4,816 research outputs found
Mobilizing the Trump Train: Understanding Collective Action in a Political Trolling Community
Political trolls initiate online discord not only for the lulz (laughs) but
also for ideological reasons, such as promoting their desired political
candidates. Political troll groups recently gained spotlight because they were
considered central in helping Donald Trump win the 2016 US presidential
election, which involved difficult mass mobilizations. Political trolls face
unique challenges as they must build their own communities while simultaneously
disrupting others. However, little is known about how political trolls mobilize
sufficient participation to suddenly become problems for others. We performed a
quantitative longitudinal analysis of more than 16 million comments from one of
the most popular and disruptive political trolling communities, the subreddit
/r/The\_Donald (T\D). We use T_D as a lens to understand participation and
collective action within these deviant spaces. In specific, we first study the
characteristics of the most active participants to uncover what might drive
their sustained participation. Next, we investigate how these active
individuals mobilize their community to action. Through our analysis, we
uncover that the most active employed distinct discursive strategies to
mobilize participation, and deployed technical tools like bots to create a
shared identity and sustain engagement. We conclude by providing data-backed
design implications for designers of civic media
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Both Sides of the Story: Communication Ethics in Mediatized Worlds
Current transformations in the media landscape are challenging contemporary communication and media ethics in at least 2 ways. First, digitization of the media creates new ethical problems that stimulate calls for a redefinition of the norms and values of public communication. Second, new instruments of web-based media observation introduce new possibilities for media (self-)regulation and accountability, thus complementing the initiatives of traditional institutions like press councils. The article retraces those conflicting developments by reference to 2 comparative studies, representing the diverging traditions of conventional communication ethics and media accountability research. In bridging over the conceptual gap between the 2 forms of research, the article develops new perspectives for ethical reflection in the mediatized worlds of the digital ag
Honey Sheets: What Happens to Leaked Google Spreadsheets?
Cloud-based documents are inherently valuable, due to the volume and nature
of sensitive personal and business content stored in them. Despite the
importance of such documents to Internet users, there are still large gaps in
the understanding of what cybercriminals do when they illicitly get access to
them by for example compromising the account credentials they are associated
with. In this paper, we present a system able to monitor user activity on
Google spreadsheets. We populated 5 Google spreadsheets with fake bank account
details and fake funds transfer links. Each spreadsheet was configured to
report details of accesses and clicks on links back to us. To study how people
interact with these spreadsheets in case they are leaked, we posted unique
links pointing to the spreadsheets on a popular paste site. We then monitored
activity in the accounts for 72 days, and observed 165 accesses in total. We
were able to observe interesting modifications to these spreadsheets performed
by illicit accesses. For instance, we observed deletion of some fake bank
account information, in addition to insults and warnings that some visitors
entered in some of the spreadsheets. Our preliminary results show that our
system can be used to shed light on cybercriminal behavior with regards to
leaked online documents
Insights into invasion and restoration ecology : time to collaborate towards a holistic approach to tackle biological invasions
The aim of our study is to provide an integrated framework for the management of alien plant invasions, combining insights and experiences from the fields of invasion and restoration ecology to enable more effective management of invasive species. To determine linkages between the scientific outputs of the two disciplines we used an existing data base on restoration studies between 2000 and 2008 and did a bibliometric analysis. We identified the type of restoration applied, determined by the aim of the study, and conducted a content analysis on 208 selected studies with a link to biological invasions (invasion-restoration studies). We found a total of 1075 articles on ecosystem restoration, with only eight percent of the studies having the main objective to control alien invasions. The content analysis of 208 invasion-restoration studies showed that the majority of the studies focused on causes of degradation other than alien invasions. If invaders were referred to as the main driver of degradation, the prevalent cause for degradation was invaders outcompeting and replacing native species. Mechanical control of alien plant invasions was by far the most common control method used. Measures that went beyond the removal of alien plants were implemented in sixty-five percent of the studies. Although invasion control was not as common as other types of restoration, a closer look at the sub-group of invasion-restoration studies shows a clear link between restoration and invasion ecology. Concerns, as identified in the literature review, are firstly that restoration activities mostly focus on controlling the invader while other underlying causes for degradation are neglected, and secondly that the current approach of dealing with alien invasions lacks a combination of theoretical and practical aspects. We suggest that closer collaboration between invasion and restoration ecologists can help to improve the management of alien plant invasions. We conclude with a framework and a case study from Perth Western Australia integrating the two disciplines, with the aim of informing restoration practice
Creating Chaos Online
Unmasks the disinformation propagated by Russian trolling in public discours
Managing the Ethical Dimensions of Brain-Computer Interfaces in eHealth: An SDLC-based Approach
A growing range of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies is being employed for purposes of therapy and human augmentation. While much thought has been given to the ethical implications of such technologies at the ‘macro’ level of social policy and ‘micro’ level of individual users, little attention has been given to the unique ethical issues that arise during the process of incorporating BCIs into eHealth ecosystems. In this text a conceptual framework is developed that enables the operators of eHealth ecosystems to manage the ethical components of such processes in a more comprehensive and systematic way than has previously been possible. The framework’s first axis defines five ethical dimensions that must be successfully addressed by eHealth ecosystems: 1) beneficence; 2) consent; 3) privacy; 4) equity; and 5) liability. The second axis describes five stages of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) process whereby new technology is incorporated into an eHealth ecosystem: 1) analysis and planning; 2) design, development, and acquisition; 3) integration and activation; 4) operation and maintenance; and 5) disposal. Known ethical issues relating to the deployment of BCIs are mapped onto this matrix in order to demonstrate how it can be employed by the managers of eHealth ecosystems as a tool for fulfilling ethical requirements established by regulatory standards or stakeholders’ expectations. Beyond its immediate application in the case of BCIs, we suggest that this framework may also be utilized beneficially when incorporating other innovative forms of information and communications technology (ICT) into eHealth ecosystems
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