Use Of Social Technologies Research Articles

Роль интересов в социальном управлении

This study analyzed the category of “interest” in the structure of the sociological theory and practice of modern management. The importance of interest in such a scientific field as the sociology of management is described and its role in the study of social management, considered as a specific sphere of human activity, is substantiated. As a result of the analysis, the place of interests in the activities of the subject of social management is revealed, characterized by the internal inconsistency of his interests and the need for their coordination. The importance of interests in the formation of the activity of the object of social management is determined and the main indicators of their state are described: social integration, cohesion, solidarity, social consensus. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of the effectiveness of management decisions described both from the standpoint of the effectiveness of resource use and from the standpoint of achieving the goals of social management. The technological aspect of taking into account interests in the process of social management is considered, which manifests itself in the use of social technologies that contribute to the optimization of managerial influences. The article describes the importance of taking into account interests (personal, group, social) in the process of social technologization. The connection of interests with the methods and principles of social management reflecting the social essence of its social mechanism is explained. Among the principles, the most significant ones are considered from the perspective of taking into account interests: the principles of social orientation of management, humanization of management, consistency of personal and organizational goals, delegation of authority and management through the team.

Social capital and use of assisted reproductive technology in young couples: Ecological study using application information for government subsidies in Japan

BackgroundAssisted reproductive technology (ART) is a globally established treatment; however, large disparities exist in ART use among young couples. We investigated regional-level factors associated with ART use in Japan. MethodsWe calculated the use rate of ART using the number of women aged <35 years who applied for government subsidies in 2017; we divided that figure by the number of women aged 20–35 years in each prefecture. Prefectural-level average household income; social capital indicators including voting rate, volunteer rate, and move-in rate; and Gini coefficients as indicators of income inequality were linked to ART use, adjusting for prefectural size, the mean age of women at first marriage, number of ART facilities, and additional prefectural subsidies. ResultsThe rate of ART use (per 10,000 women) varied significantly from 22.0 to 58.8 across Japan's 47 prefectures. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the use rate increased by 0.048 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.007 to 0.088) for each 10,000-yen increase in average household income and 1.5 (95% CI, 0.65 to 2.3) for each 1% increase in volunteer rate. Conversely, the use rate decreased by 18.4 (95% CI, −28.6 to −8.1) for each 1% increase in the move-in rate. There was no significant association between ART use and income inequality. ConclusionAlthough we cannot infer causal relationships, the findings suggest that improving financial access and enhancing social capital may increase access to ART. Further research, particularly multilevel analysis using individual data, is required to confirm these findings.

Ethics in Social Design: Definitions, Models, and Perspectives

We are witnessing a proliferation of design, collaborative technological platforms, websites, and networks dedicated to exchanging information of all kinds. These technologies have a positive role and promote social justice, equity, and the rapprochement of cultures. However, several researchers and civil community members wonder about the use of these technologies, the reasons beyond their emergence, and their designers. While technologies are at the forefront of global development, any system to function well needs a framework to support the experiences that would flow from their environment. In all human progress, some voices urge us to be cautious. Given the preponderance of technologies in our environment, what are the principles to regulate these ecosystems? Many studies have highlighted the moral and ethical issues related to the social use of information technology. There have been previous attempts towards finding ways to create suitable rules for these systems. This paper presumes that many of these conduct codes are more user-oriented, and very few are issued to regulate information technology professionals and designers. Therefore, it is urgent to find a way to design socio systems where several entities (organizations and individuals) can collaborate independently and responsibly on-site in their respective spheres on social projects. In this paper, we are trying to provide different perspectives and lines of thought for responsible and safe use of socio systems and collaborative technology platforms.

A Technology Training Program to Alleviate Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Homebound Older Adults: A Community Case Study.

