Social Blogs Research Articles

Rumor spreading model with consideration of forgetting mechanism: A case of online blogging LiveJournal

Rumor is an important form of social interaction, and its spreading has a significant impact on people’s lives. In the age of Web, people are using electronic media more frequently than ever before, and blog has become one of the main online social interactions. Therefore, it is essential to learn the evolution mechanism of rumor spreading on homogeneous network in consideration of the forgetting mechanism of spreaders. Here we study a rumor spreading model on an online social blogging platform called LiveJournal. In comparison with the Susceptible–Infected–Removed (SIR) model, we provide a more detailed and realistic description of rumor spreading process with combination of forgetting mechanism and the SIR model of epidemics. A mathematical model has been presented and numerical solutions of the model were used to analyze the impact factors of rumor spreading, such as the average degree, forgetting rate and stifling rate. Our results show that there exist a threshold of the average degree of LiveJournal and above which the influence of rumor reaches saturation. Forgetting mechanism and stifling rate exert great influence on rumor spreading on online social network. The analysis results can guide people’s behaviors in view of the theoretical and practical aspects.

Redesign and Renewal

I feel honored to have been selected to serve as the next Editor-in-Chief of Health Education & Behavior (HE&B). I follow in the footsteps of a storied group of previous chief editors—including Lowell Levin, Lawrence Green, Noreen Clark, and Marc Zimmerman—whose commitment, dedication, and editorial acumen have served HE&B well over its 37 volumes of publication. I want to thank Marc Zimmerman for his 12 years of outstanding leadership as the journal’s most recent chief editor. Marc strengthened HE&B’s impact factor and catapulted it into the top quarter of the ranking of journals in public, environmental, and occupational health. I also want to thank associate editors Jesus Ramirez-Valles, who will be moving as a newly elected Trustee of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) to service on the Publications Committee, and Lisa Lieberman, who will continue as a member of the Editorial Board of HE&B. Finally, but not least, I wish to acknowledge and thank Teresa Vogel for her long-time and superb service as HE&B’s editorial assistant, as well as SAGE Publications and the editorial production and marketing team in Los Angeles, whose continuing talented support of the journal’s growth and development has enabled HE&B to become the preeminent journal of behavioral and social science in public health that it is today. Changes in editorial leadership at any academic journal, however, invariably present the opportunity to rethink purpose and direction. Toward that end, I have undertaken a process with our Editorial Board to review with key stakeholder groups, including members of SOPHE and the authors and reviewers with whom the journal has worked, how we can strengthen the journal’s relevance and impact in light of SOPHE’s current mission and strategic plan and in recognition of the daunting public health challenges we face, not only in United States and North America but globally as well. I have worked with SAGE Publications during the past 6 months to make several important changes to the journal that will be evident in this issue. First, we have revisited the style and format of HE&B. This issue reveals a face-lift that freshens the design and layout, which, we hope, improves readability while preserving the classically elegant design that has characterized HE&B since the late 1990s when the journal went from publishing quarterly to six issues a year. The new cover has been designed by Janet Kiesel, senior graphic designer, in the SAGE Art Department. Subtle changes retain the branding of HE&B while creating a modern look. The title is now displayed in the font Perpetua and the two-color abstract design creates greater depth of field and motion. Although the SOPHE logo has always appeared within the four-square graphic, the addition of a new HE&B acronym in the opposite corner creates a balanced and complete logo for the journal. Behind the attractive new cover you will find what Denise Royle, production editor supervisor of the HE&B production team at SAGE, has implemented to achieve a subtle, but fresh, new look for the contents of HE&B. This includes a redesign of the layout for each article’s masthead and abstract, the introduction of a two-column format in which the Times New Roman text is set, and an increase in trim size to 81⁄2 by 11, all in an effort to both streamline and make more contemporary HE&B’s appearance. We have also improved the author notes element and each article now includes a statement of conflict of interests and author disclosure that appears at the end. Second, we have made some changes to the scope of content and in our capacity to communicate with our readership. With the development and success of HE&B’s sister journal, Health Promotion Practice (HPP), we have decided to discontinue Practice Notes, a section of HE&B that provided an important outlet for brief reports of innovative practice at a time when such reports were not available to the field. In an effort to reach out and draw in an entire new generation of young scholars who now routinely use social networking sites and blogs to communicate and collaborate, HE&B is now on Facebook and Twitter. And in the coming months, we will be considering additional new features that can improve the impact of the journal. I believe the changes we have made, as well as those that we are contemplating, will improve readability and relevance and will provide more opportunity for dialogue from the field about the science and scholarship that we choose to publish. Finally, thanks to the expert guidance and support provided by Katja Werlich Fried, publishing editor, and Charles Rink, editorial assistant for journals at SAGE, we have been able to move seamlessly to the SAGE Track editorial peer-review system, HE&B’s new online submission portal at Manuscript Central, which is powered by ScholarOne. In addition, in an

