194 results
Search Results
2. Identification and Countermeasures of Network Defamation Crime: Present Situation, Supervision Status, and Criminal Applications.
- Author
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Renze Qu
- Subjects
ANONYMITY ,SOCIAL media ,LIBEL & slander ,CRIME ,DIGITAL technology ,FREEDOM of speech - Abstract
The network defamation crime presents a serious legal quandary in the digital age. This paper delves into the identification, supervision, criminal applications, and countermeasures of the network defamation crime. First, we clarify the constitutive requirements of the crime and propose a meticulous standard to balance freedom of speech with safeguarding individuals' rights and interests. Second, we establish an effective onus of proof, thereby alleviating the plaintiff's load and expediting the judicial process. Simultaneously, we emphasize combating false information to uphold the integrity of cyberspace and further explore the intricate impact of network environments' anonymity and virtuality on evidence collection, as well as the balance between freedom of speech and individual rights. Finally, this paper puts forward the establishment of transnational cooperation mechanisms and the oversight of social media platforms as a comprehensive strategy to effectively tackle the global challenges in the network defamation crime and contributes valuable insights and suggestions for the wholesome development of cyberspace through detailed discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Considerations in Designing Digital Peer Support for Mental Health: Interview Study Among Users of a Digital Support System (Buddy Project)
- Author
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Nazanin Andalibi and Madison K Flood
- Subjects
020205 medical informatics ,Internet privacy ,design ,digital health ,02 engineering and technology ,peer support ,Peer support ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,medicine ,Psychology ,Social media ,Set (psychology) ,mHealth ,digital peer support ,Original Paper ,business.industry ,Mental illness ,medicine.disease ,Digital health ,Mental health ,030227 psychiatry ,BF1-990 ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,technology ,internet ,business ,mental health ,Anonymity - Abstract
Background Peer support is an approach to cope with mental illness, and technology provides a way to facilitate peer support. However, there are barriers to seeking support in offline and technology-mediated contexts. Objective This study aims to uncover potential ways to design digital mental health peer support systems and to outline a set of principles for future designers to consider as they embark on designing these systems. By learning how existing systems are used by people in daily life and by centering their experiences, we can better understand how to design mental health peer support technologies that foreground people’s needs. One existing digital peer support system is Buddy Project, the case study in this paper. Methods This paper reports on an interview study with Buddy Project users (N=13). Data were analyzed using the constant comparative approach. Results Individuals matched through Buddy Project developed supportive friendships with one another, leading them to become each other’s peer supporters in their respective journeys. It was not only the mental health peer support that was important to participants but also being able to connect over other parts of their lives and identities. The design of Buddy Project provided a sense of anonymity and separation from pre-existing ties, making it easier for participants to disclose struggles; moreover, the pairs appreciated being able to browse each other’s social media pages before connecting. Buddy Project has an explicit mission to prevent suicide and demonstrates this mission across its online platforms, which helps reduce the stigma around mental health within the peer support space. Pairs were matched based on shared interests and identities. This choice aided the pairs in developing meaningful, compatible, and supportive relationships with each other, where they felt seen and understood. However, the pairs were concerned that matching based on a shared mental health diagnosis may lead to sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms or comparing themselves and the severity of their experiences with their peers. Conclusions The results of this study shed light on desirable features of a digital mental health peer support system: matching peers based on interests and identities that they self-identify with; having an explicit mental health–related mission coupled with social media and other web-based presences to signal that discussing mental health is safe within the peer support ecosystem; and not matching peers based on a broad mental health diagnosis. However, if the diagnosis is important, this matching should account for illness severity and educate peers on how to provide support while avoiding suggesting unhelpful coping mechanisms; allowing for some degree of anonymity and control over how peers present themselves to each other; and providing relevant information and tools to potential peers to help them decide if they would like to embark on a relationship with their matched peer before connecting with them.
- Published
- 2021
4. A new dimension in publishing ethics: social media-based ethics-related accusations.
- Author
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Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A. and Dobránszki, Judit
- Abstract
Purpose: Whistle-blowing, which has become an integral part of the post-publication peer-review movement, is being fortified by social media. Anonymous commenting on blogs as well as Tweets about suspicions of academic misconduct can spread quickly on social media sites like Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to examine two cases to expand the discussion about how complex post-publication peer review is and to contextualize the use of social media within this movement. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines a Twitter-based exchange between an established pseudonymous blogger and science critic, Neuroskeptic, and Elizabeth Wager, the former COPE Chair, within a wider discussion of the use of social media in post-publication peer review. The paper also discusses false claims made on Twitter by another science watchdog, Leonid Schneider. The policies of 15 publishers related to anonymous or pseudonymous whistle-blowing are examined. Findings: Four issues in the Neuroskeptic–Wager case were debated: the solicitation by Wager to publish in RIPR; the use of commercial software by Neuroskeptic to make anonymous reports to journals; the links between "publication ethics" leaders and whistle-blowers or pseudonymous identities; the issues of transparency and possible hidden conflicts of interest. Only one publisher (Wiley) out of 15 scientific publishers examined claimed in its official ethical guidelines that anonymous reports should be investigated in the same way as named reports, while three publishers (Inderscience, PLOS and Springer Nature) referred to the COPE guidelines. Originality/value: No such Twitter-based case has yet been examined in detail in the publishing ethics literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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5. The topic of terrorism on Yahoo! Answers: questions, answers and users' anonymity.
- Author
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Chua, Alton Y.K. and Banerjee, Snehasish
- Subjects
HOUSEKEEPING ,TERRORISM ,LAW enforcement agencies ,ANONYMITY ,SOCIAL media ,HYACINTHOIDES ,HATE speech ,ACADEMIC discourse - Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of community question answering sites (CQAs) on the topic of terrorism. Three research questions are investigated: what are the dominant themes reflected in terrorism-related questions? How do answer characteristics vary with question themes? How does users' anonymity relate to question themes and answer characteristics? Design/methodology/approach: Data include 300 questions that attracted 2,194 answers on the community question answering Yahoo! Answers. Content analysis was employed. Findings: The questions reflected the community's information needs ranging from the life of extremists to counter-terrorism policies. Answers were laden with negative emotions reflecting hate speech and Islamophobia, making claims that were rarely verifiable. Users who posted sensitive content generally remained anonymous. Practical implications: This paper raises awareness of how CQAs are used to exchange information about sensitive topics such as terrorism. It calls for governments and law enforcement agencies to collaborate with major social media companies to develop a process for cross-platform blacklisting of users and content, as well as identifying those who are vulnerable. Originality/value: Theoretically, it contributes to the academic discourse on terrorism in CQAs by exploring the type of questions asked, and the sort of answers they attract. Methodologically, the paper serves to enrich the literature around terrorism and social media that has hitherto mostly drawn data from Facebook and Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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6. Exposure as Disclosure: Anonymity Versus Safe Space for Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.
- Author
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Bakari, Rosenna
- Subjects
ANONYMITY ,ADULT child sexual abuse victims ,SOCIAL media ,GROUP identity ,ADVERSE childhood experiences - Abstract
Living in silence is a significant characteristic of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse that prevents them from seeking help. Lack of disclosure has been associated with long-term adverse effects. Yet, less than 50% of survivors ever disclose the abuse. This exploratory paper examines the willingness of adult survivors to participate in online discourse about childhood sexual abuse. The metrics of a social media support page, Talking Trees, were studied to determine adult survivors' willingness to seek help without anonymity. The "Talking Trees" FaceBook page's objectives were to build community, remove isolation, and provide information to empower survivors to live openly. In addition to collecting engagement data on individual posts, page insights were collected. During a 24-month period, 889 "Talking Trees" posts came across Facebook members' pages 2,418,563 times. According to these descriptive statistics, the lack of anonymity in this support group did not deter engagement for 7,109 followers. Nearly 60% of the posts reached more than 1,000 people. The Facebook community engaged with Talking Trees' posts 146,126 times over the two years. The conclusion is that safely engaging adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse may override the need for anonymity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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7. Epistemic Injustices Online
- Author
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Tobi, Abraham
- Published
- 2024
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8. Ethical considerations in social media analytics in the context of migration: lessons learned from a Horizon 2020 project.
