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To examine the potential for including forums in an online ethnography that draws on data from multiple online sites.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the potential for including forums in an online ethnography that draws on data from multiple online sites.
Methodology/approach
Taking a broadly post-structuralist approach to identity and embodiment online, the research drew on three sources of data: asynchronous email interviews, in-game participant observation and six months of forum observation.
Findings
The community in question was socially located around multiple field sites online and forums remain an integral part of the social lives of online gamers. The practice and ethics for examining forums from a qualitative perspective are outlined and how this can fit into an ethnographic account. Some of the data is then presented from this strand of the research to illustrate how researching a forum as a ‘lurker’ can complement theoretical trajectories and analyses from other parts of the dataset.
Originality
This research details a novel way of examining forums qualitatively as part of a larger dataset. Furthermore, the chapter posits how relatively unobtrusive methods of observation can bring to the fore the ways in which prejudice still structures online social interaction.
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This study illustrates how youth and young adults use boundary-making processes to create a regulated community online.
Abstract
Purpose
This study illustrates how youth and young adults use boundary-making processes to create a regulated community online.
Methodology/approach
Ethnographic methods are used to compare deviance models of internet participation with work on digital youth culture.
Findings
This paper finds that digital youth draw boundaries around three categories of participation (n00bs, trolls, and idols) to identify new people who need help, ward off bullies, and uphold community ideals.
Originality/value
Contrary to deviance perspectives, this study finds that digital youth use boundary-making processes to cultivate a civil online community.
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Ayse Lokmanoglu and Yannick Veilleux-Lepage
Purpose – In order to explore how gender and sexual politics are played out in everyday practice within both the extreme right and jihadi-Salafist movements online, this chapter…
Abstract
Purpose – In order to explore how gender and sexual politics are played out in everyday practice within both the extreme right and jihadi-Salafist movements online, this chapter analyzes the content of two women’s only forums: The Women’s Forum on Stormfront.org and Women Dawah, a Turkish language pro-IS group chat on Telegram.
Methodology – The Women’s Forum and the Women Dawah data sets were analyzed using structural topic modeling to uncover the differences and similarities in salient topics between White Nationalist and Islamic State women-only forums.
Findings – The cross-ideological and multi-linguistic thematic analysis suggests that the safety of online spaces enables women to be more active, and serves digital support network for like-minding individuals. It also highlights that religion and ideology, whilst interwoven throughout posts on both platforms, they were more explicitly discussed within Women Dawah data.
Originality/Value – This research uses a unique data set which was collected over one year to conduct a cross-ideological and multi-linguistic thematic analysis, a relatively uncommon approach.
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Ryan Scrivens, Tiana Gaudette, Garth Davies and Richard Frank
Purpose – This chapter examines how sentiment analysis and web-crawling technology can be used to conduct large-scale data analyses of extremist content online.Methods/approach …
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter examines how sentiment analysis and web-crawling technology can be used to conduct large-scale data analyses of extremist content online.
Methods/approach – The authors describe a customized web-crawler that was developed for the purpose of collecting, classifying, and interpreting extremist content online and on a large scale, followed by an overview of a relatively novel machine learning tool, sentiment analysis, which has sparked the interest of some researchers in the field of terrorism and extremism studies. The authors conclude with a discussion of what they believe is the future applicability of sentiment analysis within the online political violence research domain.
Findings – In order to gain a broader understanding of online extremism, or to improve the means by which researchers and practitioners “search for a needle in a haystack,” the authors recommend that social scientists continue to collaborate with computer scientists, combining sentiment analysis software with other classification tools and research methods, as well as validate sentiment analysis programs and adapt sentiment analysis software to new and evolving radical online spaces.
Originality/value – This chapter provides researchers and practitioners who are faced with new challenges in detecting extremist content online with insights regarding the applicability of a specific set of machine learning techniques and research methods to conduct large-scale data analyses in the field of terrorism and extremism studies.
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Grace Adhiambo Were, Kevin Odhiambo Okelo and Rosemary Akech Obat
Online, distance, and eLearning (ODeL) continue to gain recognition as a mandatory component of delivery of education in institutions of higher learning (IHL) around the world…
Abstract
Online, distance, and eLearning (ODeL) continue to gain recognition as a mandatory component of delivery of education in institutions of higher learning (IHL) around the world following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This paradigm shift is informed by the need to ensure uninterrupted, valuable, and safe learning experiences for learners during the pandemic. However, governments ordered the closure of schools and colleges following the declaration of COVID-19 as a world pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). A report by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization revealed that there was a significant loss of schooling time following the closure of educational facilities which affected over 1.5 billion learners in 194 nations globally. This study explored the use of online approaches to intensify online learning efficacy in IHL. Data collection was conducted using qualitative methods and data analysis done using themes and sub-themes. Findings from this study indicate that students’ engagements on discussion forums are consistent with collaborative learning. Results further support the view that regular, prompt, and meaningful feedback is critical in promoting constructive learning and reflection among students. Based on the findings of this study, practical implications are discussed for stakeholders interested in establishing and strengthening effective delivery of online learning content to enhance students’ learning experiences.
