An Agent‐Based Model of Centralized Institutions, Social Network Technology, and Revolution

Social networking technology is a new and promising view of IT organization management, allowing for a deeper understanding of the organization’s internal relationships, structure, and social dynamics. This article examines modern approaches and prospects for developing social networking technologies in managing an IT organization based on innovative leadership. The article’s primary purpose is to study modern approaches and prospects for developing social networking technologies as applied tools in IT organization management based on innovative leadership. The article is a theoretical research work that defines the prospects for further research in organizational management. It is expected that the study’s results will reveal the importance of social networks in the context of innovative leadership and justify the effective use of social networking technologies to improve the performance of an IT organization. In addition, identifying the main components that influence the effectiveness of innovation leadership will enable IT organization leaders to effectively implement innovation leadership strategies and contribute to the successful integration of innovations in the organizational environment. The study of this topic is of practical importance. It can be used to develop human resource management strategies and improve the mechanisms for implementing innovations in the organizational environment. Moreover, the research will offer new insights into how social network structures can be optimized to foster a culture of continuous innovation. Given this, the article’s author seeks to consider and study the effectiveness of innovative leadership through the prism of social network theory since she assumes that the structure of the organizational social network can influence its effectiveness.

Peer-based prevention programs for homeless youth are complicated by the potential for reinforcing high-risk behaviors among participants. The goal of this study is to understand how homeless youth could be linked to positive peers in prevention programming by understanding where in social and physical space positive peers for homeless youth are located, how these ties are associated with substance use, and the role of social networking technologies (e.g., internet and cell phones) in this process. Personal social network data were collected from 136 homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA. Respondents reported on composition of their social networks with respect to: home-based peers and parents (accessed via social networking technology; e.g., the internet, cell phone, texting), homeless peers and agency staff (accessed face-to-face) and whether or not network members were substance-using or non-substance-using. Associations between respondent’s lifetime cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine use and recent (previous 30 days) alcohol and marijuana use were assessed by the number of non-substance-using versus substance-using ties in multivariate linear regression models. 43% of adolescents reported a non-substance-using home-based tie. More of these ties were associated with less recent alcohol use. 62% of adolescents reported a substance-using homeless tie. More of these ties were associated with more recent marijuana use as well as more lifetime heroin and methamphetamine use. For homeless youth, who are physically disconnected from positive peers, social networking technologies can be used to facilitate the sorts of positive social ties that effective peer-based prevention programs require.

Social networking technologies have commanded a lot of recent attention because they have changed the manner in which individuals have traditionally and historically accessed and shared knowledge. Although these technologies provide individuals with the opportunity to access and to utilize a plethora of knowledge created by others, the knowledge still needs to be organized, interpreted, and incorporated by the user in order for it to be useful. This research sought to better understand how social networking technologies can aid a firm's efforts to establish a knowledge management and a generative learning environment. The study closely followed one of the United States leading aerospace and defense firm's efforts to utilize new information and communication technologies to facilitate knowledge exchange and communications within the organization. This investigation provided a rich source of evidence for how social networking technologies can aid a firm's ability to encourage knowledge exchange, as well as networking and communication within the firm. We provide four key research-related findings and offer practitioners several key strategies, tactics, and pitfalls to avoid that they should consider when attempting to use SNT to aid in the establishment of a knowledge management and a generative learning environment.

The 2009 Australian Defence White Paper directs the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to support disaster relief operations undertaken by relevant agencies in Asia and, more specifically, in support of neighbouring Asia-Pacific nations. The urgency of this task is underscored both by projected increases in the frequency of natural disasters, and the likelihood of increasingly severe consequences as a result of population growth and increasing urban density along coastal zones and inland waterways. Asia is one of the world's most natural disaster-afflicted areas, and it contains some of the world's most technologically-advanced regions. The role and usage of social media and social network technologies in disaster relief activities are becoming broader and increasingly important in afflicted communities, as evidenced in the 2010 Haiti earthquake and 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami crisis. It is vital for the ADF to understand the utility of social media and social network technologies as a 'tool' to support disaster relief operations. This paper considers the conjunction of disaster relief and evolving social media and social network technologies in Asia. A conceptual framework is developed where morphological analysis and soft systems techniques are applied using an indicative example to demonstrate how the ADF might enhance its ability to respond to natural disasters in Asia through the use of social media and social network, noting this is not an articulation of official ADF policy or guidance. The framework has the potential to provide strategic direction to the ADF's force development and operational response processes. It would be beneficial for disaster relief agencies and Defence to learn and leverage from each other's complementary role.

