The Absent ‘Thing’ and the Value of Distance – Social media through an Arendtian lens

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From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crisis

Socio-economic data mining has a great potential in terms of gaining a better understanding of problems that our economy and society are facing, such as financial instability, shortages of resources, or conflicts. Without large-scale data mining, progress in these areas seems hard or impossible. Therefore, a suitable, distributed data mining infrastructure and research centers should be built in Europe. It also appears appropriate to build a network of Crisis Observatories. They can be imagined as laboratories devoted to the gathering and processing of enormous volumes of data on both natural systems such as the Earth and its ecosystem, as well as on human techno-socio-economic systems, so as to gain early warnings of impending events. Reality mining provides the chance to adapt more quickly and more accurately to changing situations. Further opportunities arise by individually customized services, which however should be provided in a privacy-respecting way. This requires the development of novel ICT (such as a self- organizing Web), but most likely new legal regulations and suitable institutions as well. As long as such regulations are lacking on a world-wide scale, it is in the public interest that scientists explore what can be done with the huge data available. Big data do have the potential to change or even threaten democratic societies. The same applies to sudden and large-scale failures of ICT systems. Therefore, dealing with data must be done with a large degree of responsibility and care. Self-interests of individuals, companies or institutions have limits, where the public interest is affected, and public interest is not a sufficient justification to violate human rights of individuals. Privacy is a high good, as confidentiality is, and damaging it would have serious side effects for society.Comment: 65 pages, 1 figure, Visioneer White Paper, see http://www.visioneer.ethz.c

How Russian Rap on YouTube Advances Alternative Political Deliberation: Hegemony, Counter- Hegemony, and Emerging Resistant Publics

The late 2010s have seen the unprecedented rise of Russian rap culture on YouTube. This study delves into the unexplored area of the relationship between rap music, politics, and the Internet audience in Russia. It focuses on the analysis of the production of the most popular rap videos—their narratives, power relations, and socio-political themes, as well as the prevailing patterns in the discussion on socio-political issues by the YouTube audience. The study brings three contributions that identify the power relations in the Russian society that manifest in the field of rap music. First, the Russian-speaking users demonstrate a high level of criticality toward the pro-Kremlin rap music on YouTube and challenge the lies of propaganda rap. Second, pro-government rappers follow the Soviet authoritarian ethos and praise belonging to the collective of elites, while liberal ones adhere to the individual responsibility. Third, we demonstrate the prevalence of patriarchal gender values, including macho politics and unquestioned sexism, which are representative of gender politics in the country. This article proves the importance of socio-political commentary on YouTube and points to the rap videos as the popular hubs for the socio-political debates. Users flow to rap videos and utilize the comment section to have their say on the political context and power relations rather than the music, to engage with others, and to contribute to the emerging collective debate. The comment sections on these rap videos have a unique value for the Russian users who exploit them as the negotiation space in the void of other platforms for social dialogue in Russia

The obsolescence of politics: Rereading Günther Anders’s critique of cybernetic governance and integral power in the digital age

Following media-theoretical studies that have characterized digitization as a process of all-encompassing cybernetization, this paper will examine the timely and critical potential of Günther Anders’s oeuvre vis-à-vis the ever-increasing power of cybernetic devices and networks. Anders has witnessed and negotiated the process of cybernetization from its very beginning, having criticized its tendency to automate and expand, as well as its circular logic and ‘integral power’, including disruptive consequences for the constitution of the political and the social. In this vein, Anders’s works, particularly his magnum opus Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen [The Obsolescence of Man], sheds new light on the technologically organized milieus of the contemporary digital regime and also highlights a new form of cybernetic ‘conformism’. The goal of the essay is therefore, not only to emphasize the contemporary nature of Anders’s thought but also to use it to frame a critique of current neo-technocratic and, ultimately, post-political concepts, such as ‘algorithmic regulation’, ‘smart states’, ‘direct technocracy’, and ‘government as platform’. This essay argues that cybernetic capitalism is causing what Anders terms ‘Unfestgelegtheit’ to disappear; that is, we are losing the originary possibility of technologically (re-)structuring our world in alternative ways, particularly given the determinist character of current technologies.Peer Reviewe

The influence of online-user generated reviews on portuguese travellers´ decision-making process

