1,917 research outputs found

    Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Words Will Never Hurt Me...Until I See Them: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Trolls in Relation to the Gricean Maxims and (IM)Polite Virtual Speech Acts

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    The troll is one of the most obtrusive and disruptive bad actors on the internet. Unlike other bad actors, the troll interacts on a more personal and intimate level with other internet users. Social media platforms, online communities, comment boards, and chatroom forums provide them with this opportunity. What distinguishes these social provocateurs from other bad actors are their virtual speech acts and online behaviors. These acts aim to incite anger, shame, or frustration in others through the weaponization of words, phrases, and other rhetoric. Online trolls come in all forms and use various speech tactics to insult and demean their target audiences. The goal of this research is to investigate trolls\u27 virtual speech acts and the impact of troll-like behaviors on online communities. Using Gricean maxims and politeness theory, this study seeks to identify common vernacular, word usage, and other language behaviors that trolls use to divert the conversation, insult others, and possibly affect fellow internet users’ mental health and well-being

    Social media, political polarization, and political disinformation: a review of the scientific literature

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    The following report is intended to provide an overview of the current state of the literature on the relationship between social media; political polarization; and political “disinformation,” a term used to encompass a wide range of types of information about politics found online, including “fake news,” rumors, deliberately factually incorrect information, inadvertently factually incorrect information, politically slanted information, and “hyperpartisan” news. The review of the literature is provided in six separate sections, each of which can be read individually but that cumulatively are intended to provide an overview of what is known — and unknown — about the relationship between social media, political polarization, and disinformation. The report concludes by identifying key gaps in our understanding of these phenomena and the data that are needed to address them

    Social media, political polarization, and political disinformation: a review of the scientific literature

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    The following report is intended to provide an overview of the current state of the literature on the relationship between social media; political polarization; and political “disinformation,” a term used to encompass a wide range of types of information about politics found online, including “fake news,” rumors, deliberately factually incorrect information, inadvertently factually incorrect information, politically slanted information, and “hyperpartisan” news. The review of the literature is provided in six separate sections, each of which can be read individually but that cumulatively are intended to provide an overview of what is known — and unknown — about the relationship between social media, political polarization, and disinformation. The report concludes by identifying key gaps in our understanding of these phenomena and the data that are needed to address them

    The Web of False Information: Rumors, Fake News, Hoaxes, Clickbait, and Various Other Shenanigans

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    A new era of Information Warfare has arrived. Various actors, including state-sponsored ones, are weaponizing information on Online Social Networks to run false information campaigns with targeted manipulation of public opinion on specific topics. These false information campaigns can have dire consequences to the public: mutating their opinions and actions, especially with respect to critical world events like major elections. Evidently, the problem of false information on the Web is a crucial one, and needs increased public awareness, as well as immediate attention from law enforcement agencies, public institutions, and in particular, the research community. In this paper, we make a step in this direction by providing a typology of the Web's false information ecosystem, comprising various types of false information, actors, and their motives. We report a comprehensive overview of existing research on the false information ecosystem by identifying several lines of work: 1) how the public perceives false information; 2) understanding the propagation of false information; 3) detecting and containing false information on the Web; and 4) false information on the political stage. In this work, we pay particular attention to political false information as: 1) it can have dire consequences to the community (e.g., when election results are mutated) and 2) previous work show that this type of false information propagates faster and further when compared to other types of false information. Finally, for each of these lines of work, we report several future research directions that can help us better understand and mitigate the emerging problem of false information dissemination on the Web

