Smart homes and their users:a systematic analysis and key challenges

Published research on smart homes and their users is growing exponentially, yet a clear understanding of who these users are and how they might use smart home technologies is missing from a field being overwhelmingly pushed by technology developers. Through a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature on smart homes and their users, this paper takes stock of the dominant research themes and the linkages and disconnects between them. Key findings within each of nine themes are analysed, grouped into three: (1) views of the smart home-functional, instrumental, socio-technical; (2) users and the use of the smart home-prospective users, interactions and decisions, using technologies in the home; and (3) challenges for realising the smart home-hardware and software, design, domestication. These themes are integrated into an organising framework for future research that identifies the presence or absence of cross-cutting relationships between different understandings of smart homes and their users. The usefulness of the organising framework is illustrated in relation to two major concerns-privacy and control-that have been narrowly interpreted to date, precluding deeper insights and potential solutions. Future research on smart homes and their users can benefit by exploring and developing cross-cutting relationships between the research themes identified

Veiling and Blogging: Social Media as Sites of Identity Negotiation and Expression among Saudi Women

This paper aims at assessing how Saudi Arab young women use social media for negotiating and expressing their identity. Through in-depth interviews with a sample of seven Saudi females aged 20-26, the research revealed that the internet, with its protection of individual privacy, provided the participants a space to negotiate the boundaries imposed on them by cultural and societal rules. Participants employed several tactics of negotiation such as using nicknames, concealing their personal images and using first names only in order not to be identified by their family names. Using multiple accounts is also popular among participants. Without gatekeepers, the internet brings new ways of self-expression and identification among Saudi females, thus creating a safe space where female body, predominant in daily life, is non-existent and only thoughts count

“Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”: How Digital Consumers Manage Their Online Visibility in Game-Like Conditions

Organizations continue to create digital interfaces and infrastructure that are designed to heighten consumers’ online visibility and encourage them to part with their data. The way these digital systems operate and the rules they are governed by are often opaque, leaving consumers to deploy their own strategies for managing their online information sharing with organizations. In this study, we draw upon Erving Goffman’s metaphor of expression games and three forms of concealment or cover moves to explore how consumers, who have been well socialized as digital natives, engage in dynamic and game-like interactions with organizations in an attempt to manage their level of online visibility and information sharing in relation, inter alia, to the ‘convenience’ and ‘benefits’ that are afforded to them. Our research is based on in-depth interviews in combination with photo-elicitation with 20 participants. Based on the insight generated, we offer a new framework, ‘Propensity to Game’ (P2G), which present the processual dynamics that characterize these consumers’ evolving and game-like engagements with organizations. These are Game Awareness, Rule Familiarization, Player Commitment and Game Play. Our work contributes with new insight into how these consumers actively engage in the orchestration of their online visibility by surfacing the nuanced and multifaceted decision-making and thought processes that they engage in when they, situation-by-situation, decide on the tactics and methods to use in their efforts to manage the data and information they share with organizations

Don’t throw rocks from the side-lines: A sociomaterial exploration of organizational blogs as boundary objects

Purpose Social media such as blogs are being widely used in organizations in order to undertake internal communication and share knowledge, rendering them important boundary objects. A root metaphor of the boundary object domain is the notion of relatively static and inert objects spanning similarly static boundaries. A strong sociomaterial perspective allows the immisciblity of object and boundary to be challenged, since a key tenet of this perspective is the ongoing and mutually-constituted performance of the material and social. Design/methodology/approach The aim of our research is to draw upon sociomateriality to explore the operation of social media platforms as intra-organizational boundary objects. Given the novel perspective of this study and its social constructivist ontology, we adopt an exploratory, interpretivist research design. This is operationalized as a case study of the use of an organizational blog by a major UK government department over an extended period. A novel aspect of the study is our use of data released under a Freedom of Information request. Findings We present three exemplar instances of how the blog and organizational boundaries were performed in the situated practice of the case study organization. We draw on literature on boundary objects, blogs and sociomateriality in order to provide a theoretical explication of the mutually-constituted performance of the blog and organizational boundaries. We also invoke the notion of ‘extended chains of intra-action’ to theorise changes in the wider organization. Originality/value Adoption of a sociomaterial lens provides a highly novel perspective of boundary objects and organizational boundaries. The study highlights the indeterminate and dynamic nature of boundary objects and boundaries, with both being in an intra-active state of becoming, challenging conventional conceptions. The study demonstrates that specific material-discursive practices arising from the situated practice of the blog at the respective boundaries were performative, reconfiguring the blog and boundaries and being generative of further changes in the organization

