelet</b> is Research Director in the Health team. Prior to joining NatCen in 2016, she held a fellowship at the LSE (Department of Methodology) where she taught courses on Research Design, Mixed-Methods and Text Mining approaches. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Aude specialises in the analysis of ‘Big Qualitative Data’ on health related issues and has worked with professional and regulatory health bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Royal College of Physicians. Methodological and substantive outputs of her research have been published in academic journals; she has also published a book on ‘Textual Analysis’ with Sage.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In addition to her interest in Health policies she is interested in Social and Political attitudes and has researched widely in the areas of political participation and élites’ attitudes towards the EU. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A staggering <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-online-idUSTRE7031JL20110104" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">73% of adults</a> in the UK turn to the internet when experiencing health problems. Whether it is to check symptoms, find out about available treatments or share experiences about living with a particular condition, the internet has become the first port of call with many turning to the web before they even consider going to see a doctor. While many of these conversations take place on health-related websites such as Patient or Netdoctor, people suffering from health conditions also share their experiences on social media – and health practitioners should take note. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier this week I <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/events/past-events/2016/november/what-social-media-tells-us-about-society/" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="What social media tells us about society">presented findings</a> from a recent study looking into how people use social media to discuss health issues at the <a href="http://www.esrc.ac.uk/public-engagement/festival-of-social-science/" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ESRC Festival of Social Science</a>. In this study, funded by the <a href="http://www.ncrm.ac.uk/" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NCRM</a>, we used text mining techniques to analyse comments about chronic pain posted under YouTube videos. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We found that chronic pain sufferers use YouTube to describe their experiences and vent their frustration. We analysed over 700 YouTube comments, and found they can be sorted into one of five categories:</span></div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sharing Experiences:</strong> commenters thank each other for sharing their experiences in the videos posted on the website, emphasising tolerance and empathy for chronic pain sufferers.</span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Expressing Frustration:</strong> chronic pain sufferers expressed their frustration in their own words. These illustrate how YouTube and other social media offer new avenues for communicating pain outside clinical contexts.</span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Coping with Pain:</strong> chronic pain sufferers used social media to share their daily practices to cope with chronic pain.</span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alternative Therapy:</strong> commenters spoke openly about their use of alternative medicines, illegal drugs or alcohol to manage their pain. The often conflicting relationship with clinicians – who were perceived as over- or under-medicating – was also common in this category.</span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Risks and Concerns:</strong> they also discuss the risks associated with different types of medication – in particular, addiction and overdose - along with increased risks of depression associated with some treatments against pain.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The insights gained from social media research provide important substantive information for health practitioners. People communicate online in a way they don’t during interviews with researchers or during doctors’ appointments. Online forums and social media are rife with information that’s difficult to obtain through traditional research techniques where social desirability, fear of judgement or stigma, and wanting to be seen as ‘functioning well’ may influence what people are willing to say. From a purely practical perspective, they also provide freely available naturally occurring data with access to (at times) to hard to reach groups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, there is a great deal of uncertainty around how to harness the opportunities of analysing the wealth of health information posted online in a representative, robust and ethical way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite their usefulness and efficiency, analyses of Internet comments on health forums do raise a host of concerns such as <strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">representativeness</strong> – where the views of one cohort in a population having access, technical skills and inclination to post comments on Internet websites are over represented while the views of others are excluded (i.e. the so-called ‘digital divide’) and <strong style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">consent</strong> – where, online commentators may not expect to be research subjects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, the explosion of Big Data and the popularity of online communities might precipitate the need to integrate social media analysis and health research in the near future. For instance, it has been shown that patients who visit their doctors with inappropriate or misinterpreted information from the internet will do little to enhance doctor–patient communication (see <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15001506" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ziebland 2004</a>). But, doctor-patient communication could be improved simply if health professional themselves were better informed about the common fears and sometimes the common ‘myths’ disseminated on online health communities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.periscope.tv/w/1RDGlomXWpoKL" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Watch Aude’s presentation</a> from NatCen’s event ‘What Social Media Can Tell us about Society’, live from Twitter’s London HQ. This event was part of the <a href="http://www.esrc.ac.uk/public-engagement/festival-of-social-science/" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ESRC Festival of Social Science</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’re interested in how social media research can help you, please get in touch: <a href="mailto:aude.bicquelet@natcen.ac.uk" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">aude.bicquelet@natcen.ac.uk</a> or <a href="mailto:new-business@natcen.ac.uk" style="border: 0px; color: #ed2c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">new-business@natcen.ac.uk</a>. </span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-25019162952116637762017-01-16T14:57:00.000+00:002017-01-16T14:57:15.787+00:00How Social Media Can Be a Researcher’s Miracle or Downfall<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><i>Cassie Phillips</i></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><i> is a freelance technology writer who
also dabbles in social media. She’s a firm believer that everyone can find a
use for social media whether to make friends or conduct a research experiment.