Despite substantial evidence of the negative health consequences of social isolation and loneliness and the outsized impact on older adults, evidence on which interventions are most effective in alleviating social isolation and loneliness is inconclusive. Further complicating the translation of evidence into practice is the lack of studies assessing implementation and scalability considerations for socialization programs delivered by community-based organizations (CBOs). Our primary objective was to describe the implementation barriers, facilitators, and lessons learned from an information and communication technology (ICT) training program aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness for homebound older adults in a home-delivered meals program. Participants received in-home, one-on-one ICT training lessons delivered by volunteers over a 14-week period with the goal of increasing social technology use. To assess implementation facilitators and barriers, 23 interviews were conducted with program staff (n = 2), volunteers (n = 3), and participants (n = 18). Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Aspects that facilitated implementation included the organization's existing relationship with clientele, an established infrastructure to deliver community-based interventions, alignment of intervention goals with broader organizational aims, and funding to support dedicated program staff. Challenges to implementation included significant program staff time and resources, coordinating data sharing efforts across multiple project partners, participant and volunteer recruitment, and interruptions due to COVID-19. Implications of these facilitators and barriers for scalability of community-based ICT training interventions for older adults are described. Lessons learned include identifying successful participant and volunteer recruitment strategies based on organizational capacity and existing recruitment avenues; using a targeted approach to identify potential participants; incorporating flexibility into intervention design when working with the homebound older adult population; and monitoring the participant-volunteer relationship through volunteer-completed reports to mitigate issues. Findings from this formative evaluation provide insight on strategies CBOs can employ to overcome challenges associated with implementing technology training programs to reduce social isolation and loneliness for older adults, and thus improve overall well-being for homebound older adults. Recommendations can be integrated into program design to facilitate implementation of ICT programs in the community setting.

The Online Social Network and User Innovation

The wide use of social media technology boosts many online innovation platforms, providing effective communication channels for innovation spreading among online users. From the social network perspective, this paper investigates the impact of online interactive relations on user innovation by holistically examining online relations from relational and structural embeddedness, qualified by both the ego-centered and the entire network, respectively. User interaction data from LEGO Ideas are used to empirically test the effects of relational and structural characteristics of online social networks on users’ idea contributions. The results for relational characteristics reveal that the number of online ties has an inverted U-shaped relationship with user innovation, the strength of online ties positively affects user innovation, and neighbor characteristics cannot affect user innovation. For structural characteristics, both centrality and bridge location positively affect user innovation. The findings provide reasonable suggestions for both online users and innovation platforms.

Social Networking Technologies in Promoting Language Socialization: EFL Teachers' Beliefs

Teachers' views influence how they choose pedagogical methods and how they execute teaching practices in the classroom. An investigation of teachers' views regarding the notion of "language socialization" (LS) and how it may be used to enhance pedagogical application via the use of social networking technologies (SNTs) in a Yemeni EFL setting is the subject of this study. In this study, 30 EFL teachers participated in a survey. Five males were interviewed out of the total number of participants. The findings revealed that the vast majority of teachers had good associations with LS as a teaching method and positive reactions to the use of SNTs in the EFL classrooms even though most participants had never used SNTs in their own classrooms. Because of a lack of access to and training in the usage of SNTs, teachers have been prevented from integrating them into their classrooms when teaching English. This suggests that instructors recognize the important functions that SNTs play in improving students’ language learning and socialization but that they lack first-hand experience and training in how to use them in their classrooms effectively. That there is a shortage of provision must be addressed as soon as possible to guarantee that Yemeni English as a foreign language teachers and their students have the chance to engage with new technologies in order to enhance their educational experiences critically.

Trend Alert: A Cross-Platform Organization Manipulated Twitter Trends in the Indian General Election

Political organizations worldwide keep innovating their use of social media technologies. In the 2019 Indian general election, organizers used a network of WhatsApp groups to manipulate Twitter trends through coordinated mass postings. We joined 600 WhatsApp groups that support the Bharatiya Janata Party, the right-wing party that won the general election, to investigate these campaigns. We found evidence of 75 hashtag manipulation campaigns in the form of mobilization messages with lists of pre-written tweets. Building on this evidence, we estimate the campaigns' size, describe their organization and determine whether they succeeded in creating controlled social media narratives. Our findings show that the campaigns produced hundreds of nationwide Twitter trends throughout the election. Centrally controlled but voluntary in participation, this hybrid configuration of technologies and organizational strategies shows how profoundly online tools transform campaign politics. Trend alerts complicate the debates over the legitimate use of digital tools for political participation and may have provided a blueprint for participatory media manipulation by a party with popular support.

