Measuring internet activity: a (selective) review of methods and metrics

Two Decades after the birth of the World Wide Web, more than two billion people around the world are Internet users. The digital landscape is littered with hints that the affordances of digital communications are being leveraged to transform life in profound and important ways. The reach and influence of digitally mediated activity grow by the day and touch upon all aspects of life, from health, education, and commerce to religion and governance. This trend demands that we seek answers to the biggest questions about how digitally mediated communication changes society and the role of different policies in helping or hindering the beneficial aspects of these changes. Yet despite the profusion of data the digital age has brought upon us—we now have access to a flood of information about the movements, relationships, purchasing decisions, interests, and intimate thoughts of people around the world—the distance between the great questions of the digital age and our understanding of the impact of digital communications on society remains large. A number of ongoing policy questions have emerged that beg for better empirical data and analyses upon which to base wider and more insightful perspectives on the mechanics of social, economic, and political life online. This paper seeks to describe the conceptual and practical impediments to measuring and understanding digital activity and highlights a sample of the many efforts to fill the gap between our incomplete understanding of digital life and the formidable policy questions related to developing a vibrant and healthy Internet that serves the public interest and contributes to human wellbeing. Our primary focus is on efforts to measure Internet activity, as we believe obtaining robust, accurate data is a necessary and valuable first step that will lead us closer to answering the vitally important questions of the digital realm. Even this step is challenging: the Internet is difficult to measure and monitor, and there is no simple aggregate measure of Internet activity—no GDP, no HDI. In the following section we present a framework for assessing efforts to document digital activity. The next three sections offer a summary and description of many of the ongoing projects that document digital activity, with two final sections devoted to discussion and conclusions

Domestication of global news in the Iranian public sphere : the trial of 'Alexei Navalny' in Iranian legacy and social media

The aim of this thesis is to study how global news is domesticated in countries with different social and political atmospheres than those that are typically studied. This case study examines how news of the poisoning and detention of Alexei Navalny is domesticated in Iranian public sphere with the intent of discerning how a foreign framework is transformed into local or national flavors that are more relatable, understandable, and suitable for consumption by a particular audience. I consider the case of Navalny from the perspective of domestication theory and make a comparison between the domestication strategies of legacy and social media. My findings address the research gap that exists on the domestication of global news in countries with low levels of freedom of expression. It is also a starting point for future research on the domestication of global news in social media. For this research, my empirical data consists of all original news and reports published in my choses sources within three weeks after each event of Navalny's poisoning and detention. The sources of this data include news agencies as samples of legacy media and Persian language tweets on Twitter as the social media. Critical discourse analysis is used as a methodological approach to analyze the news and tweets published about Navalny’s story. The data analysis is inductive and makes use of grounded theory as an analytical tool. The analysis revealed eight discourses that are used in Iranian public sphere to naturalize Navalny's news for Iranian audiences. These discourses are territorial integrity, Iran nuclear negotiations, criticizing Iran’s political atmosphere, domestic and foreign policies, human rights, Russian responsibility, criticizing Iranian opposition performance, sanctions, and the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. Each discourse frames the issue in a different way such that Navalny’s story became nationally relevant to Iranian audiences. Furthermore, while some discourses are explained exclusively in legacy media or exclusively in social media, other discourses appeared in both legacy and social media. The results of the study demonstrate that legacy media must consider national interests or editorial policies when naturalizing a global story in the context of Iranian public sphere; legacy media, as a part of that public sphere, is subject to many official controls and reinforce banal nationalism. Social media, on the other hand, is relatively free from these strict constraints and is more critical of state structures. On social media, global news appears to be domesticated to reflect the views and values of the local people, rather than the local government

Open access: Could defeat be snatched from the jaws of victory?

