First Monday November 2005

Dear Reader,

The November 2005 issue of First Monday (volume 10, number 11) is now 
available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/

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Table of Contents

Volume 10, Number 11 - November 7th 2005

A democracy of groups
by Beth Simone Noveck
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/noveck/

Abstract:
In groups people can accomplish what they cannot do alone. Now new 
visual and social technologies are making it possible for people to 
make decisions and solve complex problems collectively. These 
technologies are enabling groups not only to create community but 
also to wield power and create rules to govern their own affairs. 
Electronic democracy theorists have either focused on the individual 
and the state, disregarding the collaborative nature of public life, 
or they remain wedded to outdated and unrealistic conceptions of 
deliberation. This article makes two central claims. First, 
technology will enable more effective forms of collective action. 
This is particularly so of the emerging tools for "collective 
visualization" which will profoundly reshape the ability of people to 
make decisions, own and dispose of assets, organize, protest, 
deliberate, dissent and resolve disputes together. From this argument 
derives a second, normative claim. We should explore ways to 
structure the law to defer political and legal decision-making 
downward to decentralized group-based decision-making. This argument 
about groups expands upon previous theories of law that recognize a 
center of power independent of central government: namely, the 
corporation. If we take seriously the potential impact of technology 
on collective action, we ought to think about what it means to give 
groups body as well as soul - to "incorporate" them. This paper 
rejects the anti-group arguments of Sunstein, Posner and Netanel and 
argues for the potential to realize legitimate self-governance at a 
"lower" and more democratic level. The law has a central role to play 
in empowering active citizens to take part in this new form of 
democracy.

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North America: Multiplying media in a dynamic landscape
by Mahmoud Eid and Carrie Buchanan
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/eid/

Abstract:
Perhaps no region on earth has been as affected by the dramatic pace 
and extent of media development since 1990 as North America, where 
most have ready access to new media, such as the Internet and the 
latest telecommunications devices, as well as the traditional 
newspapers, radio and television. Even traditional media have 
undergone profound change as convergence and cross-ownership brought 
them together in vast media conglomerates dominated by a handful of 
global corporations. Digitization has taken hold in the United States 
and Canada, increasing commodification and cross-ownership of all 
forms of communication, from movies and music to the written word, 
and bringing together once separate domains of print, broadcasting, 
telecommunications and computer technology. Yet all is not monolithic 
on the North American scene. This increasing concentration of 
ownership has evolved at the same time as increasing fragmentation of 
media markets and outlets. Explosive growth in cable and satellite 
television channels, musical variety and the Internet, have given 
citizens many more choices and in some cases easier access to outlets 
for their own creative and political expression. Throughout North 
America, increasing cultural diversity has also led to products and 
policies serving multicultural needs in an information society. As a 
less powerful, less populous neighbor with close economic and 
cultural ties to the United States, Canada's history has been one of 
resisting cultural and economic domination. This theme continues in 
the current era, in the face of evolving trade agreements attempting 
to drop restrictions and barriers.

At the risk of becoming irrelevant in the Internet era, North 
American media have been quick to establish their online presence, 
with virtually all mainstream newspapers and broadcasters now posting 
news on Internet sites, and an increasing number of community 
newspapers and local broadcasters joining the trend. The 
accessibility and effectiveness of those Web sites vary greatly. 
Media whose primary goals are to inform and educate, such as public 
broadcasters, have used the Web to enhance that mandate, with some of 
the most accessible interactive sites. Those who simply aim to 
generate revenue post a bare minimum of news content, and charge fees 
for access to their most valuable online resources, such as archival 
databases. The digital age has also changed the way journalists work, 
with significant cost savings and staff reductions as large media 
organizations pool resources and share material. Reporters use 
satellite phones and internet hookups to file stories from off-site, 
including abroad, and at times the same reporter writes stories and 
shoots television footage. In some cases the changes have eliminated 
locally based correspondents; instead "parachute reporters" travel to 
the scene with little knowledge of the region and situation. While 
these reporters may serve to entertain and persuade those back home, 
they can be ill equipped to educate and inform.

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Re-imagining Web analysis as circulation
by Christopher A. Paul
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/paul/

Abstract:
Many forms of Internet analysis grew out of literary and textual 
criticism that focused on interpreting meaning(s) in particular 
texts. In extending a meaning-based approach to Web texts, analyses 
have artificially constructed borders around texts to produce stable 
research objects. This paper refocuses criticism, shifting from 
meaning to critical analysis of circulation and the ways that 
movement is either facilitated or impeded in particular Web texts. 
This analytical move respects the dynamic borders of Web texts whose 
hypertextual links defy precise definitions. By focusing on 
circulation, Web analysts can study the politics of pathways in Web 
sites, retaining the dynamism promised by the technology of the Web, 
yet enabling productive criticism.

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"IM here" Reflections on virtual office hours
by Shannon L. Roper and Jeannette Kindred
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/roper/

Abstract:
AOL Instant messenger (IM) was used over four semesters as an 
additional way for students to contact us during office hours. Since 
college students primarily use IM as a way to interact socially with 
their friends and family, we were curious if students would use IM to 
contact us, who would use it, how often they would use it, and what 
the content of the IM interactions would be. After two years of 
collecting all IM exchanges with students, we found that students did 
use IM to contact us on a regular basis. Both male and female 
students in roughly equal numbers used IM. In addition, a majority of 
the exchanges were task related; that is, questions and comments 
relating to a particular course or assignment. Results, personal 
reflections, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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Online images of industrialization in the American Midwest
by Ruth Garner, Mark Gillingham, and Steve McShane
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/garner/

Abstract:
Someone who doubts that photographs, like paintings and drawings, are 
an interpretation of the world might study the two historical photo 
collections discussed in this article. The views of industrialization 
could hardly be more dissimilar. Looking at both collections - photos 
and captions - is instructive.

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Web=based learning: Factors affecting students' satisfaction and 
learning experience
by Kyung-Sun Kim and Joi L. Moore
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/kim/

Abstract:
This study investigates how students' characteristics and behaviors 
affect their satisfaction and learning experience within Web-based 
courses. Eighty-two graduate students taking a Web-based course from 
a Midwest university participated in the study. Web-based 
questionnaires were used to collect data on student demographics as 
well as learning experiences and styles. Findings suggest that 
students' interaction with classmates and their instructor may have 
an impact on their satisfaction with Web-based courses. In addition, 
students' gender and their perceived level of course difficulty seem 
to be correlated with interaction.

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