CALL FOR PAPERS FOR PhD-STUDENTS AND JUNIOR RESEARCHERS IN THE EU
QMSS-2 2008 Workshop »Communication Networks on the Web«
Sponsored by the European Science Foundation
Date: 18 – 19 December 2008
Location: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School of Communications Research, Kloveniersburgwal 48, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Goal: The intensive use of new information and communication technologies, especially the web, by individuals and social actors generally has tremendously increased the availability of data and opportunities for data processing and analysis. This seminar will stress the value of taking appropriate theoretical perspectives and using appropriate analytic strategies in the study of (computer mediated) communication networks. The seminar will bring together leading researchers and young scientists from a range of disciplines to share knowledge and produce synergies that will define the research field.
Themes:
Main topics of the workshop
1. Communication networks on the web as a theoretical and methodological challenge
- conceptualization of communication processes on the web
- possibilities and problems of theoretically informed social network analysis
2. Social structures on the web
- emergence of social structures in communication networks on the web
- interactional and community dynamics
- social roles, collective action
3. Dynamics of communication on the web
- structure of citation and collaboration ties
- structure of content
- combination of two approaches
4. Measuring and collecting data for communication networks on the web
- methodologies for analyzing communication networks on the web
- collecting, parsing, coding data
- identification of actors and identification of content
Format: The workshop is organized as follows. For each of the main topics, a prominent researcher delivers an invited lecture. The junior participants present their papers, which are commented upon by the invited speakers, followed by a discussion with the other participants. The papers will be distributed to the participants before the start of the workshop. Altogether, the workshop will host 4 invited speakers and a maximum of 20 junior presenters.
Invited speakers
Prof. Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University, USA.
Prof. Loet Leydesdorff, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Prof. Mike Thelwall, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
Howard Welser PhD, Ohio University, USA.
Submission: Papers specifying a research design or presenting (preliminary) results by postgraduate students or junior researchers addressing the above topics are invited. In addition to a presentation, active participation in the discussions is expected. An extended abstract of the paper is required for submission.
All papers should be prepared in electronic form. Detailed submission directions will be available at QMSS-2 web site http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/qmss/seminars/2008-social/index.shtml. Extended abstracts must be written in English and should be between 1,000 – 1,500 words. Notification of acceptance will be given by October 15.
Important dates:
September 1: Deadline for submission of the extended abstracts
October 15: Authors of accepted papers are notified
December 1: Submission of full papers (app. 4000 words)
Please send your abstract to Wouter de Nooy (w.denooy@uva.nl) and Gregor Petrič (gregor.petric@fdv.uni-lj.si).
Travel and accommodation:
Participants’ travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the QMSS 2 programme, provided that they come from or are working in one of the 17 countries who support QMSS 2. To check eligibility, see http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/qmss/countries/.
Language: The official language of the workshop will be English.
Organizers:
Dr. Gregor Petrič, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Dr. Wouter de Nooy, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The European Science Foundation (ESF) provides a platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research and explore new directions for research at the European level. Established in 1974 as an independent non-governmental organisation, the ESF currently serves 75 Member Organisations across 30 countries.
MediaCampLondon: Video
SoMe
Improbulus is correct, perhaps we all need an abbreviation which is better than SM.
I had a few tweets with her today which went as follows:
@audio you might start with thinking up an alternative abbreviation for Social Media - or is it too late?
@improbulus I’d say Communications Technology.. because that’s all it is.. but that’s not sexy.. nothing new here really…
@audio actually, I meant maybe something like SocMed instead of SM??! (referring to your earlier tweet now)
@improbulus Oh I see.. SM is too close to S&M? SocMed works.
improbulus @audio yes, otherwise some people might get confused! Anything else, really - SocMed was just a suggestion.
So there you go, that is that we have now officially declared Social Media to be abbreviated to SocMed.
You may go forthwith and use SocMed, hereby defined by The Social Media Mafia.
+++++++++++++++
Breaking News:
UPDATE: the abbreviation has now been officially reduced to the rather simple, and refreshingly more related SoMe pronounced So Me thanks to:
vanmaanen @audio SocMed is SoMe 
Preferences Versus Strategies as Explanations for Culture-Specific Behavior
I wish to extent my gratitude to Toshio Yamagishi, Hirofumi Hashimoto, and Joanna Schug from Hokkaido University for allowing us to publish their paper here on our Family Blog.
ABSTRACT—In this article, we present a new framework for interpreting cultural differences in behavior—what we call the institutional approach. In this framework, individuals’ behaviors are conceptualized as strategies adapted to various incentive structures. Cultural differences in behavior
are thus viewed as differences in the default adaptive strategies that individuals come to rely on in unclear situations. Through two studies, we demonstrate that the East Asian ‘‘preference’’ for conformity is actually a default strategy to avoid accrual of negative reputation. When the possibility for negative evaluations in a given situation was clearly defined, cultural differences in the tendency for uniqueness disappeared. This approach carries important implications to psychologists who interpret cultural differences in behavior in terms of preferences, and can serve as a common framework branching out toward other disciplines in the social sciences.
Social Media Club: Represent
I was put forward for the Interim Board of Directors over at Social Media Club.
As Godfather of our Family here I would gladly accept this position and indeed take forward the mission we have here, namely: Facilitating critical thinking, amiably.
I’d need considerable votes to succeed, yet it is “doable”.
As you know, my belief is that social media (even the term grates) needs balance, there must be a counter-argument to the evangelists in order to ensure the community is not constantly crawling up its own arse, where the members simply pat each other on the back.
My recent article on Ideological Amplification on my personal Blog will give you an insight into my fears, and they are serious concerns.
SO, I urge you to VOTE for Chris Hambly to extend our reach as a Family, a growing community of exceptional talent, and yes, I do mean exceptional talent we have here.
Thanks in advance
The Godfather
PSYCHOLOGY: Social Preferences
I read in a recent science paper by Yamagishi, that game theories and analysis can be used to assess individuals that are engaged in daily group activity, in that they can be said to be belonging to a “self-sustaining” institution where they operate according to a shared set of incentives.
In these types of environments it has been shown that individual strategy and behaviour can be based on considering specific outcomes, or the “payout”, not exactly rocket science of course, but let’s dig deeper.
The specific example used two groups of different cultures; Americans and Japanese. Each group were given a set of coloured pens and asked to choose a single colour pen as a reward for completing a survey. The experiment showed that the Japanese were less likely than the Americans to take a coloured pen IF that were the only pen of that colour in the set, indicating that they were not comfortable in reducing the number of options in the set for the remaining group members, therefore not creating a negative impression of themselves.
This is said to reflect that the Japanese are more conforming and less individualistic than their American counterparts. However, there was no discernible difference between the two groups when each group were informed that they were the first or last to receive, therefore instruction plays a part in institutional behaviour here.
You may not find this as fascinating as me, though I am wondering what you may be thinking, do you see parallels here in social network behaviours, can we assume a social network IS a “self-sustaining” institute? And can we predict different behaviours in each, both conforming in nature or the more individualistic approach, and more to the point how can we change that behaviour by instruction… ?
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