- Author
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Mahoney, Jamie, Le Louvier, Kahina, Lawson, Shaun, Bertel, Diotima, and Ambrosetti, Elena
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,RESEARCH ethics ,FRAUD in science ,INFORMATION sharing ,SOCIAL facts ,IMMIGRANTS ,ANONYMITY - Abstract
The ubiquitous use of social platforms across the globe makes them attractive options for investigating social phenomena including migration. However, the use of social media data raises several crucial ethical issues around the areas of informed consent, anonymity and profiling of individuals, which are particularly sensitive when looking at a population such as migrants, which is often considered as 'vulnerable'. In this paper, we discuss how the opportunities and challenges related to social media research in the context of migration impact on the development of large-scale scientific projects. Building on the EU-funded research project PERCEPTIONS, we explore the concrete challenges experienced in such projects regarding profiling, informed consent, bias, data sharing and ethical approval procedures, as well as the strategies used to mitigate them. We draw from lessons learned in this project to discuss implications and recommendations to researchers, funders and university ethics review panels. This paper contributes to the growing discussion on the ethical challenges associated with big social data research projects on migration by highlighting concrete aspects stakeholders should be looking for and questioning when involved in such large-scale scientific projects where collaboration, data sharing and transformation and practicalities are of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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9. Ideologia Incel - un posibil risc asupra criminalității cibernetice.
- Author
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ALBESCU, Raluca Alexandra and PETRESCU, Diana-Zoe
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YOUNG adults ,SOCIAL media ,IDEOLOGY ,ANONYMITY ,INTERNET ,INCELS - Abstract
Copyright of Romanian Journal of Information Technology & Automatic Control / Revista Română de Informatică și Automatică is the property of National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2023
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10. Social Media and Radicalization: An Affordance Approach for Cross-Platform Comparison.
- Author
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Schulze, Heidi, Greipl, Simon, Hohner, Julian, and Rieger, Diana
- Subjects
RADICALISM ,SOCIAL media ,ANONYMITY ,BRANDING (Marketing) - Abstract
To accentuate which platform characteristics particularly foster radicalization and extremist dynamics, this contribution investigates the affordances of social media as delineated in contemporary literature, conducting a platform comparison encompassing Telegram, WhatsApp, and X (formerly Twitter). Based on a scoping review, 17 affordances identified from studies researching radicalization dynamics on social media were extracted and categorized. The most frequently mentioned affordances--anonymity, visibility, and collectivity--were then further analyzed concerning their contribution to radicalization and the radicalization potential of these specific platforms. The platform-comparative affordance discussion shows that, although in principle each of the three compared platforms can foster an environment conducive to radicalization depending on user intention and context or use, the specific characteristics of each platform necessitate a nuanced consideration. On one hand, it is imperative to discern affordances differentially along various dimensions when assessing their implications (e.g., internal vs. external visibility). On the other hand, it is beneficial to consider which affordances emerge from the actualization of other affordances. For instance, collectivity can result from the interplay of several affordances, such as interactivity and anonymity, and can be referred to as a meta-affordance. Furthermore, the analysis shows that platform branding and self-presentation not only affect platform architecture and affordances but also shape users' perceptions of the platform, thereby influencing the actualization of affordances. This was particularly noted in the literature for Telegram and increasingly for X. Specific assertions, nevertheless, are hindered by the conceptual diffusion of the affordance approach and a lack of empirical analyses directly and systematically examining platform affordances in conjunction with radicalization dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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11. Machine-Learning-Based Gender Distribution Prediction from Anonymous News Comments: The Case of Korean News Portal.
- Author
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Suh, Jong Hwan
- Abstract
Anonymous news comment data from a news portal in South Korea, naver.com, can help conduct gender research and resolve related issues for sustainable societies. Nevertheless, only a small portion of gender information (i.e., gender distribution) is open to the public, and therefore, it has rarely been considered for gender research. Hence, this paper aims to resolve the matter of incomplete gender information and make the anonymous news comment data usable for gender research as new social media big data. This paper proposes a machine-learning-based approach for predicting the gender distribution (i.e., male and female rates) of anonymous news commenters for a news article. Initially, the big data of news articles and their anonymous news comments were collected and divided into labeled and unlabeled datasets (i.e., with and without gender information). The word2vec approach was employed to represent a news article by the characteristics of the news comments. Then, using the labeled dataset, various prediction techniques were evaluated for predicting the gender distribution of anonymous news commenters for a labeled news article. As a result, the neural network was selected as the best prediction technique, and it could accurately predict the gender distribution of anonymous news commenters of the labeled news article. Thus, this study showed that a machine-learning-based approach can overcome the incomplete gender information problem of anonymous social media users. Moreover, when the gender distributions of the unlabeled news articles were predicted using the best neural network model, trained with the labeled dataset, their distribution turned out different from the labeled news articles. The result indicates that using only the labeled dataset for gender research can result in misleading findings and distorted conclusions. The predicted gender distributions for the unlabeled news articles can help to better understand anonymous news commenters as humans for sustainable societies. Eventually, this study provides a new way for data-driven computational social science with incomplete and anonymous social media big data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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12. Beyond the realm of cash: street performers and payments in the online world.
- Author
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Elkins, Meg and Fry, Tim R. L.
- Subjects
ENTERTAINERS ,PAYMENT ,LANDSCAPE changes ,ANONYMITY ,ELECTRONIC funds transfers - Abstract
Street performers are able to contribute to a fabric of a city's creative dynamic. The exchange for money between a street performer and an audience is a changing landscape. As less cash is carried on people's person and audiences want to participate in exchange, the industry is ripe for disruption. The paper uses a unique data set from the online busking platform 'The Busking Project' to analyse individual donations to 3757 active buskers. Using a Heckman selection model, we find that the number of fans does influence the number of donations and the artist's genre matters for the likelihood of receiving donation and the amount received. Musicians are more likely to receive a donation; however, it is a smaller donation amount than other performers. The method of payment for receiving a donation and the anonymity of the donor also influences the amount received. The geographic location matters for receiving a donation but not the amount received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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13. Podcasting: The Radio of Generation Z in Spain.
- Author
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Galán-Arribas, Rafael, Herrero-Gutiérrez, Francisco-Javier, and Frutos-Esteban, Francisco-Javier
- Subjects
GENERATION Z ,PODCASTING ,YOUNG adults ,ANONYMITY ,STUDENT surveys ,SOCIAL media - Abstract
The fact that traditional radio is synchronous and unidirectional, with little or no room for interaction and content selection, is one of the main reasons why young people have turned their backs on it. In retrospect, conventional radio never cared for the younger generation, never designing strategies to bring them in. As a result, radio lost its relevance and it does not feature as part of young people's digital diet. Over the last year, the number of podcast consumers has steadily increased, which is causing this format to become more and more cemented in society. It could be a way to gain younger listeners, an opportunity not to be missed by the radio industry. In the past, young people continued to listen to the radio as they got older, but that is no longer the case nor is radio seen as the go-to resource for new musical content. The challenge for radio is clear: regaining its influence through proposals with added value to differentiate itself from global platforms. In order to carry out this research, a total of 410 young university students were surveyed. The results show what the current picture is in such a changing atmosphere. It has been observed that this audience bases their audio consumption on personal preferences, they mainly access it via social media and they would find it useful and interesting to create their own podcast. This paper includes a podcast where academic experts and audio professionals, interviewed for the doctoral thesis "xxx (anonymity for review)", reflect on the strategies that radio should adopt in order to gain young listeners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
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14. IS J.S. MILL'S ACCOUNT OF FREE SPEECH SUSTAINABLE IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
- Author
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CHELLAPPAH, NEVIN
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,ANONYMITY ,FREEDOM of speech ,SOCIAL problems - Abstract
In this paper, I examine whether John Stuart Mill's account of free speech can survive three main challenges posed by social media. First, I consider the problem of social media failing to distinguish between emotive and factual language. Second, I look at the problem of algorithms creating moralism. I then turn to a potential objection to my first two challenges. The objection elucidates the benefits of social media's emotional and algorithmic character, amplifying arguments and increasing public engagement. However, I take issue with this objection on consequentialist terms. I finally return to the third challenge, where I focus on how anonymity removes the consequences to our words; I contend that this final failure is the ultimate reason why Mill's account cannot persist in the modern age. In conclusion, I argue that Mill's account cannot withstand the problems posed by social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
