Media Studies and Production

Despite the abundance of research on social networking sites, relatively little research has studied those who choose not to use such sites. This paper presents results from a questionnaire of over 400 Internet users, focusing specifically on Facebook and those users who have left the service. Results show the lack of a clear, binary distinction between use and non-use, that various practices enable diverse ways and degrees of engagement with and disengagement from Facebook. Furthermore, qualitative analysis reveals numerous complex and interrelated motivations and justifications, both for leaving and for maintaining some type of connection. These motivations include: privacy, data misuse, productivity, banality, addiction, and external pressures. These results not only contribute to our understanding of online sociality by examining this under-explored area, but they also build on previous work to help advance how we conceptually account for the sociological processes of non-use.

Despite the abundance of research on social networking sites, relatively little research has studied those who choose not to use such sites. This paper presents results from a questionnaire of over 400 Internet users, focusing specifically on Facebook and those users who have left the service. Results show the lack of a clear, binary distinction between use and non-use, that various practices enable diverse ways and degrees of engagement with and disengagement from Facebook. Furthermore, qualitative analysis reveals numerous complex and interrelated motivations and justifications, both for leaving and for maintaining some type of connection. These motivations include: privacy, data misuse, productivity, banality, addiction, and external pressures. These results not only contribute to our understanding of online sociality by examining this under-explored area, but they also build on previous work to help advance how we conceptually account for the sociological processes of non-use.

The increasingly ubiquitous use of technology has led to the concomitant rise of intensified data collection and the ethical issues associated with the privacy and security of that data. In order to address the question of how these ethical concerns are discussed in the literature surrounding the subject, we examined articles published in IEEE Security and Privacy, a magazine targeted towards a general, technically-oriented readership spanning both academia and industry. Our investigation of the intersection between the ethical and technological dimensions of privacy and security is structured as a bibliometric analysis. Our dataset covers all articles published in IEEE Security and Privacy since its inception in 2003 to February 06, 2014 . This venue was chosen not only because of its target readership, but also because a preliminary search of keywords related to ethics, privacy, and security topics in the ISI Web of Knowledge and IEEE Xplore indicated that IEEE Security and Privacy has published a preponderance of articles matching those topics. In fact, our search returned two-fold more articles for IEEE Security and Privacy than the next most prolific venue. These reasons, coupled with the fact that both academia and industry are well-represented in the authorship of articles makes IEEE Security and Privacy an excellent candidate for bibliometric analysis. Our analysis examines the ways articles in IEEE Security and Privacy relate ethics to information technology. Such articles can influence the development of law, policy and the future of information technology ethics. We employed thematic and JK-biplot analyses of content relating privacy and ethics and found eight dominant themes as well as the inter-theme relationships. Authors and institutional affiliations were examined to discern whether centers of research activity and/or authors dominated the overall field or thematic areas. Results suggest avenues for future work in critical areas, especially for closing present gaps in the coverage of ethics and information technology privacy and security themes particularly in the areas of ethics and privacy awareness.

Despite the growing interest and use of virtual reality (VR) in American homes, there is a notable gap in empirical studies that examine VR and children. This study identifies two important research concepts in children's research that have been studied across many types of media 1) reality distinction and 2) presence, and applies them to studying VR experiences. Taking a qualitative approach, 6 to 8-year-old children (N=29) participated in a VR experience as an extension of the children’s television show called Dino Dana. During the child’s VR experience where they swam in a pool with dinosaurs, we recorded a computer capture of what the child sees within the VR experience; and a video recording of the child in the VR headset and their behaviors during the VR experience. In addition, children responded to questions before and after their VR experience. We observed several behaviors of how children attempted to test and assess the reality of VR (e.g. holding their breath). Through interviews, we also found that children had certain presence experiences within VR that challenged their understanding of reality, where the dinosaurs were treated as real and evoked social presence. This study builds on our understanding of how VR might impact on young children and their perception of VR experiences, which have important implications for VR researchers, designers, and consumers.

Despite the growing interest and use of virtual reality (VR) in American homes, there is a notable gap in empirical studies that examine VR and children. This study identifies two important research concepts in children's research that have been studied across many types of media 1) reality distinction and 2) presence, and applies them to studying VR experiences. Taking a qualitative approach, 6 to 8-year-old children (N=29) participated in a VR experience as an extension of the children’s television show called Dino Dana. During the child’s VR experience where they swam in a pool with dinosaurs, we recorded a computer capture of what the child sees within the VR experience; and a video recording of the child in the VR headset and their behaviors during the VR experience. In addition, children responded to questions before and after their VR experience. We observed several behaviors of how children attempted to test and assess the reality of VR (e.g. holding their breath). Throu...

