(In)Appropriate Online Behavior

This descriptive and comprehensive study on the discursive struggle over interpersonal relations in online message boards is located at the fascinating interface of pragmatics and computer-mediated discourse – a research area which has so far not attracted much scientific interest. It sets out to shed light on the question how interpersonal relations are established, managed and negotiated in online message boards by giving a valid overview of the entire panoply of interpersonal relations (and their interrelations), including both positively and negatively marked behavior. With the first part of the book providing an in-depth discussion and refinement of the pivotal theoretical positions of both fields of research, students as well as professionals are (re-)acquainted with the subject at hand. Thus supplying a framework for the ensuing case study, the empirical part displays the results of the analysis of 50 threads (ca. 300,000 words) of a popular British message board

The effect of embodied agents within the user interface

The thesis explores the trend in recent years by HCI designers to create an interface which is increasingly more anthropomorphic in nature, due to advances in computer graphics and interface technologies. The thesis has researched the effects of one such manifestation of this anthropomorphic trend on the human user, which embodies the human persona, in the form of embodied agents. The thesis is anchored in the growing area of human-agent interaction studies; and how the agent's appearance in terms of their visual cues (i.e. gender, ethnicity, realism, and attractiveness levels), affects the human user interacting with these artificial entities. The aim of this thesis is to explore how the agents' visual appearance can elicit change in the user's perception and behaviour, in order to improve human-agent design, and the interaction experience for the user. The thesis extends HCI studies investigating the effect of embodied agents, by highlighting the effect of the attractiveness stereotype which can elicit various impressions, stereotypes and behavioural changes within the human user. The thesis results demonstrate that attractive agents were perceived and evaluated more positively, as well being more persuasive than the unattractive agents. Hence, the agents' attractiveness was the main visual cue which played a major role in affecting the participants' opinion and behaviour towards the agents. The thesis advances the current understanding of CASA, by providing evidence to suggest that although users may respond socially to agents; this human-agent experience is not always equal to human-human experience. The thesis concludes by stating that the CASA methodology and Media Equation require some modification and needs to be adapted when applied to human-agent interaction, and especially within the interaction-based context.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Misogynistic Hate Speech on Social Networks: a Critical Discourse Analysis

The present dissertation aims at recognising online misogyny as a form of hate speech, by providing a qualitative analysis of this discourse on Twitter and Facebook. While recent reports in media coverage have revealed that sexist harassment is the most pervasive social problem on Web 2.0, much scholarly research has mainly focused on other types of hate speech (e.g., racist and xenophobic vilification), overlooking the seriousness of misogynistic verbal abuse. The multilayered impact of misogynous discourse on women’s lives shows the urgent need to recognise gender-based prejudice as a form of hate speech, and to provide a more thorough and updated theorisation of this phenomenon. For this reason, the present dissertation suggests considering online misogyny as a harmful speech act which employs different tactics and discursive strategies to harass and silence women who engage in online public conversation. Following the methodology of feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, it develops an extensive qualitative study of the abuse experienced online by six women who reside in three different countries (i.e., Australia, Italy, and the USA). By analysing the discursive strategies commonly employed in user-generated contents to reaffirm hegemonic patriarchal ideologies and fixed gender identities, this dissertation also examines the entanglement between gender prejudice and other types of discrimination (i.e., racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and ageism), and it identifies the articulation of online misogynistic hate speech through a series of tactics which harm women’s lives on multiple levels. Therefore, it presents a taxonomy of these impacts through a new model that was specifically developed for the research at issue, and that will hopefully guide future research on misogynistic hate speech. In conclusion, this study argues for the development of effective educational tools to tackle sexist hate speech online, to guarantee women’s digital citizenship, and to promote a more respectful conversation in cyberspace

ICT-driven interactions: on the dynamics of mediated control

Interactions driven by Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have gained significant acceptance and momentum in contemporary organisational settings, this is illustrated by their massive adoption and varied deployment across the various levels of an organisation’s hierarchy. ICTs such as mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), videoconferencing, BlackBerries and other forms of portable and immovable computing technologies provide enduring bases for mediated interactions in human activities. This thesis looks into the dynamics of ICT-driven interactions and, distinctively, focuses on the manifestations and implications of mediated control in a collaborative environment. The study draws on the concept of administrative behaviour which leads to the observation that the nature of mediated control is not static, but evolutionarily dynamic that springs from highly unpredictable contexts of work. Thus, interactions driven by ICTs influence and change the dynamics of mediated control against the background of the rhythm, structure and direction of an organisation’s purposeful undertakings. Findings indicate, quite paradoxically, that networks set up through the instrumentality of technology mediated interaction discourage domination and inspire individual discretion in spite of their promise of electronic chains. The analysis reflects the notion that mediated control is not only about the predetermination of targets that are attained at the subordinate level. Indeed, the study advocates a fundamental conceptualisation of mediated control as double-sided concept, integrating the use of discretion that, occasionally, makes subordinates drive and initiate key control techniques that steer organisational life. Therefore, through the application of philosophical hermeneutics for a rigorous data interpretation, this study develops an innovative and holistic understanding of mediated control which not only adds to, but also extends, the current organisational perception of control by the incorporation of discretion and, in the process, makes a distinctive contribution to scholarship