15. The social value of anonymity on campus: a study of the decline of Yik Yak.
- Author
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Bayne, Sian, Connelly, Louise, Grover, Claire, Osborne, Nicola, Tobin, Richard, Beswick, Emily, and Rouhani, Lilinaz
- Subjects
ANONYMITY ,SOCIAL media ,HATE speech ,CRIME victims ,MOBILE apps - Abstract
This paper considers the social value of anonymity in online university student communities, through the presentation of research which tracked the final year of life of the social media application Yik Yak. Yik Yak was an anonymous, geosocial mobile application launched in 2013 which, at its peak in 2014, was used by around two million students in the US and UK. The research we report here is significant as a mixed method study tracing the final year of the life of this app in a large UK university between 2016 and 2017. The paper uses computational and ethnographic methods to understand what might be at stake in the loss of anonymity within university student communities in a datafied society. Countering the most common argument made against online anonymity – its association with hate speech and victimisation – the paper draws on recent conceptual work on the social value of anonymity to argue that anonymity online in this context had significant value for the communities that use it. This study of a now-lost social network constitutes a valuable portrait by which we might better understand our current predicament in relation to anonymity, its perceived value and its growing impossibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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16. Standing Up or Standing By: Understanding Bystanders' Proactive Reporting Responses to Social Media Harassment.
- Author
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Wong, Randy Yee Man, Cheung, Christy M. K., Xiao, Bo, and Thatcher, Jason Bennett
- Subjects
HARASSMENT ,BYSTANDER involvement ,DEVIANT behavior ,SOCIAL media ,HYACINTHOIDES ,SOCIAL context ,AUTHORSHIP in literature - Abstract
Social media harassment, a cyberbullying behavior, poses a serious threat to users and platform owners of social media. In this paper, we contextualize the bystander intervention framework and reporting literature to social media in order to understand why bystanders report social media harassment. Our contextualized intervention framework focuses on three sociotechnical aspects—the online social environment, characteristics of the technology platform, and their interplay—that explain bystander reporting on social media platforms. We tested the model using data gathered from active Facebook users. Our findings direct practitioners' attention to the role of the platform in encouraging bystanders to help stop social media harassment. For policy makers, our findings direct attention to supporting programs that encourage social media users to feel responsible for reporting harassment and making transparent the outcomes of reporting social media harassment using anonymous reporting tools. For platform owners, our findings direct attention to investing in tools that enable anonymous reporting, to fostering a climate that encourages reporting, and to ensuring that all users understand that reporting social media harassment results in swift, effective responses from platform owners. Taken together, we believe our research offer insight into how to build safer and secure social media platforms. Social media harassment, a cyberbullying behavior, poses a serious threat to users and platform owners of social media. A growing body of research suggests involving bystanders in interventions to combat deviant behaviors. In this paper, we contextualize the bystander intervention framework and reporting literature to social media in order to understand why bystanders report social media harassment. Our contextualized intervention framework focuses on three sociotechnical aspects—the online social environment, characteristics of the technology platform, and their interplay—that explain bystander reporting on social media platforms. We tested the model using data gathered from 291 active Facebook users. We found that four contextualized factors, (1) perceived emergency of the social media harassment incident, (2) perceived responsibility to report, (3) perceived self-efficacy in using built-in reporting functions, and (4) perceived outcome effectiveness of built-in reporting functions for tackling social media harassment, shaped bystanders' willingness to intervene against social media harassment. In addition, we showed that perceived anonymity of the reporting system counterbalances the negative influence of the presence of others on bystanders' willingness to intervene. For research, we contribute to the cyberbullying literature by offering a novel sociotechnical explanation of mechanisms that shape bystanders' willingness to report social media harassment. For practice, we offer insight into how to build safer and secure social media platforms for all users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
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17. Are Pseudonyms Ethical in (Science) Publishing? Neuroskeptic as a Case Study.
- Author
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Teixeira da Silva, Jaime
- Subjects
ANONYMS & pseudonyms ,SCIENCE publishing ,PUBLIC communication ,SOCIAL media - Abstract
The blogosphere is full of personalities with masks, or pseudonyms. Although not a desired state of public communication, one could excuse the use of pseudonyms in blogs and social media, which are generally unregulated or weakly regulated. However, in science publishing, there are increasingly strict rules regarding the use of false identities for authors, the lack of institutional or contact details, and the lack of conflicts of interest, and such instances are generally considered to be misconduct. This is because these violations of publishing protocol decrease trust and confidence in science and bring disrepute to those scientists who conform to the rules set out by journals and publishers and abide by them. Thus, when cases are encountered where trust and protocol in publishing are breached, these deserve to be highlighted. In this letter, I focus on Neuroskeptic, a highly prominent science critic, primarily on the blogosphere and in social media, highlighting the dangers associated with the use of pseudonyms in academic publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
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18. THE CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA WAR IN UKRAINE 2014-2022.
- Author
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BOJOR, Laviniu and CÎRDEI, Alin
- Subjects
- *
SOCIAL media , *WAR & society , *ANONYMITY , *SOCIAL networks , *DISINFORMATION - Abstract
The expansion of the Internet changed society and led to the emergence of new technologies such as social media platforms. They offer opportunities for data exchange at such a level, unimaginable before the information era. At the same time, the anonymity of online users opens new silent back doors for those who want to disrupt society through systematic manipulation of social networks. The paper analyzes a series of events and actions of manipulation, disinformation and propaganda directed against NATO member countries and allies, in which social media were used, including aspects of the current social media war in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. Youth and intimate media cultures: Gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire as storytelling practices in social networking sites.
- Author
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der de Ridder, San and van Bauwel, Sofie
- Subjects
ONLINE social networks ,YOUTH ,GENDER ,SOCIAL media ,AGE groups - Abstract
This paper investigates how young people give meaning to gender, sexuality, relationships, and desire in the popular social networking site (SNS) Netlog. In arguing how SNSs are important spaces for intimate politics, the extent to which Netlog is a space that allows contestations of intimate stories and a voicing of difference is questioned. These intimate stories should be understood as self-representational media practices; young people make sense of their intimate stories in SNSs through media cultures. Media cultures reflect how audiences and SNS institutions make sense of intimacy. This paper concludes that intimate stories as media practices in the SNS Netlog are structured around creativity, anonymity, authenticity, performativity, bricolage and intertextuality. The intimate storytelling practices focusing on creativity, anonymity, bricolage and intertextuality are particularly significant for a diversity of intimacies to proliferate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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20. The Practical Matter Privacy vs. Anonymity.
