[Web4lib] Dissertation | Social Networking Sites and the Surveillance Society ... | Christian Fuchs

[McKiernan, Gerard [LIB]]

Colleagues/

 

Another recently announced dissertation on Social Networking Sites:

 

Social Networking Sites and the Surveillance Society. A Critical Case
Study of the Usage of studiVZ, Facebook, and MySpace by Students in
Salzburg in the Context of Electronic Surveillance / Fuchs, Christian.
2009. Salzburg / Vienna: Research Group UTI. ISBN 978-3-200-01428. 145
pp.

 

/Gerry 

 

674 students from Salzburg participated in the study that was conducted
by the eTheory Research Group (University of Salzburg, ICT&S Center).
88.3% of the respondents use studiVZ, 39.5% Facebook, 15.9% MySpace,
9.0% Xing, 7.4% Lokalisten. Each of 61 other social networking sites
(SNS) is used by less than 1%. [snip]

 

59.1% of the respondents see the maintenance of social contacts as the
biggest advantage of SNS, 55.7% say that economic and political
surveillance is the greatest risk. [snip]

 

81.8% of the respondents have little knowledge about concrete data
surveillance in Europe (e.g. the Data Retention Directive or the
Austrian Security Police Act). But 67.4% have a critical standpoint
towards surveillance. 88.7% of the studiVZ users have good or very good
knowledge about what happens with their data on the platform. The same
is true for only 35.9% of Facebook users and 22.6% of MySpace users.
[snip]

 

The study recommends that citizens see commercial Internet platforms
that store and evaluate personal data generally critically and that by
establishing special consumer protection websites it could be documented
in the public, which rights in dealing with personal data such platforms
obtain by their terms of use and their privacy terms. [snip]

 

The expertise of the study will be part of the Europe-wide research
project "Living in Surveillance Societies" of the European Science
Foundation, in which Christian Fuchs represents Austria in the
management committee

 

Links to Full Text of The Dissertation (English and/or German) Available
At

 

[ http://tinyurl.com/bz9t5s ]

 

Also: UnRelated/Related: Brazil (The Film)

 

 

Enjoy!

 

/Gerry

 

 Gerry McKiernan

Associate Professor

Science and Technology Librarian

Iowa State University Library

Ames IA 50011

 

 

gerrymck at iastate.edu  

 

There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come / Victor
Hugo 

[ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 ]

 

 

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