New Media & Society recent issues

'It could be useful, but not for me at the moment': older people, internet access and e-public service provision

Sourbati, M. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

Older people are commonly constructed as a group of heavy users of public services that misses out on opportunities presented online, mainly due to age-related barriers to accessing the internet. Drawing on a study of internet access in sheltered homes for older people, this article argues for the need to focus electronic service provision around the needs, preferences and abilities of the users of public services. A user-centred perspective in e-government and e-service provision requires an understanding of the socially shaped and locally situated nature of media use, which can in turn help prevent the tendency to see chronological age as the sole factor determining (non-) engagement with the internet. It also requires investment in making available assistance and support to access online digital media in order to prevent the disadvantaging of vulnerable service users.

Being young and feeling blue in Taiwan: examining adolescent depressive mood and online and offline activities

Hwang, J. M., Cheong, P. H., Feeley, T. H. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

This study investigates the relationship between Taiwanese adolescents’ depressive mood and their self-reported online and offline activities. The results indicate that adolescents who reported higher depressive mood were more likely to use the internet to make friends and express feelings compared to those who were lower in depressive mood. Teens higher in depressive mood reported to have fewer individuals in their immediate social network to speak with, either online or offline, when feeling blue. Hierarchical linear regression analysis shows that adolescents higher in depressive mood reported to engage in more online activities in the areas of communication, entertainment and information seeking. Further, a positive relationship between depressive mood and participation in risk behaviors is identified. These findings shed light on earlier studies that focus predominantly on US internet users, suggesting that the role that the internet plays for youths with depressive mood may vary by cultural context.

Mediated health: sociotechnical practices of providing and using online health information

Mager, A. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

While most of the existing research about online health information focuses exclusively on either the provider or the user side of communication circuits, this article aims to integrate and discuss both sides and their mediated relation to one another. Drawing on actor-network theory, it conceptualizes the provision and use of online health information as sociotechnical. It questions concretely how website providers position their websites and information, how users browse through the web and assemble information, and interrogates the various concepts of online health information these different practices imply. Further, it asks how search engines, and Google in particular, come to play such a dominant role in the way health-related web information is provided and used. The article concludes by evaluating the implications of the findings in regard to debates about the quality of online health information and the way in which web information is distributed and acquired on a broader scale.

When you retire, does everything become leisure? Information and communication technology use and the work/leisure boundary in retirement

Buse, C. E. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

This article explores how computer technologies relate to experiences of work and leisure in retirement. It is argued that the literature on information and communication technology (ICT) use and leisure has neglected older age groups, while research on older adults and internet use fails to explore the subjective meanings of activities as work or leisure. This article examines these issues, drawing on qualitative data from interviews with eight retired couples in the UK. The findings show varied levels of engagement with computer and internet technologies as leisure and illustrate how the boundaries of work/leisure/retirement are challenged and reconstructed in relation to technology use. The use of computers and internet for leisure was not differentiated according to gender, although there were gender differences in negotiation of work/leisure/ retirement boundaries. The hesitance among many retirees to define computer technologies as leisure, and their restriction of other leisure technologies, suggests generational and possibly class issues.

Old wine in a new technology, or a different type of digital divide?

Cotten, S. R., Anderson, W. A., Tufekci, Z. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

Gender differences exist in both general and specific uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Most of this research has focused on computers and the internet to the exclusion of mobile phones. Little research has examined gender differences in specific types of mobile phone usage, especially among youth. This issue is examined using data from a random sample of middle-school students. Although gender differences exist at the bivariate level, the picture changes in multivariate models. Boys exhibited greater frequency of use for non-social, gadget-like features of mobile phones; no gender differences existed in more traditional communicative mobile phone uses.

