Aviv Ovadya, chief technologist at the School of Information’s Center for Social Media Responsibility, cautions that technology and social media that can be used to enhance and distort what is real is evolving faster than our ability to understand and control or mitigate it. “I’m from the free and open source culture,” he says. “The goal isn’t to… Read More »
A new Identity and Access Management (IAM) service is a gamechanger in helping the Alumni Association fulfill its mission to connect alumni with services that nurture an ongoing relationship with the university. “Using social login allows the Alumni Association to overcome the single biggest barrier for providing alumni access to our online services and alumni benefits,” says Andre… Read More »
During the summer of 2017, in lieu of a more traditional “summer reads” program, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts launched an experiment in online, interactive, and collaborative explorations of citizenship and diversity in a digital age. Because issues of free speech, safe spaces, inclusion, intellectual diversity, and identity-based marginalization continue to create divisions and challenges… Read More »
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has more than 36 million followers on Twitter, used political humor and sarcasm to become broadly appealing and refashion his political style, according to a U-M study of his tweets led by Joyojeet Pal, assistant professor of information. The study, published in the International Journal of Communication, shows that Modi tweets under nine broad themes: cricket, opposition… Read More »
Cliff Lampe, an associate professor of information, says there’s a definite connection between social media and how news organizations cover disasters. For example, after Hurricane Irma hit the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 6, stranded islanders flocked to social media to reach families and friends. Facebook groups quickly formed with residents posting photos, updates, and requests for assistance. As… Read More »
Social media have changed how colleges interact and communicate with the world. Every post paints a picture of what a college is like, who makes up its community, and what’s important to them. It’s a 24/7 job that didn’t even exist a few years ago. For Nikki Sunstrum, U-M’s director of social media, that means constant monitoring of what’s happening… Read More »
As people spend more time on social media, the lack of true friendship or in-person connections could be harming their health. Robert Pasick—a psychologist, author, and adjunct professor at the Ross School of Business—says the lack of authentic, in-person connections can lead to health problems, or even early death. According to Pasick, social media sites, like Facebook, are giving… Read More »
Why is 😂 more popular than 😃 ? Why is a person more likely to use 👍 or 😘 to express appreciation ? These represent the types of questions School of Information doctoral student Wei Ai and his colleagues answered when they examined the use of emojis by one million users through more than 1.2 billion messages. The researchers analyzed the relationship of the… Read More »
Recent research from the U-M School of Information (SI) shows that men who hope to get women to respond to them on online dating sites have a better chance if they create profiles that are more like the women they hope to attract, and yet can show they are distinct from other males. “Specifically, she is more likely to… Read More »
Jeff DeGraff, a clinical professor of business administration at the Ross School of Business, doesn’t believe that the web is truly as accessible and democratic as many would have us believe. According to DeGraff, the web is no longer the free and open space it was a decade ago. “It’s now a feudal system run by a handful of… Read More »
Soccer games, family vacations and reports of good grades are OK for social media sharing. Posts with baby photos or references to significant others — not so much. This is what children said when asked what their parents can share about them online, according to research from the School of Information. “You might expect that children don’t want their… Read More »
A new study from U-M School of Information researchers looks at how Facebook “Buy/Sell/Trade” groups work and why they are successful. The research team focused on “Mom-to-Mom” groups (also called Mom-2-Mom or M2M), in which mothers buy and sell gently used baby items, such as clothes, toys, and books. They offer the items for porch pick-up (PPU) on a… Read More »
Parents can toss out the owner’s manual for that new smartphone or tablet—they can get all the digital assistance they need from their teens. According to Jan Van den Bulck, professor of communication studies at U-M, more children are guiding their parents on how to use digital media, especially newer media forms such as smartphones, tablets and apps. But… Read More »
Thursday, April 20; 3-5 pm; Arbor Lakes North Dome. Have you heard the buzz? Jocelyn Anderson and the Women in IT Community of Practice (WIT CoP) Professional Development Subcommittee planned an exciting topic for this week’s meeting: U-M researcher Rada Mihalcea will discuss semantic analysis and what it tells us about gender preferences in social media. Mihalcea, professor of… Read More »
Mr. Trump’s personal Twitter account has found itself at the center of a number of controversies and attracted the attention of traditional media, critics, and supporters alike, says Josh Pasek, a U-M communication studies professor. Now, the National Archives and Records Administration has confirmed that President Trump’s tweets will be preserved for posterity, in keeping with the Presidential Records Act. Traditionally, the president speaks to… Read More »
The U-M Center for Health Communications Research and the National Cancer Institute have developed a text messaging program called Tips4Health that aims to promote healthy habits in people that sign up. The U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center is using the service to deliver behavioral interventions for smoking cessation, healthy eating, and physical activity. A text messaging program to encourage colon cancer screening… Read More »
Do you find yourself incapable of controlling an incessant urge to look at your smart phone or other electronic device? You’ve got company. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans report being so tethered to their digital gadgets that they constantly or often check their email, texts, and social media accounts, a new poll shows. The problem may stem from… Read More »
Typically, elected officials delegate social media posts to staffers, but that is changing. (President Donald Trump being the most famous example.) Michigan also has a few political social media stars, like Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and retired Rep. John Dingell, who manage their own accounts. Josh Pasek, assistant professor of communications studies, is not sure the trend bodes well for… Read More »
Snapchat’s ability to court a young demographic has been one of its defining characteristics and the pillar of its success. But as the company prepares for its stock market debut, the photo and video messaging app’s reliance on users under the age of 25 could also be one of its biggest liabilities. “It’s the rocks many ships have… Read More »
Researchers at U-M and Peking University analyzed 427 million messages from nearly 4 million smartphone users in 212 countries and regions to see if emoji use was universal or differed based on user location and culture. They discovered the most popular emoji worldwide is… face with tears of joy, which accounted for over 15% of total symbols seen in the study.… Read More »