- Author
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Buschman, John
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RIGHT of privacy ,PRIVACY ,ANONYMITY ,BLOGS ,SOCIAL media - Abstract
Is anonymous blogging, done as a professional with all attendant professional rights and privileges, unethical? This paper frames and unpacks the arguments in support of such practices using a series of debates within librarianship -- presented here in its context as an educative information profession within American democratic society. In other words, this is an exploration of a practical-theoretical issue on the ground, not a philosophical parsing of the arguments. The initial spark for these debates was familiar: the right/left political-cultural wars. But it quickly became apparent that the prime hot button issue was the questioning of the practice of blogging anonymously and the defense of that stance as a right and privilege enjoyed as an information professional. These defenses reviewed are the overriding social good to be protected in anonymous professional speech; anonymity as a right, primarily in the form of intellectual freedom rights and free speech; anonymity as a variant of a right of privacy; and as professional speech which stands on its own with or without an author contributing to professional discourse and democratic goods. Each justification tends to strengthen the other, but when contextualized and unpacked, these arguments obviate many of the goods they claim to protect. We stand little chance of parsing some of the more notorious instances of anonymous discourse in broader social media fora if we cannot make an ethical case against these practices in an educative information profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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21. Characterizing usage of explicit hate expressions in social media.
- Author
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Mondal, Mainack, Silva, Leandro Araújo, Correa, Denzil, and Benevenuto, Fabrício
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,BULLYING ,HATE speech ,ONLINE social networks - Abstract
Social media platforms provide an inexpensive communication medium that allows anyone to publish content and anyone interested in the content can obtain it. However, this same potential of social media provide space for discourses that are harmful to certain groups of people. Examples of these discourses include bullying, offensive content, and hate speech. Out of these discourses hate speech is rapidly recognized as a serious problem by authorities of many countries. In this paper, we provide the first of a kind systematic large-scale measurement and analysis study of explicit expressions of hate speech in online social media. We aim to understand the abundance of hate speech in online social media, the most common hate expressions, the effect of anonymity on hate speech, the sensitivity of hate speech and the most hated groups across regions. In order to achieve our objectives, we gather traces from two social media systems: Whisper and Twitter. We then develop and validate a methodology to identify hate speech on both of these systems. Our results identify hate speech forms and unveil a set of important patterns, providing not only a broader understanding of online hate speech, but also offering directions for detection and prevention approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
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22. "Don't respond": sexting and scrolling in First Nations' queer literature.
- Author
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Alizzi, Arlie
- Subjects
LGBTQ+ literature ,ANONYMITY ,SEXTING ,INTERNET privacy ,DIGITAL media ,SOCIAL media ,ACADEMIC discourse ,LITERARY criticism ,WOMEN'S writings - Abstract
Queer and trans First Nations literatures offer a complex range of perspectives on social media use. In this piece, written as a letter addressing an anonymous brotherboy character called Benny, who is based on a person that catfished and harassed me online, I examine three Indigenous books that present complex, critical, or disillusioned accounts of social media use, exploring the forms of deception, harassment, racism, and creativity enabled by digital media. I engage loosely with the practice of ficto-criticism to produce this article. Ficto-critical writing, a method of anthropological and cultural studies, subverts traditional academic writing; presenting a hallucinatory form of self-narration and anthropological writing. Using this interdisciplinary and experimental approach, this article experiments with the concept of anonymity and privacy, key themes in the writing of queer First Nations authors on the topic of the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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23. Why Do Adults Engage in Cyberbullying on Social Media? An Integration of Online Disinhibition and Deindividuation Effects with the Social Structure and Social Learning Model.
- Author
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Lowry, Paul Benjamin, Jun Zhang, Chuang Wang, and Siponen, Mikko
- Subjects
SOCIAL media & society ,CYBERBULLYING ,INFORMATION technology ,SOCIAL structure ,SOCIAL learning ,ANONYMITY - Abstract
The dramatic increase in social media use has challenged traditional social structures and shifted a great deal of interpersonal communication from the physical world to cyberspace. Much of this social media communication has been positive: Anyone around the world who has access to the Internet has the potential to communicate with and attract a massive global audience. Unfortunately, such ubiquitous communication can be also used for negative purposes such as cyberbullying, which is the focus of this paper. Previous research on cyberbullying, consisting of 135 articles, has improved the understanding of why individuals--mostly adolescents--engage in cyberbullying. However, our study addresses two key gaps in this literature: (1) how the information technology (IT) artifact fosters/inhibits cyberbullying and (2) why people are socialized to engage in cyberbullying. To address these gaps, we propose the social media cyberbullying model (SMCBM), which modifies Akers' [Akers RL (2011) Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime and Deviance, 2nd ed. (Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ)] social structure and social learning model. Because Akers developed his model for crimes in the physical world, we add a rich conceptualization of anonymity composed of five subconstructs as a key social media structural variable in the SMCBM to account for the IT artifact. We tested the SMCBM with 1,003 adults who have engaged in cyberbullying. The empirical findings support the SMCBM. Heavy social media use combined with anonymity facilitates the social learning process of cyberbullying in social media in a way that fosters cyberbullying. Our results indicate new directions for cyberbullying research and implications for anticyberbullying practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
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24. Insights From a Workshop on Social Media Analysis and Mental Health: Putting People at the Centre of Human Data.
- Author
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Vallejos, Elvira Perez, Koene, Ansgar, Carter, Chris James, Statache, Ramona, Adolphs, Svenja, O'Malley, Claire, Rodden, Tom, McAuley, Derek, Binder, Jens, Douglas, Karen, Gleibs, Ilka, Whitty, Monica, and Betton, Victoria
- Subjects
SOCIAL media in education ,MENTAL health ,ADULT education workshops ,ANONYMITY - Abstract
In collaboration with the Institute of Mental Health and the Centre for Advanced Studies at the University of Nottingham, CaSMa (Citizen-Centric Approaches to Social Media Analysis) held a thought-provoking workshop to reconsider and reflect upon concerns about social media data, especially in relation to vulnerable adults and minors who may inadvertently be part of the user group. Held over a single day, the workshop included subject experts such as Monica Whitty (University of Leicester), Karen Douglas (University of Kent), Jens Binder (Nottingham Trent University) and Ilka Gleibs (London School of Economics). The speakers engaged with the audience to illustrate a series of relevant ethical issues (e.g., anonymity and privacy) and their implications not only on Internet-mediated research aspects but for day-to-day Internetrelated activities. During the workshop, two hands-on sessions focused on the ethics of personal data in both theory and practice, and how social medial data can be accessed and analysed to: (1) understand the ways people use social media and what this means for individuals and society, (2) understand social phenomena and events expressed in social media by drawing upon social media as a critical, and timely, source of information, (3) develop facilities and approaches that are sensitive to the personal nature of human data: Citizen-centric approaches, (4) promote responsible innovation in the capture, analysis and use of human data. The ultimate goal of the workshop was to further understand the issues that social scientists encounter when accessing and handling personal data, and possible ethical solutions in developing sustainable and reliable 'Citizen Social Science'. This paper presents the most relevant insights as formulated from the workshop discussions on social media data and mental health. These insights were provided by clinicians, researchers, and policy makers interested in understanding the ethical constraints inherent to digital human data generated through the use of online platforms by vulnerable users (e.g., children, young people and adults experiencing mental distress). These groups were of particular interest given that they may often not be fully aware of the terms and conditions accepted when accessing such online services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
25. ENTANGLEMENTS IN PRACTICE: PERFORMING ANONYMITY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.
- Author
-
Scott, Susan V. and Orlikowski, Wanda J.