Students' readiness for informal learning using Web 2.0 services

The purpose of this paper is to recognise the role of web services on learning process especially on informal learning. Web 2.0 presents the new concept of web services that strongly promote the development of communication and interactivity between users. The technology is the same, but the way of use is different. New services such as services for social networks creation, wiki pages, tools for communication, etc., are developed. From educational aspect, the necessity of permanent learning increasingly relies on informal methods of accepting new knowledge and skills. Informal learning is a type of non-formal learning where person learns from everyday situations and problems. It is based on communication, interchange of ideas, acceptance and development of new knowledge and skills. Web 2.0 services present nearly an ideal way for informal learning development. User becomes an active participant in knowledge creation, knowledge interchange with other users, development of new cognitions and transforming these cognitions into new forms. The paper will present some of the results of a survey carried out at Faculty of Economy and Business about students’ inclination towards social networking, wiki, blog, video sharing and other services and their potential as informal learning tools.

Who is talking? An ontology-based opinion leader identification framework for word-of-mouth marketing in online social blogs

Online social blogs have gained popularity recently. They provide an effective channel for word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing to promote products or service. In WoM marketing, an opinion leader, who is normally more interconnected and has a higher social standing, can deliver product information, provide recommendations, give personal comments, and supplement professional knowledge that help companies to promote their products. Many theories have been put forward about social networks, but few address the issue of opinion leader identification. This study proposes a framework to identify opinion leaders using the information retrieved from blog content, authors, readers, and their relationships, which we call BARR for short. We first build ontology for a marketing product and then collect parameters from BARR to identify “hot topics” related to the product. These hot topics are then associated with information disseminators, or opinion leaders. Marketers can use BARR to track blogs written by opinion leaders and identify their opinions to form effective marketing strategies.

Sentiment strength detection in short informal text

A huge number of informal messages are posted every day in social network sites, blogs, and discussion forums. Emotions seem to be frequently important in these texts for expressing friendship, sho...

Extracting content holes by comparing community‐type content with Wikipedia

PurposeCommunity‐type content that are social network services and blogs are maintained by communities of people. Occasionally, community members do not understand the nature of the content from multiple perspectives, and so the volume of information is often inadequate. The authors thus consider it necessary to present users with missing information. The purpose of this paper is to search for the content “hole” where users of community‐type content missed information.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed content hole is defined as different information that is obtained by comparing community‐type content with other content, such as other community‐type content, other conventional web content, and real‐world content. The paper suggests multiple types of content holes and proposes a system that compares community‐type content with Wikipedia articles and identifies the content hole. The paper first identifies structured keywords from the community‐type content, and extracts target articles from Wikipedia using the keywords. It then extracts other related articles from Wikipedia using the link graph. Finally, it compares community‐type content with the articles in Wikipedia and extracts and presents content holes.FindingsInformation retrieval looks for similar data. In contrast, a content‐hole search looks for information that is different. This paper defines the type of content hole on the basis of viewpoints. The proposed viewpoints are coverage, detail, semantics, and reputation.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a system for extracting coverage content holes. The system compares community‐type content with Wikipedia and extracts content holes in the community‐type content.

Electronic Technology Tools for Knowledge Management By Health Information Professionals

This article examines the relationship between a medical/health librarian and a knowledge manager. The article identifies the various roles expected of a knowledge librarian. The information technology skills and knowledge medical librarians/health information professionals need to acquire to perform and function as knowledge managers were elicited. The article gives insight into some open source information technology tools that can be adopted for information storage and retrieval, considering the high cost of proprietary software. The study identifies the use of knowledge repository tools such as WINISIS digital software, greenstone digital/automation software, Dspace Durable Digital Repository, Eprints Archive Software (EAS), and OCLC SiteSearch Open Source Project. Also identified are a variety of social media and Web 2.0 concepts and tools, including social networks, blogs, wikis, and podcasts. The article concludes that knowledge, skills, and training of library personnel are sine qua non to the successful implementation of knowledge management processes. The article recommends that Medical/Health Librarians acquire new skills and establish knowledge management repositories.

Online identity: Giving it all away?

