July 2011
15 posts
7 tags
Topic: Storytelling
Once upon a time, media told stories in a linear way by leading readers/listeners/viewers from the beginning to the end via the bits in the middle. There was a build up, a climax and a denouement. The end.
Now things are different. The web has had its wicked way with stories, allowing tellers to mash up, mix up and generally mess around with formats and functions.
But are new media storytellers...
9 tags
“Rather than conflicting with people’s community ties, we find that the internet...”
– Rainie, L., Horrigan, J., Wellman, B. & Boase, J. (2006, Jan 25). The Strength of Internet Ties, Pew Internet & American Life Project.
A large-scale study of the effects of the web on social capital and relationships between Americans. Published in 2006, it focusses less on social networks...
8 tags
“Although the numbers of friends people have on these sites can be massive, the...”
– Warning: you can’t make real friends online | Technology | The Guardian
Research from 2007 by Dr. Will Reader of Sheffield Hallam University.
6 tags
More on virtual closeness: indicators of online...
You just have to know what to look for when you’re trying to identify how close virtual friends are.
I found “tells” of friendship closeness in my PhD research, by measuring “closeness” as degrees of perceived trust, credibility and group prototypicality, and the degree to which virtual contacts are considered to be sources of social comparison.
But there are many...
9 tags
Closeness in SNSs: a Paradox in Strong Tie... →
At last year’s Cyberpsychology & Computer Psychology conference, then-PhD student Rob Comber presented the results of his close analysis of “friendship” in youth-oriented social network Bebo.
These are his slides.
In them, he describes the shortcomings of this technology (and most social network sites) for close friendship, particularly how the system doesn’t allow...
8 tags
Robin Dunbar: We can only ever have 150 friends at... →
I’ve interviewed Oxford Professor Robin Dunbar on a couple of occasions over the last few years, asking the evolutionary anthropologist most renowned for identifying the “Dunbar Number” - the theoretical maximum number of connections for a functioning human social group - about the effects of the Web on friendship.
This is one of those interviews, from The Observer in March...
7 tags
Internet Paradox: A Social Technology That Reduces... →
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmarkm, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T. & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet Paradox: A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and psychological Well-Being? American Psychologist, 53 (9): 1017-1031.
(pdf)
The seminal “internet causes social ills” article that most scare headlines are based on, despite it being published in 1998.
Here’s...
9 tags
Research on Social Network Sites →
Researcher danah boyd’s aggregated list of hundreds of academic research articles and chapters on social network sites. Lots on here about online friendship.
7 tags
Topic: Friendship
The Web is a cold, technologically-mediated communication device that serves to connect people with information and with one another. But in transforming our interactions into binary 1s and 0s, have we lost something essentially human about our interpersonal relationships? What has the Web done to friendship, a feature of functioning society that both keeps us accountable to one another and...
11 tags
Charitable giving: the effectiveness of a revised... →
Smith, J.R. & McSweeny, A. (2007, Oct). Charitable giving: the effectiveness of a revised theory of planned behaviour model in predicting donating intentions and behaviour. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17(5): 363-386.
Abstract only, but interesting to think about with relation to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (by Azjen - pdf link to original paper; Wikipedia link to...
7 tags
Media Coverage & Charitable Giving After the 2004... →
Brown, P. & Minty, J. (2006, Dec). Media Coverage & Charitable Giving After the 2004 Tsunami. William Davidson Institute Working Paper No. 855. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=968760
Full text! Focuses on importance of old media, though - using new media donations as an outcome measure.
Here’s the abstract:
Media coverage of humanitarian crises is widely believed to...
7 tags
“Charities should approach the Internet as a communication and stewardship tool...”
– Hart, T. R. (2002, Nov). ePhilanthropy: using the Internet to build support. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7(4): 353-360.
Abstract only.
6 tags
“charitable giving reflects variations in the relationship of individuals to the...”
– Kennedy, M. (1995, Jun). Charitable Giving by Individuals: A Study of Attitudes and Practice. Human Relations, 48(6): 685-709.
Abstract only.
Key point in the abstract, though, is that this finding is “a critical alternative to explanations of charity based upon either ...
12 tags
Beth Kanter is one of the leading experts on how...
7 tags
Interview: Karina Brisby (Head of Interactive...
Karina Brisby (@karinab) is the the Head of Interactive Campaigns at Oxfam, the UK’s poverty-fighting charity. The organisation has been a digital leader in its awareness- and fundraising projects, from on the ground reportage in disaster zones and mobile phone campaigns to its network of charity concerts and thriving online community.
Integral to its beating heart, Karina has been working...