Patterns of media use and multiplexity: associations with sex, geographic distance and friendship interdependence

Ledbetter, A. M. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

This study examines patterns of interpersonal media use in same-sex friendships. Using a refined version of Scott and Timmerman’s media use scale, participants reported the extent to which they used eight different communication media and the level of interdependence in the friendship. The results revealed four distinct factors of media use: asynchronous public communication, asynchronous private communication, social networking communication and synchronous offline communication. Both sex and geographic distance differences emerged on these factors and all factors except asynchronous private communication predicted friendship interdependence. These findings clarify underlying patterns of media use and suggest that both privacy and orality are salient properties delineating media types.

'Friending': London-based undergraduates' experience of Facebook

Lewis, J., West, A. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

Facebook offers the possibility of increased social contact via a process known as ‘friending’, whereby users create personal profiles and accumulate ‘friends’ on a reciprocal basis. The making and maintaining of friendships has been shown to be particularly important to young adults, but there is a strong debate in the literature on computer-mediated communication about the value of the often weak ties that are created. Relatively little is known about the kind of contact that is made on Facebook in the UK context. This study interviewed 16 second-and third-year undergraduates who all joined Facebook soon after it was launched in UK universities in October 2005. This article explores the extent to which the nature of the Facebook site fosters particular kinds of social interaction, and how students seek to manage their Facebook ‘friendships’. It finds that Facebook promotes mainly weak, low-commitment ties.

Community business: the internet in remote Australian Indigenous communities

McCallum, K., Papandrea, F. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

This article reports on the findings of a research project that mapped the patterns of internet access and use in remote Indigenous communities in Australia. Remote Indigenous communities comprise some of Australia’s most disadvantaged users of internet services. Taking a case-study approach, the article raises challenging theoretical questions for those seeking to understand the extent and nature of the digital divide in relation to indigeneity and remoteness. It suggests approaches for more sustainable introduction of internet facilities to remote Indigenous communities in Australia and improved practices for better delivery of training to users. It reinforces the need for research and collaboration at the community level so that the introduction of facilities is conducted in a culturally and technically appropriate manner.

Review Article: To be networked, hyperlinked, portable: Kazys Varnelis (ed.), Networked Publics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. x + 176 pp. ISBN 9780262220859, $35 (hbk) Joseph Turow and Lokman Tsui (eds), The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008. vi + 319 pp. ISBN 9780472050437, $24.95 (pbk) Mary Chayko, Portable Communities: The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2008. x + 306 pp. ISBN 9780791476000, $24.95 (pbk)

Erickson, I. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

Book Review: Terry Harpold, Ex-foliations: Reading Machines and the Upgrade Path. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. 351 pp. ISBN 9780816651023, $25 (pbk)

Wofford, J. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

Book Review: Jill Walker Rettberg, Blogging. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008. viii + 176 pp. ISBN 9780745641348, $19.95 (pbk)

Scheidt, L. A. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:56:05 PST

What do users associate with 'interactivity'?: A qualitative study on user schemata

Quiring, O. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

‘Interactivity’ was one of the major buzzwords of the 1990s. Although the academic discourse has produced a large number of different concepts of ‘interactivity’, in everyday life it still remains a label put on all kinds of aspects of online communication and digital media. Drawing on schema theory this article explores the concepts of ‘ordinary’ users (i.e. people who are not professional experts). The results indicate that users associate the foremost social and individual issues with the term ‘interactivity’, i.e. what they can accomplish by using media in terms of self-development, social influence and social relationships.

My music, my world: using the MP3 player to shape experience in London

Simun, M. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

This article examines the ways in which individuals use MP3 players to shape their experiences of the London commute. To investigate MP3 listening practices, I conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with eight DJs and ‘listeners’ living in London. I argue that MP3 players enable individuals to use music to precisely shape their experiences of space, place, others and themselves while moving through the city. In doing so, individuals experience great control as they transform urban journeys into private and pleasurable spaces. While experienced effects of MP3 player listening were similar among respondents, pre-existing relationships to music appear to relate to motivations for use. This article draws on a variety of social theorists ranging from Simmel and Adorno to Lefebvre to interrogate the experience of control MP3 users describe, and to understand the implications for the autonomy of urban inhabitants.

