{"title":"Intellectual property rights and control in the digital economy: Examining the expansion of M-Pesa","authors":"Christopher Foster","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2259895","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2259895","url":null,"abstract":"The importance of intellectual capital in the digital economy implies an increasingly central role of intellectual property rights (IPR). However, there are concerns that the expansion of intellectual property rights concentrates profits from innovation, creating “intellectual monopolies”. This is particularly concerning with respect to strong global regimes of intellectual property that foster economic inequities between the Global South and North. Such arguments imply that IPR is a core driver of structural inequality in the digital economy, yet there is very little empirical analysis of how such conceptual ideas unfold. This study focuses on IPR in the Kenyan mobile money service M-Pesa. It charts how M-Pesa expanded from a development-orientated innovation in Kenya to become part of a global enterprise. Control of IPR has led to bottlenecks in innovation in Kenya and significant South-to-North financial transfers. Overall, this case contributes to expanding the debate about patterns of innovation and governance of the digital economy. As digital firms expand, unpacking the processes by which global intellectual property regimes and cross-border IPR practices shape uneven power relations and inequality is vital.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135858526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Finding meaning in crowdwork: An analysis of algorithmic management, work characteristics, and meaningfulness","authors":"W. Zoonen, C. L. Hoeven, Ryan A Morgan","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2243262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2243262","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this study we investigate the implications of different aspects of algorithmic coordination and algorithmic quantification for perceived work conditions and the meaningfulness of crowdwork. Using survey data obtained from 412 crowdworkers, our analysis shows that work conditions and the meaningfulness of work are impacted differently by algorithmic coordination and the feeling of being quantified by an algorithm. Specifically, it shows that algorithmic coordination has either a positive or null impact on perceived work conditions and meaningfulness of work. However, negative associations between algorithmic quantification and perceived work conditions, suggest that the algorithmic quantification seems particularly problematic for crowdworkers’ experienced work conditions. Furthermore, algorithmic coordination is positively associated with the meaningfulness of work, while algorithmic quantification is negatively associated with the perceived meaningfulness of work. Using work design theory, the findings also provide insights into the mechanisms explaining these relationships.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59294006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Business as usual? How gamification transforms internal party democracy","authors":"Cecilia Biancalana, Davide Vittori","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2241470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2241470","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article was motivated by the question whether gamification represents a substantial innovation in internal party democracy, by contributing to change the dynamics of power within parties. To answer this question, we examine the only known case of gamification in the field of internal party voting, launched by the Italian Movimento 5 Stelle. We expected that gamified internal votes would reduce the incumbent advantage and promote party activists. Our data, however, suggest that these decision-making processes follow the same logic as the traditional ones. We thus conclude that digital innovations often end up working as “business as usual”.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48578370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Information infrastructures and historical research: A framework useful for professional and amateur historians","authors":"J. Cortada","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2237012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2237012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this article we delve into the similarities as well as differences in the research methods of professional and amateur historians via the lens of information infrastructures. We pay special attention to the methods of amateur family historians before and after the arrival of the Internet identifying what changed as well as what did not, offering historical perspective. We also compare their methods with those of professional historians. We find that to a surprising degree research methods used by professional and amateur historians are more alike than different. We discuss ways of bring professional and amateur historians into conversation with each other, and explain how this would be to their mutual benefit.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42645207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effects of algorithmic content selection on user engagement with news on Twitter","authors":"Erwan Dujeancourt, Marcel Garz","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2230471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2230471","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this article, we investigate how Twitter’s switch from a reverse-chronological timeline to algorithmic content selection in March 2016 influenced user engagement with tweets published by German newspapers. To mitigate concerns about omitted variables, we use the Facebook postings of these newspapers as a counterfactual. We find that the number of likes increased by 20% and the number of retweets by 15% within a span of 30 days after the switch. Importantly, our results indicate a rich-get-richer effect, implying that initially more popular outlets and news topics benefited the most. User engagement also increased more for sensationalist content than quality news stories.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42538896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar, Avi Marciano, Amit M. Schejter
{"title":"“There are only a few things that you cannot manage without internet”: Realization of capabilities through internet (non)use by ultra-Orthodox Jewish women","authors":"Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar, Avi Marciano, Amit M. Schejter","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2226121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2226121","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this study we focus on internet nonuse among Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, members of a community that mostly refrains from using the internet or deploys content-filtering when it does access it in some situations. We conducted in-depth interviews to empirically answer two questions: First, how do ultra-Orthodox women perceive their internet nonuse? Second, what direct and indirect solutions do they create to realize their desired capabilities that contemporarily require internet access? We found that adhering to religious strictures means more than obedience to religious commitments and community leaders, and that while nonuse may seem like a self-imposed disenabling act, it holds valuable social advantages at the individual, family, and community levels.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45057180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edina Strikovic, T. V. D. Meer, R. Vliegenthart, Linda Bos
