Posts Tagged: OIISDP

Noticed — 1 Comment
7
Apr 08

NYT on the Iranian Blogosphere

Page 3 of the national Sunday NYT featured an interesting article on research being conducted on the Iranian blogosphere by Harvard’s Berkman Center. Featured prominently in the piece is John Kelly, whose research I encountered when he showcased his analysis at the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program. John also demonstrated some of his work here at UNC-Chapel Hill, and I hope he’ll come back and show his great work again. The Times reports:

Over all, a new study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School shows that Iran’s blogosphere mirrors the erratic, fickle and often startling qualities of life in the Islamic republic itself. The rules of what is permissible fluctuate with maddening imprecision, so people test the limits.

The full study is available from the Berkman Center’s website.

Noticed — No Comments
30
Jan 08

The WSJ peers into the future…

A few days ago, the WSJ ran an interesting article entitled Thinking about Tomorrow, in which a reporters talked to a number of futurists, etc. about what technology is going to look like ten years from now. I’ve got a quote in there about social technology, which was a nice surprise! I’m not sure how long the piece will stay online for free, so if you’re interested in reading, check it out here.

In other news, the Oxford SDP will be accepting applications through February 20 – three more weeks. I can’t recommend this program enough to fellow doctoral students.

Noticed / Thoughts — 2 Comments
20
Dec 07

More from Pew, OII SDP 2008

Pew’s excellent researchers are keeping me very busy these days. Following on the release of the Digital Footprints report, Pew yesterday released a new report on Teens and Social Media. Certainly of interest to the future-watchers in the crowd. Nicole Ellison and I share our thoughts about the report with Ellen Lee of the SF Chronicle.

What struck me about the social media report is the evident trending towards increased production of online content by young people. That is, more and more young people are creating content online, to the point where production in one form or another is expected. Among the technical elite, this might not seem interesting or surprising. Of course, Pew’s strong suit is the development of ecologically valid surveys that get at the heart of the everyday experience – and the fact that 1 our of every 3 teens out there blogs or journals is very much noteworthy in my opinion. You can download the report here. (PDF)

Also to note is the opening of the application process for the 2008 Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program. This year, the program will be at Oxford (last year it was at the Berkman Center), running from July 13-25. If you’re a doctoral student interested in the areas the SDP covers (and particularly Web Science, as Sir Timbl will be a tutor), I heartily recommend applying. The SDP is a great experience, a chance to better your research, and a chance to build a lifelong cohort of some seriously brilliant awesome people.

Research / Thoughts — No Comments
27
Jul 07

OII SDP draws to a close

After a remarkably quick two weeks, the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program is drawing to a close. It has been a great two weeks here at Harvard, and I know we will all look back very fondly on the experience. While the life of the graduate student has its standard drawbacks, it is a great joy to be able to explore, research and learn as a career – something I won’t take for granted. It’s a very bittersweet moment to say goodbye, but it will be fascinating to watch the cohort progress as time passes. Thank you to everyone at OII and Berkman, especially Amar and Suzanne, for making it a wonderful experience.

In other news, Paul DiPerna informed me that the Blau Exchange website has relaunched. As part of the relaunch, Paul has posted a roundtable discussion on Ph.D. studies, research and online politics featuring Miia Akkinen, Paul K. Lawton, Sarita Yardi and myself. Thanks to Paul for putting this together, and I look forward to Blau’s new content.

Research — 1 Comment
17
Jul 07

At the Oxford Internet Institute

Last Sunday, I traveled to Boston to attend the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program. This year, the program is being held at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School. To say it’s a excellent experience is an understatement – a sentiment I think every attendee echoes. I’m most impressed by my colleagues, a collection of brilliant researchers from all over the world. We’re engaging with new and challenging ideas all day, and talking across culture and distance, which makes this a tremendously valuable experience. (To my advisers, thank you!)

If you’re interested in following along with the program, the folk at Berkman have set up an aggregator of student/faculty blogs, which you can find here. A number of students are doing an amazing job of liveblogging, and there are also pictures and other goodies there. I must say that I departed for Boston with hopes that the SDP would inspire and challenge me as I progress towards a dissertation, and it has done that exactly. I hope to write and reflect a little more as the program progresses, though I think its more likely that dispatches will sort of slow down for the next two weeks.

Now, on a random tangent, somebody spammed my blog with all of the spoilers of the new Harry Potter book today. I haven’t tracked them down to see if they were actually true, but there’s a special place in hell for that spammer. That’s just wrong.