Two interesting articles in the Guardian and the Independent address the issue of why people rioted in the month of August 2011. The Guardian article raises the concerns that David Cameron is trying to restrict access to Twitter and Facebook for individuals who have taken part in the August riots. The Independent article says that an explanation for the riots is that communities do not trust politicians.
Reading these articles, for me the greatest concern is that of restricting information, and entering into a world where for political reasons information is prevented from going to individuals who are seen to take politically unacceptable action. Under the Labour administration, which was a period of high employment and income in the city, a lot of money was put into health and education, but it seems that things have not really improved.
I have seen [...]

Stakeholders (e.g. activist groups, unions, competitors, corporations, environment groups, political lobbies) are increasingly creating a “stakeholder media”, where content is created for the purpose of influencing public opinion and/or the opinions of particular actors in favour of pre-determined issues. Social media is a tool that stakeholders are able to use to set out their agenda, often in competition with dominant media corporations, and as such have the potential to provide a powerful alternative to the dominant and current public agendas as well as to promote the interests of powerful stakeholders. Stakeholders with expert power and substantial means can be very influential through the use of social media channels (i.e. through user-created content).
Whilst the mainstream media is focussed on current issues of interest to the general public, presented with (supposed) neutrality, stakeholder run social media tends to focus on solutions to problems which are of interest to target communities, and even though subjective, [...]

Technological innovation and new apps are undeniably changing our relationship with one another and the physical world, as discussed in the recent Slate article titled, “ The future of mobile gadgets ” by Farhad Manjoo. While these advances bring with them lots of new and exciting possibilities, I worry that the e-revolution and the increasing dependence on information and communications technologies (ICTs) is leading to lower levels of emotional intelligence amongst today’s generation of young people.
While new technology creates new spaces where individuals can express themselves and their thoughts under different names and so on – which can serve as wonderful sources of self-expression – it can also create a sense of false reality. Indeed the ICT revolution has exponentially amplified our ability to make social connections, but as individuals grow increasingly dependent and addicted to ICT, they can develop a distorted sense of time and [...]

Technological advances are constantly changing the way businesses operate. ‘Cloud computing’ is the new buzzword that refers to businesses running software offsite and accessing it through Internet browsers. Although the market for cloud computing is growing, cloud service providers will need to win the confidence of service purchasers before corporations will decide to free themselves from their IT departments. A large part of this decision and the success or otherwise of taking up the software as a service model depends on the transformational capabilities of the organisation’s leadership.
In a recent FT article titled “Misconceptions about cloud computing” , authors Chris Burn and Conrad Thompson suggest that Cloud can help a company lower IT costs and improve the efficiency of IT operations, but that its true potential exists in its ability to transform business models. Cloud can stimulate innovation and offer a true competitive edge, but [...]

A very interesting article in Harvard Business Review by Ian Bremmer and David Gordon, The Conversation , draws to the surface one of the most critical issues we are facing today, and that is whether the major powers of the world can collaborate or not. The article indicates that there are a number of worrying trends: Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and Mexico. My view is that what is happening is the world is splitting into two and we are beginning to see the Anglo-American allies concentrating in one end and the Chinese and their allies concentrating in the other. Certainly Brazil is much more aligned with China than Anglo-American interests. It does also seem as if the attack on South Korea by North Korea was simply a warning to Anglo-American interests that if Iran is bombed then there will be serious problems, and that North Korea will [...]

A simple tip: don’t put anything in an email that you wouldn’t put in letter. You know that both business and personal letters can be lost or shown to someone else. The same rules and ethics should apply to email and other forms of electronic correspondence. [...]

I recently came across a US study on internet addiction among college students that took place at the University of Maryland. I didn’t find the results (that college students are showing signs of addiction to technology) particularly surprising – even though the study’s authors were only looking at college students, the findings are broadly in line with ours, which looked at a broader population. When looking at studies about internet and media use, it’s always very important to note the source – whether the study has been independently run by an academic organisation or whether the study has been sponsored by a technology company. [...]

Andrew and I (along with Susan Bailey and Andrew Myers) recently published two articles on technology addiction.
‘ Techno Addicts: Young Person Addiction to Technology ‘ describes the disruptive effect that technology addiction can have on positive attitudes towards learning. While students expressed little concern of addiction, technology obsession is hindering spelling skills, encouraging plagiarism and disrupting classroom learning.
‘ Techno Addicts: Life Style Through Technology ‘ examines the effects of information communication technology (ICT) on individuals. Using quantitative data from over 1,200 respondents across a broad spectrum of society ranging from lower income groups to top managers and directors, we found shocking information about how individuals adopt technology for work, personal use, and pleasure.
Both can be downloaded from Sigel Press .

Prompted by this article about changing online habits, in this podcast Nada and I discuss information overload, online etiquette, and research we’ve done on teenage technology use.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

With the rise in popularity of social networking and Smart Phones, people are feeling the need to be connected to the Internet at all times. I spoke to Sky News about my recent study on the effects of “Information Overload”, a phenomenon where people feel the need to be constantly connected, whether by mobile phone or home computer. As more people begin using Smart Phones – phones that have functionality to utilise the Internet and send messages – the number of people suffering from “Information Overload” will increase along with it.
This addiction to technology and the Internet often comes at the expense of one’s health and social life. People who are constantly switched on will likely see a negative impact on their overall productivity, even with tasks that they would consider to be routine. [...]