kyounghee HAZEL KWON
"Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion" -Francis BaconVint Cerf’s letter about net neutrality
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/vint-cerf-speaks-out-on-net-neutrality.html
Good ad.
This recent ad became one of my favorite commercials. I may use it as the example of perceptual organization when teaching the comm theory course?
How to get heard in Facebook?
Just began my study with Facebook.
I’m quite in a “shock” realizing how it is difficult to have my subjects’ friends get heard of the facebook group for this research project. My subjects are supposed to send this group invitation to all of their friends, which amount to hundreds. In addition, they advertise this group in their profile walls, even though they post it only one time, so far. My expection? I thought that at least several percents of their friends would answer to the invitation and join the group.
My observation for a few days, however, taps into my intutition that this type of mobilization won’t turn out really good….It seems that few friends are actually persuaded to join the group. What’s worse, they aren’t even heard of the group anyway… even if they visit the Facebook site several times a day. People seem to know how effectively and selectively to expose themselves only to the cues they’re interested in. This lack of exposure to the invitation message makes me frustrated becuase it shakes the fundamental assumption of my project, which goes like, “Facebook is the place where I can attempt to mobilize resources if I want to do.” Only when this premise is satisfied, I can ask subsequent questions, like, “then, who will be more likekly to be mobilized?” or “what are the condition that make the mobilization more effective?.”
Hmm. I guess I’m now in trouble. If Facebook is not a place for getting help in a greater scale, what on earth is the distinctive utility of it as a social network site? Is it really nothing more than a place to satisfy our desire of narcissitic self-displays and peeping at others’ life story? Does it how what we call “social network site” is meant to function? I’m confused…
e-fluentials
One of the projects that I’m involved these days is agent-based modeling (ABM) of difufsion of innovation. ABM is a new area to me. Diffusion of Innovation as well, although having heard of it and read several pieces about it superficially, is relatively new to me.
Our project is based on Valente ’s network diffusion model (1995), which not only became one of the recent classics of diffusion study but also is UNDERSTANDABLE from non-economist or non-mathematicia background. I have very supportive and credible captain and crew in this project, Frank, my beloved professor, and Ben, the computer genius. Myself? Hmmm, I’m just an endlessly desperate learner. The project is a small one, which will turn into a book chapter. Small project, but not trivial at all. Actually, this project is the hardest one I’ve ever participated so far…
The parts requiring computer programming skills and mathematical knowledge are way beyond my understanding so far. However, finding and reading the recent network-based diffusion studies, mostly dealiing with the effects of interpersonal networks and opinion leaders, are quite interesting. It is a relatively new field of knowledge to me, even though the issue of diffusion and opinion leaders have been a classical topic in communication area.
For a few days, I’m reading about how opinion leaders are operationalized from the netrwork perspective. Measurement is not very radical, something like, just counting the frequencies of peer nomination as an information couselor. However, the underlying theoretical ambiguousness on “what is an opinion leader?” is an interesting question. It has been inquired for decades, nonetheless, the clarity seems not achieved yet.
One ambiguity that I find from the readings is the distinction between opinion leaders and initiators (or early adopters). Some delinieate the diffferences between influentials and adoption times as two related but separate variables. However, some other studies seem to be based on the conceptualization that equalizes the two. Right now, i’m thinking about how to model the impacts of both leadership and adoption time, not interchaning the terms, in our project (sounds very grand!)
http://www.burson-marsteller.com/INNOVATION_AND_INSIGHTS/E-FLUENTIALS/Pages/default.aspx
This website is not something showing the “grand” speculation about modelling interpersonal influence. It is rather a soft report about opinion leadership online. Thought interesting, though. It introduces a memorable word “e-fluentials”. Well, reading the main body of the article, you’ll find very easily that e-fluentials is a convenient extention of traditional stuides of opinion leadership in contemporary context.
“Recycling LACMA” project
http://recyclelacma.blogspot.com/
The LA based artist Robert Fontenot’s recent project, “Recycling LACMA”. Some of pieces are recompposed products from original Korean traditional apparels. Good eye foods.
Crowdsourcing for civil society
Ushahidi.com
Crowdsourcing on web 2.0 is not just for business goals. The civil society sees a potential of the technology-empowered collaboration. Ushahidi is the example of crowdsourcing among citizen journlaists.
Since I have visited this website lasst time a year ago, Ushahidi project have attracted a good deal of advocaters. Currently, Ushahidi team supports several projects in different countries. Out of them, the kenya project, the initial mash-up that reports the history of violence occruing in Kenay in post-election period, is the prototype of political crowdsourcing.
This is an amazing case, in that the cause, processes, and the outcomes of the project are exactly mirroring the social construction of technologices. The converged media are appropriated by citizen journalists who are willing to report what is going on via camera, texting, or email. The volunteer engineers are also willing to support the project for technical updates. The product of the project is freely accessible to other parties who share the similar causes. The political crowdsourcing is only available when the technological advantages meet the culture of collaboration and the culture of democracy. It is a beautiful example.
Hi, I'm Hazel. I'm a PhD candidate in the dept. of Communication at the SUNY-Buffalo.
My heart moves when I appreciate an artwork that sheds the beauty of blanks. I'm also fascinated by what Mother Nature shows us.
However, what pounds on my heart the most is a scholar's wholehearted work that reflects his conscience, passion, and insight into the world we live in. That's why I chose to be a social scientist, neither an artist nor a park ranger.