Are video games, media rich environments, and social networking technologies producing collaborative and experienced problem-solvers and decision-makers, or are we creating (as one author titles it) the “Dumbest Generation”? Is our educational system focusing on old skills for an industrial society, or preparing nimble and flexible students for jobs that don’t even exist yet? Prensky, Jukes, Rosen, McCain and others have lionized the impact of new digital technologies and the need for digital “immigrants” to refashion their teaching and step out of the “test and tell” model of talking heads. Bauerlein, Jackson, Zittrain, Oppenheimer and others foresee the rise of a new dark age, and decry the insidious influence of the internet and new communication technologies on attention spans, research habits, and test scores. This presentation features a solitary debater torn between two worldviews, presenting arguments and gibes from both sides, with a distributed annotated bibliography and Q&A periods for audience interaction. Constructive speeches will be followed by extended cross-examination time, concluding with summary rebuttals and general discussion.

My doctoral research is an exploratory project focused on understanding and theorizing on the ways in which various social networking technologies (SNTs) facilitate informal knowledge sharing in the workplace. Forms of SNT include (but are not limited to) corporate social networking platforms, weblogs, wikis, and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Here I discuss the work to date, outline future steps and detail the expected contributions of this research. The primary outcome of this research is a greater conceptualization of the role and value of various SNTs for knowledge sharing in organizational contexts, which still remain understudied within the CSCW arena.

The modern knowledge economy has transformed library and information organizations to adopt and embrace digital social media platforms. Proliferation and growth of social media and social networking technologies continue to play pivotal roles in establishment and operation of digital library and information systems in organizations. The purpose of the chapter is to examine the extent to which information professionals and practitioners understand the impact of social media and social networking technologies on digital library and information systems. The author also analyzes how information professionals manage and promote the adherence to copyright and intellectual property laws in digital library contexts. This chapter specifically discusses the rationale for social media and social networking in digital library and information systems; emerging social media platforms and their applications; legal aspects of social media, copyright and intellectual property protection, and risk management; as well as professional ethics and guidance on social media.

Background: Twenty-first-century undergraduates often find eighteenth-century culture difficult to access and, influenced by popular assumptions about the period in current media theory, characterise the century as individualist, underestimating the cultural significance of social networking in literary and political history. Purpose: This study set out to teach the history of social networking as culturally significant in the production of literary texts during the eighteenth century as well as to demonstrate the intellectual and compositional potential of today's social networking technologies. A virtual reconstruction of eighteenth-century London in Second Life and a semester project requiring the student recreation of 3D social spaces like coffee houses and gardens tested the uses of social networking tools to teach research methods and build disciplinary knowledge. Sources of evidence: Evidence of student learning outcomes is provided by three undergraduate courses in eighteenth-century culture, with 68 students total, that participated in Second Life re-enactment assignments on Island 18 during the autumn of 2008 and spring of 2009. The results of the student projects as well as student-completed evaluations and self-reflective essays about their experiences using virtual reality to learn history are consulted. Theoretical evidence by scholars of new media, eighteenth-century history and education provides a background for the study's impetus and goals. Main argument: Virtual reality provides an opportunity for educators of eighteenth-century culture to teach students, through the reflective and critical use of the social networking tools Second Life makes available, the significance of social networking in the history of ideas of that period. We dismantle the generalisations of scholars working outside of the period who characterise the eighteenth century as a solely individualist era, during which singular genius defined the enlightenment and propose a more culturally viable model of social collaboration, supported by communication technologies not so different from twenty-first-century instant messaging, blogging, twittering and emailing. Conclusions: Contrary to the recent findings of humanities educators who claim that digital social networking tools are distracting undergraduates from more valuable academic writing, we find that a task-oriented semester project requiring the construction of 3D historical social spaces teaches investigative research skills, deterritorialises disciplinary knowledge and promotes revision as an ongoing process.

