Academic literature and research on trolls (subversive online users)

Lisbeth — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:42:29 +0000

In relation to a class I have been teaching on Digital Media Culture, several students have been looking for academic literature and research on “trolls”: people that appear on fora, comment threads, mailing lists and other venues of discussion online, typically with the intent of disrupting and displacing the discussion, annoying posters, insulting other commentators etc. I did a short search for literature, but did not find much, but luckily my Facebook Network came to my aid. So, based on my own search and with the contributions of Lars Konzack, Tama Leaver, Christina Neumayer, Stine Gotved, Anette Agerdal-Hjermind and Wikipidia, here goes a small list on academic research on trolls and related phenomena, listed by year of publication.

Kiesler, S, Siegel, J. and McGuire, T.W.(1984). “Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication”. American Psychologist 39 (10): 1123–1134.http://www.experimentala.ro/0doc/EXPERIMENTALA/PREZENTARI%20MECANISME%20REGLATORII/CONSTANTIN%20SI%20TREFAS.pdf

Tepper, Michele (1997). “Usenet Communities and the Cultural Politics of Information” in Porter, David (ed). Internet culture. NY, Routledge.

Donath, Judith S. (1999). “Identity and deception in the virtual community”. In Smith, Marc A.; Kollock, Peter (eds.). Communities in Cyberspace , Routledge.

Bond, Robert (1999). “Links, Frames, Meta-tags and Trolls”. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 13. pp. 317–323. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600869954991#.UX-jLLnU_IU

Baker, P. (2001) “Moral panic and alternative identity construction in Usenet.” Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication 7(1). http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol7/issue1/baker.html

Herring. Susan et al. (2002): “Searching for Safety Online: Managing ‘Trolling’ in a Feminist Forum”. I: The Information Society 18. Oxford: Taylor & Francis, s. 371–84. http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~fulk/620overview_files/Herring.pdf

Shin, J. (2008) “Morality and Internet Behavior: A study of the Internet Troll and its relation with morality on the Internet”. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2008 (pp. 2834-2840). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Shachaf, Pnina et al. (2010): “Beyond vandalism: Wikipedia trolls”. I: Journal of Information Science 2010, 36. Los Angeles: SAGE Publ., s. 357-70. http://jis.sagepub.com/content/36/3/357.full.pdf+html

Bergstrom, K. (2010). “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday, 16 (8). http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3498

Hardaker, C. (2010) “Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions”. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture. 6 (2), 215–242. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/4980/2/Hardaker,%20C.%202010.%20Trolling%20in%20ACMC.pdf

Phillips, W. (2011a). Meet the trolls. Index on Censorship, 40(2), 68–76.

Phillips, W. (2011b). LOLing at tragedy: Facebook trolls, memorial pages and resistance to grief online. First Monday, 16(12). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3168/3115

Knuttila, L. (2011). User unknown: 4chan, anonymity and contingency. First Monday, 16(10). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3665/3055

Binns, A. (2012). “Don’t Feed the Trolls! Managing Troublemakers in Magazine’s Online Communities”. Journalism Practice, 6(4), 547–562. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/resources/mtm2011/Binns_Amy.pdf

Coleman, E. Gabriella (2012): “Phreaks, Hackers, and Trolls: The Politics of Transgression and spectacle”. Mandiberg, M. (ed.)The Social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press, P. 99-119. http://gabriellacoleman.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Coleman-Phreaks-Hackers-Trolls.pdf

Phillips, W. (2012). The House That Fox Built: Anonymous, Spectacle, and Cycles of Amplification. Television & New Media.

Other sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

Check out forthcoming (2013? 2014?) issue of the Australian Journal Fibreculture: http://fibreculturejournal.org/category/editorial/

Poole, C. (2010, February). Christopher “moot” Poole: The case for anonymity online. TED Talks. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online.html

DK:
Christesen, A. og Maul, P.(2013). Internettets brøleaber og undercoveragenter. K-Forum, April 9th, 2013.
http://www.kommunikationsforum.dk/artikler/trolling-scambaiters-og-dit-modtraek

Dansk forskning i/om Facebook (publikationer)

Lisbeth — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:59:47 +0000

I forbindelse med flere forskellige projekter, jeg har gang i, har jeg kigget på hvad der egentligt er publiceret om Facebook og Facebook brug i en dansk kontekst (artikler og rapporter, dog ikke specialer o.lign endnu). Det er ikke meget endnu, men der kommer hele tiden nyt til. Jeg tænkte, det kunne være fint at have en samlet oversigt her, som jeg kan dele med andre, og hvor andre måske kan føje artikler mv. til, jeg ikke kender.