    Disconnect.Me. User Engagement and Facebook

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    In the beginning of its 10th year of existence Facebook has engaged and connected 1.2 billion monthly active users. This article-based dissertation Disconnect.Me – User Engagement and Facebook approaches this engagement from the opposite direction: disconnection. The research articles focus on social media specific phenomena including leaving Facebook, tactical media works such as Web 2.0 SuicideMachine, memorializing dead Facebook users and Facebook trolling. The media theoretical framework for this study is built around affect theory, software studies, biopolitics as well as different critical studies of new media. The argument is that disconnection is a necessary condition of social media connectivity and exploring social media through disconnection – as an empirical phenomenon, future potential and theoretical notion – helps us to understand how users are engaged with social media, its uses and subsequent business models. The results of the study indicate that engagement is a relation that precedes user participation, a notion often used to conceptualize social media. Furthermore, this engagement turns the focus from users’ actions towards the platform and how the platform actively controls users and their behavior. Facebook aims to engage new users and maintain the old ones by renewing its platform and user interface. User engagement with the platform is thus social but also technical and affective. When engaged, the user is positioned to algorithmic connectivity where machinc processes mine user data. This data is but sold also used to affect and engage other users. In the heart of this study is the notion that our networked engagements matter and disconnection can bring us to the current limits of network culture.Disconnect.Me – Käyttäjien sitoutuminen ja Facebook Kymmenessä vuodessa Facebook on onnistunut sitouttamaan 1.2 miljardia käyttäjää. Artikkeliväitöskirja Disconnect.Me – Käyttäjien sitoutuminen ja Facebook tarkastelee Facebookia näiden käyttäjien menettämisen näkökulmasta. Artikkeleissa tutkimuskohteena ovat muun muassa Facebookin käytön lopettaminen, käyttäjätilin tuhoavat mediataideteokset, muistoprofiilit ja Facebook-trollit. Menetelmällisesti tutkielma nojautuu erilaisiin mediateoreettisiin näkökulmiin painottuen erityisesti affektiteoriaan, software-tutkimukseen, biopolitiikkaan ja kriittiseen uuden median tutkimukseen. Kirjan keskeinen väite on, että tutkimalla käyttäjien menettämistä empiirisenä ilmiönä, tulevaisuuden uhkana sekä teoreettisena käsitteenä on mahdollista ymmärtää, miten käyttäjät sekä sitoutuvat että sitoutetaan osaksi sosiaalisen median toimintatapoja ja liiketoimintamalleja. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että käyttäjien sitoutuminen on suhde, joka edeltää käyttäjien osallistumista; tässä suhteessa olennaista on, mitä sosiaalisen median alusta voi tehdä käyttäjälle ei niinkään se, mitä käyttäjät itse sosiaalisessa mediassa tekevät. Uudistamalla lakkaamatta alustaansa ja käyttöliittymäänsä Facebook pyrkiikin sitouttamaan uusia käyttäjiä ja samalla pysäyttämään vanhojen käyttäjien menettämisen. Facebookin alusta tekee käyttäjien sitoutumisesta paitsi sosiaalista myös teknistä ja affektiivista. Sitoutumalla käyttäjä asettuu algoritmisen kontrollin pariin, jossa koneelliset prosessit paitsi määrittelevät ja luokittelevat käyttäjänsä datan keruun tarpeisiin myös tekevät käyttäjistä affektiivisia; käyttäjien toiminta ja sisällöntuotanto houkuttelee toisia käyttäjiä sitoutumaan ja osallistumaan Facebookin toimintaan. Kirjan keskeisenä teemana on käyttäjien sitoutumisen ja sitouttamisen merkityksellisyys paitsi käyttäjille myös Facebookille sekä huomio, että tämän suhteen katkeaminen avaa tutkimuksellisesti digitaalisen mediakulttuurin uusia raja-alueita.Siirretty Doriast

    Innovation, Intellectual Property Rights and Non-Practicing Entities in the European Patent Market