Like technology, she finds social media is just another tool to add to one’s
arsenal. @securethoughtsc </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;">The
idea of combining </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://nsmnss.blogspot.com/2016/08/diy-research-methods-for-digitalsocial.html"><span style="line-height: 107%;">social media</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"> and research at first might be at odds
with one another, but they actually complement one another. Research involves
the production, use and consumption of knowledge. Before social, scientists and
researchers disseminated information via conferences, journals, peer reviews
and publication. What brings all of these events together is collaboration.
This is where the true benefits of social become apparent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding Information<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You
probably already have a system in place to find journals and articles that will
suit your research. This can include using information portals, attending
meetings and even focusing on certain peer-reviewed journals. While still
useful, this takes time and can also lead to information overload. Social media
can help you find more relevant information and sift through the noise.
Following researchers within your discipline can help you find articles and
journals that may be particularly valuable to you. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
the flip side, you still need to verify the sources you find online. Anyone can
publish an article or post on the internet, so it's more important than ever to
check sources and make sure what you're reading is legitimate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knowledge Creation<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;">Most
researchers view data generation as the main aspect of the job. For the most
part, this means finding other literature that supports your research. However,
the other important aspect is ensuring you publish and disseminate the
information at the right time. So where does social media fit especially when
there are risks in communicating your research while it’s still going on? After
all, it can reduce your chances of getting published while also providing
ammunition against you should you make a mistake. And with social, there’s also
the possibility your account might get hacked, especially if your internet connection
isn’t secure, though luckily there are </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.securethoughts.com/vpn-review/"><span style="line-height: 107%;">ways to protect yourself</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
what are the benefits? Consider this example. Marianne Hatzopoulou, a civil
engineer professor, wanted to research the impact of air pollution on cyclists.
She turned to Twitter and sent out a couple of tweets encouraging people to
fill out a survey. A popular cycling blog found the survey and then wrote an
article. This then got picked up by a local newspaper, which then led to
coverage on a radio show and a major network. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spreading the World<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP3nFTGq3VvzkYziQ-1vveOtW_OVGfv4gsQ9UIbUGUhJukbWVVVIfEfvXrvNpVYB7oVbrxL0FuZ36lpgcEgF1u1yEcYlCK_ZV9uFlm1-rlaDDzX6Jqgmys5IJFVoiaLS1l-MU46FUF9Bo/s1600/cassie_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP3nFTGq3VvzkYziQ-1vveOtW_OVGfv4gsQ9UIbUGUhJukbWVVVIfEfvXrvNpVYB7oVbrxL0FuZ36lpgcEgF1u1yEcYlCK_ZV9uFlm1-rlaDDzX6Jqgmys5IJFVoiaLS1l-MU46FUF9Bo/s400/cassie_2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps
the most attractive quality of social media is its ability to disseminate
information. Above all, social media is about engagement and communication,
making it ideal for researchers to reach a wider audience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of
course, depending on the type of article you produce, you’ll reach a very
particular audience. More scholarly and academic articles will likely attract
other researchers in your discipline. However, this means you’ll likely
alienate the layperson as they won’t want to wade through pages of information.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since
social media is such an effective tool in attracting attention, it might
backfire. Always double check before publishing anything on social media to
ensure the post doesn’t come off as offensive or in poor taste. Always read a
post multiple times before hitting the send or publish button. One poorly
worded tweet can reach thousands of people and ultimately lower your
credibility not only among your followers but the scientific community as well.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While
there are obvious benefits to using social media, it still doesn’t replace
face-to-face interactions. If used improperly, it may end up hurting your
reputation and research more than it helps. At the end of the day, it all