difusão de novas ferramentas de comunicação, como o Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), facilitou a interação com conteúdo online. Os comentários online, uma das suas formas, são maioritariamente utilizados para informar consumidores, sendo particularmente relevantes em tomadas de decisão turística, como provado por investigações prévias. Nesta dissertação, centrámo-nos em turistas Portugueses para perceber a influência de comentários com diferente valência no seu comportamento. Adereçando as questões iniciais (RQs), foi desenvolvido um design experimental: os participantes foram expostos a comentários predominantemente positivos (PPR) ou predominantemente negativos (PNR). Os dados analisados focaram o efeito na atitude relativamente a um hotel (ATH) e intenções de reserva (BI), considerando a influência da conformidade dos indivíduos ao longo de diferentes momentos de planeamento turístico: Fase Inicial (IS) e Fase Tardia (LS). No total, foram analisadas 302 respostas. Concluiu-se que os PPR e PNR influenciam diferentemente a ATH e BI dos turistas, considerando momentos distintos de planeamento turístico. Em ambos os momentos, o efeito da valência demonstrou-se mais influente em indivíduos com elevado nível de conformidade. Os resultados são relevantes para empresas turísticas, principalmente hotéis, pois evidenciam os benefícios e as consequências que o eWOM pode ter na sua performance. Limitações são explicadas e sugestões para investigação futura são indicadas.The diffusion of new communication tools, such as Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), facilitated the engagement with online content. One of its forms, online reviews, is mainly used to inform customers, being particularly relevant concerning travellers’ decision-making process, as proven by previous research. In this dissertation, Portuguese travellers were targeted to understand how their behaviours change when exposed to differently valenced reviews. In order to address the Research Questions (RQs), an experimental design was implemented: the participants were exposed to predominantly positive (PPR) or predominantly negative reviews (PNR). The data was analysed for the effects on attitude towards a hotel (ATH) and booking intentions (BI), considering the influence of individuals’ conformity along different travel planning moments: Initial Stage (IS) and Later Stage (LS). In total, 302 answers were analysed. It was concluded that PPR and PNR differently influence travellers’ ATH and BI, considering distinct travel planning moments. At both moments, the effect of valence was more influential concerning individuals that were high in conformity. The findings are relevant to touristic companies, particularly to hotels, since they evince the benefits and the damages eWOM may generate on their performance. Limitations are explained and suggestions for future research are indicated

Biases in scholarly recommender systems: impact, prevalence, and mitigation

We create a simulated financial market and examine the effect of different levels of active and passive investment on fundamental market efficiency. In our simulated market, active, passive, and random investors interact with each other through issuing orders. Active and passive investors select their portfolio weights by optimizing Markowitz-based utility functions. We find that higher fractions of active investment within a market lead to an increased fundamental market efficiency. The marginal increase in fundamental market efficiency per additional active investor is lower in markets with higher levels of active investment. Furthermore, we find that a large fraction of passive investors within a market may facilitate technical price bubbles, resulting in market failure. By examining the effect of specific parameters on market outcomes, we find that that lower transaction costs, lower individual forecasting errors of active investors, and less restrictive portfolio constraints tend to increase fundamental market efficiency in the market

From social data mining to forecasting socio-economic crises

Abstract.: The purpose of this White Paper of the EU Support Action "Visioneer”(see www.visioneer.ethz.ch) is to address the following goals: 1. Develop strategies to quickly increase the objective knowledge about social and economic systems. 2. Describe requirements for efficient large-scale scientific data mining of anonymized social and economic data. 3. Formulate strategies how to collect stylized facts extracted from large data set. 4. Sketch ways how to successfully build up centers for computational social science. 5. Propose plans how to create centers for risk analysis and crisis forecasting. 6. Elaborate ethical standards regarding the storage, processing, evaluation, and publication of social and economic dat

Illiquidity and all its Friends

The recent crisis was characterized by massive illiquidity. This paper reviews what we know and don't know about illiquidity and all its friends: market freezes, fire sales, contagion, and ultimately insolvencies and bailouts. It first explains why liquidity cannot easily be apprehended through a single statistics, and asks whether liquidity should be regulated given that a capital adequacy requirement is already in place. The paper then analyzes market breakdowns due to either adverse selection or shortages of financial muscle, and explains why such breakdowns are endogenous to balance sheet choices and to information acquisition. It then looks at what economics can contribute to the debate on systemic risk and its containment. Finally, the paper takes a macroeconomic perspective, discusses shortages of aggregate liquidity and analyses how market value accounting and capital adequacy should react to asset prices. It concludes with a topical form of liquidity provision, monetary bailouts and recapitalizations, and analyses optimal combinations thereof; it stresses the need for macro-prudential policies.Liquidity, Contagion, Bailouts, Regulation

CEO succession processes and agency costs

In the \u27passing the baton\u27 succession process, the incumbent CEO/Chairman relinquishes the CEO title, but retains the Chairman title to facilitate monitoring the new CEO during a probationary period. The new CEO eventually wins the Chairman title if he is successful during the probationary period. We argue that this type of succession process can lead to managerial conformism and conservatism because reputation concerns give the retiring CEO incentives to pressure the new CEO to continue existing policies and to avoid making major changes that could substantially improve performance or increase firm value. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find no changes in operating performance, abnormal stock returns, or the number of policy decisions the new CEO makes during his probationary period, but significant increases in all of these measures after the probationary period ends. Managerial entrenchment exacerbates succession-securing behavior during the probationary period, while effective monitoring and control mitigate it

Des festivals de cinéma en ligne : nouvelles perspectives pour les festivals de film sur Internet

International audienc