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    I brevetti sono una forma di diritti di proprietà intellettuale particolarmente rilevante per promuovere attività innovative. Un brevetto concede al suo proprietario un temporaneo diritto esclusivo su invenzioni che sono nuove, comportano un passo inventivo e sono suscettibili di applicazione industriale. Con questo diritto, gli inventori possono proteggere le loro idee dall'imitazione e ottenere un ritorno economico dai loro investimenti in ricerca e sviluppo (R&S). Tuttavia, l'uso dei brevetti ha subito una significativa trasformazione, estendendosi oltre lo scopo tradizionale di ricompensare gli sforzi innovativi. In particolare, nel campo delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione e della Comunicazione (ICT), i brevetti sono sempre più utilizzati come strumenti strategici (Blind, 2021). In particolare negli ultimi trent’anni, l'impressionante aumento del numero di brevetti concessi e l’emergere di un vero e proprio mercato dei brevetti hanno creato le condizioni per lo sviluppo di nuovi intermediari nel mercato delle tecnologie (Hagiu e Yoffie, 2013). Le "non-practicing entities"—aziende che non utilizzano i loro brevetti in senso tradizionale, ma si dedicano principalmente alla concessione di licenze e al ricorso al contenzioso legale—sono così emerse come attori di spicco nel mercato dei brevetti (Golden, 2007; Feldman ed Ewing, 2012). Comunemente definite anche "patent assertion entities" (PAE), e talvolta in modo dispregiativo "patent trolls," le NPEs hanno fortemente polarizzato il dibattito accademico e politico. A causa del loro status di entità non produttiva, le NPEs vantano vantaggi specifici rispetto alle entità che al contrario implementano direttamente nei loro prodotti le tecnologie di cui sono proprietarie. Per esempio, le NPEs sono tipicamente al riparo da contro-ingiunzioni per violazione del diritto di proprietà intellettuale e per questo sono state accusate di mettere in pratica strategie di "patent hold-up" (Lemley e Shapiro, 2007), che alcuni sostengono impongano una "tassa sull'innovazione" con effetti negativi sull'innovazione futura (Chien, 2008). Mentre le NPEs sono state ampiamente analizzate nel mercato dei brevetti degli Stati Uniti fin dalla loro comparsa all'inizio degli anni 2000 (Mezzanotti, 2021; Lemley e Zyontz, 2021), è solo di recente che i ricercatori hanno iniziato a studiare la loro presenza nel mercato tecnologico europeo (Fusco, 2013; Love, 2013; Leiponen e Delcamp, 2019). Questa tesi si propone esainare nel dettaglio il fenomeno delle NPEs nel mercato europeo dei brevetti. Il primo capitolo della tesi analizza la letteratura sui modelli di business delle NPEs, adottando un innovativo approccio bibliometrico per un esame sistematico della letteratura esistente guidato dal protocollo PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis). Successivamente ad un’analisi critica della letterature rilevante vengono presentati tre casi studio sui modelli di business delle NPEs. Nel secondo capitolo, la presenza delle NPEs nel mercato europeo dei brevetti viene empiricamente analizzata attraverso un nuovo dataset di depositi e acquisizioni di brevetti da parte delle NPEs presso l'Ufficio Europeo dei Brevetti (EPO). In questo capitolo viene inoltre sviluppata una nuova tassonomia, che classifica le NPEs in tre modelli di business: "Litigation," "Portfolio" e "Technology" NPEs. Infine, il terzo capitolo esplora empiricamente l'interazione tra le caratteristiche qualitative del brevetto litigato e la propensione delle NPEs a scegliere giurisdizioni europee specifiche in cui avviare contenziosi (“forum shopping”).Patents are a form of intellectual property rights (IPRs) that are particularly relevant to promoting innovative activities. A patent grants to its owner a temporary exclusive right over inventions that are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application. Relying on this right, inventors can protect their ideas from imitation and gain an economic return from their past investments in research and development (R&D). However, the use of patents has undergone a significant transformation, extending beyond the traditional purpose of rewarding innovative efforts. Especially in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), patents are increasingly used as strategic tools (Blind, 2021). Moreover, over the past three decades, the sharp increase in the number of granted patents and the unprecedented flourishing of patent trading have paved the way for new intermediaries in the market for technology (Hagiu and Yoffie, 2013). Non-practicing entities (NPEs)—firms that do not use their patents in a traditional manufacturing sense, but primarily engage in licensing and enforcement—have emerged as prominent actors on the patent market (Golden, 2007; Feldman and Ewing, 2012). Also referred to as Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), sometimes pejoratively called "patent trolls," NPEs have greatly polarized the academic and policy debate. Due to their non-manufacturing status, NPEs have unique advantages over operating companies. They are typically shielded from patent infringement counter-claims and have recently faced allegations of employing patent "hold-up" strategies (Lemley and Shapiro, 2007), which some argue it imposes a significant "tax on innovation" with potential negative effects on subsequent innovation (Chien, 2008). While NPEs have been extensively analyzed in the US patent market since their emergence in the early 2000s (Mezzanotti, 2021; Lemley and Zyontz, 2021), it is only recently that researchers have started to investigate their presence in the European technology market (Fusco, 2013; Love, 2013; Leiponen and Delcamp, 2019). This thesis aims to address these research gaps by examining the NPE phenomenon in the European patent marketplace. First, we extensively explore and analyze the literature on NPE business models by adopting a novel bibliometric approach guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol for systematic literature reviews. In addition, we will integrate three relevant NPE business models case studies. Second, we empirically investigate the presence of NPEs in the European patent market through a brand-new dataset of NPE patent filings and acquisitions at the European Patent Office (EPO). Furthermore, we develop an original taxonomy, thus categorizing NPEs into three business models: "Litigation," "Portfolio" and "Technology" NPEs. Finally, we empirically explore the interplay between the quality characteristics of the asserted patent and the propensity of NPEs to choose specific European jurisdictions where to initiate litigation (forum shopping)

    Metapolitical New Right Influencers:The Case of Brittany Pettibone

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    Far-right movements, activists, and political parties are on the rise worldwide. Several scholars connect this rise of the far-right at least partially to the affordances of digital media and to a new digital metapolitical battle. A lot has been written about the far-right’s adoption of trolling, harassment, and meme-culture in their metapolitical strategy, but researchers have focused less on how far-right vloggers are using the practices of influencer culture for metapolitical goals. This paper tries to fill this gap and bring new theoretical insights based on a digital ethnographic case study. By analyzing political YouTuber and #pizzagate propagator Brittany Pettibone, this paper contributes to our understanding of radicalization processes in relation to the use of digital media
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