Mapping conversations about new media: the theoretical field of digital communication

Scolari, C. A. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

This article reflects on the current state of digital communication studies in the context of mass communication research. The objectives of the article are: 1) to characterize the enunciators and the contents of scientific conversations about digital communication; and 2) to sketch a map of possible interlocutors who might enrich this new research field. After quickly exploring the paradigms of mass communication studies, the article deals with the main theoretical conversations about digital communication. The second part of the article describes the transformations that the appearance of digital technology has generated in communication processes. The article concludes with an agenda of the main issues and partners that theoretical conversations about digital communication should include. The article analyzes the constitution of a new scientific field and describes the process that may, in the future, lead to the creation of a theory of digital communication.

The repertoire niches of interpersonal media: competition and coexistence at the level of the individual

Feaster, J. C. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

The uses and gratifications approach has been useful in explaining media use by individuals. However, it has been limited in that the use of a medium has always been considered independently from other media options available and from use trends occurring at the level of a population. The theory of the niche has been used to partially overcome these limitations by examining uses and gratification concepts in the context of media competition; but, up to this point, it has only been used to explain trends at the system level. Through the introduction of repertoire niches, the present article extends the theory of the niche by examining competition at the level of the individual within the resource space of his/her media repertoire. Results indicate that repertoire niche dimensions of breadth, overlap, and superiority have some predictive power over media use.

Power through the algorithm? Participatory web cultures and the technological unconscious

Beer, D. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

The movement toward what is often described as Web 2.0 is usually understood as a large-scale shift toward a participatory and collaborative version of the web, where users are able to get involved and create content. As things stand we have so far had little opportunity to explore how new forms of power play out in this context of apparent ‘empowerment’ and ‘democratization’. This article suggests that this is a pressing issue that requires urgent attention. To begin to open up this topic this article situates Web 2.0 in the context of the broader transformations that are occurring in new media by drawing on the work of a number of leading writers who, in various ways, consider the implications of software ‘sinking’ into and ‘sorting’ aspects of our everyday lives. The article begins with this broader literature before exploring in detail Scott Lash’s notion of ‘post-hegemonic power’ and more specifically his concept of ‘power through the algorithm’. The piece concludes by discussing how this relates to work on Web 2.0 and how this work might be developed in the future.

The political blogosphere in China: A content analysis of the blogs regarding the dismissal of Shanghai leader Chen Liangyu

Zhou, X. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

Despite the rapid growth of blogging in China, little is known about the communicative processes of blogs and their implications for China. This current study aims to bridge that gap by specifically looking at the political blogs posted on the NetEase, one of the largest portal websites in China, regarding the dismissal of Shanghai leader Chen Liangyu. Results from a content analysis indicate that bloggers, giving quick responses to the event, were actively engaged in discussions on politically sensitive topics, and expressed different opinions of the event and even criticism of the government.

Understanding the complexity of the digital divide in relation to the quality of House campaign websites in the United States

Latimer, C. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

This research considers the growing use of the internet by campaigns in the United States at the sub-presidential level and its relationship to the digital divide. The primary goal is to understand why candidates’ websites have different levels of quality and whether this is somehow connected to the digital divide. Examining the quality of campaign websites reflects scholarly research concerning information technology, the digital divide and political campaigns and elections. I observe the relative quality of House campaign websites from the 2002 mid-term election in relation to demographic features of a congressional district including race, family income and education. The objective is to predict the quality of these candidate websites using these variables; and, subsequently, to discover whether campaign website quality has a relationship to the digital divide.

Visual spaces, norm governed places: the influence of spatial context online

Stromer-Galley, J., Martey, R. M. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

Current theories of social interaction and normative influence in Computer-Mediated Communication were developed in the era of the internet predominated by text-based interaction. With the growth of visual-spatial worlds like Second Life, these theories need to be re-examined. The evolution of thinking about social norms online has moved from a mechanistic view to a systems view of humans and communication technology intertwined in a complex relationship that includes groups, identity, communication, and norms. Missing from that system is explicit attention to context and the important role of the environment that encases interaction. This article discusses theories of how architecture and embodiment shape offline life and how such theories increasingly apply in online interaction in visual social spaces. We argue that such spaces communicate normative information that influences behavior within a given context in both conscious and unconscious ways. This article then discusses implications of visual-spatial environments on existing theories of interaction online.