This article examines Crystal Knows, a company that generates automated personality profiles through an algorithm and sells access to their database. These algorithms are the result of a long line of research into computational and predictive algorithms that track social media practices and uses them to infer individual characteristics and make psychometric assessments. Although it is now computationally possible, these algorithms are not widely known or understood by the general public. Little is known about how people would respond to them, particularly when they do not even know their online activities are being assessed by the algorithm. This study examines how people construct “snap” folk theories about the ways personality algorithms operate as well as how they react when shown their outputs. Through qualitative interviews ( n = 37) with people after being presented with their own profile, this study identifies a series of folk theories that people came up with to explain the ...

Machines produce and operate using complex systems of metadata that need to be catalogued, sorted, and processed. Many students lack the experience with metadata and sufficient knowledge about it to understand it as part of their data literacy skills. This paper describes an educational and interactive database activity designed for teaching undergraduate communication students about the creation, value, and logic of structured data. Through a set of virtual instructional videos and interactive visualizations, the paper describes how students can gain experience with structured data and apply that knowledge to successfully find, curate, and classify a digital archive of media artifacts. The pedagogical activity, teaching materials, and archives are facilitated through and housed in an online resource called Fabric of Digital Life (fabricofdigitallife.com). We end by discussing the activity’s relevance for the emerging field of human-machine communication.

Changes in technology have opened up a new kind of participatory citizenry; one in which engaged citizens' blog, post, tweet, upload, create, and otherwise interact with others online. This paper explores the intersection of media and information literacy with civic participation by examining three specific programs operating in the United States. These projects include «Powerful Voices for Kids», «The Salzburg Academy on Media and Social Change»; and «Cultivating the NetGeneration of Youth as Global Citizens and Media Literate Leaders in a Digital Age», in which educators and students at schools in the USA and Africa meet virtually and physically to explore collaborative methods that use media to build bridges of understanding. Through analysis of each program's practices and personal interviews with the program director, consistent methods for developing a strong media and information literacy program with a focus on democratic participation are revealed. These include a need for programs to reflect a respect for student interest in popular culture, willingness for program educators to put aside assumptions that students lack an interest in current events, recognition that technology use is a means to an end, not the ultimate goal, and the utilization of a support team for the instructors or educators.

Changes in technology have opened up a new kind of participatory citizenry; one in which engaged citizens’ blog, post, tweet, upload, create, and otherwise interact with others online. This paper explores the intersection of media and information literacy with civic participation by examining three specific programs operating in the United States. These projects include «Powerful Voices for Kids», «The Salzburg Academy on Media and Social Change»; and «Cultivating the NetGeneration of Youth as Global Citizens and Media Literate Leaders in a Digital Age», in which educators and students at schools in the USA and Africa meet virtually and physically to explore collaborative methods that use media to build bridges of understanding. Through analysis of each program’s practices and personal interviews with the program director, consistent methods for developing a strong media and information literacy program with a focus on democratic participation are revealed. These include a need for ...

We are pleased to be sharing with you the second yearbook on media and information literacy and intercultural dialogue. The first MILID Yearbook was published in June 2013. Then, as now, the publication is the result of a collaboration between the UNITWIN Cooperation Programme on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue and Nordicom's International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media. The theme of the 2014 Yearbook is Global Citizenship in a Digital World. Global citizenship assumes ease of participation in global spaces in which persons are media and information literate and are equipped with competencies and attitudes to deal with the multi-faceted nature of a mediated world in which information is no longer bound by space or time. The unprecedented access to and use of media and Internet technologies for communication and collaboration especially among youth, suggest that effective strategies must be found to enable active critical inquiry and effective media production. The proliferation of mediated spaces throughout education environments, as well as personal and professional environments, does not in itself guarantee that citizens will consider their role as global citizens as they create and consume media. This awareness must be cultivated, encouraged and taught. The UNITWIN Cooperation Programme on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) is based on an initiative from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). This network was created in line with UNESCO's mission and objectives, as well as the mandate of the UNAOC, to serve as a catalyst and facilitator helping to give impetus to innovative projects aimed at reducing polarization among nations and cultures through mutual partnerships.