Control Video Research Articles

From Terranova to Terra Firma: A Critique of the Role of Free Labour and the Digital Economy

AbstractOn-going class action against America Online's use of ‘free labour’ has divided opinion about the management of ‘digital’ labour in the ‘new’ economy. Web-based systems of collaboration between and within firms and their customers, as well as customer engagement in product innovation, have underscored claims about the evaporation of traditional labour markets and labour processes as well as about (weakening) divisions between production and consumption. This has led to (exaggerated) debates about the contribution of ‘free’ or ‘immaterial’ labour to contemporary economies. This paper argues that while significant restructuring has changed traditional organisational forms, capital markets remain centralised and digital labour remains as regulated as other labour. As such, while labour cannot be fully commodified, digital labour is neither free or immaterial, because it is not the content of labour itself, but rather its relationship with capital that gives it ‘weight’ and value.

Advertising Health Status in Male Sex Workers' Online Ads

This brief report examines whether male sex workers mentioned any health concerns in their online ads. The analysis uses 203 male escorts' online ads collected from America Online chat rooms in 2001/2002. The results indicate that only 25 percent of male escorts explicitly mentioned any health-related words or phases in their ads. The results also show that whether a male escort mentioned health in their ad is correlated with the type of images they would like to portray and with the type of sex services they offer.

Latin American and Spanish online videos: vendor offerings for US academic libraries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the availability and features of Latin American and Spanish online videos available through video vendors and other providers to US academic libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines US, Spanish, and Latin American video vendors that offer online videos about and/or are produced in Latin America and Spain. The study focuses on: content, technical aspects, and terms of purchase. For video vendors providing digital delivery systems, searching capabilities and special features are also analyzed. The paper also evaluates video providers interested in working with academic libraries. The availability of videos integrated in major multimedia databases is also explored.FindingsThe paper concludes that the Spanish and Latin American online video marketplace for academic libraries is still emerging, especially for those video vendors located abroad. The relatively small number of offerings are mostly documentaries. Streaming via internet protocol access is the most common way of delivery. Term licenses are standard and access is allowed both off‐campus and on‐campus.Originality/valueLittle research has been done on the availability of Latin American and Spanish online videos. This research would be especially useful for librarians responsible for collection development in these subject areas.

Another Endless November: AOL, WoW, and the Corporatization of a Niche Market

The entrance of World of Warcraft (WoW) into the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO) market has drastically altered conceptions of how popular a virtual world could be. Currently servicing over 12 million monthly subscribers (Woodcock, 2008), it has vastly exceeded expectations, and has brought with it more new users to persistent virtual worlds than any other product before it. However, while there has been much academic work exploring developments within the game itself (Bainbridge, 2007; Duchenault, et al., 2006; Castronova, 2007), the processes by which this explosive growth has occurred have been under-explored. The growth of World of Warcraft relative to the MMO market can only be explained via its extrinsic characteristics of the game and how these characteristics interact with processes of standardization and diversification with relative to the market as a whole. In this paper, I propose that the process that enabled WoW to rise to its current position as market leader amongst MMOs is remarkably similar to that employed by America Online (AOL) in the early 1990’s, and that the growth of both firms are evidence of the standardizing influence that a globalizing process such as McDonaldization has when it enters a niche market. The parallels that may be drawn between these cases may be instructive in understanding the future growth of MMOs and other virtual environments. I will examine the history of the two firms to find evidence of commonalities between them. I will also outline the parallel corporatist models of McDonaldization and Disneyization as proposed by Ritzer (2000) and Bryman (2004). The process by which these firms grew to dominate their spheres will be examined in this context. I will conclude with an examination of what this growth may mean for the future of the MMO industry.

America Online volunteers

• This article continues previous work that analysed the case of America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) with volunteers. Specifically, this article puts forth the AOL volunteers’ case as an instance of co-production that eventually met its demise when organizational changes resulted in the rise of a labor consciousness among some volunteers that made the ongoing relationship impossible. This article shows the types of co-productive labor that took place during the height of the AOL/volunteer relationship and the structures put in place to help AOL harness the power of a free distributed workforce. The research posits that the success of the co-productive relationship was a function of a balance between a numbers of elements: (1) the perceived reasonable compensation on the part of volunteers, (2) social factors and attitudes towards work such as a sense of community, creativity, and (3) a sense of accomplishment. •

