A data-driven analysis to question epidemic models for citation cascades on the blogosphere

Citation cascades in blog networks are often considered as traces of information spreading on this social medium. In this work, we question this point of view using both a structural and semantic analysis of five months activity of the most representative blogs of the french-speaking community.Statistical measures reveal that our dataset shares many features with those that can be found in the literature, suggesting the existence of an identical underlying process. However, a closer analysis of the post content indicates that the popular epidemic-like descriptions of cascades are misleading in this context.A basic model, taking only into account the behavior of bloggers and their restricted social network, accounts for several important statistical features of the data.These arguments support the idea that citations primary goal may not be information spreading on the blogosphere.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, to be published in ICWSM-13 proceeding

Web + Data Mining: Web Mining

Zusammenfassung: Dieser Beitrag gibt eine kurze Beschreibung, was unter dem Begriff Web Mining zu verstehen ist und wie Webdaten mit gängigen Data-Mining-Techniken kombiniert werden können, um das Web besser als Informationsquelle nutzbar zu machen. Des Weiteren wird ein Überblick über die gängigen Hauptachsen gegeben, entlang derer die meisten aktuellen Entwicklungen stattfinden. Diese Ausführungen werden mit einem Ausblick auf mögliche zukünftige Entwicklungen abgeschlossen, die vor allem durch die neusten Trends in der Benutzung des World Wide Web vorgezeichnet sin

Characterizing the portuguese blogosphere

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Social media as a source of information and misinformation on the example of the Notre Dame fire

Cel: Celem artykułu jest analiza aktywności użytkowników indywidualnych, instytucji i organizacji w mediach społecznościowych w kontekście pożaru katedry Notre Dame. Przedstawiono główne zagrożenia związane z wykorzystaniem tego typu narzędzi w komunikacji kryzysowej ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem propagowania informacji i dezinformacji. Wprowadzenie: Rozwój mediów (platform) społecznościowych w ogólnoświatowej sieci Internet sprawił, że są one uznawane za narzędzie powszechnie wykorzystywane przez różnego typu organizacje prywatne, administrację publiczną oraz służby. Używanie tego medium daje duże możliwości w procesie przekazywania bieżących informacji, sprawnego komunikowania się ze społecznością lokalną, budowania pozytywnych relacji i kreowania wizerunku organizacji. Media społecznościowe (social media) są także wykorzystywane przez administrację rządową oraz służby ratownicze wielu krajów w czasie każdej z czterech faz zarządzania kryzysowego (zapobieganie, przygotowanie, reagowanie, odbudowa). Technologie informacyjno-komunikacyjne oraz media społecznościowe odgrywają istotną rolę w rzeczywistości otaczającej współczesnego człowieka, towarzyszą mu w wielu dziedzinach życia i są wręcz jego nieodłączną częścią. Pożar katedry Notre Dame w 2019 roku był szeroko komentowany w mediach społecznościowych. Dotychczasowe tradycyjne metody komunikacji, takie jak prasa, telewizja czy też radio, mają istotne ograniczenia polegające na braku możliwości interakcji z odbiorcą. Wyłącznie osoba tworząca komunikat mogła być nadawcą. Internet, a w szczególności media społecznościowe, diametralnie zmienił ten stan rzeczy, dając odbiorcom możliwość interakcji z osobami/instytucjami generującymi treść. Metodologia: W niniejszym artykule wykorzystano metodę analizy literaturowej w zakresie rozwoju sieci Web 1.0 - Web 3.0 oraz przebiegu pożaru katedry Notre Dame. Analizy statystycznej dokonano za pomocą Google Trends. W pracy wskazane zostały aktywności użytkowników w mediach społecznościowych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem aspektów związanych ze skuteczną działalnością służb ratowniczych. Wnioski: Rola mediów społecznościowych w sytuacjach kryzysowych nie jest zamknięta, a wręcz przeciwnie – jest rozwojowa i można spodziewać się, że z biegiem czasu będzie wykorzystywana w coraz szerszym zakresie, także w przypadkach, takich jak pożary i inne zagrożenia dla dóbr kultury. Autorzy postulują prowadzenie dalszych badań w zakresie zachowania się użytkowników, grup oraz całego portalu.Purpose: The aim of this article is to analyse the activity of individual users, institutions and organisations in social media in the context of the fire in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The main threats of using this type of tools in crisis communication are presented, with particular emphasis on the propagation of information and disinformation. Introduction: The development of social media (platforms) in the global Internet means that they have become a tool commonly used by various types of private organisations, public administration and services. Using this medium gives great opportunities in the process of providing current information, efficient communication with the local community, building positive relations and creating a positive image of the organisation. Social media are also used by the government administration and emergency services of many countries during each of the four phases of crisis management (mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery). Information and communication technologies together with social media play an important role in contemporary people’s lives. They constitute an important part of everyday reality and are intrinsically related to it. The fire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 was widely commented on social media. The existing traditional methods of communication, such as press, television or radio, have significant limitations consisting in the inability to interact with the media users. Only the person who created the information could be the broadcaster. The internet, and social media in particular, has changed dramatically this state of affairs, giving recipients the opportunity to interact with people/institutions generating content. Methodology: The method applied in the article is that of literature review in the area of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0 development as well as the course of the fire of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Statistical analysis was performed using Google Trends. The paper indicates the main sources of opportunities and threats to users' activity in social media, with particular emphasis on the aspects related to the efficient operation of emergency services. Conclusions: The role of social media in crisis situations has not yet been established. It is evolving and it can be expected that with time it will be used to an increasing extent also in cases such as fires and other threats to cultural goods. The authors recommend further research on the behaviour of users of social networking sites, groups and the entire portal