depends on how you approach it and how you engage with your community.</span><span style="font-family: "HelveticaNeue LT 55 Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-62121612707724482052017-01-09T15:33:00.002+00:002017-01-09T15:33:49.899+00:00“The Big Data rich and the Big Data poor”: the new digital divide raises questions about future academic research<div class="selectionShareable" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px;">Blog originally published on 22nd November 2016 on London School of Economics blog-site <i> </i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/11/22/the-big-data-rich-and-the-big-data-poor-the-new-digital-divide-raises-questions-about-future-academic-research/">http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/11/22/the-big-data-rich-and-the-big-data-poor-the-new-digital-divide-raises-questions-about-future-academic-research/</a> </i></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Data is being created faster than ever before. However, as <strong>Kate Metzler</strong> explains, limited access to this big data is creating a digital divide between large companies and the broader scholarly community. To compound this problem, there is also a big data analysis skills gap that further hinders the progress of social science. Without access to these datasets or the expertise to analyse them, research is confronted with a replication crisis and is vulnerable to commercial motivations.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Data is the new oil.” Clive Humby, mathematician and architect of Tesco’s Clubcard, is credited with saying this first in 2006, and it’s been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/23/tech-giants-data" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">repeated numerous times</a> in the last decade. The comparison between data and oil refers to its value being extracted through refinement; or in the case of data, through analysis. Unlike oil, data is being created at a faster pace than it can be consumed, or analysed. We’re awash with data. You may have heard it said that “<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522085217.htm" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">90% of all the data in the world has been generated over the last two years</a>.” Or, as Hal R. Varian, Chief Economist at Google, <a href="http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/2013/BeyondBigDataPaperFINAL.pdf" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">puts it another way</a>: “A billion hours ago, modern homo sapiens emerged. A billion minutes ago, Christianity began. A billion seconds ago, the IBM PC was released. A billion Google searches ago … was this morning.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The capacity to collect and analyse massive datasets has already transformed fields such as biology, astronomy, and physics, and for many, the ‘big data revolution’ promises to ask, and help us answer,<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/323/5915/721" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">fundamental questions about individuals and collectives</a>. But who gets access to all this data we’re producing through our increasingly networked and digital lives, and for what purpose?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwanmac/5501258703/" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">Divided</a> by David Wan. This work is licensed under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">CC BY 2.0</a> license.</span></h5>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2012, danah boyd and Kate Crawford offered a provocation that the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2012.678878" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">limited access to big data was creating a new digital divide between “the Big Data rich and the Big Data poor.”</a> It’s only companies, and the social scientists working within these companies, that have <a href="http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/trending-the-promises-and-the-challenges-of-big-social-data" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">access to really large social and transactional datasets</a>. The broader scholarly community usually does not because companies refuse to release it or because purchasing it costs too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, I conducted a <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/compsocsci.pdf" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">survey</a> of more than 9,000 social scientists to learn more about researchers who are engaged in research using big data and the challenges they face, as well as the barriers to entry for those looking to do this kind of research in the future. 32 per cent of respondents who are currently engaged in big data research reported that getting access to commercial or proprietary data was a “big problem” for them:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 1: Challenges facing big data researchers (<em>n</em> = 2273)</span></h5>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it isn’t only the question of who can access data that leads to divides. As boyd and Crawford point out, and our survey supports, there is also a skills gap holding social science back: the level of quantitative and programming skills required for big data research make it a challenge for educators to introduce it into traditional social science degree courses as there is little time or expertise amongst teaching faculty:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 2: Challenges facing educators teaching big data (<em>n</em> = 1212)</span></h5>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why does it matter?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So who cares if academic social scientists can’t do big data, either because they can’t access the data and/or don’t have the skills they need to engage with it? Why not just have companies like Twitter and Facebook analysing social media data? Some have even gone so as far as to argue that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2012.678878" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">academics should not engage in research that can be done better by industry</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a couple of reasons why this is problematic. Firstly, because replication is the engine of science, and irreproducible research slows progress. If only researchers within companies can access and analyse big social datasets, “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369118X.2012.678878" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">those without access can neither reproduce