Social (Media) Science

futurejournalismproject: We Promise Not to Screw Quick, someone...

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:09:08 -0400

We Promise Not to Screw

Quick, someone teach the Yahoo social team how to use the Tumblr Twitter box. STAT.

Image: Automated tweet from Yahoo’s Tumblr to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s Twitter account.

pewinternet: 13% of internet users ages 18-29 use...

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:08:31 -0400

pewinternet:

13% of internet users ages 18-29 use Tumblr.

Compare Tumblr user demographics to other social networking sites: http://pewrsr.ch/VBAYby

Interesting to see the buzz around the web (mostly negative) about Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr. Most of the commentary centers around something that seems pretty obvious: if Yahoo hasn’t gotten the core of its services perfected (i.e. mail, news, etc.), will buying a shiny new platform really make a difference?

"There’s no bad data, only bad uses of data."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:19:17 -0400

“There’s no bad data, only bad uses of data.”

- Big Data and a Renewed Debate Over Privacy (via infoneer-pulse)

futurejournalismproject: Fidgital Lizzie Skurnick coins a term...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:59:41 -0500

futurejournalismproject:

Fidgital

Lizzie Skurnick coins a term in the New York Times.

Over at Salon, Katie McDonough reminds us of a recent study “that found smartphone users exhibit actual withdrawal symptoms when forced to abstain from using their devices. The study also found that many subjects felt physical discomfort after not checking their phone for extended periods of time.”

As someone with a New Year’s resolution that no laptops, phones or tablets can enter the bedroom, I’m glad to be able to put a word and idea to it. — Michael

STUDY: Declining gender bias in media coverage of candidates [via Washington Post]

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:38:40 -0500

STUDY: Declining gender bias in media coverage of candidates [via Washington Post]:

New study from Jennifer Lawless & Danny Hayes discusses the decline of gender bias in media coverage of female candidates. (Excerpt of WaPo article by Hayes below.)

For decades, observers have noted that women running for political office are portrayed in the media in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes. Long before Sarah Palin, research had shown that female candidates tended to receive less attention in the news and were often covered in a fluffier fashion – with an emphasis on their appearance (Elizabeth Dole’s nails, anyone?), personality, family roles, or “feminine” traits, such as compassion and honesty. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to be portrayed as experienced, competent leaders.

Survey research and experimental studies have shown that voters also evaluate candidates through a gendered lens. Taken together, news coverage and public attitudes suggest that it has been more difficult for women to persuade voters that they are suited for the rough-and-tumble of Washington politics. It’s not that women can’t successfully make the case. But it has been thought to be tougher than for men…

…

For voters, party identification, ideology and incumbency shape attitudes toward candidates. We also found that news coverage of candidates can influence voters’ opinions. But because the media don’t engage in pervasive stereotyping, coverage doesn’t systematically harm or help women. Reporters and voters react in similar ways to candidates, regardless of their sex.

This is not to say that gender inequalities in American political campaigns are relics of the past. Far from it. As Lawless and Richard Fox have written about extensively, women will remain underrepresented until more of them run for political office. And the barriers to increasing political ambition among women and encouraging their entrance into the electoral arena are formidable.

But once they decide to run for office, the terrain female candidates navigate seems to be more level than we might have previously thought. Indeed, the findings from our study of 2010 suggest that one reason women did well in 2012 is that they likely did not face the kind of systematic gender stereotyping that has traditionally made it harder for female candidates to succeed. It might seem surprising that the media and voters aren’t to blame for women’s underrepresentation. But the data make it hard to argue otherwise.

Campaign 2012 = First Big Data Election [via Harvard Business Review blog]

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:27:10 -0500

Campaign 2012 = First Big Data Election [via Harvard Business Review blog]:

The Romney team had the right idea — use big data and smart phones to close the gap between knowing and doing on Election Day. But they botched the details, and the reporting now tells why. According to Ars Technica, the whole program “was hardly a model of stability, having been developed in just seven months on a lightning schedule following the Republican primary elections.” And that’s a critical gaffe. Despite Steve Jobs’ masterful creation of an “easy button” for consumer technology, the fact remains that pulling off cutting-edge technology implementations of the kind Romney’s camp was putting together is tough stuff, and needs a lot of forethought, resources, and high-prioritization from leadership.

Contrast the ORCA beaching with the Time magazine report inside the Obama data center. The Obama team understood the importance of execution and the difficulties of data complexities. One of that group’s first priorities before the election was to undertake a massive, 18-month-long database merge so all data could be housed in a single repository. The database focus also allowed the Obama camp to think expansively in its approach to metrics. “We are going to measure every single thing in this campaign,” campaign manager Jim Messina told Time. Messina was also given good resources to work with: according to the article, he hired an analytics department five times bigger than the 2008 operation. Quite the contrast to the rushed approach taken by the Romney campaign.

futurejournalismproject: Big Data, Demographics and the...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:13:55 -0500

futurejournalismproject:

Big Data, Demographics and the Undiscovered Voter

The New York Times has a great piece on the final six weeks of the presidential campaign.

There’s a lot in there in terms of strategies, momentum and setbacks but the use of data and demographics is eye opening:

In Chicago, the [Obama] campaign recruited a team of behavioral scientists to build an extraordinarily sophisticated database packed with names of millions of undecided voters and potential supporters. The ever-expanding list let the campaign find and register new voters who fit the demographic pattern of Obama backers and methodically track their views through thousands of telephone calls every night.

That allowed the Obama campaign not only to alter the very nature of the electorate, making it younger and less white, but also to create a portrait of shifting voter allegiances. The power of this operation stunned Mr. Romney’s aides on election night, as they saw voters they never even knew existed turn out in places like Osceola County, Fla. “It’s one thing to say you are going to do it; it’s another thing to actually get out there and do it,” said Brian Jones, a senior adviser.