When news broke early in 2019 that the University of California had walked away from licensing negotiations with the world’s largest scholarly publisher (Elsevier), a wave of triumphalism spread through the OA Twittersphere. The talks had collapsed because of Elsevier’s failure to offer UC what it demanded: a new-style Big Deal in which the university got access to all of Elsevier’s paywalled content plus OA publishing rights for all UC authors – what UC refers to as a “Read and Publish” agreement. In addition, UC wanted Elsevier to provide this at a reduced cost.1 Given its size and influence, UC’s decision was hailed as “a shot heard around the academic world”.2 The news had added piquancy coming as it did in the wake of a radical new European OA initiative called Plan S. Proposed in 2018 by a group of European funders calling themselves cOAlition S, the aim of Plan S is to make all publicly funded research open access by 2021.3 Buoyed up by these two developments open access advocates concluded that – 17 years after the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) – the goal of universal (or near-universal) open access is finally within reach. Or as the Berkeley librarian who led the UC negotiations put it, “a tipping point” has been reached.4 But could defeat be snatched from the jaws of success? Contents: In the way of background • Pushback/ counterrevolution? • Populism and nationalism • Trade protectionism, tariffs, sanctions and suspicion • Level of naïveté • Growing gulf • Homogeneity vs heterogeneity • Wrong footed • Imbalance of values • Pandora’s Box • What is to be done? • Reaching for legal remedies • Collateral damage • Splinternet? • Overstating the situation? • Understating the situation? • What then of open access? • Open China? • Challenge for the Global South • Open access split? • East or West? • We can but hope 82 pp

Religioossus kui kultuuriline tööriistakast: Eesti uue vaimsuse analüüs

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Üha suurem osa religioossetest nähtustest jääb Lääne sekulaarsetes ühiskondades väljapoole institutsionaalseid religioone. Enamik Eestis levinud religioosseid või vaimseid uskumusi ja praktikaid ei kuulu otseselt ühegi religiooni alla – neid toetab New Age’i subkultuurist välja kasvanud uue vaimsuse keskkond. Et taoliste õpetuste järgmine ei eelda püsivat kuulumist kogudusse või gruppi ning õpetused ise hõlmavad väga erinevaid valdkondi, on uut vaimsust väga keeruline määratleda või analüüsida lähtudes tavapärastest religiooni indikaatoritest nagu uskumused, kuuluvus ja religioossed praktikad. Doktoritöös vaatlen uue vaimsuse keskkonda eelkõige kui üht allikat, mis pakub erinevaid kultuurilisi tööriistu nii maailma mõtestamiseks kui ka konkreetsete probleemide nagu haiguse või töökaotuse puhul abi ja toetuse saamiseks. Taolised kultuurilised tööriistad võivad olla nii abstraktsemad väärtused, tähendused (sh ka eksistentsiaalse maailmakorralduse kohta) aga ka näiteks spetsiifilised tehnikad või rituaalid näiteks „rahaõnne“ kasvatamiseks või „aja maha võtmiseks“. Uue vaimsuse keskkonnas osalemine ei pea olema järjepidev, õpetusi kasutatakse vajaduse tekkimisel. Uue vaimsuse tegeliku ühiskondliku ja kultuurilise tähenduse tabamiseks tuleb analüüsi kaasata ka neid, kel on ehk vaid mõningad (latentsed) uskumused ning üleüldine valmisolek õpetuste poole pöörduda. Töös pakun välja mudeli, mis kaardistab inimeste valmisolekut või kalduvust uue vaimsuse keskkonnast pärit lahendusi kasutada. Õpetuste järgima hakkamine ei ole instrumentaalne tarbimine, kus otsus langetatakse puhtalt näiteks hinna vm „toote omaduste“ alusel. Uue vaimsuse keskkonnas peetakse kõige olulisemaks isiklikku kogemust, mis kinnitab igaühele personaalselt õpetuse tõeväärtuse ja toimivuse. Olulist rolli mängib siiski ka laiem tähenduslik foon, mis loob valmisoleku ning tekitab „tõelisuse aura“, mis paneb inimesi vaimseid lahendusi ja tehnikaid piisavalt usaldama, et neid ise järele proovida. Uus vaimsus levib peamiselt interneti, meedia, raamatute toel. Taoliste levikukanalite efektiivsus näitab, et tavaline kasutajakogemus on (virtuaalsete) võrgustike toel muutunud üha olulisemaks õpetuste kandjaks ja neile usaldusväärsuse loojaks. Individuaalseid valikuid tähtsustava religioossuse kandjana on mitteformaalsed võrgustikud traditsioonilistest institutsioonidest (nagu kirik) isegi efektiivsemad.Under the umbrella of New Age-based spirituality, a series of fuzzy and disguised forms of contemporary religious phenomena are grouped. This dissertation traces how the Estonian spiritual “milieu” functions as a source of cultural tools (namely, spiritual knowledge or practices). Given the situational and low-intensity involvement of new spirituality practitioners, concepts such as belief(s) or belonging, commonly used in the study of religions, are inadequate to grasp the full scope of new spirituality. Based on their previous experiences, knowledge, and social contacts people position themselves differently in relation to spiritual tools and values. Inclination to new spirituality indicates the potential willingness of a person to use a spiritual “toolkit” and therefore characterizes the person’s mental disposition towards using spiritual solutions. For example, people who have some (generally latent) beliefs in spiritual phenomena and a theoretical willingness to try spiritual solutions could be described as weakly inclined – which is likely the most common position for Estonians. Using spiritual tools (teachings, practices) requires some degree of practical and attitudinal preparedness and initial willingness to start applying the solutions that the spiritual milieu offers. Turning to spiritual/religious solutions and becoming involved in new spirituality is a multi-layered process involving finding general credibility and then seeking individual confirmations through personal (often bodily) experiences. In the context of weak primary socialization into religions and the presence of hostile public representations, this support is provided by spiritual events or by personal or mediated guidance (internet pages, books, consultations). As informal networks play an increasingly prominent role in disseminating spirituality, the categories of “dominant” and “vernacular” religion are losing their relevance. Religious participation is based on new types of institutions – network based and less centrally organized but still structured by implicit internal rules, normativity and power relations. The lines between “soft” and “hard” or “alternative” and “dominant” are blurred; commonly, the informal networks have a stronger impact on people’s beliefs and behaviours than religious institutions such as churches