nor evaluate the methodological claims of those who have privileged access</a>”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And secondly, and arguably most importantly, the motivations of industry researchers and social scientists may differ in ways that may really matter. Big data research conducted by companies is usually in service of a single overarching goal: to sell you more stuff. Social scientists with the right skills and access to the right data may use their research to contribute to the body of knowledge, with the aim of better understanding and improving social outcomes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The questions boyd and Crawford pose at the start of their paper summarize this perfectly. They ask:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Will large-scale search data help us create better tools, services, and public goods? Or will it usher in a new wave of privacy incursions and invasive marketing? Will data analytics help us understand online communities and political movements? Or will it be used to track protesters and suppress speech? Will it transform how we study human communication and culture, or narrow the palette of research options and alter what ‘research’ means?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As of yet, the answers to these important questions are unclear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Read more in the recent SAGE Publishing white paper revealing full results of the survey, “</em><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/compsocsci.pdf" style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;"><em>Who is Doing Computational Social Science? Trends in Big Data Research</em></a><em>.”</em></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the author</span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Katie Metzler</strong> is Head of Methods Innovation at SAGE Publishing. Katie is responsible for content strategy and innovation for SAGE’s award winning online platform for researchers, SAGE Research Methods, which includes SAGE Research Methods Cases, SAGE Research Methods Datasets and SAGE Research Methods Video. In addition to heading up the London commissioning team for the SAGE Research Methods platform, she is part of a new team at SAGE whose mission is to improve social science by equipping every researcher with the skills and tools they need to work effectively with big data and new technology. At SAGE, we believe big data and new technology are fundamentally changing how we make sense of the world and that social science needs to play a critical role where this impacts on society.</span></em></div>
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New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-80738074385042673532016-12-23T14:33:00.000+00:002016-12-23T14:33:10.355+00:00Identifying popular tourism attractions in London by using geo-tagged photos from Flickr<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Dr. Yeran Sun</i></b><i> is a
postdoctoral researcher at Urban Big Data Centre, University of Glasgow, UK.
His research interests include big data and urban studies, social media
research and sentiment analysis, transport and social inequality, transport and
public health.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social
media data offers crowd-sourced data to social science research. In particular,
GPS enable-devices, such as smart phones, allow social media users to share
their real-time locations in social media platforms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
my presentation, Flickr geo-tagged photos are used to identify popular tour attractions
in London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Geo-tagged’
photos and tweets of Flickr, Instagram and Twitter users tell us the footprints
and mobility of users. Compared to Instagram and Twitter, Flickr has a large
portion of tourists. Geo-tagged photos from Flickr users are used as crowed-sourced
data in recent tourism research. However, the population of geo-tagged photos are
not proportional to the population of real tourists’ footprints. Therefore, visits
to popular tourism attractions such as landmarks are likely to be
over-represented by Flickr photos, while visits to unpopular tourism
attractions are likely to be under-represented. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although
geo-tagged photos are biased, they could be used to reflect popularities of
tourism attractions that have no ticketing records, such as central squares, public
statues, public parks, rivers, mountains, bridges and so forth. Crowd-sourced
data from Flickr photos can be used to measure popularities of tourism
attractions without ticketing records. As clusters of photos tend to take place
around popular tour attractions where tourists like to take photos, we could
identify popular attractions by detecting significant spatial clusters of
geo-tagged photos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my presentation, significant clusters are
detected by using a density-based clustering method called DBSCAN. Most of those clusters spatially overlap
popular tour attractions in London. In my presentation, free-to-use tools QGIS
and <i>R</i> are used to map geo-tagged photos and carry out cluster detection
respectively. Additionally, to run the DBSCAN algorithm we need to install a
package ‘dbscan’ in <i>R</i>. Via Flickr APIs (https://www.flickr.com/services/api/),
we can download public Flickr data including photos, tags and coordinates by
defining geographic boundaries or searching for keywords. There are API kits written in a variety of
languages, including C, Delphi, Java, Python, PHP, .NET, Ruby and so on. You
might also use shared Flickr data for your research. Yahoo Research share
Flickr data with researchers (<a href="https://research.yahoo.com/">https://research.yahoo.com</a>).
