If you build it, will they come? How researchers perceive and use web 2.0

Over the past 15 years, the web has transformed the way we seek and use information. In the last 5 years in particular a set of innovative techniques – collectively termed ‘web 2.0’ – have enabled people to become producers as well as consumers of information. It has been suggested that these relatively easy-to-use tools, and the behaviours which underpin their use, have enormous potential for scholarly researchers, enabling them to communicate their research and its findings more rapidly, broadly and effectively than ever before. This report is based on a study commissioned by the Research Information Network to investigate whether such aspirations are being realised. It seeks to improve our currently limited understanding of whether, and if so how, researchers are making use of various web 2.0 tools in the course of their work, the factors that encourage or inhibit adoption, and researchers’ attitudes towards web 2.0 and other forms of communication. Context: How researchers communicate their work and their findings varies in different subjects or disciplines, and in different institutional settings. Such differences have a strong influence on how researchers approach the adoption – or not – of new information and communications technologies. It is also important to stress that ‘web 2.0’ encompasses a wide range of interactions between technologies and social practices which allow web users to generate, repurpose and share content with each other. We focus in this study on a range of generic tools – wikis, blogs and some social networking systems – as well as those designed specifically by and for people within the scholarly community. Method: Our study was designed not only to capture current attitudes and patterns of adoption but also to identify researchers’ needs and aspirations, and problems that they encounter. We began with an online survey, which collected information about researchers’ information gathering and dissemination habits and their attitudes towards web 2.0. This was followed by in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a stratified sample of survey respondents to explore in more depth their experience of web 2.0, including perceived barriers as well as drivers to adoption. Finally, we undertook five case studies of web 2.0 services to investigate their development and adoption across different communities and business models. Key findings: Our study indicates that a majority of researchers are making at least occasional use of one or more web 2.0 tools or services for purposes related to their research: for communicating their work; for developing and sustaining networks and collaborations; or for finding out about what others are doing. But frequent or intensive use is rare, and some researchers regard blogs, wikis and other novel forms of communication as a waste of time or even dangerous. In deciding if they will make web 2.0 tools and services part of their everyday practice, the key questions for researchers are the benefits they may secure from doing so, and how it fits with their use of established services. Researchers who use web 2.0 tools and services do not see them as comparable to or substitutes for other channels and means of communication, but as having their own distinctive role for specific purposes and at particular stages of research. And frequent use of one kind of tool does not imply frequent use of others as well

The Power of Related Articles – Improving Fake News Detection on Social Media Platforms

Social media is increasingly used as a platform for news consumption, but it has also become a breeding ground for fake news. This serious threat poses significant challenges to social media providers, society, and science. Several studies have investigated automated approaches to fighting fake news, but little has been done to improve fake news detection on the users’ side. A simple but promising approach could be to broaden users\u27 knowledge to improve the perceptual process, which will improve detection behavior. This study evaluates the impact of a digital nudging approach which aims to fight fake news with the help of related articles. 322 participants took part in an online experiment simulating the Facebook Newsfeed. In addition to a control group, three treatment groups were exposed to different combinations of related articles. Results indicate that the presence of controversial related articles has a positive influence on the detection of fake news

Uso de Regressão Logística para Modelar e Avaliar a Credibilidade em Aplicações Web

A popularização das aplicações Web tem feito surgir novos serviços acada dia, demandado mecanismos que assegurem a credibilidade desses servi-ços. Neste trabalho utilizamos regressão logística para modelar e avaliar a cre-dibilidade de um serviço da Web, considerando diferentes critérios associadosao serviço e seus fornecedores. A fim de validar nossa metodologia, executamosexperimentos usando uma base de dados real, a partir da qual avaliamos essesmodelos de credibilidade. Os resultados obtidos são muito bons, apresentandoganhos representativos, quando comparados à linha-de-base, mostrando assimque a metodologia proposta é promissora e pode ser usada para fortalecer aconfiança dos usuários nos serviços providos na Web

Keeping Social Media Influencers Influential: Preserving Perceptions of Authenticity While Brand Dropping

Marketers’ use of social media influencers (SMIs)—individuals who use various social media channels to discuss a particular topic (e.g., fashion, health) or offer entertainment (e.g., comedy) and, in doing so, attract followers—to promote products, known as “influencer marketing,” is a widely employed and effective strategic tool (Linqia 2018). In fact, SMIs, who can be conceptualized as human brands (Thompson 2006), have a greater audience reach and dialogue generation compared to that of celebrities (Crimson Hexagon 2015). Further, consumers perceive SMIs’ content as trustworthy (Scott 2015), which is likely due to them being perceived as highly authentic. According to Audrezet, de Kerviler and Moulard (2018) SMIs use strategies to remain passionately authentic and transparently authentic. Despite their popularity and perceived trustworthiness, SMIs face a challenge when they mention, recommend, or endorse brands within their digital content. Doing so may lead to perceptions that the influencer is passionately inauthentic, as consumers may presume these acts to be commercially driven. Thus, by incorporating influencer marketing, SMIs may compromise their perceived passionate authenticity. When SMIs mention brands within their digital content, they sometimes choose to infer whether or not they have a business relationship with the brand via a disclosure. SMIs’ means of, or choice of wording for disclosures varies. Therefore, consumers will likely perceive SMIs as more transparently authentic when SMIs disclose unambiguously, since doing so implies complete forthrightness. SMIs are now required to disclose, or explicitly mention when they were paid to promote a brand (Johnson 2017). However, the FTC’s rules are somewhat ambiguous and perhaps unfair. Therefore, SMIs may or may not be explicitly disclosing their true relationship with brands they post about due to the sheer uncertainty and/or unfairness inherent in the FTC’s endorsement guidance (FTC 2015). SMIs who explicitly disclose are presumably perceived as possessing high transparent authenticity; however, such explicit disclosures presumably result in consumer perceptions of low passionate authenticity. This brings about a challenge to SMIs who partner with brands. This dissertation will answer the following question: How can social media influencers manage consumers’ perceptions of their human brand authenticity while engaging in influencer marketing

Monument Monitor: using citizen science to preserve heritage

This research demonstrates how data collected by citizen scientists can act as a valuable resource for heritage managers. It establishes to what extent visitors’ photographs can be used to assist in aspects of condition monitoring focusing on biological and plant growth, erosion, stone/mortar movement, water ingress/pooling and antisocial behaviour. This thesis describes the methodology and outcomes of Monument Monitor (MM), a project set up in collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) that requested visitors at selected Scottish heritage sites to submit photographs of their visit. Across twenty case study sites participants were asked to record evidence of a variety of conservation issues. Patterns of contributions to the project are presented alongside key stakeholder feedback, which show how MM was received and where data collection excelled. Alongside this, the software built to manage and sort submissions is presented as a scalable methodology for the collection of citizen generated data of heritage sites. To demonstrate the applicability of citizen generated data for in depth monitoring and analysis, an environmental model is created using the submissions from one case study which predicts the effect of the changing climate at the site between 1980 - 2080. Machine Learning (ML) is used to analyse submitted data in both classification and segmentation tasks. This application demonstrates the validity of utilising ML tools to assist in the analysis and categorising of volunteer submitted photographs. The outcome of this PhD is a scalable methodology with which conservation staff can use visitor submitted images as an evidence-base to support them in the management of heritage sites