Email as co-habitat in distributed organisations

Email has now become so ubiquitous that it has surpassed its early role as an asynchronous communication tool. Having contributed to the rise of the distributed organisation, email is being used in diverse ways and for purposes for which it was not intended. It is no longer a technology of individual habitats, but one where members of distributed organisations co-habit. This paper charts the study of email management, from early investigations of personal approaches to handling email overload, through to a review of software applications designed to ameliorate this. It suggests that while email has been appropriated for information and knowledge management, there has been minimal analysis of this beyond the individual. Therefore, it presents a case study of a distributed organisation, detailing the process by which email was leveraged for organisational knowledge through the design of an application that enabled visualisation of email data

Soft networks for bridging the gap between research and practice: illuminative evaluation of CHAIN

Objectives To explore the process of knowledge exchange in an informal email network for evidence based health care, to illuminate the value of the service and its critical success factors, and to identify areas for improvement.Design Illuminative evaluationSetting Targeted email and networking service for UK healthcare practitioners and researchers.Participants 2800 members of a networking service.Main outcome measures Tracking of email messages, interviews with core staff, and a qualitative analysis of messages, postings from focus groups, and invited and unsolicited feedback to the service.Results The informal email network helped to bridge the gap between research and practice by serving as a rich source of information, providing access to members' experiences, suggestions, and ideas, facilitating cross boundary collaboration, and enabling participation in networking at a variety of levels. Ad hoc groupings and communities of practice emerged spontaneously as members discovered common areas of interest.Conclusion This study illuminated how knowledge for evidence based health care can be targeted, personalised, and made meaningful through informal social processes. Critical success factors include a broad based membership from both the research and service communities; a loose and fluid network structure; fight targeting of messages based on members' interests; the presence of a strong network identity and culture of reciprocity; and the opportunity for new members to learn through passive participation

Communication Between Process and Structure: Modelling and Simulating Message Reference Networks with COM/TE

Focusing on observable message signs and referencing structures, communication processes can be described and analysed as message reference networks which are characterized by dynamic pattern evolution. Computational simulation provides a way of obtaining insights into the factors driving such processes. Our paper describes a theoretical framework for communication-oriented modelling — the COM approach — that is centred around the notion of social visibility as a reputation mechanism. The approach contrasts with agent-based social networks on the one hand, and with bibliometric document networks on the other. In introducing our simulation environment COM/TE, typical properties of message reference networks are discussed in terms of a case study which deals with the impact of different media and styles of communication on emergent patterns of social visibility.Communication, Communication-Oriented Modelling, Message Sign, Dynamic Networks, Bottom-up Approach, Temporality, Social Visibility, Reputation, Socionics

Cilfachau electronig : geni'r Gymraeg ar-lein, 1989-1996

Mae'r erthygl yn olrhain datblygiadau cynhara'r iaith Gymraeg ar-lein, gyda ffocws arbennig ar y blynyddoedd cyn i'r We Fyd Eang chwarae rhan flaenllaw ar y Rhyngrwyd. Rhoddir crynodeb byr o natur dameidiog rhwydweithio cyfrifiadurol cynnar. Dangosir wedyn fod grwpiau gweithgar, er mor fach eu maint, a oedd yn dangos diddordeb yn y Gymraeg wedi bodoli mewn amryw fforymau trafod electronig o 1989 ymlaen. Ymhellach, dadansoddir natur y mannau trafod a ddefnyddiwyd gan siaradwyr Cymraeg yn y 1990au cynnar, o ran eu ehangder daearyddol a'r pynciau trafod poblogaidd. Rhoddir dystiolaeth meintiol o boblogrwydd cymharol y mannau trafod hynny, ynghŷd a dadansoddiad byr o'r ffordd yr ymatebodd y wasg Gymraeg i'r Rhyngrwyd yn y dyddiau cynnar hyn

Rethinking lurking

No abstract available

Rethinking lurking

No abstract available

An Analysis of Node/Peer Discovery Approach and Routing Algorithms in Mobile & Traditional Peer-to-Peer Networks

Mobile devices are becoming an increasingly indispensable part of people’s everyday life, in the form of mobile phones, PDAs and laptop computers to communicate or share data between them. Centralized client-server networks are being transformed to distributed peer-to-peer networks. Lessons learned from fixed networks have been applied in cellular network. So, there are many challenges faced by traditional and mobile peer-to-peer networks therefore, in this study we examine a comparative analysis of node/peer discovery approach and routing algorithms employed in both traditional and mobile peer-to-peer networks. A qualitative methodology approach was used for data sources. Documents related to node/peer discovery approach and routing algorithms were studied. A comparative method and content analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Findings of the study indicated that there are two clear differences in the aspects of neighboring node/peer discovery approach beside the similarities. The study also showed another differences and similarities in the aspect of routing algorithms. This thesis hopes to offer all necessary useful tips of the divergence on these two aspects and thus to make a contribution allowing researchers to know such divergence

Tumblr was a trans technology: the meaning, importance, history, and future of trans technologies

Building from previous researchers’ conceptions of queer technologies, we consider what it means to be a trans technology. This research study draws from interviews with Tumblr transition bloggers (n = 20), along with virtual ethnography, trans theory, and trans technological histories, using Tumblr as a case study to understand how social technologies can meet the needs of trans communities. Tumblr supported trans experiences by enabling users to change over time within a network of similar others, separate from their network of existing connections, and to embody (in a digital space) identities that would eventually become material. Further, before 2018 policy changes banning “adult” content, Tumblr upheld policies and an economic model that allowed erotic content needed for intersectional trans community building. We argue that these aspects made Tumblr a trans technology. We examine themes of temporality, openness, change, separation, realness, intersectionality, and erotics, along with considering social media platforms’ policies and economic models, to show how trans technologies can provide meaningful spaces for trans communities.National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program Grant No. DGE-1321846internal grant from the University of California, Irvine (James Harvey Scholar Award)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153782/1/Tumblr was a trans technology the meaning importance history and future of trans technologies.pdfDescription of Tumblr was a trans technology the meaning importance history and future of trans technologies.pdf : Main articl

Temporalstrukturen der Kommunikation

"Ausgangspunkt des Beitrags ist die These, dass die soziologische Theorie bisher den Strukturen der Kommunikation zu viel Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet hat im Gegensatz zu den Ereignissen, die diese Strukturen herbeiführen und ihre Veränderung bewirken. Dagegen zeigt der Blick auf die Mikrofundierung der Kommunikation, dass sie grundlegend temporal strukturiert ist. Der Beitrag diskutiert drei unterschiedliche Varianten der sozialtheoretischen Fassung der Temporalität von Kommunikation (Systemtheorie, Diskurstheorie und Praxistheorie) sowie ausgewählte Ergebnisse empirischer Kommunikationsforschung. Aus der Perspektive des 'Communication Oriented Modelling' (COM) schlägt er Modellierungen von Kommunikationsereignissen vor, die der Rhythmizität, dem Mehrebenencharakter und der Prozessdynamik von Kommunikation gerecht werden." (Autorenreferat