Derrick L. Cogburn

From Networked Nominee to Networked Nation: Examining the Impact of Web 2.0 and Social Media on Political Participation and Civic Engagement in the 2008 Obama Campaign

This article explores the uses of Web 2.0 and social media by the 2008 Obama presidential campaign and asks three primary questions: (1) What techniques allowed the Obama campaign to translate online activity to on-the-ground activism? (2) What sociotechnical factors enabled the Obama campaign to generate so many campaign contributions? (3) Did the Obama campaign facilitate the development of an ongoing social movement that will influence his administration and governance? Qualitative data were collected from social media tools used by the Obama ‘08 campaign (e.g., Obama ‘08 Web site, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, e-mails, iPhone application, and the Change.gov site created by the Obama-Biden Transition Team) and public information. The authors find that the Obama ‘08 campaign created a nationwide virtual organization that motivated 3.1 million individual contributors and mobilized a grassroots movement of more than 5 million volunteers. Clearly, the Obama campaign utilized these tools to go beyond educating the public and raising money to mobilizing the ground game, enhancing political participation, and getting out the vote. The use of these tools also raised significant national security and privacy considerations. Finally, the Obama-Biden transition and administration utilized many of the same strategies in their attempt to transform political participation and civic engagement.

Context-dependent vs. content-dependent: an exploration of the cultural behavioural patterns of online intercultural communication using e-mail

The purpose of this study was to explore the cultural behavioural patterns of online intercultural communication in a globally distributed collaborative environment. We conducted a qualitative content analysis on the data drawn from a public e-mail archive of the trans-national civil society participants in the UN World Summit on the Information Society. The findings showed that there were no significant differences observed between the frequency of contributions between high and low-context participants in the collaborative processes. But, importantly, the findings suggest that culture matters in the form of intercultural communication styles and the cultural values to which participants subscribe. Based on Edward Halls high and low-context theory, distinctive patterns of high-context and low-context cultural behaviours were evident in the strategies, approaches and communicative mannerisms of people participating in the distributed collaboration under analysis. In summary, online cultural behavioural patterns can be illustrated as context-dependent or content-dependent.

Developing and Validating a Socio-Technical Model for Geographically Distributed Collaboration in Global Virtual Teams

As technological developments continue to enable broader adoption of geographically-distributed collaboration practices in academic, industrial, governmental and non-profit organizations around the world, it has become critical for scholars and practitioners to be able to assess and predict the effectiveness of virtual organizations (VOs) and the global virtual teams (GVTs) that comprise them. This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the social and technical factors thought to influence VOs and GVTs, and proposes an integrative ten-factor sociotechnical model for their study and implementation. We then use computer-assisted content analysis to validate the model on a large sample of interdisciplinary literature. Finally, we provide recommendations for further empirical testing of the model on existing virtual organizations. From this work, we hope to encourage a more comprehensive understanding of the social and technical factors affecting VOs.

Evaluating the Role of Face-to-Face Residencies in Cross-National, Accessible Cyberlearning

This paper provides an analysis of the role face-to-face residencies play in online, cross-national, graduate degree programs. In 2011, taking a cyber learning approach, the IDPP developed the worlds first fully online masters program in international and comparative disability policy, focused on students with disabilities in the ten countries of Southeast Asia. Using this online masters program as a case study, and incorporating pre-and post-residency survey data, the paper explores the impact of its face-to-face residency in building a sense of community, achieving learning outcomes, and highlight the role of culture and trust within the student cohort as a foundation for the online graduate learning experience. Finally, the paper discusses best practices in evaluating online graduate degree programs, emphasizing the importance of an evaluation committee and an iterative evaluation model. Using pioneering research on evaluating accessible cyber learning, it identifies what works in such settings as well as identifying future research needs.

