Rhonda McEwen

Virtual Mourning and Memory Construction on Facebook Here Are the Terms of Use

This article investigates the online information practices of persons grieving and mourning via Facebook. It examines how, or whether, these practices and Facebook’s terms of use policies have implications for the bereaved and/or the memory of the deceased. To explore these questions, we compared traditional publicly recorded asynchronous modes of grieving (i.e., obituaries) with Facebook’s asynchronous features (i.e., pages, photos, messages, profiles, comments). Additionally, by applying observational techniques to Facebook memorial pages and Facebook profiles, conducting a survey, and interviewing respondents as a follow-up to the survey, we examined the benefits of and issues surrounding online information sharing via Facebook when coping with the loss of another. We found that the immediacy of publishing comments, messages, wall posts, and photos provides Facebook mourners with a quick outlet for their emotions and a means of timely group support; however, these actions directly affect the online curation of the deceased’s self and memory and also create an environment of competition among mourners. The aforementioned benefits and complications of using Facebook during bereavement are shaped by the policies outlined by the social media platform.

Intuitive or idiomatic: An interdisciplinary study of child-tablet computer interaction

Using Luhmanns communication framework, we examine the interaction implications for kindergarten to Grade 2 students using mathematics applications on four types of tablet computers. Research questions included what content is communicated between the child and the tablet computer and how engaged are children in the interaction. We found that mathematics applications developers have focused on creating applications for the practice of a priori knowledge, rather than on creating instructional applications. Results show preliminary evidence that child‐tablet communication is generally successful, but this success comes at the cost of richer, multimodal interactions. Tablet computer application developers are being cautious in offering a variety of options for children to interact with the devices, and we suggest that there is scope for a broadening of communicative interaction modes.

Mediating sociality: the use of iPod Touch™ devices in the classrooms of students with autism in Canada

This study explores the roles that lower-cost, handheld touch technologies might play in the communication functions of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. It reports on a case study of the use of Apple iPod Touch mobile digital devices in a public elementary school in downtown Toronto, Canada. Drawing from Vygotskian sociocultural theory researchers examined the consequences of handheld touch technologies on the communication and sociality of children with communicative disorders, with a primary emphasis on nonverbal autistic children. In the period between January 2010 and June 2010, iPod Touch devices were introduced into six elementary classrooms. While there were gains in communication for all participants, ranging from mild to significant, nine of the 12 students for whom we collected detailed data demonstrated statistically significant improvement in communication skills. Observations are made about the heightened levels of motivation, increased attention spans, and increased social interaction that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibited when using these devices. Future research should explore the connection of touch-sensory inputs on the communication development of children with ASDs.

Relationships, Community, and Networked Individuals

The internet and mobile phones are intertwined with social relationships. In this chapter, we focus on relationships with neighbors, strangers, Twitter-folk, romantic interests — and in particular we emphasize relationships with friends. Friendships function as a social glue of contemporary Western society. Friends and friendships are a popular choice for song titles from as far back as Joseph Scriven’s 1855 hit ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’ to Kate Nash’s 2010 release of ‘My Best Friend Is You’.

Information practices and user interfaces: Student use of an iOS application in special education

A framework connecting concepts from user interface design with those from information studies is applied in a study that integrated a location-aware mobile application into two special education classes at different schools; this application had two support modes (one general and one location specific). The five-month study revealed several information practices that emerged from student attempts to overcome barriers within the application and the curriculum. Students engaged in atypical and unintended practices when using the application. These practices appear to be consequences of the user interface and information processing challenges faced by students. Abandoning activities was a strategic choice and was an unanticipated information practice associated with the application’s integration into lessons. From an information processing perspective, it is likely that students reinterpreted information in the location mode as housing application content rather than being location specific and the information practice of taking photos emerged as an expressive use of the device when an instrumental task was absent. Based on these and other emergent practices, we recommend functionality that should be considered when developing or integrating these types of applications into special education settings and we seek to expand the traditional definition of information practice by including human-computer interaction principles.

Tools of the trade: Drugs, law and mobile phones in Canada:

Observations of mobile phone use suggest that this medium facilitates existing social practices when used as a tool within, and at times outside, socially determined definitions of ‘normal’ or ‘deviant’ behavior. Written from a social construction of technology perspective, this article examines the mobile phone as a contemporary technology in the context of its use in illegal drug-dealing and the law enforcement of those practices in Canada. The relationship between illegal drug-dealing and law enforcement responses is critically analyzed, highlighting the way groups representing both sides utilize mobile phone technologies to achieve their divergent goals. Existing constitutional guidelines employed by law enforcement to support the use of mobile and wireless technologies for surveillance are considered, particularly considering the notion of privacy. The article concludes by challenging assumptions that mobile phones are primarily personal artifacts, and instead describes the inherently social nature of mobile communications, thereby calling for a re-conceptualization of current ideology on privacy.

Tools of the trade: Drugs, law and mobile phones

As a specific form of social computing mobile phones are changing the way people use and perceive their social contexts both at work and at play. Observations of mobile phone use in urban settings suggest that this medium can facilitate existing social practices and extend our everyday activities to create a set of distinct social practices associated with this Information and Communication Technology. In particular mobile phones support users in the active production of identity, whether this identity is socially determined to be “normal” or “deviant”. Written from a Social Informatics perspective this paper examines the mobile phone as a contemporary controversial technology in the context of its use in illegal drug-dealing and the law enforcement of those practices. The relationship between illegal drug-dealing and law enforcement responses is critically analysed highlighting the way both groups utilise mobile phone technologies to achieve their divergent goals. The paper concludes by offering a perspective on the social nature of mobile communications and suggestions for further research and action.

Motives for sharing illness experiences on Twitter: conversations of parents with children diagnosed with cancer

ABSTRACT A patient- and family-centred approach in paediatric health care is important because parents are involved in making key decisions about their child’s health care and advocating for the best interest of the child. Parents and family members are increasingly turning to the internet to find and actively share information about their child’s health care. Twitter is one of many online platforms used by parents of children diagnosed with cancer to share information related to their child’s cancer experience. Existing research suggests that there is a need to better understand the motives for using Twitter for sharing content about a child’s cancer experience. Furthermore, there is a lack of theoretical frameworks for characterizing those motives. In this paper, we identify key themes of tweets posted by parents of children diagnosed with cancer and align those themes with motives inspired by the well-studied Everyday Life Information Seeking framework. We propose a new motive in addition to those associated with the framework and suggest that information can be shared for endogenous reasons as well as to meet the needs of others. This paper contributes an increased understanding of motives for sharing information about a child’s cancer journey and extends a theoretical framework for building further knowledge in this area.

Networks in Information: An Interactive Engagement of Theoretical and Analytical Approaches

Networks, whether they are interpersonal, organizational, or mediated by technology are the essence of cultural and social worlds. The Networks in Information session will engage attendees in discussions on the potential uses of a social network approach, including various theoretical and methodological applications. In addition, participants have the opportunity to experience the role of information and network structures on group problem-solving. This entails highlighting how the ways in which individuals are connected in groups may affect their ability to collectively complete tasks or devise solutions to problems. Recognizing that the information community is interdisciplinary and that the application of a social network approach cuts across disciplines, the session is open to anyone curious about the use of a social network approach in information research and how it applies to specific contexts (cultural, organizational, social and technological). No prior knowledge of the social network approach is required.