New York Times, How a Race in the Balance Went to Obama.

Image: An Obama victory party in Manchester, NH, via the New York Times.

That photo! Article is a great read as well…

"A Politico headline: “GOP soul-searching: ‘Too old, too white, too male?’” Around noon Wednesday, I..."

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:12:48 -0500

“A Politico headline: “GOP soul-searching: ‘Too old, too white, too male?’”

Around noon Wednesday, I started hearing a voice inside my election-addled head: Where else had I seen numbers like these? Where had I heard that Politico description? Who else was getting a really good market share of a smaller and smaller slice of the population?

Ah, yes: the newspaper industry.”

- Ken Doctor, Nieman Lab. The newsonomics of the newspaper industry as the Republican Party. (via futurejournalismproject)

pewresearch: When voters were asked for a single word that...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:02:11 -0500

pewresearch:

When voters were asked for a single word that described their reaction to Obama’s victory, Obama voters said they were “relieved” and “happy.”

Romney voters generally said they were “disappointed” or “sad” about the election outcome. Romney voters also used the words “disgusted,” “sick,” “horrified” and “scared,” to describe their reaction to Obama’s victory.

Overall, 41% of those surveyed – including both voters and nonvoters – said they were happy that Obama was reelected president; 37% were unhappy and 22% neither. A majority of nonvoters (55%) said they were neither happy nor unhappy with the election outcome, while 29% said they were happy and 16% said they were unhappy.

Read more from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Election 2012 Fail

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 20:45:19 -0500

In the middle of switching careers, I forgot to follow a closet passion of mine: observing the whims and whimsy of web 2.0 and social politics during campaign season. As everyone continues to digest the results of Tuesday’s election, I’m reminded of many of the themes expressed here in the past - that honest, genuine dialogue is appealing to voters, and that candidates must reach voters where they are - rang true in this year’s election.

This morning, Chris Matthews claimed that 2012 was the first presidential campaign fully waged on social media channels. While Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter played a key role in Obama’s 2008 victory, it’s clear that the nature of both social networking and web 2.0 campaigning have evolved significantly in the past 4 years.

Last year, my research focused on the impact that social networking had on 2010 congressional campaigns. While I didn’t have the chance to academically examine this year’s presidential election, I so enjoyed observing (and participating in!) the process.

courtenaybird: Report: Social network demographics in 2012 17...

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:38:15 -0400

courtenaybird:

Report: Social network demographics in 2012

17 out of 24 sites (71%) have more female than male users.

Most male-dominated site? Slashdot then Hacker News and Stack Overflow.

Most female-dominated site? Pinterest then Goodreads and Blogger.

Facebook and Twitter have the same gender distribution: 40% male, 60% female.

The only sites in this survey with more male than female users are Quora, Reddit, Orkut, Github, Stack Overflow, Hacker News and Slashdot.

"We live in a moment in which humanity’s challenges are accelerating at a pace that is hard to..."

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:15:42 -0400

“We live in a moment in which humanity’s challenges are accelerating at a pace that is hard to comprehend. At the same time humanity’s capacities are increasing at a scale and a rate that are hard to comprehend. We’re really in a footrace between two exponential curves—the curve of our challenges and the curve of our capacities. We are pulling in people to these solutions. We are finding roles for everybody. Resilience is participatory. Resilience is collaborative. It’s really democratic and local. That’s really an optimistic place to be: We have extraordinary tools and everybody can play apart. I think we’d be foolish to bet against humanity.”

- It’s the End of the World, And I Feel Fine: 10 Questions with Andrew Zolli

sunfoundation: Putting Romney’s tax returns in presidential...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:46:01 -0400

sunfoundation:

Putting Romney’s tax returns in presidential context

The controversy over what’s hiding in Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns continues. But even without the missing filings, putting his 2010 and 2011 tax numbers in context is strikingly informative. It dramatically shows what an outlier Romney is on a few basic tax and income dimensions.

Can anyone say, “1% Presidency”?

Fantastic infographic from Silverpop — found this via...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:43:36 -0400

Fantastic infographic from Silverpop — found this via Mashable: http://mashable.com/2012/07/25/obama-romney-email-strategy/

My favorite takeaway? Obama’s team may have been slow on the uptake with a post-ACA Supreme Court decision email, but the personalization involved in his emails blows Romney out of the water.

Photo

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:41:56 -0400

Why you'll never hear about Mitt Romney's ankles

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:36:34 -0400

Why you'll never hear about Mitt Romney's ankles

jaredzlotnick: Go make that stuff. -Austin Kleon, Steal Like An...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 21:07:12 -0400

jaredzlotnick:

Go make that stuff. -Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist (Taken with Instagram)

Read this every morning!

Google’s “Veepstakes Trends Dashboard” might...

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:26:30 -0400

Google’s “Veepstakes Trends Dashboard” might help you predict Romney’s pick [via Mashable]

"We are creating and encouraging a culture of distraction where we are increasingly disconnected from..."

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:11:00 -0400

“We are creating and encouraging a culture of distraction where we are increasingly disconnected from the people and events around us, and increasingly unable to engage in long-form thinking. People now feel anxious when their brains are unstimulated.

We are losing some very important things by doing this. We threaten the key ingredients behind creativity and insight by filling up all our ‘gap’ time with stimulation. And we inhibit real human connection when we prioritize our phones over the people right in front of us.”

- Is modern technology creating a culture of distraction? (via courtenaybird)

"You press a little touchtone key pad… You touch this, touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier,..."

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:25:25 -0400

““You press a little touchtone key pad… You touch this, touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier, and there’s your sandwich,” Romney said. “It’s amazing!””

- Mitt Romney really liked the sandwich computer at Wawa - Yahoo!