In exciting news, Mary L. Gray and I are kicking off a special section for IJoC that takes a critical look at big data: from the disciplinary perspectives and methods, to issues of access and epistemology. Please pass on to your networks, or even better, send us an abstract. Call for Papers “Big Data, Big …
Continue reading Big Data, Big Questions, or, Accounting for Big Data
Henry Jenkins, Mimi Ito, and I have embarked on an interesting project for Polity. Through a series of dialogues, we're hoping to produce a book that interrogates our different thoughts regarding participatory culture. The goal is to unpack our differences and agreements and identify some of the challenges that we see going forward. We began …
Continue reading Participatory Culture: What questions do you have?
This is about the fourth Olympics that's been trumpeted as the first one to embrace social media and the Internet -- just as, depending on how you figure it, it's about the fourth U.S. election in a row that's the first to go digital. It may be in the nature of new technologies that we …
Several SMC'ers are also alum of the Oxford Internet Institute's fabulously dynamic summer workshop for emerging scholars. Here's a taste of the sense of humor and, I'd argue, intellectual richness you'll find at OII (courtesy of 2012 SMC PhD intern, Shawn Walker!): The MethodsGuestTour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-c2AWWw65s&feature=youtu.be
There has been some excitement about the idea of using technology to address the problems of the Mexican Drug War. As someone involved in technology, I find it inspiring that other techies are trying to do something to end the conflict. However, I also worry when I read ideas based on flawed assumptions. For example, …
Continue reading The Problem with Crowdsourcing Crime Reporting
The incredible growth and presence of social technologies in all aspects of life translates into large data sets that help researchers understand human behavior, social system design, and the development of digital culture. However, as John Markoff points out in a recent NYT article, most of these data are “forbidden to researchers.” Among the reasons …
How to think about ringing in your ears as something bigger than you: Check out Mack Hagood’s new piece on tinnitus and the prospects of an applied sound studies: http://bit.ly/MA5wzn
I believe that technology can be leveraged to empower people in amazing ways, but I also recognize that it can also be used in deeply disturbing ways. All too often, when we as a society see technology being used in horrible ways, we want to blame and ban the technology. As a researcher invested in …
Current and future visitor TL Taylor spoke last week at the Berkman Luncheon series on "Live Streaming, Computer Games, and the Future of Spectatorship." Computer gaming has long been a social activity, complete with forms of spectatorship. With the growth of live-streaming the boundaries of audience are shifting. Professional e-sports players and amateurs alike …
Continue reading Video: TL Taylor on Pro Gaming, Live Streaming & Spectatorship
The popularity of ebooks has skyrocketed in the last few years. The Association of American Publishers reports that eBook sales by US publishers were up 300% in 2011: Total eBook net sales revenue for 2011 was $21.5 million, a gain of 332.6% over 2010; this represents 3.4 million eBook units sold in 2011, up 303.3 …
