Sharing or not sharing online video on social media

The phenomenon of the social web (Web 2.0) and the proliferation of devices that are always connected to the Internet, such as smartphones, are transforming Internet studies. Nowadays, studying online and offline activities separately is unthinkable, since the Internet plays such a great part of everyday life (boyd & Ellison, 2007). The same is true about computer and telephone. For example, user can start an email on their smart phone and finish it on their computer. Reflecting on abundance of online audio-visual content, several questions may be raised: How certain video become viral? Why do people want to share certain type of video? For this paper, I will use my current work for my PhD thesis that explores the role of online videos in interpersonal communications and groups of users. Videos are an unavoidable Internet phenomenon (Purcell, 2010). Videos move from one site to another, from computer to phone, they are spread through word of mouth, and broadcast on television. This paper examines how people decide to post a video on their Facebook wall or friend’s wall. It shows that it can be done to share information, a feeling or an experience. Each individual has a unique practice and motivation for sharing online video, whether through a social networking site, by email, showing it directly to a friend and family member. This paper aims to better understand why ordinary people share online videos via social networking sites. The data used in this paper is from semi-structured and open interviews. I proceed by conducting three interviews per participant, allowing the construction of a dialogue. During the first interview, I asked participants to simply describe their everyday experiences related to online videos. A second interview allows me to elaborate on some details. The last meeting is directly inspired by the notion of reflective practices (Finlay, 2002) and I make a first analysis of previous meetings. Thus, researcher and participant discuss the initial interpretations and the research process

GO-GN Research Methods Handbook

Methodology can be one of the most challenging aspects for doctoral researchers. When we conduct research into education and/or technology, we can be confronted with a potentially confusing array of options. This is true even for those using a well-established approach, but can be especially acute if combining approaches in a mixed-methods study or trying to develop a completely new way of doing research. Choosing the right method for what we are interested in is a key part of high quality research, and this requires us to think about the scientific and philosophical foundations of what we do. In this guide we explore some of these issues with a focus on open research, drawing on insights from researchers within the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). Open practices in research can challenge assumptions about how to create and share new knowledge. In the handbook, we draw on insights from experienced open researchers to build understanding of research in the open. The advice given applies to all research, but is of particular relevance to those interested in open approaches

A apresentação do eu em plataformas de comunicação on-line

Mestrado em Comunicação MultimédiaO surgimento da Internet e, mais recentemente, das redes sociais on-line trouxe uma nova forma de auto-apresentação dos sujeitos, regida pelas características específicas do novo meio. A designada Comunicação Mediada por Computador (CMC), que elimina alguns dos constrangimentos da comunicação face-a-face, e particularidades como a fácil manutenção do anonimato potenciaram o surgimento de alterações na forma como o indivíduo se auto-apresenta. A Web 2.0 e os serviços que com ela surgiram alteraram, ainda, o processo de produção de conteúdos, dando a possibilidade dos antigos receptores publicarem os seus conteúdos na Rede, principalmente em formato de texto, imagem estática ou vídeo. A publicação de conteúdos nas redes sociais pelos utilizadores demonstra a impressão que os mesmos pretendem fornecer aos outros no contexto on-line. O presente estudo tem, assim, como objectivo apurar quais os tipos de conteúdo mais utilizados pelos utilizadores para a publicação de conteúdos nos seus perfis do Facebook, rede social on-line com mais popularidade actualmente, com vista a compreender quais as particulares dos diferentes conteúdos de publicação no contexto da auto-apresentação dos indivíduos.The emergence of the Internet and, more recently, online social networking has brought a new form of individuals’ self-presentation, governed by the specific characteristics of the new medium. The so-called Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), which eliminates some of the constraints of face-to-face communication, and special features such as easy maintenance of anonymity, increase the chance of changes in how individuals present themselves. Web 2.0 and the services that came with it have changed, though, the process of content production, giving the possibility of former recipients to publish their content on the Web, mostly in the form of text, image or video. The publication of content by users in social networks demonstrates the impression that they are intended to give others in the online context. The present study aimed determining which formats are most used by users to publish content on their Facebook profiles, the social network with more popularity nowadays

La fluidité des espaces communicationnels : partager des vidéos en ligne dans la vie quotidienne

