[Air-L] IR 13.0 birds of a feather sessions

[Feona Attwood]

Birds of a Feather sessions provide an informal space during the conference where people can meet to talk about a topic that they are interested in.

This year we have six fantastic sessions that you may want to join. Details are below; please contact the organizer direct. I'll add the times and rooms for the sessions to the program once I have them.

Thanks, Feona




‘Identity’

Jenny Ungbha Korn


Identity crosses multiple levels of analysis, from the individual to the organizational and international. This bird of a feather session presents an opportunity for researchers of identity to discuss quantitative and qualitative online and offline methods used to study identity. We also welcome researchers who are questioning definitions of identity, deconstructing categories, pushing identity boundaries, and reconfiguring identification processes.


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact Jenny Ungbha Korn at JenKorn at uic.edu<mailto:JenKorn at uic.edu>


‘Big Data'

Eric T. Meyer and Cornelius Puschmann


There is growing energy and also considerable hype around the idea of harnessing what has been called 'big data' from a variety of sources to answer new questions in a variety of fields. During this BoF, we would like internet researchers who are using big data, or are interested in using big data, or are interested in understanding how big data is being used, to join us in a free-flowing discussion of 'big data' in the context of internet research. What are the sources of big data that exist? How do researchers get access to them or gather them? What tools are needed to analyse them? What ethical and methodological challenges arise from the use of big data? What are the biggest questions that big data can answer for those trying to understand the socio-technical context of the internet? Or is big data just hype?


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact Eric Meyer at eric.meyer at oii.ox.ac.uk<mailto:eric.meyer at oii.ox.ac.uk>



'The internet at 50+'

Kelly Quinn


Recently Pew Internet & American Life reported that 85% of adults age 50+ use the internet and, for the first time, more than half of adults age 65 and older do as well. While the majority of these internet users have incorporated the internet into their daily lives at very high rates, their use of social network sites and microblogs have not enjoyed the same levels of adoption. During this BoF session, we will discuss the growing online presence of older adults and how internet use at different life points may differ.


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact Kelly Quinn at kquinn8 at uic.edu<mailto:kquinn8 at uic.edu>



‘Resources for Teaching Digital Methods’

Alex Halavais


This session is to discuss

* common resources for teaching methods for studying network-mediated

society (digital methods, etc.)

* the potential for an open methods textbook

* the potential for shared learning objectives / tools for evaluation


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact  Alex Halavais at halavais at gmail.com<mailto:halavais at gmail.com>



‘Fan Studies’

Rhiannon Bury


This session is for anyone who does research on or has research interests in any aspect of fandom. These could include but are not limited to online communities and participatory culture, creativity and production (fic, vids), role playing and gaming, fan uses of social media, and convention culture.


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact Rhiannon Bury at rbury at athabascau.ca<mailto:rbury at athabascau.ca>



Theories: internet studies and beyond

Monica Murero


While in the last ten years empirical research has started differentiating, theoretical approaches for the ‘internet studies’ still need to take off, both in North America and In Europe. The main idea is to stimulate a debate about the need to evolve from traditional ‘mass media’ or ‘Computer mediated communication’ theories  - still used by many - and  move forward. The idea is to reflect upon the need of building solid theory for current and future challenging scenarios (eg computers as we know them will ‘disappear’ soon). The  session could be an ideal setting  to think about ‘new’ theory with an interdisciplinary perspective, on the light of the future of internet studies.


If you are interested in this birds of a feather session please contact Monica Murero at murero.monica at gmail.com<mailto:murero.monica at gmail.com>




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