Discovering American Women's History Online

Discovering American Women's History Online

Yet Another September: AOL, World of Warcraft, and Niche Markets

Since it’s introduction in November 2004, World of Warcraft (WoW) has exploded in popularity within the sphere of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMOs), dominating the field with over 11.5 million monthly subscribers, an order of magnitude larger than its nearest competitor (Woodcock, 2008). It has become a pop-culture phenomenon, parodied in South Park, promoted by William Shatner, and fiercely defended by its proponents. However, much of the current analysis of the game itself has been on the activities and functions that occur within its virtual space (Ducheneaut, et. al., 2006). The exogenous processes by which WoW came to dominate in its sphere have been under-explored, and the effect their marketplace entry had on established groups within that sphere has been neglected. In this paper, I propose that similarities to what WoW has accomplished in the MMO market can be found in the rise of America Online (AOL) in the early 1990’s, and its effect on the existing service providers and systems of the nascent internet. Exemplifying this is the opening of UseNet to its users in 1993, the infamous “September That Never Ended.”

The Impact of Customer-to-Customer Interaction on Cruise Experience and Vacation Satisfaction

While the role of customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction in shaping service experience has been recognized in the services marketing literature, empirical examination of this issue is limited. Similarly, investigation of tourists’ social contacts has mainly focused on the tourist—local community and tourist—service personnel dyads, while much less is known about tourist-to-tourist interactions. To fill this knowledge gap, this study has examined interaction between tourists on cruise vacations and its impact on the cruise experience and vacation satisfaction. An online survey is conducted with an American online panel ( n = 613). The findings reveal that the quality of C2C interaction has positive direct impacts on the cruise experience as well as indirect effects on vacation satisfaction, mediated by cruise experience. Moreover, the quality of C2C interaction has suppressor effects on the quantity of C2C interaction. The results call for the incorporation of C2C interaction as one component of the relationship marketing theory.

265010 JoynerRef: Text Message Reference Service @ ECU

Many libraries have embraced email and IM reference service, but have yet to offer reference via text message. But like e-mail and IM, text messaging represents just another method among a suite of online options to meet the reference needs of library patrons. In fact, if a library is already able to receive IMs via American Online’s Instant Messenger (AIM) then it already is able to offer text messaging as a free service. This article explains how a recent AIM modification, or “hack”, has given libraries and patrons access to a feature that was previously unavailable. AIM is by far the most popular IM client, with more than 55 million active users. A recent study at UNC – Chapel Hill’s House Undergraduate Library found that students prefer using AIM because its familiarity allows multitasking and lacks formality

Wired China: The Power of the World's Largest Internet Population

ABSTRACT China has the largest internet population in the world—76 percent with high-speed broadband connection. Based on online research of over 8,000 U.S. and Chinese broadband users age 13 and older, this report summarizes key features for global marketers to consider by comparing the similarities and differences between the Chinese and American online populations. The impact of user generated content among those under 35 in both countries is a major focus.

Socializing Online Offers Personal, Professional Benefits

With the rise of the Internet has come a dramatic increase in the number of ways people can share information and reach out to one another. From personal websites and social networking sites to wikis that collect user-generated content, these tools are revolutionizing the way we get and stay connected. Offered here is a look at the ways AAMI members are using these tools, both personally and professionally.Personal websites offer a way to share information, and many free programs and templates mean that even the least tech-saavy can build a site in a matter of minutes.Mike Kauffman, CBET, assistant director of facilities at Reading Hospital in Reading, PA, started a personal website so that he could learn about computers. “It started as a technical challenge hosted on America Online's (AOL) hardware,” he says. “It ended as an unbelievable education hosted on my home hardware.”“The advantage is just saying that I have a site—family and friends can see pictures and movies of my kids. The disadvantage is the time required for upkeep,” he says.He recommends GoLive, a hyper text mark-up language (HTML) editor and website management application from Adobe Systems, or Microsoft Essential as good tools to build a site. His last piece of advice? “Have someone else host it for you unless you want to learn more than you probably need to know.”Jim Hickman, a senior biomedical technician with Great Plains Regional Medical Center in Elk City, OK, uses his personal website to highlight a side interest of his: unidentified flying object (UFO) research. He has published three books on the topic and uses the website to supplement the information in his books and highlight some of the television appearances he's made.“Advantages are being in the public eye, and having a place for people to come and find the latest news,” he says. “I set up my site with the help of Microsoft's partner program.”MySpace and Facebook pages aren't just for teenagers anymore. A number of websites—LinkedIn and Plaxo in addition to MySpace and Facebook—offer networking tools aimed at professionals, and AAMI members are gaining experience with those tools as well.Steve Merritt, an infrastructure engineer with Baystate Health in Springfield, MA, uses his LinkedIn profile to:He reports that he's been contacted by recruiters through the site about a dozen times. “I wouldn't say it helped me find an expert in any area, but it has put me back in touch with contacts I hadn't heard from in years,” he says.David Hoglund, principal and founder of Integra Systems, Inc., a mobility solutions consulting company, has a profile on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) in addition to a professional website about his consulting business (www. integrasystems.org) and a blog.“I started the LinkedIn profile a year ago and find it very valuable,” he says, having recently made a job contact through the site.Pat Lynch, biomedical support specialist of Global Medical Imaging based in Charlotte, NC, believes that Kauffman's BiomedTalk listserv (www.biomedtalk.org) is the first, biggest, and most used online community for biomeds. “We talk about pressing business needs, but also vent our frustrations and problems. We have even created a special site to upload photos, so we know what each other look like,” he says.“Before the start of Biomedtalk, we had difficulty sharing experiences with people outside of our immediate circles,” says Lynch. “Often we would report a problem to a manufacturer, only to be told that ‘you are the only ones experiencing that, we haven't heard any reports of that from anywhere else.’ When Biomed-talk provided us the ability to talk with hundreds and thousands of fellow biomeds, we found out that some problems were not isolated cases and that hospitals all over the country were experiencing the same things.”