{"title":"Appeals to the people: A content analysis of references to the people in traditional media, social media, and parliamentary materials","authors":"Edina Strikovic, T. V. D. Meer, R. Vliegenthart, Linda Bos","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2210133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2210133","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Political representation lies at the heart of representative democracy. In order to signal their connection to the people they are representing, politicians often refer to “the people.” In this study, we focus on how politicians refer to the people and how this varies across three main platforms of communication differing in access and formality: news media, social media, and the parliament. Through an in-depth content analysis of news articles, politicians’ social media posts and parliamentary speeches (N = 1668), we examine how Dutch politicians address the people in terms of “advocacy” for the people and in “opposition” to other actors; which politicians most commonly refer to the people; which communication platforms are predominantly used for this, and whether these references to the people vary across time. We find that references to the people did not differ between election and non-election years. Yet, parties and communication platform both play important roles: references to the people manifest themselves more frequently in social media and in communication from politicians from parties on the left as well as those scoring higher on the populism scale. We also find that there is little variation in advocative references to the people, while communication that includes oppositional references is more prominent among populist actors and those positioned on the political left.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46889862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the relationship between media literacy, online interaction, and civic engagement","authors":"Sora Park, J. Lee, T. Notley, M. Dezuanni","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2211055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2211055","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Internet and media use can provide accessible, diverse, and timely opportunities for civic engagement. However, to use media and the internet to interact and collaborate, citizens need to be equipped with particular skills and knowledge. This study draws on a national survey of Australian adults (N = 3,510) to examine how media abilities and online interaction activities are related to their civic engagement. The findings suggest that the more active people are online, interacting with content or other people, the more likely they are to be engaged in civic activities. The data also shows that those with a higher level of confidence in their media abilities are more likely to engage in more civic activities. A broader understanding of the multidimensional characteristics of media literacy is needed to consider the role online interaction activities and media literacy abilities play in contributing to civic engagement. At the same time, the research suggests that equipping citizens with media literacy as well as enabling them to use the interactive functions of digital media can increase citizens’ civic engagement.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45303883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Working with Aula: How teachers navigate privacy uncertainties","authors":"R. Jørgensen, Bjarki Valtysson, Jesper Pagh","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2210543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2210543","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Aula is a mandatory public school platform in Denmark with more than two million users. The idea behind Aula was to provide a shared space for communication and cooperation around children, both within the school/municipality setting and between teachers and parents, while adhering to the requirements of EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. In this article we examine the incorporation of Aula in the daily practices of teachers, especially as they relate to children’s privacy and data protection. Based on qualitative interviews with nine teachers and four experts, and drawing on practice theory, platform theory, and theories on children’s privacy, we find that Aula – despite the intentions behind it – fails to support the complex nature of teachers’ work practices and, therefore, to provide a solid data protection framework for the children. As such, the teachers mainly view the platform as being conducive to their non-sensitive communication with parents and deploy a range of other digital tools to support, for instance, cooperation with colleagues. Consequently, gaps in children’s privacy and data protection arise.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47553387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data by design: Shaping data-producing subjectivities through self-tracking","authors":"Thomas M. McDonald, L. Chow","doi":"10.1080/01972243.2023.2203151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2203151","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent research into self-tracking devices challenges dominant understandings that such technologies provide wearers with “mechanical objectivity” over their monitoring of their bodies, instead highlighting how the so-called “objectivity” is situated within broader social contexts. In this article we explore the social phenomena arising from the introduction of multiple sensor technologies (activity trackers, productivity monitoring software, and video cameras) in Hong Kong secondary school classrooms within the context of an interdisciplinary research project on digital citizenship. Using participant observation of social interactions between the school students and the research team amidst the implementation of self-tracking technologies in the classroom, our study documents the negotiations surrounding the generation of self-tracking data. It shows how shortcomings in self-tracking data produced call into question persistent expectations of objectivity attached to self-tracking devices, alongside hopes that their use would engender specific forms of engagement with data amongst students. In response, we propose the concept of “data producing subjectivities” as a complement to the existing concept of “situated objectivity.” Taken together, these concepts could contribute to scholarship beyond the realm of self-tracking, providing ways to more fully account for the co-constitutive nature of the production of data and personhood in the contemporary information era.","PeriodicalId":51481,"journal":{"name":"Information Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43308204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}