Learning engagement is essential for fruitful and meaningful learning outcomes. Although many researchers have collectively claimed that social networking technologies in the Web2.0 era possess great potential to foster learning engagement, the existing literature demonstrates the pedagogical significance of more empirical and systematical inquiries into their applications for effective teaching and learning in various educational contexts. A social networking environment (SNE) is an online environment established with these technologies in which various tools, people and resources are dynamically connected. This study aimed to investigate the roles of such an environment in supporting learning engagement in higher education, and to identify factors that affected how students engaged in learning activities in the SNE. Informed by the literature on knowledge construction, collaborative learning and intrinsic motivation, learning engagement was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that incorporated cognitive, social and emotional components of the learning process.\n\n\n\nThis study was a single case study. It spanned a period of six months with a class of 55 undergraduate students enrolling in an elective university course in mainland China. A SNE, which integrated blogs, wikis, social bookmarks and tagging, file repositories, group spaces, and social networking facilities, was implemented to support designed learning activities that emphasized reflections and social interactions for achieving course objectives. Data collection and analysis combined qualitative and quantitative methods. Multiple-source data was obtained from interviews, observation, questionnaires and student learning artifacts, and was analyzed through content analysis, social network analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. \n\n\n\nThe analysis revealed a number of roles that the SNE could play in supporting learning engagement. In terms of social engagement, it could serve as a social medium for (a) facilitating self-presentation and self-expression, (b) supporting articulation and development of personal social networks, (c) encouraging various levels of participation in social interactions, and (d) enabling personalized feedback. In terms of cognitive engagement, it could afford a hybrid of individual and social learning by (a) supporting development of personal learning portfolios, (b) facilitating peer and teacher feedback, and (c) creating the transparency in a distributed learning environment which enabled students to access multiple perspectives, learn by observation, and utilize metacognitive skills for self-regulated learning. In terms of emotional engagement, it could be used as a vehicle for developing a socio-affective structure of the learning community by (a) inducing expression of emotions and feelings, (b) fostering socio-emotional interactions, and (c) contributing a sense of being connected to others. Factors in cultural, socio-contextual, technical, and individual dimensions were identified that affected learning engagement in the SNE and needed to be addressed in pedagogical interventions. \n\n\n\nThis study has both theoretical and practical implications. By proposing a construct incorporating cognitive, social and emotional elements of engaged learning, it deepens our understanding of the relationship between learning engagement and educational use of social networking technologies in higher education. For practicing teachers, a set of pedagogical principles is suggested based on the findings of the study for facilitating learning engagement in the SNE. Implications for software designers and educational administrators are also discussed.

National Institute of Mental Health.

The results of the research are presented in six main parts, as follows: “Information space and new patterns of data and information organization”, “Information strategies, social networks and influence in cyberspace”, “Hybrid conflicts and new instruments of power in cyberspace”, “New instruments of power: hybrid threats and hybrid operations”, “Hybrid operations in hybrid conflicts and hybrid warfare” and “New patterns of prevention and defence against hybrid threats”. In the first part, social networks are considered as powerful and effective means of communication and media for global, mass, networked, direct and anonymous communication, which are used in cyberspace to effectively impose ideas, ideologies and create and spread disinformation. The second part describes the adjustment of information strategies and information operations, and describes new patterns of planning, implementation and operation of psychological and media operations in which various actors (state, non-state and corporate) use artificial intelligence technologies on social networks for their own needs and interests. The third part of the dissertation presents the causes and occurrence of hybrid conflicts, their definitions and main features. Then, hybrid threats and hybrid operations of influence are presented, as new instruments of power in cyberspace that have emerged as a result of cyberspace misuse and artificial intelligence technologies on social networks. In this part of the research, we observe social networks as means of planning and conducting hybrid influence operations, which we consider here as the main information instrument of hybrid power, that achieves the strongest effects through cyberspace and serves to create strong and effective disinformation and other types of hybrid threats. The fifth part of the dissertation presents the results of research related to a representative sample of known and recognized examples of misuse of artificial intelligence technologies on social networks for planning and conducting hybrid impact operations. The primary scope of research relates to the hybrid influence operations carried out by the United States and the Russian Federation in different geographical areas and in different contexts. The sixth part of the dissertation proposes new patterns of prevention and defence against hybrid threats and operations, the creation of a new information strategy, and defence mechanisms and models. The end of this section points out the importance and the role of building digital and data sovereignty. The research confirmed the main hypothesis. Artificial intelligence and social networking technologies in hybrid conflicts are used as powerful and efficient tactical tools, with potential strategic consequences for the body of public knowledge of target audiences, in order to (re)shape it according to the needs of the information attacker. We have demonstrated that these are psychological operations of a strategic nature, in which artificial intelligence technologies and all social networks are used as dominant and effective tactical means, in a spatially and temporally unlimited range, to create disinformation and other various types of hybrid threats and constant (24/7) informationpsychological pressures directed at target audiences (individually, in groups or en masse) depending on the needs and goals of the information attacker.