Nota Bene, March 14, 2006

https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/nota_bene_2006/1003/thumbnail.jp

How religion influences the use of social media : the impact of the online user’s religiosity on perceived online privacy and the use of technology in Saudi Arabia.

Religion has a significant effect on people’s lives. It impacts human behaviour, thoughts, morale standards, attitudes and values. The literature shows that religiosity has an effect also on consumer behaviour. However, the concept of religiosity has been under-researched due to the sensitivity of religion (Swimberghe, Flurry, & Parker, 2011). According to Vitell (2009) there is still a need to develop a vigorous theoretical understanding of the impact of religiosity on the consumer behaviour. This thesis contributes to that knowledge by developing a model to explain the effect of the religiosity of the online user on their use of social media. Current research does not fully explain the specifics of religious influences on online user behaviours. This thesis main goal is to build a model that can measure the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the use of social media. The proposed model uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) along with Privacy concern to measure the effect of religiosity on the use of social media. This thesis empirically tests the proposed model linking religiosity, privacy concerns, technology acceptance and the use of social media. Allport and Ross' (1967) religious orientation scale (ROS) is used to measure the intrinsic religiosity. Xu et al's., (2011a) model of privacy concern is used to measure privacy concerns when using social media. Venkatesh, Thong and Xu's (2012) unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) is used to measure the user acceptance of social media. Using partial least square structural equation modelling, intrinsic religiosity (ROS), and privacy concerns along with technology acceptance are shown to influence the use of social media. The results show that religion has an indirect effect on the use of social media through privacy concerns and technology acceptance. The results also show that the model can predict the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the use of social media to share and disclose information. The implications from this study are significant both for policy and practice for social media companies as well as users. Information from this study will help social media companies to maximize users’ involvement with social media. It will also benefit the industry and the literature by providing a sound model that can measure the impact of religion on the behaviour of users