Review Article: Mobile phones: appropriation, uses and consequences: Gerard Goggin (ed.), Mobile Phone Cultures. London: Routledge, 2007. ix + 190 pp. ISBN: 978--0--415--42530--8, $140 (hbk) James E. Katz (ed.), Handbook of Mobile Communication Studie s. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. xii + 472 pp. ISBN: 978--0--262--11312--0, $45 (hbk)

Sooryamoorthy, R. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

Book Review: Byron Hawk, David M. Rieder, Ollie Oviedo (eds), Small Tech: The Culture of Digital Tools. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. 272 pp. ISBN 0--8166--4978--2, $25.00 (pbk)

Thomas, N. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

Book review: Alexander Halavais, Search Engine Society. Cambridge: Polity, 2008. 196 pp. ISBN 978--0--7456--4215--4, $19.95 (pbk)

Zimmer, M. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:10:23 PDT

Cloaked websites: propaganda, cyber-racism and epistemology in the digital era

Daniels, J. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article analyzes cloaked websites, which are sites published by individuals or groups who conceal authorship in order to disguise deliberately a hidden political agenda. Drawing on the insights of critical theory and the Frankfurt School, this article examines the way in which cloaked websites conceal a variety of political agendas from a range of perspectives. Of particular interest here are cloaked white supremacist sites that disguise cyber-racism. The use of cloaked websites to further political ends raises important questions about knowledge production and epistemology in the digital era. These cloaked sites emerge within a social and political context in which it is increasingly difficult to parse fact from propaganda, and this is a particularly pernicious feature when it comes to the cyber-racism of cloaked white supremacist sites. The article concludes by calling for the importance of critical, situated political thinking in the evaluation of cloaked websites.

As real as real? Macroeconomic behavior in a large-scale virtual world

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article proposes an empirical test of whether aggregate economic behavior maps from the real to the virtual. Transaction data from a large commercial virtual world — the first such data set provided to outside researchers — is used to calculate metrics for production, consumption and money supply based on real-world definitions. Movements in these metrics over time were examined for consistency with common theories of macroeconomic change. The results indicated that virtual economic behavior follows real-world patterns. Moreover, a natural experiment occurred, in that a new version of the virtual world with the same rules came online during the study. The new world's macroeconomic aggregates quickly grew to be nearly exact replicas of those of the existing worlds, suggesting that `Code is Law': macroeconomic outcomes in a virtual world may be explained largely by design structure.

Offline social ties and online use of computers: A study of disabled youth and their use of ICT advances

Soderstrom, S. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article investigates how differences in social ties lead to differences in the social use of information and communication technology (ICT) and vice versa. The article draws on a qualitative study in the field of disability studies. Through this study of a marginalized subgroup of youth, the article advances insight into the permeability of the real and the virtual and extends the notion of established concepts of social ties and digital differentiation. The youth in the current study are 23 disabled Norwegians aged 15—20 years. The analysis is based on the principles of grounded theory and is characterized by a constant content comparative process. The outcome of this analysis shows how social ties of a marginalized subgroup of young people hold different characteristics than established notions anticipate, how these characteristics are vital in youths' interaction in offline and online life and how this interaction implies a mixed reality.

The radical act of 'mommy blogging': redefining motherhood through the blogosphere

Lopez, L. K. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article provides an alternative to the masculine construction of the blogosphere by analyzing 'mommy bloggers' through the lenses of feminism and autobiography. It uses the event of the 2005 BlogHer conference as a starting point for a discussion about the mommy blogger phenomenon, wherein a constellation of ensuing conversations challenge the use of the title 'mommy blogger' and the activities that are encompassed by it. In qualitatively examining the form and content of mommy blogs, this article ultimately argues for their potential to build communities and to challenge dominant representations of motherhood within our society.

