Information Science

Many theories of self-construction in memory narratives point to their potential for making sense of major identity changes. Across multiple narrative tellings, individuals’ stories are shaped by selective encouragement and suppression of story elements in relation to the social contexts of storytelling. While previous contextual work has concentrated on the effect of listeners, other important contextual factors include shared beliefs and understanding about how identity changes occur. Repeated sharing may result in stories that increasingly reflect those shared beliefs about identity, evidenced in the stories told by individual group members. Thus, the longer an individual has identified as part of a particular group, the more his or her narrative will reflect the shared beliefs of this group. The present study examines whether the coming out stories of gay men (aged 18-28) increasingly reflect shared beliefs about the coming out process as length of time since coming out increases. Results (N=21) suggest that time since coming out positively predicts the degree to which individuals’ stories reflect group beliefs. Individual’s who stories more closely reflected shared group beliefs reported greater levels of integration into the gay and lesbian community. Results are discussed in terms of theories of storytelling and identity development, as well as implications for social support.

We examine the patient networking site PatientsLikeMe relative to current trends in medicine toward patientcentered care and empowerment. We focus on both patient and institutional demands for personal medical data. Given PatientsLikeMe’s mixture of social networking and health management tools, we consider the role of online health communities in the changing patient/provider relationship, and the use of patient-provided medical data.

We analyze profiles and associated comments on social network sites following the death of the user to suggest two novel approaches to death and computing. Using the dead as examples of “extreme users”, we develop recommendations for design of Web2.0 applications that consider the importance of intersubjectivity in online identity construction and management, and the ubiquity of technospiritual practice.

Visual media has a history of using text to both frame and augment an audience's understanding of visual content. This paper compares the recent LOLcat Internet phenomenon with intertitles from silent film to explore the ways in which filmmakers and LOLcat creators have each used text to expand the narrative possibilities of digital imagery and film. LOLcats and intertitles both use text to establish content diagesis, and both utilize expository and dialogic text to establish specific points of view. These uses of text-based Barthesian anchors tell viewers exactly how the visual content should be read. These mediums differ, however, in their relationship with technology. Intertitles provided filmmakers a temporary narrative solution that was largely abandoned upon the advent of sound. LOLcat creators, on the other hand, made purposeful use of text despite richer alternatives. As such, LOLcats may seek to invent new textual practices, but the use of text is integrated into their definition

"The proliferation of social network sites has resulted in an
increasing number of profiles representing deceased users.
In this paper, we present the results of a mixed-methods
empirical study of 205,068 comments posted to 1,369
MySpace profiles of  users who have died. Our results
reveal interesting practices surrounding issues of authorship
and audience, temporal patterns in posting, and continued
social networking with the dead. These results suggest that
post-mortem commenting behavior blends memorializing
practices with existing practices and communication
patterns for social network sites. We conclude by outlining
future directions for research and implications for the
understanding and  use of social network sites in light of a
deeper understanding of post-mortem comments."

As use of, and experiences with, social media continue to
grow, the systems of representation that underlie  their use
become increasingly influential. In this paper, we present
results from empirical studies of two online communities—
Facebook and craigslist Missed Connections—that
highlight the ways in which this underlying infrastructure
and the user practices  on these sites are inherently
intertwined.  We make particular use of a framework first
introduced by Agre that focuses  on  the  influence of eight
underlying features of computing practice: ontology,
standards, instrumentation, authentication, interpretation,
selection, bias, and performance. The results of this analysis
indicate how representational systems do more than simply
represent the physical world; they are  deeply intertwined
with the social and material practices of everyday life.

The experience of coconstructing autobiographical narratives provides rich opportunities for adolescent and adult development. Recreating one's autobiographical narrative can be an effective means by which to incorporate a new sense of identity, while exploring the past gives insight into the transformation. The process of coming out for gay and lesbian individuals provides opportunities for a unique identity shift through the development of their new social identity.

Abstract In this paper, we consider how the life story develops through the creation of selfevent connections in narrating experiences. We first outline the ways in which such connections have been implied by existing work on the life story, and then consider the varieties of such connections that we see in our own work. That work suggests that selfevent connections can construct both a stable sense of self as well as a sense of how the self has changed across time.

Online identities survive the deaths of those they represent, leaving friends and families to struggle with the appropriate ways to incorporate these identities into the practices of grief and mourning, raising important questions. How are practices of online memorialization connected to conventional rituals of grief and mourning? What is the role of online digital identity post-mortem? How do trajectories of death and dying incorporate both online and offline concerns?

Supporting students with disabilities, particularly those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), to transition from school into adulthood can be a difficult challenge (Schall & Wehman, 2008; Sitlington & Clark, 2006). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997) requires schools to promote transition planning: movement from school to post-school activities (eg., work, further education and training, and independent living).

Abstract Even with the investment of significant resources, video communication in professional settings has not gained mass appeal. This contrasts with the consumer space where, despite limited resources and low quality solutions, services such as Skype have seen widespread adoption. In this paper, we explore the behavior and attitudes of individuals who actively use video communication in both their personal and professional lives.

Abstract People turn to social media to express their emotions surrounding major life events. Death of a loved one is one scenario in which people share their feelings in the semipublic space of social networking sites. In this paper, we present the results of a two-part investigation of grief and distress in the context of messages posted to the profiles of deceased MySpace users.

Hierarchical file systems and file browsers offer powerful capabilities for managing and organizing folders and files. Yet they lack robust tools for annotating and documenting these files-individually or collectively-with descriptive text. In contrast, Web pages and wikis make it easy to create rich and meaningful narratives around digital artifacts, allowing files to be embedded within explanatory text and images. Unfortunately, considerable effort is required to manage files stored on Web servers and to ensure that the published content ...

Interpersonal awareness is one person's up-to-the moment knowledge about other group members, while artifact awareness is one person's up-to-the-moment knowledge about other group members' work artifacts; both contribute to fluid group coordination and interaction. Many popular computer-mediated communication systems focus on interpersonal awareness, with artifact awareness being a second-class citizen. To better support artifact awareness in this domain, we leverage the widespread adoption and ...

This paper presents research analyzing the role of computational technology in the domain of nonprofit fundraising. Nonprofits are a cornerstone of many societies and are especially prominent in the United States, where $295 billion, or slightly more than 2% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (i.e. total national revenue), was directed toward charitable causes in 2006. Nonprofits afford many worthwhile endeavors, including crisis relief, basic services to those in need, public education and the arts, and preservation of the natural environment. In this paper, we identify six roles that computational technology plays in support of nonprofit fundraising and present two models characterizing technology use in this domain: (1) a cycle of technology-assisted fundraising and (2) a model of relationships among stakeholders in technology-assisted fundraising. Finally, we identify challenges and research opportunities for collaborative computing in the unique and exciting nonprofit fundraising domain.

Activity-based computing represents an alternative to the dominant application-and document-centric model at the foundation of most mainstream desktop computing interfaces. In this paper, we present in-depth results from an in situ, longitudinal study of an activity-based computing system, Giornata. We detail the ways that the specific features of this system influenced the everyday work experiences of a small cohort of knowledge workers. Our analysis provides contributions at several levels of granularity-we provide concrete design recommendations based on participants' reactions to the particular features of the Giornata system and a discussion about how our findings can provide insight about the broader understanding of knowledge work and activity within HCI.