March 2015 round-up

Spring is here (at least officially), I had one journal and three conference papers accepted, and our lovely friends SP have visited us. So, all in all, the month is ending on a high note. And if it is true that 50% of my sabbatical is now gone :-(, it is also the case that … Continue reading March 2015 round-up

UK attitude towards monitoring of internet and mobile communications is surprisingly tolerant

I wonder if you can help me make sense of this. I came across a survey by YouGov for Amnesty International, published earlier this month, about the attitudes of people from 13 countries* towards government surveillance. According to this data, UK residents are more likely than the (study’s) average to support mass surveillance by government … Continue reading UK attitude towards monitoring of internet and mobile communications is surprisingly tolerant

Day in the Life of an academic: the sabbatical edit

People keep asking me what I do on my sabbatical, so I thought that it would be fun to do a ‘Day in the Life’ post. This is what I got up to on Wednesday. I wake up about half an hour before my alarm went off, with the sun streaming through the bedroom window. … Continue reading Day in the Life of an academic: the sabbatical edit

Young Saudi females and their smartphones

That picture of a 13 year old’s mobile home screen reminded me of a really interesting paper written by Sunila Lobo and Silvia Elaluf-Calderwood (who is a whizz about all things mobile) on how young female Saudis use their smartphones. The paper is available here, though, unfortunately, it is behind a paywall. The research … Continue reading Young Saudi females and their smartphones

Who needs a phone, anyway?

Oh, I love this – it is a screenshot of this man’s 13 year old daughter’s iPhone home screen. Within easy reach are: Camera Instagram Text messaging Web browser Less accessible (i.e., tucked away within a folder) are: iTunes Pinterest Snapchat Youtube And nowhere to be seen: Facebook and… Phone! I suspect this reflects the … Continue reading Who needs a phone, anyway?

Spotted elsewhere: The Trust Engineers

What? A podcast episode from RadioLab about how Facebook’s Protect and Care team (formerly known as the Trust Engineering team) tweak this social network’s interface to make it a more trusted and friendlier environment. Where? Retweeted by ‘New Social Media, New Social Science?’, aka NSMNSS (Twitter feed here). As per NSMNSS’s website, this organisation ‘brings … Continue reading Spotted elsewhere: The Trust Engineers

New book: The Private Security State

I am delighted to let you know about the publication of the book “The Private Security State? Surveillance, Consumer Data and the War on Terror”. This book is the outcome of a large research project led by Professor Kirstie Ball, at the Open University, and which I was part of. This project looked at the … Continue reading New book: The Private Security State

Not so fast – Learning about audience engagement at a speed awareness course

In the period leading up to Christmas, I was caught driving just above the speed limit. Instead of getting a fine and points deducted from my driving licence, I was offered a chance to attend a Speed Awareness Course. I did attend the course, and I did learn a thing or two about speed limits. … Continue reading Not so fast – Learning about audience engagement at a speed awareness course

Spotted elsewhere: Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s Reddit AMA

What? An AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, on Reddit. Sir Tim Berners-Lee not only invented the World Wide Web (WWW), but also made it freely available, thus giving up any royalties. He is, without a doubt, one of my personal heroes. Where? Posted by @Wired, on Twitter. So what? The AMA session … Continue reading Spotted elsewhere: Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s Reddit AMA

If digital were a game, the result at half time would be marketing 1:marketers 0

Last week, one of the articles shared on my Twitter timeline claimed that digital technology heralds the dawn of a new golden age for marketing. The article, which was published in McKinsey Quarterly and can be accessed here, states that: “CEOs are looking to their CMOs more than ever, because they need top-line growth and … Continue reading If digital were a game, the result at half time would be marketing 1:marketers 0