Comparison of Quality of Internet Pages on Human Papillomavirus Immunization in Italian and in English

Purpose: Information available on the Internet about immunizations may influence parents' perception about human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization and their attitude toward vaccinating their daughters. We hypothesized that the quality of information on HPV available on the Internet may vary with language and with the level of knowledge of parents. To this end we compared the quality of a sample of Web pages in Italian with a sample of Web pages in English. Methods: Five reviewers assessed the quality of Web pages retrieved with popular search engines using criteria adapted from the Good Information Practice Essential Criteria for Vaccine Safety Web Sites recommended by the World Health Organization. Quality of Web pages was assessed in the domains of accessibility, credibility, content, and design. Scores in these domains were compared through nonparametric statistical tests. Results: We retrieved and reviewed 74 Web sites in Italian and 117 in English. Most retrieved Web pages (33.5%) were from private agencies. Median scores were higher in Web pages in English compared with those in Italian in the domain of accessibility (p < .01), credibility (p < .01), and content (p < .01). The highest credibility and content scores were those of Web pages from governmental agencies or universities. Accessibility scores were positively associated with content scores (p < .01) and with credibility scores (p < .01). A total of 16.2% of Web pages in Italian opposed HPV immunization compared with 6.0% of those in English (p < .05). Conclusions: Quality of information and number of Web pages opposing HPV immunization may vary with the Web site language. High-quality Web pages on HPV, especially from public health agencies and universities, should be easily accessible and retrievable with common Web search engines. (C) 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. All rights reserved

Futures of Digital Death:Past, Present and Charting Emerging Research Agenda

This special issue entitled “Futures of Digital Death: Mobilities of Loss and Commemoration“ explores the topic of digital death and how technologies are reconfigured by and reconfiguring social relationships with the deceased and dying loved ones as well as the larger ecosystem supporting such relationships. This Introduction article starts with an overview of the past research on digital death intended to provide a relevant context for the five papers included in this issue. Then, we reflect on how the current papers or the present research, build on the past and can be used to address existing gaps and to inform future new research directions in order to move the field forward

La Mort en Réseau: une re-sacralisation post-moderne

La tentative d'établir une relation entre la mort, considérée en ses rituels et ses stratégies d'immortalité, et Internet, entendu comme le média le plus avancé du point de vue de la technologie, et le plus diffusé, en ce qui concerne la capacité de communication d'information, peut paraître de prime abord une action forcée, qui cache en réalité une distance ne pouvant être comblée. Ou encore, une attitude peu respecteuse en ligne avec la tendance des médias, auxquels sans aucun doute Internet appartient, de phagocyter n'importe quel argument pour le restituer dans une forme finalement aseptique. L'apparance porte à une équation banale: spectacularisation de la mort par les médias, donc, spectacularisation de la mort par Internet, avec les effets qui souvent en dérivent: méconnissance, superficialité. Toutefois, une analyse plus approfondie nous permet d'aborder une problématique non encore explorée, mais sûrement très profonde

Pratiques numériques d’immortalité

Le mythe de l’amortalité exprime un désir de survie dans le corps. Dans la modernité, le mythe s’est emparé des avancées de la science en traitant la mort comme limite à repousser. De nos jours, il se manifeste dans une ample variété de formes, comme les nanotechnologies, la médecine anti-âge, la cryogénie, etc. À côté de ces formes, à la fois scientifiques et aléatoires, car leurs résultats ne deviendront éventuellement effectifs que sur une très longue période, d’autres pratiques d’immortalité se diffusent : elles ne concernent pas directement le corps, mais trouvent un champ de réalisation favorable dans le numérique, en particulier les coffres-forts numériques. Ces espaces de gestion des données des usagers sont devenus récemment des espaces d’immortalité, bien que sui generis, car le sujet, en sus de la gestion de codes, mots de passe et documents, peut envoyer après sa mort des messages à ses proches sous une forme qui se veut dialogique. Ces nouvelles pratiques ne questionnent pas seulement le concept d’immortalité, mais aussi l’usager dans son identité post-mortem.The myth of amortality expresses a desire for the body to survive. In modern times, this myth has seized on advances in science by treating death as a frontier to be pushed back. Today this is apparent in a wide variety of forms, such as nanotechnologies, anti-ageing medicine, cryogenics, etc. Alongside these phenomena, which are both scientific and unpredictable—for their results will become effective only over a very long period, if at all—other immortality practices are becoming more widespread. These do not directly concern the body ; indeed digital technologies, particularly digital safes, provide a favourable context for their realization. These spaces for managing users’ data have recently become sites of immortality, albeit sui generis : the individual, in addition to managing login details, passwords and documents, can send messages to their loved ones after their death, in a form that aims to be dialogical. These new practices not only interrogate the concept of immortality, but also the user’s post-mortem identity

Giovani e socialità: lo spazio della condivisione

Sembra proprio che condivisione sia diventata la parola d’ordine. E, indubbiamente, per certi aspetti lo è. La popolarità e la diffusione recentemente raggiunte da Facebook, la piattaforma di condivisione più cool del momento tra i giovani e non solo, sono rappresentative della tendenza attuale che pone la condivisione di materiali digitali, ma anche di preferenze e di convinzioni, tra gruppi di persone legate in comunità da interessi e sentire comuni, in una posizione centrale per quanto riguarda le attività di relazione tra individui