'Mah LOLthesis let me show u it': The (re)making and circulation of participatory culture: memes, creativity and networks

Internet memes have become ubiquitous in our everyday experiences, both online and offline, permeating a variety of fields; not only are they prevalent in our communications among friends and strangers, they are also present in our political, commercial and cultural experiences. Memes are collective exercises in meaning making and creativity made both inter-personally and globally through sharing, which is built into the craft-like ethos of internet philosophy. Alternative 20th century strategies (e.g. collage, détournement, culture jamming) underlie much of current online interaction, embodying collaborative cultural practices - currently enabled by the accessibility to remix technology - that echo previous movements (e.g. punk, craft, Situationists International). Online memes are the intersection between participatory culture, remixing and intercreativity. Whilst literacy of formal aspects might lead to exclusivity, the low level of literacy required to engage with memes makes global access possible. However, this democratic potential might be threatened by the recuperation process that inhibits memes’ ability to perform counter-cultural roles, as wide circulation of memes has led to re-appropriations by politicians and commercial advertising. This thesis maps out meme use in a multitude of arenas including: politics (online debate and in protests), commerce (merchandise, use in advertising), and other cultural spaces (from LOLcat art to Lolita subculture). Additionally it follows the unfolding of the Doge meme closely across these spheres, providing insight into phenomena such as Dogecoin tipping and mass charitable actions performed under this meme. Ultimately, memes are successfully used across various groups and types of relationships (although at times met with some resistance), as their elasticity is able to accommodate the incarnations that place value upon spreadable meaning on a global scale

A model of essential factors for e-government crowdsourcing initiatives

Crowdsourcing using web technologies accesses the potential of a large network of people who respond to an 'open call'. Successful commercial implementations of crowdsourcing have succeeded in mobilising a large number of participants and leveraging these 'crowds' as a source of ideas, and for problem solving (Geiger et al., 2011, Howe, 2006). While governments perceive citizens as being apathetic when it comes to political participation, the citizen perspective is that their participation is "spectator politics where ordinary people have mostly become endorcees of pre-designed planning programmes" (Williams, 2006, p. 197). Part of the reason for the lack of participation could be due to the increasing complexity of governing and the absence of alternative, more inclusive methods of participation. Brabham (2009) has advocated for the use of crowdsourcing in the public sector as a possible means of increasing public participation, and for governments to access citizens as a source of ideas and solutions. However within e-Government there is a lack of knowledge regarding the implementation of crowdsourcing platforms (Koch & Brunswicker, 2011). The main research questions addressed in this study is: Which crowdsourcing factors are applicable and appropriate for government crowdsourcing implementations, so that citizens would be motivated to participate in such initiatives? As crowdsourcing lacks a theoretical and conceptual foundation (Pedersen et al., 2013, Geiger et al., 2011) a conceptual model for government crowdsourcing implementations is developed and tested. The model uses Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to examine citizen motivation and the influence of incentives or rewards on participation. The model also addresses system factors such as task clarity and types, management, and feedback. The model also includes effort, performance expectancy, as well as behavioural intention from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