Studying online support communities: Investigating network patterns and characteristics of social support

People’s activities on the internet have expanded from mainly retrieving information to communicating with each other in virtual settings. Thus, research investigating social interactions in online communities is becoming more and more important. However, the multi-faceted approaches of existing studies for the analysis of online communities make it difficult to combine the findings into a comprehensive understanding. This shows the need for holistic investigations of online communities. This thesis provides such a holistic approach by investigating a combination of different aspects of a selected online support community for older people. MOSuC (Model of Online Support Communities), a model describing the key aspects of online support communities was developed based on existing theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) as well as theoretical perspectives on social support. Five studies were conducted, each addressing one of the different aspects of the case study community: (i) the message content, (ii) the conversations structure, (iii) the social network of related community members, (iv) the roles that online community members take on, and (vi) the taget population’s needs concerning the exchange of social support in online communities. The findings of these individual studies were then combined in context of MOSuC in order to provide a holistic description of the community. As a result, this thesis provides detailed insight into the characteristics of the case study community as well as the interplay and dependencies between different aspects of the community. Based on the integration of multiple studies, the thesis sheds light on two main issues: the characteristics of the individual aspects of the community as well as how these aspects are related to and affect each other. In addition to the findings of the studies, the thesis also contributes MOSuC, which serves both as a theoretical framework of the aspects of online support communities, as well as a practical tool for integrating the individual studies. In addition, the application, modification and integration of multiple methods in this thesis provide a novel methodological way for an integrative analysis of online support communities

Recreational nastiness or playful mischief? Contrasting perspectives on internet trolling between news media and avid internet users

The term “internet trolling” has come to encompass a wide range of disparate behaviours: ranging from abusive speech and computer hacking to sarcastic humour and friendly teasing. While some of these behaviours are clearly antisocial and, in extreme cases, criminal, others are harmless and can even be prosocial. Previous studies have shown that self-identified internet trollers tend to credit internet trolling’s poor reputation to misunderstanding and overreaction from people unfamiliar with internet culture and humour, whereas critics of trolling have argued that the term has been used to downplay and gloss over problematic transgressive behaviour. As the internet has come to dominate much of our everyday lives as a place of work, play, learn, and connection with other people, it is imperative that harmful trolling behaviours can be identified and managed in nuanced ways that do not unnecessarily suppress harmless activities. This thesis disambiguates some of the competing and contrary ideas about internet trolling by comparing perceptions of trolling drawn from two sources in two studies. Study 1 was a content analysis of 240 articles sampled from 11 years of English language news articles mentioning internet trolling to establish a ”mainstream” perspective. Study 2 was a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 20 participants who self-identified as avid internet users familiar with internet trolling as part of their everyday internet use. Study 1 found that 97% of the news articles portrayed internet trolling in a negative light, with reporting about harassment and online hostility being the most common. By contrast, Study 2 found that 30% of the 20 participants held mostly positive views of trolling, 25% mostly negative, and 45% were ambivalent. Analysis of these two studies reveal four characteristics of internet trolling interactions which can serve as a framework for evaluating potential risk of harm: 1) targetedness, 2) embodiedness, 3) ability to disengage, and 4) troller intent. This thesis argues that debate over the definition of “trolling” is not useful for the purposes of addressing online harm. Instead, the proposed framework can be used to identify harmful online behaviours, regardless of what they are called

Distortions in the digital looking glass: Information and communication technologies and bodily self-conceptions in men seeking men

