Characterizing Attention Cascades in WhatsApp Groups

An important political and social phenomena discussed in several countries, like India and Brazil, is the use of WhatsApp to spread false or misleading content. However, little is known about the information dissemination process in WhatsApp groups. Attention affects the dissemination of information in WhatsApp groups, determining what topics or subjects are more attractive to participants of a group. In this paper, we characterize and analyze how attention propagates among the participants of a WhatsApp group. An attention cascade begins when a user asserts a topic in a message to the group, which could include written text, photos, or links to articles online. Others then propagate the information by responding to it. We analyzed attention cascades in more than 1.7 million messages posted in 120 groups over one year. Our analysis focused on the structural and temporal evolution of attention cascades as well as on the behavior of users that participate in them. We found specific characteristics in cascades associated with groups that discuss political subjects and false information. For instance, we observe that cascades with false information tend to be deeper, reach more users, and last longer in political groups than in non-political groups.Comment: Accepted as a full paper at the 11th International ACM Web Science Conference (WebSci 2019). Please cite the WebSci versio

Exploring the efficacy of Facebook groups for collective occupant learning about using their homes

The need for quality learning about how to use a home has been an issue gradually emerging from building performance evaluation (BPE) studies carried out in occupied energy efficient homes (Brown & Cole, 2009; Day & Gunderson, 2014). The BPE gap between the internal environment control as intended by designers and the actual inhabitant practices is associated with unpredicted energy consumption and poor indoor air quality (Balvers et al., 2012). The key inhabitant related causes of the ‘performance gap’ are a discrepancy between user needs and design intentions, lack of user understanding and skills to interact with the available controls and insufficient maintenance. These findings indicate that modifying tacit home use practices, adjusting them to new, more technically advanced contexts, is still not sufficiently addressed by the current learning opportunities offered by the professional actors. This paper explores how self-organised closed Facebook Groups set up independently by the residents of two UK case study urban developments have become supportive environments for such learning

From discovering to delivering: a critical reflection on eco-feedback, application design, and participatory research in the United Kingdom

The area of Eco-Feedback has received significant attention in recent years. Whilst there have been increasing calls to move ‘beyond feedback’ and consider the wider social, organisational and cultural context that feedback sits within, the involvement of community members in the design process of eco-feedback applications, known as co-design, has been limited. This study addresses that research gap through working collaboratively with community members to develop an accessible eco-feedback interface. First, we conducted an online survey questionnaire with 151 respondents with distinct socio-economic characteristics and environmental knowledge to get insights into their preferences about different aspects of the eco-feedback interface. Secondly, based on the survey findings, 20 community members living in Nottingham, UK, worked collaboratively to develop interface design proposals. Finally, the design of the eco-feedback interface was finalised based on the community interface prototypes and suggestions. The developed interface contains multiple information panels with options for expanding to gain deeper levels of information and a community space allowing for community interactions and sharing of information and actions. This research sheds new light on the challenges of utilising co-design principles to build eco-feedback interfaces. Specifically, we highlight the potential for interactions between community members during the design stages to allow for the generation of innovative ideas (e.g. Integration of third-party applications) moving the interface beyond feedback leading to greater adoption and energy savings

Meaningful Big Data Integration For a Global COVID-19 Strategy

Abstract With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the novel Meaningful Integration of Data Analytics and Services (MIDAS) platform quickly demonstrates its value, relevance and transferability to this new global crisis. The MIDAS platform enables the connection of a large number of isolated heterogeneous data sources, and combines rich datasets including open and social data, ingesting and preparing these for the application of analytics, monitoring and research tools. These platforms will assist public health author ities in: (i) better understanding the disease and its impact; (ii) monitoring the different aspects of the evolution of the pandemic across a diverse range of groups; (iii) contributing to improved resilience against the impacts of this global crisis; and (iv) enhancing preparedness for future public health emergencies. The model of governance and ethical review, incorporated and defined within MIDAS, also addresses the complex privacy and ethical issues that the developing pandemic has highlighted, allowing oversight and scrutiny of more and richer data sources by users of the system