Forskning i Facebook og Facebook i Danmark af nordiske forskere – version 1 2013

Brandt, E.Z. (2012). Børn og unges kommunikation i det sociale system, Facebook – en systemteoretisk tilgang. I H. Stouby (red), Sociale Netværkssider som tekst og kontekst, Systime, s.13-70.

Hansen, Nils Gunder (2012). Truslen fra de gamle kæresteer: Om Facebook som socialt rum og livshistorisk perspektiv. I C. Kroløkke, K. Hvidtfeldt Madsen, R. Marselis (red), Alle tiders køn – køn til alle tider: Køn og kulturelle praksisser i hverdagsliv og medier, Odense: Syddansk Universitet

Jensen, J.L. (2009). Fra onlinefællesskaber til onlinenetværk. Facebook som augmentering af den sociale virkelighed. Mediekultur 47, pp. 86-99. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/1369

Klastrup, L. (2010). Sociale fortællinger – statusopdateringers funktion på sociale netværkssites. Designværkstedet,5, 10. http://design.emu.dk/artikler/1018-socialefortaellinger.htm

Klastrup L. (2011). Offentlighed for en dag? Facebook-grupper og de nye ”massebrugere””. I Journalistica: Tidskrift för Forskning i Journalistik, 1. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/journalistica/article/view/5452.

Petersen, A. og Brandt, E. (2012). Facebook – nutidens digitale og sociale poesibog. I Pædagogisk Extract 1, s. 26-29. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/f0bcd839

Schiøtz, N. C. og Schmidt S.B. (2010). Digitale Forbindelse og nye fornemmelser. Dansk Sociologi 21 (3), p. 10-26. http://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/dansksociologi/article/view/3358

Sørensen, A.S. (2012). Facebook – selvfremstilling, small talk og social regulering. Mediekultur 52, p. 132-152. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/5640

Tække, J. (2010a). Facebook – et netværk i fællesskabet. MedieKultur 49, p. 123-136. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/2579

Tække, J. (2010b). Social konstruktion af personlig identitet på Facebook. Paper præsenteret ved SMIDs årskonference 2010. https://pure.au.dk/portal/files/22799401/SMID_2010 _Jesper_T_kke.pdf

Valtysson, B.(2012). Facebook as a Digital Public Sphere: Processes of Colonization and Emancipation. I tripleC 10(1), p. 77-91. http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/312

Sociale medier generelt (inkl ref til Facebook)
Hoff, J. og Klastrup, L. (2011). “Unge, Sociale Medier og Politik.” I Demokrati for Fremtiden – Valgretskommisionens betænkning om unges demokratiske engagement. Valgretskommisionen, December 2011. http://duf.dk/uploads/tx_templavoila/PUB_2011-12-01_Valgretskommissionen_-_i_-_unge_sociale_medier_og_politik_02.pdf.

Hoff, J., Linaa Jensen, J., Klastrup, L., Schwartz, S., Brügger, N. (2013). Internettet og folketingsvalget 2011. København, Danske Medier. http://danskemedier.dk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rapport_small.pdf

Nielsen, H.J. (2011). Hey! Hva’ så? Fatisk funktion i sociale mediers kommunikation – med særligt henblik på bibliotekerne. In Nielsen, H.J., H. Høyrup, & H.D. Christensen (eds.): Nye vidensmedier. Kultur, læring,
kommunikation. Kbh.: Samfundslitteratur

Larsen, M.C.(2012) “Børn, unge og sociale netværkssider – Hvad ved vi? I H. Stouby (red), Sociale Netværkssider som tekst og kontekst, Systime, s.13-70.

