Die jüngste Ausgabe des Journal for Computer-Mediated Communication ist eine Special Theme Issue on „Social Network Sites“ (Gast-Herausgeber sind danah boyd und Nicole Ellison) – eine wahre Fundgrube für alle, die an Forschung zum neuen Netz interessiert sind. Ich kopiere mal die Kurzbeschreibungen von der Homepage des Journal; Kommentare von mir sind kursiv:
Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship
This introduction describes features of social network sites (SNSs), proposes a comprehensive definition, presents a history of their development, reviews existing SNS scholarship, and introduces the articles in this special theme section. [Das wird definitiv ein Klassiker – Definition, geschichtlicher Abriss und Stand der Forschung, alles dabei!]Signals in Social Supernets
Signaling theory can be used to assess the transformative potential of SNSs and to guide their design to make them into more effective social tools, for example, by leveraging publicly-displayed social networks to aid in the establishment of trust, identity, and cooperation. [Anwendung der „signaling theory“ auf SNS – das muss ich mir mal genau anschauen – taugt das was? Klingt anschlussfähig an Identitäts- und Beziehungsmanagement]Social Network Profiles as Taste Performances
A social network profile’s lists of interests can function as an expressive arena for taste performance. Based on a semiotic approach, different types of taste statements are identified and further investigated through a statistical analysis of 127,477 profiles collected from MySpace. [automatisierte Analyse von mySpace-Profilen; „taste performance“ kann als Variante/Unterpunkt des Identitätsmanagements gesehen werden]Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites
Are there systematic differences between people who use social network sites and those who stay away? Based on data from a survey administered to young adults, this article identifies demographic predictors of SNS usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster. [N=1060 Befragte (first year US college, d.h. ~18/19 Jahre); davon 78% Facebook- und 54% Myspace-Nutzer; interessante Befunde zu soziodemographischen Unterschieden!]Cying for Me, Cying for Us: Relational Dialectics in a Korean Social Network Site
In-depth interviews reveal that Cyworld’s design features encourage users to transcend the high-context communication of Korean culture by offering an alternative channel for elaborate and emotional communication which fosters the reframing of relational issues offline. [Qualitiatives Vorgehen; für internationalen Vergleich]Public Discourse, Community Concerns, and Civic Engagement: Exploring Black Social Networking Traditions on BlackPlanet.com
Participants on BlackPlanet are deeply committed to ongoing discussions about black community issues. However, none of these discussions moved beyond a discursive level of civic engagement, suggesting that the potential for mobilization through social networking online has not yet been realized. [Inhaltsanalyse; fokussiert auf marginalisierte Zielgruppe]Mobile Social Networks and Social Practice: A Case Study of Dodgeball
Dodgeball is a mobile social network system that seeks to facilitate social coordination among friends in urban public spaces. This study reports on the norms of Dodgeball use, proposing that exchanging messages through Dodgeball can lead to social molecularization, whereby active members experience and move through the city in a collective manner. [Qualitatives Vorgehen; noch nicht näher angeschaut, aber durch den Mobile-Aspekt spannend.]Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on YouTube
Based on a one-year ethnographic project, this article analyzes how YouTube participants developed and maintained social networks by manipulating physical and interpretive access to videos. The analysis identifies varying degrees of „publicness“ in video sharing, depending on the nature of the video content and how much personal information is revealed. [Qualitatives Vorgehen; Unterscheidung zwischen „Publicly private“ und „privately public“ klingt interessant; muss ich mir mal im Hinblick auf mein Konzept von „persönlichen Öffentlichkeiten“ ansehen]
Ausserdem gibt es im „regulären“ Teil der aktuellen Ausgabe zwei Aufsätze aus dem Bereich der Blogforschung:
Every Blog Has Its Day: Politically Interested Internet Users‘ Perceptions of Blog Credibility – In this study, blogs were judged as more credible than any mainstream media or online source. Both reliance on and motivations for using blogs predicted credibility, with information seeking a stronger predictor than entertainment. [Feldzeit: October 19 to November 16, 2004—the four-week period surrounding the 2004 presidential election day. N=1399; USA]
Writing for Friends and Family: The Interpersonal Nature of BlogsPersonal bloggers who exhibit both extraversion and self-disclosure traits tend to maintain larger strong-tie social networks and are more likely to appropriate blogs to support those relationships, consistent with the view that CMC enhances existing relationships. [Feldzeit: Juni 2006; N=154 (Provider-Blogs, englischsprachig, Email- oder Kommentarfunktion); About one-third came from the U.S., about 30% came from Europe, 25% came from Asia and Australia, and the rest (about 12%) came from a variety of other regions]
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