Exploding iconography: The Mindbomb Project

The Mindbomb project was started by a group of young artists, journalists and writers, rich in creative resources. Together they created the social poster. It became a means to hack into the dominant discourse of mainstream politics, the mass media and the advertising industry. This paper will attempt to give an answer to the question: how to localize this critique in a non-differentiated global consumer culture? The argument in this paper centers around the idea that the Mindbomb project started as a challenge to the consumer culture. However, it later developed into a broader critique of contemporary Romanian society. A set of theoretical filters in the literature on aesthetic movements and culture jamming were used to map out the Mindbomb project. The present discussion of a single case may be a relevant addition to existing theoretical debates

A design theory for transparency of information privacy practices

The rising diffusion of information systems (IS) throughout society poses an increasingly serious threat to privacy as a social value. One approach to alleviating this threat is to establish transparency of i nformation privacy practices (TIPP) so that consumers can better understand how their information is processed. However, the design of transparency artifacts (eg, privacy notices) has clearly not followed this approach, given the ever-increasing volume of information processing. Hence, consumers face a situation where they cannot see the ‘forest for the trees’ when aiming to ascertain whether information processing meets their privacy expectations. A key problem is that overly comprehensive information presentation results in information overload and is thus counterproductive for establishing TIPP. We depart from the extant design logic of transparency artifacts and develop a theoretical foundation (TIPP theory) for transparency artifact designs useful for establishing TIPP from the perspective of privacy as a social value. We present TIPP theory in two parts to capture the sociotechnical interplay. The first part translates abstract knowledge on the IS artifact and privacy into a description of social subsystems of transparency artifacts, and the second part conveys prescriptive design knowledge in form of a corresponding IS design theory. TIPP theory establishes a bridge from the complexity of the privacy concept to a metadesign for transparency artifacts that is useful to establish TIPP in any IS. In essence, transparency artifacts must accomplish more than offering comprehensive information; they must also be adaptive to the current information needs of consumers

Combating Cyber-Victimization

In today’s interconnected society, high profile examples of online victimization abound. Cyber-bullies, stalkers and harassers launch attacks on the less powerful, causing a variety of harms. Recent scholarship has identified some of the more salient damage, including reputational harms, severe emotional distress, loss of employment, and physical assault. Extreme cases of online abuse have resulted in death through suicide or as a result of targeted attacks. This article makes two major contributions to the cyber-victimization literature. It proposes specific reforms to criminal and tort laws to address this conduct more effectively. Further, it situates those reforms within a new multi-modal regulatory framework. This new approach advocates a combination of enhanced public education initiatives, enhanced access to effective reputation management services, the development of more pro-bono reputation management strategies, reporting hotlines, social norms, and industry self-regulation. The goal is to combine law with other regulatory modalities in order to facilitate the development of a more civil and accountable global online society

The Design of a System for Online Psychosocial Care: Balancing Privacy and Accountability in Sensitive Online Healthcare Environments

The design of sensitive online healthcare systems must balance the requirements of privacy and accountability for the good of individuals, organizations, and society. Via a design science research approach, we build and evaluate a sophisticated software system for the online provision of psychosocial healthcare to distributed and vulnerable populations. Multidisciplinary research capabilities are embedded within the system to investigate the effectiveness of online treatment protocols. Throughout the development cycles of the system, we build an emergent design theory of scrutiny that applies a multi-layer protocol to support governance of privacy and accountability in sensitive online applications. The design goal is to balance stakeholder privacy protections with the need to provide for accountable interventions in critical and well-defined care situations. The research implications for the development and governance of online applications in numerous privacy-sensitive application areas are explore

Innovative learning in action (ILIA) issue five: Learning technologies in the curriculum

Consideration of the papers and snapshots in this edition of Innovative Learning in Action, focused on learning technology, will provide the reader with insights into a range of excellent and innovative approaches to the application of learning technologies to enhance learning both in the classroom and at a distance. It also provides us with examples of how learning technologies can both stimulate and support partnership with staff and students and collaborative learning and working. This edition is particularly timely given the aim of the University’s 2005-2008 Learning Technologies Implementation Plan (LTIP), which is to enhance the quality of, and access to, learning, teaching and assessment by supporting and developing the curriculum through the appropriate and effective use of learning technologies. The LTIP is designed to help us to reach a situation where the effective use of appropriate learning technologies becomes part of our normal teaching, research and enterprise activities, and enhances access to our programmes by all our students whether they are learning on campus, at a distance, or in the workplace. The emphasis at the University of Salford has consistently been on the identification and creative application of the appropriate blends of ICT and traditional methods, shaped by pedagogical, rather than technological drivers, and acknowledging and reflecting different academic contexts and professional and vocational requirements. We have some excellent examples of how this has been achieved here, ILIA once again providing us with an opportunity to reflect on practice and student learning, to share experience and hopefully to identify future areas for collaboration in a key area of curriculum development