Educators in American online universities: understanding the corporate influence on higher education

As many higher educational institutions offer their courses online, college professors are faced with new challenges: pedagogical shift, a different type of relationship with students, and a need for redefining their role. Measurable goals and enforced accountability are challenging the conventional ways of which universities operate today. This paper explores the world of online education and the influence of corporate culture by paying special attention to the teachers' perspectives. The researcher observed virtual classrooms provided by American proprietary higher educational institutions that offer extensive courses online and conducted interviews with online instructors who teach at such institutions.

Gender in Sports Coverage of American and Spanish Online Newspapers

The differences in how the media treat information about women and men provoke a deficit in the information that girls and female adolescents receive about sports. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in sports coverage in relation to gender in online newspapers in two western countries, Spain and the United States. All articles (N = 1,977) with athletic content from the online newspapers usatoday.com and elmundo.es were analyzed during 2-week spans in October 2003 and February 2004. The variables registered were gender, placement of article in the newspaper, number of words per article, and photographs. Results show that women’s sport received less coverage than men’s sport in total number of articles as well as in front-page stories, article length, and number of photographs. Additionally, there were 15 articles about men only for every 1 article about women only in the two newspapers.

Social and Usage-Process Motivations for Consumer Internet Access

Differences between light and heavy users of America Online are investigated using theoretical expectations derived from recent research on uses and gratifications theory. Measures of Internet-usage-process gratifications and Internet socialization gratifications were utilized to test for differences between light and heavy Internet users in the consumer market, and it was expected that heavy users would be more socially motivated in their Internet use while light users would be more motivated by gratifications related to usage processes. However, results indicate that both heavy and light users are more motivated by usage factors, although the difference between usage and social motivation was more pronounced for heavy users. Heavy users are more socially motivated than light users, but both heavy and light users show a significant preference for process uses and gratifications as compared to social uses and gratifications for Internet use.

Select Issues with New Media Theories of Citizen Journalism

New Media theorists such as Dan Gillmor, Henry Jenkins, Jay Rosen and Jeff Howe have recently touted Citizen Journalism (CJ) as the latest innovation in 21st century journalism. 'Participatory journalism' and 'user-driven journalism' are other terms to describe CJ, which its proponents argue is a disruptive innovation (Christensen) to the agenda-setting media institutions, news values and 'objective' reportage. In this essay I offer a 'contrarian' view, informed by two perspectives: (1) a three-stage model of theory-building (Carlile & Christensen) to evaluate the claims made about CJ; and (2) self-reflexive research insights (Etherington) from editing the US-based news site Disinformation between November 1999 and February 2008. New media theories can potentially create 'cognitive dissonance' (Festinger) when their explanations of CJ practices are compared with what actually happens (Feyerabend). First I summarise Carlile & Christensen's model and the dangers of 'bad theory' (Ghoshal). Next I consider several problems in new media theories about CJ: the notion of 'citizen', new media populism, parallels in event-driven and civic journalism, and mergers and acquisitions. Two 'self-reflexive' issues are considered: 'pro-ams' or 'professional amateurs' as a challenge to professional journalists, and CJ's deployment in new media operations and production environments. Finally, some exploratory questions are offered for future researchers.

