Ethical Confusion when Studying the Web

One area of the research process which has struck me as being in need of refinement for studying the Web is the procedure for obtaining ethical approval. Specifically, the ethics of using a social network such as Twitter as a data source for a study.

A general ethics application procedure for a project may question whether the study involves human participants, and if so, whether it will collect “personal data” (data which could potentially identify a participant). Often, it is assumed that if there are no human participants, then personal data will not be collected. If there are humans participating, then issues revolving around sensitive data, risk of harm, deception, consent, and right to withdraw become significant. This makes sense for a psychological lab experiment, for example. For a study on the Web, this causes great confusion.

My Thoughts on Google+

One of the great things about studying the Web is that you can sign up for new social networks and feel like its justified in your quest to understand the Web’s development. I would have signed up for Google+ regardless of whether I was studying Web Science or not, but doing so means that I don’t feel like I’m wasting time trying out something which basically just replicates the features of other services I use, and instead it has got me thinking about the potential disruption it could cause to the current ecosystem of social networks. 

eBook Pricing

Following on from a previous post where I grumbled about digital music, I now have another source of bewilderment regarding digital content: eBook pricing. Looking on Amazon.co.uk for the new James Bond novel (Carte Blanche) and hoping to be able to get a reduced price version for Kindle (Amazon’s eBook reader device), I was frustrated to find that the Kindle price was no lower than the hardback price: £9.99.

I’m a big fan of eBooks – in the year that I’ve owned a Kindle I have bought and read 400% more fiction books than in the same time period over any of the last 5 years. I prefer the experience of reading a book on the device compared to a physical book and I like the convenience of being able to receive a book pretty much instantly, thanks to Web connectivity. Previously, however, the books I’ve purchased on it have been fairly old – at least not brand new releases – and so have been priced fairly reasonably. Carte Blanche was the first time I have looked at buying a book through the service so soon after release, and given the cost-saving nature of eBooks (no printing, binding, distribution, or physical storage are required), I was optimistic about it being a fair amount cheaper than the hardback copy. If the Web is going to be utilised for this kind of business, then in my opinion the price is one of the first things that must be favourable compared to offline sources. With equal prices, I can’t really understand what I would be paying for, given all the reductions in costs on the production side.

Google Search Globe

I just found this on Google's blog and thought I would share it as not only does it look cool, it has strong ties to Web Science regarding the different languages used on the Web across the globe. The globe shows a day's worth of searches, with each language that a query is made in represented by a different colour. While it doesn't seem surprising to see far fewer queries in certain areas of the world, I still find it shocking to see how much of a difference there is between continents.

Free unlimited music streaming comes to an end on Spotify

After reading about it in the news a couple of weeks ago, sure enough when I started up Spotify yesterday, I was greeted by a message stating I could now only listen to each track a maximum of 5 times... Ever! Additionally, I am now limited to 10 hours of streaming per month, although both of these restrictions can be removed if I choose to upgrade to a paid subscription account (either £4.99pm or £9.99pm for offline and mobile access). I have reservations about this however – I was attracted to Spotify on the promise of unlimited, free streaming of music, with the odd advert thrown in - which was never much of a problem for me. That promise is now gone. Perhaps buried in the terms and conditions it stated that this wouldn’t last, and as I was never paying for anything I suppose they have no obligations to continue what they were offering me. I’m not saying what they’ve done is in anyway devious, it’s just frustrating to see such a good service pretty much give up on its free offering.

Proof of Technological Determinism?

Or proof against social determinism?

As the media has widely reported, the use of the Web in the recent Egyptian protests was hugely important. I do not want to delve too deeply into the specifics of the protests in this post; instead the point I want to make (my own opinion of course) is that the way these tools were grasped upon by the citizens shows that the technological determinism argument in sociology is far superior to that of social determinism. I am not a sociologist, and do not claim to understand fully the arguments within this discipline – however these two hypotheses are important with regards to Web Science and understanding how the Web is shaping society (or is society shaping the Web?).

Cyber Warfare Arguments seem to be crying out for a Web Scientist!

For the last few days, I’ve been wondering about what to cover in the first ‘real’ post of this blog. Today, thankfully, saw several related stories hit the BBC Website regarding cyber warfare – a topic which seems to be increasingly popular in the media. To further enhance the suggestion that I should write about this, I have spent the last few days reading and writing about cyber crime, and attempting to determine whether the entire notion of cyber crime is being over-hyped. This is what one security expert claims (Bruce Schneier of BT) is happening with cyber warfare – coincidentally the very same security expert whom I watched in a video as background material to the cyber crime argument.

Web Science Issues in the News

***This post is a work in progress and shall be updated, added to and refined as necessary***

To start things off, here is a brief list and description of matters that are appearing in the news at the moment, to serve as some examples of the type of thing I may cover in the future. I am sure to have missed some, so please feel free to suggest others - and I shall update the post accordingly.

Egypt Revolution

This is the biggest news story of all at the moment – and the Web has played a key role in its development. Facebook and Twitter were central to spreading the word about protests: Facebook appeared to be used more internally, organising and mobilising the community, whereas Twitter seemed to be the protestors’ outlet to the World. The effect that the Web had was so great that Internet access was cut. I wonder how much consideration went into the decision to make this cut – the consequences of removing the Internet from a World which has grown so accustomed to it seem unfathomable. This is one of the many areas which, potentially, Web Science could help to understand.

Cyber-attacks

Last week, the BBC reported on a study from McAfee detailing attacks made on oil and gas firms. This follows on from the news that broke last year regarding one of the first cyber attacks on physical infrastructure – the ‘Stuxnet’ worm. While many computer users will be aware of the threats to their data, identity and privacy online, it is likely that there is far less knowledge of how Web-based attacks could impact the physical world. Furthermore, the political and economic implications (along with many others) of such actions need to be understood, before these attacks become widespread. 

***This post is a work in progress and shall be updated, added to and refined as necessary***

Please Get Involved!

I believe the Web is all about community. Without the communities that have developed on the Web, it would be a very different place, and not nearly as interesting. For this reason, I would like to encourage (and request) feedback and discussions on the topics I bring up - and suggestions for new topics to cover.

So, please listen out for interesting stories in the news, and hopefully we can engage in some exciting discussions about how great the Web really is!

Welcome to The Web Science Perspective

Why a blog about Web Science?

Web Science is a new field of study, incorporating numerous disciplines to examine the Web. Many of the stories that appear in the media can be linked to Web Science, and – as far as I know – there is not currently anywhere on the Web that discusses them from this perspective.

What will be blogged about?

The aim is to put a Web Science spin on topical news stories. How has the Web contributed to the story, how could it be used to solve a particular problem, what issues that are prevalent on the Web are linked to the story? These are just some of the questions I will hope to address. Due to the various disciplines involved, many of these issues will concern topics which I may not have the best knowledge of – in these cases I hope to gain input from those who do!