- Abstract
Information systems researchers have shown an increasing interest in the notion of sociomateriality. In this paper, we continue this exploration by focusing specifically on entanglement: the inseparability of meaning and matter. Our particular approach is differentiated by its grounding in a relational and performative ontology, and its use of agential realism. We explore some of the key ideas of entanglement through a comparison of two phenomena in the travel sector: an institutionalized accreditation scheme offered by the AA and an online social media website hosted by TripAdvisor. Our analysis centers on the production of anonymity in these two practices of hotel evaluation. By examining how anonymity is constituted through an entanglement of matter and meaning, we challenge the predominantly social treatments of anonymity to date and draw attention to the uncertainties and outcomes generated by specific performances of anonymity in practice. In closing, we consider what the particular agential realist concept of entanglement entails for understanding anonymity, and discuss its implications for research practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
26. Uses and benefits of social networks for managing trans identity: keys to understanding the identity development of higher education students: Uses and Benefits of Social Networks for Trans Identity Management: Keys to Understanding the Identity Development of Students in Higher Education
- Author
-
Cepa-Rodríguez, Estibaliz and Martxueta, Aitor
- Subjects
IDENTITY (Psychology) ,SOCIAL media ,HUMAN services ,SCIENTIFIC literature ,GENDER identity ,ONLINE social networks ,ANONYMITY - Abstract
This document is a list of references cited in a research article that explores the uses and benefits of social media for managing trans identity. The article discusses how social media platforms support transgender individuals in expressing their identities and connecting with others. It acknowledges the limitations of the research and the need for further study. The research project was funded by the Basque Government and the University of the Basque Country. The references cited cover a range of topics related to social media, LGBTQ+ identity, and online communication. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. MASS MEDIA AND THE LEGITIMATION OF INTERNET CONTROL IN RUSSIA: THE CASE OF TELEGRAM
- Author
-
Mariëlle Wijermars
- Subjects
business.industry ,Freedom of the press ,Internet privacy ,General Engineering ,16. Peace & justice ,Public opinion ,Internet censorship ,Political science ,Social media ,The Internet ,business ,Independent media ,Mass media ,Anonymity - Abstract
In today's hyperconnected world, states are confronted with the global challenge of responding to potentially disruptive online communications, such as terrorist propaganda and fake news. Formulating effective internet regulation to address these threats carries the risk of infringing upon media freedom and constitutional rights. In the case of Russia, ostensibly sound legitimations have been instrumentalised to bring about a dramatic decline in internet freedom. Controlling public opinion may well be decisive for Russia's "success" in expanding its system of internet controls without arousing popular resistance. Scholarship thus far, however, has neglected to critically examine how the Russian government legitimates and cultivates popular support for restricting online freedom of speech. This paper aims to address this crucial aspect of internet censorship by studying how restrictions of internet freedom, freedom of expression and the right to information and privacy are framed in political and media discourses. The paper presents a case study examining the legitimation of user data storage, surveillance and restriction of online anonymity, on the example of messaging application Telegram. To justify legal measures in these domains, policymakers have framed their proposals as anti-terrorist, or claimed the need to protect personal data from foreign states. Typically, anonymity and privacy are recast as secrecy indicating criminal (e.g., drug dealers) or morally derogatory intent (e.g., paedophilia). The paper analyses how frames are produced by policymakers; how they are translated and disseminated in state and (semi-)independent media; and how they resonate in online debates and social media.
- Published
- 2020
28. A Modus Operandi for Social Networking Security Solutions Based on Varied Usages
- Author
-
Kamatchi, R., Minocha, Kanika, Abawajy, Jemal H., editor, Mukherjea, Sougata, editor, Thampi, Sabu M., editor, and Ruiz-Martínez, Antonio, editor
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Anonymous COVID-19 Channel on Jodel: A Quantitative Content Analysis
- Author
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Jüttner, Karoline, Nowak, Philipp, Imeri, Aylin, Stock, Wolfgang G., Goos, Gerhard, Founding Editor, Hartmanis, Juris, Founding Editor, Bertino, Elisa, Editorial Board Member, Gao, Wen, Editorial Board Member, Steffen, Bernhard, Editorial Board Member, Yung, Moti, Editorial Board Member, Coman, Adela, editor, and Vasilache, Simona, editor
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. 'We went from the anonymity of the internet into my private WhatsApp': Rituals of transition among dating app users in Berlin.
- Author
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Broeker, Fabian
- Subjects
ONLINE dating mobile apps ,RITES & ceremonies ,SOCIAL media mobile apps ,SOCIAL media ,ANONYMITY ,COURTSHIP ,MOBILE apps - Abstract
This article focusses on the courtship rituals and practices of intimacy among young dating app users, aged between 20 and 33, in Berlin. Dating app users participate in 'rituals of transition' as they signal mutual interest and heightened intimacy by moving conversations from dating apps to social media messaging platforms such as WhatsApp. These rituals of transition play a far more prominent role in signalling romantic interest than the matching-mechanisms inherent in the design of dating apps. Drawing on ethnographic data incorporating 36 semistructured interviews and 45 chat interviews across three popular dating apps, Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid, the study finds that users code the apps installed on their smartphones as hosting spheres of varying intimacy. These spheres are substantiated through the infrastructure of notifications on users' devices. Rather than drastically altering how users communicate across different apps, rituals of transition are a key moment of communication in themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. 'Welcome to #GabFam': Far-right virtual community on Gab.
- Author
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Jasser, Greta, McSwiney, Jordan, Pertwee, Ed, and Zannettou, Savvas
- Subjects
VIRTUAL communities ,SOCIAL media ,ONLINE social networks ,ANONYMITY ,DIGITAL technology ,SOCIAL services ,APPROPRIATE technology ,COMMUNITIES - Abstract
With large social media platforms coming under increasing pressure to deplatform far-right users, the Alternative Technology movement (Alt-Tech) emerged as a new digital support infrastructure for the far right. We conduct a qualitative analysis of the prominent Alt-Tech platform Gab, a social networking service primarily modelled on Twitter, to assess the far-right virtual community on the platform. We find Gab's technological affordances – including its lack of content moderation, culture of anonymity, microblogging architecture and funding model – have fostered an ideologically eclectic far-right community united by fears of persecution at the hands of 'Big Tech'. We argue that this points to the emergence of a novel techno-social victimology as an axis of far-right virtual community, wherein shared experiences or fears of being deplatformed facilitate a coalescing of assorted far-right tendencies online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. A user-driven free speech application for anonymous and verified online, public group discourse
- Author
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Nekrasov, Michael, Iland, Danny, Metzger, Miriam, Parks, Lisa, and Belding, Elizabeth
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. The topic of terrorism on Yahoo! Answers: questions, answers and users’ anonymity
- Author
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Alton Y. K. Chua, Snehasish Banerjee, and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
- Subjects
021110 strategic, defence & security studies ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Internet privacy ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,Law enforcement ,Communication [Social sciences] ,Information needs ,02 engineering and technology ,Library and Information Sciences ,Community Question Answering ,Content analysis ,Terrorism ,Blacklisting ,Question answering ,Social media ,Sociology ,0509 other social sciences ,050904 information & library sciences ,business ,Information Systems ,Anonymity - Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of community question answering sites (CQAs) on the topic of terrorism. Three research questions are investigated: what are the dominant themes reflected in terrorism-related questions? How do answer characteristics vary with question themes? How does users’ anonymity relate to question themes and answer characteristics? Design/methodology/approach Data include 300 questions that attracted 2,194 answers on the community question answering Yahoo! Answers. Content analysis was employed. Findings The questions reflected the community’s information needs ranging from the life of extremists to counter-terrorism policies. Answers were laden with negative emotions reflecting hate speech and Islamophobia, making claims that were rarely verifiable. Users who posted sensitive content generally remained anonymous. Practical implications This paper raises awareness of how CQAs are used to exchange information about sensitive topics such as terrorism. It calls for governments and law enforcement agencies to collaborate with major social media companies to develop a process for cross-platform blacklisting of users and content, as well as identifying those who are vulnerable. Originality/value Theoretically, it contributes to the academic discourse on terrorism in CQAs by exploring the type of questions asked, and the sort of answers they attract. Methodologically, the paper serves to enrich the literature around terrorism and social media that has hitherto mostly drawn data from Facebook and Twitter.