Sex in America Online: An Exploration of Sex, Marital Status, and Sexual Identity in Internet Sex Seeking and Its Impacts

This was an exploratory study of sex and relationship seeking on the Internet, based on a survey of 15,246 respondents in the United States Seventy-five percent of men and 41% of women had intentionally viewed or downloaded porn. Men and gays/lesbians were more likely to access porn or engage in other sex-seeking behaviors online compared with straights or women. A symmetrical relationship was revealed between men and women as a result of viewing pornography, with women reporting more negative consequences, including lowered body image, partner critical of their body, increased pressure to perform acts seen in pornographic films, and less actual sex, while men reported being more critical of their partners' body and less interested in actual sex. Marrieds and divorced were more likely than singles to go online seeking a serious relationship. Only 2% of users met the threshold of compulsive use established by previous studies.

Cancer coverage in a mainstream and Korean American online newspaper: Lessons for community intervention

Objective Korean Americans have higher incidence of stomach, liver, and cervical cancer than most groups in CA, USA, and generally lower rates of cancer screening. To better target community interventions, we evaluated the cancer content in a leading Korean American newspaper, the Korea Daily, compared to a mainstream newspaper from the same metropolitan area, the Los Angeles (LA) Times. Methods Using the online versions of each newspaper for the year 2006, we counted articles mentioning cancer and evaluated the content in a random sample of 300 articles from each newspaper. Articles were categorized by relevance of cancer content and topic(s) covered. Results Although the LA Times had a higher proportion of articles mentioning cancer, the Korea Daily had more articles that primarily focused on cancer and addressed specific types of cancer. Articles in the Korea Daily were more likely to discuss prevention, while those in the LA Times more often focused on people, politics, or research. Conclusions Smaller, ethnic newspapers may be more amenable to messages about prevention and appropriate places to target community-focused interventions. Practice implications Health practitioners should consider submitting articles to ethnic newspapers and forming partnerships with journalists to cultivate this potential.

Psychotherapy 2.0: MySpace® Blogging as Self–therapy

A survey conducted by America Online (AOL) in 2005 reported the startling finding that almost 50% of those posting entries on internet logs (weblogs or blogs), use them as a form of self-therapy. This finding went relatively unnoticed by psychotherapists and other mental health professionals. Given the rather significant global population of bloggers (those who post internet journal entries) and readers, and the seemingly intractable problem of mental illness worldwide (according to the World Health Organisation, the global burden of mental illness accounts for more than the burden of all cancers put together), the possibility of blogging as self-therapy deserves greater attention. Research investigating the health possibilities of blogs holds particular promise, at least for those disposed to writing and those working with patients who write. This paper addresses the question of how one might blog within a social network as a form of self-therapy. Based on an interview conducted with a blogger in May 2007, we construct a portrait of an individual who uses a blog as self-therapy.

Select Issues with New Media Theories of Citizen Journalism

Select Issues with New Media Theories of Citizen Journalism

Searching for Privacy Online: Legislating Against the Retention of Search Histories

On August 4, 2006, America Online posted online a database containing three months of search histories for approximately 658,000 users. The information contained in the search logs ranged from innocuous to embarrassing to potentially illegal. Although AOL collected its data with the noble goal of aiding researchers who study the ways we search for information online, the public reaction to the data release was overwhelmingly negative. Industry experts, privacy advocates, users, and others came to the same conclusion: AOL violated the privacy of those 650,000-plus users by releasing their personal data online without consent. In the aftermath of the AOL data release, many have begun grappling with the privacy issues raised by the incident. In particular, how can information disclosed by users that in the aggregate forms personally identifiable profiles of those users be protected? Users of search engines have no opportunity to provide any form of meaningful consent for the collection of their search queries because they are not required to agree to any terms of use before conducting searches. Further, because of the incremental nature of the sort of information they will disclose in conducting searches, users are unlikely to be aware of the privacy implications of entering a query into a search engine. Finally, users are often unaware that this information is collected at all. Legislative initiatives, used in combination with appropriate technologies, are necessary to protect user information collected online without meaningful consent. This Article offers statutory language prohibiting the collection and retention of this sort of information. User-keyed information disclosed by individuals who have not meaningfully consented to collection of that data information which includes search queries should not be collected or retained.