With a wealth of personal data now residing across various locations online, individuals can find themselves at increasing risk of too much information being exposed. This in turn may increase the potential for threats such as cyber-snooping, social engineering, and identity theft based upon the gathered details. In many cases the exposure occurs as a result of what individuals directly post about themselves on social networks and blog sites, whereas in some cases it happens thanks to other people posting things beyond their control. This paper examines the potential risks and some of the routes by which information might be harvested. It then proceeds to consider some of the potential consequences, presenting examples of how people can be duped using freely available information and how willingly they appear to expose it to others. Recognising the ease of online search, and the difficulty of reigning back information once it is exposed, the requirement is clearly to improve user awareness and control over their data in the first instance.

Blog Popularity Mining by Social Interconnection Analysis

Analyzing interconnections among blog communities reveals blogger behaviors that could help in assessing blog quality. A new approach to ranking blogs uses a social blog network model based on blogs' interconnection structure and a popularity ranking method, called BRank. Experiments show that the proposed method can discriminate blogs with various degrees of popularity in the blogosphere.

Social Networking and Blogging – An Employer’s Perspective

Abstract Employers worldwide are increasingly disapproving the use of social networks and blogging sites due to a decrease in productivity, as well as viruses and other malware or the deliberate or unintentional disclosure of confidential information. If contracts are awarded for software development or for IT or Business Process Outsourcing offshore, it is important to know how the contracting partner controls the risks relating to social networking and blogging. India is one of the preferred destinations for offshore software development and outsourcing and where Swiss companies award many of these contracts. Therefore, an examination follows of the legal position under Swiss and Indian law regarding employers’ options for checking up on social networking and blogging by employees.

Monitoring youth depression risk in Web 2.0

PurposeSocial networking sites have in recent years become an increasingly popular avenue for young people to express and to share their thoughts, views, and emotions. When young people are emotionally distressed for instance, instead of the traditional channel of consulting friends, parents or specialists, social networking blogs may provide a channel to share and release their emotions and intentions. The objective of the paper is to explore the use of text mining and data warehousing technologies to identify and monitor bloggers who are depressed and may be at risk of suicide, self harm or harming others.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first provides a literature review on relevant work in affective and emotional content text mining and relevant suicide research. An algorithm based on a weighted dictionary text search algorithm was developed to identify at risk bloggers to illustrate the viability of the system. An example that compares the percentage of at‐risk bloggers of three different countries – Australia, the UK and New Zealand‐– from a sample blog population is provided.FindingsThe results show that it is possible to use text mining technologies to identify depressed bloggers. However, there is a need for future research to improve identification and remove false alarms.Practical implicationsThe ability to identify at‐risk bloggers and to provide appropriate interventions could be critical in avoiding tragic consequences. Such a system could provide an e‐monitoring service for various social agencies to engage with potentially at‐risk bloggers.Originality/valueThe current research represents pioneer work in monitoring depression risk in weblogs – research on monitoring at‐risk bloggers is rather limited.

Relationship Initiation and Formation on the Internet

Recent national studies indicate that about 3% to 6% of current marriages or long-term partnerships began over the Internet. Relationships that have their origin in cyberspace can begin in a variety of ways, including social network sites, interest groups or blogs, and matching services. This review summarizes the recent but growing literature on relationship formation over the Internet. Differences in relationship initiation online versus in traditional off-line settings are discussed, and it is highlighted that the differences depend on the specific Internet venue in which people meet.

Museums Opening Up to Communities Using Web 2.0: Promise or Reality?

As social edifices in the sphere of cultural production, today’s museums are increasingly becoming advocates of inclusion and incubators of community. As a result, there has been an increased interest and subsequent change in the way museums mediate among and between communities. One of these changes is the way museums and cultural institutions use emerging Web 2.0 technologies as a means of communication. By extending past the sole use of content provider offered with traditional Web 1.0 technologies, several museums are embracing and experimenting with Web 2.0 technology for its ability to emphasize community and visitor participation. Through the application of museum centered Internet-based services such as social networking sites, RSS feeds, podcasts, and blogs, users can actively engage and influence the organization, creation, and sharing of online content. Undoubtedly, these online platforms infused with concepts of collaboration, community and open dialogue offer the potential to transform our capacity to experience and interact with the museum as well as each other. But to what extent has this potential been realized so far? By seeking to contextualize these social dynamics involved in applying Web 2.0 technologies into the museum, this paper aims to expand our understanding and uses of the various possibilities of social media. Through using a number of case studies from museums with existing Web 2.0 applications, it will discuss how the model of museum communication is changing and will also analyze a number of important issues raised by the use of these technological tools (such as ownership authenticity and control of cultural information, relationship between communities and museum staff, and institutional policies).