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Browser Plug-in Helps People Balance Their Political News Reading Habits

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2012Politics, Technologyappalling cesspool, article, balanced view, balancer, behavior, cartoon, chrome browser, debate, democrat, Google, michigan, new jersey, online, plug in, political bias, political blog, political news, political rumor, political spectrum, presidential election, reading habit, republican, sean munson, self discovery, site, Social networking, university, US, voter, Washington, web browser

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, many voters become voracious consumers of online political news. A tool by a University of Washington researcher tracks whether all those articles really provide a balanced view of the debate – and, if not, suggests some sites that offer opinions from the other side of the political spectrum.

Balancer, a free plug-in for Google’s Chrome browser, was developed this summer by Sean Munson, a new UW assistant professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering. The tool analyzes a person’s online reading habits for a month and calculates the political bias in that behavior. It then suggests sites that represent a different point of view and continues to monitor reading behavior and offer feedback. (more…)

How Public Should Public Records Be? Increased Availability Sparks Privacy Concerns

By Guest PostMay 16, 2012Media, Technologybatya friedman, changes in behavior, Facebook, james fogarty, mashup, online technology, pacific northwest, peter kelley, political campaign, privacy concern, public, public record, sean munson, university of washington, us citizen, us democracy, web, zillow and redfin

Online technology has vastly increased citizens’ access to public records such as political campaign contributions and real estate transactions. But that explosion of information availability also sparks privacy concerns and may dampen some people’s willingness to engage in public activities, according to recent research.

Six researchers, including two from the University of Washington, co-authored the paper “Attitudes Toward Online Availability of U.S. Public Records.” It was presented at the Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Digital Government Research Conference in College Park, Md. An expanded version of the article will appear in a forthcoming issue of Information Polity. (more…)

People often Talk About Politics on Blogs Geared Toward Other Topics

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2011Culture, Media, Politicsamericans, barcelona, blog posts, blogger, international conference on weblogs and social media, internet, national science foundation, paul resnick, personal diaries, political communication, political content, political discourse, political polarization, political websites, sean munson, university of michigan, Yahoo

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A full 25 percent of blog posts about politics occur on sites that are primarily about something else, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Information. And when authors post about politics, their readers reply and engage with the political content of the posts.

The researchers say they have uncovered a significant repository of political discourse that is largely being ignored. They will present their findings July 19 at the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media in Barcelona. (more…)

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Browser Plug-in Helps People Balance Their Political News Reading Habits

How Public Should Public Records Be? Increased Availability Sparks Privacy Concerns

People often Talk About Politics on Blogs Geared Toward Other Topics