Internet-enabled information and communication technology (ICT) use has become so diffuse as to be considered a hallmark of modern life. Between 2000 and 2019, the proportion of US adults who reported using some kind of Internet-enabled device skyrocketed from 52% to 90%. Sexual and gender minorities, particularly gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), are especially keen adopters of certain types of ICT like social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and location-based real-time dating apps (LBRTDAs) (e.g., Grindr, Tinder, Bumble) due to the possibilities they afford for circumventing various cultural, geographical, and legal barriers to forging interpersonal connections. However, use of such technologies is associated with adverse bodily self-awareness, including body dissatisfaction, body shame, and appearance preoccupation, as well as maladaptive body behaviours. To date, insufficient effort has been made to derive a mechanistic explanation for the relationship between ICT use and bodily self-conceptions in GBMSM. The overarching purpose of this dissertation research is to investigate how use of certain popular Internet-enabled ICTs, including social media and LBRTDAs, influences bodily self- conceptions in GBMSM – a group who are not only particularly keen adopters of such technologies, but are disproportionately burdened by issues of body consciousness. The effort is spread across four studies, each of which address more specific questions and/or particular facets of this broad phenomenon. Generally, the works included in this dissertation adopt a symbolic interactionist, qualitative methodological approach based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive and theoretical sample of ICT-using GBMSM. When taken together, the findings illustrate a jointly-constructed standard among contemporary North American GBMSM that elevates the body as something to be perfected for aesthetic and sexual consumption, and frames as ideal the White, fair-skinned, trimmed or hairless, muscular-mesomorphic, cisgender, able body. In terms of their influence on individuals’ bodily self-conceptions, ICTs like social media and LBRTDAs function as another medium for sociocultural influence, which is to say, a platform through which individuals can be exposed to social behaviours that reflect and (re)constitute the prevailing standards. Where ICTs differ from in-person interaction as to have a demonstrable, largely deleterious effect on users’ body attitudes is with respect to how frequently and intensively the subject is confronted with the standard. Receipt of appearance-related feedback, comparison against particular others, and switching of conscious attention to the embodied self are phenomena that similarly induce comparison against the standard and which occur more often and/or to greater effect online. This is partly a consequence of changes to human behavioural routines stemming from perception of technological affordance, many of which relate to self-presentation, or the deliberate attempting to influence others’ perceptions of oneself. These include, inter alia, feelings of disinhibition to behave in otherwise face-threatening ways, which embolden critical appearance-focused commentary, as well as the potential for enhancement of the self-image beyond what is possible offline, which prompts reflection on one’s own imperfections and makes onlookers feel even more inadequate by comparison. However, these effects inevitably also come into tension with the human agency of the user, hence why the psychological outcomes of ICT use are neither total nor uniform. Users can resist to compare themselves to the standard as reflected by others’ behaviour, critique the prevailing standard, and/or internalize all manner of alternative standards according to their goals and values. The included works make numerous substantive, theoretical, and methodological contributions to the literature. Study 1 is the first to provide any kind of theoretical framework that explains how use of social media and LBRTDAs influences bodily self-conceptions in GBMSM; studies 2 and 4 to empirically investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between LBRTDA use and bodily self-conceptions in GBMSM; study 3 to examine GBMSM’s self-presentation behaviour on ICTs by exploring interactions between determinants of impression construction; and study 4 to empirically investigate how self-presentation behaviour as such influences bodily self-conceptions of ICT users in general, let alone LBRTDA-using GBMSM. The implications of the included works for public discourse, policy, industry, and health promotion practice are legion

Online news commenting platforms as space for democratic deliberation : a study of selected Nigerian online news websites

News commenting has become part of the features of online news sites in Nigeria, providing space for readers to express their views on news content and to engage with other readers in discussion. Over time, these commenting sections have become a space for the exchange of acerbic and, beyond that, extreme comments. On the one hand, online news commenting is seen as one of the democratic features the internet offers as well as making the audience active within the chain of news production (Trygg, 2012a). On the other hand, it is a source of concern because it sometimes serves as a platform for offensive and uncivil behaviours among the audience (Hlavach & Freivogel, 2011). In Nigeria, the popularity of comments sections of online news media is rising as people now have access to news on the move through their smartphones. A core question arising from this is: does the online comments’ space contribute to the development of a democratic sphere for rational and critical discourse among readers? This thesis investigates online news readers’ comments in Nigeria, and in the process considers the extent to which they constitute an online public sphere based on the initial definition provided by Habermas (1991). The study applied a mixed-method research approach combining qualitative and quantitative content analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The content analysis analysed news headlines and comments from four selected online newspaper platforms. Semi-structured interviews engaged participants, who include journalists, politicians, and ordinary citizens who read news online and participate in online deliberation. The survey method adopted an online survey which elicited 228 respondents. Conceptually, to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon of news commenting as a space for democratic discussion, the research combines public sphere and critical political-economic theories as to its analytical framework. The thesis argues based on the evidence of data collected and analysed that an online public sphere exists in Nigeria. However, it is dysfunctional because deliberations within the sphere are not rational and critical of the subject of discourse, most of the time. The deliberative space is restricted as participation requires literacy and technological skills and resources, thereby excluding many Nigerians who are not literate in the use of the gadgets and are illiterate in the use of English- the language of interaction. A key finding of the research is that the production of texts and meaning and conversation around them within the deliberative area is conditioned by ethnic and religious sentiments and grounded in the news content provided by the news platforms already influenced by specific political and economic imperatives