Shared datasets can be found here (<a href="https://webscope.sandbox.yahoo.com/catalog.php?datatype=i">https://webscope.sandbox.yahoo.com/catalog.php?datatype=i</a>). </span></span>New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003696308439149314.post-49579190546284746882016-12-14T09:27:00.002+00:002016-12-14T09:27:56.625+00:00Facebook as a Tool for Research<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gillmooney.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Gill Mooney</a></span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
is a doctoral researcher, studying at the University of Leeds. Her research
interests are currently focused on social class and social media. She completed
her undergraduate degree as a mature student in sociology at the University of
Hull, and prior to this was employed as a project co-ordinator for a young
people’s sexual health charity in Hull. @gillmooney</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My research
is concerned with the ways in which we know, understand and produce social
class in the digital environment of the social networking site (SNS), Facebook.
The research will provide valuable insights into how social networking is
changing the ways we may relate to one another both online and offline, as well
as the effect it might be having on broader understandings of social class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook is
the topic of the research, the site in which parts of it take place, and a tool
for facilitating its logistics and practicalities. I am using it for
recruitment, communication with research participants, and using content
collected from Facebook as stimulus for discussion in focus groups and
interviews. This combination of online and offline methods and approaches
requires reflexivity to run smoothly, but maintaining a link between online and
offline is essential for providing data that represents the relationship
between those two spheres in terms of how individuals perceive and produce
social class, and the broader effects that may have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recruitment<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I specified Facebook as the means through which I
would recruit participants, partly because I would know that they were
definitely likely to be regular Facebook users, and have a reasonable
understanding of how the platform functions, but also because I want to keep as
much of the research as possible within the psychic environment of Facebook, to
help participants stay focused on discussing things that happen there, and
keeping the research framed within Facebook.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">I began by
asking members of a general interest Facebook group of which I’m a member to
share the call for participants on their own accounts. There are considerable
ethical implications in using Facebook in this manner, especially when using my
personal account for recruitment. It could result in a pool of participants who
are connected to me personally in some direct or indirect way, which has the
potential to compromise the integrity of the research or cause tension in my
personal relationships. Precautions were put in place to avoid these kinds of
conflict, mainly through checking possible connections to potential participants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Communication<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I set up a Facebook account in the name of the
research, specifically for the purpose of handling communication and logistics
with participants, again as part of wishing to keep all elements of the
research within Facebook as far as possible. Participants add the account as a
friend, and then I can use the messages tool to stay in touch with
participants, arrange focus group and interview sessions, and send them links
to consent forms and other information.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has proven to be an effective means of staying in
touch, and it means I can provide information quickly and easily in a medium
that is both convenient for the participants and within the environment that
I’m researching.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stimulus for
discussion<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">There was some concern that during the focus group
sessions it would be easy for the discussion to deviate away from Facebook, and
that it might be difficult to even begin talking about it in a face-to-face
encounter, with others. In response I devised a ‘dummy’ Facebook newsfeed page as
a way to stimulate discussion, and maintain focus on Facebook. By using this
page, I can guide discussion by referring to it and asking the groups to
comment on different elements within it, framing my questions around it to stay
on track. Class is a difficult topic to discuss, everyone understands it
differently and has had different experiences of it, so rather directly addressing
it, I am able to talk about self-representation more generally in terms of
Facebook and explore how class shows itself there. The content for this dummy
page comes from the pages of people in my own friendship network who
volunteered, and is subject to a very rigorous consent and anonymisation
process.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">For the interviews, participants’ own shared content
is used. They provide consent for me to select some items they have shared, and
then it’s used as a means to stimulate discussion, serving a similar purpose as
the dummy page.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using
Facebook as a tool for research requires significant planning and reflexivity
throughout the whole research process, but can offer benefits in terms of
having access to large networks of individuals for recruitment purposes, as
well as an easy and convenient way to stay in touch with participants. The
difficulties in planning are related to the considerable ethical implications
of using content shared by participants, and ensuring informed consent is in
place at all times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook is a
crucial site for research that seeks to understand contemporary society, as its
use grows and it becomes further embedded in the lives of its users. Developing
well thought out approaches to this kind of work is essential for maximising
the research potential of the platform, and for making sure that research is
carried out with integrity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
New social media, new social science?http://www.blogger.com/profile/15365587063429685367noreply@blogger.com12