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Peter Groenewegen and Christine Moser
Online communities form a challenging and still-evolving field for social network research. We highlight two themes that are at the core of social network literature: formative…
Abstract
Online communities form a challenging and still-evolving field for social network research. We highlight two themes that are at the core of social network literature: formative processes and structures, and discuss how these might be relevant in the context of online communities. Processes of tie formation might evolve differently in online communities. Second, we discuss how network structures emerge in different ways than previously studied, and should therefore be interpreted differently.
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Lynne Siemens, Catherine Althaus and Charlotte Stange
The ultimate objective of any learning platform is student engagement with the material, instructor, and classmates. Little is currently known about students’ concerns regarding…
Abstract
The ultimate objective of any learning platform is student engagement with the material, instructor, and classmates. Little is currently known about students’ concerns regarding privacy, confidentiality, and information safety and the potential impact these may have on engagement within an online learning environment. Existing literature and practice must be supplemented with awareness of the importance of student perceptions concerning privacy and confidentiality if online learning engagement is to be maximized. Our exploratory research shows that students do experience concerns, that these concerns can be impacted by the professional school status of the students in question, and that students take steps to create safety accordingly. As a result, student engagement within an online learning environment is different than its physical counterpart. Our findings and subsequent recommendations suggest more can be done to maximize the notion of learning safety and student online learning engagement.
Ashley Sanders-Jackson, Christopher Clemens and Kristen Wozniak
Purpose: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults smoke at rates much higher than the general population. Young adults, in general, are less likely to seek medical help for…
Abstract
Purpose: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults smoke at rates much higher than the general population. Young adults, in general, are less likely to seek medical help for smoking cessation and LGB individuals are less likely to seek health care generally. Alternative methods to encourage smoking cessation are necessary. This research seeks to establish whether LGB young adults in California would be willing to use social media for smoking cessation.
Approach: We conducted 41 qualitative interviews among LGB young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles in Fall 2014.
Findings: The results suggest that our participants were interested in a LGB-focused social media intervention, as long as the intervention was private or anonymous and moderated. Further, across topical areas our participants spoke extensively about the import of social connections. We may be able to leverage these connections to encourage cessation.
Research Limitations: This is a qualitative, non-generalizable dataset from a fairly limited geographic area.
Public Health Implications: Online smoking cessation interventions aimed at young adults would benefit from further testing with LGB young adults to ensure efficacy among this population. In addition, states and localities concerned about young adult LGB smoking might benefit from investing in an online socially mediated cessation forum. Online interventions could be scalable and might be useful for other groups who regularly face discrimination, stigma, or other stressors that make successful smoking cessation difficult.
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Mark J. Hager, Anthony Basiel, Michael Howarth and Tarek Zoubir
This chapter presents a case study of the ways the Phoebe pedagogic planner assists faculty to design and select e-learning technology because “it's not the technology, but the…
Abstract
This chapter presents a case study of the ways the Phoebe pedagogic planner assists faculty to design and select e-learning technology because “it's not the technology, but the [quality] of the educational experience that affects learning” (Seltz, 2010, p. 1). Faculty applied guidance from Phoebe to evaluate various interactive media options for undergraduate psychology courses to enhance student learning and engagement. The authors discuss the application of instructional technology in Introduction to Psychology, Cross-cultural Psychology, and Human Motivation and Emotion courses. These projects were prompted by earlier work (Hager & Clemmons, 2010) that explored collaboration to promote integration of technology in traditional courses. The new technologies include discussion forums; online simulations, cases and assessments; text-to-poll; and the Moodle learning management system (LMS). Current theories of e-learning are applied to analyze and critique these projects, concluding with recommendations for future research, practice, and faculty development to incorporate learning technologies. The authors demonstrate how learner-centered collaboration among faculty, researchers, and administrators can shape and improve student engagement and develop institutional cultures of e-learning.
In recent times the relationship between social stratification and internet use has become more complex. In order to understand the new configuration of the digital divide, this…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent times the relationship between social stratification and internet use has become more complex. In order to understand the new configuration of the digital divide, this paper examines the relationship between socioeconomic background and digital engagement among youths.
Methodology/approach
This study explores digital inequalities among Italian teenagers from a holistic perspective. It draws on primary data obtained with a triangulation of methods: a survey on a representative sample of 2,025 high school students and 56 semi-structured interviews with teenagers from different social classes.
Findings
The statistical models indicate that cultural capital and parents’ occupational status do not associate with broader social media use but are positively related with online information-seeking. The interpretative analysis suggests that teenagers from the upper-middle class make sense of the internet “vertically,” in affiliation with parental socialization, and are more concerned with capital enhancing activities. Instead, teenagers from less advantageous social contexts appropriate the internet “horizontally,” jointly with peers, and are mostly interested in social-networking and UGC production.
Practical implications
School track, along with parents’ socioeconomic status and cultural capital, influences teenagers’ internet use. Further studies could explore whether school tracking contributes to digital inequalities.
Originality/value
The study extends Annette Lareau’s theory of parenting styles and social reproduction, but also obtains innovative results related to digital inequalities among youth. Contrary to expectations, teenagers from less advantageous social backgrounds enrolled in vocational schools have better chances to actively participate in social media than teens from the upper-middle class in academic-oriented high schools.
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