I’m a communication researcher working at the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna, currently heading the research project "Towards an Analytics of Networked Publics" Phone: +43 4277 49375 Address: Department of Communication University of Vienna Berggasse 11/1/8 1090 Vienna, Austria
The increasing use of Twitter by politicians, journalists, political strategists and citizens has... more The increasing use of Twitter by politicians, journalists, political strategists and citizens has made it an important part of the networked sphere in which political issues are publicly negotiated. The growing number of studies investigating the relationship between Twitter and politics supports this claim. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that examines the interrelation of individuals on the basis of their professions, their topics and their connection to mass media. Taking the example of Austria, they developed a user-centred method that overcomes the limitations inherent to other approaches in this field. The different types of data they gathered – Twitter user data, 1,375 newspaper articles and manually coded 145,356 tweets – allowed them to perform several analyses which provided insights into the structure and topics of a national public Twittersphere. Their results show that the network formed by Austria's most relevant political Twitter users is dominated by an elite of political professionals but open to outside participation. The topic analysis reveals the emergence of niche authorities and the periodic divergence of the political discourse on Twitter with that of mass media. The article concludes with a summary of how these phenomena relate to political participation.
The participants of the ‘unibrennt’ (‘university is burning’) protest movement, which saw the occ... more The participants of the ‘unibrennt’ (‘university is burning’) protest movement, which saw the occupation of Vienna's largest lecture hall by students in October 2009, used social media such as Twitter and Facebook to a large extent. Communication, thus, was anchored in the participants' interconnected individual and personal (online) networks, so both in- and out-group communication took place within a media space that is referred to as networked publics. Based on the authors media ethnographical work which was followed by a qualitative analysis of conversations, this article discusses the form of community building and social organization that was facilitated by those means. The authors also look at the way in which involved actors (participants and non-participants) dealt with the social media's specific character, especially its high degree of transparency and accessibility which resulted in a conglomeration of internal and external discourses. Drawing on the concept of voluntary issue communities, this article argues that the low-obligatory and low-binding nature, as well as the immediacy of connection to the movement, were elementary for its success in terms of drawing large groups of students and university staff into the protests and the large amount of public attention the movement ultimately received. This movement of connected individuals exemplifies how individuals can organize themselves as a politically acting community and how such a community and its actions can be like when the participants quite naturally employ information and communication technologies to socially connect within networked publics.
Social Network Sites (SNS) stellen als soziale Kommunikationsräume Potentiale für Gewalt bereit, ... more Social Network Sites (SNS) stellen als soziale Kommunikationsräume Potentiale für Gewalt bereit, insbesondere unter Jugendlichen ist ‚Cybermobbing’ ein verbeitetes Phänomen. In dem Beitrag diskutieren wir auf Basis eines qualitativen, explorativen Forschungsprojektes die sozialen Prozesse, in die solche Gewalthandlungen eingebettet sind. Dabei beziehen wir die Spezifika des Kommunikationsraumes ebenso in die Analyse ein wie die Regeln und Normen, die sich in der Aneignung von SNS etabliert haben.
English Abstract: Potentials for Violent Behaviour on Social Network Sites: Cybermobbing Within the Social Practices of the Communication Space Social network sites (SNS) provide specific potentials for violent behaviour – ‚cyberbullying’ is a widespread phenomenon, particularily among teenagers. Based on data from an exploratory, qualitative research, we discuss the broader social processes violent behaviour online is part of. In doing so, we particularily take both the character of the communication spaces SNS provide and the social rules and norms developed within the media adoption processes, into account.
The competence to reasonably assess the credibility of information has become a key literacy in t... more The competence to reasonably assess the credibility of information has become a key literacy in the knowledge society. However, schools – at least in Austria – still do not provide an adequate framework for children to aquire the respective skills. Moreover, the structural and cultural context of school and the respective practices of teachers even seem to conflict with the aim to make children digitally literate, as indicated by our qualitative study in Austrian schools. The project systematically asked for the terms, forms and consequences of Internet use in schools and for school-related tasks as well as the impact of the school on Internet practices of teens, especially the development of competences for information research and information processing.