Will Nano-Butlers Work for Micro-Payments? Innovation in Business Services Model may Reduce Cost of Delivering Global Healthcare Services

This paper represents an emerging view of personalized care and patient-centric systems approach. It integrates biomedical informatics and business services. A potentially innovative model may evolve from this convergence and may serve as a global template to reduce cost of service. The future of global healthcare may increasingly rely on “sense and then, respond” systems but excluding the instances of exception management, necessary for accidents and emergencies. Solutions suggested in this paper are neither complete nor a panacea but are elements that deserve inclusion in the delivery of healthcare that may combine a portfolio of approaches to suit the needs of the community. As a potential future direction to improve analytics in healthcare, the concept of molecular semantics is proposed

Resultatmåling av markedskommunikasjon på sosiale medier: norske konsulenters perspektiv

Denne bacheloroppgaven tar for seg resultatmåling av markedskommunikasjon på sosiale medier. Ut i fra egne erfaringer og det inntrykket vi har fått av teorien, viser det seg at det finnes lite kunnskap om hvordan resultatmålingsprosesser bør foregå. Med dette som bakgrunn ønsker vi å ta for oss følgende problemstilling: ”Hvordan kan bedrifter måle resultater av markedskommunikasjon på sosiale medier: norske konsulenters perspektiv” I litteratursøket ble det tatt utgangspunkt i tradisjonelle teorier om resultatmåling, markedskommunikasjon og sosiale medier, men også nyere teorier om resultatmåling av markedskommunikasjon i sosiale medier. Oppgaven baserer seg på grunngitt teori (Grounded Theory), som er en metodisk tilnærming i kvalitativ metode. Fem informanter har blitt intervjuet i dybdeintervjuer, og empirien har som mål å vise til den tilnærmingen av resultatmåling norske konsulenter har i dag. Videre har ulike kodeprosesser blitt brukt for å kategorisere og behandle funnene fra intervjuene. Funnene og teorien er analysert, og ut ifra dette har det blitt utviklet en resultatmålingsprosess som kan ses på som generell for norske bedrifter som vil benytte seg av resultatmåling av markedskommunikasjon på sosiale medier

Processo de mineração de conteúdos em mídias sociais para auxílio na gestão de destinos turísticos