Trust and Member Satisfaction in a Developing Virtual Organization: The Roles of Leader Contact and Experience with Technology

Previous research suggests that trust is an important antecedent to effective collaboration in virtual settings. The current research utilized survey data obtained from a developing virtual organization to examine the relationship between trust and satisfaction and the extent to which leadership contact factored into trust and satisfaction within the developing virtual organization. Additionally, previous experience with technology was proposed to moderate the relationship between leader contact and trust. Results indicated that contact with multiple leaders was positively related to perceptions of trust within the organization. Further, perceptions of trust were related to satisfaction with relationships within the organization. The proposed moderation was not supported. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Examining cultural effects on distributed decision-making processes using keyword analysis and data mining techniques

This empirical study employs a keyword analysis and text mining technique using the Provalis mixed methods research suite to examine the following research question, What is the impact of cultural context on decision-making processes in global virtual teams (GVTs) of transnational civil society? Our approach to cultural context is primarily driven by Halls (1976) theory of high vs. low context dimensions and Hofstedes (1980, 2001, 2005) five-dimensional framework for analysing culture. Our four-stage conceptual model of decision-making draws on Zakaria (2006), Kingdon (1995), Adler (2002), and Guss (2002). We further explore this model of culture and decision-making with data from a four-year public e-mail archive (2002-2005) of the GVT of transnational civil society involved in UN World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). From a methodological perspective, we find that for our explicit cultural variables (gender and region), keyword content analysis and data mining techniques are powerful tools to unlock massive datasets. In contrast, for our implicit cultural variables (high-context and low-context communication styles and cultural values), these techniques were not yet as helpful.

From NWICO to Global eCommerce: Telecommunications Restructuring and the GII

This chapter reminds us of the key concepts of international regime formation and points to several relevant historical international regimes. It then takes us back to the global contestation of the New World Information and Communications Order (NWICO), where some of the more influential civil society actors in the information society got their start. This chapter also illustrates how the ideological battles being fought in NWICO were continued into the broader restructuring of the international telecommunications regime (ITR), leading to what the chapter calls the Global Electronic Commerce versus the Global Information Society (GIS) debate. This framing of the debate highlights the differences between the principles and values required to facilitate the development of a corporate-driven global electronic commerce (GEC) regime in contrast to an open and people-centered GIS regime.

World Summit on the Information Society: Catalyst for Transnational Advocacy and a Milestone for Multistakeholder Global Governance

This chapter presents a detailed case study of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and highlights the historic steps it took to include civil society and non-state actors. For many analysts, WSIS signaled a shift in the power relations between state and non-state actors. In practice, however, the effective participation of civil society lagged substantially behind this lofty rhetoric. Nonetheless, the chapter highlights the catalytic role played by WSIS in stimulating the creation of numerous Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs), and explores the contestation between the top-down Civil Society Bureau (CSB) and the bottom-up Civil Society Plenary (CSP). This chapter sets the stage for subsequent chapters by highlighting the key policy issues left unresolved by WSIS—Internet governance and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and development—which presaged the two institutions created by the UN to address them.

Internet Governance Forum: What Went Right?

This chapter presents a case study of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Established simultaneously with GAID, the IGF took a different approach. It did not attempt to privilege one stakeholder (i.e., the private sector) over another, but developed robust governance and management mechanisms and policies. The combination of its Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), and multistakeholder Dynamic Coalitions (DCs) has helped to stabilize the IGF. Its initial five-year mandate was renewed for five years, and as a testament to its widely perceived value, in December 2015, the UN General Assembly extended the IGF for another ten years. This chapter explores the underlying factors contributing to the perceived success and effectiveness of the IGF.

The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus as Transnational Advocacy Network

This chapter examines the evolution, structure, and policy preferences of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) and its impact on the processes of global Internet governance. The IGC was founded in March 2003, early in the WSIS processes. This chapter explores the degree to which the IGC has evolved out of its WSIS origins, and examines its policy preferences and how they are aligned with the Dynamic Coalition structure of the IGF. The chapter also explores how IGF has developed a high level of policy legitimacy, and discusses its close integration with GigaNet, which plays the role of an epistemic community for the IGC. This chapter also looks at the internal struggles of the IGC, some of which have led to defections from key civil society activists into new bodies like the Best Bits Coalition.