Social movement web use in theory and practice: a content analysis of US movement websites

Stein, L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

While communication scholars suggest that the internet can serve as an important resource for social movement communication, few studies examine whether and how social movements actually use the internet. This article examines US-based social movement organization (SMO) internet use at one of its most visible points of access, the world wide web. Drawing on alternative media studies, the article develops a typology of communication functions central to social movements and surveys a random sample of SMO websites in order to determine whether and to what degree they exhibit features or attributes related to these types. The survey results suggest that the majority of US-based SMOs are not utilizing the web to its full potential, and posits a number of reasons why this might be the case, including organizational objectives, organizational resources and resource sharing.

Wikipedia leeches? The promotion of traffic through a collaborative web format

Langlois, G., Elmer, G. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article investigates the circulation of Wikipedia entries on the web in an effort to determine the integration of its collaborative model into existing proprietary web formats. In particular it details the use of Wikipedia content as 'tags' or information that is used to increase traffic to webpages through search engine results. Consequently, the article discusses the need to develop theoretical models that provide for an understanding of both content and form on the web, particularly as formatted by open-source legal frameworks.

'If you had been with us': mainstream press and citizen journalists jockey for authority over the collective memory of Hurricane Katrina

Robinson, S. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

Using the anniversary coverage of Hurricane Katrina, this textual analysis explores how reporters and citizen journalists considered themselves and each other in their different versions of a specific news narrative. This research indicates that online citizen writers undermined the mainstream news story by offering an often contrary version of Hurricane Katrina. Their collective memory focused on personal experience, asserting their right to tell this societal story. By inserting themselves into the news production process of collective memory formation, these citizens renegotiated their relationships with journalists and with journalism. In some cases, this resulted in complete role reversals. The findings suggest that new patterns for information flow are being created, renovating the existing institutional power structure involving the press and society. The conclusion of this article suggests that theorists evaluate citizen journalism alongside mainstream journalists' work, for they are now part of the same news production process.

The virtual census: representations of gender, race and age in video games

Williams, D., Martins, N., Consalvo, M., Ivory, J. D. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

A large-scale content analysis of characters in video games was employed to answer questions about their representations of gender, race and age in comparison to the US population. The sample included 150 games from a year across nine platforms, with the results weighted according to game sales. This innovation enabled the results to be analyzed in proportion to the games that were actually played by the public, and thus allowed the first statements able to be generalized about the content of popular video games. The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly. Overall, the results are similar to those found in television research. The implications for identity, cognitive models, cultivation and game research are discussed.

Online campaigning: an opening for the outsiders? An analysis of Finnish parliamentary candidates' websites in the 2003 election campaign

Strandberg, K. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

This article examines the campaign websites of the 2003 Finnish parliamentary candidates. By examining candidate-level online competition in the candidate-centred Finnish context, individual-level variables are brought to attention in explaining website uptake and how campaign sites are used by candidates in terms of functions and sophistication. The findings show that the distribution of the candidates' web presence was skewed towards an over-representation of major party candidates. Moreover, in predicting candidate website functions and sophistication, belonging to a major party was a strong predictor. Candidate competitiveness and incumbency were also found to be significant predictors. Nevertheless, the findings in the article indicate that the relevance of these political factors may be less significant than other factors, for example genre effects, in explaining candidate website content and presentation.

Wikinomics and its discontents: a critical analysis of Web 2.0 business manifestos

Van Dijck, J., Nieborg, D. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

'Collaborative culture', 'mass creativity' and 'co-creation' appear to be contagious buzzwords that are rapidly infecting economic and cultural discourse on Web 2.0. Allegedly, peer production models will replace opaque, top-down business models, yielding to transparent, democratic structures where power is in the shared hands of responsible companies and skilled, qualified users. Manifestos such as Wikinomics (Tapscott and Williams, 2006) and 'We-Think' (Leadbeater, 2007) argue collective culture to be the basis for digital commerce. This article analyzes the assumptions behind this Web 2.0 newspeak and unravels how business gurus try to argue the universal benefits of a democratized and collectivist digital space. They implicitly endorse a notion of public collectivism that functions entirely inside commodity culture. The logic of Wikinomics and 'We-Think' urgently begs for deconstruction, especially since it is increasingly steering mainstream cultural theory on digital culture.

