[Air-L] Utility of listserv vs. (something like a) Facebook board?

Mon Aug 5 05:20:35 PDT 2013

To clarify: (1) I am most certainly *not* recommending that need a synchronous channel, and (2) Perhaps if our collective culture at AoIR is for e-mail-based communication, this is not so bad after all. I think my own concern is that at times, it can be difficult to track so many different concepts being shared on busy days - especially trying to follow in on a conversation that might already have five or six responses (I notice, at least by own perception) that a lot of folks will send across the same answer to a question - likely because [like myself] they've only had a chance to read the first query in the e-mail chain). 
Of course, any social network adoption (proprietary or otherwise) requires a massive migration of users to said platform and as been brought up, the e-mail system likely has the greatest reach. Nonetheless, I'd like to see some thought (sometime) about creating a more persistent space for AoIR-based discussion - sort of an oasis in the sand of the Internet for we 'net researchers. =) 

>>> "Nicholas Bowman" <Nicholas.Bowman at mail.wvu.edu> 05-Aug-13 14:05 >>>
I suppose my argument is that perhaps we're assuming that "it ain't broken"? Surely as a group of Internet scholars we can perhaps recognize potential limitations with a asynchronous network to hold mass transactional conversations in an communication system with limited permanence (e-mails, unless we store them in our files, are rather disposable) and bandwidth (one message at a time). 

Not only would having a hosted space for discussions cut down on traffic via the listserv (more of a potential annoyance for some members, myself not really included in that group) but it might actually spark the sort of discussion that many of those individuals posting questions are looking for - persistent discussions within a hosted realm in which answers can be logged, stored, and retrieved asynchronously at any time. Considering the number of such discussions that seem to "fizzle out" once the next question is posted via e-mail, I'm merely wondering if current listserv users are getting the depth of discussion that hey are actually looking for. Moreover, such an "opt-in" permanently-hosted solution might well allow for more questions by those who might be too shy to "blast" their queries to a listserv of scholars. 

But I acknowledge that I am taking a "it's possibly broken" approach, and that might be my own fatal flaw. If we're collectively comfortable with the current structure and it seems to work, I will happily digress. =) (I also recognize that perhaps the "answer" is to post questions via the listserv, but to send answers directly to the scholar(s) asking the question). See, it's summertime so it's that time for academics where we find ourselves with too much time to think -indeed, a dangerous thing.  

I'm not very concerned about e-mail volume, but rather the utility and functionality of using a e-mail listserv for these conversations - again, working to create a sort of "persistent hosting board" for research and academic inquiries that might actually spark the sort of conversations in a more organized fashion than the current e-mail system might allow (recognizing the irony of having this discussion via e-mail, which might indicate that indeed the system is fine). 

Nonetheless, thanks for indulging my (newcomer) thoughts here. 

NOTE: To be clear, I am *not* advocating that we use a proprietary network (I was careful to mention this in my initial post for precisely the reasons that are brought up here) but rather only used Facebook as an example of an activity used by another organization that has seen benefits (decreased e-mail clutter, increased collaboration between members - particular the sort of 'ad hoc' collaboration that comes from smaller discussion items such as those posed to AoIR listserv). 

>>> Ulf-Dietrich Reips <u.reips at ikerbasque.org> 05-Aug-13 13:43 >>>
Dear Nicholas, Nadia and others:
I entirely agree that it would be at odds with the openness 
principles of AoIR (or any other academic community) to force its 
members into communicating via a proprietary network.

Further, e-mail/listserv has a wider reach than social media/Facebook.
And yes, it ain't broken.

Down the road, if AoIR decides to move communications to an open 
source social network, then you may want to consider Social Lab 
(http://sociallab.es). Our related publication just went in press:
Garaizar, P. & Reips, U.-D. (in press). Build your own social network 
laboratory with Social Lab: a tool for research in social media. 
Behavior Research Methods.
Happy to send preprints, if anyone is interested.

Cheers
Ulf

At 11:20 Uhr +0200 5.8.2013, Prof. Dr. Nadia Kutscher wrote:
>Dear Nicholas,
>
>thanks for this suggestion. As a person critical to the digital 
>enclosure of Facebook etc. I would suggest if there should be 
>something like that at all to set up a structure not based on a 
>system such as Facebook but being open without contributing to data 
>mining etc.
>
>Best regards
>
>Nadia Kutscher
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Prof. Dr. Nadia Kutscher
>Catholic University of Applied Sciences NRW
>Department Cologne
>Woerthstr. 10
>D-50668 Koeln
>Germany
>Phone: +49-(0)221 7757 186
>Fax: +49-(0)221 7757 180
>E-Mail: n.kutscher at katho-nrw.de
>Please note: From September 1st 2013 I am starting a new 
>professorship at University of Vechta. New e-mail address: 
>nadia.kutscher at uni-vechta.de
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
>  Nicholas Bowman <Nicholas.Bowman at mail.wvu.edu> hat geschrieben:
>
>AoIR pals!
>
>As a new member to the organization, I had wondered perhaps if this 
>e-mail listserv really is the best space for many of the 
>transactional-type discussions that happen between members. On the 
>one hand, it's very cool (and inspiring) to see such a vibrant 
>discussion between motivated and intelligent people, but on the 
>other hand there are days in which I will receive as many as 20 
>different AoIR e-mails - often a chronology of a conversation 
>between a few members that I might or might not be specifically 
>involved in (besides my tangential connection to both as an AoIR 
>member).
>
>To this end, I wonder if the organization has (or might) consider 
>using a different channel for these transactional-type discussions, 
>such as a closed Facebook page, that provides members an "opt-in" 
>and persistent space for more detailed discussions. As the Web and 
>Publications Editor for the Mass Communication of NCA (National 
>Communication Association), I have facilitated such a page for our 
>1200+ members for the better half of three years, and we've seen 
>quite a few members (about 500 currently "following" the page) log 
>in and share research and scholarly opinions in the space - which 
>has taken quite a bit of pressure off of our listserv. I realize of 
>course there are likely many reasons why we don't have such a space, 
>but I'm just wondering if using the current AoIR listserv as a 
>bulletin board and discussion place is the most functional use of 
>the technology; as a new member, it can often times be overwhelming.
>
>Of course, should there be any interest in such a project - using 
>Facebook, or some other technology that is more easily 
>assessible/less likely to see us all anti-aging cream on a daily 
>basis - I'd be more than happy to assist. Or, I'll just continue to 
>acclimate to the AoIR listserv, as I go find it generally useful.
>
>Just a few thoughts from a new member - I do not mean to shake the 
>apple tree so please to not take this note as anything more than an 
>"outside looking in" observation. Glad to be a member, and eager for 
>my first AoIR this Fall in Denver. =)
>
>
>~nick
>
>Nicholas David Bowman, Ph.D.
>( http://ndbowman.info/ )Assistant Professor of Communication Studies;
>Research Associate, Media and Interaction Lab
>West Virginia University
>
>Web and Publications Editor, Mass Communication Division
>National Communication Association
>
>Vice-Chair, Game Studies Interest Group
>International Communication Association
>
>Interim Social Media Director
>Eastern Communication Association
>______________________
>Twitter @bowmanspartan
>Skype ID: nicholasdbowman
>On Media Theory... ( http://onmediatheory.blogspot.com/ )
>
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