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Alexandre Augusto BizDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Turismo. Defesa: Curitiba, 16/12/2014Inclui bibliografiaResumo: O presente estudo teve por objetivo propor um processo de mineração de conteúdos em mídias sociais para auxiliar na gestão de destinos turísticos composto por sete fases, elaborado com base nas metodologias propostas por Neves (2013), Hea, Zha e Li (2013), Kalampokis, Tambouris e Tarabanis (2013), Abrahams, Jiao, Fan, Wang e Zhang (2013) e nos modelos de descoberta de conhecimento propostos por Fayyad, Piatetsky-Shapiro e Smyth (1996), Chapman et al. (2000) e Han, Kamber e Pei (2012). Caracteriza-se como pesquisa exploratória e descritiva e como método de investigação foram utilizados métodos mistos. Embora explore o monitoramento nas mídias sociais Facebook, Twitter e YouTube, o processo proposto foi verificado a partir da mineração de conteúdos do Twitter que tivessem os termos da ontologia de aplicação de atrativos e serviços turísticos (hospedagem, alimentação e transportes) das cidades de Curitiba (PR) e Foz do Iguaçu (PR), por opção metodológica e pela dificuldade em obter dados relevantes nas demais mídias sociais investigadas devido a limitações em suas Application Programming Interface (API). O presente processo mostrou-se ser eficaz para coletar conteúdos relevantes e identificar assuntos populares nas mídias sociais, realizar análises quantitativas e qualitativas, bem como auxiliar às Destination Management Organizations – DMO na gestão de destinos turísticos, bem como no processo de tomada de decisões estratégicas e operacionais. Como resultado das análises da utilização das mídias sociais pelas DMO investigadas, constatou-se que o Facebook e o Twitter são mais utilizadas do que o YouTube, que ainda é pouco explorado em relação às demais. Identificou-se ainda que apesar das ações, estratégias e conteúdos publicados serem semelhantes, as abordagens e objetivos variam e os esforços e ações das DMO nas mídias sociais ainda são experimentais. Através das entrevistas semiestruturadas pessoais realizadas com os responsáveis pela gestão e atualização dos perfis em mídias sociais das DMO constatou-se que nenhuma DMO monitora as mídias sociais efetivamente utilizando softwares de monitoramento de mídias sociais ou técnicas de mineração de conteúdos. Entretanto, ainda que superficialmente, as DMO utilizam-se da ferramenta analítica do Facebook para monitorar e analisar o desempenho das ações e publicações. Por fim, foi possível identificar a inexperiência, a falta de conhecimento técnico e de recursos humanos e financeiros como as principais limitações frente a utilização e monitoramento de mídias sociais pelas DMO investigadas. Como sugestão de trabalhos futuros, sugere-se a elaboração do modelo teórico de gestão do conhecimento para que os resultados e conhecimentos obtidos sejam explicitados às instâncias de governança (federal, estadual e municipal), para os demais atores públicos e privados envolvidos na atividade turística, a ampliação das ontologias de aplicação elaboradas e ao monitoramento e mineração de conteúdos em mídias sociais sobre outras organizações turísticas públicas e privadas ou outros eventos como as Olimpíadas no Rio de Janeiro em 2016. Palavras-chave: turismo; gestão de destinos turísticos; mídias sociais; monitoramento em mídias sociais; mineração de conteúdos em mídias sociais.Abstract: This exploratory and descriptive research used mixed to propose a social media mining process and framework to support tourist destinations management based on the proposed methodologies by Neves (2013), Hea, Zha and Li (2013), Kalampokis, Tambouris and Tarabanis (2013), Abrahams, Jiao, Fan, Wang e Zhang (2013) and other knowledge-discovery in databases (KDD) models proposed by Fayyad, Piatetsky-Shapiro and Smyth (1996), Chapman et al. (2000) and Han, Kamber and Pei (2012). Although the study exploits social media mining on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the process was verified purely on Twitter content containing tourist attractions and services keywords or hashtags (#) of the cities of Curitiba-PR and Foz do Iguaçu-PR – Brazil, presented on the application ontology developed. The data analysis using only data from Twitter was a methodological option because of the difficulty to collect relevant and reliable data from the other investigated social medias due to its Application Programming Interface’s limitations. The process proved to be effective and successful to collect relevant data, identify popular topics on social media, perform quantitative and qualitative analyzes as well as assisting the Destination Management Organizations – DMO in destination management and decision making process. Findings of the use of social media by the DMO analyzed shows that Facebook and Twitter are the main social media used and YouTube can be better explored. It was found that despite the actions, strategies and contents published are similar, the approaches and goals vary and the social media efforts and actions are still experimental. Finally, through semi-structured interviews conducted with the responsible for managing and updating the DMO’s social media profiles was found that any DMO effectively monitors its social media using a social media monitor software or data mining techniques. However, even superficially, the DMOs use the analytical tool offered by Facebook itself to monitor and analyze its social media performance. It was also identified that inexperience, lack of technical knowledge, human and financial resources are the main constraints facing the social media use and monitoring by DMO investigated. Suggestions for future work are the knowledge management theoretical model development, the expansion of the ontologies, monitoring other public and private tourist organizations and other events such as the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Key words: tourism; destination management; social media; social media monitoring; social media mining