NickGeidner.com

Below is an idea for a content analysis I started kicking around about 2 years ago. It is based around the idea is that local media creates and reinforces community, so why don’t newspapers become cognizant of it and start designing their websites around this principle. If they do they will create all kinds of positives. First, it has been shown that newspapers can create increased civic participation and social capital in a community. It then stands to reason that if a newspaper explicitly tries to increase civic participation and social capital they will be able to do it more effectively. The more people care about their community the more likely they are to read news about their community. Hence this is a reinforcing spiral. Community reinforcing media creates people who care more about the community. People who care more about the community use more local news media.

But how do we do this. I think there are three important concepts that we need to think about. First, the reader/user must be engaged in the content. Once they are engaged in the content feelings of connection to the community and the news organization must be cultivated. News source must also provide the mobilizing information to allow people to get involved in the community. This is my modest idea.

Read more…

Uncategorized Community, journalism, research

Another thing I posted to my law class’s discussion forum:

I Have just been discussion crazy over the last couple days. Anyway, TechPresident.com has an interesting article about the implications of the Obama administration using a free, open-source content management system, Drupal, to build Recovery.gov. Of course, they are probably reading too much into but they discuss four implications:

1) Goes against the government standard of using proprietary software
2) Bolsters the credibility of open-source software as stable and reliable
3) Drupal’s underlying philosophy matches the Obama administration’s push for community building
4) Extends the White House’s web development from beyond just the new media consultant firm Blue States Digital

Full Article

Uncategorized Drupal, Obama, opensource

This was my comment to the blog for my law class:

Prof. Lessig, from Stanford and soon-to-be Harvard Law, is asking for help in the Shepard Fairey case from the general public.

The Fair Use Project at the Center for Internet and Society is representing artist Shepard Fairey, the artist who made the made the incredibly famous HOPE poster for the Obama campaign. This is a neat case to begin with and I would love to discuss it with some of you law-types*. But from an Internet, Law and Democracy standpoint, the case is getting more interesting. Over the last couple hours, Lawrence Lessig, though multiple Internet communication channels (e.g., his blog and Twitter), has asked the general public to help him with the case. From his blog:

“As mentioned, the Fair Use Project at Stanford’s CIS is representing Shepard Fairey in his suit against the AP. To that end, we’d be grateful for some net-based knowledge. How many photos are there “like” the beautiful photograph that Mannie Garcia took (the one on the left; the one on the right is a CC licensed photo taken by Steve Jurvetson)? Can you send any examples to shep_use@pobox.com?
Also, please send any favorite examples of photos used as visual references for other works of art. We lawyers don’t know much, but we can learn pretty quickly.

Thanks for any help.”

Is this good, bad, indifferent? I am not really sure, but I know it is easier to find things when a million people are looking for it.

*All my knowledge of copyright comes from Lessig’s books, so I am sure you can guess my opinion. I would love to hear the other side. But beyond my person views, I wonder and would love to get this answered, if Shepard Fairey goes to court and eventually gets found guilty of copyright infringement, wouldn’t “Obama for America” also be guilty of copyright infringement, because they sold the posters? Just wondering.

Uncategorized Fairey, IP, lessig, Obama

Ok, I have now been twittering for about a month and a half and I think I am finally getting a hold of it. Let start with stats:

Following: 51
Followers: 51
Posts: 278

I am still not sure about it in general. I know a lot of people are using it and I know a lot of people swear by it, but I am not yet convinced. Here is what I am sure of:

• Twitter like most social media strengthens weak ties. For instance, I have noticed I talk a lot more to a number of people I would consider weak ties in my life. This is because I see them on my Twitter feed. Social media, unlike all previous media, allows us to see our whole social networks, so weak ties are less likely to become latent ties.
• I have found it easier to interact with new people on Twitter than on previous social media (e.g., Facebook), but this might be skewed. As I have said, a lot of people in my social network are not on Twitter. Since I still wanted to play with Twitter I actively sought out new people to talk to. But beyond this I also think the short 140 character message is a lot less threatening.

So anyway those are my two thoughts of the day. I also have had a number of people within my social network join Twitter over the last week or two, so this might affect my usage.

I have also been rethinking about a few concepts or theories and their relation to online communities. The first is synchronicity. Internet communications has variable levels of synchronicity. Chatroom and chat clients of nearly synchronous communication forms. E-mail or this blog represents more non-synchronous forms of communication. The level of synchronicity in a communication should moderate the relationship between the communication and a number of variables (Thanks, M. Beam). Also, I have been thinking about mass vs. interpersonal communication on the Internet and how that is a very gray area. Lastly, I have beenn thinking about the “broken window theory” as a way to explain the collapse of online communities.

Uncategorized Twitter

This afternoon I will be presenting the latest incarnation of my work on perceived network connection to the Communication, Opinion, and Political Studies Group at The Ohio State University. The biggest change to the presentation from my last talk on this topic is a update and slight modification of the model. The definition that I am trying out tomorrow is more precise than the definitions I have used in the past. The model is in the graphic below and then you can go to the “Connection Research” tab to see the full presentation.

The full presentation can be found here.

Uncategorized PNC, research