Privacy construction on social media

Objectives The aim of this study is to understand the construct of privacy on social media from the consumers' perspective and to gain a better grasp of the privacy concept in terms of consumer research. More specifically, the main objective is to understand the meanings of privacy in the consumption of social media through consumers' narratives. In order to understand this, the study also concerns on how the overall phenomenon of privacy on social media and its construction is related to consumer's identity. Therefore, the meanings of consumers' privacy through self-identity will be studied, i.e. what meanings privacy has in consumers' lives, why consumers look for privacy and what do they do in order to create privacy. In spite of increasing public and academic interest in privacy the overview of the previous consumer research literature revealed these questions to be unaddressed. Thus, the main idea behind this research is to enrich our understanding of privacy concept and understand the privacy meanings in consumers' minds. Research method In order to gain subjective understanding of privacy from consumers' perspective, the research data was collected by utilizing the narrative interviews, as individuals approach privacy from the context of their own actual practices, which constitute privacy and give it meaning, associating it with their individual and subjective experiences and concerns. During the research 15 interviews were conducted. The general analysis of the data obtained was made by using the framework presented by McAdams, and by using narrative analysis, which involves constructing coherent story of the interview. The research was followed with interpretation of interviews and identification of common themes of privacy meanings. Key findings The findings of this research has brought new insight into the topic of privacy and shed light on consumer's privacy meaning construction and negotiation, and, at the same time, by using narrative approach it allowed to uncover new aspects of the privacy itself. By clarifying the meanings consumers attach to privacy and its construction from the perspective of the consumer, this research contributed towards a better understanding of consumer privacy concept and therefore, it furthered the theoretical discussion of Consumer Culture Theory by offering categories for the privacy meanings in the context of social media. More specifically, this research looked from the consumer's perspective into privacy on social media through biographical consumption narratives and life-story telling. Drawing from Altman and Westin's classic theories of privacy the main findings of this research were represented by proposed four themes that illustrate the meanings of privacy specific for the context of social media consumption by combining theoretical knowledge of privacy and the self-identity. Based on the four privacy meanings it has been identified, that privacy on social media incorporates and represents personal meaning which is based on personal goal of the self-identity. More specifically, privacy allows for identity building and maintaining by presenting disclosed self and concealing private self, developing self-ego by isolating the self, and protecting own identity by appreciating others' privacy. Moreover, by presenting close relationship of privacy and identity through four privacy meanings this research expanded the field of theoretical discussion of privacy by introducing the concepts of disclosed and private privacy in the context of social media, which is balanced by an individual and present in all cases of social media consumption in various proportions. In addition, this research also raised the issue of privacy existence on social media. Therefore, majority of consumers do have a feeling of privacy when consuming social media, however, greater knowledge in the area questions existence of privacy and introduced a bigger question whether there is privacy on social media

The Power Over Private Information in Big Data-Society: Power Structures of User-generated Data Manifested by Privacy and Data Policies

The starting point of this thesis is the managing of user-generated data in the online ecosystem and expanding development of big data. Many are worried that companies and authorities are invading their online privacy, and the lack of control by the provider of data, the citizens, can be considered one of our time’s most pressing civil rights issues. At the same time, media and information literacy become more and more important for the ability to actively be part of society. Libraries have an educational role to gain awareness of information issues, which includes privacy issues. The aim of this study is to investigate the power structures of privacy, ownership, gathering, store and use, of user-generated data, through the discourses manifested by privacy and data policies of social media services. This is done by deploying a theoretical framework of power and language with critical discourse analysis, CDA, and of mechanisms of privacy with communication privacy management, CPM, theory, complemented by a discursive understanding of power and normative manifestation in online interfaces. Methodologically the study is conducted by a critical discourse analysis of the privacy and data policies of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Youtube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, Linkedin and Ello. An interface analysis is also conducted on the same social media services’ mobile phone applications and websites, pre and post login. By this, different discourses are identified. The companies claim that the users’ privacy is something valuable and important but this is not mirrored by the interfaces, where links to privacy policies mainly are placed in the bottom of pages and menus. In the policies privacy is constructed as possession, claiming to belong to, and be controlled by, the user. However, later statements contest this by manifesting great restrictions on both ownership and control. At the same time, the language of the policies is used to portray the user as responsible for all of the services’ practices. The policies of Reddit and Ello constitute exceptions in some respects and also express discursive struggle. In conclusion, this study shows that power in the policies is manifested by uncertainties, the users’ lack of control and influence and the social media companies’ lack of transparency

Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reports— Based on the Guardian News Report of China’s Military Parade to Mark the 70 Years of Second World War

Critical Discourse Analysis (abbreviated as CDA below), was firstly introduced by an English linguist, Norman Fairclough in the late 1980s. And CDA mainly focuses on public and non-literature discourse and it mainly applies Halliday’s Systematic Functional Grammar (abbreviated as SFG below). Since China announced the decision of holding a military parade to celebrate the 70’s anniversary of WWII victory, massive negative voices among the international society have been crowding in on China. Therefore, the present study was prompted to focus on the news report of China’s military parade to celebrate the victory of WWII from the Guardian, and use Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model of CDA as theoretical framework and apply Halliday’s SFG as analytic tools to study two questions: How does the reporter insert his ideology in the news text of the Guardian news report on China’s Military Parade to Mark the 70 Years of Second World War? What kinds of the social and historical ideologies bear in and account for the news? Through the analysis, it finds that Guardian’s reports overemphasize and over interpret the negative influences of parade

Assessing the Economic Impact of Copyright Reform

In 1997, the Canadian government signed two new copyright-related international treaties adopted by the UN's World Intellectual Protection Organization (WIPO) in December 1996: the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). The objective of this paper is to assess the economic impact of the following new or revised rights (on different groups of stakeholders): extending the term of protection of photographs from "50 years" to "the life of the author plus 50 years" (on publishers), introducing an explicit distribution right (on software makers), introducing legal protection for technological protection measures such as encryption (on publishers; software makers; audio-visual producers, multimedia and movie makers), introducing legal protection for rights management information used to identify works and other subject matters (on authors, composers and artists; software makers; audio-visual producers, multimedia and movie makers; publishers). En 1997, le gouvernement canadien a signé deux nouveaux traités internationaux relatifs au droit d'auteur, adoptés en décembre 1996 par l'Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI, ONU) : le Traité de l'OMPI sur le droit d'auteur (WCT) et le Traité de l'OMPI sur les interprétations et exécutions et les phonogrammes (WPPT). Ce rapport a pour objectif de caractériser l'impact économique des droits suivants nouveaux ou révisés (sur diverses parties prenantes) : l'extension de la protection des ?uvres photographiques de « 50 ans » à « la vie de l'auteur plus 50 ans » (sur les éditeurs), l'introduction d'un droit exclusif d'autoriser la mise à la disposition du public de l'original et d'exemplaires de leurs ?uvres (sur les auteurs de programmes d'ordinateur), l'introduction d'une protection juridique appropriée contre la neutralisation des mesures techniques tel le chiffrement (sur les éditeurs, les auteurs de programmes d'ordinateur, les producteurs d'?uvres audio-visuelles, multimedia et cinématographiques), l'introduction d'une protection juridique pour toute information relative au régime des droits permettant d'identifier l'?uvre et diverses conditions (sur les auteurs, compositeurs et interprètes, les auteurs de programmes d'ordinateur, les producteurs d'?uvres audiovisuelles, multimedia et cinématographiques, les éditeurs).Copyrights, WIPO, Economic impact, Droit d'auteur, OMPI, impact économique

Information Privacy and Social Self-Authorship

The dominant approach in privacy theory defines information privacy as some form of control over personal information. In this essay, I argue that the control approach is mistaken, but for different reasons than those offered by its other critics. I claim that information privacy involves the drawing of epistemic boundaries—boundaries between what others should and shouldn’t know about us. While controlling what information others have about us is one strategy we use to draw such boundaries, it is not the only one. We conceal information about ourselves and we reveal it. And since the meaning of information is not self-evident, we also work to shape how others contextualize and interpret the information about us that they have. Information privacy is thus about more than controlling information; it involves the constant work of producing and managing public identities, what I call “social self- authorship.” In the second part of the essay, I argue that thinking about information privacy in terms of social self- authorship helps us see ways that information technology threatens privacy, which the control approach misses. Namely, information technology makes social self- authorship invisible and unnecessary, by making it difficult for us to know when others are forming impressions about us, and by providing them with tools for making assumptions about who we are which obviate the need for our involvement in the process