- Published
- 2019
34. Machine-Learning-Based Gender Distribution Prediction from Anonymous News Comments: The Case of Korean News Portal
- Author
-
Jong Hwan Suh
- Subjects
anonymity ,social media ,big data ,news comments ,gender prediction ,word embedding ,machine learning ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Building and Construction ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law - Abstract
Anonymous news comment data from a news portal in South Korea, naver.com, can help conduct gender research and resolve related issues for sustainable societies. Nevertheless, only a small portion of gender information (i.e., gender distribution) is open to the public, and therefore, it has rarely been considered for gender research. Hence, this paper aims to resolve the matter of incomplete gender information and make the anonymous news comment data usable for gender research as new social media big data. This paper proposes a machine-learning-based approach for predicting the gender distribution (i.e., male and female rates) of anonymous news commenters for a news article. Initially, the big data of news articles and their anonymous news comments were collected and divided into labeled and unlabeled datasets (i.e., with and without gender information). The word2vec approach was employed to represent a news article by the characteristics of the news comments. Then, using the labeled dataset, various prediction techniques were evaluated for predicting the gender distribution of anonymous news commenters for a labeled news article. As a result, the neural network was selected as the best prediction technique, and it could accurately predict the gender distribution of anonymous news commenters of the labeled news article. Thus, this study showed that a machine-learning-based approach can overcome the incomplete gender information problem of anonymous social media users. Moreover, when the gender distributions of the unlabeled news articles were predicted using the best neural network model, trained with the labeled dataset, their distribution turned out different from the labeled news articles. The result indicates that using only the labeled dataset for gender research can result in misleading findings and distorted conclusions. The predicted gender distributions for the unlabeled news articles can help to better understand anonymous news commenters as humans for sustainable societies. Eventually, this study provides a new way for data-driven computational social science with incomplete and anonymous social media big data.
- Published
- 2022
35. Social media literacy in L2 environments: navigating anonymous user-generated content.
- Author
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Yeh, Ellen and Swinehart, Nicholas
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,LANGUAGE acquisition ,ADULTS ,HIGHER education ,ANONYMITY - Abstract
Online participatory cultures (e.g. social media) present a number of opportunities and challenges for language learners. Learners can collaborate with like-minded peers in online affinity spaces or get crowd-sourced information from the locals of a target culture, but they also run the risk of getting lost in the overwhelming amount of noise and disruption in these 'wild' environments. This proliferation of user-generated content requires new forms of information literacy, so that everyone has equal access and ability to participate in modern social environments. English language learners (ELLs) may require extra training in using English-based social media effectively, but to date little research has examined this area. This study investigated the characteristics and trends of ELLs' use of social media, how language abilities and previous social media experience affect ELLs' perceptions of anonymous user-generated content in an online discussion website (Reddit), and the strategies learners use to overcome the challenges they encounter in these online environments. The results indicate the importance of adding a sociocultural pragmatics component into the framework of social media literacy and were used to inform recommendations for future social media training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Sosyal Medyada Anonim Olmanın Söylemler Üzerindeki Etkisinin Haber Yorumları Üzerinden İncelenmesi.
- Author
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Kaya, Sertaç
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,ANONYMITY ,CONTENT analysis ,SLANG - Abstract
Copyright of Journal of Communication Theory & Research / Iletisim Kuram ve Arastirma Dergisi is the property of Gazi University, Faculty of Communication and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Web 2.0, UGC, and citizen journalism: Revisiting South Korea’s OhmyNews model in the age of social media.
- Author
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Kang, Inkyu
- Subjects
WEB 2.0 ,CITIZEN journalism ,SOCIAL media - Abstract
This study investigates the discourses of citizen journalism by critically evaluating the notion of Web 2.0. The utopian concept referring to the second generation of the Web nicely captures the new era when more information is generated by average people than by professionals. An uncritical application of the framework, however, has caused a serious misunderstanding of citizen journalism as “amateur journalism.” Analyzing South Korea’s unique experiment with OhmyNews , this paper argues that citizen journalism cannot be understood in terms of “user-generated content (UGC)” in general. It also suggests that finding a viable model of citizen journalism is one thing, and making it work is quite another. By comparing OhmyNews Japan with its original Korean counterpart, it sheds light on how the same model can yield completely different results. In doing so, it emphasizes the importance of social, cultural, and symbolic considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. A new dimension in publishing ethics: social media-based ethics-related accusations
- Author
-
Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva and Judit Dobránszki
- Subjects
Value (ethics) ,Sociology and Political Science ,Computer Networks and Communications ,Communication ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,Conflict of interest ,Media studies ,06 humanities and the arts ,050905 science studies ,0603 philosophy, ethics and religion ,Transparency (behavior) ,False accusation ,Philosophy ,Misconduct ,Originality ,Social media ,060301 applied ethics ,Sociology ,0509 other social sciences ,Anonymity ,media_common - Abstract
Purpose Whistle-blowing, which has become an integral part of the post-publication peer-review movement, is being fortified by social media. Anonymous commenting on blogs as well as Tweets about suspicions of academic misconduct can spread quickly on social media sites like Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to examine two cases to expand the discussion about how complex post-publication peer review is and to contextualize the use of social media within this movement. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines a Twitter-based exchange between an established pseudonymous blogger and science critic, Neuroskeptic, and Elizabeth Wager, the former COPE Chair, within a wider discussion of the use of social media in post-publication peer review. The paper also discusses false claims made on Twitter by another science watchdog, Leonid Schneider. The policies of 15 publishers related to anonymous or pseudonymous whistle-blowing are examined. Findings Four issues in the Neuroskeptic–Wager case were debated: the solicitation by Wager to publish in RIPR; the use of commercial software by Neuroskeptic to make anonymous reports to journals; the links between “publication ethics” leaders and whistle-blowers or pseudonymous identities; the issues of transparency and possible hidden conflicts of interest. Only one publisher (Wiley) out of 15 scientific publishers examined claimed in its official ethical guidelines that anonymous reports should be investigated in the same way as named reports, while three publishers (Inderscience, PLOS and Springer Nature) referred to the COPE guidelines. Originality/value No such Twitter-based case has yet been examined in detail in the publishing ethics literature.