Internet évolue avec la société et les nouvelles technologies, mais ses usages restent centrés sur le principe communicationnel de partager ses idées, ses histoires avec d’autres personnes. Comprendre les modes de communication des internautes offre des défis de taille aux chercheurs. Malgré une riche littérature sur les usages d’Internet, peu d’études se sont penchées sur l’analyse en profondeur des habitudes des internautes ordinaires. Cette thèse a pour objet d’étude le partage de contenus en ligne, car il s’agit d’une pratique permettant de réfléchir sur le rapport des usagers à la technologie. En m’inspirant des travaux d’Henri Lefebvre et de Michel de Certeau, je mobilise le concept de la vie quotidienne, concept qui met en lumière les processus à travers laquelle les gens font sens de leur vie. Afin de mieux saisir le quotidien, lequel est mobile, fluide et multiple, des métaphores spatiales tirées d’études des sciences, technologies et société (STS) seront mobilisées. Les concepts d’espace fluide et de feu sont idéaux pour étudier les pratiques de partage de vidéo que l’on peut qualifier de mutables et adaptables. Dans cette thèse, l’accent est mis sur les expériences subjectives des internautes ; ainsi, j’ai adopté une méthodologie qualitative pour recueillir les témoignages d’une dizaine de participants décrivant longuement leurs pratiques. En effet, j’ai rencontré chaque personne à plusieurs reprises et nous avons discuté d’exemples spécifiques. À travers les thèmes récurrents qui ont émergé des verbatims, et dans la tradition de la théorisation ancrée, la première partie de l’analyse fournit une riche description du quotidien des participants. J’explore en particulier la façon dont les internautes adaptent leur partage sur leurs expériences des sites de réseaux sociaux, comment la vidéo est utilisée dans le maintien de leurs relations sociales, et comment le partage des vidéos complémente leurs conversations. Sachant que les pratiques en ligne et hors ligne se fondent l’une dans l’autre, la deuxième partie de l’analyse articule la complexité de la vie quotidienne et la fluidité des pratiques de partage à l’aide du concept de l’objet fluide pour traiter des aspects complexes, dynamiques et souples des pratiques des internautes ordinaires. Cette recherche qualitative fournit un portrait de l’expérience humaine qui est autant détaillé que possible. Elle permet de souligner que c’est dans une variété contextes non remarquables – car faisant partie intégrante de la vie quotidienne – que les Internautes naviguent et que les activités humaines sont sans cesse construites et transformées, ouvrant des possibilités vers de nouvelles façons de faire et de penser. La thèse poursuit un dialogue interdisciplinaire entre la communication (les Internet Studies notamment) et les études des sciences, technologies et société (STS), tout en apportant de nombreuses données empiriques sur les pratiques des internautes « ordinaires ». De plus, la thèse offre des métaphores capables d’ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives pour l’analyse des usages du Web social. Elle apporte également une contribution originale en intégrant des approches théoriques des pratiques quotidiennes avec la théorisation ancrée. Tant les fondements conceptuels et des approches méthodologiques développées ici seront des exemples très utiles pour d’autres chercheurs intéressés à poursuivre la compréhension des pratiques quotidiennes impliquant l’Internet, surtout quand ces derniers impliquent le visuel, l’émotif et le relationnel.The Internet evolves continually with society and the development of new technologies, but its uses remain centered on the communicative principle of connecting with others and sharing ideas, stories and information. Understanding the communication modes of the Internet offers a sizable challenge to researchers. Despite a rich literature on Internet usages, few studies offer in-depth analysis of the habits of ordinary users. This study specifically addresses the question of online content sharing, as a practice that enables reflection on users' relationships with technologies. Drawing inspiration from the work of Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau, this dissertation mobilizes the notion of daily life (the quotidien), a concept that highlights the processes through which people make sense of their lives. In order to best apprehend daily experience that is mobile, fluid and multiple, I draw on spatial metaphors from science and technology studies. With their sensitivity to both social and material characteristics, fluid object and fire space concepts are well-suited for studying video-sharing practices that are highly mutable and adaptable. Since I emphasize subjective experiences, the research design involved a qualitative methodology. I met with ten participants three times each. During these meetings, they described their video sharing practices and told stories around using and sharing videos. Building on recurrent themes that emerge from transcriptions of various conversations, in the tradition of grounded theory, the first part of the analysis provides a rich description of everyday life and video sharing. In particular, I discuss how people regulate their sharing behavior on social networking sites, how they use video to maintaining their social relationships and how sharing videos complements their conversations. The second part of the analysis focuses on the complexity of everyday life, and draws attention to how one context flows almost imperceptibly into another, and how online and offline worlds intersect. Fluidity offers a metaphor to support the complex, dynamic and flexible aspects of ordinary users’ video sharing practices in a continually changing space. This qualitative approach produces a picture of the human experience that is rich and detailed, and allows us to highlight the different contexts in which the participants navigate their daily lives. It is in these often unremarkable contexts that human activities are constantly constructed and transformed, creating opportunities for new ways of doing and thinking. The dissertation engages in an interdisciplinary dialogue between communication (particularly Internet Studies) and science and technology studies (STS) in order to offer new perspectives for the analysis of uses of the social Web. It also makes an original contribution by integrating theoretical approaches to daily practices with grounded theory. The conceptual foundations and methodological approach developed here provide a useful guide for other researchers interested in pursuing the understanding of everyday practices involving the Internet, especially when these involve visual, emotional and relational elements