The increasing use of Twitter by politicians, journalists, political strategists and citizens has... more The increasing use of Twitter by politicians, journalists, political strategists and citizens has made it an important part of the networked sphere in which political issues are publicly negotiated. The growing number of studies investigating the relationship between Twitter and politics supports this claim. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that examines the interrelation of individuals on the basis of their professions, their topics and their connection to mass media. Taking the example of Austria, they developed a user-centred method that overcomes the limitations inherent to other approaches in this field. The different types of data they gathered – Twitter user data, 1,375 newspaper articles and manually coded 145,356 tweets – allowed them to perform several analyses which provided insights into the structure and topics of a national public Twittersphere. Their results show that the network formed by Austria's most relevant political Twitter users is dominated by an elite of political professionals but open to outside participation. The topic analysis reveals the emergence of niche authorities and the periodic divergence of the political discourse on Twitter with that of mass media. The article concludes with a summary of how these phenomena relate to political participation.
The participants of the ‘unibrennt’ (‘university is burning’) protest movement, which saw the occ... more The participants of the ‘unibrennt’ (‘university is burning’) protest movement, which saw the occupation of Vienna's largest lecture hall by students in October 2009, used social media such as Twitter and Facebook to a large extent. Communication, thus, was anchored in the participants' interconnected individual and personal (online) networks, so both in- and out-group communication took place within a media space that is referred to as networked publics. Based on the authors media ethnographical work which was followed by a qualitative analysis of conversations, this article discusses the form of community building and social organization that was facilitated by those means. The authors also look at the way in which involved actors (participants and non-participants) dealt with the social media's specific character, especially its high degree of transparency and accessibility which resulted in a conglomeration of internal and external discourses. Drawing on the concept of voluntary issue communities, this article argues that the low-obligatory and low-binding nature, as well as the immediacy of connection to the movement, were elementary for its success in terms of drawing large groups of students and university staff into the protests and the large amount of public attention the movement ultimately received. This movement of connected individuals exemplifies how individuals can organize themselves as a politically acting community and how such a community and its actions can be like when the participants quite naturally employ information and communication technologies to socially connect within networked publics.
Social Network Sites (SNS) stellen als soziale Kommunikationsräume Potentiale für Gewalt bereit, ... more Social Network Sites (SNS) stellen als soziale Kommunikationsräume Potentiale für Gewalt bereit, insbesondere unter Jugendlichen ist ‚Cybermobbing’ ein verbeitetes Phänomen. In dem Beitrag diskutieren wir auf Basis eines qualitativen, explorativen Forschungsprojektes die sozialen Prozesse, in die solche Gewalthandlungen eingebettet sind. Dabei beziehen wir die Spezifika des Kommunikationsraumes ebenso in die Analyse ein wie die Regeln und Normen, die sich in der Aneignung von SNS etabliert haben.
English Abstract: Potentials for Violent Behaviour on Social Network Sites: Cybermobbing Within the Social Practices of the Communication Space Social network sites (SNS) provide specific potentials for violent behaviour – ‚cyberbullying’ is a widespread phenomenon, particularily among teenagers. Based on data from an exploratory, qualitative research, we discuss the broader social processes violent behaviour online is part of. In doing so, we particularily take both the character of the communication spaces SNS provide and the social rules and norms developed within the media adoption processes, into account.
The competence to reasonably assess the credibility of information has become a key literacy in t... more The competence to reasonably assess the credibility of information has become a key literacy in the knowledge society. However, schools – at least in Austria – still do not provide an adequate framework for children to aquire the respective skills. Moreover, the structural and cultural context of school and the respective practices of teachers even seem to conflict with the aim to make children digitally literate, as indicated by our qualitative study in Austrian schools. The project systematically asked for the terms, forms and consequences of Internet use in schools and for school-related tasks as well as the impact of the school on Internet practices of teens, especially the development of competences for information research and information processing.
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Papers by Axel Maireder
English Abstract: Potentials for Violent Behaviour on Social Network Sites: Cybermobbing Within the Social Practices of the Communication Space
Social network sites (SNS) provide specific potentials for violent behaviour – ‚cyberbullying’ is a widespread phenomenon, particularily among teenagers. Based on data from an exploratory, qualitative research, we discuss the broader social processes violent behaviour online is part of. In doing so, we particularily take both the character of the communication spaces SNS provide and the social rules and norms developed within the media adoption processes, into account.
English Abstract: Potentials for Violent Behaviour on Social Network Sites: Cybermobbing Within the Social Practices of the Communication Space
Social network sites (SNS) provide specific potentials for violent behaviour – ‚cyberbullying’ is a widespread phenomenon, particularily among teenagers. Based on data from an exploratory, qualitative research, we discuss the broader social processes violent behaviour online is part of. In doing so, we particularily take both the character of the communication spaces SNS provide and the social rules and norms developed within the media adoption processes, into account.