Usage of Social Media Tools by Library and Information Professionals (LIPs) in selected Academic Libraries in South-West, Nigeria

This study was carried out to examine the awareness and use of social media tools by Library and Information Professionals (LIPs) in selected academic libraries in South-west, Nigeria and the challenges they face in the use of social media technologies. Descriptive survey was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised 217 library and information professionals from 10 selected academic libraries in south-west, Nigeria. A total enumeration technique was used to cover all the library and information professionals, 136 respondents filled and returned the questionnaire, given a response rate of 62.7%. The questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The findings show that majority of LIPs possessed a high level of awareness in the use of social media tools. The study also revealed that social network tools were highly used by LIPs in the academic libraries studied and the types of social media used by LIPs was also revealed. The major challenges faced in the use of social media include inadequate power supply, lack of Internet access and time constraints. The paper recommended that to enhance the use of social media by LIPs, there is need for constant awareness of the importance of social media tools to LIPs and libraries in effective service delivery, LIPs should be ready to learn, unlearn and be learned in the use of social media and University libraries should provide enabling environment such as Internet connectivity, power supply and policy to guide LIPs in social media usage.

Exploring Social Media Scenarios for the Television

The use of social technologies is becoming ubiquitous in the lives of average computer users. However, social media has yet to infiltrate users' television experiences. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study examining social scenarios for TV. Eleven participants took part in the three-part study that included in-home field visits, a diary study of participants' daily usage of TV and social media, and participatory design sessions. During the participatory design sessions, participants evaluated and discussed several paper wireframes of potential social TV applications. Overall, participants responded to most social TV concepts with excitement and enthusiasm, but were leery of scenarios that they felt violated their privacy.

International Survey on the Use of Emerging Technologies Among Forensic and Correctional Mental Health Professionals

Although the global diffusion of e-mental health has increased in recent years, research on the use of technologies in criminal justice settings is limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted an international online survey ( N = 555) of forensic and correctional mental health professionals from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 20 additional countries. Telecommunication technologies and mental health platforms had the highest numbers of users, the broadest scope, and the largest increase in use due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In contrast, the use of social media and advanced technologies was lower, narrower in scope, and remained the same or decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents’ age, professional discipline, country, and clinical setting significantly predicted total technology use in clinical practice. The study findings provide an overview of the current patterns of technology use and point to opportunities for research and development.

The Relationship Between Pain and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Social Technology Use Protective?

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shelter-in-place orders have profoundly changed the everyday social environment. This study examines the relationship between pain and psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and loneliness) among U.S. adults ages 54 and older during the pandemic. We also test whether use of technology for social purposes moderates the association between pain severity and psychological distress.MethodsUsing cross-sectional data on 1,014 adults ages 54 and older (pain free, n = 637; mild pain, n = 106; moderate pain, n = 227; and severe pain, n = 64) from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study COVID-19 Project (Early, Version 1.0), we conducted regression analyses to test the association between pain severity and psychological outcomes and to assess social technology use frequency as a moderator.ResultsCompared with their pain-free peers, participants with mild-to-moderate pain reported more depressive symptoms and greater loneliness; those with severe pain reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Social technology use was associated with lower levels of depression and loneliness. However, interaction analyses show that social technology use predicted an increase in depression for individuals with pain but a decrease in depression among pain-free individuals. For anxiety and loneliness, no significant effects of social technology use were observed.ConclusionOlder adults with pain are at high risk of depression, anxiety, and loneliness during the pandemic. Although social technologies have become a common alternative to face-to-face interactions during the COVID-19 crisis, and overall they can provide mental health benefits, our results suggest that social technologies can be detrimental to psychological well-being among people with pain. These findings can inform technology-based interventions aiming to promote well-being among older adults with pain.