- Published
- 2019
39. Weakly-Supervised Methods for Suicide Risk Assessment: Role of Related Domains
- Author
-
Chenghao Yang, Yudong Zhang, and Smaranda Muresan
- Subjects
FOS: Computer and information sciences ,Computer Science - Computation and Language ,Computer science ,Mental health ,Assessment of suicide risk ,Resource (project management) ,medicine ,Anxiety ,Social media ,medicine.symptom ,Computation and Language (cs.CL) ,Suicidal ideation ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,Clinical psychology ,Anonymity - Abstract
Social media has become a valuable resource for the study of suicidal ideation and the assessment of suicide risk. Among social media platforms, Reddit has emerged as the most promising one due to its anonymity and its focus on topic-based communities (subreddits) that can be indicative of someone's state of mind or interest regarding mental health disorders such as r/SuicideWatch, r/Anxiety, r/depression. A challenge for previous work on suicide risk assessment has been the small amount of labeled data. We propose an empirical investigation into several classes of weakly-supervised approaches, and show that using pseudo-labeling based on related issues around mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression) helps improve model performance for suicide risk assessment., ACL 2021 short paper. Code is available at https://github.com/yangalan123/WM-SRA (under construction)
- Published
- 2021
40. Robot Networks and Their Impact on Cyber Security and Protection from Attacks: A Review
- Author
-
Daniah Anwar Hasan and Linah Faisal Tasji
- Subjects
Computer science ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,ComputerSystemsOrganization_COMPUTER-COMMUNICATIONNETWORKS ,Botnet ,Computer security ,computer.software_genre ,ComputingMilieux_MANAGEMENTOFCOMPUTINGANDINFORMATIONSYSTEMS ,Cyberwarfare ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDSOCIETY ,Robot ,Social media ,The Internet ,Security level ,business ,computer ,Sophistication ,Anonymity ,media_common - Abstract
As the Internet growth and cyber warfare continue to change, being aware of issues and threats are continually essential for cybersecurity. One of the threats that continue to grow and threaten cybersecurity is botnets. Botnets have acquired the researchers’ interest over the past years, a great deal to develop the systems that efficiently and effectively would detect the presence of botnets attacks. Botnets could launch massive commands against com-puter systems connected to the Internet to make financial fraud, intricate spam attacks, and manipulate people through social media. Furthermore, many newer botnets have demonstrated increased levels of sophistication and anonymity as it continues to evolve, making it difficult to withstand them effectively. In this paper, a brief overview of botnets is provided, the importance of cybersecurity, the relationship between cybersecurity and botnets. Additionally, a brief review of how botnets attacks work, botnets architectures, threats represented by botnets, and their impact on cybersecurity is provided. In conclusion, the paper suggests approaches prevent botnet at-tacks and ways and tools that could help organizations and individuals improve their cybersecurity to secure information and improve their security level.
- Published
- 2021
41. CYBERHATE ANONYMITY AND THE RISK OF BEING EXPOSED
- Author
-
Emma von Essen and Joakim Jansson
- Subjects
business.industry ,Event (computing) ,Big data ,Internet privacy ,General Engineering ,Politics ,The Internet ,Social media ,Affect (linguistics) ,business ,Psychology ,Set (psychology) ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Anonymity - Abstract
In this paper, we predict hateful content as well as quantify the causal link between anonymity and hateful content in political discussions online. First, we make use of a supervised machine-learning model to find a prediction model of cyberhate in political discussions on a dominating Swedish Internet forum, Flashback. Second, we investigate how changes in anonymity affect the writing of hateful content. We scrape text from the political discussions on Flashback and let a research assistant manually classify each post from a random subset of the threads by whether it contained, e.g. hateful writings, aggressive writings as well as towards whom the hate is directed. We use the classified data to find a prediction model in the full set of threads. We then use the predictions of hate to estimate the effect of changes in anonymity on cyberhate. An event suddenly changed the anonymity at the discussion forum. The event affected only a certain type of user, creating a quasi-experiment, with early-registered users as a treatment group and late-registered users as a control group. We find a prediction model of hateful content. Using these predictions in the quasi-experimental estimation, we find that early users of the forum decreased their share of hateful content more than later registered users did after the event when there was a threat of less anonymity. We also show that this behavioural change is a combination of individuals’ changing how they express themselves and that they reduce their writing or stop entirely.
- Published
- 2020
42. Who creates the bandwagon? The dynamics of fear of isolation, opinion congruency and anonymity-preference on social media in the 2017 South Korean presidential election
- Author
-
Soo-Kwang Klive Oh and KyuJin Shim
- Subjects
Political psychology ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,050801 communication & media studies ,Preference ,0506 political science ,Human-Computer Interaction ,Politics ,0508 media and communications ,Empirical research ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,050602 political science & public administration ,Social media ,Ideology ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,General Psychology ,Bandwagon effect ,media_common ,Anonymity - Abstract
This paper proposes a new approach to study fear of isolation (FOI), with special attention to psychological motivations/gratifications sought in the online sphere (opinion congruency-seeking and anonymity-preference), which may lead to political expression via social media. We posit that individuals with FOI will display a tendency to want to match their opinions with the majority and will also actively utilize online platforms as they offer anonymity. This empirical study collected data from a random sample of 1107 participants in South Korea, a frontrunner in terms of political expression on social media. The results demonstrated that FOI is associated with opinion congruency as well as anonymity-preference and further, political use of social media which prompts offline political engagement. Findings of this paper goes beyond conventional paradigms on political psychology (selective exposure based on partisanship or ideology) and contribute to a better understanding of how anonymous, online behaviors generate political engagement.
- Published
- 2018
43. Anonymity and commitment: how do Kierkegaard and Dreyfus fare in the era of Facebook and 'post-truth'?
- Author
-
Soraj Hongladarom
- Subjects
Post truth ,business.industry ,Media studies ,Newspaper ,Human-Computer Interaction ,Philosophy ,Artificial Intelligence ,Nothing ,Order (business) ,The Internet ,Social media ,Sociology ,Performing arts ,business ,Anonymity - Abstract
This paper looks at the situation first described by Dreyfus (Educ Philos Theory 34(4):369–378, 2002) in his seminal paper, in order to find out whether and, if so, to what extent the use of Internet in education is still characterized by anonymity and commitment in today’s social media and ‘post-truth’ era. Current form of web technology provides an occasion for us to rethink what the Press and the Public, two main Kierkegaardian themes, actually consist in. The very ease and rapidity of how information is shared and the blurring of the line between journalists and consumers have made it very difficult to find where the Public actually is so that one can conform one’s own thoughts and beliefs to it. In addition, an effect of social media is that the Public does not seem to be monolithic, but has splintered into many smaller groups, each one overlapping with one another in a highly complex way. In Kierkegaard’s time the Press consisted of nothing more than a rather small number of newspapers, but now we have countless number of sources of information, so much so that it is almost impossible to see where the Press actually is. This situation has a way of diluting Kierkegaard’s contention that it is the Press that anonymized the people, rending them faceless and eliminating their individuality. Furthermore, the effect of Facebook is such that, not only does one still retain much of one’s commitment, but the commitment can be very passionate. As Petrik et al. (Ethics Inf Technol 16:275–284, 2014) have pointed out, it is possible for someone to be passionately committed to something while remaining very active on the Internet. This shows that the direction can go both ways. On the one hand, fragmenting the Public can go along with lack of commitment and other ills that Kierkegaard mentioned. On the other hand, fragmenting the Public, thereby creating many smaller groups existing in the online world (such as Facebook groups) can also bring about specific and well-directed commitments than would be possible if the Public remained a single monolithic entity. Furthermore, Kierkegaard’s insistence on lack of commitment by the Public seems to foretell the current malaise of what is known as ‘post-truth’. For Dreyfus the Internet is ultimately responsible for this. Indeed, however, both lack of commitment and too much commitment seem to be both responsible. A way out of this is proposed where a commitment to rational and critical thought is needed.
- Published
- 2018
44. Status for the good guys: An experiment on charitable giving.
- Author
-
Dannenberg, Astrid, Johansson‐Stenman, Olof, and Wetzel, Heike
- Subjects
CHARITABLE giving ,SOCIAL status ,GENEROSITY ,ANONYMITY ,SOCIAL media ,PROSOCIAL behavior - Abstract
We study the social status motive in an experiment at an art‐house cinema in Germany where movie‐goers can make monetary contributions to help the cinema become climate neutral. Our key result is that offering high contributors a "social status gift" that displays their good deed increases both the likelihood of a high contribution and mean contributions. It performs significantly better than previously studied mechanisms, such as the removal of anonymity, the provision of a reference point, or a neutral thank‐you gift, and it also performs better than offering high contributors publicity through social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Chapter 4 The social value of anonymity on campus
- Author
-
Bayne, Sian, Connelly, Louise, Groverc, Claire, Osborned, Nicola, Tobinc, Richard, Beswicke, Emily, and Rouhanif, Lilinaz
- Subjects
Anonymity ,ephemerality ,social media ,Yik Yak ,community ,campus ,datafication ,thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JN Education - Abstract
"This paper considers the social value of anonymity in online university student communities, through the presentation of research which tracked the final year of life of the social media application Yik Yak. Yik Yak was an anonymous, geosocial mobile application launched in 2013 which, at its peak in 2014, was used by around two million students in the US and UK. The research we report here is significant as a mixed method study tracing the final year of the life of this app in a large UK university between 2016 and 2017. The paper uses computational and ethnographic methods to understand what might be at stake in the loss of anonymity within university student communities in a datafied society. Countering the most common argument made against online anonymity – its association with hate speech and victimisation – the paper draws on recent conceptual work on the social value of anonymity to argue that anonymity online in this context had significant value for the communities that use it. This study of a now-lost social network constitutes a valuable portrait by which we might better understand our current predicament in relation to anonymity, its perceived value and its growing impossibility."