This talk addresses an issues, deeply felt in next generation networks, concerning the management of group communications in scenarios characterized by the massive presence of Internet of Things devices acting as “prosumers” (consumer&producer) of services based on the exchange of huge data amounts. This will put a strain on existing networking primitives and their efficient management will be possible only if new paradigms are made available. Starting from this assumption, the talk will discuss the possibility of leveraging Social Networking and Software Defined Networking technologies and concepts towards the definition of a novel network primitive for the Internet of Things. The new primitive, called Sociocast, has the potential to enable trusted group-oriented communications, in-network publish&subscribe mechanisms, dynamic and selective firewalling, flexible data casting. During the talk a distributed architectural solution is presented, some performance results shown, and open research issues discussed.

Addressing trend-related changes within cumulative effects studies in water resources planning

ABSTRACTSocial needs are important basic human needs. When social needs are not fulfilled, it can lead to mental and physical health problems. In an ageing society, meeting the social needs of older adults is important to sustain their wellbeing and quality of life. Social technology is used by younger people attempting to fulfil social needs. The aim of this study is to understand the social needs of older people and the role of social technology in fulfilling these needs. Using this information we will uncover opportunities for (technological) interventions. We conducted a qualitative explorative field study by interviewing 19 community-dwelling older adults. The participants were selected by professional care-givers with the help of a list of criteria for people at risk of social isolation or loneliness. Semi-structured interviews were held, using a topic list covering the following topics: social networks, social support, connectedness, neighbourhood, activities and hobbies, as well as use of and experiences with social technology. After thematic analysis, inductive codes were attached to quotations relevant to the research question. The results were described in four sections: (a) social needs and relationships; (b) the influence of life history and personality; (c) possibilities and barriers to meet social needs; and (d) use of and attitude towards social technology. The results indicate that the group of participants is heterogeneous and that their social needs and the way they try to meet these are diverse. The Social Production Functions Theory of Successful Aging (SPF-SA) was found to be a useful basis for interpreting and presenting the data. Social needs such as connectedness, autonomy, affection, behavioural confirmation and status are important for the wellbeing of older people. Although the need for affection is most easy to fulfil for older people, it looks like satisfaction of the need for behavioural confirmation and status are in some cases preferred, especially by the male participants. Resources such as relationships, activities, personal circumstances and social technology can help meet social needs. Where there is a lack of (physical) resources such as health problems, reduced mobility, death of network members, fear of rejection and gossip, and poor financial circumstances, meeting social needs can be more difficult for some older people. Social technology now plays a modest role in the lives of older people and in fulfilling their social needs. Because of its potential and its role in the lives of younger people, social technology can be seen as a promising resource in the satisfaction of social needs. However, since it is yet unknown how and to what extent the use of social network technologies, such as Facebook, can be beneficial for older people, more research in this area is needed. Based on our findings, we conclude that the world of older individuals is getting smaller. The loss of resources,e.g.the loss of one's health and mobility, may make it more difficult for an older person to connect with the world outside, which may result in a smaller social network. We therefore suggest that interventions to support older adults to meet their social needs may focus on two aspects: supporting and improving the world close by and bringing the world outside a little bit closer.

In recent years there has been rapid growth in cloud computing and social networking technologies. Cloud computing shifts the computing resources to a third party, eliminating the need to purchase, configure and maintain those resources. With the incentive of lowered operational costs in software, hardware and human effort, many companies are considering the use of cloud services. Likewise, social networks have seen massive growth, with millions of Internet users actively participating across various social networking websites. Even corporations have begun using social networks as a means to market and reach their customers. This paper will survey the current issues in cloud computing and social networks and how these technologies are being used together.