Larsen, M.C. (2009). Sociale netværkssider og digital ungdomskultur: Når unge praktiserer venskab på nettet. Mediekultur, 47, s. 45-65.

Lomborg, Stine. (2011). Social media as communicative genres. Mediekultur.51: pp. 55-71. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/4012

Sørensen, A.S. (2009). Social media and personal blogging: Textures, routes and patterns. MedieKultur,
25(47), 66-78. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/1698

Back@work and an updated publication list

Lisbeth — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:41:16 +0000

November is drawing to a close, and I have formally now been back at work (at the IT University of Copenhagen) for almost a month. I have been teaching and also preparing next terms class (in Digital Media Culture), so research-wise not a lot is happening right now. But last year, at least, I did manage to get a few publications out. Go see my now fully updated list of publications! And in 2013, I’m pleased to announce that my first monograph, in Danish, titled Sociale Netværksmedier (working title), will be published by Danish publishing company Samfundslitteratur.

Maternity leave until November 2012

Lisbeth — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:19:15 +0000

This blog has been quiet for a long time. Most of my postings these days take place on Facebook and Twitter, alas. Or rather, I should write, used to take place. Posting more or less stopped in August 2011 when I went on maternity leave. In late September 2011, I gave birth to my son Tim, and since then postings have been even more infrequent. Life with a baby is wonderful, but also demanding, so I dont have much time to spend in front of the computer! I’m staying at home taking care of him and introducing him to daycare until November 2012, when I will return to work, and then also, perhaps, to life online…

Classical Music Culture and Users on YouTube

Lisbeth — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:29:28 +0000

Yesterday, at the Internet Research 11 conference, I presented the first findings from a small pet project of mine: the study of classical music culture and classical music fans on YouTube. In the study, I have so far looked at which kind of classical music videos you can find on YouTube and I have carried a analysis of the +5000 comments on two videos with two different sopranos (Maria Callas and Anna Netrebko) singing the aria “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s opera Norma.

Findings so far:
General insight: classical music user also exhibit fan behaviour (not surprising, but surprisingly few people have written academic articles about them as fans until now). Their “fan” behaviour might not be that different (?!) from other music fans, but it is still interesting to reflect on how in particular classical music use practices and appraisal norms are reframed and changed by a particular social media format. In my further work, I would like to look in more detail at at the way the hardcore fans or “connoisseurs” frame themselves as music authorities in the ongoing discussions of what is “good singing” or not.

The comment analysis:
- only 0.1 % of the viewers of the Maria Callas video have posted comments
- 84 people have commented on both videos
- you can find very knowledgeable “opera fans” amongst the commenters, discussing technical aspects of singing and the singers, using also other YouTube videos as reference framework
… but most commenters appear to be avid fans of either of the two singers (Callas & Netrebko), posting either a one or two comments of praise or engaging in long hateful flamewars against each other, using very strong language
- around 10 people have each posted more than 100 comments in sum on the two videos

Slides from my presentation (with more detailed info) is available here (for a short while, as I plan to turn this research into a journal article).

Global landsby, dansk forsamlinghus eller?? Hvad laver vi på Facebook?

Lisbeth — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:17:48 +0000

UK summary: This post presents a survey on how people living in Denmark and Danes living abroad uses Facebook. Since the survey is in Danish and the post is intended to give a bit of background on the survey to respondents, the post is also in Danish. Findings from the survey will be presented at the Internet Research 11 conference, and later here, in English.

Hvad bruger vi egentligt sociale netværkssites som Facebook til? Er det steder, hvor vi forbinder os med resten af verden, og som derfor også er et godt bud på hvad en “global landsby” er? Eller er det steder, hvor vi mest taler med folk, vi kender fra vores eget fødeland om ting, vi allerede har til fælles? Med andre ord, og lidt skarpt formuleret: hvor “danske” er danskerne* på Facebook, og hvor orienterede mod udlandet er de folk, der bor i Danmark, men har et andet fødeland? Det er et meget relevant spørgsmål at stille, synes jeg, ikke mindst i et land som Danmark, hvor Facebook er blevet så populært. Og derfor har jeg søsat en spørgeskemaundersøgelse, der måske kan give nogle svar på disse spørgsmål.