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Beyond Anonymity: Network Affordances, Under Deindividuation, Improve Social Media Discussion Quality.
- Author
-
Jaidka, Kokil, Zhou, Alvin, Lelkes, Yphtach, Egelhofer, Jana, and Lecheler, Sophie
- Subjects
ANONYMITY ,SOCIAL media ,DISCUSSION ,INTERNET forums ,ANONYMS & pseudonyms ,POLITICAL parties - Abstract
The online sphere allows people to be personally anonymous while simultaneously being socially identifiable. Twitter users can use a pseudonym but signal allegiance to a political party in their profile (e.g. #MAGA). We explore the interplay of these two dimensions of anonymity on a custom-built social media platform that allowed us to examine the causal effects of personal and social anonymity on discussion quality. We find no support for the hypothesis that personal anonymity breeds incivility or lowers discussion quality in discussions on gun rights. On the other hand, when personal anonymity is combined with social identifiability (operationalized as political party visibility), it improves several features linked to discussion quality, that is, higher rationality and lower incivility. We discuss the mechanisms that might explain the results and offer recommendations for future experiments about the design of social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. 'Refugees are not welcome': Digital racism, online place-making and the evolving categorization of Syrians in Turkey.
- Author
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Ozduzen, Ozge, Korkut, Umut, and Ozduzen, Cansu
- Subjects
RACISM ,GROUP identity ,SYRIANS ,USER-generated content ,SOCIAL media ,REFUGEES - Abstract
This article argues that digital publics unleash and bolster everyday racism, creating an unregulated space where anonymity and ubiquity enable the dissemination of racist message. By creating broader visibility and wider reach of racist texts and facilitating more participation for racists, social media platforms such as Twitter normalize gendered and place-based racialization of refugees. Recently, hostility and hate became the norm in derogating the refugee identity on social media platforms. To investigate the complexity of digital racism, this article presents a unique case study on Twitter, capturing the widespread user reactions in the aftermath of the mass resettlement of Syrians in Turkey. It examines varying racialization of Syrians on the Turkish Twittersphere, using sentiment and qualitative content analyses of hashtags and mentions on Syrians, when they hit Twitter trends for Turkey for a year, first, for mundane events and, second, during the Turkish state's occupation in Northern Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. The social value of anonymity on campus:A study of the decline of Yik Yak
- Author
-
Sian Bayne, Claire Grover, Louise Connelly, Lilinaz Rouhani, Emily Beswick, Nicola Osborne, and Richard Tobin
- Subjects
Value (ethics) ,anonymity ,Higher education ,Datafication ,business.industry ,digital ,social media ,Internet privacy ,Context (language use) ,Social value orientations ,ephemerality ,Education ,higher education ,Media Technology ,community ,Social media ,campus ,Sociology ,Computer-mediated communication ,business ,Anonymity ,datafication - Abstract
This paper considers the social value of anonymity in online university student communities, through the presentation of research which tracked the final year of life of the social media application Yik Yak. Yik Yak was an anonymous, geosocial mobile application launched in 2013 which, at its peak in 2014, was used by around two million students in the US and UK. The research we report here is significant as a mixed method study tracing the final year of the life of this app in a large UK university between 2016 and 2017. The paper uses computational and ethnographic methods to understand what might be at stake in the loss of anonymity within university student communities in a datafied society. Countering the most common argument made against online anonymity – its association with hate speech and victimisation – the paper draws on recent conceptual work on the social value of anonymity to argue that anonymity online in this context had significant value for the communities that use it. This study of a now-lost social network constitutes a valuable portrait by which we might better understand our current predicament in relation to anonymity, its perceived value and its growing impossibility.
- Published
- 2019
49. From Autonomy to Anonymity: Information Technology Policy and Changing Politics of the Media System in Indian Democracy
- Author
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Aasim Khan
- Subjects
Cultural Studies ,Technology ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Technology policy ,Media studies ,Information technology ,India ,lcsh:A ,Electronic media ,Media System ,Democracy ,New media ,Digital media ,Politics ,Policy ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Anthropology ,Political science ,Social media ,lcsh:General Works ,business ,Anonymity ,Autonomy ,media_common - Abstract
The prominence of information and communications technology (ICTs) in defining India’s media modernity can be gauged by the growing reach of online social media as well as continuing expansion of digital media channels and satellite broadcasting even in the early 21stCentury. Policies concerning information technologies, from telegraph to satellite networks, have also been central to media politics and with the rise of new media, internet related policies have similarly become pivotal to the interaction between the state and media system. Drawing from a comparative media system perspective, this paper argues that while there has been no major constitutional or legal overhaul, as yet, new ideas and information technology policy activism are reshaping the contours of state action and ‘autonomy’ of the press in India’s democracy. Comparing technology debates in an earlier era, when satellite networks swept across the media system, with the more recent deliberations around liabilities for digital intermediaries, the paper unpacks the nature of change and locates its origins in the revival of discursive institutions (Schmidt 2002, 2008) of technology policy since the early 2000s. Technology related ideas, I argue, now serve as institutions, able to function as a ‘coordinating discourse’ (ibid) that have revived ideals of an autonomous media. Technology inflected ideals of ‘anonymity’ also counter the ‘communicative discourse’ (ibid) of Hindutva and cultural nationalist politics of media which framed the issue of autonomy in the ascendant phase of print and electronic media capitalism until the 1990s.
- Published
- 2019
50. Is Privacy possible without Anonymity? - The case for microblogging services
- Author
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Panagiotis Papadopoulos, Antonis Papadogiannakis, Michalis Polychronakis, and Evangelos P. Markatos
- Subjects
Service (business) ,Focus (computing) ,Microblogging ,business.industry ,Computer science ,Internet privacy ,020206 networking & telecommunications ,02 engineering and technology ,16. Peace & justice ,020204 information systems ,Obfuscation ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Identity (object-oriented programming) ,ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDSOCIETY ,Social media ,business ,Anonymity ,Communication channel - Abstract
Traditional approaches to privacy are usually based on top of anonymizing or pseudonymizing systems. For example, users who would like to protect their identity and/or hide their activities while browsing the web frequently use anonymizing systems (e.g., Tor) or services (e.g., VPNs and proxies). Although anonymizing systems are usually effective, recent revelations suggest that anonymization can be compromised and can be used to provide a false sense of security. In this paper we assume a world where anonymization is (practically) not possible. Imagine, for example, a community where the use of anonymizing systems is frowned upon or even forbidden. Is it possible for users to protect their privacy when they can not hide their identity?In this paper, we focus our question on users interested in following information channels in microblogging services and we show that it is possible for users to protect their privacy even if they can not hide their identity. To do so, we propose two obfuscation-based algorithms and quantify their effectiveness. We show that obfuscation can be used in such a way so that attackers can not use this service to increase their a priori knowledge on whether a user is interested in a channel or not.
- Published
- 2019
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