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on Social and Daily Activities of Parents, People With Disabilities, and Older Adults: Protocol for a Longitudinal, Mixed Methods Study.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to wide-scale changes in societal organization. This has dramatically altered people’s daily activities, especially among families with young children, those living with disabilities such as spinal cord injury (SCI), those who have experienced a stroke, and older adults.ObjectiveWe aim to (1) investigate how COVID-19 restrictions influence daily activities, (2) track the psychosocial effects of these restrictions over time, and (3) identify strategies to mitigate the potential negative effects of these restrictions.MethodsThis is a longitudinal, concurrent, mixed methods study being conducted in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Data collection occurred at four time points, between April 2020 and February 2021. The first three data collection time points occurred within phases 1 to 3 of the Province of BC’s Restart Plan. The final data collection coincided with the initial distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines. At each time point, data regarding participants’ sociodemographics, depressive and anxiety symptoms, resilience, boredom, social support, instrumental activities of daily living, and social media and technology use were collected in an online survey. These data supplemented qualitative videoconference interviews exploring participants’ COVID-19–related experiences. Participants were also asked to upload photos representing their experience during the restriction period, which facilitated discussion during the final interview. Five groups of participants were recruited: (1) families with children under the age of 18 years, (2) adults with an SCI, (3) adults who experienced a stroke, (4) adults with other types of disabilities, and (5) older adults (>64 years of age) with no self-reported disability. The number of participants we could recruit from each group was limited, which may impact the validity of some subgroup analyses.ResultsThis study was approved by the University of British Columbia Behavioural Research Ethics Board (Approval No. H20-01109) on April 17, 2020. A total of 81 participants were enrolled in this study and data are being analyzed. Data analyses are expected to be completed in fall 2021; submission of multiple papers for publication is expected by winter 2021.ConclusionsFindings from our study will inform the development and recommendations of a new resource guide for the post–COVID-19 period and for future public health emergencies.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/28337

Examining Rural and Racial Disparities in the Relationship Between Loneliness and Social Technology Use Among Older Adults.

Loneliness, the subjective negative experience derived from a lack of meaningful companionship, is associated with heightened vulnerability to adverse health outcomes among older adults. Social technology affords an opportunity to cultivate social connectedness and mitigate loneliness. However, research examining potential inequalities in loneliness is limited. This study investigates racial and rural-urban differences in the relationship between social technology use and loneliness in adults aged 50 and older using data from the 2016 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 4,315). Social technology use was operationalized as the self-reported frequency of communication through Skype, Facebook, or other social media with family and friends. Loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness scale, and rural-urban differences were based on Beale rural-urban continuum codes. Examinations of race focused on differences between Black/African-American and White/Caucasian groups. A path model analysis was performed to assess whether race and rurality moderated the relationship between social technology use and loneliness, adjusting for living arrangements, age, general computer usage. Social engagement and frequency of social contact with family and friends were included as mediators. The primary study results demonstrated that the association between social technology use and loneliness differed by rurality, but not race. Rural older adults who use social technology less frequently experience greater loneliness than urban older adults. This relationship between social technology and loneliness was mediated by social engagement and frequency of social contact. Furthermore, racial and rural-urban differences in social technology use demonstrated that social technology use is less prevalent among rural older adults than urban and suburban-dwelling older adults; no such racial differences were observed. However, Black older adults report greater levels of perceived social negativity in their relationships compared to White older adults. Interventions seeking to address loneliness using social technology should consider rural and racial disparities.

Secure Data Sharing Platform for Portable Social Networks with Power Saving Operation

Several subscribing and content sharing services are largely personalized with the growing use of mobile social media technology. The end user privacy in terms of social relationships, interests and identities as well as shared content confidentiality are some of the privacy concerns in such services. The content is provided with fine-grained access control with the help of attribute-based encryption (ABE) in existing work. Decryption of privacy preserving content suffers high consumption of energy and data leakage to unauthorized people is faced when mobile social networks share privacy preserving data. In the mobile social networks, a secure proxy decryption model with enhanced publishing and subscribing scheme is presented in this paper as a solution to the aforementioned issues. The user credentials and data confidentiality are protected by access control techniques that work on privacy preserving in a self-contained manner. Keyword search based public-key encryption with ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption is used in this model. At the end users, ciphertext decryption is performed to reduce the energy consumption by the secure proxy decryption scheme. The effectiveness and efficiency of the privacy preservation model is observed from the experimental results.

Assemblage of Social Technologies and Informal Knowledge Sharing

This study focuses on the ways in which social technologies as a whole facilitate informal knowledge sharing in the workplace. Social technologies include both common technologies such as email, phone and instant messenger and emerging social networking technologies, often known as social media or Web 2.0, such as blogs, wikis, public social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), enterprise social networking technologies, etc. To understand the role of social technologies in informal knowledge practices, we pursue a field study of knowledge workers in consulting firms to investigate the role of social technologies in their informal knowledge sharing practices. Findings highlight five knowledge practices motivated by different knowledge problems and supported by the use of multiple social technologies.