Review Article: Exploring the new frontiers of collaborative community: Tom Boellstorff, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. xi + 328 pp. ISBN 9780691135281 $29.95 (hbk) Axel Bruns, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2008. xiii + 418 pp. ISBN 9780820488660, $34.95 (pbk) Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace, The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2007. xiii + 295 pp. ISBN 9780262122948, $29.95 (hbk)

Schackman, D. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

Book Review: Chris Paterson and David Domingo (eds), Making Online News: The Ethnography of New Media Production. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. xi + 236 pp. ISBN 978--1-4331--0213--4, $32.95 (pbk)

Robinson, S. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

Book Review: Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Jonas Heide Smith, and Susana Pajares Tosca, Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. New York and London: Routledge, 2008. 293 pp. ISBN 978--0415977210, $35.00 (pbk)

Bogost, I. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:42 PDT

Extended liveness and eventfulness in multi-platform reality formats

Ytreberg, E. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

The international success of formats such as Pop Idol and Big Brother owes much to the ways in which they combine a number of broadcast and digital platforms under the aegis of a common 'brand'. The article argues that the media industry strategists behind such formats have come to rely on extending existing broadcast conventions of liveness and eventfulness by means of audience participation via digital return channels. It argues that such participation invites a sense of presence, heightened immediacy and involvement in the live event. The article emphasizes how such features are being developed by the broadcast media industry to exploit audience participation for the purposes of revenue, competitive edge and strategic expansion.

Internet practice and sociability in South Louisiana

Duque, R. B., Ynalvez, M. A. H. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

This article examines the extent to which internet practice is associated with sociability in south Louisiana. Known for having a long and unique history of traditional values and a high frequency of social interaction, this sub-region is ideal to test the contradictory findings of previous research. Based on a survey of 371 randomly selected residents, the study utilizes 11 sociability and eight internet measures. The descriptive findings are consistent with the diffusion of innovations perspective, while regression analyses suggest that internet practice is associated with both more and less sociability, depending on what measures are used.

Unreal: hostile expectations from social gameplay

Eastin, M. S., Griffiths, R. P. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

This article situates the general aggression model within the social structure of gameplay. Testing a mediated model of play, group gaming is examined in order to demonstrate how certain gameplay situations can promote hostile expectation bias or the tendency to predict how others would think, feel and act aggressively during social conflict. Demonstrating the casual structure inherent within complex gameplay, this study presents a needed step forward in the gaming literature. The mediated model presented departs from the typically examined direct effect model. Further, completing the model, this study suggests that when state hostility is heightened, hostile expectation bias increases.

Spinning the web of identity: the roles of the internet in the lives of immigrant adolescents

Elias, N., Lemish, D. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

This article illuminates the roles of the internet in the unique intersection between adolescence and immigration. The data presented were gathered through in-depth interviews with 70 teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union to Israel. The analysis suggests that the internet provides valuable resources for personal growth and empowerment, as it helps to develop and strengthen many aspects of young immigrants' evolving identity during a critical period of social and material disadvantage, when they are engaged in settling into and adjusting to a new society. This case study highlights the importance of researching the internet's roles in the lives of disadvantaged populations, and the potential of this medium for closing knowledge and social gaps.

