Antonio A. Casilli
Télécom ParisTech
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Featured researches published by Antonio A. Casilli.
Social Science Information | 2012
Antonio A. Casilli; Paola Tubaro; Pedro Araya
Resume This paper offers a methodical review of the scientific literature of the last decade that concerns itself with online services offering supportive advocacy for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (‘pro-ana’ and ‘pro-mia’). The main question is whether these studies reproduce the traditional divide in the study of eating disorders, between clinical and social science perspectives, with limited mutual exchanges. Having first identified a specific body of literature, the authors investigate its content, methods and approaches, and analyse the network of cross-citations the components generate and share. On this basis, the authors argue that the scientific literature touching on pro-ana websites can be regarded as a single transdisciplinary body of knowledge. What’s more, they show that the literature on computer-mediated sociabilities centred on eating disorders displays different structural characteristics with respect to the traditional, non-Web-related research on eating disorders. In the latter, the social sciences have usually provided a critical counterpoint to the development of a health sciences mainstream. In the case of Web-related research, however, the social sciences have taken the lead role in defining the field, with the health sciences following suit.
Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique | 2012
Antonio A. Casilli; Paola Tubaro
Following the 2011 wave of political unrest, extending from the Arab Spring to the UK riots, the formation of a large consensus around Internet censorship is underway. The present paper adopts a social simulation approach to show that the decision to “regulate”, filter or censor social media in situations of unrest changes the pattern of civil protest and ultimately results in higher levels of violence. Building on Epsteins (2002) agent-based model, several alternative scenarios are generated. The systemic optimum, represented by complete absence of censorship, not only corresponds to lower levels of violence over time, but allows for significant periods of social peace after each outburst.
Field Methods | 2014
Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli; Lise Mounier
The article presents a method to elicit personal network data in Internet surveys, exploiting the renowned appeal of network visualizations to reduce respondent burden and risk of dropout. It is a participant-generated computer-based sociogram, an interactive graphical interface enabling participants to draw their own personal networks with simple and intuitive tools. In a study of users of websites on eating disorders, we have embedded the sociogram within a two-step approach aiming to first elicit the broad ego network of an individual and then to extract subsets of issue-specific support ties. We find this to be a promising tool to facilitate survey experience and adaptable to a wider range of network studies.
Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique | 2010
Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli
“ Une séduction ethnographique ” — Comment la recherche qualitative et la modélisation par agents peuvent bénéficier l’un à l’autre : Nous proposons ici un cadre analytique général pour des simultations multi-agent informées par des données empiriques. Cette méthode pourrait fournir aux modèles par agents d’aujourd’hui une représentation correcte et appropriée des comportements d’agents sociaux, une représentation que les données statistiques échouent souvent à produire, tout particulièrement au niveau micro et au sujet des populations cachées ou sensibles. En retour, les simulations pourraient fournir aux sociologues et anthropologues qualitatifs des outils précieux pour : (a) questionner certains cadres théoriques et en tester la cohérence ; (b) reproduire et généraliser les résultats ; (c) fournir une plateforme pour la validation multi-disciplinaire des résultats. We provide a general analytical framework for empirically informed agent-based simulations. This methodology provides present-day agent-based models with a sound and proper insight as to the behavior of social agents — an insight that statistical data often fall short of providing at least at a micro level and for hidden and sensitive populations. In the other direction, simulations can provide qualitative researchers in sociology, anthropology and other fields with valuable tools for: (a) testing the consistency and pushing the boundaries, of specific theoretical frameworks; (b) replicating and generalizing results; (c) providing a platform for cross-disciplinary validation of results.
Perspectives in Public Health | 2013
Antonio A. Casilli; Fred Pailler; Paola Tubaro
Dr AA Casilli from Telecom ParisTech, Dr F Pailler from the Edgar Morin Centre and Dr P Tubaro from Greenwich University demonstrate how the reshaping and censoring of online ana-mia communities is bad news for health care providers and policy makers
Body & Society | 2010
Antonio A. Casilli
The recent turn in ubiquitous computing challenges previous theories of ‘technological disembodiment’. In a mediascape where technology permeates bodies, the current discourse of viral information insinuates elements of fear and risk associated with both physical presence and computer usage. This article adopts a socio-historical approach to investigate the factors underlying the early emergence of such features of our social imaginary by tracking them back to the computer culture of the 1980s. Analysing both mainstream and underground press sources from 1982 to 1991, a discursive core is revealed that revolves around the ‘computer virus’ metaphor. Popularized in this period, this notion came to resonate with mounting moral panic over the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Anxieties about the body in computer culture are then conceptualized (and historically contextualized) along two dimensions: first, the political proximity between HIV/AIDS activists and computer hackers during the FDA clinical trials controversy of 1987—8; and, second, the ideological reinforcement provided by academic progressive elements to these political actions. The implications of these results are discussed.
Archive | None
Francesca Pallotti; Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli; Thomas W. Valente
ABSTRACT Body image issues associated with eating disorders involve attitudinal and perceptual components: individuals’ dissatisfaction with body shape or weight, and inability to assess body size correctly. While prior research has mainly explored social pressures produced by the media, fashion, and advertising industries, this paper focuses on the effects of personal networks on body image, particularly in the context of internet communities. We use data collected on a sample of participants to websites on eating disorders, and map their personal networks. We specify and estimate a model for the joint distribution of attitudinal and perceptual components of body image as a function of network-related characteristics and attributional factors. Supported by information gathered through in-depth interviews, the empirical estimates provide evidence that personal networks can be conducive to positive body image development, and that the influence of personal networks varies significantly by body size. We situate our discussion in current debates about the effects of computer-mediated and face-to-face communication networks on eating disorders and related behaviors.
Archive | 2014
Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli; Yasaman Sarabi
We can now reflect on the insight derived from our study, its limitations, and possible directions for future research. We have relied on a computer simulation model informed by social theory, previous literature and secondary sources, but we have used no raw, let alone original, empirical data: our effort remains essentially theoretical.
Archive | 2014
Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli; Yasaman Sarabi
The preceding discussions point to the need to focus attention on users. To do so, we use an agent-based computer simulation, as an extension of the theoretical analysis developed in the preceding sections. In this chapter, we outline its basic structure and functioning, the experiments that have been run, and their results.
Archive | 2014
Paola Tubaro; Antonio A. Casilli; Yasaman Sarabi
The observed increase in the amount of personal information that is publicly visible online depends partly on users’ behaviors, partly on the active policies of Internet companies, partly on regulators’ interventions. A historical perspective is now in order to pinpoint the elements of novelty in today’s situation, to characterize more precisely the reasons and modes of the current transformations, and to start thinking about suitable policy responses.