Structuring E-Brainstorming to Better Support Innovation Processes

Innovation is a key instrument to start a transformational process based on collaboration. It is fundamental for organisations and institutions to have well defined strategies. In this context, brainstorming sessions - and e-brainstorming tools - are effective techniques to put together and associate draft ideas. Yet, in many cases, those ideas and associations do not leave enough digital footprints, are no further used or are lost. This paper introduces the use of Social and Semantic Web technologies to support e-brainstorming. In particular, we present a lightweight ontology to structure e-brainstorming sessions, and the enrichment of existing e-brainstorming tools to do so.

Associations between technoference, quality of parent-infant interactions, and infants’ vocabulary development

“Technoference” describes the distraction from interpersonal activities that can occur due to use of mobile screen devices. Focusing on parent-infant interactions, our study investigated the associations between potential sources of “technoference” and parental responsiveness, scaffolding and directiveness toward their infant, and coordinated joint attention (CJA). Previous research demonstrates that each of these dimensions is related to early language development. Potential sources of “technoference” employed in our study included the amount of time the parent spends on their mobile device per hour when with their infant; the number of audible notifications the parent receives per hour, the number of times per hour they check their device; and parents’ score on the Distraction In Social Relations and Use of Parent Technology (DISRUPT) scale. We investigated associations between our measures of parental “technoference” and infants’ language development, and whether parental responsiveness, scaffolding, directiveness or parent-infant CJA mediate associations between “technoference” and language. Frequency of audible notifications negatively predicted infant vocabulary, and this relationship was fully mediated by parental directiveness.

Were we ready? New Zealand high school students' experiences of online learning during school closures of Covid-19, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 resulted in New Zealand schools closing and teaching moving to online. This paper reports research which investigated senior high school students experience of learning from home during these school closures and anything about the experience that they would like continued in the future. High school students in their final two years of schooling (n=1975) responded to a questionnaire consisting of quantitative and qualitative questions with qualitative data analysed thematically and quantitative data with descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that a variety of learning activities, feedback on learning, positive social interactions and effective use of technology supported students. A lack of motivation and daily structure were the major hinderances. The key experience they would like continued was greater flexibility in their learning. Schools demonstrated varying degrees of readiness for the crisis, but findings showed the need for resilience plans which include policies and practices for student and teacher digital readiness in preparation for future crises which result in emergency online learning.

Risks of Intelligent Information Technology and the Ways of Legal Response - Focusing on the response to the risks of algorithms -

As the 4th Industrial Revolution progresses, new social paradigms are emerging that have not been experienced before. The intelligent information society can be seen as one of them. Various new social utilities are created with the emergence of the intelligent information society in which the intelligent information technology represented by artificial intelligence plays a central role. But at the same time, new risks also are arising. Thus, how to respond to the risks posed by intelligent information technology is a new task to the legal system. In that situation, this article deals with the risks of intelligent information technology and the question of how it is desirable for the legal system to respond to those risks. To do this, the author use the legal theoretical method. Using this method, this article explores the risks of intelligent information technology and legal ways to respond to them. This article analyzes the risks of intelligent information technology based on the distinction of personal information, algorithms, and social use of intelligent information technology. Here risks related to collection and use of personal information, risks related to malfunction and bias of algorithms, and risks related to social use of intelligent information technology are investigated. In addition, it analyzes whether the current legal system has sufficient capacity to cope with these risks. Through this, this article presents the following regulatory principles for the risks of intelligent information technology. The practical harmony between the use and control of intelligent information technology, autonomous control, action-oriented control, pre-existing control, and reflective control. Based upon those, this article proposes the following regulatory measures. These include ethics, intelligent information technology certification, impact assessment, the right to explanation and complain, and the duty to improve intelligent information technology.

EVALUATING PANDEMIC LED PANIC BUYING IN RETAIL SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

ABSTRACT&#x0D; &#x0D; Purpose: The study sought to evaluate the unique panic buying behavior of consumers to gain an understanding of the factors leading to this type of consumer behavior and its implications for retail marketers and policymakers.