Hvis du vil deltage i undersøgelsen “Hvad laver vi på Facebook”, så klik på dette link. Du kan vinde en tur i biffen for to, hvis du deltager.

Jeg har også lavet en Facebook-gruppe for undersøgelsen. Den finder du her.

Når undersøgelsen er færdig, vil jeg præsentere de første fund på konferencen Internet Research 11 i et panel, hvor en lille gruppe forskere fra IT Universitetets nyetablerede Center for Netværkskultur diskuterer, hvad netværkskultur egentligt vil sige og hvordan vi kan forstå den. Jeg vil også prøve at lave en lille rapport om undersøgelsens fund, som jeg lægger ud her på bloggen. Så hold øje med bloggen her, mere følger!

* I undersøgelsen, såvel som her, anvender jeg ordet “dansker” i den statistiske definition af ordet: her betyder “dansker” en person, der har mindst een forælder, der er født i Danmark og med dansk statsborgerskab.

My 2010 publications (out and upcoming)

Lisbeth — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:16:11 +0000

Publicationwise, 2010 is turning out to be a really good year, where Im harvesting the fruit of, in some cases, several years of work.

First and foremost, I’m happy to announce that our reader The International Handbook of Internet Research (eds. Hunsinger, Klastrup and Allen) is finally out and can be bought via the publisher Springer’s website (plus on Amazon and other places). The book contains more than 30 articles by researchers from the US, Australia and Europe, showcasing a multitude of perspective on internet studies. I have uploaded the table of contents of the book here for inspiration. Apart from co-editing the book, I have also contributed with a chapter of my own: “Understanding Online (Game) worlds”.

I’m also proud to have a chapter in another anthology, which is the result of a very interesting seminar on multimodality that I attended last year. The anthology is titled Skrift/Bilde/Lyd, it is edited by my versatile Norwegian colleague Martin Engebretsen and contains a number of articles on how to analyse multimodal texts, not the least digital texts. My article is titled: “Når handlingsrummet bliver en modalitet: om spilæstetisk analyse af websites”. You can get the book via the publisher’s (Høyskoleforlaget) homepage. If you are student or researcher and want to take a look at my article, send me a mail and I’ll be happy to send you a final draft version of it.

With my colleague, Ida Engholm, I have published an extended paper, expanding the paper “Websites as Artefacts : A New Model for Website Analysis” which we presented at the New Media and Interactivity Conference in Istanbul earlier this year. You can find the extended version of the paper here. In the paper, we present what we believe is an operational model for the analysis of both “web 1.0″ and “web 2.0″ websites. It includes an analysis of Issey Miyake’s website and a Facebook profile.

I have also published a small article in the journal Language at Work, where I discuss how to use social media for professional (research) communication. It is titled “Professionally Social: Using Social Media for Professional (Research) Communication” and can be downloaded from the journal’s website.

Locally, the Danish website Designværkstedet (a portal for Danish teachers) has published a small article presenting some of my thoughts on statusupdates on Facebook as a new form of storytelling: Sociale fortællinger – statusopdateringers funktion på sociale netværkssites.

In the pipeline is an article for anthology on Lord of the Rings Online, written with Susana Tosca, about Lord of the Rings as a transmedial worlds. I’m currently also working on an expanded version on my IAMCR paper on Facebook groups as “affective audiences” (see this blogpost) to be published as article in international journal plus preparing a paper on classicual music culture on YouTube. And I am still trying to find time to work on my book on a narratology for social media.

Slides from my IAMCR confpres on Facebook groups and audiences

Lisbeth — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:27:58 +0000

Update: Slides are now withdrawn – but you are welcome to contact me via email if you want to see them and/or read the working paper, on which the presentation is based.

As promised in my presentation, here are my slides from the presentation “Publics for a day? The affective “audiences” on Facebook” with some graphs and stats regarding the emergence, posting patterns, life cycle etc of three Danish Facebook groups, created as reaction to some major news stories. Since this is work in progress, the slides will only be available until Sunday July 25th, after which they will be withdrawn, as I want to turn my findings and the paper on this subject (which should be available in the IAMCR2010 “proceedings”) into a proper journal paper soon… Comments much welcome .