Helping business leverage web 2.0 to generate social capital

Businesses large and small are keen to leverage Web 2.0 applications to interact with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Whilst some have achieved success, others are still struggling to understand the opportunities and threats associated with using Web 2.0 in business. This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework to help businesses understand how they could leverage Web 2.0 applications to generate social capital. The proposed framework helps businesses (i) identify opportunities to leverage the strengths and features of various Web 2.0 applications, and (ii) develop business strategies for Web 2.0. As a positional paper, it contributes to theory by proposing a systematic and structured approach for understanding how social capital is created, captured, distributed, and consumed online.

Web 2.0 VDS : social networking as a facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third year architectural design studio that was modelled on the Virtual Design Studios (VDS) of past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilised the social networking sites Ning.com, YouTube and Skype; various 3D modelling and video- and/or image-processing software; plus chat-software. These were used in combination to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submit work, and provide feedback and comments on various design works in assessing students’ outcomes. This paper centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a Social Network VDS (SNVDS).

Web 2.0 virtual design studio : social networking as facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third-year architectural design studio that was modelled on the virtual design studios (VDSs) of the past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilized the social networking site Ning.com, YouTube, Skype and various three-dimensional modelling, video and image processing, and chat software to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submitting, providing feedback and comments to various design works, and assessing of students’ outcomes. This research centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a social network VDS.

Social reader: towards browsing the social web

We describe Social Reader, a feed-reader-plus-social-network aggregator that mines comments from social media in order to display a user’s relational neighborhood as a navigable social network. Social Reader’s network visualization enhances mutual awareness of blogger communities, facilitates their exploration and growth with a fully dragn- drop interface, and provides novel ways to filter and summarize people, groups, blogs and comments. We discuss the architecture behind the reader, highlight tasks it adds to the workflow of a typical reader, and assess their cost. We also explore the potential of mood-based features in social media applications. Mood is particularly relevant to social media, reflecting the personal nature of the medium. We explore two prototype mood-based features: colour coding the mood of recent posts according to a valence/arousal map, and a mood-based abstract of recent activity using image media. A six week study of the software involving 20 users confirmed the usefulness of the novel visual display, via a quantitative analysis of use logs, and an exit survey.

Redesigning learning through social media, Web 2.0 and F2F teaching : an action research study

The focus of this research was to explore how social and participatory media could be used to enhance the face-to-face teaching and learning process. Action research was used to design learning that valued the students’ own experiences and to encourage students to create, connect and form a partnership in the learning process: hence supporting students' strengths and abilities. To monitor and participate in the use of social media required an increase in the teacher's work time. As a partial counter-balance, it was found that the teacher/researcher successfully reduced her time spent on correction by implementing peer and self-assessment and by making more effective use of classroom observations. This led to a valuable triangulation of assessment data. Reviewing many of the screen clips collected in this study, one can see the diversity of roles and activities in which the students were engaged, and their development over time through the action research cycle. Combining Web 2.0, face-to-face teaching and social media, where students made online friends and used pseudonyms, provided students with more choices and flexibility when working, communicating and learning. This research may help curriculum developers interweave new technologies, new literacies and multimodal learning methods into day-to-day learning programs. The developed methods of learning and designs should also be transferable to other educational learning environments.

A web-based, social networking physical activity intervention for insufficiently active adults delivered via Facebook app: randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Online social networks offer considerable potential for delivery of socially influential health behavior change interventions. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy, engagement, and feasibility of an online social networking physical activity intervention with pedometers delivered via Facebook app. METHODS: A total of 110 adults with a mean age of 35.6 years (SD 12.4) were recruited online in teams of 3 to 8 friends. Teams were randomly allocated to receive access to a 50-day online social networking physical activity intervention which included self-monitoring, social elements, and pedometers ("Active Team" Facebook app; n=51 individuals, 12 teams) or a wait-listed control condition (n=59 individuals, 13 teams). Assessments were undertaken online at baseline, 8 weeks, and 20 weeks. The primary outcome measure was self-reported weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcomes were weekly walking, vigorous physical activity time, moderate physical activity time, overall quality of life, and mental health quality of life. Analyses were undertaken using random-effects mixed modeling, accounting for potential clustering at the team level. Usage statistics were reported descriptively to determine engagement and feasibility. RESULTS: At the 8-week follow-up, the intervention participants had significantly increased their total weekly MVPA by 135 minutes relative to the control group (P=.03), due primarily to increases in walking time (155 min/week increase relative to controls, P<.001). However, statistical differences between groups for total weekly MVPA and walking time were lost at the 20-week follow-up. There were no significant changes in vigorous physical activity, nor overall quality of life or mental health quality of life at either time point. High levels of engagement with the intervention, and particularly the self-monitoring features, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: An online, social networking physical activity intervention with pedometers can produce sizable short-term physical activity changes. Future work is needed to determine how to maintain behavior change in the longer term, how to reach at-need populations, and how to disseminate such interventions on a mass scale. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12614000488606; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366239 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ZVtu6TMz).

Influence of Prey Size on the Capture of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) by the Orb-Web Spider Nephilengys cruentata

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of Prey Size on the Capture of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) by the Orb-Web Spider Nephilengys cruentata

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the plasticity of the hunting behavior of the spider Nephilengys cruentata (Araneae: Nephilidae) facing different species of social wasps. Considering that wasps can consume various species of spiders and that their poison can be used as defense against many predators, the effect of the corporal size of the prey was evaluated in the behavior of N. cruentata. Predation experiments were conducted using three species of social wasps of different sizes and the data registered in this research were compiled through annotations and filming of the hunting behavior of each spider, in relation to the offered prey. The results revealed that the size of the wasp and the sequential offer of prey change the hunting behavior of the spider, and prey of large size have high influence on this behavior.

Social Media Marketing: acquisire clienti con gli strumenti del web 2.0

Obiettivo dii questo elaborato è cercare di dimostrare come il Web e i Social Media non sono solo dei nuovi canali di comunicazione ma costituiscono una testimonianza del radicale cambiamento che modifica la comunicazione aziendale per come è stata concepita fino ad oggi. Nascita e sviluppo del Web e passaggio dal marketing tradizionale al web marketing saranno temi centrali nella parte introduttiva. Frutto di un’analisi approfondita sarà il tema del Social media marketing, ponendo particolare attenzione ai social media più utilizzati, all’impatto che le aziende hanno con questi, i canali di comunicazione utilizzati dalle aziende e quali sono i leader del settore, quindi, le aziende, che hanno attuato ottime campagne nei social networks. In un ultima parte verranno esaminati gli strumenti attraverso i quali è possibile monitorare i comportamenti degli utenti, come ascoltarli nei social media per entrare in relazione con loro e misurare i risultati delle attività di comunicazione (Web analytics, Social media monitoring); verranno inoltre analizzati gli aspetti per una buona strategia di comunicazione aziendale nel web quindi dando uno sguardo ad un buon piano di comunicazione e alla web & brand reputation.

Metadati e integrazioni social nel web odierno

Il presente progetto di tesi è stato sviluppato per presentare un esempio concreto di come sia possibile sfruttare le potenzialità ottenibili inserendo, all'interno di un sito web, il markup Open Graph Protocol per la definizione, tramite l’utilizzo di metadati, di concetti semanticamente ricchi e interpretabili dai principali Social Network ed integrando le Graph API Facebook per interrogare questi dati e sfruttarli per il funzionamento stesso del sito.