Tag Archives: Facebook

UA’s Kate Kenski Tracks Election Through Talking Points, Tweets

Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the UA communication department, is studying the 2012 election using talking points, Twitter feeds and also jokes.

Election season is to politics-watchers as tax season is to accountants. There are polls to follow, debates to dissect and political ads to analyze.

For Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the University of Arizona communication department and School of Government and Public Policy, election season provides a wealth of data that she analyzes to write and teach about public opinion and political communication.

For the 2012 election, Kenski is keeping a keen eye on whether the frequent explanations for wins and losses in previous campaigns hold true for this campaign. Will the economy be the determining factor? Or will candidate personality or message strategy tip the campaign in one candidate’s direction over the other’s? (more…)

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Facebook Profile Pictures Influence Perceived Attractiveness, MU Study Finds

Pictures with positive social cues help attract potential employers, friends

COLUMBIA, Mo. ­— Around the world, more than 850 million people use Facebook regularly to communicate. More and more employers also are using Facebook as a way to examine potential employees before making hires. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that comments left by users on Facebook profile pictures strongly affect the level of perceived attractiveness of the profile owner physically, socially, and professionally.

Facebook profile photos are the first photos visible on a user’s profile. Other Facebook users are able to post comments about each profile photo, which are visible to anyone who views the photo. MU researchers found that Facebook users whose profile photos include social cues, additional information about the user, and many positive comments on their profile photos are viewed much more socially and physically attractive than users who have fewer social cues and negative comments on their profile photos. Seoyeon Hong, a doctoral student, conducted the research along with Kevin Wise, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and other doctoral students. (more…)

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IBM Redefines Social Business with the Power of Analytics

Fortune 100 Clients Tout Returns on Social Investments

ARMONK, N.Y. – 12 Sep 2012: IBM today unveiled new software and services that bring the power of big data analytics into the hands of today’s social savvy workforce anytime, anywhere. Now, organizations can apply analytics to their social business initiatives, allowing them to gain actionable insight on information generated on networks and put it to work in real-time.

As part of today’s news, IBM is announcing the availability of its industry-leading social software platform, IBM Connections. IBM Connections incorporates sophisticated analytics capabilities, real-time data monitoring, and faster collaborative networks both inside and outside the organization, whether on premises, in the IBM SmartCloud or using a broad range of mobile devices. View the demo today. (more…)

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comScore MMX Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for August 2012

RESTON, VA, September 12, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for August 2012 based on data from the comScore MMX service.

With the release of August 2012 U.S. MMX data, comScore introduced three important methodological enhancements to our estimates that will affect data on a go-forward basis. The first enhancement is the incorporation of updated demographic universe estimates based on data from the 2010 U.S. census, which provides an improved accounting of the percentage of the population falling into each demographic segment. The second enhancement was an improvement in comScore’s enumeration survey methodology to better represent persons in cell-phone only households. The third and final enhancement is a new technique to account for cookie rejection in Safari browsers, for sites measured via comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement (UDM) methodology.. (more…)

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Bing Challenges Nation to ‘Bing It On’

Study suggests people prefer Bing’s Web search results nearly 2-to-1 over Google.

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 6, 2012 — Beginning today, America can click and choose which Web search results it prefers by participating in the Bing It On Challenge, available at Bing.com. Based on research that indicates people prefer Bing Web search results over Google, Bing is inviting consumers to come and see for themselves with an online test designed to show that the quality of Bing’s Web search results has surpassed Google’s.

Although most people identify themselves as Google searchers, an independent study commissioned by Microsoft Corp. shows people chose Bing Web search results over Google nearly 2-to-1 in blind comparison tests.* Given those findings, Bing decided it is time to let people see for themselves that there is a better option in search. (more…)

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Teaching using Technology

UD prof engages students with Facebook Groups and Google Sites

Phillip Penix-Tadsen, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures at the University of Delaware, is reaching his students at new levels inside and outside the classroom. The spring 2012 semester was the first time Penix-Tadsen required the use of Facebook Groups by all his students to increase engagement and participation.

“That virtual space builds a kind of community for the class that leads into the in-class interactions. Students get to know one another in the Facebook Group, which leads to stronger class conversations and discussions,” Penix-Tadsen said. (more…)

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Q&A: Libraries Turn New Page into Digital Age

Michael Dula recently began his appointment as chief technology officer for the Yale University Library, which is one of the largest university libraries in North America. In this newly created role, he will develop a technology strategy for the University’s 18 different libraries, which house over 12.5 million volumes.

Prior to coming to Yale, Dula worked at Pepperdine University, where he began as a consultant. In 2006, he accepted a full-time position at Pepperdine as director of digital initiatives for the university’s libraries. In addition to managing central library technology systems, he was actively engaged in implementing new tools for research and learning, including digital content collections, scholarly publishing, podcasting, and social computing models. (more…)

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