Weblogs, traditional sources online and political participation: an assessment of how the internet is changing the political environment

Gil De Zuniga, H., Puig-I-Abril, E., Rojas, H. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

Research has shown consistently that news consumption both online and offline is related positively to interpersonal discussion, political involvement and political engagement. However, little consideration has been given to the role that new sources of information may exert on different forms of political engagement. Based on secondary analysis of data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, this article contrasts the influence of traditional sources of information online with that of emergent sources (blogs) in predicting further political discussion, campaigning and participation in both the online and the offline domains. The results show that the use of traditional sources online is related positively to different types of political engagement, both online and offline. Most interestingly, the article finds that blog use emerges as an equally important predictor of political engagement in the online domain. Its analyses provide support for the contention that asserts the democratic potential of the internet.

Doing the right thing online: a survey of bloggers' ethical beliefs and practices

Cenite, M., Detenber, B. H., Koh, A. W.K., Lim, A. L.H., Ng Ee Soon, — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

This study explores the ethical beliefs and practices of two distinct groups of bloggers — personal and non-personal — through a worldwide web survey. A stratified purposive sample of 1224 bloggers provided information about their blogging experience, blogging habits and demographics. They were asked about their beliefs and practices for four ethical principles: truth-telling, attribution, accountability and minimizing harm. The findings reveal that the two groups differ in terms of who they are and what they do in their weblogs (blogs). In addition, there were significant differences in the extent to which they value and adhere to the four principles, and some interesting similarities. For example, both groups believe that attribution is most important and accountability least important. Scholars have proposed blogging ethics codes, and this study found that bloggers themselves support such a code.

Information and communication technology innovations: radical and disruptive?

Latzer, M. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

Information and communication technology innovations (ICT) are considered to be of central importance to social and economic developments. Various innovation theories offer classifications to predict and assess their impact. This article reviews the usefulness of selected approaches and their application in the convergent communications sector. It focuses on the notion of disruption, the comparatively new distinction between disruptive and sustaining innovations, and examines how it is related to other innovation-theoretical typologies. According to the literature, there is a high frequency of disruptive changes in the field of internet protocol-based innovations in combination with wireless technology. A closer analysis reveals that these classifications and assessments not only differ in detail but are even contradictory. The article explains these differences by highlighting delicate choices that have to be taken by analysts applying the disruption concept. It argues that its applicability is comparatively low in the convergent communications sector and generalizations of single-firm assessments are hardly valid.

Wii has never been modern: 'active' video games and the 'conduct of conduct'

Millington, B. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

This article considers the role of 'active' video games — specifically the Nintendo 'Wii' — as technologies that foster control over corporeality. New media scholars have examined the politics of embodiment and hybridity as they relate to video games, yet have paid limited attention to the ways in which new gaming technologies might contribute to contemporary systems of 'government', or what Foucault calls the 'conduct of conduct'. Borrowing from influential social theorists, the article argues that, by undergoing what Latour labels 'translation' (by merging with the body), the Wii invokes and reinscribes governmental and post-disciplinary rationalities. The analysis concludes by contending that the Wii might be a particularly influential innovation in risk-based post-disciplinary societies: rather than connecting 'at-risk' subjects to human experts, the Wii functions as an active and autonomous quasi-object risk expert, able to diagnose 'problematic' tendencies and prescribe basic behavioural remedies.

Review Article: Gameworlds, lifecraft and warplay: Jim Rossignol, This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2008. 224 pp. ISBN: 978--0--472--11635--5, $24.95 (hbk) Steven E. Jones, The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies. New York: Routledge, 2008. x + 198 pp. ISBN: 0--415--96056--8, $29.95 (pbk) Hilde G. Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg (eds), Digital Culture, Play and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. vii + 304 pp. ISBN: 978--0--262--03370--1, $29.95 (hbk)

Mawyer, A. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

Book Review: Thomas Erickson and David W. McDonald (eds), HCI Remixed: Reflections on Works that Have Influenced the HCI Community. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008. vi + 337 pp. ISBN 9780262050883, $40 (hbk)

Xun Liu, — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT

Book Review: Radhika Gajjala and Venkataramana Gajjala (eds), South Asian Technospaces. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. xii + 303 pp. ISBN 9780820481227, $32.95 (pbk)

Punathambekar, A. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:28:59 PDT